As the two craft drew close together it became increasingly doubtful whether we should be able to avoid the boat unless by the adoption of some especial measures, and at length I saw that when the time should arrive for us to heave in stays our pursuers would have actually cut us off.  I therefore stood on until we had arrived within about a hundred yards of them, by which time they were dead ahead of us, and lying upon their oars, waiting for us to endeavour to pass them, when I calmly put the brig's helm hard up, instead of down, and we wore round on the other tack, going back over pretty nearly the same ground that we had traversed a few minutes before, to the intense disgust and disappointment of Juan and his companions, who had evidently quite made up their minds that they had us fairly caught.  The moment that our manoeuvre had so far developed as to be understood, the occupants of the boat sent up a yell of execration, and began to shout all manner of dreadful threats at us, while they frantically strove to get their crazy boat round in order to come after us in chase.  But it soon became apparent that, the boat being in a waterlogged condition, and the oarsmen almost worn out with fatigue, our pursuers had not a ghost of a chance of overtaking us.  They, as well as we, recognised this when it was all but too late.  Then it dawned upon them that we might evade them with the utmost ease, for practically as long as we chose, by simply repeating our last manoeuvre until their boat should sink under them--an event, by the way, which they could not much longer defer.  After pursuing us, therefore, for nearly a mile, they suddenly abandoned the chase, and, turning the boat's head in the direction of the wharf, devoted their efforts to the successful accomplishment of their return. We did not wait to see how they fared, but, as soon as they were fairly out of our way, tacked again, and half an hour later found ourselves fully employed in negotiating the exceedingly difficult navigation of the narrows, which we successfully accomplished after several exceedingly close shaves of the rocks that border the passage on either hand.  Half an hour of this work sufficed to take us clear, when we emerged into another funnel-shaped channel leading into the open water of the Bahama Channel.  It was close upon eight bells of the afternoon watch when we finally went out clear of everything, by which time we were all quite ready for the appetising meal that Mammy, arrogating to herself the duties of cook, had prepared for us in the ship's galley.