ng, as we sat together under the veranda discussing
the events of the day by the light of a glorious full moon, with Kit
sprawling as usual at my feet. My intention was to start next day with
Billy for a trip to the wreck, where I proposed to remain until I had
constructed the punt, which, I believed, could be done in something less
than a week.

Starting immediately after breakfast, taking with us the carpenter's
tool-chest, an ample supply of fruit and food, and of course Kit--who
could not possibly be permitted to roam Eden at large and be deprived of
our company for a whole week--the voyage was accomplished without
incident, and we arrived at the wreck early in the afternoon. We found
the old craft in every respect just as we had left her, excepting that
her cabins, having been securely closed during our absence, were
distinctly stuffy. This was soon remedied, however, by throwing back
the companion slide and opening the skylight and all the scuttles, after
which we filled in the remainder of the afternoon in making up the beds
in the state-rooms and preparing generally for our week's sojourn. When
all was done an hour or two of daylight still remained, which I utilised
by preparing a sketch of my proposed punt. She was to be five feet long
on her bottom, with a rising floor two feet long at each end, making her
nine feet long over all, with a beam of four feet, and sufficient
freeboard to enable her to carry two men safely in the tranquil waters
of the inner channels. Being flat-bottomed, flat-sided, and square-
ended, she was an easy model to build; there were no planks to be bent,
and as the wreck afforded abundant material, and as we did not aim at
such refinement of finish as was included in a coat of paint, we
completed our task during the afternoon of the fifth day, even to
putting her over the side into the water to "take up."

Leaving the wreck immediately after breakfast the next morning, with the
punt in tow, we arrived at our anchorage in Eden Cove about half an hour
before sunset, almost the whole of the passage being a beat to windward,
while the towage of the punt further retarded our progress. We,
however, found everything just as we had left it; and, although I think
we enjoyed the little change involved in living on the wreck, we were
glad to find ourselves once more "at home", particularly Kit, whose
rambles had been restricted to the deck of the ship, and who displayed
his delight at retu