versation, have learned much; but he
never would converse, still less explain. He called me, Boy, and I
called him, Master. His inveterate silence was the occasion of my
language being composed of very few words; for, except to order me to do
this or that, to procure what was required, he never would converse. He
did, however, mutter to himself, and talk in his sleep, and I used to
lie awake and listen, that I might gain information; not at first, but
when I grew older. He used to cry out in his sleep constantly: "A
judgment, a judgment on me for my sins, my heavy sins! God be
merciful!" But what judgement, or what sin was, or what was God, I did
not then know, although I mused on words repeated so often.

I will now describe the island, and the way in which we lived. The
island was very small, perhaps not three miles round; it was of rock,
and there was no beach nor landing-place, the sea washing its sides with
deep water. It was, as I afterwards discovered, one of the group of
islands, to which the Peruvians despatch vessels every year to collect
the guano, or refuse of the sea-birds which resort to the islands; but
the one on which we were was small, and detached some distance from the
others, on which the guano was found in great profusion; so that
hitherto it had been neglected, and no vessel had ever come near it.
Indeed, the other islands were not to be seen from it except on a very
clear day, when they appeared like a cloud or mist on the horizon. The
shores of the island were, moreover, so precipitous, that there was no
landing-place, and the eternal wash of the ocean would have made it
almost impossible for a vessel to have taken off a cargo. Such was the
island upon which I found myself in company with this man. Our cabin
was built of ship-plank and timber, under the shelter of a cliff, about
fifty yards from the water; there was a flat of about thirty yards
square in front of it, and from the cliff there trickled down a rill of
water, which fell into a hole dug out to collect it, and then found its
way over the flat to the rocks beneath. The cabin itself was large, and
capable of holding many more people than had ever lived in it; but it
was not too large, as we had to secure in it our provisions for many
months. There were several bed-places level with the floor, which were
rendered soft enough to lie on, by being filled with the feathers of
birds. Furniture there was none, except two or three