Sebastian had to contend with a strong current, but having stripped off his cloaths and fastened them above his head, he was able to breast the powerful water with equal strength; a few strokes of his nervous arm brought him to the opposite bank; he sprung on land, and shaking off the wet quickly re-dressed himself. While he was fastening on his rude sandals, he looked up to the Cassavee, from whence he had escaped: the faintly glimmering moon now cast a momentary gleam over its high dome, and silvered part of the line formed by the wall, upon which were seen a few sentinels walking to and fro: one of these men appeared to stop and bend forward; Sebastian glided behind a cluster of sallows; the Moor called out, and receiving no answer, discharged his harquebuss; but whether Sebastian’s profound stillness deceived him into the belief of having mistaken the shadow of a tree for a human figure, or whether he thought all his duty performed by this act, is uncertain,--he waited awhile, then moved away without further scrutiny. Sebastian crept slowly through the underwood till he found himself in a path gradually declining between tolerably steep hills; no longer afraid of discovery, he rose from his stooping posture, and ran swiftly in a direction leading towards the interior. Happily the moon began to shine distinctly, for a rising east wind scattered the clouds that had before ascended from the west, and now her steady light brightened every hill and every valley. The royal Portuguese proceeded with rapidity through scenes which increased in wild solitariness; at every step the heights assumed a bolder and steeper form, the thickets of oak and locust trees became more frequent, and except the din of a torrent which grew upon his ear, nothing was heard to startle even momentary apprehension. Guiding his course by the stars, he continued to advance among the mountains with the utmost celerity: nature and habit had made him capable of bearing great fatigue without injury; he now flew rather than ran, springing over the broad beds of mountain streams, and leaping from point to point of the rocky fissures. Day dawned on him in these desart places, but neither flocks nor dwellings appeared to warn him from his fellow men: he pressed forward, eager to get the start of his pursuers, and resolved not to rest till he could do so with a prospect of security. After journeying till mid-day, chance led him to a steep rocky dell so overhung with shrubs and trees, that it appeared to promise a safe resting place; he had to stoop under the pendent branches that shaded its entrance, but after passing through them, the foliage fell down again like a curtain, and secured him from observation.