"When you had gone, and when Jupiter was fast asleep, I betook
myself to a more methodical investigation of the affair. In the
first place I considered the manner in which the parchment had come
into my possession. The spot where we discovered the scarabaeus
was on the coast of the mainland, about a mile eastward of the
island, and but a short distance above high-water mark. Upon my
taking hold of it, it gave me a sharp bite, which caused me to let
it drop. Jupiter, with his accustomed caution, before seizing the
insect, which had flown toward him, looked about him for a leaf, or
something of that nature, by which to take hold of it. It was at
this moment that his eyes, and mine also, fell upon the scrap of
parchment, which I then supposed to be paper. It was lying half
buried in the sand, a corner sticking up. Near the spot where we
found it, I observed the remnants of the hull of what appeared to
have been a ship's longboat. The wreck seemed to have been there
for a very great while, for the resemblance to boat timbers could
scarcely be traced.
"Well, Jupiter picked up the parchment, wrapped the beetle in it,
and gave it to me.
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