14 A FLYING TRIP TO THE TROPICS. 



us in a whale-boat pulled by four very black negroes, then wheeled 

 sharply around to our right, and continued on the circle until it 

 brought us in between the two forts guarding the entrance. 



This is a very strange harbor ; its entrance nearly perpendicular 

 to the coast-line, hardly one hundred yards wide, and continuing 

 inland, more like a canal than anything else, for nearly a mile, when 

 it opens out into a large and very irregular bay called the Schotte- 

 gat, or more generally the Lagoon. This canal is about one hun- 

 dred and seventy-five yards wide at its widest part, yet runs from 

 forty-five to ninety feet in depth, with its shores so steep that the 

 largest steamers can safely make fast within a few^ feet of the pave- 

 ments, and at some points actually tie up alongside. There are no 

 streams on the island, no running water, and no current or tide 



