ronounced excellent.

By the time they had finished their meal, all the water had run out of
the boat, and the sand was sufficiently dry to enable them to convey
their stores on shore. Having completed this, and covered them with
tarpaulin to prevent damage from the broiling sun, their next task was
to turn her over and examine her bottom. It took the united strength of
the four to accomplish this; but it had no sooner been done, than it
became evident that it would be useless to bestow further trouble upon
her. The first concussion had merely loosened her timbers, but the
second had broken a large hole in the bottom; which it was beyond their
powers of carpentry to repair, even had they possessed all the necessary
tools.

"Thank God she didn't strike on that sharp rock the first time,"
exclaimed Lavie, as he saw the fracture; "we should not be standing
here, if she had."

"Why, we can all swim, Mr Lavie, and it was not more than a quarter of
a mile from land," observed Gilbert, surprised.

The doctor made no reply, but he pointed out to sea where the black fins
of more than one shark were visible above the surface.

Nick shuddered and turned pale, and all present again offered an inward
thanksgiving.

"Well," resumed Frank, after a few moments' silence, "what is to be
done, then? I suppose it is pretty certain that she will never float
again."

"Well, not certain, Frank," suggested Warley. "There may be some
fishermen--settlers, or natives--living about here, and they of course
would have boats, and would therefore be able to repair ours. The best
thing will be to make search in all directions, and see if we can
discover anywhere a fisherman's hut."

"I am afraid there's not much chance of that, Ernest," said Wilmore.
"If there were any fishermen about here, we should see their boats, or
any way their nets, not to say their cottages; for they would be
tolerably sure to live somewhere near the beach."

"The boats might be out to sea, and the nets on board them," suggested
Gilbert, "and the huts may be anywhere--hidden behind those hillocks of
sand, perhaps."

"So they may, Nick," observed Mr Lavie, "though I fear there is no very
great chance of it. It is worth trying for, at all events. Look here,
one of us had better go along the shore to the right, and another to the
left, until they get to the end of the bay. From thence they will, in
all likelihood, be able to see a long way along the coast, a