; the sea being merely a short, irregular popple, with no weight
in it to set us down toward the white water. Meanwhile the hand in the
chains was continuing to take casts of the lead as fast as he could haul
in the line, with the result that we seemed to be maintaining our depth
of about eighteen fathoms, over a rocky bottom--composed of coral, as I
had no doubt, from the peculiar whitish-blue tint of the water.

By the time that the topgallantsails, royals, jibs, and staysails had
been set it had become broad daylight, and a few minutes later the sun
rose above a heavy bank of thunderous-looking cloud that lay stretched
along the eastern horizon, dispersing the mist that had hitherto
obscured the atmosphere, and affording us an extended prospect of our
surroundings.

The scene thus disclosed was alarming enough; for when, in order to
obtain as wide a view as possible, I ascended to the fore topmast
crosstrees I discovered, to my consternation, that we were in a sort of
lake, of very irregular shape, measuring about eight miles east and
west, by perhaps twelve miles north and south, surrounded on all sides
by extensive patches of broken water, with narrow, and more or less
intricately winding channels of clear water between them. How on earth
we had contrived to blunder blindfold into such a trap of a place, in
the darkness and thickness of the past night, without touching one or
another of the countless reefs by which we were surrounded, passed my
comprehension, although I believed I could make out the channel by which
we had entered, far away to windward. If I were right in my conjecture
we must have hove-to when we were about three or four miles to windward
of everything, and then have driven, while still hove-to, along the
channel, and finally into the lake-like expanse of comparatively deep
water, missing destruction a dozen times or more during the passage by a
sheer miracle.

Now, being in the trap, the problem to be solved was, how to get out of
it again. Glancing round me, I could see nothing but broken water
extending right out to the horizon, look which way I would. With the
object of extending my view, I ascended to the royal yard, but even at
this elevation the prospect was no more encouraging. Yet, stay, surely
that dark streak away there on the northern horizon was blue water!
Yes; the longer I looked at it--that thin thread of dark colour, barely
visible, and broken here and there by intervening