Whether in reality or in a dream, Willis declared that Captain Littlestone paid him a visit every night, and invariably asked him precisely the same questions.  On these occasions, Willis asserted that he distinctly heard the door open and shut whilst a shadow glided through.  That he might once, or even twice, have been the dupe of his own imagination, is probable enough; but a healthy mind does not permit a delusion to be indefinitely prolonged—­it struggles with the hallucination, and eventually shakes it off; providing always the mind has a shadow, and not a reality, to deal with, and that the patient is not a monomaniac.  The dilemma was consequently reduced to this position—­either Willis was mad, or Captain Littlestone was on board the Boudeuse.

In all other respects, Willis was perfectly sane.  He himself searched every corner of the ship, but without other result than a confirmation of his own impression that there were no officers on board other than those of the corvette; and yet, notwithstanding his own conviction in daylight, he still continued to assert the reality of his interviews with Captain Littlestone during the night.  The Italians say, La speranza e il sogno d’an uomo svegliato.  Was Willis also dreaming with his eyes open?  Might not the wish be father to the thought, and the thought produce the fancy?  There is only one other supposition to be hazarded—­could it be possible, in spite of all his researches, that Willis did see what he maintained with so much pertinacity he had seen?

These questions are too astute to admit of answers without due consideration and reflection; therefore, with the reader’s permission, we shall leave the replies over for the present.

On the 12th June a voice from the mast-head called “Land ahoy!” much to the delight of the voyagers.  The land in question was the island of St. Helena.  This sea-girt rock had not at that time become classic ground.  It had not yet become the prison and mausoleum of Napoleon the Great.  The petulant squabbles between Sir Hudson Lowe and his illustrious prisoner had not been heard of.  Little wotted then the proud ruler of France the fate that awaited him, for, when the Boudeuse touched at the island, all Europe, with the single exception of England, was kneeling at his feet.

On the 30th the Island of Ascension was reached.  Here, in accordance with a usage peculiar to French sailors, a bottle, containing a short abstract of the ship’s log, was committed to the deep.  Willis thought this ceremony, under existing circumstances, would have been better observed in the breach than the observance, for, said he, if a British cruiser picked up that bottle within twenty-four hours, she stood a chance of picking up the Boudeuse as well.

On the 15th July the peak of Teneriffe hove in sight This remarkable basaltic rock rises to the extraordinary height of three thousand eight hundred yards above the level of the sea; it is consequently seen at a considerable distance, and constitutes a valuable landmark for navigators in these seas.  Six weeks later the Boudeuse dropped anchor in the Havre roads.