Then they began to give a diminution of the depth of water, indicating, as Christy stated it, that the vessel was approaching the land.

He looked over the log slate, and found that the course had been due east till the order had been given to head her in the opposite direction.

She had sailed rather more than an hour on that tack, during which the recapture of the steamer had been made.
"Mark under water twelve!" shouted the man with the hand lead.
"We are coming up with the shore," said Mr.Flint, as Christy joined him on the bridge.
"Yes; but you will get four or five fathoms almost up to the beaches.
When I was here, the Bellevite was anchored outside, and we went gunning and fishing in St.Andrew's Bay.

The bay is about thirty miles long; but it is as crooked as a ram's horn, and there is no town on it, though there are some scattered houses," added Christy.

"We shot fat ducks, and caught plenty of red snappers and pompana there." "And a half ten!" shouted the leadsman, as though he meant to have his figures understood, as they indicated the shoaling of the depth.
But Christy gave no order to reduce the speed of the vessel, and seemed to feel so thoroughly at home that Mr.Flint began to be a little nervous.