ht be lashed, and thus give them the means of
entering and quitting the ship, without having recourse to the dingui.
Mark approved of this plan, and, it requiring a raft to carry ashore the
kedge, the dingui being so light they were afraid to trust it, it was
decided to commence that work in the morning. For the rest of the
present day nothing further was done, beyond light and necessary jobs,
and continuing the examination of the island. Mark was curious to look
at the effect of the shower, both in reference to his plantations, and
to the quantity of fresh water that might have lodged on the reef. It
was determined, therefore, to pass an hour or two ashore before the
night shut in again.

Previously to quitting the ship, Bob spoke of the poultry. There were
but six hens, a cock, and five ducks, left. They were all as low in
flesh and spirits, as it was usual to find birds that have been at sea
fifty days, and the honest tar proposed turning them all adrift on the
reef, to make their own living in the best way they could. Now and then
a little food might be put in their way, but let them have a chance for
their lives. Mark assented at once, and the coops were opened. Each fowl
was carried to the taffrail, and tossed into the air, when it flew down
upon the reef, a distance of a couple of hundred feet, almost as a
matter of course. Glad enough were the poor things to be thus liberated.
To Mark's surprise, no sooner did they reach the reef, than to work they
went, and commenced picking up something with the greatest avidity, as
if let loose in the best supplied poultry-yard. Confident there was
nothing for even a hen to glean on the rocks when he left there, the
young man could not account for this, until turning his eyes inboard, he
saw the ducks doing the same thing on deck. Examining the food of these
last-mentioned animals, he found there were a great number of minute
mucilaginous particles on the deck, which no doubt had descended with
the late rain, and which all the birds, as well as the hogs, seemed
eager to devour. Here, then, was a supply, though a short-lived one, of
a manna suited to those creatures, which might render them happy for a
few hours, at least. Bob caught the ducks, and tossed them overboard,
when they floundered about and enjoyed themselves in a way that
communicated a certain pleasure even to the desolate and shipwrecked men
who had set them at liberty. Nothing with life now remained in the ship