At the quay from which the start was
to be made, a great number of people had gathered regardless of the
unseasonable hour and the chill air. There was a most horrible din and
confusion, caused by the shouting and rush of the people, the whiz of
rockets, the puffing of steamboats and the hoarse sound of speaking
trumpets, all amid the glare of Bengal lights and burning pitch. The
firing of the tug's gun announced the start. A black figure, like a huge
porpoise, could be seen in the cold, grey water and then disappear in
the darkness. Those on the tug thought they would lose him; but at
length his horn was heard far out on the water and the tug
immediately headed in that direction in order to take the lead and show
him the way. Pursuing slowly forward he was kept within hail, as the
lights of Dover gradually grew dim in the distance and the lighthouse on
the Goodwin Sands shone clear and bright like the star of morning."
"The pilot was one sent over from Boulogne by the French Societe
Humaine, said to be the best on the French coast. The course agreed upon
was as follows: Take the tide running northeast from Dover at three in
the morning, which would carry them seven or eight miles in that
direction somewhere off Goodwin Sands.
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