nearly all the soldiers and free men are blacks, while the whites are
mostly slaves, made so by their crimes. It must be rather a
satisfactory state of things to the feelings of the blacks. The
governor of this place--of a hundred houses or so--received us very
civilly, and gave the captain all the information he required; and,
besides that, a good supply of vegetables, which the island produces in
abundance.

On leaving Fernando Noronha we steered for Pernambuco--perhaps, next to
Rio, the port of the greatest importance in the Brazils. On going into
the harbour with a strong breeze blowing, the pilot from gross
carelessness gave the _Triton_ so hard a blow against a rook that an
ugly hole was knocked in her bottom. It seemed for a moment that the
masts would have gone by the board; but the ship, bounding off the rock,
glided on as if nothing had happened. It was a great trial for the
temper of Captain Frankland; but he uttered scarcely a word of reproof
to the pilot, and as to an oath, I never heard an expression even
approaching one pass from his lips all the time I was with him. The
crew were all at their stations, and none stirred from them till the
captain ordered the carpenter to sound the well. He quickly reported
that there were three feet of water in the well, and that it was rushing
in at a great rate. All hands on board not absolutely required to
shorten sail were ordered to man the pumps, and the _Triton_ was carried
in as close to the town as possible, so that she might immediately be
put on shore should there be danger of her sinking. On a further
examination of the damage the ship had received, it was found that it
would be absolutely necessary to land part of her cargo and to put her
on shore before it could be repaired. It was late in the day before
this was determined on, so that nothing could be done that afternoon.
All night long the sound of the pumps going continuously kept me awake
till towards morning, when I still heard them in my sleep. A gang of
negroes had been brought off to work them in relays, so that the crew
were saved the fatigue which they would otherwise have undergone. I was
very glad the next morning when I found the ship hauled close in-shore
to a place where, if she did sink, she could not go far, or drown those
on board. Captain Frankland found that it would take a considerable
time to get the damage repaired, as it was even of a more serious nature
than at first sup