ger, rushed
towards them. They dared not fire, of course, and without allowing a
moment's hesitation to interfere with the service they were upon,
proceeded to land according to seniority. As the first officers leaped
on shore, sword in hand, the supposed tiger, with a loud snort, jumped
into the river, proving to be a harmless capybara, or water-hog,
peculiar to the large rivers of South America.

They now advanced cautiously, among the reeds and brushwood, across the
island, when, to their great satisfaction, they found that the river
itself had performed the very work required, by throwing up, when
swelled by the rains, an embankment many feet high along the entire
length of the island, so as completely to screen them from the enemy's
batteries,--a work, indeed, which many hundred men could not so well
have executed in a week. Behind this the land rising, there was
consequently a large natural trench; here the rockets might be placed in
comparative safety. The only difficulty would be to get the men into
the trench and to retire safely after the ammunition was expended, and
also to avoid any suspicion on the enemy's part of the proximity of such
a foe. The party then returned to the ship, and completed the necessary
preparations.

The next night the rocket-party, in the _Alecto's_ paddle-box boat, took
their departure under the command of Lieutenant Mackinnon. He was
accompanied by his second in command, Lieutenant Barnard, of the Marine
Artillery, by Mr Hamm, the boatswain of the _Alecto_, and Mr Baker,
the pilot, with twelve artillerymen and eleven seamen. Silent as the
grave, they pulled behind the islands, and without accident reached the
appointed spot. They first set to work to get the rocket-stands and
rockets up to the embankment; and very fatiguing work it was to the men,
for they had to carry them through a swamp, into which they sank up to
their knees, and then a considerable distance over rough and uneven
ground, among thick reeds and brushwood. A glass of grog, with some
pork and biscuits, set them to rights again; and without delay they
planted the rocket-stands, pointing them so that the rockets might just
clear the top of the batteries. Fortunately, a few yards beyond the
little bay where the boat had been lying all night, a large willow tree
had fallen into the river, of her exact length, and beyond that was a
point of land running out likewise; between these she was hauled in.
Branches o