SLAVES. = 105

cast off from the bank, and proceeded down the
river. As we crossed the bar the vessel pitched
heavily, and shipped severalseas. The poor wretches
below, as the water rushed down upon them, fancy-
ing that they were about to be drowned, gave vent
to piercing shrieks and cries. The Spanish crew
heard them with perfect indifference, and no one,
with the exception of Paul, took the slightest
trouble to calm their fears—he managing to slip
down into the hold assured them that there was no
danger; but be could offer them very little com-
fort besides as to their prospects in this world.
Still he could speak to them of another and a better
land, ‘ where the weary are at rest, and the wicked °
cease from troubling,’ and where the shackles of
slavery are cast aside, and to which the God of
mercy invites all His creatures to come and dwell
with Him, and be at rest. He was endeavouring
to explain to the miserable beings the simple truths
of the gospel, when he was overheard by one of
the officers, and ordered on deck, with a threat that
should he again be found speaking to the slaves he
would be shackled along with them.

We ran down the coast and came to an an-
chorage in-shore. ‘There were numerous huts and