86 I N A G U A 



hung everywhere. The mast was broken off just above the deck 

 and the bowsprit hung loosely at a peculiar angle. On one side 

 a great hole had been ground through the massive oak and a 

 large piece of branching coral was tightly wedged in this space. 

 I crawled through the open deck and found the interior a mass 

 of tangled timber and loose boards. There was nothing left of 

 the table, of our book racks or the bunks. Dimly in the half 

 light I could see the marks of axes around the bronze fittings of 

 the ports and elsewhere wherever there was any visible metal. 



Crawling out again I retrieved my bags and returned with 

 a box of matches. I piled a mass of small strips and splinters 

 at one end of the ruined cabin and another in the hold. Waiting 

 until the flames caught I moved forward in the flickering light 

 and set fire to the second heap. The heat soon drove me out 

 and I stood on the beach and watched the flames mount sky- 

 wards. The sun-dried wood caught quickly and turned the in- 

 terior into a brilliant mass of light. The beach was crimson for 

 yards around; in the glare the squat bodies of the ghost crabs, 

 surprised in their nocturnal wanderings, cast long flickering 

 shadows as they retreated or dived in their holes. 



On top of the bluff I solemnly watched my ship go up in 

 flames. The plankings burst one by one as the spikes charred 

 loose, casting showers of sparks, and fell smoking on the sand. 

 The deck boards caught all at once and crumbled together, 

 leaving only the stark outhnes of the ribs and beams. The tough 

 oak burned fiercely, crackling and exploding; the stout stem 

 and samson post were wrapped in sheets of flame, the massive 

 stern roared with the pressure of the wind and with the heat; 

 presently it collapsed and fell on the beach. The floor pieces 

 melted soon afterwards, dropping the ribs to the ground where 

 they lay in curved arcs of flame in a bed of glowing coals. 

 Gradually they dissolved into the general mass; the glare sub- 

 sided, grew faint; became dull cherry red and then a dim scat- 



