We waited until she sunk her topsails, and then went on our course.
None of us doubted that this fellow was a pirate. The men on board us were
an ill-looking set of rascals, of all countries. They spoke Spanish, but
we gave them credit for being a mixture. Our escape was probably owing to
our appearance, which promised anything but a rich booty. Our dry-goods
and powder were concealed in casks under he ballast, and I suppose the
papers were not particularly minute. At any rate, when we get into Para,
most of the cargo went out of our schooner privately, being landed from
lighters. We had a passenger, who passed for some revolutionary man, who
also landed secretly. This gentleman was in a good deal of concern about
the pirates, keeping himself hid while they were near us.
Chapter XVI.
Our passage from Para was good until the brig reached the latitude of
Bermuda. Here, one morning, for the first time in this craft, Sundays
excepted, we got a forenoon watch below. I was profiting by the
opportunity to do a little work for myself, when the mate, an
inexperienced young man, who was connected with the owners, came and
ordered us up to help jibe ship. It was easy enough to do this in the
watch, but he thought differently. As an old seaman, I do not hesitate to
say that the order was both inconsiderate and unnecessary; though I do not
wish to appear even to justify my own conduct, on the occasion.
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