the south-east, I was able, with some effort,
to get a glimpse of a mile or two of the shore; and now that daylight
had come I could see the surf breaking heavily all along it, and also
upon the seaward side of the sandbank upon which we appeared to have
grounded.

Feeling quite reassured as to the safety of the ship, I sat down on the
sofa locker and endeavoured, by recalling the courses steered and the
distances run since we had been picked up, to identify the particular
spot on the coast where we now were. But it was no use; my memory of
the charts was not clear enough, and I had to give up the task. But I
felt convinced that we were somewhere in the Gulf of Guinea.

As I sat there on the locker, thinking matters over, and wondering what
would be the outcome of this adventure, I became so absorbed in my own
thoughts that I gradually lost all consciousness of my surroundings, and
was only brought back to myself by the sounds of a sudden commotion on
deck, loud outcries--in which I thought I recognised the voice of the
skipper,--a great and violent stamping of feet, and finally an irregular
popping of pistols, followed by a sudden subsidence of the disturbance.
This, in turn, was followed by sounds of excitement in the cabins on
either side of the one which I occupied, and in the distance I could
hear the general shouting at the top of his voice. I gathered that the
passengers were only now beginning to realise that something was wrong
with the ship, and were turning out and dressing hastily. A few minutes
later I heard the sounds of cabin doors being flung open, and hurried
footsteps went speeding past my cabin toward the companion way which led
up to the main-deck. Then the general's voice breezed up again, from
the saloon above, in tones of angry remonstrance, followed by a
tremendous amount of excited talk, amid which I thought I once or twice
caught the sounds of women's sobs. It was evident that something very
much out of the common had happened, and I came to the conclusion that
it was high time for me to be at large again and taking a hand in the
proceedings; I therefore whipped out my pocketknife, and without further
ado proceeded to withdraw the screws that fastened the lock to the door.
Five minutes later I found myself in the main saloon, and the centre of
an excited and somewhat terrified group of passengers.

"Ah!" exclaimed the general, as I made my appearance. "Now, perhaps, we
shall get at so