could
carry in comfort. The crew consisted of six sailors at the oars, and Mr.
Ryan himself took the helm.

"You had better wrap up well," Mr. Atherton said to the girls, "for you
will find it cold sitting in a boat. The thermometer must be down near
freezing-point."

Mr. Atherton was the last to take his seat, and he brought with him his
rifle.

"Why, what are you going to shoot, Mr. Atherton?" Marion asked.

"I do not know that I am going to shoot anything," he replied; "but it
is always well to be prepared. You see I have made preparations in other
ways," he added as the steward handed him down a large basket, which he
placed in the stern-sheets.

"But we are only going for an hour or two, Mr. Atherton," Wilfrid
remarked. "We cannot want anything to eat when we have only just
finished breakfast."

"I do not think it at all likely we shall want to open the hamper,
Wilfrid; but you see it is always best to be prepared. The weather looks
perfectly settled, but, like the natives of these parts, it is
treacherous. As I proposed this expedition I feel a sort of
responsibility, and have therefore, you see, taken precautions against
every contingency."

"I do not think there is any chance of a change," Mr. Ryan said. "It
looks as if the calm might last for a week. Still, one can never be
wrong in preparing for the worst. Besides, this cold weather gives one a
wonderful appetite, and a drop of the cratur never comes amiss."

By this time the boat was fairly away from the ship, and the sailors,
who like the passengers regarded the expedition as a pleasant change,
stretched out to their oars. The mate steered for the headland to the
west, and after passing it kept the boat at a distance of a few hundred
yards from the shore.

"Is there any current here, Mr. Ryan?" Wilfrid asked as he watched the
rocks and low stunted trees.

"Very little," the mate replied. "Sometimes it runs very strongly here,
but at present it is not much to speak of. I do not think it was running
more than a quarter of a mile an hour past the ship, but no doubt there
is a good deal more farther out."

To the disappointment of those on board there were no signs of natives.

"It will be very tiresome if they do not come out," Marion said. "I want
to see a real cannibal."

"I do not so much care about the cannibals, Miss Renshaw, but I want to
see their fish. I have not tasted a really decent fish since I left
England; but in these cold wate