Page:Adrift in the Pacific, Sampson Low, 1889.djvu/42

 trying to get round the cliff where Briant and I failed to find the cave."

"Well, we'll try the north," said Briant" If we can get up the cape at the far end, we might see a long way round."

"That cape," said Gordon, "is 250 or 300 feet high, and ought to look right over the cliff."

"I'll go," said Briant.

The bay ended in a huge pile of rocks, like a hill rising into a peak on the side nearest the sea. Along the curve of the beach it was seven or eight miles away but in a bee line, as the Americans say, it was probably not more than five, and Gordon had not over-estimated the height of the hill at 300 feet from the sea-level.

Was this sufficiently high for a good view over the country? Would not the landscape be shut in by high ground to the eastward? But at least it would be seen if the coast-line continued towards the north or not.

And so it was decided that the exploration should be made, and that the wreck should not be abandoned until it had been discovered whether the boys had been cast on an island or a continent, which could only be the American continent. But no start could be made for the next five days, owing to the weather having become misty and rainy; and until the wind freshened to blow the fog away, the view would not be worth the ascent.

The days were not lost. They were spent in work. Briant made it his duty to look after the younger boys, as if to watch over them with paternal affection was a want of his nature. Thanks to his constant care, they were as well looked after as circumstances permitted. The weather was getting colder, and he made them put on warmer clothes from the stores found in the seamen's chests, and this gave a good deal of tailoring work, in which the scissors were more in request than the needle, and Moko greatly distinguished himself. Costar, Dole, Jenkins, and Iverson were elegantly attired in trousers