But what Dick Sand was ignorant of, what he could not even discover,
was that the "Pilgrim" was already in higher latitude--that is to say,
more to the south than he supposed. That was so for two reasons:

The first was, that the currents of these parts, whose swiftness the
novice could only imperfectly estimate, had contributed--while he could
not possibly keep account of them--to throw the ship out of her route.

The second was, that the compass, made inaccurate by Negoro's guilty
hand, henceforth only gave incorrect bearings--bearings that, since the
loss of the second compass, Dick Sand could not control. So that,
believing, and having reason to believe, that he was sailing eastward,
in reality, he was sailing southeast. The compass, it was always before
his eyes. The log, it was thrown regularly. His two instruments
permitted him, in a certain measure, to direct the "Pilgrim," and to
estimate the number of miles sailed. But, then, was that sufficient?

However, the novice always did his best to reassure Mrs. Weldon, whom
the incidents of this voyage must at times render anxious.

"We shall arrive, we shall arrive!" he repeated. "We shall reach the
American coast, here or there; it matters little, on the whole, but we
cannot fail to land there!"

"I do not doubt it, Dick."

"Of course, Mrs. Weldon, I should be more at ease if you were not on
board--if we had only ourselves to answer for; but----"