34 



I N A G U A 



turned to the program before us. Where were we? We wished 

 to make the island of San Salvador where Columbus first made 

 landfall on that memorable morning in 1492. Here we were 

 to check on certain faunal conditions before proceeding to 

 other islands to continue our investigations. As nearly as we 

 could estimate from dead reckoning we were about eight hun- 

 dred miles off the Florida Coast. With the chronometer stopped 

 we could not figure longitude. Latitude was an easier matter 

 though we had to break open the cabinet drawer to get out the 

 sextant, so swollen was the wood from the wetting it had re- 

 ceived. Noon sights showed us to be in the latitude of Nassau. 

 We decided to continue south until we reached the parallel of 

 San Salvador and then make westing on the prevaihng trade 

 winds. 



On and on we sailed. At first we were almost afraid to shake 

 out full canvas, so fearful of the wind had the storm made us. 

 But the continued sunlight brightened our outlook and we 

 dipped gently on the wings of a mild breeze. A day passed and 

 another, and still no sight of land. Once in the early morning, 

 shortly after the sun had risen, a yellow-billed tropic bird had 

 come out of the west, circled in the blue and turned back again. 

 The following morning we saw a man-of-war bird and it, like 

 the tropic bird, circled and disappeared westward. Land was 

 somewhere over there. How far we did not know. The latitudes 

 of Eleuthra and Cat Island came and passed and still no land 

 showed up. We must be too far to the east. Noon sights gave 

 us the figures 24 degrees 3 minutes. San Salvador was due west. 



As we swung the bow toward the afternoon sun the wind 

 shifted contrary to all rules of the trades and began blowing 

 briskly out of the west. Soon we were having hard going. Was 

 the sea never to be through playing with us? We held a con- 

 sultation and decided to continue south again in the hope of 



