d, and that if he wished
to escape he would have to rely altogether upon his own resources.

With this conclusion he once more turned his attention to his
surroundings.

Nearest to him was Cape d'Or, about four miles away, and Cape Split,
which was some distance farther. Then there was the Nova Scotia shore,
which appeared to be seven or eight miles distant. On the beach and
within sight was the boat which offered a sure and easy mode of passing
over to the main land. But no sooner did he recognize this fact than a
difficulty arose. How was he to make the passage? The boat had come
ashore at high tide, and was close up to the grassy bank. The tide was
far down, and between the boat and the water was a broad beach, covered
with cobblestones, and interspersed with granite boulders. It was too
heavy a weight for him to move any distance, and to force it down to
the water over such a beach was plainly impossible. On the other hand,
he might wait until the boat floated at high tide, and then embark.
But this, again, would be attended with serious difficulties. The
tide, he saw, would turn as soon as he should get fairly afloat, and
then he would have to contend with the downward current. True, he
might use his sail, and in that case he might gain the Nova Scotia
shore; but his experience of the tides had been so terrible a one, that
he dreaded the tremendous drift which he would have to encounter, and
had no confidence in his power of navigating under such circumstances.
Besides, he knew well that although the wind was now from the north, it
was liable to change at any moment; so that even if he should be able
to guide his boat, he might yet be suddenly enveloped by a fog when but
half way over, and exposed once more to all those perils from which he
had just escaped. The more he thought of all these dangers, the more
deterred he felt from making any such attempt. Rather would he wait,
and hope for escape in some other way.

But, as yet, he did not feel himself forced to anything so desperate as
that. There was another alternative. At high tide the boat would be
afloat, and then, as the tide fell, he could keep her afloat until it
was at its lowest. He could then embark, and be carried by the
returning water straight on to the Straits of Minas, and up into the
basin. He now made a calculation, and concluded that it would be high
tide about midday, and low tide about six in the evening. If he were
to embark