ways at war with
one another. Ran coastwise and touched at three or four places on
the way, and at each of them peddled powder and muskets, the muskets
being most profitable, by reason the blacks have no notion of
repairing a gun. So we, carrying a gunsmith on board, bought up at
one place the guns that wanted repairs, and sold them at the next for
new pieces. In this way we came to our destination, which was the
mouth of a river full of slime and mosquitoes, and called the Popo
River. There a whole tribe of niggers put out to receive us.

They knew the _Mary Pynsent_, and worse luck. Her last trip, when
owned by Mr. W. S., aforesaid, she had sold them 1500 kegs of sifted
sea-coal dust, passing it off for gunpowder, and had made off with
7000 pounds worth of gold dust, besides ivory, _white and black_,
before they discovered the trick. We being without knowledge of what
had happened, and having real gunpowder to sell, let the niggers
swarm on board, and welcome. Whereupon, in revenge for past usage,
they attacked us on the spot and clubbed all the crew but me, that
was getting out the boat under the seaward quarter and baling her,
but dived as soon as the murder began, and swam to the shore.
The shore was mudbanks and reeds and mangroves, and all sweating with
heat and mosquitoes. I spent that day in hiding. Towards sunset the
savages rafted a good third of the cargo ashore, and, having stacked
the kegs and built a fire about them, started to dance, making a
silly mock of the powder, till it blew up. Which it did, and must
have killed hundreds.

I heard the noise of it at about two miles' distance, having crept
out of my hiding when I saw them busy, and started to tramp it along
shore to Cape Corse Castle. I had no food, and must have died but
that next morning I fell in with a tribe that seemed pleased to see
me; which was lucky, me having no strength left to run. They took me
to their kraal, a mile inland, and to a hut where was a man lying in
a fever. He was a man covered with dirt and vermin, but at first
sight of his face I knew him to be a white man and English.
Ever since my first voyage to these parts I carried a small box in my
pocket, filled with bark of Peru, which is the best cure for coast
fever. I took out some of this bark and managed to make myself
understood that I wanted a fire lit and some water fetched; boiled up
the bark and made him drink it. After that I nursed him for three
days