e
bulwarks, so that at a short distance it would appear that there were
three men on board. Feeling confident that the deception would not be
noticed, he kept his course without swerving, and passed some of the
fishing boats within hailing distance, waving his hand and shouting the
usual Arab salutation to their crews.

During the day he contented himself with eating some dates and an
oatmeal cake or two; but at sunset he added to this two or three fish
that he had split open and hung up to dry in the sun and wind. There was
charcoal on board, and a flat stone served as a hearth in the bottom of
the boat, but he had no means of lighting a fire, for this the fishermen
would have brought off when they came on board in the morning. After he
had finished his meal and taken his place again at the tiller he
altered his course. Hitherto he had been steering to the south of east,
following the line of coast, but he now saw before him the projecting
promontory of Cape Mezurata, which marks the western entrance of the
great Gulf of Sydra; and he now directed his course two points north
of east, so as to strike the opposite promontory, known as Grenna, more
than a hundred miles away. The wind fell much lighter, and he shook out
the sail to its full extent. All night he kept at his post, but finding
the wind perfectly steady he lashed the tiller so as to keep the boat's
head in the direction in which he was steering, and dozed for some
hours, waking up occasionally to assure himself that she was keeping her
course.

At sunrise he indulged in a wash in sea water, and felt freshened and
revived. He now kept a sharp lookout for distant sails, for he was out
of the ordinary course a coaster would take, and would have attracted
the attention of any corsair coming out from the land; the sea, however,
remained clear of ships. All day the felucca made rapid progress, for
although the wind freshened, Gervaise did not lessen sail as before,
being now accustomed to the boat and confident of her powers. As soon
as the wind died away again after sunset, he lay down for a good sleep,
feeling this was an absolute necessity, and knowing that before morning
he should be obliged to keep a sharp lookout for land. He slept longer
than he had intended, for the day was breaking when he opened his eyes.
He sprang to his feet, and saw the land stretching ahead of him at a
distance, as he thought, of some fifteen miles, and at once put the helm
down and