"Then it has no value?"
"No; it merely measures the value of something which I can eat or wear, or use."
"Then why not use a taro root, or a fowl, or wisps of fibre?"
"That would be all right, if we could have a common understanding between us of how much a taro bulb was worth by the side of a bundle of fibre, and how large the bundle should be to exchange fairly with an armful of Amarylla tubers."
On the third day the boys, together with John, a party of the boys, and three natives under the lead of Calmo, started for the northern end of the island. John had now learned that the island was entirely unlike the Wonder Island formation.
The latter was fairly circular in form, whereas the one they were now about to explore was narrow and long. That part of the southern portion which they had carefully examined, in order to learn its agricultural possibilities, was rolling, and in many places had level plateaus, not anywhere at a greater altitude than three or four hundred feet above sea level.
There was higher ground to the north, where the climate was uninviting, so Beralsee said, and it was for that reason they made it a convict colony.
John was anxious to see the people who were exiled from their homes on account of their crimes. Furthermore, he was impressed with the idea that the upper end showed volcanic upheavals, which would be likely to expose mineral formations.
Gruesome tales were current of the ferocity of the convicts. It was no wonder that the poor victims, whom George had prevented from being expelled several days before, regarded their deliverance as such a great blessing.