e've got to? there's no land here."

Mr Mackay said nothing, although he had his suspicions, which indeed
had led in the original instance to his remonstrance against the
captain's allowing the ship to rush on madly in the dark; but,
presently, as the light of morning illumined the eastern sky and we were
able to see the ship's position, a sudden cry of alarm and recognition
burst from both--

"The Pratas shoal!"

This was their joint exclamation; and, on the sun rising a little later
on, when the whole scene and all our surroundings could be better
observed, the wonder was that the Silver Queen was not in pieces and
every soul on board her drowned!

To explain our miraculous escape, I may mention that this shoal, which
Captain Gillespie and Mr Mackay so quickly named beyond question, was a
circular coral reef almost in the centre of the China Sea, and about a
hundred and thirty miles distant from Hongkong, absolutely in the very
highway of vessels trading east and west.

Breakers encircled it, showing their white crests on every side, the
sharp points of the coral composing the reef almost coming to the
surface of the water, while at some spots it was raised above it. In
these latter places it was covered with rank grass, exhibiting incipient
signs of vegetation; and, within the reef, inclosed by a lagoon some
three miles wide that went completely round it, lay a small island, on
which were several shrubs and a prominent tree on a slight elevation,
which will in process of time become a hill, whereon stood also the
remains of a pagoda, or Chinese temple, while pieces of wreck and
bleached bones were scattered over the shores. Of course we did not
notice all these things at first, but such was the result of our
subsequent observations and investigations.

As wild, desolate, and dreary a spot it was as ever anchorite imagined
or poet pictured; such, at all events, we all thought on looking at it
and realising the providential way in which our safety had been
effected.

It happened in this wise.

There were one or two breaks in the reef surrounding this desert isle,
as we could see from a link missing here and there in the chain of
breakers. This was especially noticeable towards the south-western
portion of the rampart the indefatigable coral insect had thrown up,
where an opening about double the width of the Silver Queen's beam was
plainly discernible. Through this fissure in the reef, piloted by that
po