The Tattooed Beaver and Baby Food For Pare Pare ( ) (1947

Log entry, the catch-scall at Queen Philip Carney Master. Position 5 degrees 5 minutes south, 120 degrees 3 minutes east. Wind light sky overcast. Remarks, cleared port of Macassar, Celebi's island after troubled voyage up coast.

Reason for trouble, tattooed beaver and baby food for paray paray. It was under a lowering sky, 9 days out of Sandercan, that we swung in toward the mountains that are the backdrop for Macassar. Our first port below the equator.

The Scarlet Queen threaded away through the usual clutter of Oriental Harbor traffic. Rusted inter-island steamers in from Surabaya, Batavia, Amboina, Papua, Native Craft from Celebi's ports. It started to rain when we were halfway across the harbor.

By the time we'd reached our birth at the Netherlands, Asia Company's docks, our decks were awash with it. And it fell with equatorial consistency for two days. Kang's orders on Macassar had warned that the place was swarming with constantino men, grouping because of our nearness that the prize Kang had charted me to sail after. The orders were that unless we were contacted the first day we

would leave and return every 24 hours. The first day passed without contact, so on the second my chief mate Gallagher and I, nosed into the city looking for a a short cargo haul or something to make a trip out profitable. We didn't find it.

But the third day started out to be better. We got a promise of clearing weather when the barometer started to rise and the chance for a money trip when a visitor walked aboard the Scarlet Queen. I am Van Riper, master of the local Trilliana. Welcome aboard Captain, I'm Phil Carney. I see you Bert here. You are for charter. Might be. Good. I tell you about your