paddling, he found he drifted slowly back; the long aquatic weeds, too,
which he passed, all extended their floating streamers westward. We did
not know of this current till Felix Aquila observed and recorded it.

Tired and hungry (for, full of his voyage, he had taken no refreshments
since he started), he resolved to land, rest a little while, and then
ascend the hill, and see what he could of the channel. He soon reached
the shore, the strait having narrowed to less than a mile in width, and
ran the canoe on the ground by a bush, to which, on getting out, he
attached the painter. The relief of stretching his limbs was so great
that it seemed to endow him with fresh strength, and without waiting to
eat, he at once climbed the hill. From the top, the remainder of the
strait could be easily distinguished. But a short distance from where he
stood, it bent again, and proceeded due east.




CHAPTER XIV

THE STRAITS


The passage contracted there to little over half a mile, but these
narrows did not continue far; the shores, having approached thus near
each other, quickly receded, till presently they were at least two miles
apart. The merchant vessel had passed the narrows with the aid of her
sweeps, but she moved slowly, and, as it seemed to him, with difficulty.
She was about a mile and a half distant, and near the eastern mouth of
the strait. As Felix watched he saw her square sail again raised,