ble from the
crater, about a hundred miles to the south-west of us, and that they
were caught in the gale and blown out to sea. If so, they have been at
sea three whole nights and two days, drenched all the time with the
flying spray, buffeted with the wind, and labouring hard all the while
to keep their cockleshell of a craft afloat. And these islanders are
not very tough when it comes to facing prolonged exposure of that kind."

We got the catamaran round and headed her for the island, with the canoe
in tow, the carpenter having been thoughtful enough to light a fire on
the beach to serve as a guide to us; and a quarter of an hour later we
were ashore again, with Cunningham, Chips, and Sails tenderly lifting
five natives out of the half-swamped canoe and laying them on the sand,
close to the fire, while Murdock and I secured the catamaran. By the
time that we had done this, Cunningham had got to work upon the new
arrivals, in two of whom he found signs of life, while the other three
he pronounced doubtful. Then, under his directions, we each took a
body, which we proceeded vigorously to chafe and slap with our bare
hands, varying the treatment with occasional attempts to administer a
little stimulant, with the object of restoring the suspended circulation
of the blood; and eventually--not to dwell at unnecessary length upon
this episode--we succeeded in restoring two of them, but the remaining
three defied our utmost efforts, although we worked at them until late
into the night. Then, having bountifully fed the two survivors, we left
them to dispose of themselves as they would for the night, and retired
to our cavern.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

MOKALUA AND VATI.

When we turned out on the following morning our two resuscitated savages
were nowhere to be seen, and the bodies of the three dead had also
vanished; but a glance in the direction of the beach showed that they
were still somewhere on the island, for their canoe lay hauled up on the
sand, alongside the catamaran, where we had left her on the previous
night, and the prints of their naked feet on the sand indicated that
they had made some three or four journeys to the eastern extremity of
the bay. We therefore concluded that the two were performing the
obsequies of their departed companions, and made no endeavour to
discover their whereabouts, taking it for granted that they would
reappear when they had disposed of their dead to their satisfaction.
While