hort; and it
only remained for us to get into the water, and haul the boat up by
main force. We managed pretty well at first, and drew her alongside a
rock to rest a little. We then recommenced our efforts, and had got
into the middle of the channel. We were up to our armpits in the water,
and only kept our position by means of rocks beside us. The rain was
falling, as if we were in a tropical shower, and the force of the
current was such, that if we had relaxed for an instant, we should have
lost all the ground we had gained. Just at this moment, however,
without our being aware of their approach, a large tribe of natives,
with their spears, lined the bank, and took us most completely by
surprise. At no time during this anxious journey were we ever so
completely in their power, or in so defenceless a situation. It rained
so hard, that our firelocks would have been of no use, and had they
attacked us, we must necessarily have been slaughtered without
committing the least execution upon them. Nothing, therefore, remained
for us but to continue our exertions. It required only one strong
effort to get the boat into still water for a time, but that effort was
beyond our strength, and we stood in the stream, powerless and
exhausted.

ASSISTED BY THE NATIVES.

The natives, in the meanwhile, resting on their spears, watched us with
earnest attention. One of them, who was sitting close to the water, at
length called to us, and we immediately recognised the deep voice of
him to whose singular interference we were indebted for our escape on
the 23rd of January. I desired Hopkinson to swim over to him, and to
explain that we wanted assistance. This was given without hesitation;
and we at length got under the lea of the rock, which I have already
described as being in the centre of the river. The natives launched
their bark canoes, the only frail means they possess of crossing the
rivers with their children. These canoes are of the simplest
construction and rudest materials, being formed of an oblong piece of
bark, the ends of which are stuffed with clay, so as to render them
impervious to the water. With several of these they now paddled round
us with the greatest care, making their spears, about ten feet in
length,(which they use at once as poles and paddles,) bend nearly
double in the water. We had still the most difficult part of the rapid
to ascend, where the rush of water was the strongest, and where the
decline of the bed