e
had on only a linen jacket over his flannel shirt, inside of which some
of the greedy leeches had crawled, while the rest hung round his neck
and throat, their black bodies quickly swelling out and looking like so
many pendants of polished ebony.

No sooner did Queerface, who happened to be up the rigging sunning
himself, recognise his master, than down on deck he scuttled and hurried
up to him. He seemed very much astonished at the look of the leeches,
and evidently could not make out what they were. Adair held out his
hand, when up he jumped, and thrusting his paw down his shirt pulled out
a leech which had not yet fixed itself. The monkey's first impulse was
to put it to his nose, towards which the creature made a twist and fixed
itself firmly. Poor Queerface opened his paw, and not knowing what had
happened, off he scuttled again up the rigging with the leech hanging to
his nose, and apparently not liking the feel of it, he had not the
courage to pull it off till it dropped off itself on the deck.
Everybody laughed, so did Adair, in spite of the pain and annoyance he
was suffering.

"A pretty sort of a necklace for a nice young Irish gentleman of polite
manners and respectable connexions," he exclaimed, still laughing away.
"But I say, doctor, do bear a hand and get these brutes off me, for they
are becoming remarkably troublesome."

"That I will, my boy," answered Dr McCan, to whom he had spoken. "You
are suffering in my service, and I am bound to do my best for you."

The doctor at once got Adair below, and by applying salt to the tails of
the leeches made them let go. And then a little cooling ointment set
him all to rights, while the bleeding did him no particular harm. It
was many a day, however, before he got rid of the marks of the bites.

As the appearance of the frigate off the coast put all the slave-dealers
on the alert, Captain Lascelles adopted a plan which has frequently been
successful. Standing in-shore, he would suddenly make all sail away,
either to the northward or southward, as if in chase of some vessel, and
then when the ship could no longer be seen from the land he would
heave-to and send the boats in-shore, when very frequently they would
pounce upon slave-vessels totally unsuspicious of their presence. While
the boats were on shore watering, Hemming had with a few hands walked
along the coast and ascertained that a number of blacks,
prisoners-of-war they were called, were col