Needless to say there was no work done on the wreck for the rest of that day, but, to banish the feeling of depression, all hands were kept busily employed, some on the repairs to the gig, others making and repairing canvas gear, while the two divers made a successful descent and recovered the lost anchor and cable. On coming up they reported that the anchor was actually balanced on the edge of a deep chasm, it being only by the merest chance that the ground tackle had not been irrecoverably lost. So delicate, in fact, was the position of the anchor, that the divers hesitated to approach it for fear that it might make a sudden descent and carry them with it over the abyss. Just before sunset a strong party went ashore to refill the barricoes. The doctor and I went with them, but no amount of persuasion could induce Yadillah to set foot upon the island again, and during our stay he kept firmly to his resolution. We noticed a curious fact in connection with the journey ashore. The water was tinged in colour, and had a strong, sulphurous smell, so that we argued there must have been a volcanic outlet somewhere in the neighbourhood, or, failing that, there was a tremendous natural agency still bottled up beneath the island, that before long must seek to escape by another violent upheaval. * * * * * Soon after daybreak on the following day the working-parties set out on their varied tasks, for, on account of the heat between the sea-soddened timbers of the wreck, it was decided to suspend work during the hottest part of the day. The whaler's crew, under the orders of my uncle, devoted themselves to the unloading and transporting of the iron pigs from the hold of the "Fortuna," intending to replace them with bars of solid silver from the "San Philipo"; while a party of men, under my father and the bos'n, went away in the now serviceable gig to survey the reef. I chose to go with the gig, which was certainly a more pleasant amusement than working inside a steaming wreck, for even at that early hour a thick vapour enveloped the "San Philipo." For some distance the two boats kept company, the lighter boat towing a pair of sheers which were to be set up on the cliff to enable the pigs to be handled the more easily, while the whaler, in addition to being heavily laden with ballast from the yacht, carried a second pair of sheers to set up over the main hatchway of the wreck. Opposite the landing-place on the reef we cast off our share of the gear and rowed slowly by the ledge of rocks, my father keeping a sharp eye on the formation of the reef to see if any of the gaping crevices actually led to the open sea beyond.