that we beat a hasty retreat to the launch.

The country was apparently infested by these huge Carnivora,
for after three other attempts to land and cook our food we
were forced to abandon the idea entirely, as each time we
were driven off by hunting tigers.

It was also equally impossible to obtain the necessary
ingredients for our chemical fuel, and, as we had very
little left aboard, we determined to step our folding mast
and proceed under sail, hoarding our fuel supply for use in
emergencies.

I may say that it was with no regret that we bid adieu to
Tigerland, as we rechristened the ancient Devon, and,
beating out into the Channel, turned the launch's nose
southeast, to round Bolt Head and continue up the coast
toward the Strait of Dover and the North Sea.

I was determined to reach London as soon as possible, that
we might obtain fresh clothing, meet with cultured people,
and learn from the lips of Englishmen the secrets of the two
centuries since the East had been divorced from the West.

Our first stopping place was the Isle of Wight. We entered
the Solent about ten o'clock one morning, and I must confess
that my heart sank as we came close to shore. No lighthouse
was visible, though one was plainly indicated upon my map.
Upon neither shore was sign of human habitation. We skirted
the northern shore of the island in fruitless search for