She reached Sydney to
find her father dead. His Excellency was very kind to her, and she
found very many sympathetic friends, but her home was in England, and
to it she was returning in the _White Star_, under the care of the
master, Captain Edward Griffiths, after a stay of nearly five months
in Sydney with her uncle, Colonel Atkinson.
Half an hour passed before the captain arrived. When he stepped on
board I lifted my cap and left the poop, and the captain and the
others went into the cuddy.
Our day of departure came round, and not a little rejoiced was I when
the tug had fairly got hold of us, and we were floating over the
sheet-calm surface of Sydney Bay, past some of the loveliest bits of
scenery the world has to offer, on our road to the mighty ocean beyond
the grim portals of Sydney Heads. We were a fairly crowded ship, what
with Jacks and passengers. The steerage and 'tween-decks were full up
with people going home; in the cuddy some of the cabins remained
unlet. We mustered in all, I think, about twelve gentlemen and lady
passengers, one of whom, needless to say, was Miss Georgina Le Grand.
I had been busy on the forecastle when she came aboard, but heard
afterwards from Robson, the second mate, that the Governor's wife,
with Colonel Atkinson, and certain nobs out of Government House had
driven down to the ship to say good-bye to the girl.
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