CHAPTER II.
THE ARCHIPELAGO ON THE EQUATOR.
IT was bright day when I awoke next morning. I looked about me and found I was alone in the cavern, which I had now leisure to survey. Believing it to be the dwelling-place of the Inspector, I could not help noticing how scantily it was provided with the comforts we consider indispensable in a room. The table on which lay the writing materials and books, a few chairs, several couches of leaves similar to that I lay on, and a sort of cupboard whence my host had taken the food he set before me yesterday, were all I was able to discover. Two or three garments, similar to that he had worn, hung from pegs driven into the rock.
I had not been long risen when I saw approaching, by the path that led up from the beach, the Inspector, followed by a youth of about 17 or 18. Both were clad in the short trousers my conductors of the previous day wore, and a cloak of palm-leaves covered their shoulders. Their wet hair and skin showed me that they must have just emerged from the water, so I concluded that they had been enjoying a sea bath before breakfast, and I formed a high opinion of the decency of the inhabitants from the fact that all the
