ses, where white men had
become the favourites of negro princes, and had been placed in offices
of high trust; and, perhaps, such would have been my destiny, had I
remained with King Dingo Bingo.

But even had I been assured of the best of treatment--even had I been
promised the highest office in his kingdom--the throne itself, with the
handsomest of his daughters for my queen--I should have held on to my
intention of running away from him all the same, and returning to the
barque. It was certainly no Elysium to fly to--perhaps from the fire
into the frying-pan; but still there was the hope that my life on board
the _Pandora_ would not be of long continuance, and even there, under
the protection of Brace, they had of late treated me less cruelly.

As for King Dingo Bingo, I felt a loathing in his company that I cannot
describe. I felt a presentiment of some terrible evil, and I was
resolved, if I did not succeed in reaching the barque, to run away from
him all the same and try my fortune in the woods. Yes; notwithstanding
its lions and other fierce brutes, I was determined to escape to the
forest and live as I best might, or die if I could not live.

There was a thought in my mind. I had heard them talk of the English
factory farther up the coast--fifty miles farther. I might succeed in
getting there. An Englishman was its chief.

True, they said he was a friend of King Dingo--a partner in fact--and
from what had transpired I had reason to believe that this was but too
true. Still he was an Englishman. Surely he would not give me up--
surely he dared not. I thought, too, of the cruiser. She would
protect, she would not give me up; but, on the contrary, would have
blown his black majesty to the skies for making such a demand. If I
could only make known my situation--but how was that to be done?
Impossible! By the morrow's sun she would be he longer on the coast.
She would be gone in pursuit of the _Pandora_--perhaps within another
hour!

I was loathing the presence of the negro king, who appeared trying, in
his rude manner, to be agreeable. He plied me with rum, and I pretended
to drink it. I could not understand his talk, though a few English
words, and those of the most vulgar in our language, were familiar
enough after my voyage in the _Pandora_. But his majesty was by this
time so drunk that even his own people could with difficulty understand
him; and every moment he was yielding more and more to