Eliza had brought the prayer-book upon deck, and, opening it, she read, "O come, let us give thanks unto the Lord, for he is gracious. The sea roared, and the stormy winds lifted up the waves thereof: we were carried up as it were to heaven, and then down again into the deep: our souls melted within us. Then cried we unto thee, O Lord, and thou didst deliver us out of our distress. Blessed be thy name who didst not despise the prayer of thy servants, but didst hear our cry and hast saved us. Thou didst send forth thy commandment, and the windy storm ceased and was turned into a calm. Thou, Lord, hast made us glad through the operation of thy hands, and we will triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God, even the Lord God, who only doeth wondrous things, and blessed be the name of his Majesty for ever!" Then we both said, in the fulness of our hearts, Amen! Amen! — and throwing ourselves on the neck of each other, wept tears of joy and gratitude.

About the time the ascending sun looked over the rock upon the vessel's deck, the sea-breeze set in, which blowing into the cabin windows rendered it more agreeable below than on deck. We therefore descended; and after breakfast determined to show our respect to the day by dressing ourselves in better attire. The trunks were opened, and my beloved wife dressed herself as she would have done at Awbury on a Sunday; and I followed her example: we then sat down quietly, and I went through the morning service, she reading the lessons for the day. After this proper and consolatory

exercise, we talked to each other about those dear friends we had left behind in England, and often with grateful tenderness reverted to the father of Eliza, to whom both of us were much indebted for the peace we now enjoyed; being separated from all the gaieties of life, but having for our portion God and ourselves.

It being the winter solstice, or a few days after, and the sea-breeze blowing fresh, we did not find it unpleasantly hot upon deck; for although it was now near to noon, the vessel was completely in shadow of the promontory. We therefore enjoyed ourselves sitting arm in arm on the quarter-deck, feeling an internal happiness that scarcely could have been anticipated in such a situation: it was that peace which the world cannot give nor take away, and with which the stranger intermeddleth not. At one o'clock we went below, and took a slight repast by way of dinner; and, as soon as the high rock which overtowered our vessel extended its protecting shadow to some distance over the isthmus, my dear wife put on her gipsy hat, and we prepared to go on shore to take a walk. we were somewhat afraid, although we had not seen any traces of natives nor other inhabitants; neither had we heard the howlings of wild beasts: still we did not deem it prudent to venture without some defence. As it was Sunday, I did not choose to carry a gun; so I bethought me to go to one of my trunks and take out my pistols, which I did, and fastened them to a belt made of a silk pocket handkerchief; then taking a boarding-pike in my hand,

Yet

and giving Eliza another, to serve at once for a pilgrim's staff and a weapon, thus accoutred, with our faithful little dog, we stepped on shore.

I had observed a grove of cocoa-nut trees towards the centre of the isthmus, bearing about north of us; or I should rather say I saw the tops of them, for the sand-banks appeared unusually high between them and the eastern beach. We now proposed to direct our steps to that place, and proceeded for some distance under shadow of the promontory, during which it was very pleasant; but after we emerged from that friendly shield, the heat became intense, which, adding to the disagreeableness of the deep loose sand getting into our shoes, disposed us to return. I, however, perceived we could avoid the latter inconvenience by edging down to the sea side, which we did, and, by keeping close to the water's edge, found the footing firm and the walking pleasant. Thus feeling ourselves quite at ease along the margin of the beach, we often stopped to contemplate the reef on which the brig had struck; and, observing now the surf break over it, we felt a renewed spirit of gratitude to God, who had delivered us from a watery grave.

After proceeding about half a mile, we picked up many beautiful shells, which were admirable for their high polish. I put them in my pocket, one by one, as they presented themselves to us; until finding myself rather heavily laden, I said, "Eliza, we will leave some for our next walk." My dear companion instantly comprehended the cause of my remark, and desired to share the burden; but it was not already one, although it would have soon be

come so, had we not ceased to yield to our desire of collecting these beauties of the ocean. By this amusement, and the frequent contemplation of objects around us, the evening had imperceptibly crept upon us, so that the sun was setting just as we reached the eminence behind which stood the grove of cocoa-nuts: from that point we had a full view of the bright orb of day, making his slow descent over the land that bounds the lake upon the west. The sight filled us with admiration; and, as his radiance streamed along the sky, we raised our hearts to Him who made so glorious a creature so glorious, indeed, that men have worshipped him for his and their Creator, as if, dazzled by his beams, the light of their understanding had been put out, not to see that light or darkness, heaven or earth, all, are but creatures, the work of thy hands, O God, self-existing, unseen by the eye of man, yet every where visible in thy works, giving life and motion to all created things, and in whom and by whom we live, and move, and have our being.

We returned by the western beach, and, keeping close to the water's edge, walked with a good pace, and soon arrived at the point beyond which the gushing fountain pours out its refreshing water; and, it being now nearly dark, we could not stop to drink, but hastened across the isthmus, and got on board. After resting a little we took some wine and biscuit, and, being refreshed, gave prayer and praise to the Father of mercies. Thus having spent our first sabbath in the land of our solitude, we retired with repose of spirit to sleep.

Monday, 31st. The dawn of the next day found me at the pump, which, after a quarter of an hour's work, began to throw out the water slowly, and to my great joy and relief, before half an hour had expired, it sucked, that is, no more water remained within its reach; so that on ceasing to work it, the air rushed in from above. I now went into the hold, and searched about for the boxes that contained the spades, hoes, axes, &c., and at last found them stowed athwart-ships, close to the after bulk-head. I got a maul and large chisel from the carpenter's chest in the steerage, and forced open their lids. I took out a spade, a hatchet, a felling axe, and a couple of hoes; then hastened to the cabin to show my dear wife the proofs of my success, and to inform her of a cessation from my morning's toil at the pump. She was alive to every incident that concerned me, and she expressed the pleasing emotion she felt by a kind word, and a kinder smile, when I showed her the spade, and told her I had cleared the vessel of the leakage. We now had breakfast; after which I thought it right to cover up the main-hatchway loosely, not requiring to work any more at the cargo for the present. I had cleared away all the lumber amid-ships, but there was still a good deal more forward in the vessel. We cut up a pumpkin with a piece of pork, which I stewed together for our dinner. Then, as before, we took care of the pumpkin seeds; and on all future occasions we never omitted to gather up the seeds of our fruits as we used them.

In the afternoon we went on shore to look about