76 
THE SKIFF STRIKES AND SINKS. 
that occasion. As they had their women with them, we 
pushed in to the bank, and distributed some presents, after 
which we dropped quietly down the river. Its general 
depth had been such as to offer few obstructions to our pro- 
gress, but about an hour after vve left the natives, the skiff 
struck upon a sunken log, and immediately filling, went 
down in about twelve feet of water. The length of the 
painter prevented any strain upon the whale-boat, but the 
consequence of so serious an accident at once flashed upon 
our minds. That we should suffer considerably, we could 
not doubt, but our object was to get the skiff up with the 
least possible delay, to prevent the fresh water from mixing 
with the brine, in the casks of meat. Some short time, how- 
ever, necessarily elapsed before we could effect this, and 
when at last the skiff was hauled ashore, we found that we 
were too late to prevent the mischief that we had anticipated. 
All the things had been fastened in the boat, but either 
from the shock, or the force of the current, one of the pork 
casks, the head of the still, and the greater part of the car- 
penter’s tools, had been thrown out of her. As the success 
of the expedition might probably depend upon the com- 
plete state of the still, I determined to use every effort for 
its recovery : but I was truly at a loss how to find it ; for 
the waters of the river were extremely turbid. In this di- 
lemma, the blacks would have been of the most essential 
service, but they were far behind us, so that we had to depend 
on our own exertions alone. I directed the whale-boat to be 
moored over the place where the accident had happened, 
