ssed me was the
transport of a large sum of money belonging to Captain Drouant. If the
Indians had conceived the least suspicion of this wealth, they would no
longer have kept faith with me. I therefore determined to fill my own
pockets with the gold, and to traverse the distance between the house
and the boats as many times as was necessary to embark it. There,
concealed by the sailors, I deposited piece after piece as quietly
as possible. In carrying the sails belonging to Captain Perroux, a
circumstance occurred which might have been fatal to me. A few days
before the massacre, a French sailor, who was working as sail maker,
had died of the cholera. His alarmed companions wrapped the body in a
sail, and then hurried on board their ships. My Indians now discovered
the corpse, which was already in a state of putrefaction. Terrified
at first, their terror soon changed to fury; for an instant I feared
they would fall upon me.

"Your friends," they cried, "have left this body here purposely, that
it might poison the air and increase the violence of the epidemic."

"What! you are afraid of a poor devil dead of the cholera!" I said to
them, affecting to be as tranquil as possible; "never fear, I will
soon rid you of him;" and, despite the aversion I felt, I covered
the body with a small sail, and carried it down to the beach. There
I made a rude grave, in which I placed it; and two pieces of wood,
in the shape of a cross, for some days indicated the spot where lay
the unhappy one, who probably had no prayers save mine.

It had been a busy and agitating day, but towards the evening I
finished my task, and everything was embarked. I paid the Indians,
and in addition gave them a barrel of spirits.

I did not fear their intoxication, being the only Frenchman there,
and when it was dark I got into a boat, and towed a dozen casks of
fresh water at her stern. Since the previous day I had not eaten;
I felt worn out by fatigue and want of food, and threw myself down to
rest upon the seats of the boat. Ere long a mortal chilliness passed
through my veins, and I became insensible. In this state I remained
more than an hour. At last I reached the Cultivateur, and was taken
on board, and, by the aid of friction, brandy, and other remedies,
was restored to consciousness. Food and rest quickly renovated my
powers of mind and body, and the next day I was calm as usual among
my comrades. I thought of my personal position; the events of