ott, pointing out the direction on the chart.

"That looks favorable; and if there is any current to speak of, it runs
in the direction of the monsoons, and therefore will not be likely to
cause heavy winds."

"If I thought the trip was a very dangerous one, I certainly should not
propose to make it," added the captain.

"Fish!" shouted Clingman at the wheel.

In spite of their interest in the discussion, all the party rushed
forward at this cry. The captain ordered the wheelman to stop her,
though her headway kept her moving for some minutes after the screw
ceased to revolve. The men baited the hooks as soon as fish were
indicated. The boat had reached the locality where the catch of the day
before had been obtained, and all hands were on the lookout. The lines
were thrown over, and the fish bit quickly as soon as the steamer was at
rest. In half an hour they had taken seven.

"Keep her moving, Clingman," said Captain Scott, as the party hurried
back to the cabin to continue the discussion.

Pitts dressed the fish, and put them in the ice-chest. Achang had
completed the skinning of the orang, and the skin was now drying in the
sun. The voyage to Siam or Cambodia looked very much like an adventure,
and the young men were deeply interested in it.

"I don't think we are likely to encounter any very heavy weather in the
western part of the China Sea," said Captain Scott, as he put his pencil
on the chart again. "We may be overhauled by a typhoon."

"And what is a typhoon?" asked Felix. "I know it is some sort of a
storm, and that is all I do know."

"There are different names for a storm in different parts of the earth,"
replied Scott. "What is a hurricane in the West Indies is a cyclone in
the northern part of the Indian Ocean, and a typhoon in the China Sea.
They are all alike in substance, being revolving storms, in which the
wind whirls around in a circle, and at the same time has a forward
movement as a whole towards some point of the compass. But there are
various signs which indicate the approach of a typhoon or a hurricane;
and in these seas the barometer has to be watched constantly."

"I suppose we should be out of sight of land about all the time on the
passage," suggested Morris.

"Not at all, my lad; for the first two hundred miles of the course we
should not be out of sight of land half of the time, or only for a few
hours at a time. Now look at the chart, all of you. Here we are at the
mouth of