ust in time to prevent
her sinking. As the tide on ebbing left her dry, we surveyed her
bottom, when it seemed doubtful whether she would ever float again, and
we had therefore to decide as to our future proceedings. Lejoillie,
after examining the map, proposed that we should pull up Pease Creek to
its head-waters, whence he calculated it was about a hundred miles to
Lake Washington, through which the Upper Saint John River flows. We
might perform the journey after leaving the canoe, he calculated, in ten
days or a fortnight, or, by crossing another large lake in the
intermediate space, considerably shorten the distance by land.

As we found no vessel sailing northward, Lejoillie's plan appeared the
best; and we accordingly, the next morning, having engaged a canoe, with
two blacks to paddle and a white man to act as pilot, put up our goods
in compact bundles, and bade farewell to the _Great Alexander_, her
mosquitoes, cockroaches, scorpions, tarantulas, fleas, and bugs, as well
as to her worthy skipper and his crew.

We then embarked on our adventurous voyage. Besides our crew, the canoe
held Lejoillie, Carlos, Tim, and me, our stores (including powder and
shot), and my faithful dog Caesar, who at once took up his position in
the bows, where he sat, as if on the look-out to warn us of danger
ahead. There were two spare paddles, of which Tim and I made use, as we
were ashamed of sitting idle, and we found that we could greatly add to
the speed of the canoe. Several times I felt something bump against the
bottom of our craft, and, on asking our pilot what it was, he replied--

"Only maybe a shark or a devil-fish; they are pretty plentiful
hereabout."

Upon looking over the side indeed, so clear was the water that we could
see vast numbers of monster fish,--not only sharks and devil-fish, but
saw-fish, jew-fish, sting rays, whip rays, and other specimens of the
finny tribe, of great size,--swimming below and around us in such
numbers that they threatened to upset the canoe, and we actually struck
them over and over again with our paddles.

By the time we had gone about a mile, having reached the centre of the
river, a strong breeze sprang up, and a good deal of sea constantly
broke over us, and compelled Carlos and Lejoillie to employ themselves
in baling. Our pilot, however, assured us that, in the course of half
an hour or so, we should be in smooth water, if we were not upset in the
meantime. It made us sh