udder at what would be our fate should such an
event occur. However, we were in for it, and determined to keep our
course up the river. Our canoe, I should have said, was a dug-out, made
from a cypress trunk, about forty feet in length and three feet in
breadth, and sharp at both ends. She had eight thwarts, on which the
paddlers sat, and a seat aft for the helmsman, who also used a paddle
for steering. For several miles mangrove trees bordered the river on
either side, without a single spot, so far as we could see, where we
could land should it become necessary. Wind and tide being in our
favour, we made good progress; but still the water bubbled over the
gunwale, and the canoe leaked considerably. Our guide assured us that
this was nothing, and that he would soon stop the leaks when we got on
shore.

"If we don't go down in the meantime, my friend," said Lejoillie. "I
rather think that in leaving the _Great Alexander_, we only tumbled out
of the frying-pan into the fire."

"Don't trouble your head about that," observed our guide, Silas Munch,
whom, by-the-by, I ought before to have introduced. Born in the
Bahamas, of British parents, he had come over to the States, and had
become a naturalised citizen, such characters being known in that region
as Conches. Hot sand and sea air had burned his countenance to a
mahogany tint. He was small and wiry. His costume consisted of a
broad-brimmed hat, a coarse blue cloth jacket worn above a jersey, while
his nether man was clothed in leather gaiters reaching to the thighs,
and strong boots, so that he was prepared for service either afloat or
ashore. He carried a rusty rifle, with a powder-horn and belt slung
over his shoulders, and an axe and long knife stuck in his belt.

We had paddled on all day. Still the banks appeared as far off as ever,
and the water as rough as at first. Just, however, as the sun was
sinking, Munch pointed out a sand-bank, where he thought that we could
land and pass the night. We were very glad to get on shore, and haul up
the canoe. While some of the party collected wood for a fire, and made
other preparations for camping, Munch, taking his gun and a small iron
pot, asked me if I would accompany him into the forest. In a short time
we reached a group of pitch-pines, one of which he tapped, and collected
the juice in the pot. Not far off also were some gum-trees, from which
he gathered a handful or two of gum. With these we returne