d they had no reason to suppose that any of the crew had survived
the cleverly contrived collapse of the hill. Hence it came about
that Arthur Pym and Dirk Peters on the one side, and William Guy and
his companions on the other, were enabled to remain undisturbed in
the labyrinths of Klock-Klock, where they fed on the flesh of
bitterns--these they could catch with their hands--and the fruit
of the nut-trees which grow on the hill-sides. They procured fire by
rubbing pieces of soft against pieces of hard wood; there was a
quantity of both within their reach.

After a whole week of this confinement, Arthur Pym and the
half-breed had succeeded, as we know, in leaving their hiding-place,
securing a boat, and abandoning Tsalal Island, but William Guy and
his companions had not yet found an opportunity to escape.

After they had been shut up in the labyrinth for twentyone days, the
birds on which they lived began to fail them, and they recognized
that their only means of escaping hunger--(they had not to fear
thirst, for there was a spring of fresh water in the interior of the
hill)--was to go down again to the coast, lay hands upon a native
boat, and get out to sea. Where were the fugitives to go, and what
was to become of them without provisions?--these were questions
that had to be asked, and which nobody could answer. Nevertheless,
they would not have hesitated to attempt the adventure if they could
have a few hours of darkness; but, at that time of year, the sun did
not as yet go down behind the horizon of the eighty-fourth parallel.

Death would probably have put an end to their misery had not the
situation been changed by the following events.

On the 22nd of February, in the morning, William Guy and Patterson
were talking together, in terrible perplexity of mind, at the
orifice of the cavity that opened upon the country. They no longer
knew how to provide for the wants of seven persons, who were then
reduced to eating nuts only, and were suffering in consequence from
severe pain in the head and stomach. They could see big turtles
crawling on the beach, but how could they venture to go thither,
with hundreds of natives coming and going about their several
occupations, with their constant cry of _tekeli-li_?

Suddenly, this crowd of people became violently agitated. Men,
women, and children ran wildly about on every side. Some of the
savages even took to their boats as though a great danger were at
hand. What was