ity, share their biscuits and
clothing with the blacks. The women, who are generally without
garments, appear in costume from the wardrobes of tars, petty
officers, mates, and even captains. Sheets, table-cloths, and spare
sails, are torn to pieces for raiment, while shoes, boots, caps,
oilcloths, and monkey-jackets, contribute to the gay masquerade of the
"emigrants."

It was my sincere hope that the first glimpse of the Antilles would
have converted my schooner into a theatre for such a display; but the
moodiness of my companions was so manifest, that I thought it best to
meet rebellion half way, by breaking the suspected officer, and
sending him forward, at the same time that I threw his "dog-house"
overboard.[4]

I was now without a reliable officer, and was obliged to call two of
the youngest sailors to my assistance in navigating the schooner. I
knew the cook and steward--both of whom messed aft--to be trustworthy;
so that, with four men at my back, and the blacks below, I felt
competent to control my vessel. From that moment, I suffered no one to
approach the quarter-deck nearer than the mainmast.

It was a sweet afternoon when we were floating along the shores of
Porto Rico, tracking our course upon the chart. Suddenly, one of my
new assistants approached, with the sociability common among
Spaniards, and, in a quiet tone, asked whether I would take a
_cigarillo_. As I never smoked, I rejected the offer with thanks, when
the youth immediately dropped the twisted paper on my map. In an
instant, I perceived the _ruse_, and discovered that the _cigarillo_
was, in fact, a _billet_ rolled to resemble one. I put it in my mouth,
and walked aft until I could throw myself on the deck, with my head
over the stern, so as to open the paper unseen. It disclosed the
organization of a mutiny, under the lead of the broken mate. Our
arrival in sight of St. Domingo was to be the signal of its rupture,
and for my immediate landing on the island. Six of the crew were
implicated with the villain, and the boatswain, who was ill in the
slave-hospital, was to share my fate.

My resolution was promptly made. In a few minutes, I had cast a hasty
glance into the arm-chest, and seen that our weapons were in order.
Then, mustering ten of the stoutest and cleverest of my negroes on the
quarter-deck, I took the liberty to invent a little strategic fib, and
told them, in the Soosoo dialect, that there were bad men on board,
who wanted to