, and being without any effectual shelter, two or
three days of bad weather would have cost some of us our lives. The
nights were dry and mild, and no dew seemed to fall upon the islet:
thanks to this genial weather, and to abundance of nourishing food, we
began rapidly to recover strength.

Some time passed before we thought of making any attempt to penetrate or
explore the island. We were, naturally, very reluctant to admit even to
ourselves, the probability that our stay upon it was to be of any long
duration; and we did not therefore feel as much interest in its
character and resources as we should otherwise have done. All our
thoughts and hopes ran in one channel. We looked for the coming of a
ship to rescue us from our dreary position; and every morning and
evening, at least, and generally many times a day, some one of us
climbed into the tuft of an inclining palm, to take a careful survey of
that portion of the ocean, which could be seen from our side of the
island. The thought of acting in any respect as though the lonely spot
where we now found ourselves was destined to be our permanent abode, was
in fact too painful and repugnant to our feelings to be willingly
entertained; we were content therefore, to provide for our daily wants
as they arose, without anticipating or preparing for the future.

A few days passed in this unvaried and monotonous routine, seemed in
reality a long period; recent occurrences began to assume the vagueness
of things that had happened years ago. I remember particularly, that,
in looking back at the dreadful scenes of the mutiny, and our subsequent
sufferings at sea, the whole seemed unreal, and more like a horrible
dream, than an actual part of our past experience.

We soon found that this inert and aimless mode of living--this state of
passive expectation, while awaiting the occurrence of an event which we
could do nothing to procure or hasten, was a most miserable one: though
our physical strength was in a great measure recruited, there was no
increase of cheerfulness. Except when engaged in procuring food, or
making our daily surveys of the ocean, (which was all our occupation),
we were dispirited and listless.

Arthur perceived the evil of this state of things, and set himself to
devising a remedy.

We had been at the island about two weeks, when he proposed, one
morning, that we should go over to the mainland and commence a search
for water, making an excursion a lit