and there lay on her oars.

The Indians hereupon ordered me to return to the camping-ground, but,
without heeding them, I set off at a full run towards the boat. They
hotly pursued, I occasionally turning and telling them to come on, that
I only wanted to see the boat. "Stop! stop!" they bawled. "Now, my
legs," said I, "if ever you want to serve me, this is the time." I had
one advantage over my pursuers: my shoes, though much the worse for
wear, protected my feet from the sharp stones, which cut theirs at every
step; but, under all disadvantages, I found they made about equal speed
with myself. As I gained a point opposite the boat, the Indians
slackened their speed and looked uneasily at me; the man in the stern of
the boat hailed me, inquiring what Indians these were, what number of
them, and how I came among them. I replied in as few words as possible,
and told him we wished to cross to the island. He shook his head; they
were bad fellows, he said; he could not take me with the Indians. They
began to pull away. I made signs of distress and waved them to return,
shouting to them through my hands. The boat was again backed within
hailing distance. "Will you look out for me if I come by myself?" "Yes,"
was the prompt reply.

The Indians all this time had kept within ten or fifteen feet of me,
with their hands on their knives, and reiterating their commands to
come back, at the same time edging towards me in a threatening manner.
"Yes, yes," I told them, "in a moment; but I want to look at the
boat,"--taking care, however, to make good my distance from them.

At the instant of hearing the welcome assurance that I should be cared
for, I drew out the watch (which I had brought, according to promise, to
have a new crystal inserted at Holland), and threw it into the bushes;
the salt water would spoil it, and, if I _should_ be retaken, the
spoiling of that would be an aggravation which might prove fatal. At
the same moment I gave a plunge headlong into the river; my clothes and
shoes encumbered me, and the surf, agitated by a high wind, rolled in
heavy seas upon the shore. The boat was forty or fifty yards off, and,
as the wind did not blow square in shore, drifted, so as to increase the
original distance, unless counteracted by the crew. Whether the boat was
backed up towards me I could not determine; my head was a great part of
the time under water, my eyes blinded with the surf, and most strenuous
exertion was necessary