,"
he answered.

Mr McDonald replied, that he could not but say that this was the case,
but that the lad had accompanied them, and they felt themselves
answerable for his safe return.

The captain, however, would not listen, but continued shouting out his
orders to the men, who obeyed them with more alacrity than usual.

I could not help thinking that they rejoiced at having thus easily got
rid of Mark. For my own part I regretted not having run away also, and
shared his fate, whatever that might have been. Had the distance not
been so great, I should, even now, have jumped overboard and tried to
join him. But the attempt would have been equivalent to suicide, and I
dared not make it.

Away stood the ship out of the harbour, leaving my old friend all alone
on the desert island. I pictured to myself his horror and
disappointment at not seeing me; the miseries and hardships he might
endure for want of food and companionship, and his too probable early
death. I went about my duty in a disconsolate mood. I had now no
friend to talk to. Not one of the men appeared to pity me. Even Julius
Caesar uttered no word of comfort. We soon lost sight of the Falkland
Islands and shaped a course to round Cape Horn. The ship was now
surrounded by albatrosses, penguins, and pintado birds. Several were
shot, and others taken with a hook and bait. An enormous albatross was
thus hauled in, and being brought on deck fought bravely for some time
before it could be killed.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

South Sea whaler--I write a letter home, and how far it got on its way
there--The Earl of Lollipop--Mr McTavish saves me from a flogging--My
prospects somewhat improve--Another storm--We lose another man--A
struggle for life--Tierra del Fuego--Cape Horn--In the Pacific--The
coast of Patagonia, and how we nearly got wrecked--Juan Fernandez--
Robinson Crusoe's Island--I again determine to run away, but am
prevented by an offer I receive--"Shark! Shark!"--A narrow escape--
Valparaiso--Callao--Paita--The Sandwich Islands--The king and his
court--Royal guests--Some queer dishes--Pooah--Am again prevented from
deserting--Columbia River at last--A glimpse of freedom--A farewell
dinner--An untoward incident--Once more a prisoner--My captors' fears
my only safety--My friends give up the search--At sea again--My
release--"Dis curious ship."

We had left the island for some days, when we fell in with a
homeward-bo