The danger was now past, but we had to undergo immense fatigue before we
got back to the boat.

We had intended calling on board the whaler, to pay another visit to
Captain Hudson, but the lateness of the hour compelled our return to the
ship. I was much disappointed, as I hoped to see the young lady by
whose appearance I had been so much struck the previous day; but I
consoled myself with the expectation of being able to go on board the
next morning.

During the night, however, the gale completely ceased; and when I came
on deck I saw the whaler under all sail standing out of the harbour,
with the wind off the land. We followed, but did not again get near
enough to communicate with her. We stood some distance off the coast,
and then continued our course to the northward.

Very frequently, afterwards, did the image of that fair young girl recur
to my memory, though she did not appear to have made so much impression
on Peter Mudge; but he sometimes spoke of the captain's wife, and seemed
to sympathise with her on the loss of her child, though it had happened
so long ago.

The peaks of the Cordilleras again came in sight, at a distance of a
hundred and fifty miles, long before the shore at the base of the mighty
range was visible--one of them, Aconcagua, rising to an elevation of
upwards of 23,000 feet above the ocean. We touched at Valparaiso; which
might, we agreed, possibly be a paradise for fleas, but certainly not
for human beings of good taste. The climate is fine,--of that I have no
doubt,--but the surrounding country is sterile and monotonous, the
vegetation just then on the hills consisting of half-withered cacti,
though in the valleys and the plains to the left of the town we saw
groves of fruit trees and flowering shrubs. I can best describe the
place by saying that it is divided by two deep ravines into three hills,
sprinkled over with whitewashed houses; the hills are called fore-top,
main-top, and mizen-top.

Sailing from thence, during my watch one morning I heard a cry of "Land
ahead!" I looked out, but nothing like land could I see.

"We shall get sight of it before long from the deck," observed Mudge,
"if we keep our eyes open."

The ship, as she glided onward, rose and sank with the swell of the
ocean; and presently, as she rose, I caught sight of what appeared to be
a fleet of vessels at anchor. The next instant they had disappeared;
but as she rose on the next swell I again caught