THE LANDING AT NEW PROVIDENCE The water was so clear that the bottom could be seen at all times, the white coral rock greatly assisting the transparency.

From Douglas Channel, through which the boat had passed, the chart indicated that it was twenty miles to the point where the skipper desired to land, and it was nearly eleven o'clock when the Eleuthera ran into the little bay, extending over a mile into the island, and nearly landlocked.

The shore was covered with tropical vegetation, including cocoa-nut palms, loaded with fruit, with palmettoes, wild palms, and many plants of which Christy did not even know the names.
"We could not have anything better than this," said Mr.Gilfleur, as he ran the boat into a tangle of mangroves and other plants.
"This bay appears to be about five miles from the town of Nassau, and I should say that no person is likely to see the boat if it should stay here for a month," replied Christy, as he measured the distance across the island with the scale his companion had prepared.
"It will not take us long to walk that distance.

There are all sorts of people in Nassau at the present time, as there were in St.George's and Hamilton; and we shall pass without exciting any particular attention." "I think we had better look out for a cleaner place to land than this, for the mud seems to be about knee-deep," suggested Christy, as he tested the consistency of the shore with an oar.
"But there is hard ground within four feet of the water.

I have a board in the bottom of the boat with which we can bridge the mud," replied the skipper.