44 THE AFRICAN TRADER.

think of the matter, but still those fearful words
‘too late’ would come back to me; then I tried to
persuade myself that I was young and strong, and
as I had led a very different sort of life to most of
the men, I was more likely than any one to escape
the gripe of the fever.

We had another trip on shore to bury poor
Bob. The captain seemed sorry for him. ‘He
was a man of better education than his messmates,
though, to be sure, he had been a wild chap,
he observed to me. Bob’s conscience had been
awakened; that of the others remained hardened
or fast asleep, and they died as they had lived,
foul, unwashed, unfit to enter a pure and holy
heaven.

Tam drawing a sad and painful picture, but it
isa true one. I did not then understand how full
of horror it was, though I thought it very sad to
lose so many of our crew.

We continued to carry on trade as before, and
the captain sent messengers urging the natives
to hasten in bringing palm oil on board, but they
showed no inclination to hurry themselves; and
as to quitting the river till he had a full cargo on
board, he had no intention of doing that.