The Fiend of the Cooperage

It was no easy matter to bring the _Gamecock_ up to the island, for the / river had swept down so much silt that the banks extended for many miles / out into the Atlantic. The coast was hardly to be seen when the first / white curl of the breakers warned us of our danger, and from there / onwards we made our way very carefully under mainsail and jib, keeping / the broken water well to the left, as is indicated on the chart. More / than once her bottom touched the sand (we were drawing something under / six feet at the time), but we had always way enough and luck enough to / carry us through. Finally, the water shoaled, very rapidly, but they had / sent a canoe from the factory, and the Krooboy pilot brought us within / two hundred yards of the island. Here we dropped our anchor, for the / gestures of the negro indicated that we could not hope to get any / farther. The blue of the sea had changed to the brown of the river, and, / even under the shelter of the island, the current was singing and / swirling round our bows. The stream appeared to be in spate, for it was / over the roots of the palm trees, and everywhere upon its muddy, greasy / surface we could see logs of wood and debris of all sorts which had been / carried down by the flood.

When I had assured myself that we swung securely at our moorings, I / thought it best to begin watering at once, for the place looked as if it / reeked with fever. The heavy river, the muddy, shining banks, the bright / poisonous green of the jungle, the moist steam in the air, they were all / so many danger signals to one who could read them. I sent the long-boat / off, therefore, with two large hogsheads, which should be sufficient to / last us until we made St. Paul de Loanda. For my own part I took the / dinghy and rowed for the island, for I could see the Union Jack / fluttering above the palms to mark the position of Armitage and Wilson's / trading station.