jib and forestaysail, which I now
set. I fished the boom and furled the sail snug for the night; then
hauled the sloop's head two points offshore to allow for the set of
current and heavy rollers toward the land. This gave me the wind three
points on the starboard quarter and a steady pull in the headsails. By
the time I had things in this order it was dark, and a flying-fish had
already fallen on deck. I took him below for my supper, but found
myself too tired to cook, or even to eat a thing already prepared. I
do not remember to have been more tired before or since in all my life
than I was at the finish of that day. Too fatigued to sleep, I rolled
about with the motion of the vessel till near midnight, when I made
shift to dress my fish and prepare a dish of tea. I fully realized
now, if I had not before, that the voyage ahead would call for
exertions ardent and lasting. On August 27 nothing could be seen of
the Moor, or his country either, except two peaks, away in the east
through the clear atmosphere of morning. Soon after the sun rose even
these were obscured by haze, much to my satisfaction.

[Illustration: Chased by pirates.]

The wind, for a few days following my escape from the pirates, blew a
steady but moderate gale, and the sea, though agitated into long
rollers, was not uncomfortably rough or dangerous, and while sitting
in my cabin I could hardly realize that any sea was running at all, so
easy was the long, swinging motion of the sloop over the waves. All
distracting uneasiness and excitement being now over, I was once more
alone with myself in the realization that I was on the mighty sea and
in the hands of the elements. But I was happy, and was becoming more
and more interested in the voyage.

Columbus, in the _Santa Maria_, sailing these seas more than four
hundred years before, was not so happy as I, nor so sure of success in
what he had undertaken. His first troubles at sea had already begun.
His crew had managed, by foul play or otherwise, to break the ship's
rudder while running before probably just such a gale as the _Spray_
had passed through; and there was dissension on the _Santa Maria_,
something that was unknown on the _Spray_.

After three days of squalls and shifting winds I threw myself down to
rest and sleep, while, with helm lashed, the sloop sailed steadily on
her course.

September 1, in the early morning, land-clouds rising ahead told of
the Canary Islands not far away. A cha