e farther, until we
had arrived within half a mile of the two headlands, which, I now saw,
were about a quarter of a mile apart, and then gave the order: "Hard
down with your helm, and let her come head to wind!" closely followed
by: "Let run your topsail halyards!" and the next moment, with a
screaming of sheaves and a rattle of parrals, the three topsail yards
slid down the topmasts and brought up with a thud upon the caps, to the
accompaniment of a jubilant cheer from the crowd on deck. Then, a
minute later, when the ship had lost her way, followed the order: "Let
go your anchor!" succeeded by a yell from the carpenter of "Stand clear
of the cable!" a few clinking strokes of a hammer, the sudden plunging
splash of the anchor into the placid waters of the lagoon, and the
rattling roar of the cable through the hawse-pipe. Chips snubbed her
with the twenty-five fathom shackle just inside the hawse-pipe, the
depth of water alongside being a deep five fathoms, and then the men
sprang into the rigging and laid out on the bowsprit to furl the
topsails and fore topmast staysail.

Then, turning myself about with my face toward the stern of the ship, I
seated myself comfortably in the crosstrees and, once more bringing the
telescope into action, proceeded again to subject the island to a
searching scrutiny. We were now so close to it that, had there been
human beings upon it, I could scarcely have failed to detect some
indication of their presence; but, search as I would, no sign of life,
save that of birds, could I discover. I therefore finally came to the
conclusion that, strange as it might be, this lovely island was actually
uninhabited, and, therefore, in that respect, perfectly suited to the
experiment which Wilde and his disciples were about to attempt upon it.
Nor did it appear less suited in other respects. Its size was ample;
its fertility indisputable, and apparently exuberant. Glimpses of tiny
rivulets of water could be caught, here and there, flashing and
sparkling through its glades; there appeared to be no noxious animals
upon it to endanger life; and, so far as beauty was concerned, the place
seemed to be a perfect Eden, the woods being gay with flowering shrubs
and trees, that everywhere diversified the innumerable shades of green
with great splashes of vivid and gorgeous colour. Nor could much fault
be found with the climate, for, although the island lay well within the
tropics, the constant sea breeze