subs. phr. (nautical).—1. A long wave rolling in from the ocean. 2. A settler on islands in the Pacific, living by means more or less reputable: comprising runaway seamen, deserters from whalers &c.: always in contempt. 3. A sea-shore loafer, one on the look-out for odd jobs. 4. A river boatman. 5. A wrecker, WATER-RAT (q.v.).
1835. R. H. DANA, Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, xix. In the twinkling of an eye I was transformed from a sailor into a BEACH-COMBER, and a hide-curer.
1847. HERMAN MELVILLE, Omoo, 109. A term “applied to certain roving characters, who, without attaching themselves permanently to a vessel, ship now and then for a short cruise in a whaler, but upon condition only of being honorably discharged the very next time the anchor takes hold of the bottom, no matter where they are. They are, mostly, a reckless, rollicking set, wedded to the Pacific, and never dreaming of ever doubling Cape Horn again on a homeward-bound passage. Hence their reputation is a bad one.”
1847. Blackwood’s Magazine, LXI., June, 757. A daring Yankee BEACH-COMBER, called Salem.
1880. The Athenæum, 18 Dec., 809, 2. The white scamps who, as ‘BEACH-COMBERS,’ have polluted these Edens and debauched their inhabitants are well portrayed.
1880. J. S. COOPER, Coral Lands, I., xx., 242. The BEACH-COMBING pioneers of the Pacific.
1885. A. LANG [Longman’s Magazine, VI., 417, note]. BEACH-COMBER is the local term for the European adventurers and long-shore loafers who infest the Pacific Archipelagoes. There is a well-known tale of an English castaway on one of the isles, who was worshipped as a deity by the ignorant people. At length he made his escape, by swimming, and was taken aboard a British vessel, whose captain accosted him roughly. The mariner turned aside and dashed away a tear: ‘I’ve been a god for months and you call me a (something alliterative) BEACHCOMBER!’ he exclaimed, and refused to be comforted.
