to pieces, every one of its occupants, so
far as we could see, being killed; two other canoes, one on each side of
the first, were so seriously damaged that they immediately swamped,
leaving their occupants squattering in the water like so many lame
ducks; and three or four others were hit, with serious casualties to
their crews. This effectually checked the advance of the blacks for a
few minutes, during which we made good use of our oars in urging the
boat, still stern foremost, in the direction of the island to which we
were bound, and upon which we were now able to distinctly make out the
shape of a huge wooden barrack-like structure.

As we pressed on toward the island we became cognisant of the fact that
its occupants were in a great state of confusion, and a few minutes
later we saw a long procession of blacks, who, from their constrained
movements, were apparently manacled, emerge from the barrack and move
off toward the opposite side of the island. We were enabled, with the
aid of our glasses, to detect on the island the presence of some ten or
a dozen white men, and these individuals, carrying each a musket in one
hand and a whip in the other, seemed to be very freely using the latter
to expedite the movements of the unhappy blacks.

We were, however, allowed but scanty time in which to take note of these
matters, for the native canoes soon began to press forward upon us once
more, evidently with the fixed determination to surround us if possible,
and thus prevent our approach to the island. We knew that if this
object were once accomplished our doom was certain, for in such a case,
fight as desperately as we might, we must soon be overpowered by sheer
force of numbers, and it consequently soon became, so far as we were
concerned, an absolute race for life.

On swept the boat, our men pulling her through the water, though still
stern foremost, at a pace such as she had rarely travelled before, and
on crowded the canoes after us, spread out athwart the stream in the
form of a crescent. Luckily for us, the channel at this point was not
very wide, and by keeping in the middle of it we were able to throw a
musket-shot clear across to either side, otherwise we should soon have
found ourselves in a parlous case. The greater number of the canoes
obstinately maintained a position in mid-stream ahead of us, thus
presenting an insuperable barrier to our retreat down stream, whilst
those on the outer wings to por