Queerface chattered away and skipped about, taking very good care,
however, to keep clear of him; and the parrots, Polly and Nelly, sang
and talked as vehemently as if very much interested in the scene, till
Sambo, the black cook, watching his opportunity, rushed in with his
cleaver and gave the monster a blow on the upper part of his tail, which
in an instant quieted him. Not another flap did he give with tail or
fin, his huge jaws closed, and he was dead. After all their trouble, he
was of no great use to them. They cut a few slices out of him for
frying; for seamen will often eat shark's flesh with much the same
feeling that a Fejee islander or a New Zealander a few years ago used to
eat their enemies taken in war. His skin, however, was of some value,
and that accordingly they took off and preserved.

Poor Paddy suffered very great pain from his hurt. The only remedy any
one on board could think of applying was oil, and with that they
continued to bathe it liberally, as it did just as well afterwards to
burn in the lamps. The wet season was not yet over. Day after day they
had torrents of rain, so that no one on board had a dry rag on their
backs. The schooner too grew more and more leaky and the cargo of
tobacco more and more rotten, till the odour arising from it was
scarcely bearable, and at length they were completely driven out of
their cabin. Often they wished to heave it overboard, but they dared
not; for had they done so the vessel, already somewhat crank, would
certainly have capsized. Still, whenever the two midshipmen could get a
glimpse of the sun they took their observations; and they found that
they were making progress, though slowly, to the northward.

"Can you believe it, Paddy?" exclaimed Murray, "you have been on board
here upwards of three months, and four have passed away since I was
placed in command of her. Still my motto is `persevere,' and I intend
to stick to it." Right gallantly did the little crew follow his
example.

A few days after this, on taking their observations, they found that
they had in this last twenty-four hours made good no less than forty
miles, and two days after that they went over fifty miles of ground.
This put all hands in good spirits; and Adair's leg getting better, he
was once more able to move about as before. They even began to fancy
that all their trials were over, and that they should make an easy
passage to Sierra Leone, but they were mistaken.