proposed leaving him behind, but Stephen pointed out that if left alone
for a long day the man might not improbably swim off to the ship to assure
himself that the gold was still in its position.

"He might do that," the captain agreed; "but, like most of his class, he
is superstitious, and I doubt whether he would go on board the wreck
alone. Still, it will be better to take him with us. It is certain that
there is no fear of our hut being disturbed during our absence, and if we
should come upon natives three of us are better than two."

It took them four hours to reach the summit of the hill, the undergrowth
of creepers being so dense that they were often compelled to cut a way
through it. At last they reached the summit; as they did so they stopped
in surprise. Before them was a cup-shaped depression some two hundred
yards across, the centre being a hundred feet below the edges.

"It is the crater of an old volcano," the Peruvian said; "it is ages since
it was active, so that we need have no fear or uneasiness on that score."

The interior was clothed with verdure. Here and there black crags showed
through the foliage, but elsewhere all was smooth and smiling. The slope
was regular, and it was evident that, as the captain said, long ages had
gone by since there had been any disturbance. Vegetation had grown up and
died, until a soil thick enough to conceal all the rocks, that had at one
time no doubt thickly strewn the bottom, had been buried.

"What is that down in the centre?" Stephen said. "There seems to be a
patch clear of trees, and there are some figures of some kind there. See,
on the other side what looks like a regular path has been cut through the
trees and bushes. Perhaps it is a burying-place; at any rate we will go
and see."

They walked round to the other side of the crater. From there they could
obtain a view of the side of the island opposite to that on which they had
landed. It was far less extensive than they had expected, the hill sloping
steeply down, and the sea was but a quarter of a mile away. A great number
of islands studded the ocean, and some of those at a distance appeared
considerably larger than that upon which they had been cast.

"Thank goodness," Stephen exclaimed, "the island is evidently uninhabited;
now we can wander about freely."

"Yes; we might have saved ourselves all the trouble of fortifying that
position," the captain said.

"It gave us something to do, captain, an