my companion, who was still at work on the raft, relashing its timbers
wherever needed.

In a couple of hours I had made quite a decent pair of paddles, each
about four feet in length, and with four inches of blade in the widest
part. Then Yorke, having finished with the raft, went with me along the
beach, and collected some old coconuts for food, and some young ones to
drink, for, as my comrade observed, one never knew what might happen,
and it would be as well to have some provisions all ready to hand in
case of emergency. There were still thousands of dead fish to be
seen everywhere lying on the sand, cast up among the _debris_ above
high-water mark, but these were now turning putrid, and of no use.

We had noticed a huge banyan tree not far distant from our sleeping
place, which was the roosting and breeding place of a vast number of
whale birds, so Yorke proposed that we should go there and see if we
could kill some by hurling sticks at them. We had often seen this done
by the natives ot the western Caroline Islands, for the birds are very
stupid, and allow themselves, when not on the wing, to be approached
quite closely. We cut ourselves each a half-dozen of short, heavy
throwing-sticks of green wood, and set out for the rookery, and within
an hour had killed thirty or forty of the poor birds, some of which we
at once picked, cleaned, and roasted. We had no lack of salt, for every
rock and shrub above high-water mark on the weather side of the
island was covered with a thin incrustation of it, caused by the rapid
evaporation of the spray under a torrid sun. The remainder of the birds
we cooked later in the day, intending them as a stand-by.

In the afternoon we again bathed, this time in the lagoon, and Yorke,
who was one of the strongest and swiftest swimmers, for an European,
that I had ever seen, succeeded in capturing a turtle which was lying
asleep on the surface of the water, and brought it ashore; but it proved
to be so old and poor that we let it go again in disgust.

Towards the close of the day we again crossed the islet to have a better
look at the New Britain shore, the heavy mist which had hung over it
most of the day having now vanished. That the native owners of the
plantations would put in an appearance before many days had passed I was
certain, for they would be anxious to see what damage had been done by
the hurricane, and no doubt dig up some of the taro, which, as I have
said, was fully gro