"Ay, with abundance of gold. Now, Sir Giant, you will command one of the watches, and when we first sight this Terra Firma it will be your task to gather tidings of this strange city. Maybe this Tamba, who speaks Spanish, also has some few words of the language of the natives of these parts for which we sail. It is not impossible. For, consider: how came these men on the island of Cuba and elsewhere? Were they there some little while after the flood of which the Bible speaks? Some say so, while others hold that the nations of the earth come from a common stock, which slowly increased, while many migrated. In course of time their languages have changed, and also their appearances. Climates and circumstances have brought the alteration, and may it not be that these same natives whom we have aboard are first cousins to these others on the Terra Firma, alike to them in looks, and perhaps in somewhat of their tongue?" The commander of the brigantine was silent for a few minutes while he considered the question; for he was a naturally thoughtful man, and, in those days, a much-travelled one. Presently he turned to Roger again. "You shall go ashore," he said, "and with you will go the golden plaque which we have treasured. Then, with the help of this Tamba, you will search for some of the natives, and make friends with them by means of gifts. Perhaps some will have been to this wonderful city which stands within a lake. Who knows? Perhaps we may come upon the very shores of the lake, for I hold that it must be within easy distance of the coast, or else how did this Fernando Cortes come to possess the plaque? Till we sight the land, you will command one of the watches." Two mornings later, as Roger was preparing to call the relief, who would take his place on deck, a strange object in the distance caught his attention, and he called Peter Tamworth to him. "A boat--a small boat," said the latter, with assurance bred of long service to the sea. "There is a sail too, but it hangs ragged, and the boat steers herself. Yes, she floats in a circle, for she cannot be said to sail, though her canvas catches the wind on occasion." The two looked long and steadily at the strange object, and soon Roger felt sure that Peter had made no mistake. "A boat out here!" he said in astonishment--"in these seas which I thought to be deserted, for we have seen nothing but horizon these last two days, since we dropped the coast of Cuba." "But Spaniards control these waters; do not forget that," was the answer. "Therefore it requires no wit to guess at the owners. 'Tis a Spanish boat--a derelict, maybe, dropped from some vessel, or broken from its moorings at Santiago." "Then you think that no one is aboard?" "As certainly as I guess that she's Spanish. Still, who can say, Master Roger, the lieutenant? There may be a crew of cut-throats aboard her, in which case we shall run them over with our prow and never miss them."