on a truly fine morningjust at sunrisewe set me skiff down from off the ship into empty waters , just beyond eyeshot of our first destination : a middle-sized island with a settlement , a small detachment of his majesty 's ladson contingencya colony of rather incompetent merchants and less successful farmers , their wives and children and a small collection of african slaves who seemed to spend a vast portion of their day avoiding their white mastersand avoiding work .