204 DUCK-SHOOTING. 



which might yet be the means of his preservation. 

 He gazed round to see if any part of this mud 

 desert was higher than the rest; and observing a 

 small portion still a foot or two above the water, he 

 hastened towards it; and when there, striking the 

 barrel of his long gun deep into the ooze, he re- 

 solved to hold fast by it, as a prop to secure himself 

 against the bufferings of the waves, which were 

 breaking angrily around him, and had now reached 

 his feet; and at the same time, as an anchor, to 

 which he might cling, and not be carried away by 

 the current of the flowing or ebbing tide; or, at all 

 events, that if it was to be his sad fate to perish, 

 his body might be found by those friends who 

 might venture out to search for him. Well ac- 

 quainted with the usual rise of the tide, he had 

 every reason to suppose that it would not reach 

 above his middle, and that if he could endure the 

 cold of six hours' immersion, he might be saved. 

 Unfortunately, however, he had not taken into 

 account, the state of the wind, or some other 

 causes, which had not only brought the waters up 

 more rapidly than usual, but would also add to 

 their height. Accordingly, having first felt the 

 chill and deadly sensation of ripple after ripple, 

 now covering his feet, then bathing him knee-deep, 

 and then advancing beyond his waist, he was horror- 

 struck at finding, that instead of receding, it still 

 crept upwards, and had reached his shoulders ; the 

 spray burst over his head: upon another minute's 

 rise or fall of tide, his life depended; but still, 

 though he gave himself up for lost, he firmly 

 grasped his gun-barrel. The main land was too far 



