nce pale and haggard, and his strong voice
now sounding weak and hollow, and scarcely to be heard by those to whom
he issued his orders. I stood by him to repeat them. I saw him cast an
eye towards the spot which contained the graves of our shipmates, and I
could divine his thoughts. Perhaps he might have reflected that had he
not been so greedy of gain, many of them might be still alive, while he
himself might be enjoying health and strength.

The mangrove covered shores looked even more sombre and monotonous than
before, in the grey light of morning, as we glided down between them.
The air was hot and oppressive, and full of pestilence, and it seemed a
wonder to me that I should have lived so many weeks while breathing such
an atmosphere. I dreaded lest the breeze should fail us, and we should
be compelled to spend another night under its influence; but the wind
held, the tide was in our favour, and we had nearly reached the mouth of
the river before the wind dropped, and we had to bring up. A few
minutes afterwards the fresh sea breeze came rushing in, pure and sweet,
and comparatively cool. With what delight did I gulp it down. I
quickly felt like another creature. The captain also seemed to revive
rapidly under its influence, and I began to hope that he would
ultimately recover.

I eagerly watched the sparkling lines of white foam as the ocean waves,
meeting the ebbing current of the river, broke across the bar. How I
longed for the evening, when the land breeze would again fill our sails,
and carry us out into the open bounding ocean. It seemed to me that
then all difficulty would be passed, and we should only have to shape
our course for England, and steer on till we should reach it.

The captain, unwilling again to go below, sat all day on deck under an
awning, ready for the moment when we might venture to weigh anchor. It
came at last. Just before sunset the hot wind began to blow. Although
the bar still wore a threatening aspect, the pilot declared that,
without fear, we might venture over it.

Not a moment was lost, on we stood towards it. In a short time foaming
breakers were hissing and bubbling around us. Once more I felt the
vessel rising to the heaving wave, and welcomed the showers of spray
which flew over her deck. On she sped, but very slowly; now she sank
downwards, and it seemed as if the next roller would send her back on
the bar. It glided under her, however, and then she appea