The strange vessel backed her top-sails and hove-to, while we ranged up and lay-to, about a hundred yards off.
"Lower the boat," cried the captain.
In a second the boat was lowered and manned by a part of the crew, who were all armed with cutlasses and pistols.

As the captain passed me to get into it, he said, "jump into the stern sheets, Ralph, I may want you." I obeyed, and in ten minutes more we were standing on the stranger's deck.

We were all much surprised at the sight that met our eyes.

Instead of a crew of such sailors as we were accustomed to see, there were only fifteen blacks standing on the quarter-deck and regarding us with looks of undisguised alarm.

They were totally unarmed and most of them unclothed; one or two, however, wore portions of European attire.
One had on a pair of duck trousers which were much too large for him and stuck out in a most ungainly manner.