When the boat dropped alongside, Paul explained to the astonished Doctor that a shotgun only carried a short distance and he could not expect to hit anything so far away.
As the sun was sinking that evening, Boyton heard the negro yelling: "Great Lawd, come hyah Cap'en! Oh, my soul, come quick! quick! Dis hyah Dutchman gwine t' kill me suah!" Wheeling around, Paul witnessed the most ludicrous spectacle.

The Doctor, with the muzzle of the gun turned on the negro, was excitedly hammering a cartridge into the breech, while the negro was stretched on his back nearly over the gunwale of the boat, with the broad sole of his foot held as a shield toward the muzzle, yelling at the top of his voice.

The doctor saw some blackbirds in the bushes and not remembering how to put a cartridge in the gun, was pounding it in with the handle of his bowie knife.

Of course it was liable to explode at every stroke, and the poor negro knew the danger.
After some expostulation, the Doctor was persuaded to put the gun away.
Below Dubuque, the weather grew stormy and so continued for the rest of the voyage.

They were treated to some marvelous lightning effects.