had been added. On the Orara he grew steadily weaker, and died somewhere
about 1851.

Basil Kendall was well educated, and had done what he could to educate
his children. After his death the family was scattered, and the two boys
were sent to a relative on the South Coast. The scenery of this district
made a profound impression upon Henry, and is often referred to
in his early poems. In 1855 his uncle Joseph took him as cabin boy
in his brig, the `Plumstead', for a two years' cruise in the Pacific,
during which they touched at many of the Islands and voyaged as far north
as Yokohama. The beauty of the scenes he visited lived
in the boy's memory, but the rigours of ship life were so severe
that in after years he looked back on the voyage with horror.

Henry Kendall returned to Sydney in March, 1857, and at once
obtained employment in the city and set about making a home for
his mother and sisters. Mrs. Kendall, granddaughter of Leonard McNally,
a Dublin notable of his day, was a clever, handsome woman
with a strong constitution and a volatile temperament.
Henry was always devoted to her, and considered that from her
he inherited whatever talent he possessed. She helped in his education,
and encouraged him to write verse.

The first verses of his known to have been printed were
"O tell me, ye breezes" -- signed "H. Kendall" -- which appeared in
`The Australian Home Companion and Band of Hope Journal' in 1859.
A number of other poems by Kendall appeared in the same magazine
during 1860 and 1861. But in a letter written years afterwards
to Mr. Sheridan Moore, Kendall says "My first essay in writing was sent to
`The Southern Cross' at the time you were sub-editor. You, of course,