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‘cupboard’ seemed to shrink with each passing hour and the time between each striking of the bell appeared to get longer and longer. The waves, however would not be denied as they cascaded throughout every crevice of the ship’s timbers. Then, to add to our woes, a particularly ferocious lashing drowned and snuffed out the fire in the cook house, thus ensuring that our meagre rations were cold and almost inedible.
    I attempted every means that I could devise to shut out our perilous condition from my mind. Then I thought back to the teachings of the very gurus whom I was now on my way to meet once again and the ancient practice of meditation proved to be my salvation. The sounds of the heaving waves were suddenly muted and the rise and fall of the ship slowly levelled off, my hunger became nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
    I heard Holmes emit a grunt of approval and admiration as Daniel Collier read out this last paragraph. He held up the palm of his hand in front of the young fellow’s face, to temporarily halt his narration, then he proceeded to fill his pipe from the Persian slipper.
    â€˜Your father would seem to be both brave and very wise. You must be most proud of his achievements,’ Holmes quietly suggested.
    â€˜Oh, indeed I am, sir!’ Collier agreed enthusiastically. ‘The adventures that he is describing here are not unique among the journals of his travels. I have retained every one of them.’
    â€˜Yet you never sought to emulate him nor accompany him upon these adventures?’
    â€˜Oh, Mr Holmes, although I have inherited his enquiring mind and his fervent interest in ancient religions, my interests are of a more academic bent, and, being in possession of a keen attention for detail, I am certain that my researches into the secrets of the ‘Waiting Stones’ will fully occupy me for some time to come. Perhaps, one day, I shall take up my father’s preoccupations and accompany him to areas further away than Cornwall.’
    â€˜Are there no other reasons why you have not yet done so?’ Holmes asked this question in a tone that suggested that he already knew the answer before it was asked.
    Collier hesitated for a moment before he replied, and when he did so he appeared to be more than just a little bit abashed. ‘You are quite right, of course, Mr Holmes. As befits a man of his many talents and achievements, my father is endowed with a somewhat larger-than-life personality. Although I have a deep affection for him and not a little admiration, I do find him overbearing over a period of time, to the extent that I could scarcely imagine being in close proximity to him for what could be months on end. Although I take a keen interest in his discoveries, I try not to let it detract from my own endeavours.’
    â€˜Your father does seem to take greats pains in involving you in every aspect of his journey and I thank you for your honesty.’ Holmes casually waved his hand to indicate that Collier should now continue reading from his father’s second letter.
    As we left the Bay behind us the winds dropped dramatically and the
Diomedes
steadied as the waves fell to a tolerable level. Indeed, as we struck out down the west coast of Africa, we saw some warm sunlight and we were soon allowed back on deck.
    When we did so the appalling effects of the storm were immediately evident and it was decided that some timber wasneeded to repair our shattered central mast. Under normal circumstances the remaining masts might have proved sufficient, however several of the remaining sails had been torn asunder and the air pressure had now risen so sharply that we were positively becalmed and making little progress.
    Since we were now lying off of the Ivory Coast, Captain Economides decided to dispatch a small landing party to secure the necessary timber, shards of which appeared to line the water’s edge in rich abundance. He intended to execute the