near, but they rapidly disappeared. There
could be no doubt that the boat was swamped. The instant this was
ascertained the captain ordered all the boats to be lowered that they
might go in and endeavour to pick up any of the crew who might be
carried out to sea. I went in one of them. Our orders were especially
not to venture on the bar. We were not long in reaching the place. We
looked eagerly about for any traces of our lost shipmates. Even the
boat had been rolled over and over till not a plank remained holding
together. An oar came floating out towards us, and as I watched it I
saw one end rise up suddenly as if the other had been pulled at
violently. We pulled up to it, and as we got near I saw a dark
triangular fin gliding away through the blue bright water. I now saw
clearly what had been the fate of any of the crew who might have hoped
to save themselves by swimming. We returned with sad hearts on board,
but sailors cannot mourn long even for their best friends. The fate of
those who have been taken may be theirs to-morrow.

A few days after this Captain Packenham invited me to accompany him on
shore to pay a visit to the Intendant of Black River. We took care,
warned by the accident which I have described, to have a black pilot,
and under his guidance we safely crossed the dangerous bar. Once in and
able to draw our breaths freely, we were delighted with the beauty of
the scenery which on every side met our eyes--woods and green fields,
and hills and valleys, diversified the banks of the river, which
branched off in different directions, and added much to the
picturesqueness of the landscape. From the accounts we received of the
barbarities committed by the Spaniards, we longed to meet them, to
chastise them as they deserved. They had just before this made an
attack on the settlement, where they had destroyed a large amount of
property, and carried off a number of prisoners, both men and women, to
Merida, the capital of Yucatan. Thence they were afterwards shipped to
Havannah, where, if they were no better treated than we were at Saint
Domingo, their fate was hard indeed. On the 5th of October we were
highly honoured by a visit from his Indian Majesty of the Mosquito
shore--King Hoco-poco we used to call him--I forget his name. He came
accompanied by a long retinue of princes, generals, and chiefs of all
sorts, rejoicing in very curious names, very dark skins, and a very
scanty amount of cl