I ordered the
men to loosen both sails, and to overhaul down their rigging. In the
eyes of Smudge, this looked highly promising; and the savages gave a
yell of delight when they saw the top-sail fairly filled and drawing.
I added the main-sail to the pressure, and then the ship began to walk
off the coast, at a rate that promised all I hoped for. It was now
necessary for me to stick by the wheel, of the uses of which Smudge
began to obtain some notions. At this time, the vessel was more than
two leagues from the island, and objects began to look dim along the
coast. As for the canoes, they could no longer be seen, and chasing us
any farther was quite out of the question. I felt that the crisis was
approaching.
Smudge and his companions now became more and more earnest on the
subject of turning the ship round. The indistinctness of the land
began seriously to alarm them, and sea-sickness had actually placed
four of their number flat on the deck. I could see that the old fellow
himself was a good deal affected, though his spirit, and the risks he
ran, kept him in motion, and vigilantly on the watch. It was necessary
to seem to do something; and I sent the negroes up into the fore-top,
to get the top sail-yard in its place, and the sail set. This occupied
another hour, before we were entirely through, when the land was
getting nearly _awash_.
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