At length, when a period of two full months had elapsed since the sailing of the _Barracouta_, with no sign of her return, I began to feel somewhat anxious.  I was now practically as well in health as I had ever been in my life, and I began to pine for a return to active service.  I was also desirous of seeing Lotta safely removed from her present dubious and somewhat dangerous surroundings into that position which was hers by right.  To achieve these two results it was necessary that I should get away from where I was, either by the fulfilment of Ricardo's promise to me, or by some other means.  To get away from where I was! As that expression occurred to me I suddenly remembered that I had not the faintest idea where I was; and, since Lotta was as ignorant as I was on the subject, I determined to ascertain by some means exactly where this little paradise of a spot was situated.  And, as a first step toward this, I ascertained roughly the latitude of the spot, by means of a quadrant that I found in Ricardo's room, as a result of which I discovered that I was undoubtedly somewhere on the island of Cuba. Since there were only two spots on the coast line of the island that could possibly have this precise latitude, I very soon managed, by reference to one of Ricardo's charts, to determine that the rendezvous was on the north side of the island; nay, I was able without difficulty to identify the precise spot on the chart.