channel to be a quarter of a mile, and he expressed a desire to swim across it to the sand-hill to take bearings, and to ascertain the nature of the strand beyond it to the eastward.
"It unfortunately happened, that he was the only one of the party who could swim well; in consequence of which, his people remonstrated with him on the danger of making the attempt unattended. Notwithstanding, however, that he was seriously indisposed, he stript, and, after Mr. Kent had fastened his compass on his head for him, he plunged into the water, and with difficulty gained the opposite side; to effect which, took him nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds. His anxious comrades saw him ascend the hillock, and take several bearings; he then descended the farther side, and was never seen by them again.
"For a considerable time, Mr. Kent remained stationary, in momentary expectation of his return; but, at length, taking the two soldiers with him, he proceeded along the shore, in search of wood for a fire. At about a quarter of a mile, the soldiers stopped, and expressed their wish to return, as their minds misgave them, and they feared that Captain Barker had met with some accident. While conversing, they heard a distant shout, or cry, which Mr. Kent thought resembled the call of the natives, but which the soldiers positively declared to be the voice of a white man. On their return to their companions, they asked if any sounds had caught their ears, to which they replied in the negative. The wind was blowing from the E.S.E., in which direction Captain Barker had gone; and, to me, the fact of the nearer party not having heard that which must have been his cries for assistance, is satisfactorily accounted for, as, being immediately under the hill, the sounds must have passed over their heads, to be heard more distinctly at the distance at which Mr. Kent and the soldiers stood. It is more than probable, that while his men were expressing their anxiety about him, the fearful tragedy was enacting, which it has become my painful task to detail.
"Evening closed in, without any signs of Captain Barker's return, or any circumstance by which Mr. Kent could confirm his fears, that he had fallen into the hands of the natives. For, whether it was that the tribe which had shown such decided hostility to me, when on the coast, had not observed the party, none made their appearance; and, if I except two, who crossed the channel when Mr. Kent
