Chapter 1On my right hand there were lines of fishing-stakes resembling a mysterioussystem of half-submerged bamboo fences, incomprehensible in itsdivision of the domain of tropical fishes, and crazy of aspect as if abandonedforever by some nomad tribe of fishermen now gone to the otherend of the ocean; for there was no sign of human habitation as far as theeye could reach. To the left a group of barren islets, suggesting ruins ofstone walls, towers, and blockhouses.