agreeable, where above all things he must endeavour to win friends for his child, who might be kind to her in case of his death. He was at the same time to try and complete her education, so that she might be able to earn her own livelihood. She was an intelligent, a docile, and a pretty child, and the idea of taking her with him to the antipodes was pleasanter than that of begging the Derricks to have compassion on her.
His residence at Sierra Leone had made life assurance impossible but at a rate so enormous that it was a very bad investment, and now of course his life was absolutely worth nothing in that way; but Dr. Hudson had assured him at his age and with his habits he might live very probably for six or eight years in Australia, and he had no doubt that in one of the thriving capitals of the colonies he could easily get a situation of light work sufficient for the necessities of his now small family. Amy had no objection to make; the place she lived in was quite indifferent to her, provided only her father was with her, and he got so much stronger on the voyage that his spirits were better than they had been since Eveline's death.
But he did not make friends among the passengers, who were not numerous and were not pleasant. There is no place where disagreeable
