fo TRAVELS IN 
felt all the peril of our fituatlon. The title of 
commiffary which Percheron bore, was the re- 
verfe of giving us confidence; it feemed to 
have brought him purpofely on board to 
punifh the rioters. The profcriptlon that 
awaited him was fure to fall equally upon me, 
who appeared to have accompanied him in or- 
der to lend him my affiftance. A general mur- 
mur was excited againft each of us. A murmur, 
did I fay ? Alas ! we were the criminals ; and 
the menacing looks of thefe terrible judges told 
lis, in a language perfedlly int lligible, what 
torments the power of force, combined with 
rage, was capable of infliding on weaknefs and 
innocence. I had never fo ftrong a convidion 
as at that moment, by what a flender thread we 
fometim.es hold our lives, and how unexpeded 
is the chance upon which depends our fafety. 
Had one of thefe confpirators pronounced our 
death, a hundred arms, no doubt, would in- 
ftantly have executed the fentence, and the 
fea would have been at once a tomb for us 
both. 
It is true, I had my double-barrelled fafee ; 
but my companion had nothing with which to 
defend himfelf; andj» as to the officers, incapa- 
ble 
