A CRUISE IN A WHALEBOAT. 243 



" Our passage was a pleasant one, and we were 

 BO fortunate as to miss the port by only about 

 twenty miles, which we soon retrieved when Long 

 Tom had gotten a correct observation, and deter- 

 mined on which side, north or south of the place 

 we had gotten. As we neared our haven, the 

 question was, how should we present ourselves, 

 what yarn were we to spin to the Portuguese, 

 and how account for our possession of the boat. 



" * For,' remarked Long Tom, who had gotten 

 to be our oracle by this time, ' people don't com- 

 monly navigate the ocean in whaleboats, and 1 

 dare say, we'll be looked upon as rather remark- 

 able specimens of humanity, in this out of the way 

 corner of the world.' 



" ' They are Portuguese,' said one, c and won't 

 ask many questions.' 



" ' No, but they may put us in their dirty cala- 

 boose, and poison us with garlic, in order to get 

 possession of the boat.' 



" Long Tom, who was always listened to with 

 attention, now proposed to sail boldly in, and if 

 asked our business, and where we were from, state 

 that we were lost from a whaleship cruising on the 

 coast. We should undoubtedly gain time thus to 

 look about us, and for the balance of our talk, let 

 it be as little as possible. 



" < And as I am the only one of you that under- 

 stands Portuguese, I don't believe you will com 

 mit yourselves.' 



" We made the harbor about ten o'clock, on the 



