l, and the visit to the Salvages was only an incident, so the search
was abandoned after four days. In all probability, the treasure of the
Salvages is still in its hiding-place, and any adventurous young
gentlemen seeking a field of operations will do well to consult for
themselves the documentary evidence of Captain Hercules Robinson and
Christian Cruse, as filed among the records of the British Admiralty
Office.

Trinidad is a much more difficult island to explore than any of the
Salvages group. In fact, this forbidding mass of volcanic rock is a
little bit of inferno. It is sometimes impossible to make a landing
through the surf for weeks at a time, and when a boat makes the attempt
in the most favorable circumstances, the venture is a hazard of life
and death. As a vivid summary of the aspect of this lonely treasure
island, I quote from Mr. Knight, because he is the only man who has
ever described Trinidad at first hand:

"As we neared it, the features of this extraordinary place could
gradually be distinguished. The north side, that which faced us, is
the most barren and desolate portion of the island, and appears to be
utterly inaccessible. Here the mountains rise sheer from the boiling
surf,--fantastically shaped of volcanic rock; cloven by frightful
ravines; lowering in perpendicular precipices; in places overhanging
threateningly, and, where the mountains have been shaken to pieces by
the fires and earthquakes of volcanic action, huge landslips slope
steeply in the yawning ravines,--landslips of black and red volcanic
debris, and loose rocks large as houses, ready on the slightest
disturbance to roll down, crashing, into the abysses below. On the
summit of the island there floats almost constantly, even on the
clearest day, a wreath of dense vapor, never still, but rolling and
twisting into strange shapes as the wind eddies among the crags. And
above this cloud-wreath rise mighty pinnacles of coal-black rock, like
the spires of some gigantic Gothic cathedral piercing the blue southern
sky. It would be impossible to convey in words a just idea of the
mystery of Trinidad. The very coloring seemed unearthly, in places
dismal black, and in others the fire-consumed crags are of strange
metallic hues, vermilion red and copper yellow. When one lands on its
shores, this uncanny impression is enhanced. It bears all the
appearances of being an accursed spot, whereupon no creatures can live,
save the hideou