standing that the sun was obscured, his rays found means of
heating the atmosphere, so that we felt much as if we were surrounded by
a hot damp blanket.

I had already made a trip to the West Indies, and two to this terrible
coast; and as I had escaped without an attack of yellow fever, or
cholera, when the Liverpool owners of the brig _Osprey_--commanded by
Captain Page, an old African trader--offered me a berth as supercargo, I
willingly accepted it. We were bound out to the Cape of Good Hope, but
had arranged to touch at two or three places on the coast, to trade and
land passengers. Among other places we were to call at Saint Paul de
Loando, to land a Portuguese gentleman, Senhor Silva, and his black
servant Ramaon. Our object in trading was to obtain palm-oil,
bees'-wax, gold dust, and ivory, in exchange for Manchester and
Birmingham goods; and for this purpose we had already visited several
places on the coast, picking up such quantities as could be obtained at
each of them. We had not, however, escaped without the usual penalty
African traders have to pay--two of our men having died of fever, and
two others, besides the captain, being sick of it. The first mate,
Giles Gritton, and another man, had been washed overboard in a heavy
gale we encountered on the other side of the Equator, and we were now,
therefore, somewhat short-handed. The first mate was a great loss, for
he was an excellent seaman and a first-rate fellow, which is more than
could be said of the second mate, Simon Kydd. How he came to be
appointed mate seemed unaccountable; unless, as he was related to the
owners, interest might have obtained for him what his own merits
certainly would not. Taking him at his own value, he had few superiors,
if any equals.

I felt much for Captain Page. He took the loss of his first mate
greatly to heart, and thus the incapacity of the second contributed
considerably to increase his malady. Day after day he grew worse, and I
began to fear much that his illness would end fatally. He was as good
and kind a man as ever lived, and an excellent sailor.

I had not been knocking about the ocean altogether with my eyes shut,
and had managed to pick up a fair amount of nautical knowledge. I did
not intrude it unnecessarily; I had a notion that I was regarded with a
somewhat jealous eye by those who considered me a mere landsman. I
certainly understood more about navigation than Mr Kydd, but that is
not saying