ombre hue,
betokening deep water. In all probability, then, this was a solitary
shoal, unattached to a shore, and the gloom of a bitter disappointment
began to weigh upon our spirits.

In another hour the mists had totally disappeared, and it was broad
daylight. I and M. Letourneur stood watching Curtis as he continued
eagerly to scan the western horizon. Astonishment was written on his
countenance; to him it appeared perfectly incredible that, after our
course for so long had been due south from the Bermudas, no land should
be in sight. But not a speck, however minute, broke the clearly-defined
line that joined sea and sky. After a time Curtis made his way along the
netting to the shrouds, and swung himself quickly up to the top of the
mainmast. For several minutes he remained there examining the open space
around, then seizing one of the backstays he glided down and rejoined us
on the poop.

"No land in sight," he said, in answer to our eager looks of inquiry.

At this point Mr. Kear interposed, and in a gruff, ill-tempered tone,
asked Curtis where we were. Curtis replied that he did not know.

"You don't know, sir? Then all I can say is that you ought to know!"
exclaimed the petroleum merchant.

"That may be, sir; but at present I am as ignorant of our whereabouts as
you are yourself," said Curtis.

"Well," said Mr. Kear, "just please to know that I don't want to stay
for ever on your everlasting ship, so I beg you will make haste and
start off again."

Curtis condescended to make no other reply than a shrug of the
shoulders, and turning away he informed M. Letourneur and myself that if
the sun came out he intended to take its altitude and find out to what
part of the ocean we had been driven. His next care was to distribute
preserved meat and biscuit amongst the passengers and crew already half
fainting with hunger and fatigue, and then he set to work to devise
measures for setting the ship afloat.

The conflagration was greatly abated; no flames now appeared, and
although some black smoke still issued from the interior, yet its volume
was far less than before. The first step was to discover how much water
had entered the hold. The deck was still too hot to walk upon; but
after two hours' irrigation the boards became sufficiently cool for the
boatswain to proceed to take some soundings, and he shortly afterwards
announced that there were five feet of water below. This the captain
determined should not be p