by letting him know that he was coming to his
assistance; and very soon after he got up to him, and found him clinging
to a small boat full of water, and, as he was encumbered with a heavy
pea-coat, holding on with the greatest difficulty. Mr Dew, who was
lightly clad and fresh, enabled him to guide the swamped boat up to the
ship, near which the current was of itself carrying her. As they passed
near the gangway, a coil of rope was hove to them, which they getting
hold of, the boat was hauled alongside, and Mr Walpole and his gallant
preserver Mr Dew were brought safely upon deck. Mr Walpole then gave
an account of the accident which had befallen him. He had shoved off
from the cutter in her dinghy, which was very soon swamped; and as the
tide would not allow him to regain the vessel, he was being carried
rapidly to destruction, and would, he gratefully asserted, have
inevitably perished, had it not been for the heroic conduct of Mr Dew,
who, under Providence, was thus the means of preserving his life.

CHAPTER FOUR.

CAPTURE OF A VENEZUELAN SQUADRON--FEBRUARY 1841.

Among the numerous states which have arisen from the fragments of the
Spanish empire in South America is that of Venezuela, of which
Carthagena on the northern coast, and on the eastern shore at the
entrance of the Gulf of Darien, is one of the chief towns. Although the
inhabitants have proved themselves on many occasions to be a brave and
gallant people, they too frequently, after they drove out the Spaniards,
quarrelled among themselves, and at the time of which we write had
allowed their navy to fall into a very disorganised condition. It
appears that the British merchant brig _Jane and Sarah_, in company with
a sloop called _Little William_, were lying at Sapote, a harbour near
Carthagena, when, on the 6th of February 1841, some Venezuelan
ships-of-war, under the orders of General Carmona, attacked the two
vessels and plundered them of a large amount of goods and specie. A
Colonel Gregg and other passengers, together with their crews, were
taken on shore and imprisoned. We are not aware of what crime Colonel
Gregg and the other persons were accused. They found means, however, to
communicate their condition to the British consul resident at
Carthagena, who immediately interested himself on their behalf, and
applied to the Government for their release.

His intercession was perfectly unsuccessful. As soon, therefore, as he
was able, he