(Continuing from Part 04)
After escaping from Salé, I sailed south along the coast of Africa with the young boy Xury.
We were finally free, but we were also in great danger.
Our boat was small, and we had no clear destination. We carried some bread, fresh water, guns, and ammunition, but these supplies would not last forever.
I knew that if we returned to Salé, we would certainly be captured. My former master would punish me for escaping and stealing his boat.
Therefore, I decided to continue south.
My greatest hope was to meet a European trading ship. Perhaps an English, Portuguese, or Spanish captain would take us aboard and carry us to safety.
But the sea was empty.
For five days, we sailed along the coast without stopping.
The wind was favorable, and we made good progress. However, our fresh water began to run low.
At last, I decided that we must approach the shore.
We entered the mouth of a small river and dropped our anchor.
It was evening, and the land around us looked wild and unfamiliar.
We could see no houses, boats, or people.
I did not know whether the inhabitants would be friendly or dangerous.
For that reason, I decided to remain aboard until morning.
As darkness fell, we heard strange sounds coming from the land.
At first, the noises were distant.
Then they grew louder.
We heard roaring, howling, and terrible cries from animals hidden in the forests.
I had never heard anything so frightening.
Xury was terrified.
“Master,” he whispered, “what animals are making those sounds?”
“I do not know,” I answered.
We remained in the boat, listening.
Sometimes the cries seemed to come from several animals at once. At other times, we heard one great roar that made the others seem quiet.
Neither of us could sleep.
Around midnight, something large entered the water near our boat.
We heard splashing and heavy breathing.
The creature began swimming toward us.
Xury became so frightened that he wanted to pull up the anchor and sail away immediately.
I told him to remain calm.
Then I took one of our guns.
The animal came closer, but it was too dark for me to see clearly what it was.
I pointed the gun toward the sound and fired.
The noise was enormous in the quiet night.
Immediately, the animal turned away.
From the shore came another terrible chorus of cries, as if every wild creature in the forest had been awakened.
We heard the animal swimming back toward land.
After that, the water became quiet again.
But we did not dare go ashore.
I understood that finding fresh water might be even more dangerous than crossing the sea.
The next morning, we looked carefully at the coastline.
The land appeared empty, but we could not be certain that nobody was watching us.
We needed water badly.
I considered going ashore with my gun, but Xury begged me to let him go instead.
“If the wild men come,” he said, “they may eat me, but you can escape.”
I was surprised by his courage and loyalty.
I told him that we would go together.
“If anyone tries to hurt us,” I said, “we will defend ourselves.”
We took our guns and went ashore.
I carried a large container for water, while Xury carried another.
We walked carefully, looking for a stream or spring.
After searching for some time, we found fresh water.
We drank deeply and filled our containers.
We also looked for food, but saw little that we could safely eat.
Then we returned to the boat.
I was greatly relieved.
For several more days, we continued sailing south.
I kept the land in sight because I hoped to find more water or perhaps a friendly settlement.
But I was afraid to stop unless it was absolutely necessary.
We passed long stretches of empty beach, rocky land, and thick forests.
Sometimes we saw animals moving near the shore.
At night, we still heard their cries.
I began to understand how little I knew about this part of the world.
One morning, as we sailed close to land, Xury suddenly pointed toward the shore.
“Master! Look there!”
I followed his finger.
A huge animal was lying on the beach.
At first, I could not identify it.
As we approached, I saw that it was a lion.
It was resting in the sunlight, apparently unaware of our presence.
I had never seen such a large and powerful animal outside pictures or descriptions.
I decided to shoot it.
Xury was frightened and warned me not to go near it.
But I believed that we could remain safely in the boat.
I took one of our guns, loaded it carefully, and aimed.
Then I fired.
The shot struck the lion, but did not kill it.
The animal rose suddenly and gave a terrible roar.
It tried to move away, but it was badly wounded.
I quickly took another gun and fired again.
This time, the lion fell.
Still, it was not completely dead.
I loaded my gun once more and fired a final shot.
The animal stopped moving.
Xury stared at it in amazement.
I told him that we should go ashore and examine it.
He was afraid, but eventually agreed.
When we reached the lion, we saw how enormous it was.
I wished that we could take its skin, but neither of us knew the proper way to remove it.
We had only a few tools.
At last, Xury used a knife to cut away the skin.
The work took considerable time.
We could not use the meat, but we carried the skin back to the boat.
I spread it out in the sun to dry.
Later, it became useful as a covering on which I could lie.
Although this adventure gave us something valuable, it did not solve our greatest problem.
We were still far from safety.
I did not know how much longer we would have to travel before meeting another ship.
Yet I continued to hope that somewhere along the coast, we would find people who could help us.
For the moment, we had food, water, and a boat that could carry us onward.
And I had Xury, whose courage and loyalty had already become very important to me.
We raised our sail again and continued south, following the long and mysterious African coast.