The river varied in breadth at this part of its course from sixty to eighty yards. The steersmen, Coja in the first, Said Mohammed in the second, kept the rafts in midstream, and they glided on the full current with a steadiness that augured well for the voyage. In less than half-an-hour they were level with the village. Then a shot rang out from the right bank. Clearly Juma had been on the watch. The shot fell short, and the sound of it caused great consternation among the villagers, who had taken up a position a few hundred yards down-stream on a stretch of treeless land on the left bank, raised a few feet above the level of the river. They had evidently been as yet unaware of the proximity of their allies. But their apprehension was immediately changed to wild excitement as they saw Juma, accompanied by his band, appear on a similar eminence on the opposite bank. They shouted with delight, leaping, brandishing spears, little suspecting the trick which the Swahilis had played on them. As the rafts approached, they were assailed with showers of arrows from both sides, mingled with rifle shots from the right bank. Ferrier and John ordered their men to lie flat on their faces, for those on the starboard side were exposed to the fire from the right bank, those on the port side to that from the left. The two white men themselves, and their two steersmen, could not find shelter in the same way, being bound to stand erect in order to keep the rafts in midstream. As the missiles flew around him, John felt that this was a vastly unpleasant way of running the gauntlet. He instinctively pressed his body close to the framework; and whether it was due to the growing darkness, or to the inability of the enemy to hit a moving target, he escaped unhurt. The immediate danger was past when the banks of the river fell away to the level of the stream. Both parties of the enemy still fired, running along in time with the rafts; but their missiles now flew over the top of the breastwork. Ferrier thought it worth risking a volley from his own men. He ordered them to kneel, rest their rifles on the palisade, and take good aim at the Swahilis. Their skill or luck was superior, for when the volley flashed forth, a yell told that one at least of the bullets had got home. Immediately afterwards John ordered his askaris to fire among the negroes on the left bank; but these were somewhat remoter from the river, and he could not learn that any of the shots took effect. [Illustration: "John ordered his askaris to fire among the negroes on the left bank."] Night had now sunk upon the land. The moon would rise late, and for several hours the voyage must be continued in darkness. John called to Ferrier to ask whether he had not better run into the bank and wait until there was a little light upon the course. "I can see well enough at present," was the reply. "Besides, those beggars are keeping it up."