142 CAPTAIN TUCKEY’S NARRATIVE. 
to make himself intelligible, I thought he might be of use 
and purchased him, giving an order for his value to be paid 
on board the Congo, and taking care to explain to the 
natives my motives for buying him, as well as that I gave him 
his liberty on the instant, and only considered him as a ser- 
vant; and finally, that if we arrived at his country, I would 
restore him to his friends. When this was explained to him 
he expressed not the least mark of satisfaction, and permit- 
ted the people to take off the cords which had served to 
bind him with apparent apathy ; indeed our people seemed 
to have more satisfaction in performing, than he felt in un- 
dergoing, this operation. In concluding this bargain, I had 
a specimen of the tedious manner of doing business amongst 
the native traders, the intervention of the Mafook, Mam- 
bouk, and a broker, being necessary between me and the 
seller; and each of these fellows expected two fathoms 
of baft, and as much brandy as they could drink. This 
roundabout way of trading, and the indecision of the sellers, 
must, I should suppose, have been a great draw back on the 
profits of the slave trade, by the time it kept them cn 
the coast ; for I am assured, that though fifty slaves may be 
brought to market in a day, not three are usually sold. 
The same huckstering is indeed visible in every branch of 
their trading with Europeans ; the possessor of a single fowl, 
