o
of his sphere of operations, caused him to feel additional
satisfaction, together with a natural self-complacency. To the ordinary
mind Ile Haute appeared utterly deserted and forlorn--a place where one
might starve to death, if he had to remain for any length of time; but
Tom now determined to test to the utmost the actual resources of the
island, so as to prove, to himself what one unaided boy could do, when
thus thrown upon his own intelligent efforts, with dire necessity to
act as a stimulus to his ingenuity.

First of all, then, there was his box of biscuit, which he had brought
with him.

To this must be added his first discovery on the island, namely, the
clams. Nothing could be of greater importance than this, since it
afforded not merely a relish, but also actual food.

The next thing that he sought after was lobsters, and he went off in
search of these as soon as he could on the following day.

He waited till the tide was low, which was at about twelve o'clock, and
then went down along the beach. At high tide, the water came close up
to the foot of the lofty cliff; but at ebb, it descended for some
distance, so that there was some sort of a beach even in places that
did not promise any.

The beach nearest to where Tom had taken up his abode was an expanse of
mud and sand; but passing along beyond this, on the north side, it
became gravelly. About a hundred yards to the west, on this side of
the island, he came to the place where he had tied his boat, on that
eventful time when he had drifted here. Below this, the beach extended
down for a long distance, and at the lowest point there were rocks, and
sharp stones, and pebbles of every size. Here Tom began his search,
and before he had looked five minutes, he found several lobsters of
good size. A little farther search showed him that there was a large
supply of these, so that, in fact, sufficient support might have been
obtained for a whole ship's company. By the time that he had found a
half dozen of these, and had brought them back to his hearth-stone, it
had grown too dark to search for any more. Tom's search, however, had
been so successful, that he felt quite satisfied; and though the day
had passed without any change in the weather or any lifting of the fog,
though he had listened in vain for any sound over the waters which
might tell of passers by, though his signal had not been seen, and his
bright burning fire had not been noticed, yet t