ain object of the expedition, coupled with the anxiety attendant upon
my responsible position, overcame for the time being the feeling of
illness resulting from my wound, and created a restless excitement and
eagerness for which I feared I should afterwards suffer severely, but
which impelled me at all risks to be present and to take the direction
of affairs. The men, encouraged by the report of the gig's crew,
tumbled into the boats with alacrity and in high spirits; Courtenay
retained the command of the gig; Fidd, the boatswain, again assumed the
command of the quarter-boat; and, snatching a cutlass from the arm-
chest, I stepped into the launch, said a parting word or two to the
quarter-master, and then gave the order to shove off; upon which away we
all dashed in profound silence for the mouth of the passage.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

THE CONQUEST OF THE CONCONIL LAGOONS.

A very short time, some three minutes or so, sufficed to carry us
through the channel into the lagoon, which once reached, away we went
for the back of the island, under the friendly cover of which we hoped
to reach undiscovered within about a cable's length of our foe. Half a
dozen strokes of the oars sufficed to carry our little flotilla across
the narrow strip of water, during the traversing of which there was a
possibility of our premature discovery; and whilst we were dashing
across this open space, I made the best possible use of my eyes to take
in the position of affairs. I was enabled to note the situations of the
three feluccas, which were lying at anchor about a mile distant, and we
could see men moving about the decks of each, but there was no movement
or sound on board either that we could discern indicative of our
presence being observed. I was earnestly hoping and praying that the
eyes and the whole attention of the pirates would be turned in the
opposite direction, from whence they doubtless expected us to make our
appearance, and we subsequently learned that such was actually the case.

The moment we were fairly under cover of the island I ordered the men to
ease up on their oars, in order that they might husband their strength
as much as possible for the final dash and the ensuing struggle, which I
could see would be a severe one, and waving Courtenay to range
alongside, the next few minutes were devoted to a final settlement of
the plan of attack. I had observed that the two small feluccas were
lying inside the larger one,