eed there was
always a risk, unless he flew high, of his being brought up by a spur
or a rock jutting out into the Gulf; and as he did not wish to
maintain too great an altitude, he altered his course a point or two
to the south, flying over the sea, but not far from the shore.

Rodier and he took turns at the engine, each dozing from sheer
weariness during his spell off. They flew on all through the night,
and when dawn began to break, saw straight ahead land stretching far
to right and left. There was no doubt that this was the Oman
peninsula, which, jutting out from the Arabian mainland, almost closes
the Gulf. Steering now a slightly more northward course, and rising
to clear the hills of the peninsula, Smith passed over the neck of
land, and found himself in the Gulf of Oman, half-way between the head
of the Persian Gulf and Karachi.

Now that it was light, there was no longer the same necessity for
keeping out to sea. Indeed, it was merely prudent to come over the
land, so that if anything happened to the engine he would at least
have an opportunity of descending safely. The engine had worked so
well that he scarcely feared a breakdown, but he was not the man to
take unnecessary risks.

Glancing at his watch, he calculated that he was about two hours
behind time. As he had been flying at full speed except during the
storm, he could hardly hope to make up the lost time except by
diminishing the intervals for rest which he had allowed for before
starting. It was, at any rate, important to lose no more. He had just
come to this conclusion when there was a sudden snap in the framework
of one of the planes. Looking round anxiously, he at once reduced the
speed, feeling very thankful that the mischief had not developed
during the storm, when the aeroplane must have inevitably crumpled up.
Now, however, the weather was fair, and he could choose his
landing-place. He had no doubt that the accident was due to the
enormous strain which had been put upon the structure by the storm. A
glance showed him that the plane was still rigid enough to stand the
strain of motion at a lower speed, but that would neither satisfy him
nor achieve success, and so he decided to alight and try to remedy the
defect.

As he began to plane downwards, Rodier pointed to a cluster of huts at
the mouth of a small river. A dhow lay moored to a rough wooden jetty
beyond the hamlet. Between it and the huts was an open space of
considerable extent