ave bade defiance to
the slave squadron for years, and paid for herself twenty times over.

Naturally, the skipper was in high feather at so brilliant a series of
successes as we had met with, for he had not been altogether without his
anxious moments as to what might be the result of the inevitable court-
martial that awaited us all for the loss of the _Psyche_; but he
flattered himself that the authorities could not possibly be hard upon
officers who brought in four such rich prizes as ours.

And now there began to be general talk about leaving the river and
reporting ourselves at Sierra Leone; for not only had we ships in plenty
to accommodate all hands, but those among us who were most experienced
felt that, after having made such a clean sweep as we had, it was
exceedingly unlikely that there would be any more chances to capture
either slaves or ships in the Fernan Vaz for some time to come. Still,
it would not be possible for us to go quite at once; for even now there
remained several matters to be attended to, the most important being the
disposal of the blacks whom we had captured from the slave-traders.
Although these had come a long distance down from the interior, there
was no doubt that they would be able to find their way back to their
homes; whereas, if we carried them to Sierra Leone, the chances were
that they would never see either home or relatives again. Therefore
although, strictly speaking, it was our duty to take them to Sierra
Leone with us, the skipper decided to strain a point, if necessary, and
give the poor wretches the opportunity to decide for themselves which
alternative should be adopted. Accordingly, the question was put to
them, through Cupid, with the result that they decided, unanimously, to
return by the way that they came rather than trust themselves to the
tender mercies of the sea, which none of them had seen, and few had
heard of, before. But they begged a few days longer in which to rest
and recuperate before they were despatched on their long journey; and
this the skipper cheerfully accorded them, although he was now all
anxiety to get away.

After the negroes had been given a full week in which to recover their
health and strength, they were mustered early on a certain morning,
given a good breakfast, allowed to load themselves up with as much meal
as they chose to take, furnished with a few boarding-pikes and cutlasses
from the prizes wherewith to defend themselves on th