384 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



In the mean time our masts had become so locked in 

 the branches of the trees that we carried away some of 

 our miserable tackling in extricating them; but at length 

 were once more in the middle of the river, and renewed 

 our war upon los enemigos de los Christianos. The 

 sun was so hot that we could not stand outside the 

 awning, but the boatmen gave us notice when we could 

 have a shot. Our track down the river will be remem- 

 bered as a desolation and scourge. Old alligators, by 

 dying injunction, will teach the rising generation to 

 keep the head under water when the bungoes are com- 

 ing. We killed perhaps twenty, and others are proba- 

 bly at this moment sitting on the banks with our bullets 

 in their bodies, wondering how they came there. With 

 rifles we could have killed at least a hundred. 



At three o'clock the regular afternoon storm came on, 

 beginning with a tremendous sweep of wind up the riv- 

 er, which turned the bungo round, drove her broadside 

 up the stream, and before we could come to at the bank 

 we had a deluge of rain. At length we made fast, se- 

 cured the hatch over the place prepared for us, and 

 crawled under. It was so low that we could not sit up, 

 and, lying down, there was about a foot of room above 

 us. On our arrival at the Palisada we considered our- 

 selves fortunate in finding a bungo ready, although she 

 had already on board a full load of logwood from stem 

 to stern. Don Francisco said it would be too uncom- 

 fortable, and wished us to wait for a bungo of his own ; 

 but delay was to us a worse evil, and I made a bargain 

 to have a portion of the logwood taken out behind the 

 mainmast, so as to admit of a hatch on deck, and give 

 room below. But we had not given any personal su- 

 perintendence ; and when we came on board, though 

 the logwood seemed of a rather hard species for sleep- 



