Had the other slaves been celebrating?

"They were, sir," Adair stated. "I was fearful that their cries might rouse the overseers." The form of it? "Tears, and hugging, and handshaking, sir. Joy and sadness, mixed. Soft singing, and such."

"And once into the boats and making your way back to Proteus, sir, did anything odd occur?" MacDougall asked.

"We heard barking, sir," Lt. Adair answered. "At first, I imagined that the overseers and their dogs were near the beach, but in a short time, we discovered that the barking came from seals, sir."

"Seals, Lieutenant Adair?" MacDougall said, striking a surprised pose, obviously with foreknowledge of what Adair would say. "In the West Indies? Are they not hunted out?"

"It was… eerie, sir," Adair declared. "Aye, seals are rare in those seas, but that night, they appeared all round us. Every man at the oars saw them, and commented on them. A dozen or more of them, swimming about our boats, just beyond the reach of the oars, right to the ship's side, sir, where the rest of the crew saw and heard them, as well."

"And what did you make of that, sir?" MacDougall crooned.

"God's blessing 'pon our action, sir," Lt. Adair solemnly said, then smiled. "Captain Lewrie and seals, well sid, 'als, wellr… 'tis mysterious how often seals have appeared in warning or… almost approval, sir, just before Captain Lewrie went into a fight. For so is the rumour in the Fleet about him, d'ye see, sir. A minor miracle, some say."

Did the dozen slaves sign aboard willingly? Were they fed and clothed, kitted, and paid, the same as any English sailor? Were any of them troublemakers, drunkards, discipline problems; were any of the Black sailors stupid, were any of them cowards? MacDougall asked him.

Willingly, aye; treated the same as any volunteer; very little trouble from any of them; the usual binges on runs ashore, which were rare, same as British tars; illiterate, but not stupid, for many went on from Landsman to Ordinary Seaman, two had been rated Able in short time, and, there were certainly no cowards among them. The runaways were as brave as lions, every Man Jack, Lt. Adair could swear.