He has evidently put the other chiefs' backs up, and we must receive their reports of him with some doubt.

However, I have no doubt that, if he turns out badly, we shall be able to give him a lesson that will be of benefit to him." The first day's voyage up the river by no means came up to the anticipations of the midshipmen as to the country through which they were to pass.

The width of the river varied from a quarter of a mile to three hundred yards; the banks on each side were lined with mangroves, presenting a dreary and monotonous aspect.

Progress was slow, the steam launch going ahead and sounding the depth of water, the captain having but little faith in the assertion of the native pilot that he was perfectly acquainted with every bank and shallow.

Being now the dry season, the tops of many of these shoals were dry, and numbers of alligators were lying half in and half out of the water, basking in the sun.
Several of the officers who possessed rifles amused themselves by shooting at these creatures, but it was very rarely that any attention was paid to their firing, the balls glancing off the scaly armor without the alligators appearing to be conscious of anything unusual.