XXX.—I am sent on board the corvette—My reception—A dangerous predicament—The Captain and surgeon make me comfortable for the night—Extraordinary conveniences for escape, of which I take the liberty to avail myself 214 CHAP. XXXI.—I drift away in a boat with my servant—Our adventures till we land in the Isles de Loss—My illness and recovery—I return to the Rio Pongo—I am received on board a French slaver—Invitation to dinner—Monkey soup and its consequences 218 CHAP. XXXII.—My greeting in Kambia—The Feliz from Matanzas—Negotiations for her cargo—Ormond attempts to poison me—Ormond’s suicide—His burial according to African customs 222 CHAP. XXXIII.—A visit to the Matacan river in quest of slaves—My reception by the king—His appearance—Scramble for my gifts—How slaves are sometimes trapped on a hasty hunt—I visit the Matacan Wizard; his cave, leopard, blind boy—Deceptions and jugglery—Fetiches—A scale of African intellect 227 CHAP. XXXIV.—What became of the Esperanza’s officers and crew—The destruction of my factory at Kambia by fire—I lose all but my slaves—the incendiary detected—Who instigated the deed—Ormond’s relatives—Death of Esther—I go to sea in a schooner from Sierra Leone—How I acquire a cargo of slaves in the Rio Nunez without money 233 CHAP. XXXV.—I escape capture—Symptoms of mutiny and detection of the plot—How we put it down 240 CHAP. XXXVI.—A “white squall”—I land my cargo near St. Jago de Cuba—Trip to Havana on horseback—My consignees and their prompt arrangements—success of my voyage—Interference of the French Consul—I am nearly arrested—How things were managed, of old, in Cuba 244 CHAP. XXXVII.—A long holiday—I am wrecked on a key—My rescue by salvors—New Providence—I ship on the San Pablo, from St. Thomas’s, as sailing master—Her captain and his arrangements—Encounter a transport—Benefit of the small-pox—Mozambique Channel—Take cargo near Quillimane—How we managed to get slaves—Illness of our captain—The small-pox breaks out on our brig—Its fatality 248 CHAP. XXXVIII.—Our captain longs for calomel, and how I get it from a Scotchman—Our captain’s last will and testament—We are chased by a British cruiser—How we out-manœvred and crippled her—Death of our captain—Cargo landed and the San Pablo burnt 255 CHAP. XXXIX.—My returns from the voyage $12,000, and how I apply them—A custom-house encounter which loses me La Conchita and my money—I get command of a slaver for Ayudah—La Estrella—I consign her to the notorious Da Souza or Cha-cha—His history and mode of life in Africa—His gambling houses and women—I keep aloof from his temptations, and contrive to get my cargo in two months 260 [Pg xiv] CHAP.