e.

My companion and myself then entered into a long debate as to how we
were to remove the living animals from the dead; and she dwelt very
eloquently upon the great advantages that would accrue to us, if we
could succeed in transporting to the island the survivors.

After giving them a good feed, seeing we could not remove them at
present, we descended safely to our boat and gained the shore without
any accident. Then having housed our treasures, we were for putting
together a raft of the various planks and barrels that were knocking
against the rocks; but as I knew this would take a good deal of time, I
thought I would inspect the ship's boats, which, bottom upwards, were
drifting about within a few yards of us.

To our great satisfaction, one I ascertained to be but little injured,
and having forced her ashore, with our united exertions we turned her
over. In an hour we had made her water-tight, had picked up her oars,
and were pulling merrily for the wreck.

CHAPTER FORTY THREE.

Had the cows or horses been alive, they must have been left behind, for
we could not have removed them; but the smaller animals were with
comparatively little difficulty got on deck, and they descended with me
into the boat. We added a few things that lay handy, and in a few
minutes were laughingly driving our four-footed treasures on shore, to
the extreme astonishment of the gannets, which seemed as though they
would never cease to flap their wings, as their new associates were
driven by them.

In the same way we removed the most portable of the agricultural
implements, bed and bedding, cots and hammocks, furniture, the framework
of a house, preserved provisions of all kinds, a medicine-chest, boxes
of books, crates of china and glass, all sorts of useful tools, and
domestic utensils; in short, in the course of the next two or three
weeks, by repeated journeys, we filled every available place we could
find with what we had managed to rescue.

Then came another terrible storm that lasted two days, after which the
wreck having been broken up, was scattered in every direction. I
however managed to secure the driftwood, tubs, spars, and chests, which
were all got on shore, and proved of the greatest service to me some
time afterwards.

Numerous as our acquisitions had been in this way, both of us had been
infinitely better pleased had we been able to rescue some of the
ill-fated crew, to whom they had once belonged. But not