easy to sound in so low a boat, while in such swift motion; and Bob was
compelled to give it up. As they should be obliged to return with the
oars, Mark observed that then he would feel his way back to the ship.
Nevertheless, the few casts of the lead that did succeed, satisfied our
mariners that there was much more than water enough for the Rancocus,
between the reefs. _On_ them, doubtless it would turn out to be
different.

Mark met with more difficulty than he had anticipated in keeping the
dingui out of the breakers. So very smooth was the sort of bay he was
in--a bay by means of the reefs to windward, though no rock in that
direction rose above the surface of the sea--so very smooth, then, was
the sort of bay he was in, that the water did not break, in many places,
except at long intervals; and then only when a roller heavier than
common found its way in from the outer ocean. As a consequence, the
breakers that did suddenly show themselves from a cause like this, were
the heaviest of all, and the little dingui would have fared badly had it
been caught on a reef, at the precise moment when such a sea tumbled
over in foam. This accident was very near occurring once or twice, but
it was escaped, more by providential interference than by any care or
skill in the adventurers.

It is very easy to imagine the intense interest with which our two
mariners drew near to the visible reef. Their observations from the
cross-trees of the ship, had told them this was all the land anywhere
very near them, and if they did not find their lost shipmates here, they
ought not to expect to find them at all. Then this reef, or island, was
of vast importance in other points of view. It might become their future
home; perhaps for years, possibly for life. The appearances of the
sunken reefs, over and among which he had just passed, had greatly