hance of catching sight of a ship
or land. The course in which they were was not far out of that of
homeward-bound vessels, or those which might be bound from India to the
Cape, and thus there was a fair prospect of being picked up. Still the
night was so dark that no vessel without lights could be seen, unless
within a stone's throw. Thus daylight was anxiously looked for.

The day at length dawned, and a beautiful fresh morning it was. A
breeze which in a ship would have been only sufficient to fill all her
sails, was to the small boats too much to be pleasant or safe. Still by
the aid of repeated baling, they were kept comparatively free of water.
No sign of a vessel, however, appeared, and it approached noon, when the
lieutenant, arranging his sextant, prepared to find out where he was.
After waiting several minutes, he was at length satisfied that he had
obtained the sun's meridian altitude, and having from this deduced the
latitude, he announced that the boat was not more than thirty miles from
land, though what part of the land she was opposite he could not exactly
tell. "My chronometer is not a very trustworthy one, and this knocking
about in the boat may have unsettled it; but if it is near right, I
fancy we are actually west of the Cape; and this is possible, if the
current has been very strong."

During the day the breeze somewhat abated, and by sunset it was again
nearly calm. The direction in which he was to steer was now a matter of
considerable uncertainty to the lieutenant: whether he should place any
trust in his chronometer, or steer according to what he believed his
true course. Considering the rough use to which his chronometer had
been subjected, he decided that he would steer a westerly course,
keeping a little north, so as to make the Cape, and thus reach Simon's
Bay.

Soon after the sun had set, a breeze sprung up from the north-east, and
this being nearly favourable, a small sail was set on each boat, and
they by this aid dashed merrily onwards. For the first few hours of the
night the wind was not too strong for the boats to carry a sail, but it
afterwards came on to blow so hard that it was no longer possible to do
so. The sea, however, was not, even with this breeze, nearly so
dangerous as it had been when the wind and current had been opposed to
each other; and though it was necessary to keep the boats before the
wind, yet both were comparatively dry.

"If this wind lasts," sai