There was a sort of bight on our starboard bow, however, and
Mr. Marble suggested it might be well to sound in that direction, as
the water appeared smooth and deep. To him it looked as if there were
really an eddy in-shore, which might hawse the ship up to windward six
or eight times her length, and thus more than meet the loss that must
infallibly occur in first casting her head to seaward. The captain
admitted the justice of this suggestion, and I was one of those who
were told to go in the jolly-boat on this occasion. We pulled in
towards the cliffs, and had not gone fifty yards before we struck an
eddy, sure enough, which was quite as strong as the current in which
the ship lay. This was a great advantage, and so much the more,
because the water was of sufficient depth, quite up to the edge of the
reef which formed the bight, and thus produced the change in the
direction of the set. There was plenty of room, too, to handle the
ship in, and, all things considered, the discovery was extremely
fortunate. In the bottom of the bight we should have gone ashore the
previous night, had not our ears been so much better than our noses.
As soon as certain of the facts, the captain pulled back to the ship,
and gladdened the hearts of all on board with the tidings. We now
manned the handspikes cheerily, and began to heave.
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