time little suspected by us, that the barge, in which we
founded all our hopes of escaping from this savage coast, would certainly
have proved the fatal cause of detaining us till we were consumed by the
labour and hardships requisite to row her round the capes and great
headlands; for it was impossible to carry her by land as we did the boats
of the Indians. At present, no condition could be worse than we thought
ours to be: There ran at this time a very high sea, which breaking with
great fury upon this coast, made it very improbable that sustenance in any
proportion to our wants could be found upon it; yet unpromising as this
prospect was, and though little succour could be expected from this
quarter, I could not help, as I strolled along shore from the rest, casting
my eyes towards the sea. Continuing thus to look out, I thought I saw
something now and then upon the top of a sea that looked black, which, upon
observing still more intently, I imagined at last to be a canoe; but
reflecting afterwards how unusual it was for Indians to venture out in so
mountainous a sea, and at such a distance from the land, I concluded myself
to be deceived. However, its nearer approach convinced me, beyond all
doubt, of its being a canoe; but that it could not put in any where
hereabouts, but intended for some other part of the coast. I ran back as
fast as I could to my companions, and acquainted them with what I had seen.

The despondency they were in would not allow them to give credit to it at
first; but afterwards, being convinced that it was as I reported it, we
were all in the greatest hurry to strip off some of our rags to make a
signal withal, which we fixed upon a long pole. This had the desired
effect: The people in the canoe seeing the signal, made towards the land at
about two miles distance from us, for no boat could approach the land where
we were. There they put into a small cove, sheltered by a large ledge of
rocks without, which broke the violence of the sea. Captain Cheap and I
walked along shore, and got to the cove about the time they landed. Here we
found the persons arrived in this canoe to be our Indian guide and his
wife, who had left us some days before. He would have asked us many
questions, but neither Captain Cheap nor I understanding Spanish at that
time, we took him along with us to the surgeon, whom we had left so ill
that he could hardly raise himself from the ground.

When the Indian began to confer wi