ir hiding-place between the brig and the wharf and made a dash for
the two craft, half of them going for the brigantine while the other
half struck out for the barque.

The surprise, admirably managed by the skipper, was complete; for the
greater part of the crews of the two vessels was aloft furling the
canvas at the moment when our boats appeared; and although their
appearance served as a signal for the men aloft to swing themselves off
the yards and descend to the deck by way of the backstays, yet before
they had time to arm themselves and prepare for an effective resistance
our lads were alongside and swarming in over the low rails of the two
craft; and a very brief scuffle sufficed to place them in possession of
both. Upon inspection, they proved to be undoubted slavers, for they
were not only fitted with slave-decks, but had a full supply of water
and meal on board; in fact they were ready for the immediate reception
of their human cargo, which, but for our interference, they could have
shipped and gone to sea again in a very few hours.

The barque was named _Don Miguel_, of three hundred and forty-seven tons
measurement, hailing from Havana; with a crew of fifty-six, all told;
and she mounted twelve twelve-pounders, with an ample supply of
ammunition for them in her magazine. The brigantine rejoiced in the
name _El Caiman_. She was a trifle bigger than I had estimated her to
be, her papers showing her tonnage to be two hundred and thirty. She
carried a crew of forty; and mounted eight beautiful brass long nines on
her broadsides, as well as a long eighteen pivoted on her forecastle.
She hailed from Santiago de Cuba, and was quite a new ship; whereas the
_Don Miguel_ was nearly twenty years old, and leaked like a basket when
heavily pressed by her canvas, as some of us soon discovered.

None of our people were hurt in the scrimmage which resulted in the
capture of these two craft; as soon, therefore, as their crews had been
taken out of them and securely confined, Captain Perry made ready to
sally forth and capture the ship which had gone up the river, and which
might be expected to return immediately upon discovering the destruction
of the factory on the Camma Lagoon. It was regarded as just possible
that, finding the up-river factory destroyed, her captain might make his
way to our anchorage, in the hope of securing a cargo from our factory;
but, on the other hand, it was also possible that he might get an