ther words, the hiding-place of the
treasure. The two guiding-staves were soon fixed, and then, leaving
Forbes to superintend the operations of Joe, Barr, and Mckinley, I
replaced my instruments in the boat and, with Christianssen and San
Domingo at the oars, paddled on board the barque for the purpose of
bringing Sir Edgar and the whole of his party on shore, in order that
they might indulge in a run on the beautiful sandy strand of the basin,
and enjoy a nearer view of the entrancing loveliness of this exquisite
gem of the Pacific.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

THE FINDING OF THE TREASURE: AND WHAT FOLLOWED.

Knowing that there was work enough to occupy the party on the islet for
probably the next two days, I did not consider it necessary to keep a
watch upon their labours, but left them with Forbes in charge, and
joined the Desmond party in a ramble over the island. This, by
following the ravines, the bottoms of which were comparatively free from
undergrowth, we found less difficult of accomplishment than we had
anticipated; and although the toil of clambering up the steep
acclivities, and over the smooth boulders that in many places encumbered
the way, proved rather trying to our unaccustomed limbs, we nevertheless
managed to make our way to the summit of "the Nose," as we called it,
from whence we obtained a superb panoramic view of the entire island.
That the place was uninhabited we could now no longer doubt; for
although from our lofty standpoint we had the whole surface of the
island spread out like a map beneath us, there was nowhere any break
whatever in the dense vegetation which flourished so luxuriantly on the
rich soil; nothing whatever to indicate the existence of cleared and
cultivated patches, as there certainly would have been, had the island
been inhabited. Nor did we observe any sign or trace whatever of
animals of any sort; birds seemed to be the only living creatures
inhabiting this lovely spot, and they appeared to swarm in thousands
wherever we happened to come upon a comparatively open space. Fruits of
several kinds abounded on the island, among the most abundant being
bananas, mangoes, breadfruit, and cocoa-nuts. We were also fortunate
enough to come upon several granadilla vines, the product of which was
just ripe, and we accordingly loaded ourselves with as many of these
delicious fruits as we could carry.

Our return journey was effected by a somewhat shorter route than that
which we had