a three-mast vessel, the BRITANNIA of Glasgow, foundered; that two
sailors and the captain threw this document into the sea in 37
degrees 11" latitude, and they entreat help."

"Exactly so," said the Major.

"What are those now we may conjecture?" continued Glenarvan. "That the
shipwreck occurred in the southern seas; and here I would draw your
attention at once to the incomplete word GONIE. Doesn't the name
of the country strike you even in the mere mention of it?"

"Patagonia!" exclaimed Lady Helena.

"Undoubtedly."

"But is Patagonia crossed by the 37th parallel?" asked the Major.

"That is easily ascertained," said the captain, opening a map of
South America. "Yes, it is; Patagonia just touches the 37th parallel.
It cuts through Araucania, goes along over the Pampas to the north,
and loses itself in the Atlantic."

"Well, let us proceed then with our conjectures. The two sailors
and the captain LAND--land where? CONTIN--on a continent;
on a continent, mark you, not an island. What becomes of them?
There are two letters here providentially which give a clew
to their fate--PR, that must mean prisoners, and CRUEL INDIAN
is evidently the meaning of the next two words. These unfortunate
men are captives in the hands of cruel Indians. Don't you see it?
Don't the words seem to come of themselves, and fill up the blanks?