erved
in an undertone. "Remember they do not know who we are, and they have
some suspicion as to our character."

I thought the excuse a poor one, but yet was unwilling to give any
offence, and therefore refrained from again addressing either Jack or
the black.

For two days the schooner continued out of sight of land; but the third
morning when I came on deck I found that she had been headed in towards
it, and as soon as the sea-breeze commenced she ran in under all sail
towards the mouth of a river which opened out ahead of us. On either
side were dense woods of mangroves, appearing to grow directly out of
the water, while on our starboard hand was a glittering sandbank, and
stretching across the river appeared a line of white breakers, which I
fancied must completely bar our ingress. David came on deck at that
moment. I pointed them out to him. "Surely we cannot be going in
there?" he said. Just then Senhor Silva came up to us and said the
captain begged that we and all idlers would go below, as we were about
to cross the bar, and that as occasionally the seas broke on board in so
doing, it might be dangerous to remain on deck. We could but obey.
What could take us into the river? I wondered. Presently I felt the
vessel rise to a sea, then she pitched into it, then rose again, and in
a few minutes she was gliding on in smooth water. I thought we must be
inside the river, but again I felt her rise and once more pitch two or
three times, then again she glided on as before. From this I knew that
we must have passed over two bars, such as are frequently found at the
mouths of the rivers on the west coast of Africa. "What can the vessel
be about?" said David. I could not enlighten him; and at length,
wishing to satisfy our curiosity, we made our way on deck. We were
running up the river, with thick woods on either side. It had the
appearance of a long lake, for we had already lost sight of the sea,
though I knew by the current in which direction it was. In a short time
we caught sight of a number of low cottages and sheds standing in a
cleared space at a little distance from the banks. The crew sprang
aloft and furled sails, and in a few minutes the schooner was brought to
an anchor. Several canoes now came alongside, and in one of them was a
fat black fellow with a cocked hat and red jacket, and a piece of stuff
which looked very like an old flannel petticoat fastened round his
waist. The captain bow