There wasn't a great deal of talking, but there was lots of thinking, and not a very pleasant kind of thinking either.

We stopped quite often and hailed small boats, and the captain talked to people whenever he had a chance, but he never heard anything about any boats having run ashore on any of the islands, or having come into the inside passage, between any of them.

We met a few sailing vessels, and toward the close of the afternoon we met a big steamer, something like northern river steamers.

The captain said she ran between the St.John's River and Savannah, and always took the inside passage as far as she could.

He said this as if it showed him to be in the right in taking the same passage, but I couldn't see that it proved anything.