nst the masts, filling for a moment, then collapsing again, until
soon the "Halcyon" lay rolling on the gentle swell, her cordage
rattling, her blocks and tackles striking against her spars and rigging,
her hull groaning, and her sails perfectly useless, not having even
steerage way.

Leaning over the bulwarks, and looking towards the land, the faint
outline of which could still be discovered about ten miles distant,
Hughes was conversing with the captain.

"You think, then, we shall have wind?" he asked.

"I am sure of it," replied Weber; "look at the double halo round the
moon, look at the sickly, watery appearance of the clouds, look at that
fog-bank away to the southward. We shall have plenty of wind before
morning."

"And from what direction?"

"Dead against us," replied the seaman; "we want to run to the south, and
the wind will blow from that quarter."

"You have a beautiful craft, Captain Weber, and one I know can show
weatherly qualities."

"Ay, ay, sir," answered the captain, slapping his hand down on the
bulwark, "I love every stick the jade carries, every rope-yarn aboard of
her; while I am at sea, she is wife and children to me. Do you hear the
wind sighing aloft? You would do well to persuade the lady to turn in."

Wyzinski, Dom Francisco, and Isabel were walking on the quarter-deck
deeply engaged in conversation, and enjoying the freshness of the night.

"I did not think I should ever look back to the Zambesi with pleasure,"
said Isabel, as Hughes joined the party; "but really, the unostentatious
hospitality we received from Senhor Assevedo will always be remembered
by me. It is a magnificent river, and I am sure must be fully half a
mile wide in some parts. The coolness of the air, too; I never thought
to see European vegetables, such as peas and cabbages, growing side by
side with the mango and banana."

"Ah, with its plains of wild cotton, which no one takes the trouble to
cultivate, its sugar-canes, indigo, and droves of splendid cattle, the
country bordering on the Zambesi might be a very rich one," said
Wyzinski.

"Which, otherwise worded, means if the colony belonged to the English
instead of the Portuguese, Senhor," tartly remarked Dom Francisco.

"Not so, Senhor de Maxara; the English in South Africa have failed in
many things, as regards colonisation, nor could I be guilty of such a
thought."

"The object of my mission is to draw up a report as to the capabilities
of the la