CHAPTER ITI.

The ‘Chieftain’ arrives off the coast of Africa, and we carry

 

 

on « brisk trade with the natives, who come off to us
through the surf.—At length Captain Willis proposes to run

 

 

up the river Bonny to complete our cargo. Not forgetful

of my promise to Mammy, I make inquiries for her son
Cheebo.

T was my morning watch. I was indulg-

 
 

ing in the pleasure particularly enjoyable
after sweltering in the close hot atmo-
sphere .of the cabin, of paddling about with
bare feet on the wet deck, over which I and
some of the men were heaving buckets of water,
while others were lustily ‘using holy-stones and
scrubbing brashes, under the superintendence of
Mr Wesbey, the first mate. The black cook was
lighting his fire in the caboose, from whence a
wreath of smoke ascended almost perpendicularly
in the clear atmosphere. The sea was smooth as

glass, but every now and then a slowly heaving
22