lders,
so that they have very much the appearance of lions when their upper
part alone is seen above the water. Such were the monsters which seemed
to be guarding the island towards which we were pulling, their roar
vying in loudness with the hoarse sound of the surf as it beat on the
rock-bound shore.

Newman and I were in the captain's boat. As we pulled in for the land,
we saw that the surf rolled up on every side, and for some time we could
not discover a clear spot through which we might urge the boats. We
continued pulling on for half a mile or more, and caught sight of what
appeared to be a channel between the reefs. The captain ordered us to
give way, and bending to our oars, we pulled on with a will. A sailor
loves a run on shore, even though that shore may be but a barren sand;
but here we had two objects to excite our interest. The deserted wreck
claimed our first attention. It was easy to see how she had got into
her present position. An unusually high-tide and heavy gale must have
lifted her over the reef, and driven her on shore; and the wind falling
before she had time to go to pieces, must have left her comparatively
safe from further injury. The captain stood up in his boat to watch for
an opportunity to enter the passage.

"Now, again, my lads, give way!" he shouted. The boat lifted on the
summit of a roller, and rushing on with the dark rocks and hissing foam
on either side of us, in another instant we found ourselves calmly
floating in a reef-surrounded lagoon or bay. We had to pull back for
some distance to get to the wreck, and as we advanced, we looked along
the shore to discover, if we could, traces of any of the crew. All,
however, was silent and desolate.

From the appearance of the island, Newman observed that he thought it
must be the crater of an extinct volcano, and that even the lapse of
ages had allowed scarcely soil enough to collect on it, to permit of
more than the scanty vegetation which was visible.

As we approached the wreck, we found that she had gone stem on into the
mouth of a little creek, and there had been held fast by two rocks. Her
build at once made us suspect that she was a whaler like ourselves. All
her boats and bulwarks were gone, and her stern was much stove in. Her
main and mizzen-masts had been carried away, so had her foretopmast and
the head of the foremast below the top, the stump only remaining. On
this a yard still hung across, and the tatte