rs bore out what the
skipper had already told me. I therefore concluded that the news was
true, and accordingly released the felucca, with a strict caution that
he was to proceed forthwith on his voyage to Mariegalante--the island to
which he was bound--and on no account to attempt to re-enter the harbour
of Fort Royal, under penalty of instant recapture. The fellow was
evidently only too glad to get out of our hands upon such easy terms;
and no sooner found himself once more safely on the deck of his little
hooker than he made all sail to the northward, and was soon lost in the
darkness. Dumaresq, who had remained with me thus far, thought this a
good opportunity to rejoin his countrymen, and, with my cordial
permission, took a passage in the felucca.

So far I had done very well; the combined fleet was only a few hours
distant; and I had no doubt that, with so nimble-heeled a craft as the
_Sword Fish_, I should have very little difficulty in overtaking them in
the course of a day or two. The question now was whether I should
proceed forthwith in pursuit of Monsieur Villeneuve, or whether I should
devote an hour or two to an endeavour to ascertain the precise nature of
the information said to have been brought from Europe by the schooner.
This information might be of value, or it might not; but after giving
the matter brief but careful consideration I came to the conclusion that
it was hardly worth while troubling about; as, if the vessel had brought
out despatches, they would have been delivered long since; and in any
case, the captain and crew would know nothing of their contents. I
therefore filled away forthwith, and by midnight had brought the island
over our larboard quarter.

There was now another question that bothered me somewhat, and it was
this: I could not understand why the combined fleet should be steering
east, or why they should have gone off in such a hurry as had been
represented to me. I racked my brains for a long time in search of a
satisfactory solution of this problem, as I felt that until I had found
such I should be quite in the dark as to the course which I ought to
steer in order to overtake them. For although I had been informed that,
when last seen, the fleet was steering to the southward and eastward,
close-hauled, I had no data upon which to base an opinion as to the
length of time during which they would continue to steer in that
direction, for the simple reason that there was no