CHAPTER VI. 
WE ARE DESERTED BY THE HANCOCK AND KENNEDY, AND FIND OURSELVES 
CALLED UPON TO ENJOY A 'MOONLIGHT 'WALK, WHICH PROVES TO BE SO 
PLEASANT THAT WE CONTINUE THE EXERCISE FOR TWO DAYS WE VISIT 
A MALAY VILLAGE, AND ARE CAUTIONED AGAINST THE FEROCITY OF CHI- 
NESE DOGS. 
We were now alonOj — we and our little schooner, and 
our still smaller boats, — alone upon the confines of our 
past working-ground, to linger there a while and then 
follow our consorts. We immediately entered upon the 
execution of the task which had been left us; we again 
commenced the interminable soundings, the frequent 
angling, the prolonged night-work over the skeleton 
chart and the smooth deck-board. Time rolled on. 
On the evening of a dark and stormy Saturday night 
we anchored near the island of Banca, spread our thin 
cotton awning between us and the driving rain, and 
looked with thankfulness to the day of rest which stood 
between us and any farther work. That night we slept 
well and refreshingly; Stevens, myself, and Baber, in the 
contracted cabin, and our twenty-five men upon the far 
more cramped and uncomfortable berth-deck. The next 
morning the storm was over, a bright sun ushered in the 
sacred day and lit up the gloomy depths of the tropical 
jungle near which we were anchored. 
There were tall trees growing out of the dense under- 
growth, and patches of short, smooth grass between it 
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