Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/245

 we could see the waving of the lofty palms in the morning breeze. Looking farther down into the bay we could see old ocean’s waves rolling in and throwing the  silvery spray high in the air over the coral reefs. We could but admire the wonderful contrast. By ten o’clock nearly all the snow had disappeared.

About eleven, fifty of our ship’s company arrived, bringing the glad tidings that our lost shipmate, Longley,  had been found near one of the caves, though in a very  feeble condition. He said he had seen people pass and repass, but had not had the strength to attract their  attention. He had been exposed to the cold and rain three days and nights. The best of care was taken of him and he soon recovered. The day proved fine, and we got everything in readiness for an early start in the  morning, and after a hearty supper of hard-tack, boiled  fresh beef, and boiled tea without sugar, we made for  the cave, rolled ourselves up in our blankets, turned in  on our lava beds, and tried to go to sleep. At daylight the next morning we turned out and breakfasted on a most delicious scouse and Scotch coffee, after which  we made a move for the summit, arriving there the  next day noon with weary limbs and sore feet. The ascent for the last five or six miles was very rough. The whole surface was covered with lava clinkers, much resembling those from a blacksmith’s forge. We were provided with green raw-hide sandals to travel over this  steep, rough road, and it was no boy’s play to travel it  for five or six miles, carrying heavy boxes of instruments,  pieces of the portable house, and provisions. But Jack before the mast carried the whole lot to the summit,