the bank, the first boat was pushed off into the stream.

The river in this place is rapid, because the full course of the
water is somewhat impeded by a bank of earth jutting out from the
opposite side of the river into the stream; but it is not so rapid
as to make any recognised danger in the embarkation. Below this
bank, which is opposite to the spot at which the boats were entered,
there were four or five broken trees in the water, some of the
shattered boughs of which showed themselves above the surface.
These are called snags, and are very dangerous if they are met with
in the course of the stream; but in this instance no danger was
apprehended from them, as they lay considerably to the left of the
passage which the boats would take. The first canoe was pushed off
by the German, and went rapidly away. The waters were strong with
rain, and it was pretty to see with what velocity the boat was
carried on some hundred of yards in advance of the other by the
force of the first effort of the paddle. The German, however, from
the bank holloaed to the first men in Spanish, bidding them relax
their efforts for awhile; and then he said a word or two of caution
to those who were now on the point of starting.

The boat then was pushed steadily forward, the man at the stern
keeping it with his paddle a little farther away from the bank at
which they had embarked. It was close under the land that the
stream ran the fastest, and in obedience to the directions given to
him he made his course somewhat nearer to the sunken trees. It was
but one turn of his hand that gave the light boat its direction, but
that turn of the hand was too strong. Had the anxious master of the
canoes been but a thought less anxious, all might have been well;
but, as it was, the prow of the boat was caught by some slight