ver to survey the alleged channel, to
destroy the depot and the hulk, if such are found to exist, and to free
any slaves which may happen to be therein.

"From certain remarks to be found here and there in these documents, I
infer that the depot and hulk are in charge of white men, but it is,
unfortunately, nowhere stated how many these white men number. They
cannot, however, muster very strongly there; they probably do not number
above a dozen altogether; the expedition, therefore, will only be a
small one, consisting only of our own cutter and that of the _Vestale_.
I have determined to give the command of our people to Mr Mildmay, he
being the most experienced officer at surveying now remaining to us,
with you to lend a hand. The French boat will be under the command of
Monsieur Saint Croix, the second lieutenant of the _Vestale_; and both
boats, though of course under independent commands, will act in concert.
This paper," placing one before me, "is, as you will perceive, a
sketch-chart of the river, and the two crosses in red ink indicate the
positions of the depot and the hulk. It differs somewhat, you will
notice, from the admiralty chart," to which he pointed as he spoke, "and
it will really be a great point to ascertain which, if either, of the
two is correct. To an individual unacquainted with the river, the
channel there on the larboard hand going up would naturally suggest
itself as the preferable one, being so much wider than the other, but
the soundings marked on this sketch go to show that the water is much
deeper in the _south_ channel. This is one of the points I want cleared
up. And another is the bearings and compass courses along the deepest
water in each reach of the channel. I have already explained all this
to Mildmay of course; but I thought I would also explain it to you,
because, knowing exactly what I want, you will be able to render more
intelligent assistance than would be possible were you working in the
dark. There is only one thing more. You are a tolerably good hand with
your pencil, I know; do you think you could make an exact copy of this
sketch-chart to take with you, so as to leave the original behind with
me?"

I assured the skipper that I both could and would, whereupon he
furnished me with the necessary materials and left me in solitude to
perform my task, going on deck himself to superintend the preparations
for our trip.

The sketch-chart found among the papers on bo