y; and
I believe, had I fallen into good hands I might have repented; but it
was not to be so. A vessel at length hove in sight. I had just
strength left to wave my hand to show that I was alive. I was taken on
board; not that feelings of compassion dwelt in the bosoms of her crew,
but they saw my white skin, and thought that I might be useful in
navigating their evil-employed craft, for fever had thinned their
numbers. She was a slaver, and had some four hundred human beings
groaning in chains beneath her confined decks.

"I speedily recovered, and assuming a bold, independent manner, I soon
gained considerable influence over the crew, who were composed of
Spaniards, Portuguese, Mulattoes, and desperadoes from every country in
Europe. My companions found me so useful that they would not part with
me, so I sailed in the vessel for the next voyage. She was a large
brig, well armed. Slaving alone was too tame for us. If we fell in
with a merchantman, we plundered her; and instead of going on the coast
for slaves, we lay in wait for the smaller vessels returning home, when
we used to take the slaves out of them, sometimes paying them in goods,
and sometimes, if we were not afraid of detection, refusing them any
recompense, and threatening to sink them if they dared to complain. For
two years I remained in the slave brig without being able to leave her.
I had no dislike to the work, and our gains were very large; but I was
anxious to get back to India to secure the reward which had been
promised me. It may seem strange that I should be eager after a sum
which was paltry, compared to what I was now making; but I did not like
to lose what I considered my right, gained, too, with so much risk and
crime.

"Fortune did not always favour us. We were captured by an English ship
of war; and clear evidence of our guilt being brought forward, I, with
several of the officers and crew, was sentenced to be hung at Sierra
Leone. The sum of my iniquities was not yet full. Two of my
companions, confined with me, formed a plan for escaping; and, as my
knowledge of English would be useful, they invited me to join them.

"We succeeded; and after going through incredible hardships and dangers,
in travelling down the coast, under which one of our number sunk, the
survivor and I got on board a slaver, and reached the Brazils. I was
here very nearly recognised by the master of a Brazilian craft we had
plundered; so, with my Spani