advancing at a great rate.  Upon receiving this intelligence, we drew together, and resolved to make the best of our way to the boats; we had scarcely begun to put this into execution, when the three Indian boys started suddenly from some bushes, where they had concealed themselves, and again claimed our protection:  we readily received them, and repairing to the beach as the clearest place, we walked briskly towards the boats.  The Indians were in two bodies; one ran along the bank which had been quitted by the marines, the other fetched a compass by the swamp, so that we could not see them:  When they perceived that we had formed into one body, they slackened their pace, but still followed us in a gentle walk:  That they slackened their pace, was for us, as well as for them, a fortunate circumstance; for when we came to the side of the river, where we expected to find the boats that were to carry us over to the wooders, we found the pinnace at least a mile from her station, having been sent to pick up a bird which had been shot by the officer on shore, and the little boat was obliged to make three trips before we could all get over to the rest of the party.  As soon as we were drawn up on the other side, the Indians came down, not in a body as we expected, but by two or three at a time, all armed, and in a short time their number increased to about two hundred:  As we now despaired of making peace with them, seeing that the dread of our small arms did not keep them at a distance, and that the ship was too far off to reach the place with a shot, we resolved to re-embark, lest our stay should embroil us in another quarrel, and cost more of the Indians their lives.  We therefore advanced towards the pinnace which was now returning, when one of the boys suddenly cried out, that his uncle was among the people who had marched down to us, and desired us to stay and talk with them:  We complied, and a parley immediately commenced between them and Tupia; during which the boys held up every thing we had given them as tokens of our kindness and liberality; but neither would either of the boys swim over to them, or any of them to the boys.  The body of the man who had been killed the day before, still lay exposed upon the beach; the boys seeing it lie very near us, went up to it, and covered it with some of the clothes that we had given them; and soon after a single man, unarmed, who proved to be the uncle of Maragovete, the youngest of the boys, swam over to us, bringing in his hand a green branch, which we supposed, as well here as at Otaheite, to be an emblem of peace.  We received his branch by the hands of Tupia, to whom he gave it, and made him many presents; we also invited him to go on board the ship, but he declined it; we therefore left him, and expected that his nephew, and the two other young Indians, would have staid with him, but to our great surprise, they chose rather to go with us.  As soon as we had retired, he went and gathered another green branch, and with this in