o the spot which he had left, I saw him running at the top of his
speed, and following a winding route, with which he was evidently
familiar, as he avoided the water and the bogs, and kept on firm
ground. I made an attempt to come up with him; but in my haste trod
upon a piece of loose shale, which, sliding beneath me, threw me upon
the ground, and badly wounded my right foot, so that for the moment I
could proceed no further.

As I sat upon the ground, endeavouring to stanch the fast-flowing
blood from my instep by winding round it some long flags from the
marsh, I watched the poor fellow till he was no longer in sight, and
marked that he never relaxed his pace till he disappeared under the
cluster of trees above which I had first noticed the white smoke
ascending. To cross the marsh without a guide, was now out of the
question; and choosing a dry and mossy spot, I lay down and rested
till the afternoon was far advanced, having made up my mind, if no
succour came from the hamlet, which I now felt assured was not far
from the edge of the marsh, that I would return to the river before it
was dark, and make a last and vigorous attempt to swim to the group of
islands which I had observed in the distance, in one or other of which
I might hope to find human inhabitants. I kept my telegraph in sight,
and, the sun being now low in the horizon, was thinking of retracing
my steps towards it, when, in the act of rising to do so, I saw a
party of men, of whom I distinctly counted fourteen, threading their
well-known way through the marsh, and rapidly advancing towards the
spot where I lay. They had already measured half the distance, and I
might have seen them long before had I happened to look in that
direction. I now congratulated myself that my troubles were over, and
was pondering how I could best shew my gratitude to my deliverers,
when the doubt was suggested to my mind whether they would prove
deliverers or not. I kept my eye steadfastly fixed upon their
movements, and, as they drew nearer, beheld with dismay that they were
all armed, two of them, who led the van, with old muskets, and the
rest with staves, scythes, and bludgeons. It was plain that the old
fool I had frightened away had described me to his countrymen as some
savage monster, and this valiant band had come out against me, to hunt
me to the death. I resolved at once to be sure of their object before
they came to a disagreeable proximity; and with this view, st