had seen from the lip of the
crater on our own island.

I was decidedly nonplussed at the fact that the fugitives were still
invisible, and knew not how to account for it. True, the sea was a
trifle heavy for navigation in so frail a craft as a small canoe, yet
the two savages were experts in the handling of such craft, and it was
therefore scarcely likely that they had met with a mishap of any
description--indeed, all that was needed to ensure their perfect safety
was to keep the canoe dead before the sea, and she would go along
without shipping a drop of water; even I, comparatively inexpert as I
was, would not have hesitated to undertake such a voyage, under the
influence of so powerful an inducement as that which we suspected to
animate the two natives. There was one other possible explanation, of
which I thought as I stood up there on the swaying yard, and that was
that the fugitives might have secured a piece of canvas, or material of
some kind, out of which they had manufactured a sail; in which case
their speed would no doubt be considerably higher than that which we had
estimated, and all our calculations would need revision. Considerably
perturbed at the thought, I descended to the deck and mentioned the
matter to Simpson, who agreed with me that it was quite possible our
dark friends might have taken the precaution to provide themselves with
a sail when they had made up their minds to return to their own island--
for we had not allowed ourselves time before our departure to overhaul
our belongings in detail, and ascertain the precise extent of their
depredations.

Even if they had not stolen any of our canvas, they were past masters of
the art of mat making, and might easily have plaited for themselves a
sail of fine grass, which would answer their purpose almost as well as
one made of canvas. And if they had done that, what would their speed
probably be? The canoe was only a small craft of about twenty-four feet
long by about four feet beam, and with two men in her she would probably
run before wind and sea at a speed of about six and a half knots. Then,
still allowing her to have had nine hours' start of us, we came to the
disconcerting conclusion that at the precise moment when we were
discussing the question she must be within ten miles of her destination,
while we still had a run of some fifty miles before us. In that case,
of course, it was hopeless for us to dream of overtaking her:
neverthele