The Holly chieftain., 1899-07-21

thelths pross, the native boats: and
that very wet they sometimes are
muy descon.odo."
well. they are rather cramped for
room, and, guess, when there's much
Of . wind. rather sloppy. Still. they
arc very fast; II you have good wind
you can make the run in nine or ten
hours. i should say"
Nine OF ten of the hours'i Can
tisilnal In the one pe6icion! What
does one not do por ID servicio pioi
lie IL not the voyage dangerous, is he,
capitano?"
Dangerous? Oh. don't think 10,
at this time of year. You might strike
a hurricane in July or August, but you
could put in at one Of the islands II
the weather looked threatening;
they're mono of them very far apart.
You're familiar with the general po-
sition of the archipelago, are you not,
padre?"
''Si, senor; have seen them upon
the atlas. Like the string Of little
pin-points."
"shucksi You can't tell anything
about them from an atlas; the scales
too small. and they're miles out Of
the true position. Haven't you ever
seen a chart of the Ladrones? Would
you like to look at one"
"No-si-he mucho interes Dor las
islas. fear it will you incomodar."
mot at all. padre; not at all. II
you and MT. Stevens will come below,
I'd be pleased to show 1t to you. I'm
obliged to refer to the charts con-
staptly. you know"
The Imray chart Of the western Pa
cific was still upon the table In our
quarters, and Halstead took from the
locker another. ON larger scale. of
the archipelago itself. showing the ex-
act shape and bearing of each island.
From the absorbed way in which the
padre bent over them and listened to
the captains remarks, 1t was easy
to see that his education had been a
broad one. comprehending readily, as
he did, marks and measurements that
would have puzzled most landsmen.
Halstead had carefully erased our PEN
cilings from the larger chart, leaving
only the course as actually sailed up
TO noon of that day; and at Sebasti-
amos request he drew q limo to indi-
cate the direction In which we were
then sailing-east. half north-in or
der to make Point Orote, on Guajan.
When he removed the ruler. Sebastiano
said:
II was told. captain. that el Guajan
the most southerly island was; but
here / do one more see-la Isla Santa
Rosa. with ave little crosses marked
in its circle. All entiendo; he is una
isla de coral-una laguna. II 1t not
so2"
"well. It may have been good
while ago. padre; but it's all under
water now. and has been for several
hundred, years. Wescall 1t a reef in
English = una roca sumergida,' /
guess you'd say. There's no doubt but
that 1t was there once-several of the
old nsvigators mention it-but, you
see. these islands nre volcanic. and it
has probably sunk. because no captain
has found it since 1740."
"Ahl entiendo. Each Of the cap
itnnos who do sail near It do make
the sounding, and when find they do
not, behold. 1t NO longer must there be.
] suppose many the examina ACTON must
have made. that los geografos so sure
are that 1t il now gomez"
well. not very many. The Chal-
lenger didn't get as far east a. the
Ladrones, and the American cruiser
Alert il the only one that really mado
much Of search. You see, the supply
boat only comes out here four times
q year. and the place IL not in the
track Of any other ships"
"And the capitanos de los vapores de
Ia Compania--yourself also = have
been unsuccessful9' ~
why. personally. I've never looked
for It. You see, there's plenty of
sea room to keep clear of the place,
and ] don't see the use Of risking my
ship by fooling around where shoal
certainly existed at some time or 9TH
er. As for the other captains who run
out here. doubt il they would bother
about 1t, either"
but would not you much honra
gain. and una gran recompensa from
la sociedad geograica, II the correct
report Of 81 posicion you did send
them?"
"0h, the Royal society is always
glad to get anything Of the kind, and
they like to have every captain send
in what information he can; still, a
merchant skipper wouldn't be expect
ed TO 60 out Of his course for such
search. The warships are supposed
to do most Of the surveying, you
know. padre"
"Ah, Il, that do know. Of course.