When we had made the tour of the island, we halted at the place where the boat had been left under the charge of two sailors, and about half-past two in the afternoon we were again on board. Early on the morning of the 23rd of December the _Halbrane_ put off from Bennet Islet, and we carried away with us new and convincing testimony to the catastrophe which Tsalal Island had witnessed. During that day, I observed the sea water very attentively, and it seemed to me less deeply blue than Arthur Pym describes it. Nor had we met a single specimen of his monster of the austral fauna, an animal three feet long, six inches high, with four short legs, long coral claws, a silky body, a rat's tail, a cat's head, the hanging ears, blood-red lips and white teeth of a dog. The truth is that I regarded several of these details as "suspect," and entirely due to an over-imaginative temperament. Seated far aft in the ship, I read Edgar Poe's book with sedulous attention, but I was not unaware of the fact that Hunt, whenever his duties furnished him with an opportunity, observed me pertinaciously, and with looks of singular meaning. And, in fact, I was re-perusing the end of Chapter XVII., in which Arthur Pym acknowledged his responsibility for the sad and tragic events which were the results of his advice. It was, in fact, he who over-persuaded Captain William Guy, urging him "to profit by so tempting an opportunity of solving the great problem relating to the Antarctic Continent." And, besides, while accepting that responsibility, did he not congratulate himself on having been the instrument of a great discovery, and having aided in some degree to reveal to science one of the most marvellous secrets which had ever claimed its attention? At six o'clock the sun disappeared behind a thick curtain of mist. After midnight the breeze freshened, and the _Halbrane's_ progress marked a dozen additional miles. On the morrow the good ship was less than the third of a degree, that is to say less than twenty miles, from Tsalal Island. Unfortunately, just after mid-day, the wind fell. Nevertheless, thanks to the current, the Island of Tsalal was signalled at forty-five minutes past six in the evening. The anchor was cast, a watch was set, with loaded firearms within hand-reach, and boarding-nets ready. The _Halbrane_ ran no risk of being surprised. Too many eyes were watching on board--especially those of Hunt, whose gaze never quitted the horizon of that southern zone for an instant. CHAPTER XVI. TSALAL ISLAND. The night passed without alarm. No boat had put off from the island, nor had a native shown himself upon the beach. The _Halbrane_, then, had not been observed on her arrival; this was all the better. We had cast anchor in ten fathoms, at three miles from the coast.