No trace of human habitation appeared; but from the size and
known population of the island, he knew he could not be far from
inhabitants; and thinking it best to send the boatmen in search of
them, he retraced his steps. The morning vapors were fast rolling
their snowy wreaths down the opposite mountains, whose heads, shining
in resplendent purple, seemed to view themselves in the bright
reflections of the now smooth sea. Nature, like a proud conqueror,
appeared to have put on a triumphal garb, in exultation of the
devastation she had committed the night before. Wallace shuddered, as
the parallel occurred to his mind, and turned from the scene.
On re-entering the cave he dispatched the seamen, and disposed himself
to watch by the sides of his still sleeping friends. An hour hardly
had elapsed before the men returned, bringing with them a large boat
and its proprietor. But, alas! no tidings of Murray and Edwin, whom he
had hoped might have been driven somewhere on the island. In bringing
the boat round to the creek under the rock, the men discovered that the
sea had driven their wreck between two projecting rocks, where it now
lay wedged.
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