During it they were not
molested by the Spaniards, but no one could tell how soon they might be.
When all was ready they restored their prisoners to the liberty of which
they had long been deprived, and entered upon one of the most perilous
examples of navigation that can well be imagined.
Launched in their piperies, the freebooters found themselves tossed about
by the impetuous current, and speedily covered with spray. The lightness
of their floating baskets kept them from sinking, but the energetic
efforts they were obliged to make to keep from being thrown out or dashed
on the rocks soon exhausted them. A short experience taught them the
necessity of fastening themselves in the piperies, so that their hands
might be free to keep them from being hurled on the rocks. Occasionally
their frail crafts were overturned or buried under the waves in the swift
rapids, and the inmates were either drowned or escaped by abandoning the
treasures which weighed them down.
Whatever else may be said of this method of navigation, it proved a rapid
one, the frail barks being hurried on at an impetuous speed.
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