again discharge his gun.

All the lions that had been shot were very large, and measured nearly
fourteen feet in length. Hans, being aware of the skill of the Zulus as
skinners of creatures, shouted to these men to come and aid him, and
shortly after they, followed by the remainder of the sailors, came down
to examine the sea-lions, and aid in carrying back the flesh to the
boats. At this work the Kaffirs were quite at home, and bore on their
shoulders huge pieces of sea-lion, enough to last any man but a Zulu at
least a week. This was borne to the shore, where the boats had been
left, and a fire having been lighted by the aid of a flint and steel,
the flesh was cooked, and though not probably affording a dish that an
epicure would select, yet by hungry men who for several days had eaten
nothing but biscuit, the solid food was relished. Having partaken of
dinner, as the lieutenant called this meal, he assembled the men round
him and said, "We can live here for a long time, as you can see, for we
have food and water, and can get tolerable shelter; but none of you
would be satisfied to live here long, so we must try all we can to
escape. To do this, we must keep a watch from daybreak till dusk upon
the top of the hill, and try to catch sight of a vessel coming from the
west, because that is the direction from which we may expect them.
Then, if we have due notice, we may pull out in the boats, and attract
her attention by firing a gun, and so get on board: so that two men must
take duty on the hill. This will come round in turn for each of you, as
I'll keep the roster. Two men must always remain with the boats, but
the others who are not on duty may go about the island; only take care
to be all ready in case a ship is signalled. You'd better take the
boat-hook and tie a handkerchief to it; the waving of that will be the
signal that a ship is in sight."

"There are fish about here, sir. If you'd like, I'll try and catch
some," said one of the sailors.

"There are turtle too, sir. I saw one when you were away: he swam past
that point."

"Catch as many fish and turtle as you can. We will share every thing
whilst we are on shore here, and each man must do his best to procure
food for the whole of us," said the lieutenant. "We can get egg; and
birds, fish and turtle, and sea-lions, and so shall have a variety of
rations."

During the remainder of the day Hans, with the lieutenant, and attended
by the two Zulu