eat deal in the short
period which will be at our disposal."

"I 'spose," put in Mr Lathrope, "you mean about shifting our diggings,
mister, hey?"

"Precisely," replied the other. "The season was not sufficiently
advanced before; but now that it is, the rain having stopped falling
persistently and the weather showing signs of clearing up, why, the
sooner we are up and stirring, the greater chance we shall have of
getting rescued!"

"Waal," drawled the other in his usual nasal way, "you've only got to
say the word, boss, and I guess we're on the move!"

"All right! I'm coming to that, but I want you to understand the
situation. Here is a map of Kerguelen Land," and Mr Meldrum unrolled
the old admiralty chart which has been alluded to before, as he spoke.
"You will see, from the rough outline given of the island, that it is
formed of two peninsulas, running nearly north and south respectively
and both of nearly equal size, but divided by a comparatively narrow
neck of land. The whole island is, taking its outside limits, about
ninety miles long by sixty broad in its widest part, although at the
narrow point or neck which I have mentioned--see, just here where I
place my finger--the distance from sea to sea between the eastern and
western sides does not exceed fifteen miles."

"I say it clearly, sorr," said Mr McCarthy, all attention when his
especial element was mentioned.

"Well, it so happens," continued Mr Meldrum, "that our position here,
the correctness of which I have carefully ascertained from observations
that I have taken and worked out, is, very fortunately for us, on the
western side of this isthmus, and not at the extremity of the broader
portion of the island. Consequently, we shall only have to traverse the
short width of this neck of land in our endeavours to get across to the
eastern side, whither we must go if we hope for any vessel to pick us up
and take us to a civilised port--none ever touching here on account of
the dangerous character of the coast, which we already know to our
cost!"

"Bedad, I can't say how ye are going to get the boats over fifteen miles
ov solid ground, more or less," said the first-mate, scratching his head
vigorously, as he always did when puzzled by anything.

"I'll tell you," answered Mr Meldrum. "You may have noticed since the
snow melted and the rains came, how the waters of that originally small
lake at the bottom of the creek have become extended so that th