The commander of the _Courier_, upon being acquainted with this fact, made up his mind to ransom his countrymen, and for that purpose made proposals, which were agreed to; but after the natives got possession of what they asked, they made a second and a third demand, and ultimately compelled the boats’ crew, by firing upon them, to get into their boats, leaving their property behind. The _Courier’s_ boat had got a small brass gun, which they fired on this occasion; but it recoiling to leeward, a man was shot and fell in the same direction, upsetting the boat with ten men, all of whom were either drowned or killed. The natives then got possession of the boat, and were actually coming alongside the _Courier_ with her own boat to plunder the ship, when fortunately the boat came broadside on, and the master got a gun to bear and destroyed her. He then as soon as possible slipped his cable, and, with only four men, sailed for the Gambia, where I saw him. I cannot help thinking that many masters of merchant-vessels run into great danger, and incur risk to their owners, without any chance of doing any good, merely to obtain a name for themselves. Had the master of the _Courier_ sailed for the Gambia, and communicated with the authorities there, no doubt a man-of-war would have been despatched to Arguin, and the crew of the _Margaret_ recaptured. If Arguin should prove to be a profitable speculation in regard to the Guano trade, some permanent protection must be afforded by the Government. It is generally believed that the Emperor of Morocco is cognisant of all the piracies committed; and if this be so, why not make him answerable, and take so much territory from him upon every outrage perpetrated by his people upon British property? If the French Government did the same, an end would soon be put to all such piracies. On the 8th of July, at two P.M., we sailed from the Gambia for Sierra Leone, and anchored at Free Town on the 11th, in the evening. We anchored close to my old ship the _Albert_, of the late Niger expedition, now commanded by Lieut. Cockroft.