n they have been half a century in
arriving at what is yet far from perfection in the art; but, unsaddled
by the incubus of the tax, they have been looking at the fishes in the
sea, and drawing a few ideas from the mechanism of nature; and hence
their present superiority.

Now you will better understand what I mean by the assertion that
_political science is the most important study that can occupy the minds
of men_.

CHAPTER FIFTY SEVEN.

A VERY GRAND OBSTACLE.

The good ship _Inca_, then, was like most others built to the merchants'
order. She was "pigeon-breasted," and bulged out along the sides in
such a fashion, that her hold was far wider than her beam; and, looking
up from the bottom of the hold, the sides appeared to curve towards each
other, and converge over you like a roof. I knew that this was the
shape of the _Inca_, for it was then the universal shape of merchant
vessels, and I was somewhat used to noticing ships of all kinds that
came into our bay.

I have said that, while trying through the slits of the top of the box
with my knife, I felt something soft, which I took to be a bale of
linen; but I had also noticed that it did not extend over the whole lid.
On the contrary, there was about a foot at the end--that end contiguous
to the ship's timbers--where I could feel nothing. There were two
slits, and I had run my blade through each without touching any
substance, either hard or soft. I concluded, therefore, that there was
nothing there, and that about a foot of space behind the bale of linen
was empty.

This was easily explained. The bale standing on the two large
cloth-cases, was at that height where the side of the ship began to
curve inwards; and as its top would lie in contact with the timbers
higher up, the bottom angle would evidently be thrown out from them to
the distance of a foot or so, thus leaving a three-cornered space quite
empty, being only large enough to hold small packages of goods.

I reasoned, therefore, that if I were to proceed vertically upward, I
should soon come in contact with the side timbers of the ship,
constantly curving inward as high as the deck itself, and that I should
meet with many obstacles, such as small packages, which I knew would be
more difficult to deal with than large cases and boxes. For this
reason, then, but more for the others already assigned, I came to the
determination to make my next move in a horizontal direction.

You will perhap