‘Ha! ha!’ he began, with that horrid laugh again. ‘Two ships come after. Two times I sharpened my knife; two times I went into the sea; two times I cut the great rope, and the ships struck the rocks and were broken. Some of the white men were drowned. Those who were not, we sold, and they were taken away, many days’ journey to the rising sun, and there will be until they die, as I am, slaves. ‘But we were wealthy and great. The king was powerful. He had more carabines, more iron, and more cloth than any king before. Strong drink ran amongst us like water in a river. We drank, we yelled, we whooped, we flung brands from the fire among the huts, and they were burned. Evil demons lived in those casks, and when we drank the fiery drinks, they entered in unto us and made us mad, and no man knew his brother. We fought among the burning houses, and the charred rafters were wet with blood. At length there came a ship to which we had already given slaves. We went aboard. I was on board with the king. We went into the great cabin, and they gave us more strong drink. They heard of four ships having been broken on the rocks hard by, and they asked us how it was. We said that a wind came up out of the sea, and that the ships were broken. They then asked us where the white men were, and we said that they were all drowned in the sea. On that they gave us more strong drink, and fires began to flash before our eyes. It was sweet drink, sweeter than ever we had tasted, and we drank greedily. The white men encouraged us, but they did not drink themselves, and they talked, of the ships that were broken. But we were getting mad, and we knew no more what we did. So the white men said that, if the king’s people were cunning, many more ships would be broken, and the king’s people would be rich. Then we fell into the snare, because we were mad with the strong drink, and we yelled out, and danced, and told the white men that they were but fools, and I drew out my knife, and I said: “Look here. This knife cut the great ropes that went down to the bottom of the sea, and the ships were broken. I cut the great ropes. I have a strong fetish. I am a great diver and a great swimmer.” After this I remember nothing, but that I was asleep, and that I awoke. It was in a dark place, very hot, and I could scarcely breathe. On my arms and legs were mighty chains. I called out, and a voice answered me in the darkness. It was the voice of the king, and he said, “I am chained, I know not where.” We shouted, and screamed, and clanked our chains, and then when we lay still, we felt the prison we were in move with a regular motion, and we knew that we were in a ship upon the sea. So, white men came with lanterns, and they told us we were slaves. We roared and howled at them, and spit upon them, but our chains would not allow us to rise and kill them. Therefore they laughed, and asked me if I would swim and dive and cut the great rope that held the ship to the bottom of