had the boat gone down,
and we were all stretching out for the shore, when one of our men
shrieked, having been seized by the sharks, and instantly torn to
pieces. His blood stained the water all around, and this attracting all
the sharks proved the means of our escape. Never shall I forget the
horrible sensation which I felt as I struggled through the broken water,
expecting every minute a limb to be taken off by one of those voracious
animals. If one foot touched the other, my heart sunk, thinking it was
the nose of a shark, and that its bite would immediately follow.
Agonised with these terrors, we struggled on--now a large wave curling
over us and burying us under water, or now forced by the waves towards
the beach, rolling us over and over. So battered were we by the surf,
that we dived under the waves to escape the blows which we received, and
then rose and struck out again. At last, worn out with exertion, we
gained the shore, but our toil was not over.

The beach was of a sand so light that it crumbled beneath us, and at the
return of the wave which threw us on shore we were dragged back again
and buried in sand and water. We rose to renew our endeavours, but
several times without success, for we could not obtain a firm footing.
At last the Negroes, who had witnessed our accident, and who now came
down in great numbers on the beach, laid hold of us as the sea threw us
up, and dragged us beyond the reach of the waves. Worn out with fatigue
we lay on the sand, waiting to ascertain what the savages would do with
us; they were not long in letting us know, for they soon began to strip
us of every article of clothing on our backs. One of our men attempted
to resist, upon which a Negro drove a spear through his thigh.

Having divided our apparel, after some consultation, they tied our
hands, and placing us in the midst of a large force, armed with spears
and bows and arrows, they went off with us for the inland part of the
country. We set off with heavy hearts; taking, as we thought, a last
farewell of the ocean, and going forwards in great apprehension of the
fate that awaited us. The sand was very deep, and the heat of the sun
excessive, for it was then about noon. Without any garments, we were
soon scorched and blistered all over, and in intolerable anguish, as
well as fatigued; but the Negroes compelled us to move on, goading us
with their spears if we slackened our pace, and threatening to run us
thro