ad of ever got fire in
this way.

Up to this time I had not built myself a shelter of any kind. At night I
simply slept in the open air on the sand, with only my blankets round me.
One morning I was able to get out of the vessel some kegs of precious
water, a small barrel of flour, and a quantity of tinned foods. All
these, together with some sails, spars, and ropes, I got safely ashore,
and in the afternoon I rigged myself up a sort of canvas awning as a
sleeping-place, using only some sails and spars.

Among the things I brought from the ship on a subsequent visit were a
stiletto that had originally been given to me by my mother. It was an
old family relic with a black ebony handle and a finely tempered steel
blade four or five inches in length. I also got a stone tomahawk--a mere
curio, obtained from the Papuans; and a quantity of a special kind of
wood, also taken on board at New Guinea. This wood possessed the
peculiar property of smouldering for hours when once ignited, without
actually bursting into flame. We took it on board because it made such
good fuel.

As the most urgent matter was to kindle a fire, I began experiments with
my two weapons, striking the steel tomahawk against the stone one over a
heap of fluffy material made by unravelling and teasing out a piece of
blanket. Success attended my patient efforts this time, and to my
inexpressible relief and joy I soon had a cheerful fire blazing alongside
my improvised shelter--and, what is more, I took good care _never to let
it go out during the whole lime I remained a prisoner on the island_. The
fire was always my first thought, and night and day it was kept at least
smouldering by means of the New Guinea wood I have already mentioned, and
of which I found a large stock on board. The ship itself, I should
mention, provided me with all the fuel that was required in the ordinary
way, and, moreover, I was constantly finding pieces of wreckage along the
shore that had been gathered in by the restless waves. Often--oh!
often--I reflected with a shudder what my fate would have been had the
ship gone down in deep water, leaving me safe, but deprived of all the
stores she contained. The long, lingering agony, the starvation, the
madness of thirst, and finally a horrible death on that far-away strip of
sand, and another skeleton added to that grisly pile!

The days passed slowly by. In what part of the world I was located I had
not the remotest idea