471 



LEAVES FROM A LOG. No. II. 



WE arrived at Old Guiana, where stands an irregular fort, 

 neither in appearance, or in fact, a very strong post ; but, remarka- 

 ble, as being the last hold the Spaniards possessed on the Orinoco. 

 Our friend the Llanaro quitted us for the purpose of bartering with 

 the pretended crew of a privateer, whose small brigantine was at 

 anchor in the river opposite the fort called San Carlos. The people 

 had brought the entire of their cargo on shore for the purpose of sel- 

 ling it, and (as they said) of evading the duties ; a more suspicious 

 looking set of fellows I never met. Their captain was in height 

 above the middle standard, but, from his disproportionate breadth of 

 chest and stoutness of limbs, he appeared rather below it. He 

 seemed of irresistible strength, but his figure did not betoken ac- 

 tivity. His features were large, hard, and heavy ; his hazle eyes 

 were so small and so overhung by immense brows, that they were 

 scarcely visible ; nor did he seem to wish they should be seen, for he 

 scrovvled and looked down incessantly. His complexion was so 

 swarthy that, at first view, one might be led to doubt whether it was 

 darkened by toil and climate, or if his tint resulted from his mixed 

 African and European race j yet, after examination, his light hair 

 and eyes, and somewhat hooked nose, soon convinced me that no 

 African blood flowed in his veins. His voice was gruff and low ; he 

 spoke as occasion required to those around him in Spanish, French, 

 and English rather fluently, but yet in such an imperfect manner 

 that it seemed neither was his mother-tongue. I have seen men who 

 have done dreadful deeds, but no one did I ever behold on whose 

 form nature had written " villain" so legibly. 



The appearence of the rest of the crew, though not quite so re- 

 pulsive as their captain, was far from prepossessing. Here stood four 

 or five negro sailors, whose dialect, oaths, affected strut, and swagger, 

 at once convinced me they were runaway slaves from some English 

 island. When these people wish to pass for free men, they generally 

 so over-act their part that it requires no great shrewdness to detect 

 them. The rest of the crew, about thirty in number, were of all 

 nations Spaniards, Portuguse, Italians, Dutch, and men whose 

 country I could not ascertain. I have said they pretended to be 

 privateersmen, and were, what is called, running their cargo ; but the 

 way which they disposed of their valuable commodities to the inha- 

 bitants of Old Guiana caused suspicions that they were something 

 worse than either smugglers or privateersmen. 



Here stood a little Portuguese on a pile of Indian goods acting the 

 part of an auctioneer, speaking in mixed Spanish, knocking down 

 merchandize to the first bidder, while a Dutchman acted as his 

 clerk ; and though the articles were sold about one-tenth of their 

 value, the honest Hollander put down their prices even lower in his 

 dirty pocket-book. Both the auctioneer and his assistant were 

 smoking the one a meerschaum pipe, and the other a long cigar. 



