THE FLOEIDA GULF. 339 



tinned our voyage in the early morning following, down and out 

 of the river into the broad Atlantic. 



The deep solitude of the sky-bound sea was relieved by occa- 

 sional white-winged but lonely wanderers, bearing the varied 

 products of distant and invisible lands. Dark, graceful smoke 

 plumes, at first but dimly seen, revealed the presence of approach- 

 ing steamers, and furnished welcome food for speculation. A 

 German barque, looking as if it had wrestled^with the elements, 

 raised its flag to indicate that it desired to communicate with us. 

 Having sighted the land after a voyage across the Atlantic of 

 more than three thousand miles, its captain wished to ascertain 

 as accurately as possible, his whereabouts, and to test the cor- 

 rectness of his reckoning. Upon a large blackboard, each ves- 

 sel marked and exhibited to the other, first the latitude and then 

 the longitude of the place where they met, as indicated by their 

 respective logs or records, from which it appeared that the barque 

 was fifty miles removed from the position its officers supposed it 

 occupied. 



In the neighborhood of Jupiter lighthouse, well down on the 

 Plorida coast, we met a schooner, one of whose officers inquired 

 of us if we were going to Key West. It had no name in sight 

 and was in ballast. As it sailed, after parting company with 

 us, first towards the east, and soon, without any apparent good 

 reason, changed its course to the south, our experienced passen- 

 ger captain, having watched her closely, quickly made up his 

 mind as to her character and business. He explamed how easily 

 but fraudulently a few thousand dollars could be made. "De- 

 pend upon it," said the captain, '• she's a bank shark. She hails 

 from Key West, no doubt, and very likely has a Key West license. 

 She may have English papers, or both English and American 

 papers. Nassaii wreckers can't come here — our wreckers would 

 drive them off. So at the Bahamas they will not allow our wreck- 



