le to pick out the true channel; but, viewed from the low deck of
the felucca, they all appeared pretty much alike. That there _was_ a
channel, however, and that a fairly good one, Carera assured us,
pointing out at the same time an island fully a mile in length, and
lying about due east and west, which he informed us marked the western
boundary of the entrance.

Soon afterwards the sea-breeze set in, and, squaring away before it, we
ran straight for a tiny islet with a single tree upon it, which lay some
distance within the mouth of the channel, and which had been brought
exactly midway between the long island above-mentioned and a much
smaller one about a quarter of a mile to the eastward of it. Courtenay
now set to work to take soundings throughout the whole length of the
channel, whilst I noted down upon a piece of paper the particulars and
bearings of the numerous marks. The Barcos Channel itself was some two
miles in length, as nearly as I could guess at it, curving slightly to
the eastward from its entrance, and by no means difficult to navigate
when once one had fairly hit off its mouth, but so narrow that a passage
through it in either direction could only be accomplished with a leading
wind. Once through this passage we found ourselves in an extensive
sheet of water--an immense lagoon, in fact--which Carera informed me was
known as Santa Clara Bay; and it is at the bottom of this bay that the
Conconil lagoons, to which we were bound, is situated.

And here our difficulties may be said to have fairly commenced. The
wide expanse of water upon which we were now sailing is exceedingly
shallow, a fathom and a quarter of water being its average depth
everywhere, except at its south-eastern extremity, where it dwindles
down to one fathom only. The _Pinta_, from her exceedingly light
draught, might, with careful management, have made a tolerably straight
run of it from the inner extremity of the Barcos Channel to the entrance
to the lagoons; but this of course would not do for us; a deeper, though
very intricate passage to the last-named point existed, and it was of
the utmost importance to us to have it pointed out to us; it was, in
fact, supposed to be the chief object of our journey with Carera.
Accordingly, away we went for it, stretching across the lagoon, now to
one side, now to another; bearing away for a few yards, then hauling
close to the wind; twisting and doubling like a hunted hare, and
changing ou