sealers
were justifiably suspect of smuggling—and couldn't get a digging
license for himself; he suggested, therefore, that Cornell and his
friend Du Toit use his boat and his knowledge for an exploring
expedition, in return for half the proceeds if they should find a
fortune. They jumped at the bargain and set forth as soon as possible,
loaded with supplies of food and as much water as they could get
aboard, which amounted to enough for fifteen to twenty days. A very
rough, slow voyage brought them to an island off the part of the coast
in question. It was Hallom's Bird Island, one of a number of scraps of
land under the protection of the British. It was forbidden to prospect
these islets because they were valuable collecting places for guano.
They are still unprospected, as a matter of fact, still forbidden
territory, and thus a great tantahzation to fortune hunters who
maintain that they are possibly the source of all the South-West coast
diamonds. Anyway, Cornell didn't waste time or break the law by looking
around or disputing possession with the hundreds of seafowl and seals
that scrabbled on the rocks for foothold. He and his companions were
in a hurry, and soon they stood on their beach.
At
first sight of this, Cornell was sure they had made the strike of their
lives. The pebbles were indeed exactly like those of the Vaal. Before
starting to dig he climbed a high dune to look round. "And east, and
north, and south there was nothing but sand; not a tree anywhere, only
here and there a stunted bush struggling forlornly against adversity;
nothing but bare waves, mounds, and ridges of desolate dunes as far as
the eye could reach, and to the west the equally (but not more)
desolate ocean." No sign of life but a few gulls, and a jackal that
followed him a few paces behind, too wild to be afraid. He sup-
