The _Arangi's_ two masts were of Oregon cedar, so scraped and hot-paraffined that they shone like tan opals in the glare of sun.

Her excessive sail plan enabled her to sail like a witch, and, on occasion, gave Captain Van Horn, his white mate, and his fifteen black boat's crew as much as they could handle.

She was sixty feet over all, and the cross beams of her crown deck had not been weakened by deck-houses.

The only breaks--and no beams had been cut for them--were the main cabin skylight and companionway, the booby hatch for'ard over the tiny forecastle, and the small hatch aft that let down into the store-room.
And on this small deck, in addition to the crew, were the "return" niggers from three far-flung plantations.

By "return" was meant that their three years of contract labour was up, and that, according to contract, they were being returned to their home villages on the wild island of Malaita.