, but at once made up my mind
to first look for the dinghy.

As the morning wore on the breeze freshened somewhat, and the schooner's
speed increased to fully seven knots. I employed the early part of the
forenoon in satisfying myself that the prisoners were properly
secured,--taking the precaution to have them all put in irons, as, in
the exhausted condition of my own crew, I could not afford to run any
unnecessary risks,--and as soon as I had eased my mind of that anxiety,
I personally investigated the condition of the schooner's storeroom. To
my great joy I discovered that we possessed an ample supply of
provisions and water, together with a liberal quantity of wines,
spirits, and other luxuries--enough of everything, in fact, to maintain
the whole of the survivors of the _Althea_ upon full allowance for at
least a month. The schooner, moreover,--she proved to be the _Susanne_,
privateer, of Saint Malo,--was nearly new, a stout, substantially built
little craft of one hundred and thirty-four tons register, as tight as a
bottle, well found, and armed with six long six-pounders in her
batteries, with a long nine-pounder mounted on a pivot on her
forecastle, and her magazine nearly full.

Nothing of any importance happened, either on that day or the next,
except that the sky gradually became overspread with those peculiar
patches of fleece-like clouds called "trade-clouds"--showing that at
length we had hit off the north-east trade winds that seemed to have
been evading us for so long. According to my reckoning, and upon the
assumption that the wind would now hold fairly steady, we ought to hit
off the track of the boats about six bells in the morning watch, on the
third morning after the capture of the schooner, which would allow us
some eleven hours of daylight in which to prosecute our search; and, to
give ourselves the best possible chance of finding the objects of our
quest, I took care, on the preceding midnight, to haul the schooner as
close to the wind as she would lie, so that there should be no
possibility of hitting upon their track to leeward instead of to
windward of them, and so running _away_ from instead of _after_ them.
And at six bells on that morning I was called, in accordance with
previous instructions, in order that I might work up the reckoning to
the very last moment, and so make certain of getting as accurately as
possible upon the track. My calculations now showed that it would be
nearly