THE AMERICANS AND THE ABORIGINES. 309 



waving her bloody knife; "I plunged it to the hilt 

 in his throat. The daughter of the Miko of the Oco- 

 nees knows how to strike the water- snake. But," 

 added she, indifferently, "this one was young, and 

 already benumbed, for the water begins to be cold. 

 Canondah is only a weak girl, but she could teach 

 the young white man to strike the water-snake." As 

 she spoke the last words, she glanced in the direction 

 of a cypress-tree which sprang out of the shallow 

 water at a few paces from the bank. 



"The young white man?" said Rosa, inquiringly. 



The Indian girl laid her forefinger significantly 

 upon her lips, washed the blood from her hands and 

 knife, and approached the tree. Separating the im- 

 pending branches with her left hand, she held out 

 her right, open and with the palm upwards, in sign 

 of friendship, and then pointed to the shore, towards 

 which she herself slowly advanced. The boughs 

 were put aside, and a young man appeared, walking 

 cautiously and with difficulty towards the bank, 

 clutching for support at the reeds that grew around 

 him. Eosa gazed in astonishment at the stranger. 



"How carne he here 1 ?" said she softly to her 

 friend. 



The Indian girl pointed in silence to a boat en- 

 tangled amongst the reeds, through which an attempt 

 had evidently been made to force it. The stranger had 

 now arrived within a few paces of the shore, when he 

 began to stagger, and Canondah, who hurried to his 



