miles an hour, while my boy rigged
an awning with the blankets and boat-hooks. Thus, half reclining, I
steered landward till midnight, when I took in the sail and lay-to on
the calm ocean till morning. Next day the breeze again favored us;
and, by sundown, I came up with the coasting canoe of a friendly
Mandingo, into which I at once exchanged my quarters, and falling
asleep, never stirred till he landed me on the Islands de Loss.

My wound kept me a close and suffering prisoner in a hut on the isles
for ten days during which I despatched a native canoe some thirty five
or forty miles to the Rio Pongo with news of my disaster, and orders
for a boat with an equipment of comforts. As my clerk neglected to
send a suit of clothes, I was obliged to wear the Mandingo habiliments
till I reached my factory, so that during my transit, this dress
became the means of an odd encounter. As I entered the Rio Pongo, a
French brigantine near the bar was the first welcome of civilization
that cheered my heart for near a fortnight. Passing her closely, I
drifted alongside, and begged the commander for a bottle of claret. My
brown skin, African raiment, and savage companions satisfied the
skipper that I was a native, so that, with a sneer, he, of course,
became very solicitous to know "where I drank claret _last_?" and
pointing to the sea, desired me to quench my thirst with brine!

It was rather hard for a suffering Italian to be treated so cavalierly
by a Gaul; but I thanked the fellow for his civility in such excellent
French, that his tone instantly changed, and he asked--"_au nom de
Dieu_, where I had learned the language!" It is likely I would have
rowed off without detection, had I not just then been recognized by
one of his officers who visited my factory the year before.

In a moment the captain was in my boat with a bound, and grasping my
hands with a thousand pardons, insisted I should not ascend the river
till I had dined with him. He promised a plate of capital soup;--and
where, I should like to know, is the son of France or Italy who is
ready to withstand the seduction of such a provocative? Besides this,
he insisted on dressing me from his scanty wardrobe; but as he
declined all subsequent remuneration, I confined my bodily improvement
to a clean shirt and his wiry razors.

While the _bouillon_ was bubbling in the coppers, I got an insight
into the condition of Rio Pongo concerns since my departure. The Dane
was off af