oat, in which as usual Ned and
Bell were to pull. Our jolly-boat, under the charge of the boatswain,
with Blyth, was also to come, and Captain Bingley agreed to accompany us
in his long boat with a well-armed crew of six hands. We should thus
muster pretty strong, and we might hope should the natives not prove
friendly to keep them in awe. At daylight the following morning we
started on our expedition. As there was a light breeze in our favour we
were able to make sail, and to run down the coast, keeping within half a
mile of the shore. It was generally rock-bound, but here and there were
sandy bays, beyond which appeared a dense vegetation, a number of lofty
trees rising above the brushwood. Sometimes we caught sight of bright
streams making their way to the ocean, showing that the land was well
watered. In the distance rose hills, many of considerable elevation,
covered with trees almost to their summits. Altogether the country had
a most attractive appearance. We wished that it could become the abode
of civilised people, instead of the debased savages who were now said to
inhabit it. After we had stood on for about twenty miles we began
eagerly to look out for the wreck, but dark rocks alone met our view,
some at a considerable distance from the land, others apparently joined
to it.

"I fear that Captain Bingley must, after all, have been mistaken, for I
see no signs of the wreck," I observed.

"We will stand on to the southward, however; he may easily have been
deceived as to distance," answered Uncle Jack.

We had run on another mile or more when, looking back, I saw an object
which seemed to me like the shattered hull of a ship. It had been
previously hidden by the rocks along which we were coasting, and in a
few minutes it would again have been concealed by a high ledge.

"Can that be the wreck?" I exclaimed, pointing it ought to Uncle Jack.

"No doubt about it," he answered, and he hailed Captain Bingley and
Crowfoot.

We lowered our sails, and held a consultation as to how we could best
approach the wreck, for such all hands agreed that it was. Uncle Jack
accounted for the probability of its not having been seen by passing
prahus, by its being concealed by the ledge, although visible over it
from the mast-head of a ship. As there appeared to be an opening
between the northern and southern ledges with clear water, Uncle Jack
proposed to pull in, while the other boats, should he discover a
pa