a, but she accomplishes more cures than those
that have."

"Unfortunately this is not a malady that can be cured by such means;
and, unless its progress be checked in time, it may ultimately assume
a form that will render a cure impossible."

"Is death, then, inevitable?"

"A patient may retain a languishing life under such circumstances for
some time; but if the disease be cancer, a cure is hopeless without
instruments and scientific skill."

"I thought I was the only wretched being in the colony," said Willis,
sighing, "but I find I am not alone."

"There are no hopes of the _Nelson_, are there?" inquired Becker.

"None now; for some time Mr. Wolston and yourself almost persuaded me
that she had escaped; but had she reached the Cape, we should have
heard of her ere now."

"The probabilities of another vessel touching here are small, are they
not?"

"We are not in the direct track to anywhere; therefore, unless a ship
has been driven out of her course by a gale, there is not a chance."

"Unfortunate that I am!" exclaimed Becker, covering his face with his
hands. "Brutus, Manlius Torquatus, and Peter the Great, condemned
their sons to death, but they were guilty; still the sacrifice must be
made."

Here Willis stared aghast, and began to fear Becker's intellect had
been affected by his troubles.

"I do not exactly understand you, Mr. Becker."

"Two of my sons have gone on before us; they were to embark in the
canoe for Shark's Island, and wait for us there. I must have courage,
and you also, Willis."

This exordium did not tend to alter the Pilot's impression. They
walked on for some time in silence towards the coast.

"Do you know the latitude and longitude of this coast, Willis?"

"Good!" thought the Pilot, "he has changed the subject."

"Yes; we are in the South Sea, and no great distance from the line."

"What continent is nearest us?"

"We cannot be very far off the south coast of New Holland, or, as it
is named in some charts, Australia. You know that the _Nelson_ hailed
from Botany Bay, or Sydney, as the convict colony which the English
Government has just founded there is called."

"How far do you suppose we are from Sydney?"

"Well, I should say, with a fair wind and a smart craft, Sydney is not
above two months' sail, if so much."

"Is the coast inhabited?"

"Yes."

"What character do the inhabitants bear?"

"According to the Dutch sailors, who have been on the coast, they are