n met with. He was a black man, in the fullest sense of the
word; a true negro, with a skin shining like ebony; a skull of large
size, and slightly square in shape, covered with a thick crop of curling
wool, so close and short as to appear _felted_ into the skin. A brace
of broad ears stood prominently out from the sides of his head; and
extending almost from one to the other, was a wide-gaping mouth, formed
by a pair of lips of huge thickness, protruding far forward, so as to
give to the countenance those facial outlines characteristic of the
chimpanzee or gorilla.

Notwithstanding his somewhat abnormal features, the expression of the
negro's face was far from being hideous. It was not even disagreeable.
A double row of white teeth, gleaming between the purplish lips, could
be exhibited upon ordinary occasions in a pleasant smile; and the
impression derived from looking upon the countenance was, that the owner
of it was rather good-natured than otherwise. Just then, as he sat upon
the raft, gazing over the bulwark of hogsheads, its expression was one
of profound and sombre melancholy. No wonder!

The negro was not alone. Another individual shared with him the
occupancy of the raft;--one differing from him in appearance as Hyperion
from the Satyr. A few feet from him, and directly before his face, was
a little girl, apparently about ten or twelve years of age. She was
seated, or rather cowering, among the timbers of the raft, upon a piece
of tarpauling that had been spread over them, her eyes bent upon her
black companion, though occasionally straying, with listless glance,
over the sombre surface of the sea. Although so young, her countenance
appeared sad and despondent, as if under the belief that there was
little hope of escape from the fearful situation in which she was
placed, and as if her little spirit had long ago surrendered to despair.

Though not a negro like her companion, the girl could scarce be called
_white_. Her complexion was of that hue known as olive; but her hair,
although curling, hung in long locks down over her shoulders; and the
crimson hue deeply tinting her cheeks told that in her blood there was
more Caucasian than negro.

Any one who had visited the western coast of Africa, on seeing this
little girl, would easily have recognised in her features the type of
that mixed race which has resulted from long intercourse between the
Portuguese "colonists" and the sable indigenes of the