92 VOYAGE IN SEARCH 



paddlers fall into the water ; but, much lefs 

 embarrafTed than wc ftiould have imagined, they 

 fwam towards the ncarcfl: coaft, dragging after 

 them their fkifF, which they foon righted and 

 launched again. Thcfe forts of boats arc fa 

 ticklifli, that they muft often be expofed to 

 iimilar accidents; and Indeed the canoes which 

 pafTed clofe to this, appeared fcarcely to notice 

 what had happened. 



Mofl of them had eatables on board; how- 

 ever wc remarked one which had none, and we 

 thought flie had nothing to offer us ; but wc 

 were miflaken : fhc was navigated by two men, 

 whofe countenance befpokc a great deal of gaie- 

 ty, while they pointed out to us two women 

 that were paddling w ith them : their figns left us 

 110 doubt that they made us very gallant offers. 



Wc fiiw, at a di (lance, fomc large canoes un- 

 der fail. 



About half pad eleven o'clock, being in the 

 narrowcft part of the channel, we found bot- 

 tom about the middle at five fathon^s and a 

 half. It did not appear to us to be above four 

 hundred meters in width. 



At the moment when wc were on the j^oint 

 of entering it, a large canoe had come to r.'.cct 

 us, and defired us to follow her into a much 

 wider channel, which lay on our ftarboard hand ; 

 but when flic faw us take another route, fne re- 

 turned. 



