e island with an abundance of pure, fresh water. In the
fertile valleys below grew bread-fruit and oranges in profusion and many
wild berries and vegetables excellent for food. They spent four days in
exploring the island, hoping to find some sort of inhabitants, but were
disappointed. Goats, foxes and a species of gray squirrel were the
principal animals on the island. None were very dangerous; but the foxes
proved to be mischievous thieves, and stole all of their provisions they
could come at. Stevens began an early war against them, and shot them
wherever they could be found.

Far to the north were two more islands evidently not so large as the one
on which they were cast. Dangerous reefs lay between them and all about
the three islands, making navigation difficult if not impossible.

Blanche bore the journey well and did not give way to despair even when
they discovered that they were on an uninhabited island. For her sake
Stevens kept up a show of courage, though he found despair rising within
his breast.

"We must get the provisions and tools from off the wreck," he said, "and
make our stay here as comfortable as possible.

"How long will that stay be?" she asked.

"God in heaven alone can tell."

"Surely some passing ship will see us."

He hoped so; but that reef-girt shore seemed to forbid the approach of a
vessel. Nevertheless he set up long poles with flags on them at
different points of the island, so that a passing ship might see them
for miles out to sea.

Then he began the work of unloading the wreck. There was an inlet or
mouth of a creek not far from the place where they first landed, and,
constructing a raft on the wreck and loading it with arms, provisions,
ammunition and tools, they took advantage of the tide to float it in to
shore. This was repeated daily for weeks. Clothing, sails, provisions of
all kinds, half a hundred guns and as many pistols and cutlasses, with
other weapons, tools, books, writing material, and, in fact, everything
that could possibly be of service was brought off from the wreck. They
were favored with mild weather, and John, soon learning to take
advantage of the tides, had no difficulty in landing the goods.

The shore was strewn with boxes, barrels, arms, bales and piles of
goods, with tools, provisions, rafts and broken bits of lumber, for he
decided to bring away as much of the wreck as he could, for the boards
would be very useful in the construction of houses.