“I should have taken the fellow to have a larger share of negro than white blood in him by his looks,” observed Adair to Desmond as they went aft; “however, I really believe that he is honest, and we should not despise his warning.”
He had all the arms and ammunition to be found on board collected, each of his crew being provided with a musket and a brace of pistols, in addition to their cutlasses; he and Desmond also armed themselves. A dozen spare muskets which he had carefully looked to and loaded were arranged, some aft, others midships and forward. There were also two small brass guns, used for signals rather than defence. No shot, however, could be found for them, so he sent a couple of men to collect all the nails and scraps of iron they could find in the carpenter’s store-room.
“These will make cruel wounds, but it will be the fellows’ own fault if they venture to attack us, should some of them stick in their bodies,” he observed, as the guns were loaded. A dozen boarding-pikes were also found and served out to the men.
“I rather suspect that these weapons will prove more serviceable in the hands of our stout fellows than muskets or pistols, which take time to load,” observed Adair. “They may serve us in good stead, should the Brazilians attempt to climb up the side.”
These arrangements being made, Adair and Desmond returned to the cabin to finish their supper, which they had just begun when Pedro came to them.
“Don’t you think after all that that Portuguese fellow may have been trying to frighten us for some object of his own, perhaps to ingratiate himself into your favour?” asked Desmond.
“No! no, I think not,” answered Adair, “the Brazilians have played similar tricks on captured vessels before, in this very port, and they are capable of any atrocity. There was an old friend of mine named Wasey, a capital fellow, kind-hearted and brave, as true a man as I ever met with. We were shipmates for a short time on the coat of Africa; Rogers and Murray knew him well, and liked him as much as I did. He was one of those quite unpretending characters who don’t know what is in them, except to those with whom they are intimate.
“We chased and captured a small schooner with a hundred and fifty slaves on board. He was put in charge of her with ten hands, and directed to take her to Sierra Leone, we having received on board her former crew, that he might not be troubled with them. Soon after he parted company from us a heavy gale sprang up from the eastward, and he was blown off the land. The schooner, one of those slightly put together craft, built expressly for slavers, sprang a leak, and the water gained so fast on them, that it was as much as the crew, with a few of the blacks who were to be trusted, could do to keep her afloat. His only chance of saving the lives of his crew, and himself, as well as of the blacks, was to run for the Brazilian coast. The schooner was also short of provisions and water, and had he attempted to beat up for Sierra Leone, he knew that most of the blacks must perish, even if he contrived to keep her afloat. The weather in no way moderated, and though he set an example to his men by taking his turn at the pumps, all hands working with a will, he scarcely expected to get across the Atlantic. Still, by attending to the unfortunate blacks, and by allowing a few to come on deck at a time, he managed to keep them alive. At length when he was about a week’s run from Bahia, he feel in with an American brig. He having hoisted a signal of distress, the American hove to, and he went on board her. He explained his condition to the master, who seemed to be a well-disposed, kind-hearted man.
“‘Well, I have no objection to receive you and your white crew on board my vessel,’ said the master, ‘but as to the blacks, I can have nothing to do with them, they must sink or swim if they can.’
“What! you don’t suppose that I would desert the unfortunate wretches?” exclaimed Wasey indignantly.