reached the base of the peak; and I had no
sooner come to it than I perceived, from the ashes and scoriae that
thickly strewed its sides, that it also was a volcano. Yet I was
determined to climb to its summit, if possible, if only for the perfect
panorama of the entire island that I knew I should obtain from there; so
I rested for a little while, utilising the time by making a good meal of
fruit, and then addressed myself to my task.

The sides of this volcano were not nearly so steep as those of the
other; the dust and ashes, however, were just as fine, rendering the
task of climbing the slope extremely difficult. But I had learned
wisdom by this time, and instead of attempting the ascent in a straight
line from base to summit, I described a spiral round the peak, and in
this way accomplished the ascent in almost as short a time as, and with
far less fatigue than, if I had attempted to go up by the shortest way.

My conviction that this peak also was the vent of a volcano was verified
the moment that I reached the summit, the general aspect and character
of this and the other being almost identical. The rim on which I now
stood was, however, quite three hundred feet higher than the first; the
view from it was consequently much more extensive, and in addition to
the seven indications of land seen from the top of the mound, I was now
able to trace three more quite distinctly, while in the farthest
distance I thought I could descry the faint loom of still more land.
This, however, was not all, for far away to the northward--so far as to
be no more than just visible--I caught a hint of a faint, pearly gleam
on the horizon, which I felt certain could only be that of the sun on a
ship's white sails; and my heart swelled with thankfulness, for here was
an unmistakable assurance that craft of some sort occasionally visited
these waters.

Having at length thoroughly searched the entire circle of the horizon, I
turned my gaze nearer home and proceeded to view the island, the whole
of which lay spread out beneath me like a large-scale relief map.

I scarcely know how to describe it. The nearest thing to which I can
compare the shape of its plan, is a Ghoorka's _khookri_, or heavy knife,
the point directed northward, the edge facing west, with a widening of
the blade near its junction with the handle, this widening being broken
into by the little harbour at the upper end of which our boat lay. The
surface of the island wa