us_ more
painfully than almost any cross-eyed man I ever saw, became
excessively provoked with one of the native boatmen who had been
employed in the service. It is probable that the negro was insolent,
which the mate thought proper to chastise by throwing staves at the
Krooman's head. The negro fled, seeking refuge on the other side of
his canoe; but the enraged officer continued the pursuit, and, in his
double-sighted blundering, ran against an oar which the persecuted
black suddenly lifted in self-defence. I know not whether it was rage
or blindness, or both combined, that prevented the American from
seeing the blade, but on he dashed, rushing impetuously against the
implement, severing his lip with a frightful gash, and knocking four
teeth from his upper jaw.

Of course, the luckless negro instantly fled to "the bush;" and, that
night, in the agony of delirium, caused by fever and dreaded
deformity, the mate terminated his existence by laudanum.

The African law condemns the man who _draws blood_ to a severe fine in
slaves, proportioned to the harm that may have been inflicted.
Accordingly, the culprit Krooman, innocent as he was of premeditated
evil, now lay heavily loaded with irons in Don Pedro's barracoon,
awaiting the sentence which the whites in his service already declared
_should be death_. "He struck a white!" they said, and the wound he
inflicted was reported to have caused that white man's ruin. But,
luckily, before the sentence was executed, _I_ came ashore, and, as
the transaction occurred in my presence, I ventured to appeal from the
verdict of public opinion to Don Pedro, with the hope that I might
exculpate the Krooman. My simple and truthful story was sufficient.
An order was instantly given for the black's release, and, in spite of
native chiefs and grumbling whites, who were savagely greedy for the
fellow's blood, Don Pedro persisted in his judgment and sent him back
on board the "Reaper."

The character manifested by Blanco on this occasion, and the admirable
management of his factory, induced me to seize a favorable moment to
offer my services to the mighty trader. They were promptly accepted,
and in a short time I was employed as _principal_ in one of Don
Pedro's branches.

The Vey natives on this river and its neighborhood were not numerous
before the establishment of Spanish factories, but since 1813, the
epoch of the arrival of several Cuban vessels with rich, merchandise,
the neighbor