They arrived at the waterfront and established a defensive perimeter. The 
next question was: Were there any boats? But this part of China was half 
underwater and seemed to have as many boats as bicycles. Most of them seemed to 
have found their way downstream to Shanghai during the gradual onslaught of the 
Fists. So when they arrived at the water's edge, they discovered thousands of 
people with boats, eager to transact some business. But as the Boer leader 
rightly pointed out, it would be suicide to split up the group among several 
tiny, unpowered craft; the Fists were paying high bounties for the heads of 
barbarians. Much safer to wait for one of the larger vessels out in the channel 
to make its way to shore, where they could cut a deal with the captain and 
climb on board as a group.