e skipper, my chum, Good, and her
crew of seamen, carried half-a-dozen marines, four in the stern-sheets,
and two forward. The pinnace was a big, roomy, and rather heavy boat,
pulling ten oars, double banked, and mounting a nine-pounder gun in her
bows. She was commanded by Mr Michael Ryan, the second lieutenant, a
rollicking, high-spirited Irishman, whose only fault was that he lacked
discretion and was utterly reckless; albeit this fault was to a great
extent condoned by the effect of his influence upon the men, who would
follow him anywhere. His crew, in addition to the ten oarsmen and a
coxswain, consisted of little Pierrepoint and ten marines, six aft and
four forward. The first and second cutters were sister boats, precisely
alike in every respect, each pulling eight oars, double banked. They
were rather smarter boats than the pinnace, being nearly as long but
with less beam and freeboard, and finer lines. The first cutter was
commanded by Gowland, the master's mate, and carried, in addition to her
crew of ten men and a coxswain, eight marines. The second cutter was
entrusted to me, and carried the same complement as her consort, the
first cutter. It will thus be seen that the expedition numbered
seventy-seven souls in all--nearly the half of our ship's company, in
fact--the brig being left in charge of the first luff, with the master,
the purser, the surgeon, young Burdett of the midshipmen's mess, the
cook and his mate, captain's, gun-room, and wardroom stewards, and
seventy-eight seamen.

The weather, although favourable enough for such an expedition as that
upon which we were engaged--and which, if our anticipations should prove
correct, would depend largely for its success upon our ability to take
the enemy completely by surprise--was decidedly disagreeable; for, as
Jerry had reported, it was dark as pitch, the wind was sweeping athwart
the river in savage gusts that roared among the trees with a volume of
sound that rendered it necessary to raise the voice to a loud shout in
order to make an order heard from one end of the boat to the other, and
we had scarcely left the ship when it came on to rain with a fury that
rendered the preservation of our ammunition from damage a serious
difficulty and a source of keen anxiety. Fortunately for us, we reached
the mouth of the creek a few minutes before the rain began to fall, but
for which circumstance we should, have met with the utmost difficulty in
discov