Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1903-02-27
- ~ = .
IN THE CHINA SEA-
A NARRATIVE OF ADVENTURE.
Ey SEWARD W.. HOPKINS:
(CorYn1aHr 1899 BIZ ROBERT BoNNEn's soSs0

these things, my rife and ammuni-
ton, I went back to Miss Arnold.
"There is one thing I overlooked"
I said, "and it is something that must
be done"
II must anchor the yacht, for at
full tide she might float off.
eyes, that is true," she replied.
Once more splashed my way to
the yacht. I took all I could CARRY,
with the anchor to drag, and started
inland again.
The anchor was too heavy; I left it
in the sand.
EFT may hold or it may not" I said,
Shut that is the best I can do"
Are your feet wet?" she inquired
anxiously, when I joined her.
"No. Cha Fong knew trick OF
two when he bought these boots; they
are waterproof"
'That Is good. Now what shall we
do, now that we are on land?"
"The very first thing is to get
comfortable spot and sit down to tall
over the situation. There seems to be
plenty of comfortable spots. Let Ut
go up there on the knoll and get under
the big palms"
every we'll. Let me carry some
thing"
"You can carry the rife. This pack
Is too heavy for you. can manage
that. I guess you'll have to take the
Ak, too"
Thus equipped, we made our way te
the spot I had pointed out, and put
down our loads.
"Well, we are on land, at least. We
are on the land, it is true; but what
land? This is strange part of the
world. The widest men may live
within few miles Of great town. II
this is China-and lido not see how il
can be anything else-we are not in
any part that is familiar to me-. So
we cannot be near Hong Kong. If we
meet with savage men, we are no bet
ter off than before"
"Miss Arnold" I said, eve can
meet with no more savage men than
those we have already met. I do not
fear the meeting with men so much as
T do wild beasts. And as for this be.
ing China, it is certainly the mainland
or an island on the coast. Do you
know OF any island that might fill the
bill?"
ct know the island of Formosa is
east of Hong Kong nearly two days
sail. The island of Hainan is about
the same distance west. These islands
are both large and inhabited. In
fact, they contain large cities. Then
Hong Kong itself is on an island, but
there are no parts of the island left in
pristine simplicity such as we have
here. You could not go in, any part
of the island of Hong Kong without
meeting people. MY knowledge of the
China Sea reaches no further. If we
are not on Hainan or Formosa or the
mainland, then I do not know where
we are"
l I sat down on log to think.
=. Miss Arnold sat on the other end OF
the log and looked at me disconsolate-
II.
IT don't see but one thing for US to
do" I said, soberly.
: "What Is that?" she asked.
"We must make tramp for it. We
may not be far from human Ihabitation.
and we may. But sitting here will
not help us out any. They will moi
come to us. We must go to them"
ST am ready to do anything you
think is best" she said.
"By following the coast I con
.tinued, "we may reach a fshing-vil
llage. We may at least chance upon
ihunting.party. We annotmake rapid
progress. In the first place, it will
not be safe to leave any of our sup
plies behind, for we may lose them,
More than that, we don't want to lose
time in countermarches. So we must
carry our pack as we 60. 1t will mol
do, either to tire you, so we must bt
content to do little every day until
we fetch up somewhere.
Miss Arnold was very pale. MJ
plan was not particularly reassuring,
'But what of the yacht? Shall we
not continue to use it?"
IT have thought of that, but I dc
not as yet give up the idea that this
land is inhabited. If we do not find
traces of human presence by nightfall,
we will consider plan of taking the
yacht along the coast with us. I am
so poor sailor, however, that I dc
not care to risk our lives in it. 1 have
heard that the China Sea is frequently
swept by terrific typhoons, that come
up without warning and destroy every
thing in their paths. A very insight
cant squall would be more than amatch
for my poor seamanship, so we had
better be content on land"
every we'll, just as you say"
"Let me reconnoiter.
walked few steps into the thicket
and performed semicircle around the
spot where Miss Arnold stood.
The land upon which we had drifted
wasgery fertile. Great Towering trees
and bushes grew in abundance as far
ns the eye could see. Everywhere, on
every hand, were countless myriads OF
gay colored and beautiful flowers.
Ferns of the most beautiful pattern
grew thick around hassocks or rocks.
There were not many of these rocks,
but the few to be seen were as white
as galabaster. Their highly polished
surfae es contrasted beautifully with