or the other to get up with her. Captain
Longswill every now and then took a glance astern to watch them.
Suddenly, in a cheery voice, he ordered the crew to trim sails, and our
canvas bulging out slightly, the schooner began to glide slowly through
the water. Just then I saw a puff of smoke issue from one of the boats,
and a shot came ricochetting over the water, passing close to our
quarter. The captain laughed. "You're a little too late, my boys," he
observed; "you should have pulled harder than you did if you wished to
get up with us."

The shot now came flying towards us as fast as the Spaniards could load
their guns, but they all either dropped into the water astern or went
whizzing by on either side. Though a gun had been slewed round and
pointed through one of the after-ports, we had not fired a shot. "We
might probably knock the boat to pieces, but there is no object in so
doing if we can escape them with our heels," observed Uncle Denis. "You
see, Barry, we are peaceably disposed, though we don't wish to be
interfered with."

I now suspected, what I afterwards found to be the case, that the
_Flying Fish_ had arms and stores on board for the insurgents, which she
was to land at any port in their possession, or else at a part of the
coast where some of their troops could collect to receive them. The
difficulty was to ascertain the places in the hands of the republicans,
for they might have possession of a town one day, and it might be taken
from them the next.

I was perfectly ready to fight, but I had no special wish to do so if it
could be avoided; and I was therefore glad to see our sails fill out
with the steady breeze, and to find that we were dropping the boats
astern. The corvette was still coming on, but she no longer gained on
us; and the wind still further increasing, we found that the _Flying
Fish_ was much the faster craft. We were compelled, however, to haul
our wind and stand off the coast; and soon after noon had run the
corvette out of sight.

This adventure delayed us. After standing off for some days, we hove
to, keeping a sharp look-out. The next morning, having a good breeze,
we again stood in towards the coast. No sail like the corvette
appearing, we stood on till we reached the mouth of the magnificent
river Magdalena, inferior only in size to the Orinoco and Amazon on that
part of the continent. After forming numerous lakes, it empties itself,
by three mouths, into the C