convenience of being shut up in a dirty hut for a couple of nights.

A pleasant breeze blowing down the harbour the boats made sail, and in a
few hours reached the ships. The next day the _Tudor_ and _Supplejack_
were again at sea, having received orders to cruise along the Brazilian
coast in search of slavers. The ships got some way to the northward of
Rio when Murray directed Jack to keep in shore as close as he could
venture, while he himself stood off the land; they might thus hope to
fall in, either with vessels fitted for the slave-trade about to cross
to the African coast, or with full slavers attempting to make a
Brazilian port. The latter class it was of course the most desirable to
capture, though should the former be taken it would materially assist to
put a stop to the traffic, and save a certain number of blacks from
undergoing, for a time, at all events, the horrors of a middle passage.

The _Tudor_ shortly after daybreak was standing in under easy sail for
the land, when from the masthead a schooner was observed, beating up
against the breeze, which then blew off the shore, the rays of the
rising run striking her canvas bringing her clearly into view. Murray
ordered all sail to be made, and hoped to gain on the chase before the
corvette was observed by her. As the _Supplejack_ was likely to be
inside of her, there was every probability of her being caught by one or
the other. It was soon evident, however, that she had made out the
corvette, as she was seen to set all sail, and to stand away to the
northward: as the _Tudor_ was a long way to leeward, the chase would
probably be a long one. From the appearance and movements of the
schooner Murray was convinced that she was a slaver with a cargo on
board, and he determined therefore to persevere till he could come up
with her, and ascertain her real character. The land was barely
visible, and the _Supplejack_ might therefore be a long way off in
shore, and not yet have caught sight of the chase.

The day wore on, and the _Tudor_ had gained considerably on her, when
about six bells in the forenoon the sails gave some ominous flaps
against the masts, and the wind dropping more and more, the corvette lay
almost becalmed, with only just steerage way. As the schooner was,
however, likewise almost becalmed she did not gain any advantage from
this circumstance. A light wind, in a short time, again filled the
corvette's sails; but as it was continually sh