ve
that I should very soon have shared the fate of the unfortunate people
he spoke of.

The time passed quickly away, and hunger at last made us turn our steps
towards the spot where we had left the boat. We found that Johnny
Spratt had got some water boiling to make tea, and Tommy Bigg had
collected some shells, while the blacks had brought in some cocoa-nuts
and several other tropical fruits and roots whose names I do not
remember.

"Wait till turtle come, then plenty supper," they observed.

After supper, while the men smoked their pipes, Mr Henley and I,
followed by Solon, walked on to a rock from which we could watch the
proceedings in the next bay, which more directly faced the opening in
the reefs. We had not long to wait before we observed some black
objects slowly emerging from the water and crawling up the beach. We at
once guessed that they were turtle, and not knowing how long they might
be occupied on shore we hurried back to call the blacks to our
assistance. Solon was for dashing in at them at once, and I had some
little difficulty in restraining his impatience.

"Very good--no hurry--sure more come," was the answer of the blacks when
I told them what we had seen.

However they got up, and all the party set off towards the rock where
Mr Henley and I had been watching. By the time we got there the entire
line of beach from one side of the bay to the other was swarming with
turtle. It was now growing so dark that they could only just be
distinguished. Away we all ran armed with handspikes towards the shore.
Our appearance did not seem to create any commotion among them. We
watched the proceedings of the blacks. One of them seized a flapper,
while the other insinuated his handspike under the animal, and by a
sudden jerk turned her over. Mr Henley and I, and Spratt and Bigg did
the same, but we found that the blacks had turned three or four while we
could scarcely get over some of the smaller ones. We had another
companion who showed that he had no wish to be idle. As soon as we
began the onslaught on the creatures Solon commenced an attack on them
also. As he had no handspike to turn them over, all he could do was to
lay hold of their flappers, and to try to hold them till we came up;
many a severe knock on the nose, though, he got in the attempt as he
flew from one to another barking furiously. After some time I did not
hear him, and on looking about I found that at last he had resolved