er
times heaving it off the ground a few feet and allowing the craft to
drift with the current. And so strong was the rush of the river just
then, that by its means alone we accomplished a descent of no less than
thirty miles that day before sunset, anchoring for the night in a very
snug cove on the northern bank of the river, under the shadow of some
high hills. Then, during the night, a light southerly air sprang up,
freshening towards morning into a spanking breeze that soon became half
a gale of wind, and under its welcome impulse--although we found it
rather shy with us in some of the narrowest and most intricate parts of
the navigation--we contrived to complete the descent of the remaining
portion of the river on our second day out from Matadi's town, arriving
off the mouth of Banana Creek about an hour before sunset. Here, in
fulfilment of my promise, I released Lobo, who, to do him justice, had
served us well when he found that it was to his interest to do so. And
I may now dismiss him finally from my story by saying that when one of
the ships of our squadron put into the river about three weeks later, it
was found that Senor Lobo had profited by my advice to the extent that
he had disposed of his factory and other property, just as it stood, to
his former manager--the purchase-money being paid three-fourths down,
the remainder to be paid by instalments at three and six months' date.
And a very excellent bargain he contrived to make, too, so I understood,
the unfortunate buyer suffering a heavy loss when the captain of the
cruiser made it his first business to destroy the barracoon, which
formed a portion of the property, although the aforesaid buyer of course
made a point of vowing most emphatically that he had no intention
whatever of using the structure for slave-dealing purposes, to which
also, as a matter of course, he declared that he had a most righteous
aversion.

Having landed Lobo, we proceeded to sea that same night, carrying the
southerly breeze with us all through the night, and then falling in with
a regular twister from the eastward that carried us right across the
Line to about latitude 0 degrees 47 minutes North. From thence we had
light and variable breezes to Sierra Leone, despite which we made an
excellent passage, arriving in the anchorage in just three days short of
a month from the date of our leaving it upon our rescuing expedition;
and I am happy to say that when we landed the rescu