es_ at the
time, and was one of those who were left to perish in her. She was a
prize, and I had been given charge of her, with orders to take her to
Sierra Leone."

"How extraordinary!" he exclaimed. "And, pray, how did you manage to
escape, senor?"

I told him the whole story, concluding by saying: "I have had a rod in
pickle for this brig ever since. I vowed then that I would find and
take her; and, having succeeded thus far, I am not going to allow myself
to be baffled by half a dozen men in an open boat."

When we next went about I saw that we were heading well up for the
narrow passage which formed the entrance of the bay; but the boat had
made such good progress that it was quite an open question whether she
or the brig would first reach it. I believed that if we could reach it
with a lead of even so little as a quarter of a mile we could get out
without coming to blows; but should the boat succeed in approaching us
any closer than that, I foresaw that she must inevitably overtake us in
"the narrows", which would be the very worst place possible for us,
since we were beating out against the trade wind, and the spot that we
were now approaching was so exceedingly narrow that there was scarcely
width enough for even so smart a vessel as the _Barracouta_ to work in
it. We should no sooner be about and nicely gathering steerage way than
down the helm would have to go again, and we should have our hands quite
sufficiently full in looking after the ship just there without the
additional worry of being obliged to drive off a boat. I therefore
determined that should there presently prove to be any doubt about the
matter I would edge away down upon the boat and have it out with her
while we still had room in which to manoeuvre the ship.

The brig and the boat were now approaching each other on courses that
converged at about right angles, the boat being on our lee bow, but
drawing ahead at a pace which threatened to bring her unpleasantly near
us if it did not actually carry her across our forefoot. But as we drew
nearer I noticed that, despite the continuous baling that was going on
aboard the boat, she had settled so deeply in the water that she could
scarcely hope to keep afloat another half-hour, and the idea came to me
that if I could avoid her for that length of time I need fear no further
trouble from her, for she would simply swamp with her crew and leave
them to swim for their lives. I carefully exami