ck had happened the sea was quite open, only a few straggling
bits of field-ice mixed up with a great many icebergs,--indeed, the
icebergs were too thick to be counted. I thought I saw a boat turned
upside down; but it was so far away that I could not make out distinctly
what it was. It was clear enough to me that nobody had been saved from
the wreck except the Dean and myself.

"As I looked around, it appeared very evident to me that the land on
which I stood was an island.

"After hallooing several times, without any other result than to startle
a great number of birds, as I had done before, I set out again, briskly
jumping from rock to rock, the birds all the while springing up before
me and fluttering away in great flocks. There seemed to be no end to
them.

"As I went along, I soon found that I was turning rapidly to the left,
and that I was not only on an island, but on a very small one at that. I
could not have been more than two hours in going all the way around it,
although I had to clamber most of the way over very stony places,
stopping frequently to shout at the top of my voice, with the hope of
being heard by some human beings; but not a soul was there to answer me,
nor could I discover the least sign of anybody ever having been there.

"This failure greatly discouraged me, but still I was not so much cast
down as you might think. Perhaps it was because I had eaten so many
eggs, and was no longer hungry; for, let me tell you, when one's stomach
gets empty, the courage has pretty much all gone out of him.

"Besides this, I had made some discoveries which seemed in some way to
forebode good, though I could not exactly say why. I found the birds
thicker and thicker as I proceeded. Their nests were in some places so
close together that I could hardly walk without treading on their eggs.
I also saw several foxes, some of which were white and others were dark
gray. As I walked on, they scampered away over the stones ahead of me,
and then perched themselves on a tall rock near by, apparently very much
astonished to see me. They seemed to look upon me as an intruder, and I
thought they would ask, 'What business have you coming here?' They had
little idea how glad I should have been to be almost anywhere else,--on
the farm from which I had run away, for instance,--and leave them in
undisputed possession of their miserable island. They seemed to be very
sleek and well-contented foxes; for they were gorging themse