r this discovery, as he was under the
impression that the bay on the shore of which he stood was completely
hemmed in by the reef; and he was fully aware that if such had been the
case the smooth water inside would be quite free from sharks, as these
pests never voluntarily pass through broken water. Their presence,
therefore, pointed to the probability that although he had been unable
to detect such a circumstance, there must somewhere be a channel through
the reef.

The sight of the sharks effectually put an end to his project of
swimming off to the wreck, and he at once began to look about him for
the means of forming such a raft as would enable him to make the trip in
safety. There was plenty of timber lying strewed about the beach, but
he had no nails or tools of any description, except his axe, with which
to construct the raft. Under these circumstances the matter required a
little thinking out; and whilst deliberating upon his best mode of
proceeding, he sauntered along the beach on the look-out for suitable
materials. He had been walking slowly along for a distance of about a
mile when his quick eye detected certain objects lying on the sand which
he instinctively divined to be human corpses, and, making his way to
them, he found he was not mistaken. There they lay--seven of them--just
as they had been washed ashore, dead, after their last ineffectual
struggle with the merciless sea. Three of them were fully clothed; the
remaining four were clad only in their shirts, which seemed to indicate
that they had leaped from their hammocks, upon some sudden alarm, and
rushed upon the deck, to be almost immediately swept overboard. The
bodies were in a most revolting condition, from the combined effects of
the sun and the attacks of the sea-birds and land-crabs, the latter of
which swarmed upon the beach in thousands. It was difficult to judge
accurately how long a period had elapsed since death had overtaken these
unfortunates; but from their appearance Gaunt believed that it could not
have been many weeks. It was a sad sight to look upon, especially for a
man in his situation; and he hastened to remove it by roughly sharpening
a fragment of plank with his axe and scooping shallow graves in the
sand, into which he rolled the bodies and hastily covered them up.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

A VISIT TO THE WRECK.

This shocking discovery diverted his thoughts for a short time from his
original project; but, having