The survey was continued. One morning, after a fatiguing walk from point to point, occasionally crossing from one islet to the others in the boats, the party collected under a projecting rock, which screened them from the rays of the vertical sun, and the repast, which had been brought from the ship in the morning, was spread before them. The party consisted of Captain M—; Pearce, the master; the surgeon, who had accompanied them to explore the natural productions of the reef; and the confidential clerk of Captain M—, a man of the name of Collier, who had been many years in his service, and who was now employed in noting down the angles taken with the theodolite.
Tired with the labours of the morning, Captain M— did not rise immediately after their meal had been despatched, but entered into conversation with the surgeon, who was looking over the memoranda which he had made relative to the natural history of the reef.
“Do you intend to write a book, Mr Macallan, that you have collected so many remarks?”
“Indeed I do not, sir. I have no ambition to be an author.”
The clerk, who was very taciturn in general, and seldom spoke unless on points connected with his duty, joined the conversation by addressing the surgeon.
“It’s a service of danger, sir, and you must be prepared to meet the attacks both of authors and reviewers.”
“Of reviewers I can imagine,” replied Macallan; “but why of authors?”
“That depends very much whether you tread over beaten ground, or strike into a new path. In the latter case you will be pretty safe from both, as the authors will be indifferent and the reviewers, in all probability, incapable.”
“And why, if I enter upon a beaten track, which, I presume, infers a style of writing in which others have preceded me?”
“Because, sir, when a new author makes his appearance, he is much in the same situation as a strange dog entering a kennel preoccupied by many others. He is immediately attacked and worried by the rest, until, either by boldly defending himself or pertinaciously refusing to quit, he eventually obtains a domiciliation, and becomes an acknowledged member of the fraternity.”