let through your brains."

"Hold fast," cried I, "and let him fire if he dares. You men belonging
to the _Transcendant_, I call you to witness this treatment. Your
captain has robbed us of a large sum of money, and now turns us adrift,
so as to compel us to land among savages, who may kill us immediately.
I appeal to you, will you permit this cruelty and injustice? If you are
English, I conceive you will not."

There was some talk and expostulation with the captain of the brig, in
consequence of what I said; but while it was going on, the captain's son
leaned over the side, and with his knife cut the painter, or rope which
held the boat, and as the tide was running on very strong, in less than
half a minute we were a long way astern of the brig, and drifting fast
up the river.

We got our oars, and attempted to pull for the brig, for we knew that
the seamen were taking our parts; but it was in vain; the tide ran
several miles an hour, and in another minute or two, with all our
exertions, we were nearly a quarter of a mile astern of her, and the
boat was so loaded that we hardly dared move lest we should upset it.
We had, therefore, no option but to go on shore and take our chance; but
when the men were pulling round for the shore, on reflection I thought
that we had better not land so soon, as the sailors had told us that
they had seen the Indians in their canoes. I therefore recommended that
we should allow the boat to drift up the river with the tide, and then
drift down again when the tide turned, remaining in the middle of the
stream till it was dark, when we would land and make our way into the
woods. My advice was followed; we sat still in the boat, just keeping
her head to the stream with the oars, and, being without our shirts, the
sun scorching and blistering our backs, till past noon, during which
time we must have drifted nearly twenty miles up the river, which was as
broad as the arm of a sea at the entrance; then the tide turned, and we
drifted back again till it was dusk, when it was again slack water. All
this while we kept a sharp look-out to see if we could perceive any
Indians, but not one was to be seen. I now proposed that we should take
our oars and pull out of the river, as if we had only gone up on a
survey, for the brig had got under weigh, and had anchored, for want of
wind, about four miles off, and the Indians, if there were any, would
suppose that we were returning to the ship. We d