truments were scarce, he had with much ingenuity contrived half a
dozen drums made out of empty meat-tins, the same number of horns formed
of conch shells, and a similar number of fifes and flutes, which had
previously been manufactured on the island, during the leisure hours of
some of the men who took delight in harmonious sounds.

Murray and Jack, as they walked up from the landing-place, laughed
heartily at the preparations for their reception. Though the music was
open to criticism, the banquet surpassed their expectations. Their
seats were three-legged stools, but the table was bountifully spread.
At one end was a huge bowl of peasoup, at the other a similar one of
fish; at the sides were several varieties of fried fish and boiled fish,
roast and boiled fowls, obtained from a dhow--a legal trader, which had
been overhauled; salt junk, of course, was not wanting, with preserved
vegetables, and a liberal supply of yams; while bottles of beer, porter,
and rum, constituted the chief beverages. Lastly, too, plum-puddings,
somewhat resembling those stone-shot used by the Turks in days of yore,
were placed before the carvers, and were pronounced excellent as to
composition, but were declared to possess rather more consistency than
was absolutely requisite. Indeed, few of the guests, with the exception
of the midshipmen, made any great inroads on them.

The viands being removed, songs were sung and healths drunk; the most
important of the latter being the success of Britain's arms by sea and
land, a speedy end to the slave-trade, and health and prosperity to the
Queen and all the royal family. Dinner being over, races were run,
leap-frog indulged in, games of rounders played on a grand scale, and
hits made such as only sailors could accomplish, and a variety of other
sports which the nature of the ground and circumstances would allow.

Business, however, had to be attended to. Adair had left four men on
board the dhow, and two only besides the midshipmen had been recovered.
There could be no doubt, therefore, that two had been murdered, as would
have been the case with the whole party, had not the canoe so
providentially got adrift at the right moment. It was suspected that
the old chief, Mustapha Longchops, had instigated the crime, and though
he and the Arabs had been sent to their account, his people, who had so
grossly insulted the British officers, were not to be allowed to escape
unpunished. The corvette an