"Captain Dillon learned that the things were brought from an island called Vanikoro, about two days' sail to leeward of Tucopia, and that the natives there had many articles of European manufacture, which were obtained from two ships that had been wrecked there long before.
[Illustration: HAT ISLAND, WEST OF VANIKORO.]
"Captain Dillon thought of La Pérouse, and of the reward which the French Government offered. Then he bought all the European articles which the natives of Tucopia possessed, and as soon as this was done he made sail for Vanikoro.
"When his ship was under way he carefully examined the sword-hilt with a magnifying-glass. There was a monogram so badly worn that the letters were indistinct, but he finally made it out 'J. F. G. P.'--the initials of the name Jean François Galaup de la Pérouse.
"He had found the hilt of the great navigator's sword!"
"And what did he find at Vanikoro?" said one of the youths, eagerly.
"Owing to contrary winds," the Doctor replied, "he was unable to visit the island at that time, and returned to Calcutta without doing so. He reported his discovery, and exhibited the sword-hilt and other relics; the East India Company fitted out a ship and placed it under his command, and he proceeded to Vanikoro, where he obtained a great many relics, including anchors, cannon, chains, and other heavy things, and learned from the natives the story of the wreck of the _Boussole_ and _Astrolabe_."
[Illustration: LOUIS XVI. AND LA PÉROUSE.]
"The ships went ashore in a severe gale. On one of them every one of the crew was drowned in the surf or killed by the natives. On the other, supposed to be the one commanded by La Pérouse in person, friendly terms were established with the people, and the crew were unharmed. They built a small vessel from the wreck of the larger one, and a part of them sailed away. They were never heard of afterwards; those who remained on the island died one after another, and it is supposed that the last survivor perished only a few months before the sword-hilt was found at Tucopia."
"The French Government kept its promise. It created him a chevalier of the Legion of Honor, gave him a life pension of four thousand francs, and appointed him consul to Tahiti, where he remained until the establishment of the protectorate over the Society Islands. Then he returned to England, and lived on his pension until his death in 1846."