r still more closely, it was seen that the sweeps
were rigged out but not manned, although the deck was crowded with
people, unmistakably blacks. And then it was that for the first time
the dreadful surmise dawned upon Captain Stopford's mind--a surmise that
soon proved to be true--that the negroes, doubtless goaded to frenzy by
their continued ill-treatment, had risen upon and massacred the entire
crew and taken possession of the brigantine, which of course they had
not the remotest idea how to handle.

The _Barracouta_ soon arrived upon the _Francesca's_ weather quarter,
and the evidences of the fearful deed then became unmistakable, the
scuppers still bearing the stains of the ensanguined stream that had
poured from them, while among the whole of that crowd of yelling,
fiercely gesticulating blacks, not a single white face was to be seen.
Boats were at once lowered and a strong crew sent away to take
possession of the disabled vessel, but the emancipated slaves, maddened
at the thought of again falling into the hands of the hated whites, and,
of course, unaware of the fact that the brig's crew were anxious only to
render them a service, offered so desperate a resistance to the boarders
that Young, who led the latter, recognising the impossibility of taking
the brigantine without serious loss of life, withdrew to consult with
Captain Stopford as to the best course to pursue. Meanwhile, the wind
fell away to a calm, of which circumstance the slaves took advantage by
manning the sweeps and gradually withdrawing from the vicinity of the
_Barracouta_, This was about sunset; and three hours later a bright
blaze upon the horizon proclaimed that the notorious _Francesca_ had
either caught or been set on fire in some inexplicable way. The brig's
boats were at once manned and dispatched to the rescue of the unhappy
blacks, or as many of them as it might be possible to save; but the
brigantine was by this time some nine miles away, the flames burnt with
ever-increasing fury, and while the boats were still some three miles
distant the doomed ship blew up, and the occupants of the boats saw the
bodies of the miserable blacks hurled high in the air in the midst of a
dazzling sheet of flame and a cloud of smoke. When the boats arrived
upon the scene of the disaster, all that remained of the once gallant
but guilty _Francesca_ consisted of a few charred timbers and fragments
of half-burnt planking, in the midst of which floated s