And I take this passage literally, as it is written.

我按照字面上的意思理解这段话。

It would be easier to take the east passage, but two or three miles beyond, on that side, Neahtawanta jutted out from the peninsula.

走东边的通道比较容易，但是在两到三英里以外的东边，尼塔万塔伫立在半岛上。

Taking passage on the first steamer that arrived, he pursued his journey up Red River, a sluggish, winding stream, flowing through a vast region of primitive forests and impenetrable swamps, almost wholly destitute of inhabitants.

他乘坐第一艘到达的轮船， 沿着红河继续他的旅程，红河是一条缓缓蜿蜒的溪流， 流经一片广阔的原始森林和不可逾越的沼泽地，几乎完全没有居民。

Mr. Northup and myself immediately hastened to the landing, and taking passage on the first steamer that arrived, were soon floating down Red River, up which, with such desponding thoughts, I had been borne twelve years before.

诺萨普先生和我立即赶往岸边，乘坐第一艘抵达的轮船， 很快就顺着红河漂流而下， 十二年前我怀着如此沮丧的想法登上了这条河。

Sometimes she thought about swimming the river, but the Blackwater Rush was wide and deep, and everyone agreed that its currents were wicked and treacherous. She had no coin to pay a ferryman or take passage on a ship.

她也想过游泳渡河，但黑水河既宽且深，而每个人都知道里面的暗流汹涌莫测。要搭船，她又没钱付给船夫。