"Marine Cane"

This was a last minute order for a Christmas present that I finally completed after the third attempt. I need to try and remember that I don't have a lot of success carving detailed work into end grain! The carving looked great until I applied a finish and then it looked awful. I tried some things to fix it and again it looked great until I applied a finish. It was just too dark. So I decided to do a little scrimshaw work on some palm ivory (tagua nut), which seemed appropriate for a Marine. I've had several people suggest that I try adding contrasting spacers to my canes, so this is somewhat of an attempt to try that! I like the way it turned out, finally! The handle is walnut and the shaft is Bradford pear with the bark on. Thanks for looking and comments and advice or critiques are always appreciated!