ent, the mate leading, the men often unwilling to proceed till
he uttered a few words of encouragement. At last the sun's rays,
bursting out from between the clouds, fell on some green grass which
clothed the side of a hill before us. It was a welcome sight; and still
more welcome was the sight of a herd of cattle which appeared before us
as we got clear of the burnt district. It was important not to frighten
them. We advanced carefully, the two men with lassoes leading, hiding
ourselves among rocks and bushes, and keeping to leeward of the herd.
To our great satisfaction, the animals as they fed moved on towards us.
Suddenly the men with the lassoes threw them round the neck of a cow,
the nearest animal to us. We sprang forward, laying hold of the ends,
one party hauling one way, one the other. In spite of all her violent
struggles, we had her fast, and one of the men, rushing in, hamstrung
her, and she was in our power. This capture raised our spirits, for we
felt sure that we should never want food on the island, as we might
catch the oxen in pitfalls if not with lassoes. The mate was asked how
he came to suppose that there were cattle on the island.

"`Just because a shipmate, in whose word I could trust, told me he had
seen them,' was the answer. `What better reason for believing a thing
would you require?'

"We camped where we were, and the South American showed us how to cut up
the heifer and to dry the meat in the sun, so that we had as much pure
meat as each of us could carry. As our companions had enough food for
some days longer, the mate wished to see more of the island before
returning. We saw several large herds of cattle, which fed on the long
grass covering the face of the country, which was generally undulating.
We were several days away, and as we caught sight of the flagstaff, we
thought of the pleasure the supply of meat we had brought would afford
our companions. We saw the tents, but no one came to meet us. We
shouted, but there was no shout in return. We feared that they might be
ill, or even dead. We reached the tent, but no one was within; we
looked about, we could find no one. The mate was looking seaward. He
pointed to the offing, where, sinking below the horizon, the white sail
of a ship was seen. It was more than probable that our shipmates had
gone in her, but whether with their own will or carried off by force we
could not conjecture. Some of the men were very angry, but