134 NIMROD OF THE SEA; OB, 



by rising from the depths. Select your partner, drop your 

 bait into the waiting mouth. He will close on it as a patri- 

 ot will on a nomination, and he will hang on as a lover of 

 his country and his kind vvill to place and power. 



Were it possible to combine the life of these two groups 

 of islands, what a garden of delights would we possess ! But 

 I suppose the elements of perfect bliss are generally separa- 

 ted by a space equal to the ten degrees which divide the Gal- 

 apagos and Cocos. Before leaving the island, I einployed a 

 couple of hours in carving the name of the Chelsea among 

 the hundreds already recorded on the rocks, and I also en- 

 graved the name of a young Pennsylvanian in whom I felt 

 unsual interest. 



On board ship we were now rich in fresh water, terrapin, " 

 potatoes, onions, and fruits ; but our supply of fuel was short, 

 and it was necessary to start for Selango, on the coast of 

 Colombia, about eight hundred miles distant, to secure the 

 needed supply. The wood of Cocos was succulent, and un- 

 fitted for fuel, except a rare kind. Glad to get into port, 

 the sailor soon tires of uninhabited lands, and, " with ^ stamp 

 and a go, a yo heave-oh," he runs the anchor to the bows, and 

 cheerily sheets home his top-sails for a fresh cruise. Having 

 cleared the land, the mast-heads were manned, and we stood 

 south-south-east, shortening sail by night, as we were on good 

 whaling-ground. 



On the passage one of the boatsteerers approached me 

 with a desire to enlist me in a scheme to desert with five 

 others when the ship reached Selango, their intention being 

 to take one of the boats, run down the coast to Panama, 

 thence across the Isthmus, and find passage in some trader 

 to an American port. I declined, b.ut promised to preserve 

 his secret, telling him that having shipped for better, for 

 worse, in the old Chelsea, I meant to stick by her ; and if 

 things became unbearable, to lend a hand to right them 



