larger than a boat. Then, inside this again, and rendered
especially safe and snug by being inclosed by two long, low, projecting
spits with a narrow channel between them, is the inner harbour, having
an area of about three-quarters of a square mile, with plenty of water
for the largest ships. The head of this harbour washes the walls and
wharves of the town of Cartagena; indeed it does more, for, as Hoard
informed me, it divides the town into two nearly equal parts, the tide
flowing right through it and for some distance beyond. In this inner
harbour lay quite a fleet of small coasting-craft, and towering high
among them all could be made out the tall spars of the galleon.
Immediately in front of us, and on the opposite side of the harbour, the
country was low, swampy, and thickly covered with scrub and bush, among
which could be made out the whitewashed mud walls of the villages of
Buenavista, Gospique, and Albornos, in the latter of which Hoard's
friend Panza had his habitation. The fishing-boats from these villages
were dotted all over the bay--they had probably been out all night,--and
having pointed out to me the several objects of interest in the noble
scene that stretched around us, my companion intimated that the time had
arrived for him to leave me, as he intended to get a passage across to
the mainland forthwith, and then make his way to the town for the
purpose of acquiring information. He cautioned me to keep a bright
look-out for chance stragglers, and to carefully avoid them, for he
assured me that, if discovered, I should certainly be dragged off to the
town, and probably meet with the same fate that he had suffered. And
finally, he undertook to return, if possible, the next night to the spot
whereon we then stood, adding that, should he fail to appear, I was not
to be alarmed. I watched him make his way down the hillside, lost sight
of him among the bush, and finally made him out again, with the aid of
my glass, just as he was entering a little hamlet on the harbour shore
of the island. I watched him sauntering hither and thither among the
dozen or so of huts that composed the hamlet, saw him engage in
conversation with several people, and at length observed him making his
way down to the beach, accompanied by a couple of men. The trio entered
a boat and pushed off, and I watched the crazy craft heading straight
across the harbour to the village of Gospique, from whence I concluded
he would make