We Were Now Most
Anxious For The Return Of The Men, And Were Going To Fire Our
Muskets To Recall Them, When We Observed Them On The Beach, Some
Way Off, And Almost Immediately Our Anchors Again Slipped, And We
Drifted Slowly Away Into Deep Water.
We instantly seized the
oars, but found we could not counteract the wind and current, and
our frantic cries to the men were not heard till we had got a
long way off; as they seemed to be hunting for shell-fish on the
beach.
Very soon, however, they stared at us, and in a few
minutes seemed to comprehend their situation; for they rushed
down into the water, as if to swim off, but again returned on
shore, as if afraid to make the attempt. We had drawn up our
anchors at first not to check our rowing; but now, finding we
could do nothing, we let them both hang down by the full length
of the cables. This stopped our way very much, and we drifted
from shore very slowly, and hoped the men would hastily form a
raft, or cut down a soft-wood tree, and paddle out, to us, as we
were still not more than a third of a mile from shore. They
seemed, however, to have half lost their senses, gesticulating
wildly to us, running along the beach, then going unto the
forest; and just when we thought they had prepared some mode of
making an attempt to reach us, we saw the smoke of a fire they
had made to cook their shell-fish!
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