A CRUISE IN A WHALEBOAT. 241 



whiled away many pleasant hours in their peru- 

 sal, and in talking over the characters found io 

 them. 



" On the second day after our departure, a coun- 

 cil was held to determine what course should bo 

 pursued, should we fall in with vessels. After due 

 consideration, it was decided that should we see a 

 ship under sail, it would be prudent to keep out 

 of reach, unless she were clearly a merchant ves- 

 sel, when, if it was desirable, we might ask them 

 to take us on board. Of the native boats and 

 Arab coasters, we vot^d ourselves not afraid. We 

 could at any time escape from such by means of 

 our oars, and thought our six selves, armed with 

 the irons and lances which the boat contained, a 

 full match for any reasonable number of Arabs. 



" Our dead reckoning and observations proved 

 that in the first thr e days out we made one hun- 

 dred miles per day, which, although not a very 

 fine run for a large vessel, was exceedingly good 

 progress for a whaleboat. At this rate, we should 

 not be more than eight or ten days under way. 

 But the fourth day came a calm, and in the after- 

 noon a heavy rain squall, which was very useful 

 to us, as by means of our royal we caught suffi- 

 cient water to fill up every vessel we had in the 

 boat. Our biscuit we had stowed away safely in 

 the stern sheets, and under the bow, where the 

 rain could not injure them. 



" We were now prepared to make the entire trip 

 without touching at any intermediate point, * 

 16 



