too much a man of the world, however, not to affect a
confidence, which we were all persuaded he did not feel:--he drank some
rum, and carried himself with consummate self-possession; gave us all
the Calabar news he could recollect, and demanded our latest
intelligence in return. When the conversation was exhausted, and a good
opportunity occurred for taking leave, he departed; heartily rejoiced,
no doubt, at escaping with so much tact. His canoe was about fifty feet
long, with a small thatched house built on a platform in the centre. The
paddles were worked by boys, under the direction of two men, who gave
out a song when pulling. There were two poor creatures, whom we supposed
to be slaves, confined in irons, at one end of the boat.

About nine we got clear of the mud-flats, after a great deal of trouble,
with hawsers and a small anchor; we then stood up the river, and at
eleven anchored for the night.

_Thursday, 24_.--Fresh breezes from the northward, and very hazy. The
wind coming from the Camaroon mountains, increased the haziness of the
atmosphere, and made it feel very cold. Soon after daylight, when the
tide answered, we got under weigh, and beat up the river. About eleven,
we came to an anchor off Parrott Island, the north end of which bore
S.W. 1/2 W. and the north end of James's Island N. by E. At three in the
afternoon, a pilot came on board, and, at five, Captain Smith, with
Lieutenant Badgeley, went up to the brig Kent, off Duke's Town, to
procure information.

_Friday, 25_.--At three this morning, the same party returned; and, soon
after daylight, we got the schooner under weigh, to beat up the river,
and the Duke's head pilot came on board, when to prove the confidence
that might be reposed in him, he brought a certificate from Lieutenant
Corry, of H.M.S. North Star, which stated that he had piloted that
ship's boats up the river, as well as conducted them down, with a
slave-vessel that they had seized. We blackened the schooner's yellow
sides with a mixture of gunpowder and water. This, however, was not a
very safe pigment, for if a spark of fire had happened to have come in
contact with any part of her side, it would have communicated from one
extremity to the other: but it served for a temporary disguise, which
was all we required.

About noon, we came abreast of the town of Old Calabar, where we
observed the greatest confusion. Armed men, of different colours and
nations, were running about in