om the interior, sinks the deposit where the tide
meets the Atlantic, and forms an interminable mesh of spongy islands.
To one who approaches from sea, they loom up from its surface, covered
with reeds and mangroves, like an immense field of _fungi_, betokening
the damp and dismal field which death and slavery have selected for
their grand metropolis. A spot like this, possessed, of course, no
peculiar advantages for agriculture or commerce; but its dangerous
bar, and its extreme desolation, fitted it for the haunt of the outlaw
and slaver.

Such, in all likelihood, were the reasons that induced Don Pedro
Blanco, a well-educated mariner from Malaga, to select Gallinas as the
field of his operations. Don Pedro visited this place originally in
command of a slaver; but failing to complete his cargo, sent his
vessel back with one hundred negroes, whose value was barely
sufficient to pay the mates and crew. Blanco, however, remained on the
coast with a portion of the Conquistador's cargo, and, on its basis,
began a trade with the natives and slaver-captains, till, four years
after, he remitted his owners the product of their merchandise, and
began to flourish on his own account. The honest return of an
investment long given over as lost, was perhaps the most active
stimulant of his success, and for many years he monopolized the
traffic of the Vey country, reaping enormous profits from his
enterprise.

Gallinas was not in its prime when I came thither, yet enough of its
ancient power and influence remained to show the comprehensive mind
of Pedro Blanco. As I entered the river, and wound along through the
labyrinth of islands, I was struck, first of all, with the vigilance
that made this Spaniard stud the field with look-out seats, protected
from sun and rain, erected some seventy-five or hundred feet above
the ground, either on poles or on isolated trees, from which the
horizon was constantly swept by telescopes, to announce the approach
of cruisers or slavers. These telegraphic operators were the keenest
men on the islands, who were never at fault, in discriminating
between friend and foe. About a mile from the river's mouth we found
a group of islets, on each of which was erected the factory of some
particular slave-merchant belonging to the grand confederacy.
Blanco's establishments were on several of these marshy flats. On
one, near the mouth, he had his place of business or trade with
foreign vessels, presided over by