were swept out of hearing of the man-of-war, they
shouted loudly for help; but the murmuring of the tide, the pattering of
the rain, and the howling of the wind prevented their voices from
being heard, as, notwithstanding their exertions to stem the tide, they
floated rapidly down the river towards the bar.

What risks will a man encounter to secure his liberty! It was not long
before these friends separated, never to meet again. One of them sank
beneath the waters. The other had given up all expectation of being
rescued, when he beheld an object, darker than the murky atmosphere
by which it was surrounded, rising, as it appeared to him, out of the
water. His heart beat quicker within his bosom. In a moment more he
had seized the cable of the Dolphin, and shouted for help. This man was
grateful for the succor he had received, and expressed a wish to work
his passage to the United States. To this suggestion Captain Tilton
offered no objection, and he subsequently proved to be one of the best
men on board.

That very morning the black pilot made his appearance, grinning as he
thrust his dark muzzle over the gunwale. He was greeted with answering
smiles, for we were "homeward bound," and all hands cheerfully commenced
heaving up the anchor and making sail. With a favorable breeze and an
ebb tide we soon passed the bar, and entered upon the broad ocean. The
fresh trade wind was welcome after sweltering for weeks in the sultry
and unwholesome atmosphere of Demarara; and the clear and pellucid
waters of the ocean bore a cheerful aspect, contrasted with the thick
and opaque waters of the river in which we had remained several weeks at
anchor.

Nothing remarkable occurred during the homeward passage, until we
reached the Gulf Stream, that extraordinary current, sixty or seventy
miles in width, and many degrees warmer than the ocean water on either
side, and which reaches from the Gulf of Florida to the Shoals of
Nantucket. There can be no doubt that this current of the Gulf Stream
is owing to the trade winds in the tropical seas, which, blowing at
all times from the eastward, drive a large body of water towards the
American continent. Vessels bound to India invariably meet with a strong
westerly current within the tropics, and particularly in the vicinity
of the equator. This volume of water is thus forced along the shores of
Brazil and Guiana, until it enters the Caribbean Sea, from which it
has no outlet excepting through