380 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



sibly the danger of those who were. The patron 

 was not familiar with the coast, there was but 

 one place in which he could find shelter, a narrow 

 passage, difficult to enter even by daylight, and 

 night was almost upon him ; Mr. Catherwood had 

 timed the precise moment when he turned the point, 

 and we knew that the canoa would not be able to 

 reach the cove before dark, but would have to ride 

 through the storm, and, perhaps, be driven to sea. 

 It was fearful to think of the danger of the poor 

 patron and sailors ; and mingled with these fears 

 was some little uneasiness on our own account. All 

 our luggage and provisions were on board, as we 

 had intended to sail early the next morning. The 

 storm had come up so suddenly that though Albino 

 stood on the bank entreating, the patron would not 

 wait to put a single thing on shore. We had only 

 our box of table service, with coffee, sugar, tea, cho- 

 colate, and a few biscuit ; even if no accident hap- 

 pened, several days might elapse before the canoa 

 could return, and if she never returned we should 

 be five Robinson Crusoes, all alone on a desert isl- 

 and. We had our guns to look to for provisions, 

 but, unluckily, we had an unusually small quantity 

 of ammunition on shore. As the storm raged our 

 apprehensions ran high, and we had got so far as to 

 calculate our chances of reaching the mainland by a 

 raft, finding some relief in the occupation of mov- 

 ing our hammocks occasionally to avoid the rain as 

 it beat through the thatched roof, and at length we 

 fell asleep. 



