with them ever since they had left the sea, it would be as bad as
dying himself, to see them killed.

In pursuance of their plans, on the same afternoon, they bade adieu
to the inhabitants of Kacunda, and every thing having been conveyed
to the canoe, they embarked and pushed off the shore, in the sight of
a multitude of people. They worked their way with incredible
difficulty through the morass, before they were able to get into the
body of the stream, and being now fairly off they prepared themselves
for the worst. "Now," said Richard Lander, "my boys," as their canoe
glided down with the stream, "let us all stick together; I hope that
we have none amongst us, who will flinch, come what may."

They had proceeded some distance down the river, when seeing a
convenient place for landing, the men being languid and weary with
hunger and exhaustion, they halted on the right bank of the river,
which they imagined was most suitable for their purpose. The angry
and scowling appearance of the firmament forewarned them of a shower,
or something worse, which induced them hastily to erect an awning of
mats under a palm tree's shade. The spot for a hundred yards was
cleared of grass, underwood, and vegetation of all kinds: and very
shortly afterwards, as three of their men were straggling about in
the bush, searching for firewood, a village suddenly opened before
them; this did not excite their astonishment, and they entered one of
the huts which was nearest them, to procure a little fire. However,
it happened only to contain women, but these were terrified beyond
measure at the sudden and abrupt entrance of strange-looking men,
whose language they did not know, and whose business they could not
understand, and they all ran out in a fright into the woods, to warn
their male relatives of them, who were labouring at their usual
occupations of husbandry. Mean time, their men had very composedly
taken some burning embers from the fire, and returned to their
masters, with the brief allusion to the circumstance of having
discovered a village. This at the time was thought lightly of, but
they rejoiced that they had seen the village, and immediately sent
Pascoe, Ibrahim and Jowdie, in company to obtain some fire, and to
purchase some yams. In about ten minutes after, they returned in
haste, telling them that they had been to the village, and asked for
some fire, but that the people did not understand them, and instead
of attending to th