fore, for certainly the harbours are the best in the group. No
doubt they got some fishermen to bring them into the creek. Well,
there is nothing to do but to turn her head west. It is but
forty-eight hours' sail to San Domingo, and I fancy that it is
likely that he will have stopped there. You see on the chart that
there are numberless bays, and there would be no fear of questions
being asked by the blacks. If we don't find him there we must try
Cuba; but San Domingo is by far the most likely place for him to
choose for his headquarters, and there are at least four biggish
rivers he could sail up, beside a score of smaller ones.

"I should say that we had better try the south and west first. The
coast is a great deal more indented there than it is to the north.
There seem to be any number of creeks and bays. I should think that
he would be likely to make one of these his headquarters, and spend
his time cruising about."

Although Dominique professed a thorough knowledge of the coast of
San Domingo and Hayti, Frank could see that he was not so
absolutely certain as he was of the Virgin Islands, and he told him
to land at villages as he passed along, and bring fishermen off
acquainted with the waters in their locality.

"Dat am de safest way for sure, sar," Dominique said. "Dis chile
know de coast bery well, can pilot ship into town of San Domingo or
any oder port that ships go to, but he could not say for certain
where all de rocks and shoals are along places where de ships neber
go in."

Three days later the Osprey, after sailing along the northern
shore, arrived at Porto Rico and, passing through the Mona channel
between that island and San Domingo, dropped anchor in the port of
the capital. Dominique went ashore with Pedro, and spent some hours
in boarding coasting craft and questioning negroes whether they had
seen the brigantine. Several of them had noticed her. She had been
cruising off the coast, and had put in at the mouth of the Nieve,
and at Jaquemel on the south coast of Hayti. They heard of her,
too, in the deep bay at the west of the island between Capes Dame
Marie and La Move. Some had seen her sailing one way, some another;
she had evidently been, as Frank had expected, cruising about.

Pedro put down the dates of the times at which she had been seen,
but negroes are very vague as to time, and beyond the fact that
some had seen her about a week before, while in other cases it was
nearer a fortnight