to the quay."

Nothing so odd as that was the case; but after some little difficulty
we got on board, and Langley and myself retired to the state-room
which we held as tenants in common.

CHAPTER III.

_In which four thousand miles are gained._

We laid almost a week longer wind-bound. At last the skipper waxed
impatient, and one fine morning we got out our boats, and with the
help of the Pharsalia's boats and crew, we were slowly towed to sea.
Here we took a fine southwesterly breeze, and squared away before it.
Toward night we had the coast of Sicily close under our lee, and as
far away as the eye could reach, the snow-capped summit of AEtna,
ruddy in the light of the setting sun, rose against the clear blue of
the northern sky.

* * * * *

We had as fine a run to Gibralter as any seaman could wish; but after
passing the pillars of Hercules there was no more good weather beyond
for us until we crossed the tropic, which we did the 10th of May, in
longitude about sixty degrees, having experienced a constant
succession of strong southerly and westerly gales. But having passed
the tropic, we took a gentle breeze from the eastward, and with the
finest weather in the world, glided slowly along toward our destined
port.

I shall never forget the evening and night after the 15th of May. We
were then in the neighborhood of Turks Island, heading for the Caycos
Pass, and keeping a bright look-out for land. It was a most lovely
night, one, as Willis says, astray from Paradise; the moon was shining
down as it only does shine between the tropics, the sky clear and
cloudless, the mild breeze, just enough to fill our sails, pushing us
gently through the water, the sea as glassy as a mountain-lake, and
motionless, save the long, slight swell, scarcely perceptible to those
who for long weeks have been tossed by the tempestuous waves of the
stormy Atlantic. The sails of a distant ship were seen, far away to
the north, making the lovely scene less solitary; the only sounds
heard were the rippling at the bows, the low sough of the zephyr
through the rigging, the cheeping of blocks, as the sleepy helmsman
allowed the ship to vary in her course, the occasional splash of a
dolphin, and the flutter of a flying-fish in the air, as he winged his
short and glittering flight. The air was warm, fragrant, and
delicious, and the larboard watch of the tired crew of the Gentile,
after a boisterous passage of forty day