two o'clock in the
afternoon
The wide expanse of water upon which we were now sailing is exceedingly shallow , a fathom and a quarter of water being its average depth everywhere , except at its south-eastern extremity , where it dwindles down to one fathom only . The _ Pinta _ , from her exceedingly light draught , might , with careful management , have made a tolerably straight run of it from the inner extremity of the Barcos Channel to the entrance to the lagoons ; but this of course would not do for us ; a deeper , though very intricate passage to the last-named point existed , and it was of the utmost importance to us to have it pointed out to us ; it was , in fact , supposed to be the chief object of our journey with Carera . Accordingly , away we went for it , stretching across the lagoon , now to one side , now to another ; bearing away for a few yards , then hauling close to the wind ; twisting and doubling like a hunted hare , and changing our course so rapidly that it was all I could do to jot down the various marks as they were pointed out to me . The distance to be traversed was , in a straight line , about ten miles , so Carera told me ; but we must have passed over fully forty miles of ground in following the windings of this exasperating channel , for it was two o'clock in the afternoon when we reached the entrance to the Conconil lagoons . These lagoons extend about six miles in length , and vary in breadth from perhaps half a mile in their widest part , to less than a hundred feet at their narrowest . They run pretty nearly east and west and are formed by a remarkable spit , shaped like an inverted L , jutting out from the mainland , and some eight or nine islands of various sizes . Some of these islands stand fair in the middle of the lagoon , as regards its width , and where these occur the channel is exceedingly narrow , and consequently can be very easily defended .