THE INDIAN OCEAN. 61 



said they were going ashore as per bulletin. We 

 looked at each other and hied us to the upper 

 deck. There we found one of the boats slung 

 overside, with our old friend the quartermaster 

 ostentatiously stowing kegs of water, boxes, and 

 the like. 



" When," we inquired gently, " does the expe- 

 dition start ? " 



" At ten o'clock," said he. 



It was now within fifteen minutes of that hour. 



We were at the time fully ten miles off shore, and 

 forging ahead full speed parallel with the coast. 



We pointed out this fact to the quartermaster, 

 but found, to our sorrow, that the poor old 

 man had suddenly gone deaf ! We therefore re- 

 frained from asking several other questions that 

 had occurred to us such as, why the cape was 

 not shown on the map. 



" Somebody," said one of the Americans, a 

 cowboy going out second class on the look for new 

 cattle country, " is a goat. It sure looks to me 

 like it was these yere steamboat people. They 

 can't expect to rope nothing on such a raw deal 

 as this ! " 



To which the English assented, though in 

 different idiom. 



But now up the companion ladder struggled 



