reated in the same way. We inquired of the men what money
they had in their bundles and about their persons. They had each man
four doubloons at Rio for wages, and the captain had about forty
doubloons. I had five hundred pieces-of-eight: so that, altogether, we
had been robbed to the tune of about four hundred pounds sterling,
independent of our clothes, which were of some value to us; that is,
mine were, at all events.

The seamen who guarded us, and who relieved each other every watch,
were not at all surly or ill-natured. I asked one of them during the
night watch whether he thought the captain would take our lives.

"No;" said he, "we will not allow that. You may be pirates, as he
says, although we do not think you are; but if pirates, you shall have
fair play; that we have all made up our minds to. No hanging first,
and trying afterwards."

I had a long conversation with this man, who appeared very much
inclined to be sociable. He told me that the vessel was named the
_Transcendant_; that she sailed from Virginia to the West Indies, and
that sometimes she went to England; that the captain of her was also
the owner, but where he came from, or what he was, they did not know,
except that he was a Virginian,--they believed so, for that he had a
tobacco estate there, which was carried on by his eldest son. He
called the captain a stingy, miserly fellow, who would sacrifice any
man's life to save a shilling, and that there were odd stories about
him at James Town.

I was well satisfied with my conversation with this man, as it assured
me that our lives would not be taken, and I had no fear of the result
upon my arrival at James Town, for, as I have mentioned before, Mr.
Trevannion had vessels which sailed to that port, and I well
recollected the names of the parties to whom the vessel and cargo were
consigned.

On the following day the captain of the brig, followed by his
ill-favoured son, came forward and looked at us as we sat in irons,
upon which I addressed him,

"You have put me in irons, Sir, when I threw myself upon your
protection. You have robbed us of our money to the amount of nearly
400_l._, and you detain our other property. I now again desire that I
may be released. I offered to convince you that I was a person of
property, but you refused to listen to me. Now, Sir, I will tell you
that I am a partner in the house of Trevannion, at Liverpool, and that
we have vessels that trade between James Town a