es who inhabited it? He knew how ill they had been
treated by Europeans; for, at that period, it was quite as common for
the slave-trader to land and take away the inhabitants as slaves by
force, as to purchase them in the more northern territories: still, he
might be fortunate enough to fall in with some trader on the coast, as
there were a few who still carried on a barter for gold-dust and ivory.

We do not know--we cannot conceive a situation much more deplorable than
the one we have just described to have been that of Francisco.
Alone--without a chance of assistance--with only a sufficiency of food
for a few days, and cut off from the rest of his fellow-creatures, with
only so much _terra firma_ as would prevent his being swallowed up by
the vast, unfathomable ocean, into which the horizon fell on every side
around him! And his chance of escape how small! Hundreds of miles from
any from whom he might expect assistance, and the only means of reaching
them a small boat--a mere cockle-shell, which the first rough gale would
inevitably destroy.

Such, indeed, were the first thoughts of Francisco; but he soon
recovered from his despondency. He was young, courageous, and buoyant
with hope; and there is a feeling of pride--of trust in our own
resources and exertions, which increases and stimulates us in proportion
to our danger and difficulty; it is the daring of the soul proving its
celestial origin and eternal duration.

So intense was the heat that Francisco almost panted for sufficient air
to support life, as he lay under the shade of the boat during the whole
of that day; not a breath of wind disturbed the glassy wave--all nature
appeared hushed into one horrible calm. It was not until the shades of
night were covering the solitude that Francisco ventured forth from his
retreat; but he found little relief; there was an unnatural closeness in
the air--a suffocation unusual even in those climes. Francisco cast his
eyes up to the vault of heaven, and was astonished to find that there
were no stars visible--a gray mist covered the whole firmament. He
directed his view downwards to the horizon, and that, too, was not to be
defined; there was a dark bank all around it. He walked to the edge of
the sand-bank; there was not even a ripple--the wide ocean appeared to
be in a trance, in a state of lethargy or stupor.

He parted the hair from his feverish brow, and once more surveying the
horrible, lifeless, stagnant waste, h