At last, the day arrives when the sea, inundating the marshes, bending the mangroves, reaches, on the sandy platform, one of the corners of his raft.

It was, however, too late; the forecastle would not clear the mangroves, and Kit knew the water was deep among their roots.

Two or three stunted bushes of a species of eucalyptus were the only trees seen, excepting the mangroves.

The green appearance of the gumtrees and an occasional clump of palms, which had pleasingly succeeded the mangroves, as they advanced, assured Captain Wickham that there was fresh water near.