We made signs of thanks to them, for we had nothing to make them amends;
but an opportunity offered that very instant to oblige them wonderfully;
for while we were lying by the shore came two mighty creatures, one
pursuing the other (as we took it) with great fury from the mountains
towards the sea; whether it was the male pursuing the female, or whether
they were in sport or in rage, we could not tell, any more than we could
tell whether it was usual or strange, but I believe it was the latter;
because, in the first place, those ravenous creatures seldom appear but
in the night; and in the second place, we found the people terribly
frightened, especially the women. The man that had the lance or dart did
not fly from them, but the rest did; however, as the two creatures ran
directly into the water, they did not seem to offer to fall upon any of
the Negroes, but plunged themselves into the sea, and swam about, as if
they had come for their diversion: at last, one of them began to come
nearer our boat than I at first expected; but I lay ready for him, for I
had loaded my gun with all possible expedition, and bade Xury load both
the others. As soon as he came fairly within my reach, I fired, and shot
him directly in the head: immediately he sunk down into the water, but
rose instantly, and plunged up and down, as if he was struggling for
life, and so indeed he was: he immediately made to the shore; but
between the wound, which was his mortal hurt, and the strangling of the
water, he died just before he reached the shore.

It is impossible to express the astonishment of these poor creatures, at
the noise and fire of my gun; some of them were even ready to die for
fear, and fell down as dead with the very terror; but when they saw the
creature dead, and sunk in the water, and that I made signs to them to
come to the shore, they took heart and came to the shore, and began to
search for the creature. I found him by his blood staining the water;