ere.
Each successive wave swept higher and higher on the beach until the
ocean lashed its angry waters among the trees and bushes, and at length,
in a sheet of white, curdled foam, swept into the village and upset and
carried off, or dashed into wreck, whole rows of the native dwellings!
It was a sublime, an awful scene, calculated, in some degree at least,
to impress the mind of beholders with the might and majesty of God.

We found shelter in a cave that night and all the next day, during which
time the storm raged in fury. But on the night following, it abated
somewhat; and in the morning we went to the village to seek for food,
being so famished with hunger that we lost all feeling of danger and all
wish to escape in our desire to satisfy the cravings of nature. But no
sooner had we obtained food than we began to wish that we had rather
endeavoured to make our escape into the mountains. This we attempted to
do soon afterwards; but the natives were now able to look after us, and
on our showing a disposition to avoid observation and make towards the
mountains, we were seized by three warriors, who once more bound our
wrists and thrust us into our former prison.

It is true Jack made a vigorous resistance, and knocked down the first
savage who seized him with a well-directed blow of his fist, but he was
speedily overpowered by others. Thus we were again prisoners, with the
prospect of torture and a violent death before us.

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

IMPRISONMENT--SINKING HOPES--UNEXPECTED FREEDOM TO MORE THAN ONE, AND IN
MORE SENSES THAN ONE.

For a long, long month we remained in our dark and dreary prison, during
which dismal time we did not see the face of a human being except that
of the silent savage who brought us our daily food.

There have been one or two seasons in my life during which I have felt
as if the darkness of sorrow and desolation that crushed my inmost heart
could never pass away until death should make me cease to feel. The
present was such a season.

During the first part of our confinement we felt a cold chill at our
hearts every time we heard a footfall near the cave, dreading lest it
should prove to be that of our executioner. But as time dragged heavily
on we ceased to feel this alarm, and began to experience such a deep,
irrepressible longing for freedom that we chafed and fretted in our
confinement like tigers. Then a feeling of despair came over us, and we
actually longed for