The Delfe Treasure

25. Islands and Moonlight

Once land had been sighted from the quarterdeck, Aldrick had his three officers, his three midshipmen and Elizabeth all practice shooting fixes and plotting them on a blank sheet, and from the range of sand glasses, noting the time on each. No feature had yet been identified that could be related to the chart, so they labelled them A, B, C, D, and so on. 

The line of breakers tended east-west, and Elizabeth sailed parallel to it as Aldrick tried to make sense of the sketches of the landforms, the fixes and the chart. Nearly a sand glass after three bells, he was able to correlate the series of hills and edges with the charted islands, and he waited for four bells to sound before he shot a three-point fix. 

When he had plotted it, he gathered the others to explain his reasoning, finishing with, "To prove this, I suggest we come to west-by-south, half south. If my fix is true, we will clear the western end of the islands close at hand as it turns to tend southwestward. If my fix is not true, we will close the land to gain a better opportunity to fix our position."

Aldrick stood back from the chart. "I will leave you to examine this for a while to try it for true or false, and also to support or refute the wisdom of altering to port."

All turned to the chart except Elizabeth, who stepped close to Aldrick. "You have seen what I saw. These are not separate islands, but hills with the low land occasionally hidden over the horizon or behind the high breakers as we rise and fall with the swells." 

"Exactly! And those who supplied the information for this portion of the chart, seem to have omitted the intervening details, quite likely to obfuscate. And what think you of coming to west-by-south, half south?" 

"As you said, it will either prove our position, or it will offer a greater opportunity to find it. I see no loss in altering, only gain."

"And it is vital we know." He pointed to the sun one-third of the way from zenith to horizon. "It is unwise to venture among the islands in the dark without knowledge of position."

Wilson and Charles approached, each nodding. Half a minute later, Franklin joined them, and said to Aldrick, "I agree with coming to port, Sir. Shall I make it so?"

"Yes, please. And warn your lookouts to watch close for pale water."

"Aye, Sir. Port to west-by-south, half south."

After she had altered and her sails had been trimmed, Elizabeth moved quickly along in the freshening afternoon breeze, making over eleven knots through the water and a knot and a half more by fixes with the current. One bell of the second dog found her opening the land as the sun began reddening the westerly horizon.

Aldrick watched as Wilson and Elizabeth shot fixes on the receding land and plotted them on the sheet, smiling when their positions overlapped. As he transferred the position to his chart, Aldrick said, "We can now go safely into the dark. What course would you suggest, Mister Wilson?"

"West, Sir, but I would suggest we wait until after we have confirmed our latitude by Polaris." He pointed to the deep red in the west. "We will soon be at twilight."

"An excellent thought, Mister Wilson. This will add even greater faith in our position, and sunset's azimuth will confirm our compass."

A quarter hour later in the great cabin, after Elizabeth had plotted the line of position from the North Star, she looked up with a questioning expression. "Why have you told George to steer due west?" She tapped her finger on Attwoods Keys and Heneago, then taking the dividers, she measured the distance. "We will run aground on these if we continue through the night at this speed."

"Yes, we would were they to exist in the positions drawn on the charts. The Caicos — many of the islands in this area — became pirate havens, and pirates were among the sources of information for the mapmakers.

"So, the information is fraudulent? To cause ships to wreck?"

"That, and to make their hideaways more difficult to locate." He pointed to the Caicos. "These are shifted a degree to the east, fifty-six miles at this latitude."

Then running his finger along their northern coasts, he continued. "This line runs not east to west, but tends west-northwest."

Elizabeth nodded. "This explains why we saw only a short portion of it. How do you know this?"

"The Caicos became Grandfather's customary landfall after he found they give easy access to Windward Passage and Jamaica." He placed his finger on Atwoods Keys and Heneago. "These are charted far out of position and in the wrong configurations."

"To cause shipwrecks?"

"More to confuse ships, so they become easy prey. There is a clear passage, broad and deep, which runs due west from the westernmost point of the Caicos Islands, and our family has used this route for many years." He ran his finger along it and tapped a position. "From here, it is easy south through Windward Passage to Kingston."

"Are we now going to Kingston first to discharge?" 

"No, if these winds continue, we will arrive at our treasure's anchorage late afternoon of the morrow." 

"So close. And these islands are not as shown? Not in our way?" 

"Heneago lies closer to east-west rather than the line between northeast and southwest shown here, and it is located some thirty miles south from where it is drawn on this map. And these French Keys seem to be an invention. The passage westward from here is fully half a degree wide." 

"Only half a degree? Is this not dangerous in the dark?" 

"Half a degree of latitude is thirty nautical miles, nearly thirty-five land miles. A ship steering off course by half a point would take more than the entire night to reach fifteen miles from the centre." 

Elizabeth examined the chart again. "How do you know it is thirty miles broad?"

"The horizon is fifteen miles from aloft in a large ship." Aldrick ran a finger westward from their fix. "Along this track, our lookouts have seen neither land nor pale water."

"Can we see land at night?"

"If it is clear, we can see it outlined in the starlight, and if we have a large moon, there is fine definition." Aldrick reached into the drawer for the lunar tables and paged to the twenty-ninth of August. "We have a waxing gibbous tonight, which will rise shortly before midnight."

"And illuminate our cabin." Elizabeth smiled as she looked up at him. "Awakening us so we can do it again in the moonlight."