"
I did so with the best grace I could, and was led below, where two
beauties, with loaded pistols, and a drawn knife each, obliged me with
their society, one seated on each side of me on the small locker, like
two deputy butchers ready to operate on an unfortunate veal. It had now
fallen dead calm, and, from what I heard, I conjectured that the felucca
was sweeping in towards the land with us in tow, for the sound of the
surf grew louder and louder. By and by we seemed to slide beyond the
long smooth swell into broken water, for the little vessel pitched sharp
and suddenly, and again all was still, and we seemed to have sailed into
some landlocked cove. From the loud echo of the voices on deck, I
judged that we were in a narrow canal, the banks of which were
reflecting the sound; presently this ceased, and although we skimmed
along as motionless as before, I no longer heard the splash of the
felucca's sweeps; the roar of the sea gradually died away, until it
sounded like distant thunder, and I thought we touched the ground now
and then, although slightly. All at once the Spanish part of the crew,
for we still had a number of the felucca's people with us, sang out
"Palanca," and we began to pole along a narrow marshy lagoon, coming so
near the shore occasionally, that our sides were brushed by the branches
of the mangrove bushes. Again the channel seemed to widen, and I could
hear the felucca once more ply her sweeps.
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