aused to survey the prospect,
and I saw that the island was of a very strange shape, having a great
hump of black rock at either end, and dipping down into a steep valley
between them. In this valley there seemed to be a deal of a strange
vegetation that had the appearance of mighty toadstools; and down nearer
the beach there was a thick grove of a kind of very tall reed, and these
we discovered afterwards to be exceeding tough and light, having
something of the qualities of the bamboo.

Regarding the beach, it might have been most reasonably supposed that it
would be very thick with the driftweed; but this was not so, at least,
not at that time; though a projecting horn of the black rock which ran
out into the sea from the upper end of the island, was thick with it.

And now, the bo'sun having assured himself that there was no appearance
of any danger, we bent to our oars, and presently had the boat aground
upon the beach, and here, finding it convenient, we made our breakfast.
During this meal, the bo'sun discussed with us the most proper thing to
do, and it was decided to push the boat off from the shore, leaving Job
in her, whilst the remainder of us made some exploration of the island.

And so, having made an end of eating, we proceeded as we had
determined, leaving Job in the boat, ready to scull ashore for us if we
were pursued by any savage creature, while the rest of us made our way
towards the nearer hump, from which, as it stood some hundred feet
above the sea, we hoped to get a very good idea of the remainder of the
island. First, however, the bo'sun handed out to us the two cutlasses
and the cut-and-thrust (the other two cutlasses being in Josh's boat),
and, taking one himself, he passed me the cut-and-thrust, and gave the
other cutlass to the biggest of the men. Then he bade the others keep
their sheath knives handy, and was proceeding to lead the way, when one
of them called out to us to wait a moment, and, with that, ran quickly
to the clump of reeds. Here, he took one with both his hands and bent
upon it; but it would not break, so that he had to notch it about with
his knife, and thus, in a little, he had it clear. After this, he cut
off the upper part, which was too thin and lissome for his purpose, and
then thrust the handle of his knife into the end of the portion which
he had retained, and in this wise he had a most serviceable lance or
spear. For the reeds were very strong, and hollow after the f