372 REMARKS ON 



cape condemnation : if not, she stands out to sea, 

 trusting to superior sailing to escape. If this 

 fails her, one more chance remains, — to commit 

 her cargo to the deep, and brave the scrutiny. 

 That this is often done, is on record. La Jeune 

 Estelle, being chased by a British cruiser, enclosed 

 twelve negroes in casks, and threw them over- 

 board. In 1831, the Black Joke and Fair Rosa- 

 mund fell in with the Hercule and Regule, two 

 slave-vessels, off the Bonny River : on perceiving 

 the cruisers, they attempted to regain the port, 

 and pitched overboard upwards of five hundred 

 human beings chained together before they were 

 captured ;• — from the abundance of sharks in the 

 river, their track was literally a blood-stained 

 one. The slaver not only does this, but glories 

 in it : the first words uttered by the captain of 

 the Maria Isabelle, seized by Lieutenant Rose, 

 were, " that if he had seen the man-of-war in 

 chase an hour sooner, he would have thrown every 

 slave in his vessel overboard, as he was fully in- 

 sured." 



If there is no time for these diabolical proceed- 

 ings, and the slaver is captured after what is 

 called " a gallant action," in which a little Bri- 

 tish, and a great deal of Spanish and African 



