thing, for when I had fish on my hook I would not pull them up, that he might not see them, I said to the Moor, "This will not do; our master will not be thus served; we must stand farther off." He, thinking no harm, agreed; and being at the head of the boat, set the sails; and as I had the helm, I run the boat near a league farther, and then brought to, as if I would fish. Then giving the boy the helm, I stepped forward to where the Moor was, and I took him by surprise, with my arm under his waist, and tossed him clear overboard into the sea. He rose immediately, for he swam like a cork, and called to me, begged to be taken in, and told me he would go all the world over with me. He swam so strong after the boat, that he would have reached me very quickly, there being but little wind; upon which I stepped into the cabin, and fetching one of the fowling pieces, I presented it at him, and told him, I had done him no hurt, and if he would be quiet, I would do him none: But, said I, you swim well enough to reach the shore, and the sea is calm; make the best of your way to shore, and I will do you no harm: but if you come near the boat, I will shoot you through the head; for I am resolved to have my liberty. So he turned himself about, and swam for the shore; and I make no doubt but he reached it with ease, for he was an excellent swimmer.

I could have been content to have taken this Moor with me and have drowned the boy, but there was no venturing to trust him. When he was gone, I turned to the boy, whom they called Xury, and said to him, Xury, if you will be faithful to me I will make you a great man; but if you will not stroke your face to be true to me, (that is, swear by Mahomet and his father's beard,) I must throw you into the sea too. The boy smiled in my face, and

spoke so innocently, that I could not mistrust him; and swore to be faithful to me, and go all over the world with me.

While I was in view of the Moor that was swimming, I stood out directly to sea with the boat, rather stretching to windward, that they might think me gone towards the Strait's mouth (as indeed any one that had been in their wits must have been supposed to do); for who would have supposed we were sailing on to the southward, to the truly Barbàrian coast, where whole nations of Negroes were sure to surround us with their canoes, and destroy us; where we could never once go on shore but we should be devoured by savage beasts, or more merciless savages of human kind?

But as soon as it grew dusk in the evening, I changed my course, and steered directly south and by east, bending my course a little toward the east, that I might keep in with the shore; and having a fair fresh gale of wind, and a smooth quiet sea, I made such sail, that I believe by the next day, at three o'clock in the afternoon, when I made the land, I could not be less than 150 miles south of Sallee, quite beyond the emperor of Morocco's dominions, or indeed of any other king thereabout; for we saw no people.

Yet such was the fright I had taken at the Moors, and the dreadful apprehensions I had of falling into their hands, that I would not stop, or go on shore, or come to an anchor, the wind continuing fair, till I had sailed in that manner five days; and then the wind shifting to the southward, I concluded also that if any of our vessels were in chase of me, they also would now give over: so I ventured to make to the coast, and came to an anchor in the mouth of a little river; I knew not what or where, neither what latitude, what country, what nation, or what

D

river. I neither saw, nor desired to see, any people; the principal thing I wanted was fresh water. We came into this creek in the evening, resolving to swim on shore as soon as it was dark, and discover the country but as soon as it was quite dark, we heard such dreadful noises of the barking, roaring, and howling of wild creatures, of we knew not what kinds, that the poor boy was ready to die with fear, and begged of me not to go on shore till day. Well, Xury, said I, then I will not; but it may be we may see men by day, who will be as bad to us as those lions-Then we may give them the shoot-gun, says Xury, laughing; make them run away. Such English Xury spoke by conversing among us slaves. However, I was glad to see the boy so cheerful, and I gave him a dram out of our patron's case of bottles to cheer him up. After all, Xury's advice was good, and I took it. We dropped our little anchor, and lay still all night: I say, still, for we slept none; for in two or three hours we saw vast creatures, (we knew not what to call them), of many sorts, come down to the seashore, and run into the water, wallowing and washing themselves, for the pleasure of cooling themselves; and they made such hideous howlings and yellings, that I never indeed heard the like.

Xury was dreadfully frightened, and indeed so was I too; but we were both more frightened when we heard one of these mighty creatures swimming towards our boat: we could not see him, but we might hear him, by his blowing, to be a monstrous, huge, and furious beast. Xury said it was a lion, and it might be so, for aught I know; but poor Xury cried to me to weigh the anchor, and row away. No, says I, Xury: we can slip our cable with a buoy to it, and go off to sea: they cannot follow us far. I had no sooner said so, but

I perceived the creature (whatever it was) within two oars length, which something surprised me; however, I immediately stept to the cabin door, and taking up my gun, fired at him; upon which, he immediately turned about, and swam to the shore again.

But it is impossible to describe the horrible noises, and hideous cries and howlings that were raised, as well upon the edge of the shore as higher within the country, upon the noise or report of the gun; a thing, I believe, those creatures had never heard before. This convinced me there was no going on shore for us in the night upon that coast: and how to venture on shore in the day, was another question too; for to have fallen into the hands of any of the savages, had been as bad as to have fallen into the paws of lions and tigers; at least, we were equally apprehensive of the danger of it.

Be that as it would, we were obliged to go on shore somewhere or other for water, for we had not a pint left in the boat: when and where to get it was the point. Xury said, if I would let him go on shore with one of the jars, he would find if there was any water, and bring some to me. I asked him why he would go; why I should not go, and he stay in the boat. The boy answered with so much affection, that he made me love him ever after. Says he, If wild mans come, they eat me, you go way. Well, Xury, said I, we will both go; and if the wild mans come, we will kill them; they shall eat neither of us. So I gave Xury a piece of rusk bread to eat, and a dram out of our patron's case of bottles, which I mentioned before; and we hauled in the boat as near the shore as we thought was proper, and so waded to shore, carrying nothing but our arms, and two jars for water.

I did not care to go out of sight of the boat, fear

ing the coming of canoes with savages down the river; but the boy, seeing a low place about a mile up the country, rambled to it; and, by and by, I saw him come running toward me. I thought he was pursued by some savage, or frightened by some wild beast, and I therefore ran forwards to help him; but when I came nearer to him, I saw something hanging over his shoulders, which was a creature that he had shot, like a hare, but different in colour, and longer legs: however, we were very glad of it and it was very good meat: but the great joy that poor Xury came with, was to tell me he had found good water, and seen no wild mans.

But we found afterwards, that we need not take such pains for water; for a little higher up the creek where we were, we found the water fresh when the tide was out, which flowed but a little way up; so we filled our jars, and, having a fire, feasted on the hare we had killed; and prepared to go on our way, having seen no footsteps of any human creature in that part of the country.

As I had been one voyage to this coast before, I knew very well that the islands of the Canaries, and the Cape de Verd islands also, lay not far from the coast. But as I had no instruments to take an observation, to find what latitude we were in; and did not exactly know, or at least remember, what latitude they were in, I knew not where to look for them, or when to stand off to sea towards them, otherwise I might now have easily found some of these islands. But my hope was, that if I stood along this coast till I came to the part where the English traded, I should find some of their vessels upon their usual design of trade, that would relieve and take us in.

By the best of my calculation, the place where I now was, must be that country which, lying between