could reach, so that they might be less easily
recognisable as gold, and the risk I ran of being ultimately robbed of
them reduced in the same proportion. I also took a few of the pebbles
(as I thought them) out of the box; after which I set to work to cover
in the whole once more. I completed my task by burning down the timbers
which had at first attracted my attention (and which I found were a
portion of her stern frame), so that nothing remained above the surface
of the sand to betray the whereabouts of my treasure. I then carefully
marked the spot in such a manner that I could find it again; and
completed my preparations for departure with all speed.

"I had been at sea ten days, when I was taken ill. Whether it was the
effect of excitement or exposure I know not; but I fell into a raging
fever, which left me almost at the point of death. I was so weak that I
had not strength to crawl to the water-cask; and the feeble efforts I
made to reach it so exhausted me that at length I fell in a swoon to the
bottom of the boat. In this condition I was discovered by a passing
ship, the crew of which took me on board; but, as a smart breeze
happened to be blowing at the time, they would not wait to hoist in my
boat; and she was set adrift with enough gold on board her to have
purchased a principality.

"Regrets were useless, and the loss, heavy as it was, troubled me
little; I knew where to find sufficient to satisfy my utmost needs. At
length I reached home, and, by the merest accident, bethought myself one
day of my pebbles. I suspected they were valuable, or they would not
have been found where they were. Judge of my surprise when I learned
that the four I had left (for I lost the rest somewhere) were worth a
sufficient sum to enable me to do exactly what I wished; viz., buy a
ship of my own. I did so; and was on my way in her to my treasure-
island, when the gale sprung up which has reduced me to my present
condition.

"And now, senor, I am about to put _you_ in possession of such
information as will enable you to find my island. It is in latitude
about--South, and in longitude about--West, as nearly as I had the means
of ascertaining; and is uninhabited, and, I should say, unknown; for
during my entire stay there, I never observed one solitary sign of man's
foot having ever pressed the soil. You will readily recognise the
island from the fact that it has a remarkable isolated group of seven
cocoa-nut trees