din'? or"--he looked over the edge of his cot and
saw me sitting upon the deck, ruefully rubbing the back of my head while
I vainly struggled to suppress my laughter at the ridiculous
_contretemps_--"oh! so it's _you_, thin, is it, Misther Dugdale? Bedad,
but you ought to be ashamed of yoursilf to be playin' these pranks--a
lad of your age, that's hitherto been the patthern of good behaviour!
But wait a little, my man--sthop till I tell the first liftinint of your
outhrageous conduct--"

By this time I thought that the matter had gone far enough; more over, I
had in a measure recovered my scattered senses, so I scrambled to my
feet and, as I re-hung the book shelf and replaced the books, hurriedly
explained to the good man the nature of the mishap, winding up with a
humble apology for having so rudely broken in upon what he was pleased
to call his "beauty shlape." Understanding at once that my involuntary
incursion into the privacy of his cabin had been the result of pure
accident, "Paddy," as we irreverently called him--his baptismal name was
William--very good-naturedly accepted my explanation and apology, and
composed himself to sleep again, whereupon I retreated in good order and
re-entered the master's cabin. The old boy had by this time slipped on
his breeches and coat, and was bending over the table with the chart of
"Africa--West Coast" spread out thereon, and a pencil and parallel ruler
in his hands. He indulged in one or two of the grimly humorous remarks
that were characteristic of him in reference to my disturbance of the
doctor's slumbers; and then, pointing to a dot that he had just made
upon the chart, observed--

"If the first lieutenant's bearing and distance are right, that's where
we are, about twelve miles off Shark Point, and therefore in soundings.
Did _you_ see the land, Mr Dugdale? What was it like?"

"It made as a long stretch of undulating hills sloping gently down to
the horizon at its southernmost extremity, and extending beyond the
horizon to the northward," I replied.

"Ay, ay, that's right; that's quite right," agreed the master. "It is
that range of hills stretching along parallel with the coast on the
north side of the river, and reaching as far as Kabenda Point,"
indicating the markings on the chart as he spoke. "Well, let us go on
deck and get a cast of the lead; it is time that we ascertained the
exact position of the ship, for the deep-water channel is none too wide,
and a