Rensselaer Republican, Volume 24, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1892 — CAST UP by the SEA. [ARTICLE]

CAST UP by the SEA.

CHAPTER XIII— -Continued. While not only were the instruments of vital importance: but the box likewise contained Almanac and thechqyjts of the Indian Ocean, including tlie east coast of V Africa, together with drawing and r writing materials. The next in value to the astronomical instruments was the brace of excellent pistols. faint idea of the happiness such an unexpected treasure can afford. Riches depend upon their actual value, and at that moment nil the gold of the earth would have been utterly useless to Ned; but under tfie f. present circumstances no gift could have e. j ualed that which had providen fal y fallen into their hands. Rejoice u uirtheir good'fort uue. the boys four poles into the ground, 'which they had" brought from the ship for that purpose, they steadied them by cross-pices firmly lashed adl'oss.over which they stretched a couple of sails, which, being doubled, effectually protected them from the burning sun; the roof of their tent being completed, they strained the canvas upon either side at an angle and pegged it to the ground. In some places the rock prevented them from driving in the pegs, accordinglythey rolled large masses of coral into con venient positions, to which they attached the cords that stretched the sides of their tent. They now arranged a few chests, which they-car-ried with some difficulty from the raft, and, having heaped up two masses of sand in an oblong shape like raised asparagus beds, threw a sail over each, and forming a pillow by nor extra hillock at the end. they completed a couple of couches more roomy and comfortable than the hammocks in which they had been accustomed to swing ou board the frigate. By the time their work was; complete they were hungry and thirsty. Taking a draught of water, thej’ determined to boil a piece of bOef, and, choosing a nice fat joint from their stork, Tim collected a quantity of firewood from the drift timber ou the shore whilk Ned prepared afire. He had no tinder, neither were there any small twigs, nor anything that is requisite to light a lire; however, they had plenty of wood, and as sohie fragments of deal cases had bee?i ,-cast ashore, and thoroughly dried iu A.the sun, he selected a piece with * straight grain, and sharp knife that • huug from Tits side fie split it into fine slips; he then took a plane from the tool chest, arid with another portico of, the wood he supplied a ting off a portion of dry canvas from the ragged end of a sail, he bruised about a teaspoonful of gunpowder, with which he rubbed the sail cloth until it was _ per fectly blackened; he then spreicTa small pinch of"powder on the surface as he pTac 7 ed~tt~iir-the pan of an unloaded musket and pulled the trigger.ln an instant it ignited and burhtfiereely. —Ned now rolled up the burning cloth and placed it in the center of the shavings like a bouquet, which he swung rapidly around with the full force of his arm 4 uutil the draught of air fanned it in __ to a flame; upon this he placed the sma'l wood that he had already prep iryd. and as it readily took tire he piled cautiously larger pieces iu proportion to the strength of the flame, until a large oakendog at length lay on top of the pile. The tire now blazed brightly about ten yards distapt from the tent. It was near sunset, and the great heat of the day had passed; there were no sharks in the shallow water within the outer reef; therefore Ned took off his clothes to bathe while Tim was cooking din ner. He plunged in the clear water and reveled iu the luxurjof a bath, especially as he would be able to change his clothes and enjoy a clean shirl froui Ten Stevens ‘ outlit. He dare not put his feet to the bottom on account of the sharp coral and shells, but. having incautiously done so as he was coming out, he discovered that the object that had cut his foot was a huge mass of fine oys- ► tors, cemented together so as to form a rock of about two hundred weight. Calling to Tim for assistance, after much labor, they succeeded iu rolling it to the shore uud surveyed their prize in some perplexity, as the oysters were curiously contorted and •most difficult to Open. Ned had already broken the point of his good knife, when a happy idea struck him. “Give a hand, Tim! he cried, “and let's roll the rock close to leeward of the fire; the wind will blow the heat upon it, and the oysters will open by themselves.” “Massa Ned know de trick!” replied Tim exultingly, as he put his ' shoulder ta the work,,and they presently had the rock in the desired position. The heat was intense; the .surface of the mass first became dry, then several oysters eaped widely, and in a few minutes the example was generally followed, and as Ned turned the other side to the fire the entire rock bristled with the gaping shells. •,, >' Tim was delighted and enjoyed the feast, but, being a cook, he contrived a good dish, and stewed some of the oysters with broken captain’s biscuit ,and small portions of salt beef. Salt they had none, but they had a fire, a kettle and sea water; thus thev kept the kettle boiling briskly, which they refilled as it evaporated, until the brine bocame strong, when it was 'bo.U4 «arly dry, ana a considerable •up* *t salt was procured of good

BY SIR SAMUEL W. BAKER.

.*>- 51 After an excellent dinner, which they finished as the full mobn rose, Ned determined to discover the latitude by the meridian altitude of a star; accordingly he walked some distance from the blazing fire, and looking attentively at the heavens he singled out Capella as the brightest star near the meridian. After a careful observation with the sextant he completed his observation and diseovered that the reef upon which they stood was situated in south latitude Iff degrees. Sffmainutes, He could only guess vaguely at the longitude, but considering the run pf the frigate durihg the hurricane, Open reference to the chart of the east coast of Africa, he came to the conclusion that their position was not more than fifty rniles from the mainland,~and that the current must have carried the 6hip into the northern mouth of the Mozambique channel, to the klip I .:fxtreme pbmT dl Madagascar. The latitude of Zanzibar was 7 degrees 20 minutes. This being a Portuguese settlement, Ned hoped to reach it either by sea, should the wind be fair: or, should they gain the mainland he trusted tb*arr»ve there- on‘TootA- laeither case the voyage upon the raft would be most hazardous, but, as the weather would most probably be settled after the recent storm, Ned resolved to start without loss of time, lest the present fair wind should change. He accordingly communicated his intention to Tim, and he arranged to stnft on the following morning. . The night was cool and delightful, and as bright as the full moon of the tropics could shine, without a cloud. Ned wished to stroll round the narrow island before he left on tlie morrowy therefore,calling Tim and Nero to accompany him, he walked along the edge of the' coral reef.

They had proceeded about half a mile when they arrived at a spot where the rock was no longer abrupt, but a beautiful snow white sand, the debris of wasted and wavo worn coral, formed a wide shelving beach for some hundreds of yards in length. Upon this plain white surface were a number of low dark objects that looked like casks, which, washed ashore, had becqpie half imbedded in the sand. The nearest was about a hundred yards from them, and as they approached, to their astonishment, it began to move Jtoward the sea, “TurtleT shouted Ned. dashed forward to cut off the ture’s retreat. ‘"Go at him, Nero}! he cried, as the dog shot ahead of his master iu the race. In a few seconds Nero was vainly attempting to hold bv the hard and slippery shell; but’ as the turtle had drawn its head under cover, it stopped until Ned arrived, when he dexterously, turned it upon its back. In the mean time Tim had run on and out off the retreat of several others, which he had turned upon their, •backs. In about a quarter of 'an hour eigh t , large tur.tks had been. thus captured, and Ned quickly discovered that this bank of fine sand was a favorite Spot/ for depositing their eggs. There were numerous holes that had been freshly scraped in the sand to a depth of about eighteen inches; in some of these were several hundreds of eggs that had been laic! from time to time during the nocturnal visits of the turtles. These curious creatures are in the habit of visiting the shore after sunset, but seldom or never during the heat of the day. during which they remain either floating laaily on the surface of the water, or iu the cooler depths below. At nignt the female seeks some sandy beach, in which with her horny head and fins she excavates a hole some distance above high water mark: in this she lays the jpumber of eggs that may be ready for the deposit, after which she carefully yovers them with sand ahd ConyeauTthe r&fceut mea valkm. ~’ Every flight she returns to the same spot aud reopens the hole, in which she deposits a fresh batch of eggs, as a hen daily visits her nest, until from three to six hundred have been laid. When the number is complete the femalbleaves the nest to the action of the sand heated by the sun’s rays, and by this simple process of" incubation the young turtles, when no larger than a crown piece, free themselves from the eggs atjd work their -Wav through the sand; upon arrival at the surface they follow their natural instincts, and scramble to the sea in crowds, where a great portion are devoured, not only by the larger fish biit by other turtles. The eggs are good eating, and are extremely rich; as the exterior is never hard like the egg of; a bird, but is tough and flexible like fine white kid, they are easily packed without danger of breakage. ’ Ned rejoiced in this unlooked for supply of fresh food for their voyage. Several turtles could easily be stowed upon the raft and be kept alive by simply pouring a few buckets of sea-water over them during the day. Food they would not require, as the . stomach of the turtle has a wonderful power of contraction; and one of the peculiarities of this creature is, that it can continue for many days without eating, and still retain its original weight, if only wetted with salt water. Ned determined to leave his immovable captivee on their backs during the night, and to call for them with the rafts early on the following morning, as he perceived a much wider and ippx» practicable outlet from the reel than that by which the raft had entered. It was v, *.