, which we afterwards named the Valley of the Wreck. At each
of these openings the reef rose into two small green islets, covered
with bushes, and having one or two cocoa-nut palms on each. These
islets were very singular, and appeared as if planted expressly for the
purpose of marking the channel into the lagoon. Our captain was making
for one of these openings the day we were wrecked--and would have
reached it, too, I doubt not, had not the rudder been torn away. Within
the lagoon were several pretty, low coral islands, just opposite our
encampment; and immediately beyond these, out at sea, lay about a dozen
other islands, at various distances, from half-a-mile to ten miles--all
of them, as far as we could discern, smaller than ours and apparently
uninhabited. They seemed to be low coral islands, raised but little
above the sea, yet covered with cocoa-nut trees.

All this we noted, and a great deal more, while we sat on the top of the
mountain. After we had satisfied ourselves we prepared to return; but
here, again, we discovered traces of the presence of man. These were a
pole or staff, and one or two pieces of wood which had been squared with
an axe. All of these were, however, very much decayed, and they had
evidently not been touched for many years.

Full of these discoveries, we returned to our encampment. On the way we
fell in with the traces of some four-footed animal, but whether old or
of recent date none of us were able to guess. This also tended to raise
our hopes of obtaining some animal food on the island; so we reached
home in good spirits, quite prepared for supper, and highly satisfied
with our excursion.

After much discussion, in which Peterkin took the lead, we came to the
conclusion that the island was uninhabited, and went to bed.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

JACK'S INGENUITY--WE GET INTO DIFFICULTIES ABOUT FISHING, AND GET OUT OF
THEM BY A METHOD WHICH GIVES US A COLD BATH--HORRIBLE ENCOUNTER WITH A
SHARK.

For several days after the excursion related in the last chapter we did
not wander far from our encampment, but gave ourselves up to forming
plans for the future and making our present abode comfortable.

There were various causes that induced this state of comparative
inaction. In the first place, although everything around us was so
delightful, and we could without difficulty obtain all that we required
for our bodily comfort, we did not quite like the idea of settling down
here f