ot turned
into the river Niova.

Touching at every village and exploring every inlet, Frank
continued his course until, after rounding the bold promontory of
La Beata, he reached the bay at the head of which stands Jaquemel.

Every two or three days they had communicated with the Osprey and
slept on board her, leaving her at anchor with her sails down until
they had gone some ten miles in advance. She had at times been
obliged to keep at some distance from the shore, owing to the
dangers from rocks and shoals. The pilot on board would have taken
her through, but Frank was unwilling to encounter any risk, unless
absolutely necessary.

At Jaquemel he learnt that the schooner had put in there a
fortnight before, but neither there nor at any point after leaving
Azua had she been seen since that time. She had sailed west.

The next night, after looking in at Bainette, some twenty miles
beyond Jaquemel, Frank rejoined the Osprey.

The gig was hoisted up, and they sailed round the point of Gravois,
the coast intervening being so rocky and dangerous that, although
there was a passage through the shoals to the town of St. Louis,
Frank felt certain that the schooner would not be in there. The
coast from here to Cape Dame Marie was high and precipitous, with
no indentations where a ship could lie concealed, and the voyage
was continued in the yacht as far as this cape. They were now at
the entrance of the great bay of Hayti.

"I take it as pretty certain," Frank said, as he, George Lechmere,
the skipper, and Dominique bent over the chart; "that the schooner
is somewhere in this bay. She has certainly not made her
headquarters anywhere along the south coast. In the first place,
she has seldom been seen, and in the second we have examined it
thoroughly. Therefore I take it that she is somewhere here, unless,
of course, she has sailed for Cuba. But I don't see why she should
have done that. The coast there is a good deal more dangerous than
that of San Domingo. He could not want a better place for cruising
about than this bay. You see, it is about ninety miles across the
mouth, and over a hundred to Port au Prince, with indentations and
harbours all round, and with the island of Genarve, some forty
miles long, to run behind in the centre. He could get everything he
wants at Port au Prince, or at Petit Gouve, which looks a
good-sized place.

"I should say, in the first place, that we could not do better than
run down at nig