112 CRUISING. 



home in the boat gave us no longer any room to doubt that there 

 had been a tolerably good sized wreck somewhere. There were 

 iron and copper bolts, hinges, bits of rope, a bed sacking, a box of 

 books, a long pipe, a blacking brush, and any amount of small ma- 

 terial that had been picked up around the shores of the islands, but 

 what presented the most substantial evidence of the disaster was a 

 genuine barrel of flour, superfine extra. The men were full of news. 

 The islands swarmed with deal boards and logs everywhere. Oak 

 and pine lay about in confusion. Here was then at least an an- 

 swer to one of our questions. There had been a shipwreck to the 

 westward ; how far as yet we did not know, and the lumber, of which 

 the cargo must have been largely if not wholly composed, lay 

 around us, and could be had not for the asking, but for the pick- 

 ing up. 



The boat soon unloaded, and the men provided with their din- 

 ners ; we then began to look about us, and prepare for another 

 cruise, to find out, if possible, where the wreck was. We were soon 

 ready, and getting into the boat started on our expedition. Know- 

 ing that the wreck was to the west, as the drift of the logs and deal 

 was from that direction, we made up our minds to stop that night (as 

 it was nearly night when we started off) at the house of a neighbor, 

 about four miles up the coast. It was now nearly dark, the wind 

 had gone down, and, much against our wills, we were compelled to 

 take down sail and row. Three stout fellows at the oars, however 

 much the swell might take the boat, were more than a match for 

 the waves, and she spun along at least seemingly fast, until we had 

 rounded the corner of the bay, and come into still rougher waters. 



We passed one or two boats, and thought little of it at the time ; 

 we afterwards found that they were on the same errand as ourselves. 

 After a couple of hours of hard struggling at the oars, we came in 

 sight of a glimmer of light down the bay or deep cove past the 

 headland that had just been rounded ; soon it became brighter, and 

 we passed into the more quiet waters within the bay, and rapidly 

 approached the beacon and its well known shelter. It was quite 

 dark when we moored our boat alongside of the rocks. We saw to 



