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He was well known to the authorities of Rio as a slave-captain , yet he was not detained nor punished , possibly because he had never been taken m flagrante delicto . However , he was never free from
suspicion ; and sundry people were charged with the duty of keeping their eyes upon him . The crew of the Maria Isabella consisted of English , who called themselves Americans , and reflected credit upon the nation of their adoption , and Brazilians . The only negro on board was my servant .
The sea-breeze was blowing strongly into the harbour as we got under weigh , and prepared to work out in the teeth of it . Ordinary Brazilian vessels would not have faced such a breeze ; but the captain of the Maria Isabella would not at all yield to the scruples of any of his crew . The vessel was handled as well as any English craft ; she made a long stretch over towards Braganza , a village on the opposite
side of the bay , going to windward . Another tack , and we stood towards Rio , passing close before the bows of the Furious , that was just preparing for sea . Her steam was hissing from the escapepipe , and her anchor was being slowly hove up . We passed so close , that we heard the jerks of the windlass , as each paul slipped into its
place , with the utmost distinctness . Two men were leaning over the bows , watching the anchor rising ; and as we passed , they nodded to each other significantly and one , pointing to us , said , " Maybe , Jack , we shan't be so long behind that craft when she gets outside !" At this sally , unintelligible to me , both the men laughed .
I walked aft , where the captain was standing beside the helm , and told him what I had heard . " Tes , I understand , " he replied . " That ' s more than I do . " " They ' re coming after us , and will board us as soon as we get outside the harbour , if they can catch us . " " There'll be no harm in that , I suppose . "
" No harm in that , young man , " said the captain , looking at me with his mysterious glance , and apparently much surprised ; " if they do overtake us , you'll see whether there ' s any harm or not . It'll be rather an unpleasant job for all of us . " Then changing his tone , he said , in a quiet unconcerned way , " Pleasant day this , to be sure ; what a breeze there'll be outside the harbour . "
On our next tack we made what is technically called a long leg to windward , all possible sail being set , the yards being braced up as far they would go , and the helmsman having been instructed to keep her within an inch of the wind ' s eye . An old steady seaman was at
the wheel , who steered the brig admirably , keeping her close to the wind , but not letting the sails shiver once . Just as we crossed the bar , and got into rather clearer space , the Furious was observed to be under weigh ; and presently she came steaming out after us at full speed .
" She ' s a bit too soon , sir , " observed the helmsman to the captain ; " we'll never weather Rcdonda this tack . " " We must , I tell you , sir , we must , " said the captain , starting up ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
He was well known to the authorities of Rio as a slave-captain , yet he was not detained nor punished , possibly because he had never been taken m flagrante delicto . However , he was never free from
suspicion ; and sundry people were charged with the duty of keeping their eyes upon him . The crew of the Maria Isabella consisted of English , who called themselves Americans , and reflected credit upon the nation of their adoption , and Brazilians . The only negro on board was my servant .
The sea-breeze was blowing strongly into the harbour as we got under weigh , and prepared to work out in the teeth of it . Ordinary Brazilian vessels would not have faced such a breeze ; but the captain of the Maria Isabella would not at all yield to the scruples of any of his crew . The vessel was handled as well as any English craft ; she made a long stretch over towards Braganza , a village on the opposite
side of the bay , going to windward . Another tack , and we stood towards Rio , passing close before the bows of the Furious , that was just preparing for sea . Her steam was hissing from the escapepipe , and her anchor was being slowly hove up . We passed so close , that we heard the jerks of the windlass , as each paul slipped into its
place , with the utmost distinctness . Two men were leaning over the bows , watching the anchor rising ; and as we passed , they nodded to each other significantly and one , pointing to us , said , " Maybe , Jack , we shan't be so long behind that craft when she gets outside !" At this sally , unintelligible to me , both the men laughed .
I walked aft , where the captain was standing beside the helm , and told him what I had heard . " Tes , I understand , " he replied . " That ' s more than I do . " " They ' re coming after us , and will board us as soon as we get outside the harbour , if they can catch us . " " There'll be no harm in that , I suppose . "
" No harm in that , young man , " said the captain , looking at me with his mysterious glance , and apparently much surprised ; " if they do overtake us , you'll see whether there ' s any harm or not . It'll be rather an unpleasant job for all of us . " Then changing his tone , he said , in a quiet unconcerned way , " Pleasant day this , to be sure ; what a breeze there'll be outside the harbour . "
On our next tack we made what is technically called a long leg to windward , all possible sail being set , the yards being braced up as far they would go , and the helmsman having been instructed to keep her within an inch of the wind ' s eye . An old steady seaman was at
the wheel , who steered the brig admirably , keeping her close to the wind , but not letting the sails shiver once . Just as we crossed the bar , and got into rather clearer space , the Furious was observed to be under weigh ; and presently she came steaming out after us at full speed .
" She ' s a bit too soon , sir , " observed the helmsman to the captain ; " we'll never weather Rcdonda this tack . " " We must , I tell you , sir , we must , " said the captain , starting up ,