THE ISLAND BECOMES AN ISLET, 317 have a square sail, which would only be useful when the wind was aft. A sort of rudder was fixed to this rough structure, the fittings of which were necessarily incomplete. Such was the raft constructed by the head carpenter, on which twenty-one persons were to embark. It was floating peacefully "on the little lake, strongly moored to the shore. It was certainly constructed with more care than if it had been put together in haste on a vessel at sea doomed to immediate destruction. It was stronger and better fitted up ; but, after all, it was but a raft. On the 1st June a new incident occurred. Hope, one of the soldiers, went to fetch some water from the lake for culinary purposes, and when Mrs Joliflfe tasted it, she found that it was salt. She called Hope, and said she wanted fresh, not salt water. The man replied that he had brought it from the lake as usual, and as he and Mrs Joliflfe were disputing about it, the Lieutenant happened to come in. Hearing Hope's repeated asertions that he had fetched the water from the lake, he turned pale and hurried to the lagoon. The waters were quite salt ; the bottom of the lake had evidently given way, and the sea had flowed in. The fact quickly became known, and every one was seized with a terrible dread. " No more fresh water ! " exclaimed all the poor creatures together. Lake Bamett had in fact disappeared, as Paulina River had done before. Lieutenant Hobson hastened to reassure his comrades about drinkable water. "There will be plenty of ice, my friends," he said. "We can always melt a piece of our island, and," he added, with a ghastly attempt at a smile, " I don't suppose we shall drink it all." It is, in fact, well known that salt separates from sea- water in freezing and evaporation. A few blocks of ice were therefore "disinterred," if we may so express it, and melted for daily use, and to fill the casks on board the raft. It would not do, however, to neglect this fresh warning given by nature. The invasion of the lake by the sea proved that the base of the island was rapidly melting. At any moment the ground
