etard my flight an instant; and I leaped forward through the
water, expecting a blow from behind at every step.

The shrieks of the dying had ceased--the scene of horrid butchery
in the canoes was now over--Manuel and I were in the water about
knee deep--two of the Pirates after me, and all the rest, with
the fishermen, except one Pirate, after Manuel. We ran in
different directions; I, towards the mouth of the Cove, making
nearly a semicircle in my track, to keep them over my shoulder,
which brought me back again towards the canoes; and as the
remaining Pirate came out in order to cut me off, I was obliged
to run between the canoes, so near the last Pirate, that he made
a pass at me and fell, which gave me the start. At the first of
our race, I was after Manuel, with Pirates before and behind. My
object was to gain the bushes as soon as possible, supposing
their cutlasses would be an obstacle, which I had the good
fortune to prove. I lost sight of Manuel just as I entered the
bushes; he was up to his breast in water, and the Pirates near
him. When I entered the bushes one of the Pirates was within ten
feet of me, and continued striking, hoping to reach me; and all
of them yelling in the most savage manner, during the whole
distance. The most of the way, the water and mud was nearly up to
my hips--the mangroves were very thick, covered, as I before
observed, with oyster shells up to high water mark. It was about
noon when I entered these bushes, my course Westerly, the Pirates
after me, repeatedly in view, one of them frequently within three
rods of me. Had it been on cleared land, I should soon have been
overtaken by them; but the bushes were so large and thick as
frequently to entangle their swords. I was barefoot; and had I
worn shoes, they would soon have been lost in the mud. My feet
and legs were so badly cut with the oyster shells, that the blood
flowed freely; add to this, my head was very painful and
swollen, and my shoulder smarted severely. In this manner and
direction I ran till the sun about an hour high, when I lost
sight of the Pirates and paused for a moment, pulled off my
jacket (the cord being yet on my right arm, which I slipped off)
in which I rolled my hat, and taking it under my arm, I settled
down on my knees, which brought the water up to my chin, in order
to secrete myself. In this way I crept till nearly sunset, when,
to my astonishment, I discovered the ocean, and just as the sun
was settin