sitting there upon the thwarts, facing forward, with their naked
cutlasses beside them and their loaded muskets firmly grasped in their
hands, their fingers just feeling the triggers, their teeth clenched,
and their eyes flashing, I felt that nothing short of a frigate with her
crew at quarters would stop them.

The rescuing party was by this time smartly engaged with the main body
of the canoes, and by their tardy progress I knew that they already had
their hands fully occupied. The detachment which had assumed the
responsibility of intercepting us had separated itself some distance
from the main body, and was now formed in a double line right across our
course, altering its position from time to time in such a manner as to
keep always square ahead of us. I saw that it would be useless to
attempt to dodge them; we had not time for that; so I directed the
coxswain to steer straight for the broadside of the midship canoe, the
craft, that is to say, which occupied the centre of the opposing line.
She was a biggish craft for a canoe, being somewhere about fifty feet
long, and manned by forty negroes; the canoe which lay on her starboard
side, or beyond her, being about the same size. There were sixteen more
canoes in the line; and altogether they presented the appearance of a
very formidable barrier. But I had had an opportunity of learning
pretty well what they were when Smellie and I, bound hand and foot, took
our memorable cruise up the river in one of them, and I knew that they
were, after all, but very crank, flimsy, fragile affairs, not to be
compared for a moment in strength with the stout boat which carried us
at such a gallant pace over the swirling river. So I determined to give
our foolhardy opponents the stem, trusting to the weight and momentum of
the boat to enable us to break through the line.

On rushed the cutter, the breeze roaring merrily over her, and the broad
lag-sail dragging at her like a team of cart-horses; whilst Tom crouched
in the bows, squinting along the sights of his piece, and holding
himself in readiness to fire at the instant that he should get the
order. We were within a hundred feet of the line of canoes when the
crew of the big craft began to see danger; they had hoped, by their
persistent demonstration of barring our path, to intimidate us, but, now
that it was too late, they saw that they had failed, that we meant
mischief; and, setting up a loud yell of consternation, they pl