h held a long harpoon, formed entirely of bone,
in their right hands.

I was not a little surprised at being addressed in the Patois dialect
of the Basques in my own country, which is spoken about Bayonne and
other parts adjacent to the Pyrennees. To their questions I answered
that I was the only survivor of the crew of a whaler, which had been
frozen up in the ice, during the winter; that she had filled with water,
and that I had saved myself upon the back of a shark.

They expressed no surprise at my unheard-of conveyance to the island; on
the contrary, they merely observed, that sharks were too vicious to
ride; and asked me to accompany them to their town, an invitation which
I gladly accepted. As I walked along I observed that the island was
composed of white porous pumice stone, without the least symptoms of
vegetation; not even a piece of moss could I discover--nothing but the
bare pumice stone, with thousands of beautiful green lizards, about ten
inches long, playing about in every part. The road was steep, and in
several parts the rock was cut into steps to enable you to ascend. After
an hour's fatiguing walk, which I never should have accomplished in my
weak state, without the assistance of the islanders, we arrived at the
summit. The view which met my eyes was striking. I was on the peak of a
chain of hills, forming an immense amphitheatre, encircling a valley
which appeared about fifteen miles in diameter, and the major part of
which was occupied by a lake of water.

I could discern what appeared to be the habitations of men on different
parts of the lake; but there was not a tree or a shrub to be seen.

"What," demanded I of the man who appeared to take the lead of the rest
of the party, "have you no trees here?"

"None whatever; and yet we can do very well without them. Do you not
observe that there is no mould; that the island is composed entirely of
pumice stone?"

"I do," replied I. "Pray what is the name of your barren spot--and in
what part of the world are we?"

"As for its name, we call it Whale Island," replied the man; "but as
for where we are, we cannot exactly tell ourselves, for we are a
floating island, being composed entirely of pumice stone, whose specific
gravity, as you must know, is much lighter than that of water."

"How strange," observed I; "I cannot believe that you are in earnest."

"And yet not quite so strange as you imagine," replied my conductor. "If
you examine the stru