A kelpie might have dreaded to attempt the passage; we may conceive this brave but unfortunate and now ruined man to have found a natural joy in the exposure of his life; and twice that day, coming and going, he braved the fury of the river.

It was possible, in spite of the darkness of the hurricane and the continual breaching of the seas, to remark human movements on the _Adler_; and by the help of Samoans, always nobly forward in the work, whether for friend or enemy, Knappe sought long to get a line conveyed from shore, and was for long defeated.

The shore guard of fifty men stood to their arms the while upon the beach, useless themselves, and a great deterrent of Samoan usefulness.

It was perhaps impossible that this mistake should be avoided.

What more natural, to the mind of a European, than that the Mataafas should fall upon the Germans in this hour of their disadvantage?
But they had no other thought than to assist; and those who now rallied beside Knappe braved (as they supposed) in doing so a double danger, from the fury of the sea and the weapons of their enemies.