s Perseverance
found the high-pooped Tryal in a desperate state. Spanish sailors who
had survived the massacre were leaping overboard or scrambling up to the
mastheads while the African savages capered on deck and flourished their
weapons. Captain Delano liked neither the Spaniard nor the slavetrade,
but it was his duty to help fellow seamen in distress; so he cleared
for action and ordered two boats away to attend to the matter. The chief
mate, Rufus Low, was in charge, and a gallant sailor he showed himself.
They had to climb the high sides of the Tryal and carry, in hand-to-hand
conflict, the barricades of water-casks and bales of matting which the
slaves had built across the deck. There was no hanging back, and even
a mite of a midshipman from Boston pranced into it with his dirk. The
negroes were well armed and fought ferociously. The mate was seriously
wounded, four seamen were stabbed, the Spanish first mate had two musket
balls in him, and a passenger was killed in the fray.

Having driven the slaves below and battened them down, the American
party returned next morning to put the irons on them. A horrid sight
confronted them. Thirsting for vengeance, the Spanish sailors had
spread-eagled several of the negroes to ringbolts in the deck and were
shaving the living flesh from them with razor-edged boarding lances.
Captain Delano thereupon disarmed these brutes and locked them up in
their turn, taking possession of the ship until he could restore order.
The sequel was that he received the august thanks of the Viceroy of
Chili and a gold medal from His Catholic Majesty. As was the custom, the
guilty slaves, poor wretches, were condemned to be dragged to the gibbet
at the tails of mules, to be hanged, their bodies burned, and their
heads stuck upon poles in the plaza.

It was while in this Chilean port of Talcahuano that Amasa Delano heard
the tale of the British whaler which had sailed just before his arrival.
He tells it so well that I am tempted to quote it as a generous tribute
to a sailor of a rival race. After all, they were sprung from a common
stock and blood was thicker than water. Besides, it is the sort of
yarn that ought to be dragged to the light of day from its musty burial
between the covers of Delano's rare and ancient "Voyages and Travels."

The whaler Betsy, it seems, went in and anchored under the guns of the
forts to seek provisions and make repairs. The captain went ashore
to interview the offi