others wheeled in the air, every now and then darting down into the
blue sea, and bringing up in their bills a fish out of the shoals which
rippled the water, or bounded clear of it in their gambols. The form of
the coast was that of a horse-shoe bay - two points of land covered
with shrubs extending far out on each side. The line of the horizon,
far out at sea, was clear and unbroken.

Ready remained for some time without speaking; he scanned the horizon
right and left, and then he turned his eyes along the land. At last
William said:

"What are you thinking of, Ready?"

"Why, I am thinking that we must look for water as fast as we can."

"But why are you so anxious?"

"Because I can see no island to leeward of us as I expected, and
therefore there is less chance of getting off this island; and this
bay, although very beautiful, is full of reefs, and I see no inlet,
which makes it awkward for many reasons. But we cannot judge at first
sight. Let us now sit down and take our dinner, and after that we will
explore a little."

Ready cut two wide marks in the stems of the cocoa-nut trees, and then
descended with William to the low ground, where they sat down to eat
their dinner. As soon as their meal was finished they first walked down
to the water's edge, and Ready turned his eyes inland to see if he
could discover any little ravine or hollow which might be likely to
contain fresh water. "There are one or two places there," observed