noon
We got our oars , and attempted to pull for the brig , for we knew that the seamen were taking our parts ; but it was in vain ; the tide ran several miles an hour , and in another minute or two , with all our exertions , we were nearly a quarter of a mile astern of her , and the boat was so loaded that we hardly dared move lest we should upset it . We had , therefore , no option but to go on shore and take our chance ; but when the men were pulling round for the shore , on reflection I thought that we had better not land so soon , as the sailors had told us that they had seen the Indians in their canoes . I therefore recommended that we should allow the boat to drift up the river with the tide , and then drift down again when the tide turned , remaining in the middle of the stream till it was dark , when we would land and make our way into the woods . My advice was followed ; we sat still in the boat , just keeping her head to the stream with the oars , and , being without our shirts , the sun scorching and blistering our backs , till past noon , during which time we must have drifted nearly twenty miles up the river , which was as broad as the arm of a sea at the entrance ; then the tide turned , and we drifted back again till it was dusk , when it was again slack water . All this while we kept a sharp look-out to see if we could perceive any Indians , but not one was to be seen . I now proposed that we should take our oars and pull out of the river , as if we had only gone up on a survey , for the brig had got under weigh , and had anchored , for want of wind , about four miles off , and the Indians , if there were any , would suppose that we were returning to the ship . We did so , and pulled till it was dark , and were within two miles of the brig , where the flood-tide again made strong , when we turned the boat 's head up the river , and pulled with the oars to get up as far as we could before we landed .