estimate of his abilities; or it was the consequence of living so long
entirely secluded from the world. He acknowledged to himself that he had
not been beaten down to his level. Full of devotion to Aurora, he
resolved to humble himself, to seek the humblest service in King
Isembard's camp, to bow his spirit to the orders of men above him in
rank but below him in birth and ability, to submit to the numberless
indignities of a common soldier's life.

He proceeded to launch the canoe, and had already placed the chest on
board when it occurred to him that the difficulties he had encountered
the previous evening, when his canoe was so nearly lost, arose from his
ignorance of the channels. It would be advisable to ascend the hill, and
carefully survey the coast as far as possible before setting forth. He
did so. The war-ship was still visible from the summit, but while he
looked she was hidden by the intervening islands. The white foam and
angry appearance of the distant open water direct to the eastward,
showed how wise he had been not to attempt its exploration. Under the
land the wind was steady; yonder, where the gale struck the surface with
all its force, the waves were large and powerful.

From this spot he could see nearly the whole length of the strait, and,
gazing up it in the direction he had come, he saw some boats crossing in
the distance. As they moved so slowly, and appeared so broad, he
conjectured that they were flat-bottomed punts, and, straining his eyes,
he fancied he detected horses on board. He watched four cross, and
presently the first punt returned, as if for another freight. He now
noticed that there was a land route by which travellers or waggons came
down from the northward, and crossed the strait by a ferry. It appeared
that the ferry was not in the narrowest part of the strait, but nearer
its western mouth, where the shores were flat, and covered with reeds