It will naturally be supposed, from the eagerness of Irving to make good the purchase of Imihie and her poor boy, that his heart was deeply interested by their situation, and that he had it certainly in his power to ameliorate it. But, alas! if, for a moment, the chord of compassion was touched, the feeling was transient, the impulse too weak to prompt to action; and, so far from being strengthened by the night's reflections, they, on the contrary, did but lead to lament his own folly, in making himself liable to the loss he would probably sustain by the high price he had given; as it was a condition of his engagement with the Company, that he was to be individually accountable for all losses incurred by the purchase of unprofitable slaves. These anticipations of pecuniary injury, were confirmed by the appearance of his poor captive on her arrival at the depôt at Whidáh. A fixed melancholy seemed to have absorbed every faculty, rendering her insensible even to the playful caresses of her boy, in whose sparkling eye, health "seemed a cherub yet divinely bright;" so happily unconscious was he of the bitterness of his lot, and the sufferings of his mother. Finding, from his people, that she resolutely rejected sustenance, Irving himself endeavoured to persuade her, but without success; but when self-interest, aided by the dictates of conscience and compassion, induced him to resort to the usual mode of forcing it, (nor will we question it was a painful task to him,) his heart must have been of adamant, not to have felt the powerful appeal of wretchedness and despair, when, while in the execution of this cruel duty, the poor captive looked up in his face, and, with a mournful smile, said: "Presently I shall be no more." (Note M.) Irving, indeed, from her appearance, began to think so; and as he could not now remedy her situation, nor restore her to what she had lost, he considered his best plan was to consign her, as soon as possible, to the ship waiting to receive the collected slaves, congratulating himself on his humanity, in having prevented the mother and child from being separated, even if he should thereby sustain some loss. He determined, also, to do all he could to ensure her some attention during the passage; and, with this view, determined to go immediately on board, to see the accommodation, and to give some particular instructions to the captain; leaving orders that Imihie should be conducted to the ship as soon as the day began to close.