TJie Frigate rec/ains the I.sland. 305 



was added, of the buried money had, in fact, been recovered. 

 According to Viot, the captain had dug up 1000 dollars 

 (above £;200), and one of his companions 300 dollars. 



At last, on the morning of 3rd December — the fifteenth 

 of our stay at the island — the sky shone so brightly that 

 one could, with more probability than hitherto, cherish the 

 hope that the various operations we had been compelled to lay 

 aside might finally be brought uninterrupted to a successful con- 

 clusion. However, the very wet day was again exceedingly 

 unfavourable for open-air observations, especially astronomical, 

 inasmuch as a pretty strong North-east wind incessantly drove 

 over the island clouds of rain, the very heaviest of which, 

 attracted by the mass of the island, broke right over our 

 head's. Fortunately this spell of bad weather did not last 

 as long as the first ; and when, on 6th December, the Novara 

 once more made her appearance at the island, and enquired by 

 signals as to the progress made in our appointed T^ork, 

 we were so fortunate as to be able to reply by the same means, 

 that the most important portion had been completed, and that 

 the officers and naturalists were ready to re-embark. 



About 9 A.M., the frigate anchored in 2.5 fathoms, close 

 to the spot where the English ship Fly^ Captain Blackwood, 

 lay in 1842. It was the third time that the Novara anchored 

 off St. Paul, Twice before had she experienced unusually 

 tempestuous weather, which compelled her to sheer off from 

 such a perilous coast, and expose herself to be lashed for days 

 together by the raging giant waves of the infuriated element. 



X 



