On the other hand, by merely wearing a waist-cloth, and taking constant sea baths, I suffered scarcely at all from the scorching tropical sun.

I now devoted all my energies to the wreck of the _Veielland_, lest anything should happen to it, and worked with feverish energy to get everything I possibly could out of the ship.

It took me some months to accomplish this, but eventually I had removed everything--even the greater part of the cargo of pearl shells.

The work was rendered particularly arduous in consequence of the decks being so frequently under water; and I found it was only at the full and new moons that I could actually _walk_ round on the rocks to the wreck.

In course of time the ship began to break up, and I materially assisted the operation with an axe.