Africa, to the guns, and he now suddenly desired them to be piped on deck, and sent to quarters. Jose Ribas, the superseded mate of the polacre, demurred to this, and the grumbling amongst the crew increased. 'Why bring the negroes on deck, captain?' said he—'our game is to confine our endeavours to trying to escape, and not to fight; you must be aware, if it comes to blows, that we have no chance with that English sloop of war down to leeward there.'

"The man he spoke to, at this turned round on him with the most withering and hellish expression of countenance that I ever beheld. 'I did not ask to command this polacre—you know I did not—but now since I have taken that unsought-for task upon me, it is not in a moment like the present that I will resign it.'

"There was a pause, during which the captain had turned from the Spaniard, and resumed his walk on the quarterdeck. As he turned, seeing him still there, he walked close up to him, and made a dead stop.

"'Forward to your station, Jose Ribas,' he sung out loud and savagely, after having glared at him like an enraged tiger, for nearly a minute without speaking, and drawing a pistol from his belt, he cocked it, 'or, by the God that made me, I will send this bullet through your cowardly heart.'

"The man slunk away forward, holding up the palm of his hand to the side of his face, as if, expecting to be fired at, he had thought he might thereby ward off the bullet. I saw that the fiend within him was only now roused, although the demoniacal mirth, formerly exhibited, had given way to a stern composure, that seemed to awe the rough and boisterous crew over which he held control, into the most abject submission. They immediately got the trained slaves on deck, and there were the piebald groups, half-clad whites, and entirely naked blacks, clustered round the guns, more frightened apparently for their captain than the enemy down to leeward. The polacre carried two long twelves and ten eighteen-pound medium guns, a description of cannon between a carronade and long gun, much in use amongst the contraband slavers; but she was pierced for twenty. Both vessels were on the starboard tack, so it was the larboard guns that in the present instance were cast loose. After the captain had carefully taken the bearings of the brig, by a compass that he had placed on the capstan, he made one or two quick turns fore and aft on the weather side of the quarterdeck, with his hand behind his back, and his eyes fixed on the planks, as if he were finally making up his mind what course to pursue.

"'The brig has hoisted an English ensign and pennant, sir,' said one of the crew. He took no notice of the man, who immediately slunk away to his gun again.

"'Are the guns double-shotted?' at length said he, without discontinuing his walk, or raising his head.

"'No,' said Jose Ribas.

"'Then double-shot them instantly.' It was done. 'Now, get the two long twelves aft, and train them through the stern chase ports,—stand by to lower away the boat; and get two of the larboard guns over to windward, do you hear?' This order was promptly carried into effect, although the battery next the enemy was thus disarmed of three cannon, to the surprise and great dismay of the Spaniards, who did not seem to know what to make of his tactics, and, privateer fashion, began again to grumble in their gizzards. 'Silence, men;—secure the guns to leeward there, and man the starboard broadside, do you hear—quick.' In an instant the grumbling ceased, and the command was obeyed. 'Boatswain, call away the sail trimmers, and see all clear to let go every thing by the run, when I give the word to shorten sail.'

"By this time a squall was roughening the sea to windward, and presently white crests began to break amidst the dark water. He jumped on a gun carriage, and took a long steady look in the quarter from whence he seemed to expect the wind to come, shading his eyes from the sun with his hand. The sloop at this moment fired at us, and every hand on deck but himself looked out anxiously to see where the shot dropped. He never moved. Another puff of white smoke from the brig, and this time the bullet struck the water close under our martingale, and ricochetted along the sea across our bows. Seeing we were within range, the sloop of war now let fly her whole broadside; and presently several ropes that had been taught enough before, were streaming out like pennants, but no serious damage was sustained.

"We were, if any thing, lying closer to the wind than our antagonist, but she was going faster through the water, and had forereached on us so far as to be well before our beam by this time. The squall was now very near us, and neither vessel had as yet taken in a rag, but it was evident that we must soon shorten sail, as we were lying over so as to bury our lee guns in the water, and both vessels were thrashing and tearing through it like smoke, the water flashing up as high as the foretop of the brig, and roaring at our bows like hoarse thunder.

"The captain was still standing on the gun, one moment looking at the weather, the next casting his eyes upwards, to see how the spars stood the strain, and now, at the very moment when the strength of the squall struck us, he jumped down, seized the helm, and jammed it hard to windward. 'Ease off the lee braces—round in the weather ones,' pealed through his trumpet. 'That will do—let go nothing—keep all fast!' The masts were bending forward like willow wands—the back-stays like iron rods. I expected to see the lighter sails fly out of the bolt-ropes every moment, if indeed the masts did not go over the side.

"The squall was now so thick, that we could not see our antagonist; but I noticed that the captain had carefully kept his eyes on her, so long as he could distinguish her, and glanced earnestly at the compass when she disappeared amidst the thick weather. We had now bore up dead before the wind, and were running, so far as I could judge, directly for the brig.

"In another minute, we dimly discovered, first the stern and aftersails of our antagonist, and then the whole hull, in the very thickest of the squall, but scarcely visible amongst the white spray and drift. She was now under her reefed topsails and courses, but still on the same tack. We flew down towards her like lightning, hands by the topgallant and topsail halyards, with an intention apparently of shaving her stern. 'Surely these brigands won't have the audacity to rake her,' said I to myself, 'seeing she can beat them going free.' As we approached, the brig, foreseeing our intention, kept off the wind also; but we were too quick for her, and were now, as she was in the very act of wearing, within the chuck of a biscuit of her tafferel. By this manoeuvre, it will be seen that our strongest broadside, viz. the starboard one, was now opposed to the enemy. 'Fire!' sung out the captain, in a voice that made me start again. Heaven have mercy on me! I could hear the shot smash, and rattle, and tear along the sloop's deck, and through her hull, but nothing came down as she wore round. The squall now came thundering upon us at its height. 'Let go all the halyards by the run,' was the next word, and down came every sail in the polacre on deck, leaving nothing for the gale to impinge on but the naked masts and hull, as from her rig she had neither tops nor top-hamper of any kind. By this time the brig was also before the wind, and busy clewing up and furling every thing but her foresail; but the fury of the squall struck her before the foretopsail could be got in, and, crash, the topmast went close by the cap. 'Bring the polacre to the wind now, my lads. Helm a-starboard, Jose Ribas—that's it. Set the trysail there—hoist—so, belay every inch;' and by this manoeuvre the polacre was in a minute hove to on the larboard tack, in which position the word was given to lower away the boat over the stern, in order to unmask the sternchasers; but something jammed—'Unhook her and let her go,'—neither could this be done—'then cut the