med, as he burst
into a laugh, "this 'ere 'oss wouldn't bolt no faster nor a turtle. If
I didn't tow 'im 'ard we'd never get into port." I walked most of the
way over the steep grades, whereupon my guide, every inch a sailor,
became my friend. Arriving at the summit of the island, I met Mr.
Schank, the farmer from Canada, and his sister, living very cozily in
a house among the rocks, as snug as conies, and as safe. He showed me
over the farm, taking me through a tunnel which led from one field to
the other, divided by an inaccessible spur of mountain. Mr. Schank
said that he had lost many cows and bullocks, as well as sheep, from
breakneck over the steep cliffs and precipices. One cow, he said,
would sometimes hook another right over a precipice to destruction,
and go on feeding unconcernedly. It seemed that the animals on the
island farm, like mankind in the wide world, found it all too small.

On the 26th of April, while I was ashore, rollers came in which
rendered launching a boat impossible. However, the sloop being
securely moored to a buoy in deep water outside of all breakers, she
was safe, while I, in the best of quarters, listened to well-told
stories among the officers of the Stone Frigate. On the evening of the
29th, the sea having gone down, I went on board and made preparations
to start again on my voyage early next day, the boatswain of the
island and his crew giving me a hearty handshake as I embarked at the
jetty.

For reasons of scientific interest, I invited in mid-ocean the most
thorough investigation concerning the crew-list of the _Spray_. Very
few had challenged it, and perhaps few ever will do so henceforth; but
for the benefit of the few that may, I wished to clench beyond doubt
the fact that it was not at all necessary in the expedition of a sloop
around the world to have more than one man for the crew, all told, and
that the _Spray_ sailed with only one person on board. And so, by
appointment, Lieutenant Eagles, the executive officer, in the morning,
just as I was ready to sail, fumigated the sloop, rendering it
impossible for a person to live concealed below, and proving that only
one person was on board when she arrived. A certificate to this
effect, besides the official documents from the many consulates,
health offices, and customhouses, will seem to many superfluous; but
this story of the voyage may find its way into hands unfamiliar with
the business of these offices and of their ways o