e-dealers, and that he had little
doubt they had committed the outrage to revenge themselves for the
number of vessels which had been captured by the English ships of war.
Jack and his party, with the rescued prisoners, declined accepting the
magistrate's offered hospitality, and having received all the apologies
he could make, went back to the boats, which some of the natives had
even ventured to approach.

Having lighted fires to serve the double purpose of cooking their
provisions and keeping off the mosquitoes, they passed the night seated
round them.

Next morning the magistrate, attended by several of the principal people
in the place, trembling in their shoes, came down, and again tendered
the most abject apologies for what had occurred. The captured boat was
soon afterwards seen coming round the point, and being brought alongside
by a black crew, who had been placed in her by the Brazilians, she was
found not only to contain all the arms, and other articles which had
been taken, but six fat pigs, several dozen ducks and fowls, with heaps
of oranges and other fruit, which the magistrate begged the English
officers would accept as a peace-offering.

Again he declared that what had happened had been from no fault of his;
that the rascally slave-dealers had sworn that the people they had
captured were pirates, and he had only acted according to his duty in
judging the case brought before him. He took great credit to himself
for allowing the negro, Sangaree Jack, to go down to the ships of war,
and hoped that this would prove the honesty of his intentions.

Rogers having received instructions not to push matters to extremities,
accepted the old gentleman's apology.

"He would have shown his disinterestedness had he sent down himself,
without allowing our friend Sangaree here the opportunity of doing us
out of our thirty dollars," observed Higson. "Ah, blackie, how many is
the old fellow to get of them?"

Sangaree Jack gave one of his broadest grins.

"One half, massa lieutenant, as I a gentleman. He bigger rascal than
all the rest--he one slave-dealer hisself. Ah! ah! ah!" and the negro
chuckled with delight, rubbed his hands, and twisted and wriggled about,
till he set the boat's crew all laughing.

Whether the fellow's description of the magistrate was correct or not,
Rogers felt that he could take no further steps in the matter, no one
having fortunately really suffered damage or hurt, beyond the
in