go I N A G U A 



his own. Except for the wooden floor ours was not unlike the 

 barest cave, for only the thickness of coral walls and the thin- 

 ness of thatch kept us away from nature itself. No draft nor 

 winter's gale eddying about the mouth of a stone age refuge 

 gave more the sense of nearness to the elements than the un- 

 ceasing dirge of the trade winds that pressed at our shutters and 

 whistled about the palmetto leaves on the roof. At night, par- 

 ticularly, these wind-sounds seemed to increase in tenor; the 

 darkness seemed filled with a great unrelenting force that tore 

 ever on into the west. 



But primitive as it was it soon became home. From the vast 

 accumulation of wreckage which we piled in a heap near the 

 door we sorted out those things essential to our basic comforts: 

 an oil lantern, two cots, blankets, the remaining books, our 

 instruments, writing paper and tobacco. The rest we covered 

 with a canvas to keep where it was. When, after a long day 

 exploring the jungle, plodding the gleaming beaches or observ- 

 ing the movements of some animal that had claimed our atten- 

 tion, we saw in the last rays of the afternoon sun the diminutive 

 white walls of our house it was always with a sigh of relief. 

 Here at last was surcease from weary limbs, shade from the hot 

 sun, food for empty stomachs and forgetful sleep. The primal 

 man, on marking the dark hole that was his shelter, must have 

 breathed an identical sigh. 



As soon as we were established I sat down to one of the most 

 difficult tasks I have ever undertaken. It was the unpleasant 

 necessity of writing letters to all those who had placed faith 

 in us explaining that we had failed. Day after day, on the excuse 

 that there was no way of maihng a letter, I had put the task 

 aside. But one clear morning a sail hove over the horizon to 

 the north. It was the out-island schooner which called for a 

 few hours once every fortnight and then left the island again 

 to its solitude. This schooner, an infrequent call by a Dutch 



