There was no boat in the vicinity, and only one mode of arresting the progress of the fugitive.

I almost wept through vexation.

I hesitated one moment on account of the sharks, then plunged into the river, and with rapid and strong strokes swam towards the boat.

I was soon alongside, seized the gunwale, and, expecting every moment that a shark would seize me by the leg, by a convulsive movement threw myself into the boat.
As I sculled back towards the place from which the boat had drifted, Captain Page came down to the water side.

He had witnessed the scene from a balcony, and administered a severe rebuke for my foolhardiness in swimming off into the river, particularly during the young flood, which brought the voracious monsters in from the sea.
On our passage to Maranham, and during a portion of our stay in that port, the utmost harmony prevailed on board.