mile and a half in width, with a depth of water ranging from two to
three fathoms. Furthermore, the island itself and the adjacent banks of
the river were thickly wooded, affording perfect concealment, behind
which half a dozen slavers might lurk undetected; and altogether it
wore, as seen from the river, the aspect of an exceedingly promising
spot. We therefore lowered the boats' sails, unshipped their masts,
and, keeping a bright look-out all round us, pulled warily into the
lagoon at its eastern extremity.

For the first mile of our passage we detected nothing whatever of a
suspicious character; but upon rounding the eastern extremity of the
island and entering the widest part of the lagoon we sighted two large
canoes paddling furiously up the creek, about a mile ahead of us. The
captain at once brought his telescope to bear upon these craft, and with
its aid discovered that each canoe was manned by about forty black
paddlers, while the after end of each craft was occupied by some ten or
a dozen men in European dress, most of whom appeared to be armed with
muskets. These men had the appearance of being either Portuguese or
Spaniards, and their presence in such a spot could mean but one thing,
namely, that there was a barracoon somewhere near at hand. The skipper
accordingly gave the order to chase the two canoes, to which the boats'
crews responded with a cheer, and laid themselves down to their oars
with such a will that they almost lifted the boats out of the water.
But we had scarcely traversed a distance of half a dozen boats' lengths
when, upon opening up a little indentation in the shore of the mainland,
we saw before us a substantial wharf, long enough to accommodate two
fair-sized craft at once, with a wide open space at the back of it upon
which stood some eight or ten buildings, one of which was unmistakably a
barracoon of enormous size.

With another cheer the course of the boats was at once diverted toward
the wharf; and we had arrived within less than a hundred yards of it
when the deathlike silence which had hitherto prevailed ashore was
pierced by a shrill whistle, in response to which the whole face of the
bush bordering the open space at once began to spit flame, while the air
around us hummed and whined to the passage of a perfect storm of bullets
and slugs, among which could be detected the hum of round shot,
apparently nine-pounders, the gig weathered the storm unscathed; but
upon glancing