His
calculation, however, proved to be false, for the current turned out to
be setting from the opposite direction and therefore gradually
conveyed him toward the westward.
Shortly after 8 o'clock Paul was singing as he paddled along and came
very near running into a school of porpoises. A couple of shots were
fired into them from the felucca in order to frighten them away, as it
is generally supposed that sharks are following them up. A few moments
afterward another school appeared astern, when the operation was
repeated with the desired effect. Paul finding that the current was
setting too rapidly westward, turned his course due south and as the
wind was beginning to rise, a small square sail was handed to him; but
as that did not seem to increase his progress to any perceptible degree,
he put it back in the boat after about ten minutes' trial. As he was
passing over Cabezes Shoals the breeze freshened; but he was still
being carried westward. At that stage of the journey, about 9:30, he
hauled up for a moment and partook of a little bread and cheese, and
before resuming work with the paddle he attached a white pocket
handkerchief to a cord about eighteen feet long and fastened one end
to the belt of his waist, allowing the handkerchief to drift astern.
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