A MISADVENTURE. 227 



soundly ; as it was, we lay awake most of the time 

 and counted the stars. 



Very late in the evening we were aroused by a 

 shouting, and became aware that our friends had 

 sought us. They had all embarked on the drogher, 

 after becoming satisfied that some accident had be- 

 fallen us, and, after anchoring off our island, had sent 

 a boat to seek for us. The night was pitchy dark, 

 and the heavy seas clashed so fearfully that to attempt 

 a landing would have been certain disaster; so we 

 warned our friends back, to wait for us till morning. 



Our voices seemed drowned in the roar of the 

 breakers, but the regular click of the oars, growing 

 fainter and fainter, told us that we had been heard. 

 Frazer told us, between his moanings, that sometimes 

 it is impossible to land for weeks, just about this 

 season of the year, and we fell to calculating upon 

 the chances of subsisting upon iguanas and wild 

 goats for a few days,' notwithstanding the proximity 

 of our friends. On the morrow, however, we safely 

 embarked, though hungry, weary, and exceeding 

 thirsty. Our more fortunate companions had indeed 

 devoured the dinner, while we were fasting on that 

 desert rock, but there yet remained sufficient to stay 

 our needs ; and they coaxed us with toddies and 

 punches and brisk champagne, until we forgot our 

 trials and remembered only our triumphs. 



Ever memorable will be that night on the beach 

 the second time in a twelvemonth I had fallen a 

 victim to Neptune's rage as that in which I for the 

 first time saw the Southern Cross. As the night 

 waned, and the cross assumed an upright position 

 upon the horizon, there came to mind that passage 



