96 THE AFRICAN TRADER,

when we reached her deck that we could scarcely
stand. I pointed to my mouth, just able to mur-
mur, ‘water! water!’

‘Si, si, aqua aqua,’ said aman, who appeared to
be an officer; when one of the men dipped a mug
into a cask on deck, and brought it to us. I took
part of the contents then handed it to Paul; but the
seaman signed to me to drain it myself, casting, I
thought, a contemptuous glance at my negro com-
panion. However, he brought another cup full,
and even though I emptied it to the bottom, still
my thirst was scarcely quenched.

 

 

 

 

Au officer now appeared from below, and ad-
dressing me in English, asked me how I came to be
in the boat. I told him exactly what had oc-
curred.

‘It is fortunate for you that we picked you up,
for another vessel might not pass this way for days
to come,’ he observed. ‘ But what a pity so rich a
cargo should have been lost.’

The unhappy fate of the poor captain did not
seera to concern him much.

I could not make out the character of the
vessel.

She was Spanish, I guessed, and her officers