“I don’t think I’d care to eat a monkey,” said Grace.  “But I wouldn’t mind eating birds.”

“There must be plenty of fish here, too,” said Tom.  “In fact I saw some sporting in the waters of a little bay up the coast.”

“Shall we go up and down the coast after breakfast?” asked Sam.

“My advice is to climb yonder hill and take a squint around,” came from Captain Jerry.

“That’s a splendid idea, providing we can get to the tap,” said Dick.

“There is no use of all of us going, lad.  You can go with me while the rest stay here.”

“What shall we do in the meantime?” asked Sam.

“Better try your hand at fishin’, lad, and see if you can knock some birds over with sticks and stones.  If ye get anything, let the girls cook us somethin’, for we’ll be powerful hungry by the time we get back.”

Half an hour later Captain Jerry and Dick set out.  Each carried a few ship’s biscuits and also a heavy stick which had been cut in the thickets.  Each wished he had a gun or a pistol, but those articles were not to be had.

The climb up the hill was by no means an easy one.  The rocks were rough and in many spots the jungle of brush and vines was so thick that to get through was next to impossible.  It was very warm, and they had to stop often to cool off and catch their breath.

“I don’t wonder that people in hot countries move slowly,” said Dick.  “I feel more like resting than doing anything else.”

It was almost noon when they came in sight of the top of the hill.  There were still some rough rocks to climb, and these they had to ascend by means of some vines that grew handy.

“What a magnificent view!” cried Dick.

It certainly was magnificent.  Looking back in the direction they had come they could see the Pacific Ocean, glittering in the bright sun-light and stretching miles and miles out of sight.

The island they were on looked to be about half a mile in diameter.  Northward, eastward, and westward was the ocean, but to the southward was a circlet of six islands, having a stretch of calm water between them.  Between some of the islands the water was very shallow, while elsewhere it looked deep.

“Seven islands in all,” said old Jerry.  “And not a sign of a house or hut anywhere.”

“We are the Crusoes of Seven Islands,” said Dick.  “But do you really believe they are uninhabited?”

“Do ye see any signs of life, lad?”

“I must say I do not.  It’s queer, too, for I rather imagined one at least of the other boats had reached this place.”

“I thought the same.  But it looks now as if they all went to Davy Jones’s locker, eh?”

“It certainly does look that way.”

From the top of the hill they took a careful survey of the situation.  The elevation was in the very center of the island.  Down toward the other islands the slope was more abrupt than it was in the direction from which they had come.