"I take it as pretty certain," Frank said, as he, George Lechmere,
the skipper, and Dominique bent over the chart; "that the schooner
is somewhere in this bay. She has certainly not made her
headquarters anywhere along the south coast. In the first place,
she has seldom been seen, and in the second we have examined it
thoroughly. Therefore I take it that she is somewhere here, unless,
of course, she has sailed for Cuba. But I don't see why she should
have done that. The coast there is a good deal more dangerous than
that of San Domingo. He could not want a better place for cruising
about than this bay. You see, it is about ninety miles across the
mouth, and over a hundred to Port au Prince, with indentations and
harbours all round, and with the island of Genarve, some forty
miles long, to run behind in the centre. He could get everything he
wants at Port au Prince, or at Petit Gouve, which looks a
good-sized place.
"I should say, in the first place, that we could not do better than
run down at night to the island of Genarve, and anchor close under
it. From there we shall see him if he comes out of Port au Prince,
or Petit Gouve, whichever side he may take; and by getting on to an
elevated spot have a view of pretty nearly the whole bay. Looking
at it at present, the two most likely spots for him to make his
headquarters are in that very sheltered inlet behind the point of
Halle on the north side, or in the equally sheltered bay and inlet
under the Bec de Marsouin on the south. From Genarve we ought to be
able to see him coming out of either of them. It is not above
five-and-twenty miles from the island to the Bec de Marsouin, and
forty to the point of Halle. We might not see him come out from
there, but we should soon make him out if he were coming down from
Port au Prince."
It was agreed that this was the best plan to adopt. It might lead
to their sighting the schooner in a day or two, while to row round
the bay and search every inlet in it would take them a fortnight.
From Genarve, too, a forty-mile sail in the gig would take them
into Port au Prince, which the brigantine might possibly have made
its headquarters. Accordingly, after waiting until nightfall, they
got up sail, and anchored at six in the morning in a small bay in
the island of Genarve. Here they would not be likely to attract the
notice of any ship passing up to Port au Prince, unless, which was
very unlikely, one came along close to the shore.
As soon as the anchor was dropped, both boats rowed to shore.
Frank, George Lechmere, Pedro, and four sailors, with a basket of
provisions, started at once for the highest point in the island,
some four miles distant. Dominique went along the shore with two
sailors, to make inquiries at any villages they came to.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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