ere. And I think we had very
good reason for our admiration, for the craft was more than sightly, she
was decidedly handsome, and we who had put her together were, after all,
it must be remembered, only unskilled amateurs; and though I think I
may, without undue vanity, say that we were all prime seamen, and knew
perfectly well what constituted a handsome and wholesome craft, it is
one thing to know this, and quite another to make your work correspond
accurately with your ideas.

When we had admired the schooner to our hearts' content, my father
wished to know whether any one had any proposal to make as to the manner
in which the remainder of the day should be spent. It appeared, from
the general silence which ensued that no one had; but on glancing at
Ella, who remained beside him, I noticed an eager look in her face, as
though she would like to speak, but was restrained by a feeling of
timidity.

"What is it, Ella?" inquired I.

"If no one has anything better to propose," she replied, "I think a
picnic would be very nice; and I would suggest that the natives be sent
on by land, with everything necessary, to the northern end of the
island, opposite the poor old _Amazon_, of which we are so soon to see
the last, and that the rest of us take Harry's tube-boat, and sail in
her quite round the island--which we new-comers have not seen very much
of as yet--and stop at the point I have named."

This, of course, we all cordially agreed to, though I could scarcely
help smiling furtively at the idea of a picnic, when our lives had been
a sort of continuous picnic affair ever since we had been on the island,
though, it is true, our pastime had consisted principally of pretty hard
work.

However, I made no remark, and we all returned to the house, and
proceeded to pack up the necessary viands, etcetera, and to start the
"niggers," as Bob invariably termed our black aids, in the proposed
direction.

When everything was ready, however, it was found that there was more
than we had the conscience to ask the poor fellows to carry, willing as
they were; so Ella's programme was so far departed from as to send them
by water in a canoe, instead of by land; and as soon as they were fairly
away, we shoved off in the cutter's canoe, got on board the tube-boat,
hauled up her grapnel, and made sail to the southward.

Here another departure from the programme took place, for my father was
curious to see how so singular a craft behave