m a good supper
against their return; we had also all a dip in the sea, in a little
natural bath in the rocks, where no sharks could get at us. Finally, not
without misgivings, we all went up to look once more on the anaconda.
That evening, if they returned in time, it was to be skinned; the shiny,
scaly covering being to be preserved as a memorial of the event, and the
loathsome remains were to be thrown to the sharks. While we were
standing looking at its huge length, we heard shouts from above, and saw
the exploring party coming home. They soon joined us, the captain
delighted at being able to say that a large rat seemed our only wild
beast while Smart grumbled, and said he "did not think there was a beere
on the hisland." They had done as they promised, and not left a part of
the island unvisited.

They brought us home quantities of grapes, prickly pears, yams, bananas,
cocoa-nuts, with what would have been magnificent flowers but the hot
tropical climate withered them almost as soon as gathered. Oscar and
Smart seemed to have some great secrets between them, and, after keeping
Felix and the little girls in suspense for some time, Smart put his hand
into his pocket, and brought out a tiny, little, droll-looking monkey.
Shrieks of delight were heard, Felix exclaiming above all, "Oh give him
to me, let him be mine; oh the darling fellow." The little creature,
with its wild sorrowful eyes, looked from one face to the other, and, at
last, making a spring, it jumped into Felix's arms, and, nestling its
little head in his pinafore, grinned at everybody, as much as to say,
"Now, I don't care for you." Felix was by no means backward in returning
this spontaneous affection, spite of the little girls' civil remark
"that he was so like a monkey the little thing took him for his father
and mother."

We went to rest all very happy and contented, and enjoyed a week of the
merriest gipsy life that could be imagined. Both the parrots and the
monkey were getting quite familiar, and at home with us, taking to their
education comfortably.

At the end of that time, after the young ones had gone to bed, the
captain asked me how we liked this life? There was not a dissentient
voice. "Then," said he, "I think this a favourable opportunity to
propose a plan to you; it has been in my mind for some days. I only
waited until I saw whether it would be as agreeable, as it seems to me
inevitable." We waited in breathless expectation. He looke