It became necessary to make a strong wooden cage, or box to keep their food in; but the salt junk was scented by the foxes, and they gathered about it in great numbers and made the night hideous with their howls.
At last he hit upon a plan which nearly exterminated the foxes and rid them of the nuisance.

Among other articles brought from the ship was poison.

He shot a goat and, while it was warm and bleeding, cut it open, poisoned the meat and left it where the foxes could get at it.
Early in the night the fighting, snapping and snarling began, and the next morning the woods were filled with dead foxes, so it was years before the howl of another was heard.
Fully realizing the importance of making haste in removing the wreck to the shore, he worked with more than human efforts until he had gotten off almost everything of value.

Blanche aided him all she could, and when their tents were up, her womanly instincts as housekeeper gave a homelike appearance to them.
Having brought off all that was valuable, he built a house close under a bluff, where a projecting shelf of rock covered a small grotto, which he enlarged with pick and shovel.

Before the rainy season set in, he had a comfortable house.