“‘We can’t say,’ said several bystanders; ‘the Colonel slept in one of the huts, with his daughters, their female attendants, and the negro Pompey. In the morning the colonel was found gagged and bound, lying on the floor of the hut, and not a soul else was to be seen. All the colonel could say was, that in his sleep he was seized, a blanket forcibly held over his face and head to stifle his shouts; he was then gagged and bound, and the blanket left round his head; had he not received assistance he would have been shortly suffocated; he is very ill!’ “‘Who has gone after the ruffians?’ demanded Captain Stanhope, boiling with rage. “‘No one as yet,’ returned several persons, together. ‘Most of the men have gone across the country to —— to see for provisions; all here are mostly women and children; we waited till you came up with the men.’ “I requested to be shown where the colonel was, whilst Captain Stanhope picked out half-a-dozen active men, and three or four active guides. The captain could not go himself, for he was lame, but his two sons promised to accompany me in the steamer. It was well known that they must have been carried off in Sinclair’s boat, for it was gone. In a most agitated state of mind, I ran to the hut where the colonel was, and entering, found him in a high fever and quite delirious. The only medical man we had was with him; nor could we learn anything from his ravings. It was no use waiting, so in less than two hours we were ready to start, well armed, for pursuit. Captain Stanhope’s two sons, Lieutenant Dobbs, and four of his men, and myself, with four good negro guides, formed the party in pursuit; each carried six rounds of ball cartridge, and provisions for four days. The provision was very simple, consisting of merely biscuit, cheese, and gourds full of rum. We could shoot plenty of game for food if required. It was surmised by Captain Stanhope that Sinclair would go no farther up the river than —— ——, he might then carry their boat over a track of land to a lake about two miles from the river’s brink. This lake was above twenty miles long, and from it ran a river communicating with the sea. At the mouth of this river was a negro village, and sometimes vessels touched at this place. It had been suspected latterly that Sinclair had associates on the coast, who had a vessel somewhere; at all events, we could easily see if the boat had been carried over land or abandoned, for the tide went no higher up the river, and the current without the tide was too fierce to stem.