ined the party, and taking up the wager, went through the petition
without faltering. It was, indeed, a sad parody on prayer to hear its
blessed accents fall perfectly from such lips on a bet; but when it
was won, the slaver insisted on receiving _the slave which was the
stake_, and immediately bestowed him in charity on a captain, who had
fallen into the clutches of a British cruiser!

Such is a rude sketch of the great man merchant of Africa, the
Rothschild of slavery, whose bills on England, France, or the United
States, were as good as gold in Sierra Leone and Monrovia!

CHAPTER LII.

The day after our arrival within the realm of this great spider,--who,
throned in the centre of his mesh, was able to catch almost every fly
that flew athwart the web,--I landed at one of the minor factories,
and sold a thousand quarter-kegs of powder to Don Jose Ramon. But,
next day, when I proceeded in my capacity of interpreter to the
establishment of Don Pedro, I found his Castilian plumage ruffled,
and, though we were received with formal politeness, he declined to
purchase, because we had failed to address _him_ in advance of any
other factor on the river.

The folks at Sierra Leone dwelt so tenderly on the generous side of
Blanco's character, that I was still not without hope that I might
induce him to purchase a good deal of our rum and tobacco, which would
be drugs on our hands unless he consented to relieve us. I did not
think it altogether wrong, therefore, to concoct a little _ruse_
whereby I hoped to touch the pocket through the breast of the Don. In
fact, I addressed him a note, in which I truly related my recent
mishaps, adventures, and imprisonments; but I concluded the narrative
with a hope that he would succor one so destitute and unhappy, by
allowing him to win an honest _commission_ allowed by the American
captain on any sales I could effect. The bait took; a prompt, laconic
answer returned; I was bidden to come ashore with the invoice of our
cargo; and, _for my sake_, Don Pedro purchased from the Yankee brig
$5000 worth of rum and tobacco, all of which was paid by drafts on
London, _of which slaves were, of course, the original basis_! My
imaginary commissions, however, remained in the purse of the owners.

An accident occurred in landing our merchandise, which will serve to
illustrate the character of Blanco. While the hogsheads of tobacco
were discharging, our second mate, who suffered from _strabism