The little vessel was hauled through and against the huge seas with such force that two hawsers measuring eleven inches each in circumference parted.Many of the blows we received from the billows made every plate quiver from stem to stern, and the motion was so quick that we had to hold on continually to avoid being tossed from one side to the other or into the sea.Ten of the late Bishop's flock whom we had on board became so sick and helpless that do what we could to aid them they were so very much in the way that the idea broke in upon us, that the close packing resorted to by slavers is one of the necessities of the traffic.If this is so, it would account for the fact that even when the trade was legal the same injurious custom was common, if not universal.If, instead of ten such passengers, we had been carrying two hundred, with the wind driving the rain and spray, as by night it did, nearly as hard as hail against our faces, and nothing whatever to be seen to windward but the occasional gleam of the crest of a wave, and no sound heard save the whistling of the storm through the rigging, it would have been absolutely necessary for the working of the ship and safety of the whole that the live cargo should all have been stowed down below, whatever might have been the consequences.
Having delivered the "Pioneer" over to the Navy, she was towed down to the Cape by Captain Forsyth of the "Valorous," and after examination it was declared that with repairs to the amount of 300 pounds she would be as serviceable as ever.Those of the Bishop's flock whom we had on board were kindly allowed a passage to the Cape.
The boys went in the "Orestes," and we are glad of the opportunity to record our heartfelt thanks to Captains Forsyth, Gardner, and Chapman for rendering us, at various times, every aid in their power.Mr.