the mizen
was placed close to the stern. This arrangement strikes an Englishman as
very strange, as they are in the habit of seeing the foremast very
nearly in the bows; but Ducas was a sailor, and knew the rig adapted to
these waters, and I must say that under most circumstances the
"Anglo-Franc" behaved herself admirably. She was a success in every way.
One special feature was, that we built a kind of half-deck forward,
which formed a small cuddy or cabin quite large enough for one of us to
have "a watch below" in, or for a regular sleep at night, or we could
both squeeze inside during a pelting rain. We spent several single
nights at sea in the "Anglo-Franc" during the summer, and by putting a
sail-cloth awning from the aft edge of the cuddy deck we lengthened our
cabin by four feet, and could thus both obtain a good night's rest, or
cook in any wind or weather.

When we had finished the boat we were rather at a loss to know how to
find accommodation for her when we did not actually require to use her.
In fine weather she could lie moored just off the house, and to enable
us always to keep her afloat, we rigged up an out-haul, so that standing
on the shore we could haul the boat out or in to its moorings whenever
we chose. This was all very well in fine weather, but when a fresh
south-west wind was blowing, and a heavy sea on, she would pitch and
roll to such an extent that we were afraid she would break loose and
drift away. We had therefore to cast about for some safer place for her,
and with this in view inspected the whole island round. When we came to
Lobster Bay, at the north-east corner, we agreed that that was the most
sheltered position we could find, and most suitable in every way for a
haven.

Quite at the angle of the island a promontory runs straight out to the
eastward for a distance of about forty yards, thus forming a shelter
from the rush of the rising tide through the Perchee Channel, while the
island of Herm kept the wind from the north-east in check.

"Now," said Alec, "if we could build a little stone breakwater from the
end of Cape Homard (Cape Lobster, as Alec called the point, because we
kept the lobster and crab pots there), we could make as safe a little
harbour as one could wish for."

This proposition seemed all very well, but the quantity of stone I knew
it would take rather staggered me, and I was a long time before I could
be brought to give my consent to help in the matter. But wh