170 CHIEF NUTRITIVE PLANTS OF THE TORRID ZONE 



of Fiji Islanders paddling in ■ all haste towards them. With- 

 out arms for their defence, they must have fallen into the hands 

 of these merciless cannibals, who had already approached 

 within two miles, when suddenly from some inexplicable caprice 

 the savages abandoned the pursuit, and were soon lost in the 

 distance. 



After May 10 the weather became stormy, so that every 

 moment the waves struck into the boat and forced the exhausted 

 crew continually to bale out the water. To increase their dis- 

 tress, the brine spoiled their small supply of bread, so that the 

 rations had to be reduced to one twenty-fifth part of a pound, 

 morning and noon. On May 25 a couple of sea-birds of the size 

 of pigeons approached so near that they were caught with the 

 hand. Each bird was divided into eighteen parts, and eaten 

 raw with all the keen relish of voracious hunger. On the 

 morning of May 29 they found themselves close to a coral-bank, 

 against which the breakers were striking with furious uproar ; 

 but fortunately they discovered a passage in the reef, through 

 which they safely reached the quiet waters of a lagune. They 

 landed on a small island, and we can easily imagine the delight 

 with which, after more than five weeks of cramped confinement, 

 they once more stretched out their stiffened limbs on the earth. 

 No fruit trees graced the island, but they found sweet water and 

 oysters, more delicious than they had ever tasted. Fortunately, 

 also, they had a copper kettle on board ; a fire was lighted, and 

 a warm soup made of bread, oysters, and bacon, revived their 

 exhausted bodies. 



They would willingly have remained some time longer ; but, 

 seeing at a distance a troop of savages approaching with loud 

 cries, and not relying much on their hospitality, they immedi- 

 ately embarked without putting their intentions to the test. 

 They were now between the east coast of New Holland and the 

 large barrier-reef, and, steering through the broad channel 

 towards the north, they passed one small island after another. 

 Wherever they saw groups of savages watching on the strand 

 they sailed on as fast as they could, but where the screw-pine or 

 the cocoa-nut raised its green canopy over a desert shore, they 

 frequently landed and gathered oysters, or a small bean which 

 Nelson, the botanist of the expedition, recommended as nutri- 

 tious and healthy. The man of science had often been derided 



