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that if I kept near the coast, I should find some ship that would take

us on board; and then, and not till then, should I feel a free man. In

a word, I put the whole of my fate on this chance, that I must meet with

some ship, or die.

On the coast we saw some men who stood to look at us. They were black,

and wore no clothes. I would have gone on shore to them, but Xury--who

knew best--said, "Not you go! Not you go!" So I brought the boat as near

the land as I could, that I might talk to them, and they kept up with me

a long way. I saw that one of them had a lance in his hand.

I made signs that they should bring me some food, and they on their part

made signs for me to stop my boat. So I let down the top of my sail, and

lay by, while two of them ran off; and in less than half an hour they

came back with some dry meat and a sort of corn which is grown in this

part of the world. This we should have been glad to get, but knew not

how to do so; for we durst not go on shore to them, nor did they dare

to come to us. At last they took a safe way for us all, for they brought

the food to the shore, where they set it, down, and then went a long way

off while we took it in. We made signs to show our thanks, for we had

not a thing that we could spare to give them.

But as good luck would have it, we were at hand to take a great prize

for them; for two wild beasts, of the same kind as the first I spoke of,

came in, full chase from the hills down to the sea.

They swam as if they had come for sport. The men flew from them in fear,

all but the one who held the lance. One of these beasts came near our

boat; so I lay in wait for him with my gun; and as soon as the brute was

in range, I shot him through the head. Twice he sank down in the sea,

and twice he came up; and then just swam to the land, where he fell down

dead. The men were in as much fear at the sound of my gun, as they had

been at the sight of the beasts. But when I made signs for them to come

to the shore, they took heart, and came.

They at once made for their prize; and by the help of a rope, which they

slung round him, they brought him safe on the beach.

We now left our wild men, and went on and on, for twelve days more. The

land in front of us ran out four or five miles, like a bill; and we had

to keep some way from the coast, to make this point, so that we lost

sight of the shore.

I gave the helm to Xury and sat down to think what would be my best

course to take: when all at once I heard the lad cry out "A ship with a

sail! A ship with a sail!" He did not show much joy at the sight, for

he thought that this ship had been sent out to take him back: but I knew

well, from the look of her, that she was not one of the Turk's.

I made all the sail I could to come in the ship's way, and told Xury to

fire a gun, in the hope that if those on deck could not hear the sound,

they might see the smoke. This they did see, and then let down their

sails so that we might come up to them, and in three hours time we were

at the ship's side. The men spoke to us in French, but I could not make

out what they meant. At last a Scot on board said in my own tongue, "Who

are you? Whence do you come?" I told him in a few words how I had got

free from the Moors.

Then the man who had charge of the ship bade me come on board, and took

me in with Xury and all my goods. I told him that he might take all I

had, but he said "You shall have your goods back when we come to land,

for I have but done for you what you would have done for me, had I been

in the same plight."

He gave me a good round sum for my boat, and said that I should have the

same sum for Xury, if I would part with him. But I told him that as it

was by the boy's help that I had got free, I was loath to sell him. He

said it was just and right in me to feel thus, but at the same time, if

I could make up my mind to part with him, he should be set free in two

years' time. So, as the poor slave had a wish to go with him, I did not

say "no." I got to All Saints' Bay in three weeks, and was now a free

man.

I had made a good sum by all my store, and with this I went on land. But

I did not at all know what to do next. At length I met with a man whose

case was much the same as my own, and we both took some land to farm.

My stock, like his, was low, but we made our farms serve to keep us in

food, though not more than that. We both stood in need of help, and I

saw now that I had done wrong to part with my boy.

I did not at all like this kind of life. What! thought I, have I come

all this way to do that which I could have done as well at home with

my friends round me! And to add to my grief, the kind friend, who had

brought me here in his ship, now meant to leave these shores.

On my first start to sea when a boy, I had put a small sum in the hands

of an aunt, and this my friend said I should do well to spend on my

farm. So when he got home he sent some of it in cash, and laid out the

rest in cloth, stuffs, baize, and such like goods. My aunt had put a few

pounds in my friend's hands as a gift to him, to show her thanks for all

that he had done for me, and with this sum he was so kind as to buy me a

slave. In the mean time I had bought a slave, so now I had two, and all

went on well for the next year.

But soon my plans grew too large for my means. One day some men came to

ask me to take charge of a slave ship to be sent out by them. They said

they would give me a share in the slaves, and pay the cost of the stock.

This would have been a good thing for me if I had not had farms and

land; but it was wild and rash to think of it now, for I had made a

large sum, and ought to have gone on in the same way for three or four