To be the partner of adventure and hardship, the drudge in toil and sentinel in peril, was the boon she claimed, the best guerdon I could promise.

If but the promise might have been better fulfilled! It was not till in latitude 9 deg.

S.we emerged into the open ocean, and presently found ourselves free from the currents of the narrow waters, that, in order to see the remarkable island of which I had caught sight in my descent, I requested Ergimo to remain for some hours above the surface.

The island rises directly out of the sea, and is absolutely unascendible.

Balloons, however, render access possible, both to its summit and to its cave-pierced sides.