But Captain Blomsberry had assembled his officers, and "with their permission," was holding a council. They must decide upon something to be done immediately. The more hasty ones were for fishing up the projectile. A difficult operation, though not an impossible one. But the corvette had no proper machinery, which must be both fixed and powerful; so it was resolved that they should put in at the nearest port, and give information to the Gun Club of the projectile's fall. This determination was unanimous. The choice of the port had to be discussed. The neighbouring coast had no anchorage on 27° lat. Higher up, above the peninsula of Monterey, stands the important town from which it takes its name; but, seated on the borders of a perfect desert, it was not connected with the interior by a network of telegraphic wires, and electricity alone could spread these important news fast enough. Some degrees above opened the bay of San Francisco. Through the capital of the gold country communication would be easy with the heart of the Union. And in less than two days the "Susquehanna," by putting on high pressure, could arrive in that port. She must therefore start at once. The fires were made up; they could set off immediately. Two thousand fathoms of line were still out, which Captain Blomsberry, not wishing to lose precious time in hauling in, resolved to cut. "We will fasten the end to a buoy," said he, "and that buoy will show us the exact spot where the projectile fell." "Besides," replied Lieutenant Bronsfield, "we have our situation exact—27° 7' north lat. and 41° 37' west long." "Well, Mr. Bronsfield," replied the captain, "now, with your permission, we will have the line cut." A strong buoy, strengthened by a couple of spars, was thrown into the ocean. The end of the rope was carefully lashed to it; and, left solely to the rise and fall of the billows, the buoy would not sensibly deviate from the spot. At this moment the engineer sent to inform the captain that steam was up and they could start, for which agreeable communication the captain thanked him. The course was then given north-north-east, and the corvette, wearing, steered at full steam direct for San Francisco. It was three in the morning. Four hundred and fifty miles to cross; it was nothing for a good vessel like the "Susquehanna." In thirty-six hours she had covered that distance; and on the 14th of December, at twenty-seven minutes past one at night, she entered the bay of San Francisco. At the sight of a ship of the national navy arriving at full speed, with her bowsprit broken, public curiosity was greatly roused. A dense crowd soon assembled on the quay, waiting for them to disembark. After casting anchor, Captain Blomsberry and Lieutenant Bronsfield entered an eight-oared cutter, which soon brought them to land. They jumped on to the quay. "The telegraph?" they asked, without answering one of the thousand questions addressed to them.