108 
And Take a Risk Out of the Officers. 
of speech. '"The Fort is taken! Tlie Brazilians! The Brazilians!" 
were, after some minutes silence, tlie first words to fall from Lieutenant 
Bingham's oppressed chest, while the alarmed oflticers ruslied outside to 
expiate in blood the disgrace that they imagined had already befallen 
them. .We had got our revenge, and shouting "Don't you know the 
Turtles' Dead March T' we Inirried after them with roars of laugliter, 
while they, unable to check their speed, only came to a halt when the two 
drummers, wlio were just tlien turning the corner of a house, ceased 
playing. Puzzled, the gentlemen now stopped, and our immoderate 
laughter forced upon them tlie conviction that they had been fooled. We 
returned in triumph, and overjoyed at the success of our revenge, back 
to our abandoned glasses, while the officers, though piqued, soon joined 
in the merriment, for they well recognised that, if tliey let us do all the 
laughing, they would appear to still greater disadvantage. Lieutenant 
Bingham was certainly of opinion tliat our action had been beyond a 
joke, for he would like no one to suffer the same agony of mind as lie 
did on hearing the first distinct beating of the drum, when the lameutabl" 
consciousness forced itself upon him that in leaving the Fort, all his 
officers had neglected a duty which he now had to atone for. Nevertheless 
this very evening remained one of the most cheerful that we had spent 
thi'oughout the rainy season. 
2G6. Some days later, several people from Haiowa brought us tlu 
longed-for news tliat our boats had arrived there, and that we could 
expect them ;> to 4 days later in Pirara. But as our own and the officers' 
im])atience and desire for news could not be curbed for so long, some of 
the Indians were soon packed off to the Rupununi to take passage from 
there in a light coiial and meet tlie heavily laden and slow boats, when 
they were to lie given the despatclies and letters, and to retuin with them 
as quickly as possible: a cannon. shot was to notify the gar-rison of the 
Fort when they returned. On the following night at 1 o'clock this boomed 
!.rit in the stilly darkness and brought the officers over to us, but amongst 
all the many letters and scri])s there war^ not a single one addressed to 
them. Lieutenant Bingham had been looking forward for fresh instruc- 
tions just as anxiously as my brother, who received advices to continue 
the boundary expedition as quickly as yiossible. To the gi-eat astonish- 
ment of us all the military commander a])i»eared to have lieen foi-gotten, 
until one of tlie mulattoes who had accompanied our messenger to Pirara, 
Solved the luizzle liy informing us that a police-lioat had accompanied 
ours, and was conveying sev»arate des])atches for the garrison of Xew 
Oiiinea, the contents of \Ahicli were unknown even to tho.so who brought 
them. The ]iolice lioat had only left Geoi-getown a week after their 
departure and had reached the other side of the Falls. The advices 
must be important, and the previous surprise over their non-receipt now 
made way for a great number of conjectures as to what they contained. 
Two days later in strode the messenger: the detachment was recalled. 
The joy which this order caused among the officers and men almost sent 
them mad, and it was a long time Itefore the former could tell us quietly 
and rationally all about the instructions they had received. Thi' 
despatch that had been sent to Pirara through Police Inspector 
