Colymbia. Robert Ellis Dudgeon

to dispel it by shouting, by striking the boat with one of the preserved meat tins, by whistling, by singing; but when I ceased the silence seemed to be worse than before.

      I threw myself down in the stern of the boat, and for a while a feeling of apathy kept me still; but soon the thoughts of home, of my parents and friends, of the companions of my voyage, came over me, and I could remain quiet no longer.

      I looked into the dark blue water and felt a longing to spring overboard; but better thoughts prevailed, and I made a firm resolve to do nothing to cut short the life which had been so wonderfully preserved.

      I calculated how long my provisions would last me, and felt almost certain that before they were exhausted some ship would rescue me from my fearful situation.

      Three days passed in this way. The dead calm was not constant. Now and then a light breeze would spring up, producing a slight ripple on the surface of ​the sea. I would then hoist my sail, and keep it up until the last breath of wind had again died away.

      I took my meals at regular times, economising my store of provisions as much as was consistent with keeping up my strength, and most of the remainder of my time was spent in scanning the horizon in hopes of seeing a friendly sail.

      On the morning of the fourth day I thought I discovered some sign of land fax away in the north. It was but a speck, and might well be a cloud, but I was convinced that it must be land. Fortunately a gentle breeze rose, and as it continued to blow from the south, I hoisted my sail and steered straight towards the distant speck.

      The breeze was so slight that I made but slow progress. However, by noon the speck had grown a little larger and had assumed a more distinct form. I felt assured it must be the tops of some lofty, though still distant, mountains, towards which I was steering, and I reckoned that, at my present rate of progress, I should be close upon them in another twenty-four hours.

      Hope again took the place of despondency, but I experienced a sudden revulsion of feeling when I considered that the land before me might be one of those Pacific islands, inhabited by cannibals, who would probably give me, at my journey's end, a warmer welcome than would be agreeable. I soon dismissed this thought, when I remembered how many of these islands had been brought under the beneficent influences of Christianity and civilisation by the self-denying labours of our good missionaries.

      From the position of the sun at noon I guessed that I must be close upon the equator, and indeed the ​heat I had been exposed to ever since the cessation of the storm, was something not to be described. With no possibility of shelter in the open boat, I should have been thoroughly roasted, ready for eating in fact, by my friends the cannibals, by the time I reached their island. The only way in which I could keep myself at all cool was to empty a can of sea water over me every now and then.

      The sail, which had served to shelter me a little when there was no prospect of a breeze, was now constantly hoisted in order to catch a chance breath of air. The water all around me looked deliciously inviting, and I would have had no hesitation in springing into it, and taking a long swim in its clear depths, but that sundry ominous pointed membranes, that occasionally showed themselves above the surface, told me that I was followed by one or more gigantic white sharks, which would have been only too happy to welcome me into the water. So I thought that, on the whole, it was safer to take my chance of cannibals on the land, than to trust myself to the tender mercies of the hungry fishes that attended me so closely.

      Before the sun set I was able to make out that the land I was approaching so slowly consisted of an archipelago of islands apparently of a volcanic character; as a thin column of smoke ascended from one of the peaks into the clear air and spread out into a soft cloud at a great height in the blue sky. I could see that the lower parts of the land were dark with foliage, and I longed to reach its welcome shade, in which I might obtain shelter from the broiling heat that threatened to shrivel me up in my exposed situation. When the shades of night overtook me I could not sleep, such was my anxiety to hold my ​frail vessel to the right course, and my dread of losing the chance of a passing breath of wind.

      All night long I sat with the tiller-lines in my hands, straining my eyes into the gloom. An occasional glow from the burning crater served to cheer me and to keep my boat in the proper direction.

      When at last the sun arose above the eastern horizon, I was gratified to observe that I had made some progress during the night, and I was enabled to perceive that I was gradually approaching a beautiful group of islands, with bold outlines of lofty hills and a luxuriant vegetation extending almost to their summits.

      As no breath of air was stirring, I lowered my useless sail, and taking the oars in my hands, I began to row with all my might. Though a good oarsman, I could not keep up the exertion long, as the boat was large and the heat of the sun overpowering. However, with occasional spurts and long rests between, I managed to make some way, and every hour brought me perceptibly nearer to my destination. By noon I found myself so near the main island, that I could distinguish the shapes of the trees that fringed the water's edge.

      I now also perceived that a reef of rocks, just peering above the water, ran round the island at some miles' distance from the shore; and as I approached this I found that it formed a complete barrier to my farther progress. I skirted it at some distance in order to find an opening through which I might gain access to the inner waters. There were at uncertain intervals on the reef small patches of higher rock on which clumps of palm trees grew, but I could ​discover no gap in the rocky barrier. After spending some time in this search, I resolved to give it up and try to get my boat across a part of the barrier where it seemed lowest.

      I was rather astonished that there was no sign of human life on the waters in the inland sea, not a mast of a ship, nor even a boat or canoe of any description. I could not detect any buildings on the land; but the dense forest that clothed it might well conceal larger buildings than any likely to be reared by savages. The absence of shipping and sailing craft of every kind gave me an idea that the land was uninhabited.

      However, I resolved to penetrate if possible into the inner sea, if necessary by dragging my boat across the barrier, supposing the rising tide should not enable me to pass over it.

      Half an hour more of steady rowing brought the bow of my boat on to the reef. No sooner did the keel grate against the sunken coral than I was startled by a loud barking. Hastily turning to see whence the noise proceeded, I was astonished to observe a large seal floundering along the reef towards me. The ferocious aspect of the brute alarmed me, and I was about to shove off again to avoid its attack, when I perceived that it was tethered to the rock by a chain which was attached to a metal collar round its neck, and that in spite of its frantic efforts it could not come within some yards of my boat.

      It continued to bark violently, and I had scarcely time to wonder at the strange phenomenon of a tethered seal, when a new cause of astonishment presented itself.

      From the still clear water of the enclosed sea a man's head suddenly emerged. The head was ​surmounted by a sort of helmet, made of some shining material, and he wore a pair of spectacles which gave a very droll appearance to his dripping face.

      My surprise was no way lessened when this strange head hailed me with a sonorous "Hulloh!" I replied by repeating his salutation. "Hulloh!" I said.

      "Who are you, and where do you come from?" said the head.

      "I am the only survivor of a dreadful shipwreck," I replied, "and I beg you to help me to get my boat across this reef, that I may come to the land yonder."

      "All right, stranger," he replied, and forthwith he clambered up on the reef, and presently stood by my side. His clothing was of the scantiest, consisting only of short trousers, fastened round the waist with a broad and heavy-looking belt, and descending half way down the thigh like the bathing-drawers worn in England.

      With his assistance the boat was hauled up the reef and launched on the enclosed water. He refused my offer to get into the boat beside me, but plunged again into the water, and placing himself at the stern commenced to push the boat towards the land, whilst I assisted its progress with the oars. I thought to myself, if this is a fair specimen of the inhabitants of this country they must be uncommonly fond of