s, so
that he could not be perceived by any persons in front.

"I'll go forward and try and learn what his object is," I whispered to
my companions; and Charley not forbidding me, I imitated Aboh's example
and quickly overtook him. He turned on hearing my footsteps, and seeing
that I was resolved to accompany him, made a sign to me to be cautious.
We had not gone far when the sounds we had before heard became so loud
that I knew we must be close upon the people who were uttering them.
After advancing a few paces farther, on looking through the bushes I saw
a large party of blacks encamped in an open spot surrounded by tall
trees. They were evidently in an excited state, looking up the glade as
if they expected some one to approach. They were mostly employed in
sharpening the ends of long poles in several fires they had lighted. I
at once recognised them as the blacks whom we had assisted to escape
from the wreck. They numbered, however, fewer than those who had
landed, and I concluded, therefore, that some had deserted their
companions in misfortune. Those who had gone away probably belonged to
a tribe in the neighbourhood, and were endeavouring to reach their own
people.

We were not long left in doubt as to the cause of their excitement.
Some distance off we caught sight of another large party of negroes
advancing with threatening gestures, many of them being armed with
muskets and bayonets. On seeing this, Aboh, seizing me by the arm,
dragged me back, and motioned me to climb into a large tree the lower
branches of which we could reach without much difficulty, he setting me
the example and assisting me up. We soon gained a place where we were
completely concealed and protected by the thick boughs. Scarcely were
we seated than we saw the slaves advancing towards the newcomers,
flourishing the spears they had made and shouting savagely, as if not
aware that their opponents had firearms, or fearless of their effects.
They soon, however, discovered their mistake. The enemy fired a volley
which brought several of them to the ground.

Notwithstanding this they rushed forward, and a fierce hand-to-hand
conflict ensued. The slaves greatly outnumbered their opponents, of
whom there were probably not more than fifty or sixty, but nearly all
these had muskets. Some of the firearms, I observed, did not go off,
probably because they had no locks, or it may have been that their
powder was bad. The parties were inde