ery, the commander of the brig would not despatch a
small force to take the slaver, but sent two boats of armed men, who at
once polled alongside, and springing on deck ordered the slaver's crew
to throw down their arms. This order, given as much by signs as by
words, was at once obeyed, and the crew were rapidly sent into the two
boats, and transferred to the brig. Hans was at first taken for one of
the crew, but the irons on his legs indicated that he was a slave, and
his explanation of himself was considered so satisfactory by the officer
sent to take charge of the slaver, that Hans was sent on board the brig
to the captain to give all the information he could relative to the
slaver.

Hans' account of the manner in which he had been captured, and also the
manner in which he had been treated on board the slaver, enraged the
captain of the brig, who was already irritated at the loss of some of
the best men of his crew. He therefore determined to run up the coast,
and, if possible, discover the head-quarters of these slave-catchers,
and destroy it. Hans was quite delighted at this proposition, for all
that he had suffered was still fresh in his memory, and he considered
that if this slave establishment remained, some of his companions might
be captured when on their next hunting expedition; so that he was most
anxious that it should be destroyed.

The captain of the brig at once made his plans, which were that the
slaver only should run up the coast after she had got rid of her slaves
and the crew. Thus the slave-catchers would imagine she had put back
for some reason, and might not be alarmed as they otherwise would be if
the brig showed herself. The only objection to this plan seemed to be
the delay which must occur before the slaver could return, for it would
be necessary for her to go at least to Simon's Bay in order to get rid
of her slaves. This plan, however, the captain of the brig decided on,
and therefore, placing a portion of his crew with an officer in charge
of the slaver, he sent the prisoners on board her, and secured them so
that they could not interfere with the regular sailors, and gave
directions to the officer in charge to make sail for Simon's Bay, and
return as soon as possible.

In the mean time a boat which had been sent in pursuit of the captain
and mate of the slaver returned, having found the boat they had escaped
in bottom upwards, and no signs of its late occupants, who with their