wegian, the negro,
and an American named Barr. On arriving alongside the silver was simply
passed up the side and pitched down the after-hatchway upon the ballast,
for the present.

The ladies, who had elected to remain on board this day on account of
the heat, were so filled with excitement and delight at the sight of the
silver and the news of our find, that they could no longer remain
quietly where they were; they must needs go ashore once more and see all
this wealth brought out of the ground; and accordingly, upon our return
passage, they went with us, taking the maids and children with them.

On our arrival at the islet we found the second gig awaiting us, with
her cargo in her, which the other party had just finished loading; so we
left the one boat, and took the other, treating this cargo as we had the
last; and so the work went merrily on until the men's dinner-time, by
which time we had raised and transported eight boxes of silver. And it
had by this time been ascertained that there were eight more still to be
dealt with!

A hurried meal was snatched, and the work was resumed, three more of the
chests being disposed of by three o'clock in the afternoon. Then
another surprise met us. The next chest contained _gold_ instead of
silver; the ingots being only nine in number, somewhat larger than the
silver ingots, and weighing, as nearly as we could estimate, about one
hundredweight each. Each of these gold ingots was neatly wrapped and
sewn into a covering of hide. On our return from the ship, after
conveying this precious cargo on board, we were met with the news that
two other chests, since opened, also contained gold; and, not to detain
the reader necessarily, it eventually proved that the remaining cases,
two in number, likewise contained the same precious metal. The total
find thus consisted of eleven chests containing seven hundred and four
ingots of silver, and five chests containing one hundred and thirty-five
ingots of gold.

All through the long, hot afternoon the work went on with unremitting
energy, for it soon became apparent that darkness would be upon us
before the last of the treasure could be moved. I was just completing
the transfer of the third chest of gold to the ship when the sun sank in
a perfect blaze of splendour below the horizon, and a few of the
brighter stars were already twinkling in the zenith when we ranged up
alongside the other boat at the landing-place upon the islet.