mpty-handed after each dive, and pronouncing the bottom to be _oge_,
_i.e._, poverty-stricken as regarded shell. But we made one rather
pleasing discovery, which was that the lagoon contained a vast number
of green turtle. We could see the creatures, some of them being of great
size, swimming about beneath the boat in all directions. It at once
occurred to me that I should let Guest know, for we were getting short
of provisions on board the _Fray Bentos_, and had been using native
food--pork, yams, and taro, to eke out our scanty store. Here, now, was
an opportunity of getting a supply of fresh meat which would last us for
a couple of months or more; as we could easily stow eighty or a hundred
turtle on board, and kill one or two every day as required. We always
carried with us a heavy turtle-net, made of coir fibre, which I had
bought two years before in the Tokelau Group. But, first of all, I
consulted with our native crew as to whether we could dispense with the
net by remaining on the island all night and watching for the turtle to
come ashore.

They all assured me that we should get none, or at best but few, as it
was not the laying season.

"Very well," I said, "go off to the ship, and tell the captain that
there is no pearl-shell here, but plenty of turtle. Ask him if he will
let you have the turtle-net, so that we can set it across the mouth of
the passage as soon as it becomes dark; and tell him we shall come
off again by midnight if he does not care about our staying till the
morning; but that as we are pretty sure to get a lot of turtle, he had
better send the longboat as well."

Yorke, at first, intended to go off again to the _Francesca_, but I told
him I was so sure that Guest would come to an anchor when he heard about
the turtle, that he (Guest) would be sure to tell Napoleon and the other
men on board the cutter to do the same. "In fact," I added, "a supply
of turtle will be a God-send to us, and the skipper will not mind, I am
sure, if we stay here for a couple of days, under the circumstances."

We pulled ashore to a little sandy beach, and Yorke and myself, taking
our rifles, ammunition, and a few biscuits each, got out, the native
crew at once starting off again for the ship, pulling as hard as they
could, for they were eager to return with the turtle-net and enjoy
themselves as only South Sea Islanders and other of Nature's children do
when fishing.

About an hour after the boat had gone, we s