After walking for some time through the streets Frank and his
companions returned to the boat, where, half an hour later, the
captain joined them, and, putting off to the Decoy, they continued
the voyage down the coast.
The next morning they weighed anchor off Addah, a village at
the mouth of the Volta. They whistled for a surf boat, but it was
some time before one put out. When she was launched it was doubtful
whether she would be able to make her way through the breaking
water. The surf was much heavier here than it had been at Accra,
and each wave threw the boat almost perpendicularly into the air,
so that only a few feet of the end of the keel touched the water.
Still she struggled on, although so long was she in getting through
the surf that those on board the ship thought several times that
she must give it up as impracticable. At last, however, she got
through; the paddlers waited for a minute to recover from their
exertions, and then made out to the Decoy. None of the officers had
ever landed here, and several of them obtained leave to accompany
the captain on shore. Frank was one of the party. After what they
had seen of the difficulty which the boat had in getting out, all
looked somewhat anxiously at the surf as they approached the line
where the great smooth waves rolled over and broke into boiling
foam.
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