King o' the Beach by George Manville Fenn

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Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

King o' the Beach, a Tropic Tale, by George Manville Fenn.

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This book was written just before the end of the century, when it would have been expected that travel by steamer was pretty safe. Carey, a teenage boy making his way by steamer "Chusan" to meet his parents in Australia, becomes very friendly with the ship's doctor, and also with one of the seamen, Bob Bostock. But somewhere out in the Indian Ocean he has an accident, falling from the ship's rigging, and is unconscious and possibly may not live. His telescope took the brunt of the fall. But while he is lying unconscious, a great gale springs up, the vessel loses power, and is driven onto a coral-girt volcanic island.

Some of the passengers and crew get away on the ship's boats, but Carey is not fit for the journey. The ship lies on the reef, but mostly undamaged. The Doctor and Bostock remain with him. After they are settling in, and Carey is recovering well, a "beachcomber", who reckons he is king of these islands, makes his appearance with a retinue of aborigines. He is quite a nasty piece of work. However one of the aborigines becomes friendly with Carey and the others. The beachcomber shoots the doctor, but then fall down a stairway, breaking both legs. Since he can't get the doctor, he dies. At this moment Carey's father appears, as the other passengers had reached Australia, and contact had been made.

There are the usual tense moments with various saurians, and other nasties, but perhaps not such a high level of tension as is usual with this author. A good easy read, nevertheless. NH

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KING O' THE BEACH, A TROPIC TALE, BY GEORGE MANVILE FENN.

CHAPTER ONE.

"Mind what you're doing! Come down directly, you young dog! Ah, I thought as much. There, doctor: a job for you."

It was on board the great steamer _Chusan_, outward bound from the port of London for Rockhampton, Moreton Bay, and Sydney, by the north route, with a heavy cargo of assorted goods such as are wanted in the far south Colonies, and some fifty passengers, for the most part returning from a visit to the Old Country.

"Visit" is a very elastic word--it may mean long or short. In Carey Cranford's case it was expressed by the former, for it had lasted ten years, during which he had been left by his father with one of his uncles in London, so that he might have the full advantage of an English education before joining his parents in their adopted land.

It had been a delightful voyage, with pleasant fellow-passengers and everything new and exciting, to the strong, well-grown, healthy lad, who had enjoyed the Mediterranean; revelled in the glowing heat of the Red Sea, where he had begun to be the regular companion of the young doctor who had charge of the passengers and crew; stared at that great cinder-heap Aden, and later on sniffed at the sweet breezes from Ceylon's Isle.

Here the captain good-humouredly repeated what he had said more than once during the voyage: "Now look out, young fellow; if you're not back in time I shall sail without you:" for wherever the great steamer put in the boy hurried ashore with the doctor to see all he could of the country, and came back at the last minute growling at the stay being so short.

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