208 SPOIiT IN NOETH AMERICA. 



to Downin;2j's home, where an exquisite supper of 

 turtle again delighted us. 



It was on the following day that Downing had 

 arranged to start for Hetera^ where a band of 

 " wreckers " was to meet us and aid in the turtle- 

 fishing there. Close to his house, my host had a 

 handsome decked fishing-boat riding at anchor — a 

 Ipoat of about twenty tons, and manned by a couple 

 of hands. It was on board this stout pinnace that 

 we all four embarked on the morning of the 27th of 

 June, 1848. Thanks to a favourable breeze, we soon 

 found ourselves clear of the rocks and in the open 

 sea, dashing the white foam from our bows, and 

 speeding silently across the water as it sparkled with 

 light. Before us, and on either side of the boat, 

 shoals of flying-fish sported among the sea-weeds, 

 sponges, and corals, with which the bottom of the 

 sea was thickly covered. Afar off, we could see the 

 great Bahamas reefs, like so many points on the 

 horizon; but as we advanced they grew more and 

 more distinct, and we could see that they were clothed 

 with the rich livery of the tropics, and that they 

 offered to our sight a variety of shades and colours, 

 rendered still more delicate by the purity of the sky 

 and the brightness of the sun. It was like a fairy 

 spectacle, and in gazing on it I almost forgot the 

 first approaches of the sea-sickness which had already 

 begun to trouble me. 



Three hours after quitting the mainland, we were 



