e of the island
being principally with the American whalers, who take supplies of fresh
meat and vegetables, for which they barter manufactured goods, household
stuffs, and "notions."

During their visit, Fritz and Eric were hospitably entertained by the
old man Green at his cottage, which had three large rooms and was the
best in the place; and the roast pig which furnished the main dish of
the banquet was all the more toothsome, by reason of the long time the
brothers had been at sea and so deprived of fresh meat and those good
things of the land, to which they had grown somewhat accustomed during
their stay at the comfortable shanty on Narraganset Bay under Mrs
Brown's auspices.

Indirectly, too, Fritz found out a great deal about Inaccessible Island;
and, the more he heard, the more firmly rooted became his determination
to settle there. The seals, old Green said, were numerous enough; but,
he added that the islanders were only able to pay a short visit in
December every year, and so lost considerable chances of taking more of
them.

"Aha," thought Fritz, "we'll be there altogether, and so will have
opportunities for taking them all the year round. Tristaners, my good
people, look out for your sealskins and oil in future; we, crusoes, are
going into the business wholesale!"

When the brothers were rowed back to the ship in the evening--having
spent the entire day on the island in noticing what would be most useful
to themselves subsequently for the new life they were about to adopt--
the other Tristaners who had remained on board choosing goods returned
to the shore, promising to send the value of the articles they had
selected in beef and potatoes on the following morning. Before turning
in for the night, however, Captain Brown gave Fritz to read a newspaper
extract which he had posted into his logbook. This detailed the early
history of the little colony, and the gist of it was as follows:--

Although discovered as early as the year 1506 by d'Acunha, the first
comparatively modern navigator who visited the island was the captain of
an American ship--the _Industry_, a whaler sailing from Philadelphia--
who remained at Tristan from August, 1790, to April, 1791, his people
pitching their tents on almost the precise spot now occupied by the
settlement. At the time of this vessel's visit, it was mentioned that
there was plenty of wood of a small growth excellent for firewood; but
this Fritz noticed was not t