Explore "Denison Gets a Berth Ashore" by Louis Becke on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
After many years as supercargo, 'blackbirder'{*} and trader in the South Seas, Tom Denison one day found himself in Sydney with less than ten shillings in his pocket, and with a strong fraternal yearning to visit his brother, who was a bank manager in North Queensland and a very good-natured man. So he sent a telegram, 'Tired of the sea. Can you find me a billet ashore? ' An answer soon came, 'Yes, if you can manage poultry farm and keep books. If so, will wire passage money and expenses.'
* A 'backbirder' is the term applied to any person engaged / in the Polynesian labour traffic.