or he borrowed a kedge to aid
him, as he said, in descending the river against the tide, in order to
"_get a better berth_." He found the trees and air uncomfortable
sixteen miles from the bar, and wanted to approach it to be "nearer
the sea-breeze!" The adroitness of his excuse made me laugh in my
sleeve, as the clumsy trickster shot past me with his sails unbent.

Well,--night came on, with as much darkness as ever robes the star-lit
skies of Africa when the moon is obscured. My long boat was quickly
filled with ten men, armed with pistol and cutlass; and in a short
time, the canoes from Bangalang hove in sight with their sable burden.
I boarded the first one myself, commanding the rowers to pull for my
Spaniard. The second was seized by the mate, who followed in my wake.
The third, fourth, fifth and sixth, shared the same fate in rapid
succession; so that, in an hour, three hundred and seventy-five
negroes were, safe beneath the Esperanza's deck. Thereupon, I
presented the head-man of each canoe a document acknowledging the
receipt of his slaves, _and wrote an order on the Mongo in favor of
the Dane, for the full amount of the darkies I had borrowed_!

The land wind sprang up and the tide turned when daylight warned me it
was time to be off; and, as I passed the Dane snugly at anchor just
inside the bar, I called all hands to give three cheers, and to wish
him happiness in the "enjoyment of his sea-breeze."

CHAPTER XXIX.

When the land-breeze died away, it fell entirely calm, and the sea
continued an unruffled mirror for three days, during which the
highlands remained in sight, like a faint cloud in the east. The
glaring sky and the reflecting ocean acted and reacted on each other
until the air glowed like a furnace. During night a dense fog
enveloped the vessel with its clammy folds. When the vapor lifted on
the fourth morning, our look-out announced a sail from the mast-head,
and every eye was quickly sweeping the landward horizon in search of
the stranger. Our spies along the beach had reported the coast clear
of cruisers when I sailed, so that I hardly anticipated danger from
men-of-war; nevertheless, we held it discreet to avoid intercourse,
and accordingly, our double-manned sweeps were rigged out to impel us
slowly towards the open ocean. Presently, the mate went aloft with his
glass, and, after a deliberate gaze, exclaimed: "It is only the
Dane,--I see his flag." At this my crew swore they would