bably while the feeling of disappointment is
rankling in his mind, and the traveller averts his gaze from Sumatra as
altogether a delusion and a snare, that he obtains his first glimpse of
the opposite shore to the left hand, and sees the romantic island of
Java appearing simultaneously from the waves and from the clouds. As he
looks at the vast panorama of jagged peaks--some of them, perhaps,
emitting a thin, scarcely-visible thread of vapour, his train of thought
may wander to the thrilling fireside tale of how the despairing Dutch
criminals used to rush, inclosed in leathern hoods, across the "Poison
Valley," to gather the deadly drippings from the terrible Upas-tree.

But none of these thoughts occurred to those on board the _Hankow Lin_
as she neared the straits and the group of islands; for, in the first
place, the terrible earthquake of Krakatoa which has so convulsed the
face of nature in the vicinity, had not then occurred, and, secondly,
instead of the fabled Upas-tree being uppermost in their minds, all were
thinking, with a far keener apprehension, of the much more deadly
"pirates of the isles," who were reported to haunt the channel-way and
rendezvous in the neighbourhood, just keeping out of the reach of the
men-of-war cruising in search of them, so as to pounce on unwary
merchantmen whenever they had the chance.

Towards sunset on the same day that the captain had remarked on their
being close to the Thousand Islands, the nor'-east monsoon, which had
accompanied the vessel so far, suddenly failed, and the wind shifted to
the southward and westward. A strange sail was sighted--not ahead, but
coming up astern, and gaining on them fast as if in pursuit, although
the light failed before they could distinctly make her out.

The captain had a conference on the poop; and after dark, as the breeze
came stronger from the south, the ship's course was altered, she running
off at right angles to her former direction, as if bearing up for
Singapore, while a strict watch was kept all night on deck.

Morning broke at last, after some eight hours of anxiety, and Bill the
boatswain, on the forecastle, took a keen look round the horizon with
the first appearance of the dawning light, as Captain Morton was doing
on the poop.

Gradually the haze cleared up from the water in widening circles, and as
the sun rose and the horizon cleared still further off, there, some five
miles astern, and going quite as fast as themselv