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all the food that I could lay my hands on, and I told the man that it

would be too bold of us to eat of the bread that had been put in the

boat for the Turk. He said he thought so too, and he brought down a

small sack of rice and some rusks.

While the man was on shore I put up some wine, a large lump of wax, a

saw, an axe, a spade, some rope, and all sorts of things that might be

of use to us. I knew where the Turk's case of wine was, and I put that

in the boat while the man was on shore. By one more trick I got all that

I had need of. I said to the boy, "the Turk's guns are in the boat, but

there is no shot. Do you think you could get some? You know where it is

kept, and we may want to shoot a fowl or two." So he brought a case and

a pouch which held all that we could want for the guns. These I put in

the boat, and then set sail out of the port to fish.

The wind blew, from the North, or North West, which was a bad wind for

me; for had it been South I could have made for the coast of Spain. But,

blow which way it might, my mind was made up to get off, and to leave

the rest to fate. I then let down my lines to fish, but I took care to

have bad sport; and when the fish bit, I would not pull them up, for

the Moor was not to see them. I said to him, "This will not do, we shall

catch no fish here, we ought to sail on a bit." Well, the Moor thought

there was no harm in this. He set the sails, and, as the helm was in my

hands, I ran the boat out a mile or more, and then brought her to, as if

I meant to fish.

Now, thought I, the time has come for me to get free! I gave the helm

to the boy, and then took the Moor round the waist, and threw him out of

the boat.

Down he went! but soon rose up, for he swam like a duck. He said he

would go all round the world with me, if I would but take him in.

I had some fear lest he should climb up the boat's side, and force his

way back; so I brought my gun to point at him, and said, "You can swim

to land with ease if you choose, make haste then to get there; but if

you come near the boat you shall have a shot through the head, for I

mean to be a free man from this hour."

He then swam for the shore, and no doubt got safe there, as the sea was

so calm.

At first I thought I would take the Moor with me, and let Xury swim to

land; but the Moor was not a man that I could trust. When he was gone I

said to Xury, "If you will swear to be true to me, you shall be a great

man in time; if not, I must throw you out of the boat too."

The poor boy gave me such a sweet smile as he swore to be true to me,

that I could not find it in my heart to doubt him.

While the man was still in view (for he was on his way to the land), we

stood out to sea with the boat, so that he and those that saw us from

the shore might think we had gone to the straits' mouth, for no one went

to the South coast, as a tribe of men dwelt there who were known to kill

and eat their foes.

We then bent our course to the East, so as to keep in with the shore;

and as we had a fair wind and a smooth sea, by the next day at noon, we

were not less than 150 miles out of the reach of the Turk.

I had still some fear lest I should be caught by the Moors, so I would

not go on shore in the day time. But when it grew dark we made our way

to the coast, and came to the mouth of a stream, from which we thought

we could swim to land, and then look round us. But as soon as it was

quite dark we heard strange sounds--barks, roars, grunts, and howls. The

poor lad said he could not go on shore till dawn. "Well," said I, "then

we must give it up, but it may be that in the day time we shall be seen

by men, who for all we know would do us more harm than wild beasts."

"Then we give them the shoot gun," said Xury with a laugh, "and make

them run away." I was glad to see so much mirth in the boy, and gave him

some bread and rice.

We lay still at night, but did not sleep long, for in a few hours' time

some huge beasts came down to the sea to bathe. The poor boy shook from

head to foot at the sight. One of these beasts came near our boat, and

though it was too dark to see him well, we heard him puff and blow, and

knew that he must be a large one by the noise he made. At last the brute

came as near to the boat as two oars' length, so I shot at him, and he

swam to the shore.

The roar and cries set up by beasts and birds at the noise of my gun

would seem to show that we had made a bad choice of a place to land

on; but be that as it would, to shore we had to go to find some fresh

spring, so that we might fill our casks. Xury said if I would let him

go with one of the jars, he would find out if the springs were fit to

drink; and, if they were sweet, he would bring the jar back full. "Why

should you go?" said I; "Why should not I go, and you stay in the boat?"

At this Xury said, "if wild mans come they eat me, you go way." I could

not but love the lad for this kind speech. "Well," said I, "we will both

go, and if the wild men come we must kill them, they shall not eat you

or me."

I gave Xury some rum from the Turk's case to cheer him up, and we went

on shore. The boy went off with his gun, full a mile from the spot where

we stood, and came back with a hare that he had shot, which we were

glad to cook and eat; but the good news which he brought was that he had

found a spring, and had seen no wild men.

I made a guess that the Cape de Verd Isles were not far off, for I saw

the top of the Great Peak, which I knew was near them. My one hope was