their canoe and took their station with us; the chief with a somewhat offensive familiarity seating himself in the stern of the boat, near the captain. We were not long in doubt concerning the motive which had led them to this act of condescension. Our bread was contained in a small chest, which had been placed in the bottom of the boat; this seemed to have excited their curiosity to the highest pitch, as they kept their eyes almost constantly upon it, and endeavored to persuade the captain to give them a chance to examine its contents. He declined gratifying them, thinking it better to keep their anxiety alive, rather than to expose to them the comparative worthlessness of the little that remained with us, of either the comforts or necessaries of life.

Probably owing to this show of resistance on our part, when we had approached to within five or six miles of the island, at a signal given by the chief, the sail of their canoe was suddenly dropped; and, seizing our powder canister, he jumped overboard and swam to the canoe. His companion, following the example of the thievish chief, seized a bundle of clothing and was making off with it; whereupon Mr. Nute, who had not yet become entirely reconciled to the fashion of going without clothes, like our new acquaintances, and conceiving that it might be well to insist upon having the rights of property respected, caught hold of the bundle and retained it. Upon this they immediately hauled us alongside, and seized upon our oars; here again we had occasion to offer some resistance to their supposed right to plunder us, and we succeeded in keeping possession of these; the only remaining means of saving ourselves from premature death and a watery grave.

They had by this time become so exasperated, that we considered it altogether desirable to get ourselves out of the reach of their war clubs, spears, and battle-axes; and we took measures accordingly. We were still held fast to their canoe, and so completely within their reach that it required not a little courage to make any attempt to leave them; but Mr. Nute, whose resolution had been wrought up by the previous contest, took a knife and deliberately cut the line. Our intention was to throw ourselves astern, and then, by tacking directly about, and steering in the wind's eye, to escape from them, or at least to give them, for a time, some better employment than that of robbing their poor and suffering victims. This we succeeded in accomplishing; not however without the expense of much toil, and some blows, which they dealt out at parting, with so much severity, that we shall not soon lose the recollection of their barbarous conduct towards us. Mr. Nute, by his intrepidity, seemed to have rendered himself an object of their particular dislike; they beat him unmercifully, for his resolution in retaining the bundle of clothes, and sundering the only cord that bound us to our tormentors.

Having but three oars, our progress was by no means as rapid as we could have desired; but perceiving that in going against the wind we had the advantage of our pursuers, and knowing that our only safety was in flight, we exerted our utmost strength, and soon had the satisfaction of leaving them at a safe distance from us. They seemed determined not to part with us, and continued to pursue us till about four o'clock, P. M. It was with the greatest difficulty that we kept clear of them; at times it seemed impossible; and in this situation we could fully realize the force of the scriptural sentiment, "all that a man hath he will give for his life." Finding them too near us, and evidently intent upon taking vengeance for the crime we had committed in attempting to escape, though our wardrobe had been reduced to a few necessary articles of clothing, we resorted to the expedient of parting even with these, by casting one thing at a time upon the water, rightly judging that they might be detained in picking them up, and hoping by this management to keep our distance from them.

After they left us, we continued our course, which was directly into the open sea, until about sunset, when we discovered land ahead, apparently at the distance of forty miles. We continued to row on till about three o'clock in the morning, when we found that we were in shoal water, and near breakers. We contrived to throw the bight of a rope over a point of rock which was about eight feet under water, and we there remained until daylight. We then let go our hold, and pulled for land. At about four o'clock in the afternoon we succeeded in landing on a small island distant from the main land about half a mile, and drew our boat upon the beach. By this time our strength had become much exhausted, and we were suffering beyond description from the want of water. Our first efforts were made to find some means for quenching our thirst; and, to our inexpressible joy, we soon found a spring, which, in that extremity of our sufferings, was of more value than a mine of gold. Poor Sedon was left lying in the boat in a state of complete prostration. We carried him some water, and he soon revived.