nds. The old Don did not answer it, however; and
Isabella, in whose heart other affections had taken root, was not,
perhaps, much grieved or indignant at his silence; the affection of her
husband, her children, and her friends, soon obliterated all melancholy
recollections.

* * * * *

THE PIRATE OF MASAFUERO.

* * * * *

THE PIRATE OF MASAFUERO.

CHAPTER I.

_Gonzalo._ Had I a plantation of this isle, my lord, And were the
king of it, what would I do?

_Sebastian._ 'Scape getting drunk, for want of wine.

TEMPEST.

In the Pacific Ocean, and within two days' sail of the coast of Chili,
lies the little island of Masafuero, or, as the word is generally
divided by the Spaniards who discovered it, Mas-a-fuero--that is, the
farthest--to distinguish it from Juan Fernandez, which lies nearer the
main land, and in sight of Masafuero. Juan Fernandez is well known to
all the reading community as having once been the temporary residence of
Alexander Selkirk, the original, or, as grammarians would call it, the
_root_, of De Foe's bewitching romance of Robinson Crusoe.

Masafuero is, on the contrary, remarkable for nothing more, that I know
of, than being very difficult of access, and overrun with wild goats. It
is situated in the latitude of thirty-three degrees and forty-five
minutes, south, and eighty degrees and thirty-six minutes, west
longitude; for I love to be particular in all such cases--not that I
suppose my readers care a pin if I had told them it was in the
south-west horn of the new moon; but all authors, when they put pen to
paper, seem actuated by the kind and neighborly spirit of the sagacious
Dogberry--namely, to "bestow all their tediousness" upon their readers;
and I do not know that I have any prescriptive right--I am sure I have
no intention--to depart from so well-worn a track, or to fly in the face
of so many illustrious precedents.

This island is covered, from the water's edge to the summit, with trees,
and it is only for the sake of wood that it is ever visited by our
whalemen, who fell the trees on the brink of steep cliffs, and tumble
them down, by which process they are broken up into sufficiently short
pieces to render their carriage convenient. There are evident traces of
most