ously watching for another attack.
When the mist at length cleared away we discovered the hostile canoes
still closely hemming us in; but they now seemed to have tired of their
fruitless efforts to take the battery by assault, and had apparently
made up their minds to try the effect of a regular siege. This was bad
enough; for our provisions, though husbanded with the utmost care, were
only sufficient to allow us a mere mouthful each for two meals during
that day; but to be spared the fatigue of constantly fighting was
something to be grateful for; and I felt certain that the relief
expedition _must_ appear before the lapse of many hours longer. We
consequently sat down to our scanty morning meal not only with excellent
appetites but also in very fair spirits, considering what we had lately
been called upon to endure; and, the meal over, I next devoted my
attention to the wounded, of whom there were by this time several, and
did what I could to make them and myself as comfortable as possible.

About an hour after sunrise a little air from the eastward sprang up,
and by nine a.m. it was blowing quite a free breeze, which, though it
certainly refreshed us greatly, and was in pleasing contrast to the
suffocating heat of the day before, I was rather sorry to see; for I
knew that, combined with the current, it would seriously retard the
advance of our friends up the river. To tell the truth, I was getting
to be a trifle anxious about this matter; I could not at all understand
why it was that we had been left to take care of ourselves so long. If
the French boat had reached the creek in safety she would doubtless
arrive about ten or eleven p.m., or a few hours only after our
establishment of ourselves upon the island. Forty hours or thereabouts
had elapsed since then, yet there was no sign of help. Could it be
possible that the Frenchmen had _not_ escaped after all? In that case
we might have to wait another day, or even a couple of days; for I
thought it scarcely probable that Captain Vernon would take alarm on the
instant of our becoming overdue. I was anxiously weighing all these
surmises in my mind, and endeavouring to arrive at a fair and reasonable
estimate of the longest possible time we might still be expected to hold
out, when the look-out men raised a simultaneous cheer, followed by a
joyous shout of--

"The boats! The boats! Here they come. _Hurrah_!" With one bound I
reached the parapet; and, sure eno