gantic cockle
was the only thing that presented. Of the shell of one they made a
kettle, to boil some junks of it in. (It may be necessary here to remark,
for the information of those who are not acquainted with it, that there
are some of them larger than three men can carry.) Of this coarse fare,
and some cocoa-nuts, they made shift, with the assistance of a good
appetite, to make a tolerable hearty supper; they then set the watch, and
went to sleep. They had thrown a large nut on the fire before they lay
down, and forgot it; but in the middle of the night, the milk of the
cocoa-nut became so expanded with the heat, that it burst with a great
explosion. Their minds had been so much engaged in the course of the day
with the enterprise they were employed in, expecting muskets to be fired
at them from every bush, that they all jumped up, seized their arms, and
were some time before they could undeceive themselves that they were
really not attacked.

In the morning the boats returned; and we were much concerned to hear
that they had seen nothing of the jolly-boat. The tender received a fresh
supply of provisions and ammunition; at the same time they had orders to
cruise in a certain direction, to look for the jolly-boat; and
Palmerston's Isles was appointed as a rendezvous to meet again. Lieut.
Corner now came on board, in a canoe not much bigger than a butcher's
tray. The cutter was sent a second time to search the reefs, but returned
without success. We then run down with the ship in the direction the wind
had blown the preceding day, in hopes of finding the boat; but after a
whole day's run to leeward, and working up again by traverses to the
isles, saw nothing of her. The tender hove in sight in the evening, and
we again searched the isles without success. All further hopes of seeing
her were given up, and we proceeded on our voyage. It may be difficult to
surmise what has been the fate of these unfortunate men. They had a
piece of salt-beef thrown into the boat to them on leaving the ship; and
it rained a good deal that night and the following day, which might
satiate their thirst. It is by these accidents the Divine Ruler of the
universe has peopled the southern hemisphere.[126-1]

Here are innumerable islands in perpetual growth. The coral, a marine
vegetable, with which the South Seas in every part abounds, is
continually shooting up from the bottom to the surface, which at first
forms lagoon islands; and the wate