a trifle northerly, and the brigantine was bowling along before
it, with all studding-sails set on the starboard side, in a manner that
fairly made me stare with astonishment, although I had been accustomed
to fast vessels. The _Francesca_ was an exceedingly fine and handsome
vessel, of enormous beam, and sitting very low upon the water, but the
pace at which she was travelling conclusively demonstrated that, beamy
as she was, her lines must be the very perfection of draughting; indeed
this was proved by the ease with which she appeared to glide along the
surface of, rather than _through_, the water, her progress being marked
by singularly little disturbance of the element, considering her very
high rate of speed. Her sails were magnificently cut, setting to a
nicety, and drawing to perfection, and they were white enough to have
graced the spars of a yacht. I noticed, too, that the inside of the
bulwarks, her deck-fittings, brass-work, and guns, were all scrupulously
clean and bright, while every rope was carefully coiled upon its proper
pin, the principal halliards and sheets being Flemish-coiled on the
deck. In fact, the whole appearance of the vessel was far more
suggestive of the British man-o'-war than of the slaver. The watch on
deck consisted of about a dozen men--one or two of whom looked
remarkably like Englishmen--and it did not escape me that, one and all,
they had the look of resolute, reckless fellows, who would be quite
ready to fight to the last gasp, if need be. And I was impressed, at
the very first glance, with the fact that they were all quietly and
steadily going about their work, talking quietly together, and behaving
without a single trace of that lawlessness that I had expected to
prevail among a slaver's crew.

CHAPTER ELEVEN.

DON FERNANDO DE MENDOUCA.

The most striking figure in the ship, however, was, beyond all question,
a tall, well-built man, with a firmly-knit, powerful frame, every
movement of which was eloquent of health and strength and inexhaustible
endurance, while it was characterised by that light and easy _floating_
grace that is only to be acquired by the habitual treading of such an
unstable platform as a ship's deck. He was very dark, his hair,
moustache, and beard being coal-black and wavy, while his skin--or at
least the exposed parts that met my eye--was tanned to so deep a bronze
as to give him quite the complexion of a mulatto. But there was not a
drop of b