passed
by, but not a sail hove in sight. That Captain Roderick thought such
might be the case seemed probable, as he was constantly on the watch,
and exercising his men both at the guns, and with small arms and
cutlasses; and I felt certain that, sooner than surrender, he would
fight to the last, and then blow up the ship. It appeared to me that he
had become more desperate than he had been when he last paid a visit to
Liverpool. Indeed, he must have known that he could never again show
his face there, should either Harry or I, or Captain Magor, or the
boatswain, find our way back. Probably, however, he counted on our
never doing so. It was not a pleasant feeling to know that he might
consider his interest advanced by effectually preventing us from again
seeing our native land. The wounded men made fair progress towards
recovery under our care, but when not attending them, Harry and I found
time hang very heavily on our hands. We had no books, and were afraid
of conversing except on indifferent subjects, for fear of being
overheard. Even the men we were attending might betray us should we say
anything at which the captain might take offence. Our life was
therefore, as may be supposed, anything but a pleasant one. We went on
deck occasionally very early in the morning or after sunset, when the
shades of night prevented our being observed, and generally managed to
get a few turns together to stretch our legs and breathe the fresh air;
for had we always remained in the close hold, do not suppose that we
could have retained our health. Our thief amusement was endeavouring to
win our way into the good graces of Growler, and gradually we succeeded
in doing so, though we of course took good care not to let it be seen
that we were on friendly terms with him. We were very thankful when at
length, early one morning, we heard the cry from the look-out at the
masthead--

"Land, oh!"

Both Harry and I felt a strong impulse to run aloft and have a look at
it, but this we dared not do. It was some time, therefore, before we
saw the shore from the deck. We could then make out a line of
mangrove-trees, with blue hills rising to a considerable height in the
distance. The mangrove-trees marked the entrance of the river up which
we were bound. We stood on until within about four miles of the shore,
when it fell a dead calm. There the brig lay, rolling her sides in the
smooth burnished water on which she floated. We cou