had gone, there was a little stream that ran down the ravine. About a
quarter of a mile up this stream there was a spot where, it appeared from
the account, there must be a little level ground suitable for
habitations. Here were five or six huts, almost entirely surrounded by
rocks, and in these lived a dozen of the most dreadful men in the whole
world. This Maka assured the captain, his eyes wet with tears as he
spoke. It must truly be so, because the other African had told him things
which proved it.

A little farther up the stream, on the other side of the ravine, there
was a cave, a very small one, and so high up in the face of the rock
that it could only be reached by a ladder. In this lived five black men,
members of the company of slaves who had gone from Guiana to the
isthmus, and who had been brought down there about a year before by two
wicked men, who had promised them well-paid work in a lovely country.
They had, however, been made actual slaves in this barren and doleful
place, and had since worked for the cruel men who had beguiled them
into a captivity worse than the slavery to which they had been
originally destined.

Eight of them had come down from the isthmus, but, at various times
since, three of them had been killed by accident, or shot while trying to
run away. The hardships of these poor fellows were very great, and Maka's
voice shook as he spoke of them. They were kept in the cave all the time,
except when they were wanted for some sort of work, when a ladder was put
up by the side of the rock, and such as were required were called to come
down. Without a ladder no one could get in or out of the cave. One man
who had tried to slip down at night fell and broke his neck.

The Africans were employed in cooking and other rough domestic or menial
services, and sometimes all of them were taken down to the shore of the
bay, where they saw small vessels, and they were employed in carrying
goods from one of these to another, and were also obliged to carry
provisions and heavy kegs up the ravine to the houses of the wicked men.
The one whom he had brought with him, Maka said, had that day escaped
from his captors. One of the Rackbirds, whom in some way the negro had
offended, had sworn to kill him before night, and feeling sure that this
threat would be carried out, the poor fellow had determined to run away,
no matter what the consequences. He had chosen the way by the ocean, in
order that he might ju