However, He Only Wished To Get A Few Yards Before Them, For His Canoe Men Soon Lifted Their Paddles Out Of The Water, And The Boat Fell Back To Its Former Situation.

The musicians in the large canoe performed merrily on their instruments, and about twenty persons now sung at intervals in recitative, keeping excellent time with their paddles.

A brisk wind sprung up the river full in their faces, relieving them from the extreme heat of the weather, which was remarkably fine; the scene before them was very animating, and the whole of them were in high glee and spirits. Other canoes joined them, and never did the British flag lead so extraordinary a squadron. The king of the dark water might have been mistaken for a river god, and his wives, now and then showing their pretty black faces from under the awning, cast many an arch look at them with their sparkling, jetty eyes.

It was not long before their reverie was interrupted by a great noise from the adjacent land, and on turning, they perceived the banks of an island, called Zagozhi, which was lined with numbers of people, admiring their flag, and watching them very earnestly, by which they guessed that this was the place of their destination. The island was so uncommonly low that the houses and trees appeared as if they were standing in the water, as indeed many of them actually were. Theirs being the first canoe, before they landed on the island, they waited for the king to precede them, and the moment he set his foot on shore, they fired a salute of four muskets and three pistols.

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