gig black, so that it would
not attract attention, give a coating of grey paint to the oars,
and hire a black crew, we could coast along and stop at every
village, and search every bay, and row far enough up each river to
find some village or hut where we could learn whether the Phantom
has been in the habit of going up there. It would take some time,
of course, but it might be a good deal of time saved in the long
run. We could do a great deal of sailing. The gig stands well up to
canvas when the crew are sitting in the bottom, and we could fit
her out with a native rig.

"From here to Cape La Move, following the indentations, must be
somewhere between five and six hundred miles, perhaps more than
that. The breeze is regular, and with a sail we ought to make from
forty to fifty miles a day--say forty--so that in three weeks we
should thoroughly have searched the coast, even allowing for
putting in three or four times a day to make inquiries. The yacht
must follow, keeping a few miles astern. At any rate she must not
pass us.

"At night when she anchors she must have two head lights, one at
the crosstrees and one at the topmast head. I shall be on the
lookout for her, and we will take some blue lights and some red
lights with us. Every night I will burn a blue light, say at nine
o'clock. A man in the crosstrees will make it out twenty miles
away, and that will tell them where I am, and that I don't want
them. If I burn a red light it will be a signal for the yacht to
come and pick me up."

"Then you will go in the boat yourself, Major?"

"Yes, I must be doing something. I shall take Pedro with me, and
perhaps Dominique. We can get another pilot here. Dominique is a
shrewd fellow, and can get more out of the negroes than Pedro can.
Certainly, that will be the best plan, and will avoid the necessity
of spoiling the yacht's speed, which may be of vital importance to
us at a critical moment.

"Call Dominique down. I will send him ashore at once with Pedro, to
get hold of a good pilot and four good negro boatmen, and a native
sail. I think that is all we want."

Chapter 15.

As soon as the dinghy, with Dominique and Pedro, had left the side
of the yacht; the captain, by Frank's orders, set four men to work
to paint the gig black, while others gave a coat of dull lead
colour to the varnished oars. The order was received with much
surprise by the men, who audibly expressed their regret at seeing
their brightly