Southward of the inlet there were many places in which a boat might pass
at half-tide, and he trusted to getting through one of them as soon as it
became dark. As the escape in the boat could not have been foreseen, the
Arabs had not yet brought down upon them the boats of the wreck; but
should morning dawn and find them still within the reef, he saw no hope of
final escape against boats that would posess the advantage of oars,
ignorant as the barbarians might be of their proper use.
Every thing was now ready. The interior of the launch was divided into two
apartments by counterpanes, trunks, and boxes; the females spreading their
mattresses in the forward room, and the males in the other. Some of those
profound interpreters of the law, who illustrate legislation by the
devices of trade, had shipped in the Montauk several hundred rude leaden
busts of Napoleon, with a view to save the distinction in duties between
the metal manufactured and the metal unmanufactured. Four or five of these
busts had been struck into the launch as ballast. They were now snugly
stowed, together with the water, and all the heavier articles, in the
bottom of the boat. The jigger had been made and bent, and a suitable mast
was stepped by means of the roof. In short, every provision for comfort or
safety that Paul could think of had been attended to: and every thing was
in readiness to re-embark as soon as the proper hour should arrive.
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