The villages increased in number and in size as the ship approached the city; though they were about the same thing, except that in the larger ones the temple was a handsomer structure.
"How far is it from the sea to Saigon?" asked Bangs, speaking to the pilot for the first time; but the Frenchman could not understand him, and the quartermaster called Louis in, who repeated the question in French.
"Sixty miles if you go one way; thirty-five by another," Louis translated the reply.
"That may account for the difference in the distance given in the books," said the captain, who was in the pilot-house. "But the information we obtain from what are considered the authorities is so various on the same subject that I don't know where the fault is."
"This is the largest village we have seen," said Louis to the pilot in French.
"Yes, sir; and the next place is Saigon," replied the Frenchman; but he was so much occupied with his duty that he would not talk much, even in his own language.
The city was soon in sight, and the pilot began to feel about for the bell-pull. He spoke to Louis, and the quartermaster was told to ring the speed-bell. A little later, off the town, the gong sounded for the screw to stop. The anchor was all ready, was let go, and the steamer swung round to her cable. The Blanche had not so readily obtained a pilot as her consort, and she was an hour behind her in arriving.
The Guardian-Mother was surrounded by boats as soon as she was at rest, but the boatmen kept their distance till the port physician and the custom-house officials came on board. Both ships passed the ordeal of the examination, and the boats closed up. They were manned by all sorts of people, and they were in all sorts of craft. The captain said that most of them were Chinese sampans, and the boatmen were of the same nation.
"There comes the Blanchita!" exclaimed Felix, who was walking about the deck with his spy-glass under his arm.
"They got her overboard in a very short time," said the captain, who had joined the company on the promenade. "I am glad she is coming, for I desire to see the general."