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The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
THE
INTERESTING NARRATIVE
OF
THE LIFE
OF
OLAUDAH EQUIANO,
OR
GUSTAVUS VASSA,
THE AFRICAN.
_WRITTEN BY HIMSELF._
_Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be
afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my
song; he also is become my salvation.
And in that shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his
name, declare his doings among the people. Isaiah xii. 2, 4._
LONDON:
Printed for and sold by the Author, No. 10, Union-Street,
Middlesex Hospital
Sold also by Mr. Johnson, St. Paul's Church-Yard; Mr.
Murray, Fleet-Street; Messrs. Robson and Clark, Bond-Street;
Mr. Davis, opposite Gray's Inn, Holborn; Messrs. Shepperson
and Reynolds, and Mr. Jackson, Oxford Street; Mr.
Lackington, Chiswell-Street; Mr. Mathews, Strand; Mr.
Murray, Prince's-Street, Soho; Mess. Taylor and Co. South
Arch, Royal Exchange; Mr. Button, Newington-Causeway; Mr.
Parsons, Paternoster-Row; and may be had of all the
Booksellers in Town and Country.
[Entered at Stationer's Hall.]
[Illustration: Olaudah Equiano or GUSTAVUS VASSA, _the African_]
To the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons of the
Parliament of Great Britain.
_My Lords and Gentlemen_,
Permit me, with the greatest deference and respect, to lay at your
feet the following genuine Narrative; the chief design of which is to
excite in your august assemblies a sense of compassion for the
miseries which the Slave-Trade has entailed on my unfortunate
countrymen. By the horrors of that trade was I first torn away from
all the tender connexions that were naturally dear to my heart; but
these, through the mysterious ways of Providence, I ought to regard as
infinitely more than compensated by the introduction I have thence
obtained to the knowledge of the Christian religion, and of a nation
which, by its liberal sentiments, its humanity, the glorious freedom
of its government, and its proficiency in arts and sciences, has
exalted the dignity of human nature.
I am sensible I ought to entreat your pardon for addressing to you a
work so wholly devoid of literary merit; but, as the production of an
unlettered African, who is actuated by the hope of becoming an
instrument towards the relief of his suffering countrymen, I trust
that _such a man_, pleading in _such a cause_, will be acquitted of
boldness and presumption.
May the God of heaven inspire your hearts with peculiar benevolence on
that important day when the question of Abolition is to be discussed,
when thousands, in consequence of your Determination, are to look for
Happiness or Misery!
I am,
My Lords and Gentlemen,
Your most obedient,
And devoted humble Servant,
Olaudah Equiano,
or
Gustavus Vassa.
Union-Street, Mary-le-bone,
March 24, 1789.
LIST of SUBSCRIBERS.
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.
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A
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Reverend Mr. Aldridge
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J.C. Ashworth, Esq.
B
His Grace the Duke of Bedford
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Miss Baillie
Miss J. Baillie
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C
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D
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E
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F
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H
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J
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K
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L
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M
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O
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Q
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R
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Dr. Robinson
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S
His Grace the Duke of St. Albans
Her Grace the Duchess of St. Albans
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William, the Son of Ignatius Sancho
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T
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U
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V
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Y
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CONTENTS
CHAP. I.
The author's account of his country, their manners and
customs, &c.
CHAP. II.
The author's birth and parentage--His being kidnapped
with his sister--Horrors of a slave ship
CHAP. III.
The author is carried to Virginia--Arrives in England--His
wonder at a fall of snow
CHAP. IV.
A particular account of the celebrated engagement
between Admiral Boscawen and Monsieur Le Clue
CHAP. V.
Various interesting instances of oppression, cruelty, and
extortion
CHAP. VI.
Favourable change in the author's situation--He
commences merchant with threepence
CHAP. VII.
The author's disgust at the West Indies--Forms
schemes to obtain his freedom
CHAP. VIII.
Three remarkable dreams--The author is shipwrecked
on the Bahama-bank
CHAP. IX.
The author arrives at Martinico--Meets with new
difficulties, and sails for England
CHAP. X.
Some account of the manner of the author's conversion to
the faith of Jesus Christ
CHAP. XI.
Picking up eleven miserable men at sea in returning to
England
CHAP. XII.
Different transactions of the author's life--Petition to the
Queen--Conclusion
THE LIFE, &c.
CHAPTER I.
_The author's account of his country, and their manners and
customs--Administration of justice--Embrenche--Marriage
ceremony, and public entertainments--Mode of
living--Dress--Manufactures
Buildings--Commerce--Agriculture--War and
religion--Superstition of the natives--Funeral ceremonies of
the priests or magicians--Curious mode of discovering
poison--Some hints concerning the origin of the author's
countrymen, with the opinions of different writers on that
subject._
I believe it is difficult for those who publish their own memoirs to
escape the imputation of vanity; nor is this the only disadvantage
under which they labour: it is also their misfortune, that what is
uncommon is rarely, if ever, believed, and what is obvious we are apt
to turn from with disgust, and to charge the writer with impertinence.
People generally think those memoirs only worthy to be read or
remembered which abound in great or striking events, those, in short,
which in a high degree excite either admiration or pity: all others
they consign to contempt and oblivion. It is therefore, I confess, not
a little hazardous in a private and obscure individual, and a stranger
too, thus to solicit the indulgent attention of the public; especially
when I own I offer here the history of neither a saint, a hero, nor a
tyrant. I believe there are few events in my life, which have not
happened to many: it is true the incidents of it are numerous; and,
did I consider myself an European, I might say my sufferings were
great: but when I compare my lot with that of most of my countrymen, I
regard myself as a _particular favourite of Heaven_, and acknowledge
the mercies of Providence in every occurrence of my life. If then the
following narrative does not appear sufficiently interesting to engage
general attention, let my motive be some excuse for its publication. I
am not so foolishly vain as to expect from it either immortality or
literary reputation. If it affords any satisfaction to my numerous
friends, at whose request it has been written, or in the smallest
degree promotes the interests of humanity, the ends for which it was
undertaken will be fully attained, and every wish of my heart
gratified. Let it therefore be remembered, that, in wishing to avoid
censure, I do not aspire to praise.
That part of Africa, known by the name of Guinea, to which the trade
for slaves is carried on, extends along the coast above 3400 miles,
from the Senegal to Angola, and includes a variety of kingdoms. Of
these the most considerable is the kingdom of Benen, both as to extent
and wealth, the richness and cultivation of the soil, the power of its
king, and the number and warlike disposition of the inhabitants. It is
situated nearly under the line, and extends along the coast about 170
miles, but runs back into the interior part of Africa to a distance
hitherto I believe unexplored by any traveller; and seems only
terminated at length by the empire of Abyssinia, near 1500 miles from
its beginning. This kingdom is divided into many provinces or
districts: in one of the most remote and fertile of which, called
Eboe, I was born, in the year 1745, in a charming fruitful vale, named
Essaka. The distance of this province from the capital of Benin and
the sea coast must be very considerable; for I had never heard of
white men or Europeans, nor of the sea: and our subjection to the king
of Benin was little more than nominal; for every transaction of the
government, as far as my slender observation extended, was conducted
by the chiefs or elders of the place. The manners and government of a
people who have little commerce with other countries are generally
very simple; and the history of what passes in one family or village
may serve as a specimen of a nation. My father was one of those elders
or chiefs I have spoken of, and was styled Embrenche; a term, as I
remember, importing the highest distinction, and signifying in our
language a _mark_ of grandeur. This mark is conferred on the person
entitled to it, by cutting the skin across at the top of the forehead,
and drawing it down to the eye-brows; and while it is in this
situation applying a warm hand, and rubbing it until it shrinks up
into a thick _weal_ across the lower part of the forehead. Most of the
judges and senators were thus marked; my father had long born it: I
had seen it conferred on one of my brothers, and I was also
_destined_ to receive it by my parents. Those Embrence, or chief men,
decided disputes and punished crimes; for which purpose they always
assembled together. The proceedings were generally short; and in most
cases the law of retaliation prevailed. I remember a man was brought
before my father, and the other judges, for kidnapping a boy; and,
although he was the son of a chief or senator, he was condemned to
make recompense by a man or woman slave. Adultery, however, was
sometimes punished with slavery or death; a punishment which I believe
is inflicted on it throughout most of the nations of Africa[A]: so
sacred among them is the honour of the marriage bed, and so jealous
are they of the fidelity of their wives. Of this I recollect an
instance:--a woman was convicted before the judges of adultery, and
delivered over, as the custom was, to her husband to be punished.
Accordingly he determined to put her to death: but it being found,
just before her execution, that she had an infant at her breast; and
no woman being prevailed on to perform the part of a nurse, she was
spared on account of the child. The men, however, do not preserve the
same constancy to their wives, which they expect from them; for they
indulge in a plurality, though seldom in more than two. Their mode of
marriage is thus:--both parties are usually betrothed when young by
their parents, (though I have known the males to betroth themselves).
On this occasion a feast is prepared, and the bride and bridegroom
stand up in the midst of all their friends, who are assembled for the
purpose, while he declares she is thenceforth to be looked upon as his
wife, and that no other person is to pay any addresses to her. This is
also immediately proclaimed in the vicinity, on which the bride
retires from the assembly. Some time after she is brought home to her
husband, and then another feast is made, to which the relations of
both parties are invited: her parents then deliver her to the
bridegroom, accompanied with a number of blessings, and at the same
time they tie round her waist a cotton string of the thickness of a
goose-quill, which none but married women are permitted to wear: she
is now considered as completely his wife; and at this time the dowry
is given to the new married pair, which generally consists of portions
of land, slaves, and cattle, household goods, and implements of
husbandry. These are offered by the friends of both parties; besides
which the parents of the bridegroom present gifts to those of the
bride, whose property she is looked upon before marriage; but after it
she is esteemed the sole property of her husband. The ceremony being
now ended the festival begins, which is celebrated with bonefires, and
loud acclamations of joy, accompanied with music and dancing.
We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets. Thus every
great event, such as a triumphant return from battle, or other cause
of public rejoicing is celebrated in public dances, which are
accompanied with songs and music suited to the occasion. The assembly
is separated into four divisions, which dance either apart or in
succession, and each with a character peculiar to itself. The first
division contains the married men, who in their dances frequently
exhibit feats of arms, and the representation of a battle. To these
succeed the married women, who dance in the second division. The young
men occupy the third; and the maidens the fourth. Each represents some
interesting scene of real life, such as a great achievement, domestic
employment, a pathetic story, or some rural sport; and as the subject
is generally founded on some recent event, it is therefore ever new.
This gives our dances a spirit and variety which I have scarcely seen
elsewhere[B]. We have many musical instruments, particularly drums of
different kinds, a piece of music which resembles a guitar, and
another much like a stickado. These last are chiefly used by betrothed
virgins, who play on them on all grand festivals.
As our manners are simple, our luxuries are few. The dress of both
sexes is nearly the same. It generally consists of a long piece of
callico, or muslin, wrapped loosely round the body, somewhat in the
form of a highland plaid. This is usually dyed blue, which is our
favourite colour. It is extracted from a berry, and is brighter and
richer than any I have seen in Europe. Besides this, our women of
distinction wear golden ornaments; which they dispose with some
profusion on their arms and legs. When our women are not employed with
the men in tillage, their usual occupation is spinning and weaving
cotton, which they afterwards dye, and make it into garments. They
also manufacture earthen vessels, of which we have many kinds. Among
the rest tobacco pipes, made after the same fashion, and used in the
same manner, as those in Turkey[C].
Our manner of living is entirely plain; for as yet the natives are
unacquainted with those refinements in cookery which debauch the
taste: bullocks, goats, and poultry, supply the greatest part of their
food. These constitute likewise the principal wealth of the country,
and the chief articles of its commerce. The flesh is usually stewed in
a pan; to make it savoury we sometimes use also pepper, and other
spices, and we have salt made of wood ashes. Our vegetables are mostly
plantains, eadas, yams, beans, and Indian corn. The head of the family
usually eats alone; his wives and slaves have also their separate
tables. Before we taste food we always wash our hands: indeed our
cleanliness on all occasions is extreme; but on this it is an
indispensable ceremony. After washing, libation is made, by pouring
out a small portion of the food, in a certain place, for the spirits
of departed relations, which the natives suppose to preside over their
conduct, and guard them from evil. They are totally unacquainted with
strong or spirituous liquours; and their principal beverage is palm
wine. This is gotten from a tree of that name by tapping it at the
top, and fastening a large gourd to it; and sometimes one tree will
yield three or four gallons in a night. When just drawn it is of a
most delicious sweetness; but in a few days it acquires a tartish and
more spirituous flavour: though I never saw any one intoxicated by it.
The same tree also produces nuts and oil. Our principal luxury is in
perfumes; one sort of these is an odoriferous wood of delicious
fragrance: the other a kind of earth; a small portion of which thrown
into the fire diffuses a most powerful odour[D]. We beat this wood
into powder, and mix it with palm oil; with which both men and women
perfume themselves.
In our buildings we study convenience rather than ornament. Each
master of a family has a large square piece of ground, surrounded with
a moat or fence, or enclosed with a wall made of red earth tempered;
which, when dry, is as hard as brick. Within this are his houses to
accommodate his family and slaves; which, if numerous, frequently
present the appearance of a village. In the middle stands the
principal building, appropriated to the sole use of the master, and
consisting of two apartments; in one of which he sits in the day with
his family, the other is left apart for the reception of his friends.
He has besides these a distinct apartment in which he sleeps, together
with his male children. On each side are the apartments of his wives,
who have also their separate day and night houses. The habitations of
the slaves and their families are distributed throughout the rest of
the enclosure. These houses never exceed one story in height: they are
always built of wood, or stakes driven into the ground, crossed with
wattles, and neatly plastered within, and without. The roof is
thatched with reeds. Our day-houses are left open at the sides; but
those in which we sleep are always covered, and plastered in the
inside, with a composition mixed with cow-dung, to keep off the
different insects, which annoy us during the night. The walls and
floors also of these are generally covered with mats. Our beds consist
of a platform, raised three or four feet from the ground, on which are
laid skins, and different parts of a spungy tree called plaintain. Our
covering is calico or muslin, the same as our dress. The usual seats
are a few logs of wood; but we have benches, which are generally
perfumed, to accommodate strangers: these compose the greater part of
our household furniture. Houses so constructed and furnished require
but little skill to erect them. Every man is a sufficient architect
for the purpose. The whole neighbourhood afford their unanimous
assistance in building them and in return receive, and expect no other
recompense than a feast.
As we live in a country where nature is prodigal of her favours, our
wants are few and easily supplied; of course we have few manufactures.
They consist for the most part of calicoes, earthern ware, ornaments,
and instruments of war and husbandry. But these make no part of our
commerce, the principal articles of which, as I have observed, are
provisions. In such a state money is of little use; however we have
some small pieces of coin, if I may call them such. They are made
something like an anchor; but I do not remember either their value or
denomination. We have also markets, at which I have been frequently
with my mother. These are sometimes visited by stout mahogany-coloured
men from the south west of us: we call them Oye-Eboe, which term
signifies red men living at a distance. They generally bring us
fire-arms, gunpowder, hats, beads, and dried fish. The last we
esteemed a great rarity, as our waters were only brooks and springs.
These articles they barter with us for odoriferous woods and earth,
and our salt of wood ashes. They always carry slaves through our land;
but the strictest account is exacted of their manner of procuring them
before they are suffered to pass. Sometimes indeed we sold slaves to
them, but they were only prisoners of war, or such among us as had
been convicted of kidnapping, or adultery, and some other crimes,
which we esteemed heinous. This practice of kidnapping induces me to
think, that, notwithstanding all our strictness, their principal
business among us was to trepan our people. I remember too they
carried great sacks along with them, which not long after I had an
opportunity of fatally seeing applied to that infamous purpose.
Our land is uncommonly rich and fruitful, and produces all kinds of
vegetables in great abundance. We have plenty of Indian corn, and vast
quantities of cotton and tobacco. Our pine apples grow without
culture; they are about the size of the largest sugar-loaf, and finely
flavoured. We have also spices of different kinds, particularly
pepper; and a variety of delicious fruits which I have never seen in
Europe; together with gums of various kinds, and honey in abundance.
All our industry is exerted to improve those blessings of nature.
Agriculture is our chief employment; and every one, even the children
and women, are engaged in it. Thus we are all habituated to labour
from our earliest years. Every one contributes something to the common
stock; and as we are unacquainted with idleness, we have no beggars.
The benefits of such a mode of living are obvious. The West India
planters prefer the slaves of Benin or Eboe to those of any other part
of Guinea, for their hardiness, intelligence, integrity, and zeal.
Those benefits are felt by us in the general healthiness of the
people, and in their vigour and activity; I might have added too in
their comeliness. Deformity is indeed unknown amongst us, I mean that
of shape. Numbers of the natives of Eboe now in London might be
brought in support of this assertion: for, in regard to complexion,
ideas of beauty are wholly relative. I remember while in Africa to
have seen three negro children, who were tawny, and another quite
white, who were universally regarded by myself, and the natives in
general, as far as related to their complexions, as deformed. Our
women too were in my eyes at least uncommonly graceful, alert, and
modest to a degree of bashfulness; nor do I remember to have ever
heard of an instance of incontinence amongst them before marriage.
They are also remarkably cheerful. Indeed cheerfulness and affability
are two of the leading characteristics of our nation.
Our tillage is exercised in a large plain or common, some hours walk
from our dwellings, and all the neighbours resort thither in a body.
They use no beasts of husbandry; and their only instruments are hoes,
axes, shovels, and beaks, or pointed iron to dig with. Sometimes we
are visited by locusts, which come in large clouds, so as to darken
the air, and destroy our harvest. This however happens rarely, but
when it does, a famine is produced by it. I remember an instance or
two wherein this happened. This common is often the theatre of war;
and therefore when our people go out to till their land, they not only
go in a body, but generally take their arms with them for fear of a
surprise; and when they apprehend an invasion they guard the avenues
to their dwellings, by driving sticks into the ground, which are so
sharp at one end as to pierce the foot, and are generally dipt in
poison. From what I can recollect of these battles, they appear to
have been irruptions of one little state or district on the other, to
obtain prisoners or booty. Perhaps they were incited to this by those
traders who brought the European goods I mentioned amongst us. Such a
mode of obtaining slaves in Africa is common; and I believe more are
procured this way, and by kidnapping, than any other[E]. When a trader
wants slaves, he applies to a chief for them, and tempts him with his
wares. It is not extraordinary, if on this occasion he yields to the
temptation with as little firmness, and accepts the price of his
fellow creatures liberty with as little reluctance as the enlightened
merchant. Accordingly he falls on his neighbours, and a desperate
battle ensues. If he prevails and takes prisoners, he gratifies his
avarice by selling them; but, if his party be vanquished, and he falls
into the hands of the enemy, he is put to death: for, as he has been
known to foment their quarrels, it is thought dangerous to let him
survive, and no ransom can save him, though all other prisoners may be
redeemed. We have fire-arms, bows and arrows, broad two-edged swords
and javelins: we have shields also which cover a man from head to
foot. All are taught the use of these weapons; even our women are
warriors, and march boldly out to fight along with the men. Our whole
district is a kind of militia: on a certain signal given, such as the
firing of a gun at night, they all rise in arms and rush upon their
enemy. It is perhaps something remarkable, that when our people march
to the field a red flag or banner is borne before them. I was once a
witness to a battle in our common. We had been all at work in it one
day as usual, when our people were suddenly attacked. I climbed a tree
at some distance, from which I beheld the fight. There were many women
as well as men on both sides; among others my mother was there, and
armed with a broad sword. After fighting for a considerable time with
great fury, and after many had been killed our people obtained the
victory, and took their enemy's Chief prisoner. He was carried off in
great triumph, and, though he offered a large ransom for his life, he
was put to death. A virgin of note among our enemies had been slain in
the battle, and her arm was exposed in our market-place, where our
trophies were always exhibited. The spoils were divided according to
the merit of the warriors. Those prisoners which were not sold or
redeemed we kept as slaves: but how different was their condition from
that of the slaves in the West Indies! With us they do no more work
than other members of the community, even their masters; their food,
clothing and lodging were nearly the same as theirs, (except that they
were not permitted to eat with those who were free-born); and there
was scarce any other difference between them, than a superior degree
of importance which the head of a family possesses in our state, and
that authority which, as such, he exercises over every part of his
household. Some of these slaves have even slaves under them as their
own property, and for their own use.
As to religion, the natives believe that there is one Creator of all
things, and that he lives in the sun, and is girted round with a belt
that he may never eat or drink; but, according to some, he smokes a
pipe, which is our own favourite luxury. They believe he governs
events, especially our deaths or captivity; but, as for the doctrine
of eternity, I do not remember to have ever heard of it: some however
believe in the transmigration of souls in a certain degree. Those
spirits, which are not transmigrated, such as our dear friends or
relations, they believe always attend them, and guard them from the
bad spirits or their foes. For this reason they always before eating,
as I have observed, put some small portion of the meat, and pour some
of their drink, on the ground for them; and they often make oblations
of the blood of beasts or fowls at their graves. I was very fond of my
mother, and almost constantly with her. When she went to make these
oblations at her mother's tomb, which was a kind of small solitary
thatched house, I sometimes attended her. There she made her
libations, and spent most of the night in cries and lamentations. I
have been often extremely terrified on these occasions. The loneliness
of the place, the darkness of the night, and the ceremony of libation,
naturally awful and gloomy, were heightened by my mother's
lamentations; and these, concuring with the cries of doleful birds, by
which these places were frequented, gave an inexpressible terror to
the scene.
We compute the year from the day on which the sun crosses the line,
and on its setting that evening there is a general shout throughout
the land; at least I can speak from my own knowledge throughout our
vicinity. The people at the same time make a great noise with rattles,
not unlike the basket rattles used by children here, though much
larger, and hold up their hands to heaven for a blessing. It is then
the greatest offerings are made; and those children whom our wise men
foretel will be fortunate are then presented to different people. I
remember many used to come to see me, and I was carried about to
others for that purpose. They have many offerings, particularly at
full moons; generally two at harvest before the fruits are taken out
of the ground: and when any young animals are killed, sometimes they
offer up part of them as a sacrifice. These offerings, when made by
one of the heads of a family, serve for the whole. I remember we often
had them at my father's and my uncle's, and their families have been
present. Some of our offerings are eaten with bitter herbs. We had a
saying among us to any one of a cross temper, 'That if they were to be
eaten, they should be eaten with bitter herbs.'
We practised circumcision like the Jews, and made offerings and feasts
on that occasion in the same manner as they did. Like them also, our
children were named from some event, some circumstance, or fancied
foreboding at the time of their birth. I was named _Olaudah_, which,
in our language, signifies vicissitude or fortune also, one favoured,
and having a loud voice and well spoken. I remember we never polluted
the name of the object of our adoration; on the contrary, it was
always mentioned with the greatest reverence; and we were totally
unacquainted with swearing, and all those terms of abuse and reproach
which find their way so readily and copiously into the languages of
more civilized people. The only expressions of that kind I remember
were 'May you rot, or may you swell, or may a beast take you.'
I have before remarked that the natives of this part of Africa are
extremely cleanly. This necessary habit of decency was with us a part
of religion, and therefore we had many purifications and washings;
indeed almost as many, and used on the same occasions, if my
recollection does not fail me, as the Jews. Those that touched the
dead at any time were obliged to wash and purify themselves before
they could enter a dwelling-house. Every woman too, at certain times,
was forbidden to come into a dwelling-house, or touch any person, or
any thing we ate. I was so fond of my mother I could not keep from
her, or avoid touching her at some of those periods, in consequence of
which I was obliged to be kept out with her, in a little house made
for that purpose, till offering was made, and then we were purified.
Though we had no places of public worship, we had priests and
magicians, or wise men. I do not remember whether they had different
offices, or whether they were united in the same persons, but they
were held in great reverence by the people. They calculated our time,
and foretold events, as their name imported, for we called them
Ah-affoe-way-cah, which signifies calculators or yearly men, our year
being called Ah-affoe. They wore their beards, and when they died they
were succeeded by their sons. Most of their implements and things of
value were interred along with them. Pipes and tobacco were also put
into the grave with the corpse, which was always perfumed and
ornamented, and animals were offered in sacrifice to them. None
accompanied their funerals but those of the same profession or tribe.
These buried them after sunset, and always returned from the grave by
a different way from that which they went.
These magicians were also our doctors or physicians. They practised
bleeding by cupping; and were very successful in healing wounds and
expelling poisons. They had likewise some extraordinary method of
discovering jealousy, theft, and poisoning; the success of which no
doubt they derived from their unbounded influence over the credulity
and superstition of the people. I do not remember what those methods
were, except that as to poisoning: I recollect an instance or two,
which I hope it will not be deemed impertinent here to insert, as it
may serve as a kind of specimen of the rest, and is still used by the
negroes in the West Indies. A virgin had been poisoned, but it was not
known by whom: the doctors ordered the corpse to be taken up by some
persons, and carried to the grave. As soon as the bearers had raised
it on their shoulders, they seemed seized with some[F] sudden
impulse, and ran to and fro unable to stop themselves. At last, after
having passed through a number of thorns and prickly bushes unhurt,
the corpse fell from them close to a house, and defaced it in the
fall; and, the owner being taken up, he immediately confessed the
poisoning[G].
The natives are extremely cautious about poison. When they buy any
eatable the seller kisses it all round before the buyer, to shew him
it is not poisoned; and the same is done when any meat or drink is
presented, particularly to a stranger. We have serpents of different
kinds, some of which are esteemed ominous when they appear in our
houses, and these we never molest. I remember two of those ominous
snakes, each of which was as thick as the calf of a man's leg, and in
colour resembling a dolphin in the water, crept at different times
into my mother's night-house, where I always lay with her, and coiled
themselves into folds, and each time they crowed like a cock. I was
desired by some of our wise men to touch these, that I might be
interested in the good omens, which I did, for they were quite
harmless, and would tamely suffer themselves to be handled; and then
they were put into a large open earthen pan, and set on one side of
the highway. Some of our snakes, however, were poisonous: one of them
crossed the road one day when I was standing on it, and passed between
my feet without offering to touch me, to the great surprise of many
who saw it; and these incidents were accounted by the wise men, and
therefore by my mother and the rest of the people, as remarkable omens
in my favour.
Such is the imperfect sketch my memory has furnished me with of the
manners and customs of a people among whom I first drew my breath. And
here I cannot forbear suggesting what has long struck me very
forcibly, namely, the strong analogy which even by this sketch,
imperfect as it is, appears to prevail in the manners and customs of
my countrymen and those of the Jews, before they reached the Land of
Promise, and particularly the patriarchs while they were yet in that
pastoral state which is described in Genesis--an analogy, which alone
would induce me to think that the one people had sprung from the
other. Indeed this is the opinion of Dr. Gill, who, in his commentary
on Genesis, very ably deduces the pedigree of the Africans from Afer
and Afra, the descendants of Abraham by Keturah his wife and concubine
(for both these titles are applied to her). It is also conformable to
the sentiments of Dr. John Clarke, formerly Dean of Sarum, in his
Truth of the Christian Religion: both these authors concur in
ascribing to us this original. The reasonings of these gentlemen are
still further confirmed by the scripture chronology; and if any
further corroboration were required, this resemblance in so many
respects is a strong evidence in support of the opinion. Like the
Israelites in their primitive state, our government was conducted by
our chiefs or judges, our wise men and elders; and the head of a
family with us enjoyed a similar authority over his household with
that which is ascribed to Abraham and the other patriarchs. The law of
retaliation obtained almost universally with us as with them: and even
their religion appeared to have shed upon us a ray of its glory,
though broken and spent in its passage, or eclipsed by the cloud with
which time, tradition, and ignorance might have enveloped it; for we
had our circumcision (a rule I believe peculiar to that people:) we
had also our sacrifices and burnt-offerings, our washings and
purifications, on the same occasions as they had.
As to the difference of colour between the Eboan Africans and the
modern Jews, I shall not presume to account for it. It is a subject
which has engaged the pens of men of both genius and learning, and is
far above my strength. The most able and Reverend Mr. T. Clarkson,
however, in his much admired Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the
Human Species, has ascertained the cause, in a manner that at once
solves every objection on that account, and, on my mind at least, has
produced the fullest conviction. I shall therefore refer to that
performance for the theory[H], contenting myself with extracting a
fact as related by Dr. Mitchel[I]. "The Spaniards, who have inhabited
America, under the torrid zone, for any time, are become as dark
coloured as our native Indians of Virginia; of which _I myself have
been a witness_." There is also another instance[J] of a Portuguese
settlement at Mitomba, a river in Sierra Leona; where the inhabitants
are bred from a mixture of the first Portuguese discoverers with the
natives, and are now become in their complexion, and in the woolly
quality of their hair, _perfect negroes_, retaining however a
smattering of the Portuguese language.
These instances, and a great many more which might be adduced, while
they shew how the complexions of the same persons vary in different
climates, it is hoped may tend also to remove the prejudice that some
conceive against the natives of Africa on account of their colour.
Surely the minds of the Spaniards did not change with their
complexions! Are there not causes enough to which the apparent
inferiority of an African may be ascribed, without limiting the
goodness of God, and supposing he forbore to stamp understanding on
certainly his own image, because "carved in ebony." Might it not
naturally be ascribed to their situation? When they come among
Europeans, they are ignorant of their language, religion, manners, and
customs. Are any pains taken to teach them these? Are they treated as
men? Does not slavery itself depress the mind, and extinguish all its
fire and every noble sentiment? But, above all, what advantages do not
a refined people possess over those who are rude and uncultivated. Let
the polished and haughty European recollect that his ancestors were
once, like the Africans, uncivilized, and even barbarous. Did Nature
make _them_ inferior to their sons? and should _they too_ have been
made slaves? Every rational mind answers, No. Let such reflections as
these melt the pride of their superiority into sympathy for the wants
and miseries of their sable brethren, and compel them to acknowledge,
that understanding is not confined to feature or colour. If, when they
look round the world, they feel exultation, let it be tempered with
benevolence to others, and gratitude to God, "who hath made of one
blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth[K];
and whose wisdom is not our wisdom, neither are our ways his ways."
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote A: See Benezet's "Account of Guinea" throughout.]
[Footnote B: When I was in Smyrna I have frequently seen the Greeks
dance after this manner.]
[Footnote C: The bowl is earthen, curiously figured, to which a long
reed is fixed as a tube. This tube is sometimes so long as to be born
by one, and frequently out of grandeur by two boys.]
[Footnote D: When I was in Smyrna I saw the same kind of earth, and
brought some of it with me to England; it resembles musk in strength,
but is more delicious in scent, and is not unlike the smell of a
rose.]
[Footnote E: See Benezet's Account of Africa throughout.]
[Footnote F: See also Leut. Matthew's Voyage, p. 123.]
[Footnote G: An instance of this kind happened at Montserrat in the
West Indies in the year 1763. I then belonged to the Charming Sally,
Capt. Doran.--The chief mate, Mr. Mansfield, and some of the crew
being one day on shore, were present at the burying of a poisoned
negro girl. Though they had often heard of the circumstance of the
running in such cases, and had even seen it, they imagined it to be a
trick of the corpse-bearers. The mate therefore desired two of the
sailors to take up the coffin, and carry it to the grave. The sailors,
who were all of the same opinion, readily obeyed; but they had
scarcely raised it to their shoulders, before they began to run
furiously about, quite unable to direct themselves, till, at last,
without intention, they came to the hut of him who had poisoned the
girl. The coffin then immediately fell from their shoulders against
the hut, and damaged part of the wall. The owner of the hut was taken
into custody on this, and confessed the poisoning.--I give this story
as it was related by the mate and crew on their return to the ship.
The credit which is due to it I leave with the reader.]
[Footnote H: Page 178 to 216.]
[Footnote I: Philos. Trans. Nº 476, Sect. 4, cited by Mr. Clarkson, p.
205.]
[Footnote J: Same page.]
[Footnote K: Acts, c. xvii. v. 26.]
CHAP. II.
_The author's birth and parentage--His being kidnapped with
his sister--Their separation--Surprise at meeting again--Are
finally separated--Account of the different places and
incidents the author met with till his arrival on the
coast--The effect the sight of a slave ship had on him--He
sails for the West Indies--Horrors of a slave ship--Arrives
at Barbadoes, where the cargo is sold and dispersed._
I hope the reader will not think I have trespassed on his
patience in introducing myself to him with some account of the manners
and customs of my country. They had been implanted in me with great
care, and made an impression on my mind, which time could not erase,
and which all the adversity and variety of fortune I have since
experienced served only to rivet and record; for, whether the love of
one's country be real or imaginary, or a lesson of reason, or an
instinct of nature, I still look back with pleasure on the first
scenes of my life, though that pleasure has been for the most part
mingled with sorrow.
I have already acquainted the reader with the time and place of my
birth. My father, besides many slaves, had a numerous family, of which
seven lived to grow up, including myself and a sister, who was the
only daughter. As I was the youngest of the sons, I became, of course,
the greatest favourite with my mother, and was always with her; and
she used to take particular pains to form my mind. I was trained up
from my earliest years in the art of war; my daily exercise was
shooting and throwing javelins; and my mother adorned me with emblems,
after the manner of our greatest warriors. In this way I grew up till
I was turned the age of eleven, when an end was put to my happiness in
the following manner:--Generally when the grown people in the
neighbourhood were gone far in the fields to labour, the children
assembled together in some of the neighbours' premises to play; and
commonly some of us used to get up a tree to look out for any
assailant, or kidnapper, that might come upon us; for they sometimes
took those opportunities of our parents' absence to attack and carry
off as many as they could seize. One day, as I was watching at the top
of a tree in our yard, I saw one of those people come into the yard of
our next neighbour but one, to kidnap, there being many stout young
people in it. Immediately on this I gave the alarm of the rogue, and
he was surrounded by the stoutest of them, who entangled him with
cords, so that he could not escape till some of the grown people came
and secured him. But alas! ere long it was my fate to be thus
attacked, and to be carried off, when none of the grown people were
nigh. One day, when all our people were gone out to their works as
usual, and only I and my dear sister were left to mind the house, two
men and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both,
and, without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they
stopped our mouths, and ran off with us into the nearest wood. Here
they tied our hands, and continued to carry us as far as they could,
till night came on, when we reached a small house, where the robbers
halted for refreshment, and spent the night. We were then unbound, but
were unable to take any food; and, being quite overpowered by fatigue
and grief, our only relief was some sleep, which allayed our
misfortune for a short time. The next morning we left the house, and
continued travelling all the day. For a long time we had kept the
woods, but at last we came into a road which I believed I knew. I had
now some hopes of being delivered; for we had advanced but a little
way before I discovered some people at a distance, on which I began to
cry out for their assistance: but my cries had no other effect than to
make them tie me faster and stop my mouth, and then they put me into a
large sack. They also stopped my sister's mouth, and tied her hands;
and in this manner we proceeded till we were out of the sight of these
people. When we went to rest the following night they offered us some
victuals; but we refused it; and the only comfort we had was in being
in one another's arms all that night, and bathing each other with our
tears. But alas! we were soon deprived of even the small comfort of
weeping together. The next day proved a day of greater sorrow than I
had yet experienced; for my sister and I were then separated, while we
lay clasped in each other's arms. It was in vain that we besought them
not to part us; she was torn from me, and immediately carried away,
while I was left in a state of distraction not to be described. I
cried and grieved continually; and for several days I did not eat any
thing but what they forced into my mouth. At length, after many days
travelling, during which I had often changed masters, I got into the
hands of a chieftain, in a very pleasant country. This man had two
wives and some children, and they all used me extremely well, and did
all they could to comfort me; particularly the first wife, who was
something like my mother. Although I was a great many days journey
from my father's house, yet these people spoke exactly the same
language with us. This first master of mine, as I may call him, was a
smith, and my principal employment was working his bellows, which were
the same kind as I had seen in my vicinity. They were in some respects
not unlike the stoves here in gentlemen's kitchens; and were covered
over with leather; and in the middle of that leather a stick was
fixed, and a person stood up, and worked it, in the same manner as is
done to pump water out of a cask with a hand pump. I believe it was
gold he worked, for it was of a lovely bright yellow colour, and was
worn by the women on their wrists and ancles. I was there I suppose
about a month, and they at last used to trust me some little distance
from the house. This liberty I used in embracing every opportunity to
inquire the way to my own home: and I also sometimes, for the same
purpose, went with the maidens, in the cool of the evenings, to bring
pitchers of water from the springs for the use of the house. I had
also remarked where the sun rose in the morning, and set in the
evening, as I had travelled along; and I had observed that my father's
house was towards the rising of the sun. I therefore determined to
seize the first opportunity of making my escape, and to shape my
course for that quarter; for I was quite oppressed and weighed down by
grief after my mother and friends; and my love of liberty, ever great,
was strengthened by the mortifying circumstance of not daring to eat
with the free-born children, although I was mostly their companion.
While I was projecting my escape, one day an unlucky event happened,
which quite disconcerted my plan, and put an end to my hopes. I used
to be sometimes employed in assisting an elderly woman slave to cook
and take care of the poultry; and one morning, while I was feeding
some chickens, I happened to toss a small pebble at one of them,
which hit it on the middle and directly killed it. The old slave,
having soon after missed the chicken, inquired after it; and on my
relating the accident (for I told her the truth, because my mother
would never suffer me to tell a lie) she flew into a violent passion,
threatened that I should suffer for it; and, my master being out, she
immediately went and told her mistress what I had done. This alarmed
me very much, and I expected an instant flogging, which to me was
uncommonly dreadful; for I had seldom been beaten at home. I therefore
resolved to fly; and accordingly I ran into a thicket that was hard
by, and hid myself in the bushes. Soon afterwards my mistress and the
slave returned, and, not seeing me, they searched all the house, but
not finding me, and I not making answer when they called to me, they
thought I had run away, and the whole neighbourhood was raised in the
pursuit of me. In that part of the country (as in ours) the houses and
villages were skirted with woods, or shrubberies, and the bushes were
so thick that a man could readily conceal himself in them, so as to
elude the strictest search. The neighbours continued the whole day
looking for me, and several times many of them came within a few yards
of the place where I lay hid. I then gave myself up for lost entirely,
and expected every moment, when I heard a rustling among the trees, to
be found out, and punished by my master: but they never discovered me,
though they were often so near that I even heard their conjectures as
they were looking about for me; and I now learned from them, that any
attempt to return home would be hopeless. Most of them supposed I had
fled towards home; but the distance was so great, and the way so
intricate, that they thought I could never reach it, and that I should
be lost in the woods. When I heard this I was seized with a violent
panic, and abandoned myself to despair. Night too began to approach,
and aggravated all my fears. I had before entertained hopes of getting
home, and I had determined when it should be dark to make the attempt;
but I was now convinced it was fruitless, and I began to consider
that, if possibly I could escape all other animals, I could not those
of the human kind; and that, not knowing the way, I must perish in the
woods. Thus was I like the hunted deer:
--"Ev'ry leaf and ev'ry whisp'ring breath
Convey'd a foe, and ev'ry foe a death."
I heard frequent rustlings among the leaves; and being pretty sure
they were snakes I expected every instant to be stung by them. This
increased my anguish, and the horror of my situation became now quite
insupportable. I at length quitted the thicket, very faint and hungry,
for I had not eaten or drank any thing all the day; and crept to my
master's kitchen, from whence I set out at first, and which was an
open shed, and laid myself down in the ashes with an anxious wish for
death to relieve me from all my pains. I was scarcely awake in the
morning when the old woman slave, who was the first up, came to light
the fire, and saw me in the fire place. She was very much surprised to
see me, and could scarcely believe her own eyes. She now promised to
intercede for me, and went for her master, who soon after came, and,
having slightly reprimanded me, ordered me to be taken care of, and
not to be ill-treated.
Soon after this my master's only daughter, and child by his first
wife, sickened and died, which affected him so much that for some time
he was almost frantic, and really would have killed himself, had he
not been watched and prevented. However, in a small time afterwards he
recovered, and I was again sold. I was now carried to the left of the
sun's rising, through many different countries, and a number of large
woods. The people I was sold to used to carry me very often, when I
was tired, either on their shoulders or on their backs. I saw many
convenient well-built sheds along the roads, at proper distances, to
accommodate the merchants and travellers, who lay in those buildings
along with their wives, who often accompany them; and they always go
well armed.
From the time I left my own nation I always found somebody that
understood me till I came to the sea coast. The languages of different
nations did not totally differ, nor were they so copious as those of
the Europeans, particularly the English. They were therefore easily
learned; and, while I was journeying thus through Africa, I acquired
two or three different tongues. In this manner I had been travelling
for a considerable time, when one evening, to my great surprise, whom
should I see brought to the house where I was but my dear sister! As
soon as she saw me she gave a loud shriek, and ran into my arms--I was
quite overpowered: neither of us could speak; but, for a considerable
time, clung to each other in mutual embraces, unable to do any thing
but weep. Our meeting affected all who saw us; and indeed I must
acknowledge, in honour of those sable destroyers of human rights, that
I never met with any ill treatment, or saw any offered to their
slaves, except tying them, when necessary, to keep them from running
away. When these people knew we were brother and sister they indulged
us together; and the man, to whom I supposed we belonged, lay with us,
he in the middle, while she and I held one another by the hands across
his breast all night; and thus for a while we forgot our misfortunes
in the joy of being together: but even this small comfort was soon to
have an end; for scarcely had the fatal morning appeared, when she was
again torn from me for ever! I was now more miserable, if possible,
than before. The small relief which her presence gave me from pain was
gone, and the wretchedness of my situation was redoubled by my anxiety
after her fate, and my apprehensions lest her sufferings should be
greater than mine, when I could not be with her to alleviate them.
Yes, thou dear partner of all my childish sports! thou sharer of my
joys and sorrows! happy should I have ever esteemed myself to
encounter every misery for you, and to procure your freedom by the
sacrifice of my own. Though you were early forced from my arms, your
image has been always rivetted in my heart, from which neither _time
nor fortune_ have been able to remove it; so that, while the thoughts
of your sufferings have damped my prosperity, they have mingled with
adversity and increased its bitterness. To that Heaven which protects
the weak from the strong, I commit the care of your innocence and
virtues, if they have not already received their full reward, and if
your youth and delicacy have not long since fallen victims to the
violence of the African trader, the pestilential stench of a Guinea
ship, the seasoning in the European colonies, or the lash and lust of
a brutal and unrelenting overseer.
I did not long remain after my sister. I was again sold, and carried
through a number of places, till, after travelling a considerable
time, I came to a town called Tinmah, in the most beautiful country I
have yet seen in Africa. It was extremely rich, and there were many
rivulets which flowed through it, and supplied a large pond in the
centre of the town, where the people washed. Here I first saw and
tasted cocoa-nuts, which I thought superior to any nuts I had ever
tasted before; and the trees, which were loaded, were also
interspersed amongst the houses, which had commodious shades
adjoining, and were in the same manner as ours, the insides being
neatly plastered and whitewashed. Here I also saw and tasted for the
first time sugar-cane. Their money consisted of little white shells,
the size of the finger nail. I was sold here for one hundred and
seventy-two of them by a merchant who lived and brought me there. I
had been about two or three days at his house, when a wealthy widow, a
neighbour of his, came there one evening, and brought with her an only
son, a young gentleman about my own age and size. Here they saw me;
and, having taken a fancy to me, I was bought of the merchant, and
went home with them. Her house and premises were situated close to one
of those rivulets I have mentioned, and were the finest I ever saw in
Africa: they were very extensive, and she had a number of slaves to
attend her. The next day I was washed and perfumed, and when meal-time
came I was led into the presence of my mistress, and ate and drank
before her with her son. This filled me with astonishment; and I could
scarce help expressing my surprise that the young gentleman should
suffer me, who was bound, to eat with him who was free; and not only
so, but that he would not at any time either eat or drink till I had
taken first, because I was the eldest, which was agreeable to our
custom. Indeed every thing here, and all their treatment of me, made
me forget that I was a slave. The language of these people resembled
ours so nearly, that we understood each other perfectly. They had also
the very same customs as we. There were likewise slaves daily to
attend us, while my young master and I with other boys sported with
our darts and bows and arrows, as I had been used to do at home. In
this resemblance to my former happy state I passed about two months;
and I now began to think I was to be adopted into the family, and was
beginning to be reconciled to my situation, and to forget by degrees
my misfortunes, when all at once the delusion vanished; for, without
the least previous knowledge, one morning early, while my dear master
and companion was still asleep, I was wakened out of my reverie to
fresh sorrow, and hurried away even amongst the uncircumcised.
Thus, at the very moment I dreamed of the greatest happiness, I found
myself most miserable; and it seemed as if fortune wished to give me
this taste of joy, only to render the reverse more poignant. The
change I now experienced was as painful as it was sudden and
unexpected. It was a change indeed from a state of bliss to a scene
which is inexpressible by me, as it discovered to me an element I had
never before beheld, and till then had no idea of, and wherein such
instances of hardship and cruelty continually occurred as I can never
reflect on but with horror.
All the nations and people I had hitherto passed through resembled our
own in their manners, customs, and language: but I came at length to a
country, the inhabitants of which differed from us in all those
particulars. I was very much struck with this difference, especially
when I came among a people who did not circumcise, and ate without
washing their hands. They cooked also in iron pots, and had European
cutlasses and cross bows, which were unknown to us, and fought with
their fists amongst themselves. Their women were not so modest as
ours, for they ate, and drank, and slept, with their men. But, above
all, I was amazed to see no sacrifices or offerings among them. In
some of those places the people ornamented themselves with scars, and
likewise filed their teeth very sharp. They wanted sometimes to
ornament me in the same manner, but I would not suffer them; hoping
that I might some time be among a people who did not thus disfigure
themselves, as I thought they did. At last I came to the banks of a
large river, which was covered with canoes, in which the people
appeared to live with their household utensils and provisions of all
kinds. I was beyond measure astonished at this, as I had never before
seen any water larger than a pond or a rivulet: and my surprise was
mingled with no small fear when I was put into one of these canoes,
and we began to paddle and move along the river. We continued going on
thus till night; and when we came to land, and made fires on the
banks, each family by themselves, some dragged their canoes on shore,
others stayed and cooked in theirs, and laid in them all night. Those
on the land had mats, of which they made tents, some in the shape of
little houses: in these we slept; and after the morning meal we
embarked again and proceeded as before. I was often very much
astonished to see some of the women, as well as the men, jump into the
water, dive to the bottom, come up again, and swim about. Thus I
continued to travel, sometimes by land, sometimes by water, through
different countries and various nations, till, at the end of six or
seven months after I had been kidnapped, I arrived at the sea coast.
It would be tedious and uninteresting to relate all the incidents
which befell me during this journey, and which I have not yet
forgotten; of the various hands I passed through, and the manners and
customs of all the different people among whom I lived: I shall
therefore only observe, that in all the places where I was the soil
was exceedingly rich; the pomkins, eadas, plantains, yams, &c. &c.
were in great abundance, and of incredible size. There were also vast
quantities of different gums, though not used for any purpose; and
every where a great deal of tobacco. The cotton even grew quite wild;
and there was plenty of redwood. I saw no mechanics whatever in all
the way, except such as I have mentioned. The chief employment in all
these countries was agriculture, and both the males and females, as
with us, were brought up to it, and trained in the arts of war.
The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was
the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and
waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was
soon converted into terror when I was carried on board. I was
immediately handled and tossed up to see if I were sound by some of
the crew; and I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of
bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me. Their complexions
too differing so much from ours, their long hair, and the language
they spoke, (which was very different from any I had ever heard)
united to confirm me in this belief. Indeed such were the horrors of
my views and fears at the moment, that, if ten thousand worlds had
been my own, I would have freely parted with them all to have
exchanged my condition with that of the meanest slave in my own
country. When I looked round the ship too and saw a large furnace or
copper boiling, and a multitude of black people of every description
chained together, every one of their countenances expressing dejection
and sorrow, I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite overpowered
with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted.
When I recovered a little I found some black people about me, who I
believed were some of those who brought me on board, and had been
receiving their pay; they talked to me in order to cheer me, but all
in vain. I asked them if we were not to be eaten by those white men
with horrible looks, red faces, and loose hair. They told me I was
not; and one of the crew brought me a small portion of spirituous
liquor in a wine glass; but, being afraid of him, I would not take it
out of his hand. One of the blacks therefore took it from him and gave
it to me, and I took a little down my palate, which, instead of
reviving me, as they thought it would, threw me into the greatest
consternation at the strange feeling it produced, having never tasted
any such liquor before. Soon after this the blacks who brought me on
board went off, and left me abandoned to despair. I now saw myself
deprived of all chance of returning to my native country, or even the
least glimpse of hope of gaining the shore, which I now considered as
friendly; and I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my
present situation, which was filled with horrors of every kind, still
heightened by my ignorance of what I was to undergo. I was not long
suffered to indulge my grief; I was soon put down under the decks, and
there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never
experienced in my life: so that, with the loathsomeness of the stench,
and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to
eat, nor had I the least desire to taste any thing. I now wished for
the last friend, death, to relieve me; but soon, to my grief, two of
the white men offered me eatables; and, on my refusing to eat, one of
them held me fast by the hands, and laid me across I think the
windlass, and tied my feet, while the other flogged me severely. I had
never experienced any thing of this kind before; and although, not
being used to the water, I naturally feared that element the first
time I saw it, yet nevertheless, could I have got over the nettings,
I would have jumped over the side, but I could not; and, besides, the
crew used to watch us very closely who were not chained down to the
decks, lest we should leap into the water: and I have seen some of
these poor African prisoners most severely cut for attempting to do
so, and hourly whipped for not eating. This indeed was often the case
with myself. In a little time after, amongst the poor chained men, I
found some of my own nation, which in a small degree gave ease to my
mind. I inquired of these what was to be done with us; they gave me to
understand we were to be carried to these white people's country to
work for them. I then was a little revived, and thought, if it were no
worse than working, my situation was not so desperate: but still I
feared I should be put to death, the white people looked and acted, as
I thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among any
people such instances of brutal cruelty; and this not only shewn
towards us blacks, but also to some of the whites themselves. One
white man in particular I saw, when we were permitted to be on deck,
flogged so unmercifully with a large rope near the foremast, that he
died in consequence of it; and they tossed him over the side as they
would have done a brute. This made me fear these people the more; and
I expected nothing less than to be treated in the same manner. I could
not help expressing my fears and apprehensions to some of my
countrymen: I asked them if these people had no country, but lived in
this hollow place (the ship): they told me they did not, but came from
a distant one. 'Then,' said I, 'how comes it in all our country we
never heard of them?' They told me because they lived so very far off.
I then asked where were their women? had they any like themselves? I
was told they had: 'and why,' said I,'do we not see them?' they
answered, because they were left behind. I asked how the vessel could
go? they told me they could not tell; but that there were cloths put
upon the masts by the help of the ropes I saw, and then the vessel
went on; and the white men had some spell or magic they put in the
water when they liked in order to stop the vessel. I was exceedingly
amazed at this account, and really thought they were spirits. I
therefore wished much to be from amongst them, for I expected they
would sacrifice me: but my wishes were vain; for we were so quartered
that it was impossible for any of us to make our escape. While we
stayed on the coast I was mostly on deck; and one day, to my great
astonishment, I saw one of these vessels coming in with the sails up.
As soon as the whites saw it, they gave a great shout, at which we
were amazed; and the more so as the vessel appeared larger by
approaching nearer. At last she came to an anchor in my sight, and
when the anchor was let go I and my countrymen who saw it were lost in
astonishment to observe the vessel stop; and were not convinced it was
done by magic. Soon after this the other ship got her boats out, and
they came on board of us, and the people of both ships seemed very
glad to see each other. Several of the strangers also shook hands with
us black people, and made motions with their hands, signifying I
suppose we were to go to their country; but we did not understand
them. At last, when the ship we were in had got in all her cargo, they
made ready with many fearful noises, and we were all put under deck,
so that we could not see how they managed the vessel. But this
disappointment was the least of my sorrow. The stench of the hold
while we were on the coast was so intolerably loathsome, that it was
dangerous to remain there for any time, and some of us had been
permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air; but now that the
whole ship's cargo were confined together, it became absolutely
pestilential. The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate,
added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had
scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us. This produced
copious perspirations, so that the air soon became unfit for
respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells, and brought on a
sickness among the slaves, of which many died, thus falling victims to
the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their purchasers. This
wretched situation was again aggravated by the galling of the chains,
now become insupportable; and the filth of the necessary tubs, into
which the children often fell, and were almost suffocated. The shrieks
of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene
of horror almost inconceivable. Happily perhaps for myself I was soon
reduced so low here that it was thought necessary to keep me almost
always on deck; and from my extreme youth I was not put in fetters. In
this situation I expected every hour to share the fate of my
companions, some of whom were almost daily brought upon deck at the
point of death, which I began to hope would soon put an end to my
miseries. Often did I think many of the inhabitants of the deep much
more happy than myself. I envied them the freedom they enjoyed, and as
often wished I could change my condition for theirs. Every
circumstance I met with served only to render my state more painful,
and heighten my apprehensions, and my opinion of the cruelty of the
whites. One day they had taken a number of fishes; and when they had
killed and satisfied themselves with as many as they thought fit, to
our astonishment who were on the deck, rather than give any of them to
us to eat as we expected, they tossed the remaining fish into the sea
again, although we begged and prayed for some as well as we could, but
in vain; and some of my countrymen, being pressed by hunger, took an
opportunity, when they thought no one saw them, of trying to get a
little privately; but they were discovered, and the attempt procured
them some very severe floggings. One day, when we had a smooth sea and
moderate wind, two of my wearied countrymen who were chained together
(I was near them at the time), preferring death to such a life of
misery, somehow made through the nettings and jumped into the sea:
immediately another quite dejected fellow, who, on account of his
illness, was suffered to be out of irons, also followed their example;
and I believe many more would very soon have done the same if they had
not been prevented by the ship's crew, who were instantly alarmed.
Those of us that were the most active were in a moment put down under
the deck, and there was such a noise and confusion amongst the people
of the ship as I never heard before, to stop her, and get the boat out
to go after the slaves. However two of the wretches were drowned, but
they got the other, and afterwards flogged him unmercifully for thus
attempting to prefer death to slavery. In this manner we continued to
undergo more hardships than I can now relate, hardships which are
inseparable from this accursed trade. Many a time we were near
suffocation from the want of fresh air, which we were often without
for whole days together. This, and the stench of the necessary tubs,
carried off many. During our passage I first saw flying fishes, which
surprised me very much: they used frequently to fly across the ship,
and many of them fell on the deck. I also now first saw the use of the
quadrant; I had often with astonishment seen the mariners make
observations with it, and I could not think what it meant. They at
last took notice of my surprise; and one of them, willing to increase
it, as well as to gratify my curiosity, made me one day look through
it. The clouds appeared to me to be land, which disappeared as they
passed along. This heightened my wonder; and I was now more persuaded
than ever that I was in another world, and that every thing about me
was magic. At last we came in sight of the island of Barbadoes, at
which the whites on board gave a great shout, and made many signs of
joy to us. We did not know what to think of this; but as the vessel
drew nearer we plainly saw the harbour, and other ships of different
kinds and sizes; and we soon anchored amongst them off Bridge Town.
Many merchants and planters now came on board, though it was in the
evening. They put us in separate parcels, and examined us attentively.
They also made us jump, and pointed to the land, signifying we were to
go there. We thought by this we should be eaten by these ugly men, as
they appeared to us; and, when soon after we were all put down under
the deck again, there was much dread and trembling among us, and
nothing but bitter cries to be heard all the night from these
apprehensions, insomuch that at last the white people got some old
slaves from the land to pacify us. They told us we were not to be
eaten, but to work, and were soon to go on land, where we should see
many of our country people. This report eased us much; and sure
enough, soon after we were landed, there came to us Africans of all
languages. We were conducted immediately to the merchant's yard, where
we were all pent up together like so many sheep in a fold, without
regard to sex or age. As every object was new to me every thing I saw
filled me with surprise. What struck me first was that the houses were
built with stories, and in every other respect different from those in
Africa: but I was still more astonished on seeing people on horseback.
I did not know what this could mean; and indeed I thought these people
were full of nothing but magical arts. While I was in this
astonishment one of my fellow prisoners spoke to a countryman of his
about the horses, who said they were the same kind they had in their
country. I understood them, though they were from a distant part of
Africa, and I thought it odd I had not seen any horses there; but
afterwards, when I came to converse with different Africans, I found
they had many horses amongst them, and much larger than those I then
saw. We were not many days in the merchant's custody before we were
sold after their usual manner, which is this:--On a signal given,(as
the beat of a drum) the buyers rush at once into the yard where the
slaves are confined, and make choice of that parcel they like best.
The noise and clamour with which this is attended, and the eagerness
visible in the countenances of the buyers, serve not a little to
increase the apprehensions of the terrified Africans, who may well be
supposed to consider them as the ministers of that destruction to
which they think themselves devoted. In this manner, without scruple,
are relations and friends separated, most of them never to see each
other again. I remember in the vessel in which I was brought over, in
the men's apartment, there were several brothers, who, in the sale,
were sold in different lots; and it was very moving on this occasion
to see and hear their cries at parting. O, ye nominal Christians!
might not an African ask you, learned you this from your God, who says
unto you, Do unto all men as you would men should do unto you? Is it
not enough that we are torn from our country and friends to toil for
your luxury and lust of gain? Must every tender feeling be likewise
sacrificed to your avarice? Are the dearest friends and relations, now
rendered more dear by their separation from their kindred, still to be
parted from each other, and thus prevented from cheering the gloom of
slavery with the small comfort of being together and mingling their
sufferings and sorrows? Why are parents to lose their children,
brothers their sisters, or husbands their wives? Surely this is a new
refinement in cruelty, which, while it has no advantage to atone for
it, thus aggravates distress, and adds fresh horrors even to the
wretchedness of slavery.
CHAP. III.
_The author is carried to Virginia--His distress--Surprise
at seeing a picture and a watch--Is bought by Captain
Pascal, and sets out for England--His terror during the
voyage--Arrives in England--His wonder at a fall of snow--Is
sent to Guernsey, and in some time goes on board a ship of
war with his master--Some account of the expedition against
Louisbourg under the command of Admiral Boscawen, in 1758._
I now totally lost the small remains of comfort I had enjoyed in
conversing with my countrymen; the women too, who used to wash and
take care of me, were all gone different ways, and I never saw one of
them afterwards.
I stayed in this island for a few days; I believe it could not be
above a fortnight; when I and some few more slaves, that were not
saleable amongst the rest, from very much fretting, were shipped off
in a sloop for North America. On the passage we were better treated
than when we were coming from Africa, and we had plenty of rice and
fat pork. We were landed up a river a good way from the sea, about
Virginia county, where we saw few or none of our native Africans, and
not one soul who could talk to me. I was a few weeks weeding grass,
and gathering stones in a plantation; and at last all my companions
were distributed different ways, and only myself was left. I was now
exceedingly miserable, and thought myself worse off than any of the
rest of my companions; for they could talk to each other, but I had no
person to speak to that I could understand. In this state I was
constantly grieving and pining, and wishing for death rather than any
thing else. While I was in this plantation the gentleman, to whom I
suppose the estate belonged, being unwell, I was one day sent for to
his dwelling house to fan him; when I came into the room where he was
I was very much affrighted at some things I saw, and the more so as I
had seen a black woman slave as I came through the house, who was
cooking the dinner, and the poor creature was cruelly loaded with
various kinds of iron machines; she had one particularly on her head,
which locked her mouth so fast that she could scarcely speak; and
could not eat nor drink. I was much astonished and shocked at this
contrivance, which I afterwards learned was called the iron muzzle.
Soon after I had a fan put into my hand, to fan the gentleman while he
slept; and so I did indeed with great fear. While he was fast asleep I
indulged myself a great deal in looking about the room, which to me
appeared very fine and curious. The first object that engaged my
attention was a watch which hung on the chimney, and was going. I was
quite surprised at the noise it made, and was afraid it would tell the
gentleman any thing I might do amiss: and when I immediately after
observed a picture hanging in the room, which appeared constantly to
look at me, I was still more affrighted, having never seen such things
as these before. At one time I thought it was something relative to
magic; and not seeing it move I thought it might be some way the
whites had to keep their great men when they died, and offer them
libation as we used to do to our friendly spirits. In this state of
anxiety I remained till my master awoke, when I was dismissed out of
the room, to my no small satisfaction and relief; for I thought that
these people were all made up of wonders. In this place I was called
Jacob; but on board the African snow I was called Michael. I had been
some time in this miserable, forlorn, and much dejected state, without
having any one to talk to, which made my life a burden, when the kind
and unknown hand of the Creator (who in very deed leads the blind in a
way they know not) now began to appear, to my comfort; for one day the
captain of a merchant ship, called the Industrious Bee, came on some
business to my master's house. This gentleman, whose name was Michael
Henry Pascal, was a lieutenant in the royal navy, but now commanded
this trading ship, which was somewhere in the confines of the county
many miles off. While he was at my master's house it happened that he
saw me, and liked me so well that he made a purchase of me. I think I
have often heard him say he gave thirty or forty pounds sterling for
me; but I do not now remember which. However, he meant me for a
present to some of his friends in England: and I was sent accordingly
from the house of my then master, one Mr. Campbell, to the place where
the ship lay; I was conducted on horseback by an elderly black man, (a
mode of travelling which appeared very odd to me). When I arrived I
was carried on board a fine large ship, loaded with tobacco, &c. and
just ready to sail for England. I now thought my condition much
mended; I had sails to lie on, and plenty of good victuals to eat; and
every body on board used me very kindly, quite contrary to what I had
seen of any white people before; I therefore began to think that they
were not all of the same disposition. A few days after I was on board
we sailed for England. I was still at a loss to conjecture my destiny.
By this time, however, I could smatter a little imperfect English; and
I wanted to know as well as I could where we were going. Some of the
people of the ship used to tell me they were going to carry me back to
my own country, and this made me very happy. I was quite rejoiced at
the sound of going back; and thought if I should get home what wonders
I should have to tell. But I was reserved for another fate, and was
soon undeceived when we came within sight of the English coast. While
I was on board this ship, my captain and master named me _Gustavus
Vassa_. I at that time began to understand him a little, and refused to
be called so, and told him as well as I could that I would be called
Jacob; but he said I should not, and still called me Gustavus; and
when I refused to answer to my new name, which at first I did, it
gained me many a cuff; so at length I submitted, and was obliged to
bear the present name, by which I have been known ever since. The ship
had a very long passage; and on that account we had very short
allowance of provisions. Towards the last we had only one pound and a
half of bread per week, and about the same quantity of meat, and one
quart of water a-day. We spoke with only one vessel the whole time we
were at sea, and but once we caught a few fishes. In our extremities
the captain and people told me in jest they would kill and eat me; but
I thought them in earnest, and was depressed beyond measure, expecting
every moment to be my last. While I was in this situation one evening
they caught, with a good deal of trouble, a large shark, and got it on
board. This gladdened my poor heart exceedingly, as I thought it would
serve the people to eat instead of their eating me; but very soon, to
my astonishment, they cut off a small part of the tail, and tossed the
rest over the side. This renewed my consternation; and I did not know
what to think of these white people, though I very much feared they
would kill and eat me. There was on board the ship a young lad who had
never been at sea before, about four or five years older than myself:
his name was Richard Baker. He was a native of America, had received
an excellent education, and was of a most amiable temper. Soon after I
went on board he shewed me a great deal of partiality and attention,
and in return I grew extremely fond of him. We at length became
inseparable; and, for the space of two years, he was of very great use
to me, and was my constant companion and instructor. Although this
dear youth had many slaves of his own, yet he and I have gone through
many sufferings together on shipboard; and we have many nights lain in
each other's bosoms when we were in great distress. Thus such a
friendship was cemented between us as we cherished till his death,
which, to my very great sorrow, happened in the year 1759, when he was
up the Archipelago, on board his majesty's ship the Preston: an event
which I have never ceased to regret, as I lost at once a kind
interpreter, an agreeable companion, and a faithful friend; who, at
the age of fifteen, discovered a mind superior to prejudice; and who
was not ashamed to notice, to associate with, and to be the friend and
instructor of one who was ignorant, a stranger, of a different
complexion, and a slave! My master had lodged in his mother's house in
America: he respected him very much, and made him always eat with him
in the cabin. He used often to tell him jocularly that he would kill
me to eat. Sometimes he would say to me--the black people were not
good to eat, and would ask me if we did not eat people in my country.
I said, No: then he said he would kill Dick (as he always called him)
first, and afterwards me. Though this hearing relieved my mind a
little as to myself, I was alarmed for Dick and whenever he was called
I used to be very much afraid he was to be killed; and I would peep
and watch to see if they were going to kill him: nor was I free from
this consternation till we made the land. One night we lost a man
overboard; and the cries and noise were so great and confused, in
stopping the ship, that I, who did not know what was the matter,
began, as usual, to be very much afraid, and to think they were going
to make an offering with me, and perform some magic; which I still
believed they dealt in. As the waves were very high I thought the
Ruler of the seas was angry, and I expected to be offered up to
appease him. This filled my mind with agony, and I could not any more
that night close my eyes again to rest. However, when daylight
appeared I was a little eased in my mind; but still every time I was
called I used to think it was to be killed. Some time after this we
saw some very large fish, which I afterwards found were called
grampusses. They looked to me extremely terrible, and made their
appearance just at dusk; and were so near as to blow the water on the
ship's deck. I believed them to be the rulers of the sea; and, as the
white people did not make any offerings at any time, I thought they
were angry with them: and, at last, what confirmed my belief was, the
wind just then died away, and a calm ensued, and in consequence of it
the ship stopped going. I supposed that the fish had performed this,
and I hid myself in the fore part of the ship, through fear of being
offered up to appease them, every minute peeping and quaking: but my
good friend Dick came shortly towards me, and I took an opportunity to
ask him, as well as I could, what these fish were. Not being able to
talk much English, I could but just make him understand my question;
and not at all, when I asked him if any offerings were to be made to
them: however, he told me these fish would swallow any body; which
sufficiently alarmed me. Here he was called away by the captain, who
was leaning over the quarter-deck railing and looking at the fish; and
most of the people were busied in getting a barrel of pitch to light,
for them to play with. The captain now called me to him, having
learned some of my apprehensions from Dick; and having diverted
himself and others for some time with my fears, which appeared
ludicrous enough in my crying and trembling, he dismissed me. The
barrel of pitch was now lighted and put over the side into the water:
by this time it was just dark, and the fish went after it; and, to my
great joy, I saw them no more.
However, all my alarms began to subside when we got sight of land; and
at last the ship arrived at Falmouth, after a passage of thirteen
weeks. Every heart on board seemed gladdened on our reaching the
shore, and none more than mine. The captain immediately went on shore,
and sent on board some fresh provisions, which we wanted very much:
we made good use of them, and our famine was soon turned into
feasting, almost without ending. It was about the beginning of the
spring 1757 when I arrived in England, and I was near twelve years of
age at that time. I was very much struck with the buildings and the
pavement of the streets in Falmouth; and, indeed, any object I saw
filled me with new surprise. One morning, when I got upon deck, I saw
it covered all over with the snow that fell over-night: as I had never
seen any thing of the kind before, I thought it was salt; so I
immediately ran down to the mate and desired him, as well as I could,
to come and see how somebody in the night had thrown salt all over the
deck. He, knowing what it was, desired me to bring some of it down to
him: accordingly I took up a handful of it, which I found very cold
indeed; and when I brought it to him he desired me to taste it. I did
so, and I was surprised beyond measure. I then asked him what it was;
he told me it was snow: but I could not in anywise understand him. He
asked me if we had no such thing in my country; and I told him, No. I
then asked him the use of it, and who made it; he told me a great man
in the heavens, called God: but here again I was to all intents and
purposes at a loss to understand him; and the more so, when a little
after I saw the air filled with it, in a heavy shower, which fell down
on the same day. After this I went to church; and having never been at
such a place before, I was again amazed at seeing and hearing the
service. I asked all I could about it; and they gave me to understand
it was worshipping God, who made us and all things. I was still at a
great loss, and soon got into an endless field of inquiries, as well
as I was able to speak and ask about things. However, my little friend
Dick used to be my best interpreter; for I could make free with him,
and he always instructed me with pleasure: and from what I could
understand by him of this God, and in seeing these white people did
not sell one another, as we did, I was much pleased; and in this I
thought they were much happier than we Africans. I was astonished at
the wisdom of the white people in all things I saw; but was amazed at
their not sacrificing, or making any offerings, and eating with
unwashed hands, and touching the dead. I likewise could not help
remarking the particular slenderness of their women, which I did not
at first like; and I thought they were not so modest and shamefaced as
the African women.
I had often seen my master and Dick employed in reading; and I had a
great curiosity to talk to the books, as I thought they did; and so to
learn how all things had a beginning: for that purpose I have often
taken up a book, and have talked to it, and then put my ears to it,
when alone, in hopes it would answer me; and I have been very much
concerned when I found it remained silent.
My master lodged at the house of a gentleman in Falmouth, who had a
fine little daughter about six or seven years of age, and she grew
prodigiously fond of me; insomuch that we used to eat together, and
had servants to wait on us. I was so much caressed by this family that
it often reminded me of the treatment I had received from my little
noble African master. After I had been here a few days, I was sent on
board of the ship; but the child cried so much after me that nothing
could pacify her till I was sent for again. It is ludicrous enough,
that I began to fear I should be betrothed to this young lady; and
when my master asked me if I would stay there with her behind him, as
he was going away with the ship, which had taken in the tobacco again,
I cried immediately, and said I would not leave her. At last, by
stealth, one night I was sent on board the ship again; and in a little
time we sailed for Guernsey, where she was in part owned by a
merchant, one Nicholas Doberry. As I was now amongst a people who had
not their faces scarred, like some of the African nations where I had
been, I was very glad I did not let them ornament me in that manner
when I was with them. When we arrived at Guernsey, my master placed me
to board and lodge with one of his mates, who had a wife and family
there; and some months afterwards he went to England, and left me in
care of this mate, together with my friend Dick: This mate had a
little daughter, aged about five or six years, with whom I used to be
much delighted. I had often observed that when her mother washed her
face it looked very rosy; but when she washed mine it did not look so:
I therefore tried oftentimes myself if I could not by washing make my
face of the same colour as my little play-mate (Mary), but it was all
in vain; and I now began to be mortified at the difference in our
complexions. This woman behaved to me with great kindness and
attention; and taught me every thing in the same manner as she did her
own child, and indeed in every respect treated me as such. I remained
here till the summer of the year 1757; when my master, being appointed
first lieutenant of his majesty's ship the Roebuck, sent for Dick and
me, and his old mate: on this we all left Guernsey, and set out for
England in a sloop bound for London. As we were coming up towards the
Nore, where the Roebuck lay, a man of war's boat came alongside to
press our people; on which each man ran to hide himself. I was very
much frightened at this, though I did not know what it meant, or what
to think or do. However I went and hid myself also under a hencoop.
Immediately afterwards the press-gang came on board with their swords
drawn, and searched all about, pulled the people out by force, and put
them into the boat. At last I was found out also: the man that found
me held me up by the heels while they all made their sport of me, I
roaring and crying out all the time most lustily: but at last the
mate, who was my conductor, seeing this, came to my assistance, and
did all he could to pacify me; but all to very little purpose, till I
had seen the boat go off. Soon afterwards we came to the Nore, where
the Roebuck lay; and, to our great joy, my master came on board to us,
and brought us to the ship. When I went on board this large ship, I
was amazed indeed to see the quantity of men and the guns. However my
surprise began to diminish as my knowledge increased; and I ceased to
feel those apprehensions and alarms which had taken such strong
possession of me when I first came among the Europeans, and for some
time after. I began now to pass to an opposite extreme; I was so far
from being afraid of any thing new which I saw, that, after I had been
some time in this ship, I even began to long for a battle. My griefs
too, which in young minds are not perpetual, were now wearing away;
and I soon enjoyed myself pretty well, and felt tolerably easy in my
present situation. There was a number of boys on board, which still
made it more agreeable; for we were always together, and a great part
of our time was spent in play. I remained in this ship a considerable
time, during which we made several cruises, and visited a variety of
places: among others we were twice in Holland, and brought over
several persons of distinction from it, whose names I do not now
remember. On the passage, one day, for the diversion of those
gentlemen, all the boys were called on the quarter-deck, and were
paired proportionably, and then made to fight; after which the
gentleman gave the combatants from five to nine shillings each. This
was the first time I ever fought with a white boy; and I never knew
what it was to have a bloody nose before. This made me fight most
desperately; I suppose considerably more than an hour: and at last,
both of us being weary, we were parted. I had a great deal of this
kind of sport afterwards, in which the captain and the ship's company
used very much to encourage me. Sometime afterwards the ship went to
Leith in Scotland, and from thence to the Orkneys, where I was
surprised in seeing scarcely any night: and from thence we sailed with
a great fleet, full of soldiers, for England. All this time we had
never come to an engagement, though we were frequently cruising off
the coast of France: during which we chased many vessels, and took in
all seventeen prizes. I had been learning many of the manoeuvres of
the ship during our cruise; and I was several times made to fire the
guns. One evening, off Havre de Grace, just as it was growing dark, we
were standing off shore, and met with a fine large French-built
frigate. We got all things immediately ready for fighting; and I now
expected I should be gratified in seeing an engagement, which I had so
long wished for in vain. But the very moment the word of command was
given to fire we heard those on board the other ship cry 'Haul down
the jib;' and in that instant she hoisted English colours. There was
instantly with us an amazing cry of--Avast! or stop firing; and I
think one or two guns had been let off, but happily they did no
mischief. We had hailed them several times; but they not hearing, we
received no answer, which was the cause of our firing. The boat was
then sent on board of her, and she proved to be the Ambuscade man of
war, to my no small disappointment. We returned to Portsmouth, without
having been in any action, just at the trial of Admiral Byng (whom I
saw several times during it): and my master having left the ship, and
gone to London for promotion, Dick and I were put on board the Savage
sloop of war, and we went in her to assist in bringing off the St.
George man of war, that had ran ashore somewhere on the coast. After
staying a few weeks on board the Savage, Dick and I were sent on shore
at Deal, where we remained some short time, till my master sent for us
to London, the place I had long desired exceedingly to see. We
therefore both with great pleasure got into a waggon, and came to
London, where we were received by a Mr. Guerin, a relation of my
master. This gentleman had two sisters, very amiable ladies, who took
much notice and great care of me. Though I had desired so much to see
London, when I arrived in it I was unfortunately unable to gratify my
curiosity; for I had at this time the chilblains to such a degree that
I could not stand for several months, and I was obliged to be sent to
St. George's Hospital. There I grew so ill, that the doctors wanted to
cut my left leg off at different times, apprehending a mortification;
but I always said I would rather die than suffer it; and happily (I
thank God) I recovered without the operation. After being there
several weeks, and just as I had recovered, the small-pox broke out on
me, so that I was again confined; and I thought myself now
particularly unfortunate. However I soon recovered again; and by this
time my master having been promoted to be first lieutenant of the
Preston man of war of fifty guns, then new at Deptford, Dick and I
were sent on board her, and soon after we went to Holland to bring
over the late Duke of ---- to England.--While I was in this ship an
incident happened, which, though trifling, I beg leave to relate, as I
could not help taking particular notice of it, and considering it then
as a judgment of God. One morning a young man was looking up to the
fore-top, and in a wicked tone, common on shipboard, d----d his eyes
about something. Just at the moment some small particles of dirt fell
into his left eye, and by the evening it was very much inflamed. The
next day it grew worse; and within six or seven days he lost it. From
this ship my master was appointed a lieutenant on board the Royal
George. When he was going he wished me to stay on board the Preston,
to learn the French horn; but the ship being ordered for Turkey I
could not think of leaving my master, to whom I was very warmly
attached; and I told him if he left me behind it would break my heart.
This prevailed on him to take me with him; but he left Dick on board
the Preston, whom I embraced at parting for the last time. The Royal
George was the largest ship I had ever seen; so that when I came on
board of her I was surprised at the number of people, men, women, and
children, of every denomination; and the largeness of the guns, many
of them also of brass, which I had never seen before. Here were also
shops or stalls of every kind of goods, and people crying their
different commodities about the ship as in a town. To me it appeared a
little world, into which I was again cast without a friend, for I had
no longer my dear companion Dick. We did not stay long here. My master
was not many weeks on board before he got an appointment to be sixth
lieutenant of the Namur, which was then at Spithead, fitting up for
Vice-admiral Boscawen, who was going with a large fleet on an
expedition against Louisburgh. The crew of the Royal George were
turned over to her, and the flag of that gallant admiral was hoisted
on board, the blue at the maintop-gallant mast head. There was a very
great fleet of men of war of every description assembled together for
this expedition, and I was in hopes soon to have an opportunity of
being gratified with a sea-fight. All things being now in readiness,
this mighty fleet (for there was also Admiral Cornish's fleet in
company, destined for the East Indies) at last weighed anchor, and
sailed. The two fleets continued in company for several days, and then
parted; Admiral Cornish, in the Lenox, having first saluted our
admiral in the Namur, which he returned. We then steered for America;
but, by contrary winds, we were driven to Teneriffe, where I was
struck with its noted peak. Its prodigious height, and its form,
resembling a sugar-loaf, filled me with wonder. We remained in sight
of this island some days, and then proceeded for America, which we
soon made, and got into a very commodious harbour called St. George,
in Halifax, where we had fish in great plenty, and all other fresh
provisions. We were here joined by different men of war and transport
ships with soldiers; after which, our fleet being increased to a
prodigious number of ships of all kinds, we sailed for Cape Breton in
Nova Scotia. We had the good and gallant General Wolfe on board our
ship, whose affability made him highly esteemed and beloved by all the
men. He often honoured me, as well as other boys, with marks of his
notice; and saved me once a flogging for fighting with a young
gentleman. We arrived at Cape Breton in the summer of 1758: and here
the soldiers were to be landed, in order to make an attack upon
Louisbourgh. My master had some part in superintending the landing;
and here I was in a small measure gratified in seeing an encounter
between our men and the enemy. The French were posted on the shore to
receive us, and disputed our landing for a long time; but at last they
were driven from their trenches, and a complete landing was effected.
Our troops pursued them as far as the town of Louisbourgh. In this
action many were killed on both sides. One thing remarkable I saw this
day:--A lieutenant of the Princess Amelia, who, as well as my master,
superintended the landing, was giving the word of command, and while
his mouth was open a musquet ball went through it, and passed out at
his cheek. I had that day in my hand the scalp of an indian king, who
was killed in the engagement: the scalp had been taken off by an
Highlander. I saw this king's ornaments too, which were very curious,
and made of feathers.
Our land forces laid siege to the town of Louisbourgh, while the
French men of war were blocked up in the harbour by the fleet, the
batteries at the same time playing upon them from the land. This they
did with such effect, that one day I saw some of the ships set on fire
by the shells from the batteries, and I believe two or three of them
were quite burnt. At another time, about fifty boats belonging to the
English men of war, commanded by Captain George Balfour of the Ætna
fire-ship, and another junior captain, Laforey, attacked and boarded
the only two remaining French men of war in the harbour. They also set
fire to a seventy-gun ship, but a sixty-four, called the Bienfaisant,
they brought off. During my stay here I had often an opportunity of
being near Captain Balfour, who was pleased to notice me, and liked me
so much that he often asked my master to let him have me, but he would
not part with me; and no consideration could have induced me to leave
him. At last Louisbourgh was taken, and the English men of war came
into the harbour before it, to my very great joy; for I had now more
liberty of indulging myself, and I went often on shore. When the ships
were in the harbour we had the most beautiful procession on the water
I ever saw. All the admirals and captains of the men of war, full
dressed, and in their barges, well ornamented with pendants, came
alongside of the Namur. The vice-admiral then went on shore in his
barge, followed by the other officers in order of seniority, to take
possession, as I suppose, of the town and fort. Some time after this
the French governor and his lady, and other persons of note, came on
board our ship to dine. On this occasion our ships were dressed with
colours of all kinds, from the topgallant-mast head to the deck; and
this, with the firing of guns, formed a most grand and magnificent
spectacle.
As soon as every thing here was settled Admiral Boscawen sailed with
part of the fleet for England, leaving some ships behind with
Rear-admirals Sir Charles Hardy and Durell. It was now winter; and one
evening, during our passage home, about dusk, when we were in the
channel, or near soundings, and were beginning to look for land, we
descried seven sail of large men of war, which stood off shore.
Several people on board of our ship said, as the two fleets were (in
forty minutes from the first sight) within hail of each other, that
they were English men of war; and some of our people even began to
name some of the ships. By this time both fleets began to mingle, and
our admiral ordered his flag to be hoisted. At that instant the other
fleet, which were French, hoisted their ensigns, and gave us a
broadside as they passed by. Nothing could create greater surprise and
confusion among us than this: the wind was high, the sea rough, and we
had our lower and middle deck guns housed in, so that not a single gun
on board was ready to be fired at any of the French ships. However,
the Royal William and the Somerset being our sternmost ships, became a
little prepared, and each gave the French ships a broadside as they
passed by. I afterwards heard this was a French squadron, commanded by
Mons. Conflans; and certainly had the Frenchmen known our condition,
and had a mind to fight us, they might have done us great mischief.
But we were not long before we were prepared for an engagement.
Immediately many things were tossed overboard; the ships were made
ready for fighting as soon as possible; and about ten at night we had
bent a new main sail, the old one being split. Being now in readiness
for fighting, we wore ship, and stood after the French fleet, who
were one or two ships in number more than we. However we gave them
chase, and continued pursuing them all night; and at daylight we saw
six of them, all large ships of the line, and an English East
Indiaman, a prize they had taken. We chased them all day till between
three and four o'clock in the evening, when we came up with, and
passed within a musquet shot of, one seventy-four gun ship, and the
Indiaman also, who now hoisted her colours, but immediately hauled
them down again. On this we made a signal for the other ships to take
possession of her; and, supposing the man of war would likewise
strike, we cheered, but she did not; though if we had fired into her,
from being so near, we must have taken her. To my utter surprise the
Somerset, who was the next ship astern of the Namur, made way
likewise; and, thinking they were sure of this French ship, they
cheered in the same manner, but still continued to follow us. The
French Commodore was about a gun-shot ahead of all, running from us
with all speed; and about four o'clock he carried his foretopmast
overboard. This caused another loud cheer with us; and a little after
the topmast came close by us; but, to our great surprise, instead of
coming up with her, we found she went as fast as ever, if not faster.
The sea grew now much smoother; and the wind lulling, the seventy-four
gun ship we had passed came again by us in the very same direction,
and so near, that we heard her people talk as she went by; yet not a
shot was fired on either side; and about five or six o'clock, just as
it grew dark, she joined her commodore. We chased all night; but the
next day they were out of sight, so that we saw no more of them; and
we only had the old Indiaman (called Carnarvon I think) for our
trouble. After this we stood in for the channel, and soon made the
land; and, about the close of the year 1758-9, we got safe to St.
Helen's. Here the Namur ran aground; and also another large ship
astern of us; but, by starting our water, and tossing many things
overboard to lighten her, we got the ships off without any damage. We
stayed for a short time at Spithead, and then went into Portsmouth
harbour to refit; from whence the admiral went to London; and my
master and I soon followed, with a press-gang, as we wanted some hands
to complete our complement.
CHAP. IV.
_The author is baptized--Narrowly escapes drowning--Goes on
an expedition to the Mediterranean--Incidents he met with
there--Is witness to an engagement between some English and
French ships--A particular account of the celebrated
engagement between Admiral Boscawen and Mons. Le Clue, off
Cape Logas, in August 1759--Dreadful explosion of a French
ship--The author sails for England--His master appointed to
the command of a fire-ship--Meets a negro boy, from whom he
experiences much benevolence--Prepares for an expedition
against Belle-Isle--A remarkable story of a disaster which
befel his ship--Arrives at Belle-Isle--Operations of the
landing and siege--The author's danger and distress, with
his manner of extricating himself--- Surrender of
Belle-Isle--Transactions afterwards on the coast of
France--Remarkable instance of kidnapping--The author
returns to England--Hears a talk of peace, and expects his
freedom--His ship sails for Deptford to be paid off, and
when he arrives there he is suddenly seized by his master
and carried forcibly on board a West India ship and sold._
It was now between two and three years since I first came to England,
a great part of which I had spent at sea; so that I became inured to
that service, and began to consider myself as happily situated; for my
master treated me always extremely well; and my attachment and
gratitude to him were very great. From the various scenes I had beheld
on shipboard, I soon grew a stranger to terror of every kind, and was,
in that respect at least, almost an Englishman. I have often reflected
with surprise that I never felt half the alarm at any of the numerous
dangers I have been in, that I was filled with at the first sight of
the Europeans, and at every act of theirs, even the most trifling,
when I first came among them, and for some time afterwards. That fear,
however, which was the effect of my ignorance, wore away as I began to
know them. I could now speak English tolerably well, and I perfectly
understood every thing that was said. I now not only felt myself
quite easy with these new countrymen, but relished their society and
manners. I no longer looked upon them as spirits, but as men superior
to us; and therefore I had the stronger desire to resemble them; to
imbibe their spirit, and imitate their manners; I therefore embraced
every occasion of improvement; and every new thing that I observed I
treasured up in my memory. I had long wished to be able to read and
write; and for this purpose I took every opportunity to gain
instruction, but had made as yet very little progress. However, when I
went to London with my master, I had soon an opportunity of improving
myself, which I gladly embraced. Shortly after my arrival, he sent me
to wait upon the Miss Guerins, who had treated me with much kindness
when I was there before; and they sent me to school.
While I was attending these ladies their servants told me I could not
go to Heaven unless I was baptized. This made me very uneasy; for I
had now some faint idea of a future state: accordingly I communicated
my anxiety to the eldest Miss Guerin, with whom I was become a
favourite, and pressed her to have me baptized; when to my great joy
she told me I should. She had formerly asked my master to let me be
baptized, but he had refused; however she now insisted on it; and he
being under some obligation to her brother complied with her request;
so I was baptized in St. Margaret's church, Westminster, in February
1759, by my present name. The clergyman, at the same time, gave me a
book, called a Guide to the Indians, written by the Bishop of Sodor
and Man. On this occasion Miss Guerin did me the honour to stand as
godmother, and afterwards gave me a treat. I used to attend these
ladies about the town, in which service I was extremely happy; as I
had thus many opportunities of seeing London, which I desired of all
things. I was sometimes, however, with my master at his
rendezvous-house, which was at the foot of Westminster-bridge. Here I
used to enjoy myself in playing about the bridge stairs, and often in
the watermen's wherries, with other boys. On one of these occasions
there was another boy with me in a wherry, and we went out into the
current of the river: while we were there two more stout boys came to
us in another wherry, and, abusing us for taking the boat, desired me
to get into the other wherry-boat. Accordingly I went to get out of
the wherry I was in; but just as I had got one of my feet into the
other boat the boys shoved it off, so that I fell into the Thames;
and, not being able to swim, I should unavoidably have been drowned,
but for the assistance of some watermen who providentially came to my
relief.
The Namur being again got ready for sea, my master, with his gang, was
ordered on board; and, to my no small grief, I was obliged to leave my
school-master, whom I liked very much, and always attended while I
stayed in London, to repair on board with my master. Nor did I leave
my kind patronesses, the Miss Guerins, without uneasiness and regret.
They often used to teach me to read, and took great pains to instruct
me in the principles of religion and the knowledge of God. I therefore
parted from those amiable ladies with reluctance; after receiving from
them many friendly cautions how to conduct myself, and some valuable
presents.
When I came to Spithead, I found we were destined for the
Mediterranean, with a large fleet, which was now ready to put to sea.
We only waited for the arrival of the admiral, who soon came on board;
and about the beginning of the spring 1759, having weighed anchor, and
got under way, Sailed for the Mediterranean; and in eleven days, from
the Land's End, we got to Gibraltar. While we were here I used to be
often on shore, and got various fruits in great plenty, and very
cheap.
I had frequently told several people, in my excursions on shore, the
story of my being kidnapped with my sister, and of our being
separated, as I have related before; and I had as often expressed my
anxiety for her fate, and my sorrow at having never met her again. One
day, when I was on shore, and mentioning these circumstances to some
persons, one of them told me he knew where my sister was, and, if I
would accompany him, he would bring me to her. Improbable as this
story was I believed it immediately, and agreed to go with him, while
my heart leaped for joy: and, indeed, he conducted me to a black young
woman, who was so like my sister, that, at first sight, I really
thought it was her: but I was quickly undeceived; and, on talking to
her, I found her to be of another nation.
While we lay here the Preston came in from the Levant. As soon as she
arrived, my master told me I should now see my old companion, Dick,
who had gone in her when she sailed for Turkey. I was much rejoiced at
this news, and expected every minute to embrace him; and when the
captain came on board of our ship, which he did immediately after, I
ran to inquire after my friend; but, with inexpressible sorrow, I
learned from the boat's crew that the dear youth was dead! and that
they had brought his chest, and all his other things, to my master:
these he afterwards gave to me, and I regarded them as a memorial of
my friend, whom I loved, and grieved for, as a brother.
While we were at Gibraltar, I saw a soldier hanging by his heels, at
one of the moles[L]: I thought this a strange sight, as I had seen a
man hanged in London by his neck. At another time I saw the master of
a frigate towed to shore on a grating, by several of the men of war's
boats, and discharged the fleet, which I understood was a mark of
disgrace for cowardice. On board the same ship there was also a sailor
hung up at the yard-arm.
After lying at Gibraltar for some time, we sailed up the Mediterranean
a considerable way above the Gulf of Lyons; where we were one night
overtaken with a terrible gale of wind, much greater than any I had
ever yet experienced. The sea ran so high that, though all the guns
were well housed, there was great reason to fear their getting loose,
the ship rolled so much; and if they had it must have proved our
destruction. After we had cruised here for a short time, we came to
Barcelona, a Spanish sea-port, remarkable for its silk manufactures.
Here the ships were all to be watered; and my master, who spoke
different languages, and used often to interpret for the admiral,
superintended the watering of ours. For that purpose he and the
officers of the other ships, who were on the same service, had tents
pitched in the bay; and the Spanish soldiers were stationed along the
shore, I suppose to see that no depredations were committed by our
men.
I used constantly to attend my master; and I was charmed with this
place. All the time we stayed it was like a fair with the natives, who
brought us fruits of all kinds, and sold them to us much cheaper than
I got them in England. They used also to bring wine down to us in hog
and sheep skins, which diverted me very much. The Spanish officers
here treated our officers with great politeness and attention; and
some of them, in particular, used to come often to my master's tent to
visit him; where they would sometimes divert themselves by mounting me
on the horses or mules, so that I could not fall, and setting them off
at full gallop; my imperfect skill in horsemanship all the while
affording them no small entertainment. After the ships were watered,
we returned to our old station of cruizing off Toulon, for the purpose
of intercepting a fleet of French men of war that lay there. One
Sunday, in our cruise, we came off a place where there were two small
French frigates lying in shore; and our admiral, thinking to take or
destroy them, sent two ships in after them--the Culloden and the
Conqueror. They soon came up to the Frenchmen; and I saw a smart fight
here, both by sea and land: for the frigates were covered by
batteries, and they played upon our ships most furiously, which they
as furiously returned, and for a long time a constant firing was kept
up on all sides at an amazing rate. At last one frigate sunk; but the
people escaped, though not without much difficulty: and a little after
some of the people left the other frigate also, which was a mere
wreck. However, our ships did not venture to bring her away, they were
so much annoyed from the batteries, which raked them both in going and
coming: their topmasts were shot away, and they were otherwise so much
shattered, that the admiral was obliged to send in many boats to tow
them back to the fleet. I afterwards sailed with a man who fought in
one of the French batteries during the engagement, and he told me our
ships had done considerable mischief that day on shore and in the
batteries.
After this we sailed for Gibraltar, and arrived there about August
1759. Here we remained with all our sails unbent, while the fleet was
watering and doing other necessary things. While we were in this
situation, one day the admiral, with most of the principal officers,
and many people of all stations, being on shore, about seven o'clock
in the evening we were alarmed by signals from the frigates stationed
for that purpose; and in an instant there was a general cry that the
French fleet was out, and just passing through the streights. The
admiral immediately came on board with some other officers; and it is
impossible to describe the noise, hurry and confusion throughout the
whole fleet, in bending their sails and slipping their cables; many
people and ships' boats were left on shore in the bustle. We had two
captains on board of our ship who came away in the hurry and left
their ships to follow. We shewed lights from the gun-whale to the main
topmast-head; and all our lieutenants were employed amongst the fleet
to tell the ships not to wait for their captains, but to put the sails
to the yards, slip their cables and follow us; and in this confusion
of making ready for fighting we set out for sea in the dark after the
French fleet. Here I could have exclaimed with Ajax,
"Oh Jove! O father! if it be thy will
That we must perish, we thy will obey,
But let us perish by the light of day."
They had got the start of us so far that we were not able to come up
with them during the night; but at daylight we saw seven sail of the
line of battle some miles ahead. We immediately chased them till about
four o'clock in the evening, when our ships came up with them; and,
though we were about fifteen large ships, our gallant admiral only
fought them with his own division, which consisted of seven; so that
we were just ship for ship. We passed by the whole of the enemy's
fleet in order to come at their commander, Mons. La Clue, who was in
the Ocean, an eighty-four gun ship: as we passed they all fired on us;
and at one time three of them fired together, continuing to do so for
some time. Notwithstanding which our admiral would not suffer a gun to
be fired at any of them, to my astonishment; but made us lie on our
bellies on the deck till we came quite close to the Ocean, who was
ahead of them all; when we had orders to pour the whole three tiers
into her at once.
The engagement now commenced with great fury on both sides: the Ocean
immediately returned our fire, and we continued engaged with each
other for some time; during which I was frequently stunned with the
thundering of the great guns, whose dreadful contents hurried many of
my companions into awful eternity. At last the French line was
entirely broken, and we obtained the victory, which was immediately
proclaimed with loud huzzas and acclamations. We took three prizes, La
Modeste, of sixty-four guns, and Le Temeraire and Centaur, of
seventy-four guns each. The rest of the French ships took to flight
with all the sail they could crowd. Our ship being very much damaged,
and quite disabled from pursuing the enemy, the admiral immediately
quitted her, and went in the broken and only boat we had left on board
the Newark, with which, and some other ships, he went after the
French. The Ocean, and another large French ship, called the
Redoubtable, endeavouring to escape, ran ashore at Cape Logas, on the
coast of Portugal; and the French admiral and some of the crew got
ashore; but we, finding it impossible to get the ships off, set fire
to them both. About midnight I saw the Ocean blow up, with a most
dreadful explosion. I never beheld a more awful scene. In less than a
minute the midnight for a certain space seemed turned into day by the
blaze, which was attended with a noise louder and more terrible than
thunder, that seemed to rend every element around us.
My station during the engagement was on the middle-deck, where I was
quartered with another boy, to bring powder to the aftermost gun; and
here I was a witness of the dreadful fate of many of my companions,
who, in the twinkling of an eye, were dashed in pieces, and launched
into eternity. Happily I escaped unhurt, though the shot and splinters
flew thick about me during the whole fight. Towards the latter part of
it my master was wounded, and I saw him carried down to the surgeon;
but though I was much alarmed for him and wished to assist him I dared
not leave my post. At this station my gun-mate (a partner in bringing
powder for the same gun) and I ran a very great risk for more than
half an hour of blowing up the ship. For, when we had taken the
cartridges out of the boxes, the bottoms of many of them proving
rotten, the powder ran all about the deck, near the match tub: we
scarcely had water enough at the last to throw on it. We were also,
from our employment, very much exposed to the enemy's shots; for we
had to go through nearly the whole length of the ship to bring the
powder. I expected therefore every minute to be my last; especially
when I saw our men fall so thick about me; but, wishing to guard as
much against the dangers as possible, at first I thought it would be
safest not to go for the powder till the Frenchmen had fired their
broadside; and then, while they were charging, I could go and come
with my powder: but immediately afterwards I thought this caution was
fruitless; and, cheering myself with the reflection that there was a
time allotted for me to die as well as to be born, I instantly cast
off all fear or thought whatever of death, and went through the whole
of my duty with alacrity; pleasing myself with the hope, if I survived
the battle, of relating it and the dangers I had escaped to the dear
Miss Guerin, and others, when I should return to London.
Our ship suffered very much in this engagement; for, besides the
number of our killed and wounded, she was almost torn to pieces, and
our rigging so much shattered, that our mizen-mast and main-yard, &c.
hung over the side of the ship; so that we were obliged to get many
carpenters, and others from some of the ships of the fleet, to assist
in setting us in some tolerable order; and, notwithstanding, it took
us some time before we were completely refitted; after which we left
Admiral Broderick to command, and we, with the prizes, steered for
England. On the passage, and as soon as my master was something
recovered of his wounds, the admiral appointed him captain of the Ætna
fire-ship, on which he and I left the Namur, and went on board of her
at sea. I liked this little ship very much. I now became the captain's
steward, in which situation I was very happy: for I was extremely well
treated by all on board; and I had leisure to improve myself in
reading and writing. The latter I had learned a little of before I
left the Namur, as there was a school on board. When we arrived at
Spithead the Ætna went into Portsmouth harbour to refit, which being
done, we returned to Spithead and joined a large fleet that was
thought to be intended against the Havannah; but about that time the
king died: whether that prevented the expedition I know not; but it
caused our ship to be stationed at Cowes, in the isle of Wight, till
the beginning of the year sixty-one. Here I spent my time very
pleasantly; I was much on shore all about this delightful island, and
found the inhabitants very civil.
While I was here, I met with a trifling incident, which surprised me
agreeably. I was one day in a field belonging to a gentleman who had
a black boy about my own size; this boy having observed me from his
master's house, was transported at the sight of one of his own
countrymen, and ran to meet me with the utmost haste. I not knowing
what he was about turned a little out of his way at first, but to no
purpose: he soon came close to me and caught hold of me in his arms as
if I had been his brother, though we had never seen each other before.
After we had talked together for some time he took me to his master's
house, where I was treated very kindly. This benevolent boy and I were
very happy in frequently seeing each other till about the month of
March 1761, when our ship had orders to fit out again for another
expedition. When we got ready, we joined a very large fleet at
Spithead, commanded by Commodore Keppel, which was destined against
Belle-Isle, and with a number of transport ships with troops on board
to make a descent on the place. We sailed once more in quest of fame.
I longed to engage in new adventures and see fresh wonders.
I had a mind on which every thing uncommon made its full impression,
and every event which I considered as marvellous. Every extraordinary
escape, or signal deliverance, either of myself or others, I looked
upon to be effected by the interposition of Providence. We had not
been above ten days at sea before an incident of this kind happened;
which, whatever credit it may obtain from the reader, made no small
impression on my mind.
We had on board a gunner, whose name was John Mondle; a man of very
indifferent morals. This man's cabin was between the decks, exactly
over where I lay, abreast of the quarter-deck ladder. One night, the
20th of April, being terrified with a dream, he awoke in so great a
fright that he could not rest in his bed any longer, nor even remain
in his cabin; and he went upon deck about four o'clock in the morning
extremely agitated. He immediately told those on the deck of the
agonies of his mind, and the dream which occasioned it; in which he
said he had seen many things very awful, and had been warned by St.
Peter to repent, who told him time was short. This he said had greatly
alarmed him, and he was determined to alter his life. People generally
mock the fears of others when they are themselves in safety; and some
of his shipmates who heard him only laughed at him. However, he made
a vow that he never would drink strong liquors again; and he
immediately got a light, and gave away his sea-stores of liquor. After
which, his agitation still continuing, he began to read the
Scriptures, hoping to find some relief; and soon afterwards he laid
himself down again on his bed, and endeavoured to compose himself to
sleep, but to no purpose; his mind still continuing in a state of
agony. By this time it was exactly half after seven in the morning: I
was then under the half-deck at the great cabin door; and all at once
I heard the people in the waist cry out, most fearfully--'The Lord
have mercy upon us! We are all lost! The Lord have mercy upon us!' Mr.
Mondle hearing the cries, immediately ran out of his cabin; and we
were instantly struck by the Lynne, a forty-gun ship, Captain Clark,
which nearly ran us down. This ship had just put about, and was by the
wind, but had not got full headway, or we must all have perished; for
the wind was brisk. However, before Mr. Mondle had got four steps from
his cabin-door, she struck our ship with her cutwater right in the
middle of his bed and cabin, and ran it up to the combings of the
quarter-deck hatchway, and above three feet below water, and in a
minute there was not a bit of wood to be seen where Mr. Mondle's cabin
stood; and he was so near being killed that some of the splinters tore
his face. As Mr. Mondle must inevitably have perished from this
accident had he not been alarmed in the very extraordinary way I have
related, I could not help regarding this as an awful interposition of
Providence for his preservation. The two ships for some time swinged
alongside of each other; for ours being a fire-ship, our
grappling-irons caught the Lynne every way, and the yards and rigging
went at an astonishing rate. Our ship was in such a shocking condition
that we all thought she would instantly go down, and every one ran for
their lives, and got as well as they could on board the Lynne; but our
lieutenant being the aggressor, he never quitted the ship. However,
when we found she did not sink immediately, the captain came on board
again, and encouraged our people to return and try to save her. Many
on this came back, but some would not venture. Some of the ships in
the fleet, seeing our situation, immediately sent their boats to our
assistance; but it took us the whole day to save the ship with all
their help. And by using every possible means, particularly frapping
her together with many hawsers, and putting a great quantity of tallow
below water where she was damaged, she was kept together: but it was
well we did not meet with any gales of wind, or we must have gone to
pieces; for we were in such a crazy condition that we had ships to
attend us till we arrived at Belle-Isle, the place of our destination;
and then we had all things taken out of the ship, and she was properly
repaired. This escape of Mr. Mondle, which he, as well as myself,
always considered as a singular act of Providence, I believe had a
great influence on his life and conduct ever afterwards.
Now that I am on this subject I beg leave to relate another instance
or two which strongly raised my belief of the particular interposition
of Heaven, and which might not otherwise have found a place here, from
their insignificance. I belonged for a few days in the year 1758 to
the Jason, of fifty-four guns, at Plymouth; and one night, when I was
on board, a woman, with a child at her breast, fell from the
upper-deck down into the hold, near the keel. Every one thought that
the mother and child must be both dashed to pieces; but, to our great
surprise, neither of them was hurt. I myself one day fell headlong
from the upper-deck of the Ætna down the after-hold, when the ballast
was out; and all who saw me fall cried out I was killed: but I
received not the least injury. And in the same ship a man fell from
the mast-head on the deck without being hurt. In these, and in many
more instances, I thought I could plainly trace the hand of God,
without whose permission a sparrow cannot fall. I began to raise my
fear from man to him alone, and to call daily on his holy name with
fear and reverence: and I trust he heard my supplications, and
graciously condescended to answer me according to his holy word, and
to implant the seeds of piety in me, even one of the meanest of his
creatures.
When we had refitted our ship, and all things were in readiness for
attacking the place, the troops on board the transports were ordered
to disembark; and my master, as a junior captain, had a share in the
command of the landing. This was on the 8th of April. The French were
drawn up on the shore, and had made every disposition to oppose the
landing of our men, only a small part of them this day being able to
effect it; most of them, after fighting with great bravery, were cut
off; and General Crawford, with a number of others, were taken
prisoners. In this day's engagement we had also our lieutenant killed.
On the 21st of April we renewed our efforts to land the men, while all
the men of war were stationed along the shore to cover it, and fired
at the French batteries and breastworks from early in the morning till
about four o'clock in the evening, when our soldiers effected a safe
landing. They immediately attacked the French; and, after a sharp
encounter, forced them from the batteries. Before the enemy retreated
they blew up several of them, lest they should fall into our hands.
Our men now proceeded to besiege the citadel, and my master was
ordered on shore to superintend the landing of all the materials
necessary for carrying on the siege; in which service I mostly
attended him. While I was there I went about to different parts of the
island; and one day, particularly, my curiosity almost cost me my
life. I wanted very much to see the mode of charging the mortars and
letting off the shells, and for that purpose I went to an English
battery that was but a very few yards from the walls of the citadel.
There, indeed, I had an opportunity of completely gratifying myself in
seeing the whole operation, and that not without running a very great
risk, both from the English shells that burst while I was there, but
likewise from those of the French. One of the largest of their shells
bursted within nine or ten yards of me: there was a single rock close
by, about the size of a butt; and I got instant shelter under it in
time to avoid the fury of the shell. Where it burst the earth was torn
in such a manner that two or three butts might easily have gone into
the hole it made, and it threw great quantities of stones and dirt to
a considerable distance. Three shot were also fired at me and another
boy who was along with me, one of them in particular seemed
"Wing'd with red lightning and impetuous rage;"
for with a most dreadful sound it hissed close by me, and struck a
rock at a little distance, which it shattered to pieces. When I saw
what perilous circumstances I was in, I attempted to return the
nearest way I could find, and thereby I got between the English and
the French centinels. An English serjeant, who commanded the outposts,
seeing me, and surprised how I came there, (which was by stealth along
the seashore), reprimanded me very severely for it, and instantly took
the centinel off his post into custody, for his negligence in
suffering me to pass the lines. While I was in this situation I
observed at a little distance a French horse, belonging to some
islanders, which I thought I would now mount, for the greater
expedition of getting off. Accordingly I took some cord which I had
about me, and making a kind of bridle of it, I put it round the
horse's head, and the tame beast very quietly suffered me to tie him
thus and mount him. As soon as I was on the horse's back I began to
kick and beat him, and try every means to make him go quick, but all
to very little purpose: I could not drive him out of a slow pace.
While I was creeping along, still within reach of the enemy's shot, I
met with a servant well mounted on an English horse. I immediately
stopped; and, crying, told him my case; and begged of him to help me,
and this he effectually did; for, having a fine large whip, he began
to lash my horse with it so severely, that he set off full speed with
me towards the sea, while I was quite unable to hold or manage him. In
this manner I went along till I came to a craggy precipice. I now
could not stop my horse; and my mind was filled with apprehensions of
my deplorable fate should he go down the precipice, which he appeared
fully disposed to do: I therefore thought I had better throw myself
off him at once, which I did immediately with a great deal of
dexterity, and fortunately escaped unhurt. As soon as I found myself
at liberty I made the best of my way for the ship, determined I would
not be so fool-hardy again in a hurry.
We continued to besiege the citadel till June, when it surrendered.
During the siege I have counted above sixty shells and carcases in the
air at once. When this place was taken I went through the citadel, and
in the bomb-proofs under it, which were cut in the solid rock; and I
thought it a surprising place, both for strength and building:
notwithstanding which our shots and shells had made amazing
devastation, and ruinous heaps all around it.
After the taking of this island our ships, with some others commanded
by Commodore Stanhope in the Swiftsure, went to Basse-road, where we
blocked up a French fleet. Our ships were there from June till
February following; and in that time I saw a great many scenes of war,
and stratagems on both sides to destroy each others fleet. Sometimes
we would attack the French with some ships of the line; at other times
with boats; and frequently we made prizes. Once or twice the French
attacked us by throwing shells with their bomb-vessels: and one day as
a French vessel was throwing shells at our ships she broke from her
springs, behind the isle of I de Re: the tide being complicated, she
came within a gun shot of the Nassau; but the Nassau could not bring a
gun to bear upon her, and thereby the Frenchman got off. We were twice
attacked by their fire-floats, which they chained together, and then
let them float down with the tide; but each time we sent boats with
graplings, and towed them safe out of the fleet.
We had different commanders while we were at this place, Commodores
Stanhope, Dennis, Lord Howe, &c. From hence, before the Spanish war
began, our ship and the Wasp sloop were sent to St. Sebastian in
Spain, by Commodore Stanhope; and Commodore Dennis afterwards sent our
ship as a cartel to Bayonne in France[M], after which[N] we went in
February in 1762 to Belle-Isle, and there stayed till the summer, when
we left it, and returned to Portsmouth.
After our ship was fitted out again for service, in September she went
to Guernsey, where I was very glad to see my old hostess, who was now
a widow, and my former little charming companion, her daughter. I
spent some time here very happily with them, till October, when we had
orders to repair to Portsmouth. We parted from each other with a great
deal of affection; and I promised to return soon, and see them again,
not knowing what all-powerful fate had determined for me. Our ship
having arrived at Portsmouth, we went into the harbour, and remained
there till the latter end of November, when we heard great talk about
peace; and, to our very great joy, in the beginning of December we had
orders to go up to London with our ship to be paid off. We received
this news with loud huzzas, and every other demonstration of gladness;
and nothing but mirth was to be seen throughout every part of the
ship. I too was not without my share of the general joy on this
occasion. I thought now of nothing but being freed, and working for
myself, and thereby getting money to enable me to get a good
education; for I always had a great desire to be able at least to read
and write; and while I was on shipboard I had endeavoured to improve
myself in both. While I was in the Ætna particularly, the captain's
clerk taught me to write, and gave me a smattering of arithmetic as
far as the rule of three. There was also one Daniel Queen, about forty
years of age, a man very well educated, who messed with me on board
this ship, and he likewise dressed and attended the captain.
Fortunately this man soon became very much attached to me, and took
very great pains to instruct me in many things. He taught me to shave
and dress hair a little, and also to read in the Bible, explaining
many passages to me, which I did not comprehend. I was wonderfully
surprised to see the laws and rules of my country written almost
exactly here; a circumstance which I believe tended to impress our
manners and customs more deeply on my memory. I used to tell him of
this resemblance; and many a time we have sat up the whole night
together at this employment. In short, he was like a father to me; and
some even used to call me after his name; they also styled me the
black Christian. Indeed I almost loved him with the affection of a
son. Many things I have denied myself that he might have them; and
when I used to play at marbles or any other game, and won a few
half-pence, or got any little money, which I sometimes did, for
shaving any one, I used to buy him a little sugar or tobacco, as far
as my stock of money would go. He used to say, that he and I never
should part; and that when our ship was paid off, as I was as free as
himself or any other man on board, he would instruct me in his
business, by which I might gain a good livelihood. This gave me new
life and spirits; and my heart burned within me, while I thought the
time long till I obtained my freedom. For though my master had not
promised it to me, yet, besides the assurances I had received that he
had no right to detain me, he always treated me with the greatest
kindness, and reposed in me an unbounded confidence; he even paid
attention to my morals; and would never suffer me to deceive him, or
tell lies, of which he used to tell me the consequences; and that if I
did so God would not love me; so that, from all this tenderness, I had
never once supposed, in all my dreams of freedom, that he would think
of detaining me any longer than I wished.
In pursuance of our orders we sailed from Portsmouth for the Thames,
and arrived at Deptford the 10th of December, where we cast anchor
just as it was high water. The ship was up about half an hour, when my
master ordered the barge to be manned; and all in an instant, without
having before given me the least reason to suspect any thing of the
matter, he forced me into the barge; saying, I was going to leave him,
but he would take care I should not. I was so struck with the
unexpectedness of this proceeding, that for some time I did not make a
reply, only I made an offer to go for my books and chest of clothes,
but he swore I should not move out of his sight; and if I did he would
cut my throat, at the same time taking his hanger. I began, however,
to collect myself; and, plucking up courage, I told him I was free,
and he could not by law serve me so. But this only enraged him the
more; and he continued to swear, and said he would soon let me know
whether he would or not, and at that instant sprung himself into the
barge from the ship, to the astonishment and sorrow of all on board.
The tide, rather unluckily for me, had just turned downward, so that
we quickly fell down the river along with it, till we came among some
outward-bound West Indiamen; for he was resolved to put me on board
the first vessel he could get to receive me. The boat's crew, who
pulled against their will, became quite faint different times, and
would have gone ashore; but he would not let them. Some of them strove
then to cheer me, and told me he could not sell me, and that they
would stand by me, which revived me a little; and I still entertained
hopes; for as they pulled along he asked some vessels to receive me,
but they could not. But, just as we had got a little below Gravesend,
we came alongside of a ship which was going away the next tide for the
West Indies; her name was the Charming Sally, Captain James Doran; and
my master went on board and agreed with him for me; and in a little
time I was sent for into the cabin. When I came there Captain Doran
asked me if I knew him; I answered that I did not; 'Then,' said he
'you are now my slave.' I told him my master could not sell me to him,
nor to any one else. 'Why,' said he,'did not your master buy you?' I
confessed he did. 'But I have served him,' said I,'many years, and he
has taken all my wages and prize-money, for I only got one sixpence
during the war; besides this I have been baptized; and by the laws of
the land no man has a right to sell me:' And I added, that I had heard
a lawyer and others at different times tell my master so. They both
then said that those people who told me so were not my friends; but I
replied--it was very extraordinary that other people did not know the
law as well as they. Upon this Captain Doran said I talked too much
English; and if I did not behave myself well, and be quiet, he had a
method on board to make me. I was too well convinced of his power over
me to doubt what he said; and my former sufferings in the slave-ship
presenting themselves to my mind, the recollection of them made me
shudder. However, before I retired I told them that as I could not get
any right among men here I hoped I should hereafter in Heaven; and I
immediately left the cabin, filled with resentment and sorrow. The
only coat I had with me my master took away with him, and said if my
prize-money had been 10,000 £. he had a right to it all, and would have
taken it. I had about nine guineas, which, during my long sea-faring
life, I had scraped together from trifling perquisites and little
ventures; and I hid it that instant, lest my master should take that
from me likewise, still hoping that by some means or other I should
make my escape to the shore; and indeed some of my old shipmates told
me not to despair, for they would get me back again; and that, as soon
as they could get their pay, they would immediately come to Portsmouth
to me, where this ship was going: but, alas! all my hopes were
baffled, and the hour of my deliverance was yet far off. My master,
having soon concluded his bargain with the captain, came out of the
cabin, and he and his people got into the boat and put off; I followed
them with aching eyes as long as I could, and when they were out of
sight I threw myself on the deck, while my heart was ready to burst
with sorrow and anguish.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote L: He had drowned himself in endeavouring to desert.]
[Footnote M: Among others whom we brought from Bayonne, two gentlemen,
who had been in the West Indies, where they sold slaves; and they
confessed they had made at one time a false bill of sale, and sold two
Portuguese white men among a lot of slaves.]
[Footnote N: Some people have it, that sometimes shortly before
persons die their ward has been seen; that is, some spirit exactly in
their likeness, though they are themselves at other places at the same
time. One day while we were at Bayonne Mr. Mondle saw one of our men,
as he thought, in the gun-room; and a little after, coming on the
quarter-deck, he spoke of some circumstances of this man to some of
the officers. They told him that the man was then out of the ship, in
one of the boats with the Lieutenant: but Mr. Mondle would not believe
it, and we searched the ship, when he found the man was actually out
of her; and when the boat returned some time afterwards, we found the
man had been drowned at the very time Mr. Mondle thought he saw him.]
CHAP. V.
_The author's reflections on his situation--Is deceived by a
promise of being delivered--His despair at sailing for the
West Indies--Arrives at Montserrat, where he is sold to Mr.
King--Various interesting instances of oppression, cruelty,
and extortion, which the author saw practised upon the
slaves in the West Indies during his captivity from the year
1763 to 1766--Address on it to the planters._
Thus, at the moment I expected all my toils to end, was I plunged, as
I supposed, in a new slavery; in comparison of which all my service
hitherto had been 'perfect freedom;' and whose horrors, always present
to my mind, now rushed on it with tenfold aggravation. I wept very
bitterly for some time: and began to think that I must have done
something to displease the Lord, that he thus punished me so severely.
This filled me with painful reflections on my past conduct; I
recollected that on the morning of our arrival at Deptford I had
rashly sworn that as soon as we reached London I would spend the day
in rambling and sport. My conscience smote me for this unguarded
expression: I felt that the Lord was able to disappoint me in all
things, and immediately considered my present situation as a judgment
of Heaven on account of my presumption in swearing: I therefore, with
contrition of heart, acknowledged my transgression to God, and poured
out my soul before him with unfeigned repentance, and with earnest
supplications I besought him not to abandon me in my distress, nor
cast me from his mercy for ever. In a little time my grief, spent with
its own violence, began to subside; and after the first confusion of
my thoughts was over I reflected with more calmness on my present
condition: I considered that trials and disappointments are sometimes
for our good, and I thought God might perhaps have permitted this in
order to teach me wisdom and resignation; for he had hitherto shadowed
me with the wings of his mercy, and by his invisible but powerful hand
brought me the way I knew not. These reflections gave me a little
comfort, and I rose at last from the deck with dejection and sorrow in
my countenance, yet mixed with some faint hope that the _Lord would
appear_ for my deliverance.
Soon afterwards, as my new master was going ashore, he called me to
him, and told me to behave myself well, and do the business of the
ship the same as any of the rest of the boys, and that I should fare
the better for it; but I made him no answer. I was then asked if I
could swim, and I said, No. However I was made to go under the deck,
and was well watched. The next tide the ship got under way, and soon
after arrived at the Mother Bank, Portsmouth; where she waited a few
days for some of the West India convoy. While I was here I tried every
means I could devise amongst the people of the ship to get me a boat
from the shore, as there was none suffered to come alongside of the
ship; and their own, whenever it was used, was hoisted in again
immediately. A sailor on board took a guinea from me on pretence of
getting me a boat; and promised me, time after time, that it was
hourly to come off. When he had the watch upon deck I watched also;
and looked long enough, but all in vain; I could never see either the
boat or my guinea again. And what I thought was still the worst of
all, the fellow gave information, as I afterwards found, all the while
to the mates, of my intention to go off, if I could in any way do it;
but, rogue like, he never told them he had got a guinea from me to
procure my escape. However, after we had sailed, and his trick was
made known to the ship's crew, I had some satisfaction in seeing him
detested and despised by them all for his behaviour to me. I was still
in hopes that my old shipmates would not forget their promise to come
for me to Portsmouth: and, indeed, at last, but not till the day
before we sailed, some of them did come there, and sent me off some
oranges, and other tokens of their regard. They also sent me word they
would come off to me themselves the next day or the day after; and a
lady also, who lived in Gosport, wrote to me that she would come and
take me out of the ship at the same time. This lady had been once very
intimate with my former master: I used to sell and take care of a
great deal of property for her, in different ships; and in return she
always shewed great friendship for me, and used to tell my master that
she would take me away to live with her: but, unfortunately for me, a
disagreement soon afterwards took place between them; and she was
succeeded in my master's good graces by another lady, who appeared
sole mistress of the Ætna, and mostly lodged on board. I was not so
great a favourite with this lady as with the former; she had conceived
a pique against me on some occasion when she was on board, and she did
not fail to instigate my master to treat me in the manner he did[O].
However, the next morning, the 30th of December, the wind being brisk
and easterly, the Oeolus frigate, which was to escort the convoy,
made a signal for sailing. All the ships then got up their anchors;
and, before any of my friends had an opportunity to come off to my
relief, to my inexpressible anguish our ship had got under way. What
tumultuous emotions agitated my soul when the convoy got under sail,
and I a prisoner on board, now without hope! I kept my swimming eyes
upon the land in a state of unutterable grief; not knowing what to do,
and despairing how to help myself. While my mind was in this situation
the fleet sailed on, and in one day's time I lost sight of the
wished-for land. In the first expressions of my grief I reproached my
fate, and wished I had never been born. I was ready to curse the tide
that bore us, the gale that wafted my prison, and even the ship that
conducted us; and I called on death to relieve me from the horrors I
felt and dreaded, that I might be in that place
"Where slaves are free, and men oppress no more.
Fool that I was, inur'd so long to pain,
To trust to hope, or dream of joy again.
* * * * *
Now dragg'd once more beyond the western main,
To groan beneath some dastard planter's chain;
Where my poor countrymen in bondage wait
The long enfranchisement of ling'ring fate:
Hard ling'ring fate! while, ere the dawn of day,
Rous'd by the lash they go their cheerless way;
And as their souls with shame and anguish burn,
Salute with groans unwelcome morn's return,
And, chiding ev'ry hour the slow-pac'd sun,
Pursue their toils till all his race is run.
No eye to mark their suff'rings with a tear;
No friend to comfort, and no hope to cheer:
Then, like the dull unpity'd brutes, repair
To stalls as wretched, and as coarse a fare;
Thank heaven one day of mis'ry was o'er,
Then sink to sleep, and wish to wake no more[P]."
The turbulence of my emotions however naturally gave way to calmer
thoughts, and I soon perceived what fate had decreed no mortal on
earth could prevent. The convoy sailed on without any accident, with a
pleasant gale and smooth sea, for six weeks, till February, when one
morning the Oeolus ran down a brig, one of the convoy, and she
instantly went down and was ingulfed in the dark recesses of the
ocean. The convoy was immediately thrown into great confusion till it
was daylight; and the Oeolus was illumined with lights to prevent
any farther mischief. On the 13th of February 1763, from the
mast-head, we descried our destined island Montserrat; and soon after
I beheld those
"Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can rarely dwell. Hope never comes
That comes to all, but torture without end
Still urges."
At the sight of this land of bondage, a fresh horror ran through all
my frame, and chilled me to the heart. My former slavery now rose in
dreadful review to my mind, and displayed nothing but misery, stripes,
and chains; and, in the first paroxysm of my grief, I called upon
God's thunder, and his avenging power, to direct the stroke of death
to me, rather than permit me to become a slave, and be sold from lord
to lord.
In this state of my mind our ship came to an anchor, and soon after
discharged her cargo. I now knew what it was to work hard; I was made
to help to unload and load the ship. And, to comfort me in my distress
in that time, two of the sailors robbed me of all my money, and ran
away from the ship. I had been so long used to an European climate
that at first I felt the scorching West India sun very painful, while
the dashing surf would toss the boat and the people in it frequently
above high water mark. Sometimes our limbs were broken with this, or
even attended with instant death, and I was day by day mangled and
torn.
About the middle of May, when the ship was got ready to sail for
England, I all the time believing that Fate's blackest clouds were
gathering over my head, and expecting their bursting would mix me with
the dead, Captain Doran sent for me ashore one morning, and I was told
by the messenger that my fate was then determined. With fluttering
steps and trembling heart I came to the captain, and found with him
one Mr. Robert King, a quaker, and the first merchant in the place.
The captain then told me my former master had sent me there to be
sold; but that he had desired him to get me the best master he could,
as he told him I was a very deserving boy, which Captain Doran said he
found to be true; and if he were to stay in the West Indies he would
be glad to keep me himself; but he could not venture to take me to
London, for he was very sure that when I came there I would leave him.
I at that instant burst out a crying, and begged much of him to take
me to England with him, but all to no purpose. He told me he had got
me the very best master in the whole island, with whom I should be as
happy as if I were in England, and for that reason he chose to let him
have me, though he could sell me to his own brother-in-law for a great
deal more money than what he got from this gentleman. Mr. King, my new
master, then made a reply, and said the reason he had bought me was on
account of my good character; and, as he had not the least doubt of my
good behaviour, I should be very well off with him. He also told me he
did not live in the West Indies, but at Philadelphia, where he was
going soon; and, as I understood something of the rules of
arithmetic, when we got there he would put me to school, and fit me
for a clerk. This conversation relieved my mind a little, and I left
those gentlemen considerably more at ease in myself than when I came
to them; and I was very grateful to Captain Doran, and even to my old
master, for the character they had given me; a character which I
afterwards found of infinite service to me. I went on board again, and
took leave of all my shipmates; and the next day the ship sailed. When
she weighed anchor I went to the waterside and looked at her with a
very wishful and aching heart, and followed her with my eyes and tears
until she was totally out of sight. I was so bowed down with grief
that I could not hold up my head for many months; and if my new master
had not been kind to me I believe I should have died under it at last.
And indeed I soon found that he fully deserved the good character
which Captain Doran had given me of him; for he possessed a most
amiable disposition and temper, and was very charitable and humane. If
any of his slaves behaved amiss he did not beat or use them ill, but
parted with them. This made them afraid of disobliging him; and as he
treated his slaves better than any other man on the island, so he was
better and more faithfully served by them in return. By his kind
treatment I did at last endeavour to compose myself; and with
fortitude, though moneyless, determined to face whatever fate had
decreed for me. Mr. King soon asked me what I could do; and at the
same time said he did not mean to treat me as a common slave. I told
him I knew something of seamanship, and could shave and dress hair
pretty well; and I could refine wines, which I had learned on
shipboard, where I had often done it; and that I could write, and
understood arithmetic tolerably well as far as the Rule of Three. He
then asked me if I knew any thing of gauging; and, on my answering
that I did not, he said one of his clerks should teach me to gauge.
Mr. King dealt in all manner of merchandize, and kept from one to six
clerks. He loaded many vessels in a year; particularly to
Philadelphia, where he was born, and was connected with a great
mercantile house in that city. He had besides many vessels and
droggers, of different sizes, which used to go about the island; and
others to collect rum, sugar, and other goods. I understood pulling
and managing those boats very well; and this hard work, which was the
first that he set me to, in the sugar seasons used to be my constant
employment. I have rowed the boat, and slaved at the oars, from one
hour to sixteen in the twenty-four; during which I had fifteen pence
sterling per day to live on, though sometimes only ten pence. However
this was considerably more than was allowed to other slaves that used
to work with me, and belonged to other gentlemen on the island: those
poor souls had never more than nine pence per day, and seldom more
than six pence, from their masters or owners, though they earned them
three or four pisterines[Q]: for it is a common practice in the West
Indies for men to purchase slaves though they have not plantations
themselves, in order to let them out to planters and merchants at so
much a piece by the day, and they give what allowance they chuse out
of this produce of their daily work to their slaves for subsistence;
this allowance is often very scanty. My master often gave the owners
of these slaves two and a half of these pieces per day, and found the
poor fellows in victuals himself, because he thought their owners did
not feed them well enough according to the work they did. The slaves
used to like this very well; and, as they knew my master to be a man
of feeling, they were always glad to work for him in preference to any
other gentleman; some of whom, after they had been paid for these poor
people's labours, would not give them their allowance out of it. Many
times have I even seen these unfortunate wretches beaten for asking
for their pay; and often severely flogged by their owners if they did
not bring them their daily or weekly money exactly to the time; though
the poor creatures were obliged to wait on the gentlemen they had
worked for sometimes for more than half the day before they could get
their pay; and this generally on Sundays, when they wanted the time
for themselves. In particular, I knew a countryman of mine who once
did not bring the weekly money directly that it was earned; and though
he brought it the same day to his master, yet he was staked to the
ground for this pretended negligence, and was just going to receive a
hundred lashes, but for a gentleman who begged him off fifty. This
poor man was very industrious; and, by his frugality, had saved so
much money by working on shipboard, that he had got a white man to buy
him a boat, unknown to his master. Some time after he had this little
estate the governor wanted a boat to bring his sugar from different
parts of the island; and, knowing this to be a negro-man's boat, he
seized upon it for himself, and would not pay the owner a farthing.
The man on this went to his master, and complained to him of this act
of the governor; but the only satisfaction he received was to be
damned very heartily by his master, who asked him how dared any of his
negroes to have a boat. If the justly-merited ruin of the governor's
fortune could be any gratification to the poor man he had thus robbed,
he was not without consolation. Extortion and rapine are poor
providers; and some time after this the governor died in the King's
Bench in England, as I was told, in great poverty. The last war
favoured this poor negro-man, and he found some means to escape from
his Christian master: he came to England; where I saw him afterwards
several times. Such treatment as this often drives these miserable
wretches to despair, and they run away from their masters at the
hazard of their lives. Many of them, in this place, unable to get
their pay when they have earned it, and fearing to be flogged, as
usual, if they return home without it, run away where they can for
shelter, and a reward is often offered to bring them in dead or alive.
My master used sometimes, in these cases, to agree with their owners,
and to settle with them himself; and thereby he saved many of them a
flogging.
Once, for a few days, I was let out to fit a vessel, and I had no
victuals allowed me by either party; at last I told my master of this
treatment, and he took me away from it. In many of the estates, on the
different islands where I used to be sent for rum or sugar, they would
not deliver it to me, or any other negro; he was therefore obliged to
send a white man along with me to those places; and then he used to
pay him from six to ten pisterines a day. From being thus employed,
during the time I served Mr. King, in going about the different
estates on the island, I had all the opportunity I could wish for to
see the dreadful usage of the poor men; usage that reconciled me to my
situation, and made me bless God for the hands into which I had
fallen.
I had the good fortune to please my master in every department in
which he employed me; and there was scarcely any part of his business,
or household affairs, in which I was not occasionally engaged. I often
supplied the place of a clerk, in receiving and delivering cargoes to
the ships, in tending stores, and delivering goods: and, besides this,
I used to shave and dress my master when convenient, and take care of
his horse; and when it was necessary, which was very often, I worked
likewise on board of different vessels of his. By these means I became
very useful to my master; and saved him, as he used to acknowledge,
above a hundred pounds a year. Nor did he scruple to say I was of more
advantage to him than any of his clerks; though their usual wages in
the West Indies are from sixty to a hundred pounds current a year.
I have sometimes heard it asserted that a negro cannot earn his master
the first cost; but nothing can be further from the truth. I suppose
nine tenths of the mechanics throughout the West Indies are negro
slaves; and I well know the coopers among them earn two dollars a day;
the carpenters the same, and oftentimes more; as also the masons,
smiths, and fishermen, &c. and I have known many slaves whose masters
would not take a thousand pounds current for them. But surely this
assertion refutes itself; for, if it be true, why do the planters and
merchants pay such a price for slaves? And, above all, why do those
who make this assertion exclaim the most loudly against the abolition
of the slave trade? So much are men blinded, and to such inconsistent
arguments are they driven by mistaken interest! I grant, indeed, that
slaves are some times, by half-feeding, half-clothing, over-working
and stripes, reduced so low, that they are turned out as unfit for
service, and left to perish in the woods, or expire on a dunghill.
My master was several times offered by different gentlemen one hundred
guineas for me; but he always told them he would not sell me, to my
great joy: and I used to double my diligence and care for fear of
getting into the hands of those men who did not allow a valuable slave
the common support of life. Many of them even used to find fault with
my master for feeding his slaves so well as he did; although I often
went hungry, and an Englishman might think my fare very indifferent;
but he used to tell them he always would do it, because the slaves
thereby looked better and did more work.
While I was thus employed by my master I was often a witness to
cruelties of every kind, which were exercised on my unhappy fellow
slaves. I used frequently to have different cargoes of new negroes in
my care for sale; and it was almost a constant practice with our
clerks, and other whites, to commit violent depredations on the
chastity of the female slaves; and these I was, though with
reluctance, obliged to submit to at all times, being unable to help
them. When we have had some of these slaves on board my master's
vessels to carry them to other islands, or to America, I have known
our mates to commit these acts most shamefully, to the disgrace, not
of Christians only, but of men. I have even known them gratify their
brutal passion with females not ten years old; and these abominations
some of them practised to such scandalous excess, that one of our
captains discharged the mate and others on that account. And yet in
Montserrat I have seen a negro man staked to the ground, and cut most
shockingly, and then his ears cut off bit by bit, because he had been
connected with a white woman who was a common prostitute: as if it
were no crime in the whites to rob an innocent African girl of her
virtue; but most heinous in a black man only to gratify a passion of
nature, where the temptation was offered by one of a different colour,
though the most abandoned woman of her species. Another negro man was
half hanged, and then burnt, for attempting to poison a cruel
overseer. Thus by repeated cruelties are the wretched first urged to
despair, and then murdered, because they still retain so much of human
nature about them as to wish to put an end to their misery, and
retaliate on their tyrants! These overseers are indeed for the most
part persons of the worst character of any denomination of men in the
West Indies. Unfortunately, many humane gentlemen, by not residing on
their estates, are obliged to leave the management of them in the
hands of these human butchers, who cut and mangle the slaves in a
shocking manner on the most trifling occasions, and altogether treat
them in every respect like brutes. They pay no regard to the situation
of pregnant women, nor the least attention to the lodging of the
field negroes. Their huts, which ought to be well covered, and the
place dry where they take their little repose, are often open sheds,
built in damp places; so that, when the poor creatures return tired
from the toils of the field, they contract many disorders, from being
exposed to the damp air in this uncomfortable state, while they are
heated, and their pores are open. This neglect certainly conspires
with many others to cause a decrease in the births as well as in the
lives of the grown negroes. I can quote many instances of gentlemen
who reside on their estates in the West Indies, and then the scene is
quite changed; the negroes are treated with lenity and proper care, by
which their lives are prolonged, and their masters are profited. To
the honour of humanity, I knew several gentlemen who managed their
estates in this manner; and they found that benevolence was their true
interest. And, among many I could mention in several of the islands, I
knew one in Montserrat[R] whose slaves looked remarkably well, and
never needed any fresh supplies of negroes; and there are many other
estates, especially in Barbadoes, which, from such judicious
treatment, need no fresh stock of negroes at any time. I have the
honour of knowing a most worthy and humane gentleman, who is a native
of Barbadoes, and has estates there[S]. This gentleman has written a
treatise on the usage of his own slaves. He allows them two hours for
refreshment at mid-day; and many other indulgencies and comforts,
particularly in their lying; and, besides this, he raises more
provisions on his estate than they can destroy; so that by these
attentions he saves the lives of his negroes, and keeps them healthy,
and as happy as the condition of slavery can admit. I myself, as shall
appear in the sequel, managed an estate, where, by those attentions,
the negroes were uncommonly cheerful and healthy, and did more work by
half than by the common mode of treatment they usually do. For want,
therefore, of such care and attention to the poor negroes, and
otherwise oppressed as they are, it is no wonder that the decrease
should require 20,000 new negroes annually to fill up the vacant
places of the dead.
Even in Barbadoes, notwithstanding those humane exceptions which I
have mentioned, and others I am acquainted with, which justly make it
quoted as a place where slaves meet with the best treatment, and need
fewest recruits of any in the West Indies, yet this island requires
1000 negroes annually to keep up the original stock, which is only
80,000. So that the whole term of a negro's life may be said to be
there but sixteen years![T] And yet the climate here is in every
respect the same as that from which they are taken, except in being
more wholesome. Do the British colonies decrease in this manner? And
yet what a prodigious difference is there between an English and West
India climate?
While I was in Montserrat I knew a negro man, named Emanuel Sankey,
who endeavoured to escape from his miserable bondage, by concealing
himself on board of a London ship: but fate did not favour the poor
oppressed man; for, being discovered when the vessel was under sail,
he was delivered up again to his master. This Christian master
immediately pinned the wretch down to the ground at each wrist and
ancle, and then took some sticks of sealing wax, and lighted them, and
droped it all over his back. There was another master who was noted
for cruelty; and I believe he had not a slave but what had been cut,
and had pieces fairly taken out of the flesh: and, after they had been
punished thus, he used to make them get into a long wooden box or case
he had for that purpose, in which he shut them up during pleasure. It
was just about the height and breadth of a man; and the poor wretches
had no room, when in the case, to move.
It was very common in several of the islands, particularly in St.
Kitt's, for the slaves to be branded with the initial letters of their
master's name; and a load of heavy iron hooks hung about their necks.
Indeed on the most trifling occasions they were loaded with chains;
and often instruments of torture were added. The iron muzzle,
thumb-screws, &c. are so well known, as not to need a description, and
were sometimes applied for the slightest faults. I have seen a negro
beaten till some of his bones were broken, for even letting a pot boil
over. Is it surprising that usage like this should drive the poor
creatures to despair, and make them seek a refuge in death from those
evils which render their lives intolerable--while,
"With shudd'ring horror pale, and eyes aghast,
They view their lamentable lot, and find
No rest!"
This they frequently do. A negro-man on board a vessel of my master,
while I belonged to her, having been put in irons for some trifling
misdemeanor, and kept in that state for some days, being weary of
life, took an opportunity of jumping overboard into the sea; however,
he was picked up without being drowned. Another, whose life was also a
burden to him, resolved to starve himself to death, and refused to eat
any victuals; this procured him a severe flogging: and he also, on the
first occasion which offered, jumped overboard at Charles Town, but
was saved.
Nor is there any greater regard shewn to the little property than
there is to the persons and lives of the negroes. I have already
related an instance or two of particular oppression out of many which
I have witnessed; but the following is frequent in all the islands.
The wretched field-slaves, after toiling all the day for an unfeeling
owner, who gives them but little victuals, steal sometimes a few
moments from rest or refreshment to gather some small portion of
grass, according as their time will admit. This they commonly tie up
in a parcel; (either a bit, worth six pence; or half a bit's-worth)
and bring it to town, or to the market, to sell. Nothing is more
common than for the white people on this occasion to take the grass
from them without paying for it; and not only so, but too often also,
to my knowledge, our clerks, and many others, at the same time have
committed acts of violence on the poor, wretched, and helpless
females; whom I have seen for hours stand crying to no purpose, and
get no redress or pay of any kind. Is not this one common and crying
sin enough to bring down God's judgment on the islands? He tells us
the oppressor and the oppressed are both in his hands; and if these
are not the poor, the broken-hearted, the blind, the captive, the
bruised, which our Saviour speaks of, who are they? One of these
depredators once, in St. Eustatia, came on board of our vessel, and
bought some fowls and pigs of me; and a whole day after his departure
with the things he returned again and wanted his money back: I refused
to give it; and, not seeing my captain on board, he began the common
pranks with me; and swore he would even break open my chest and take
my money. I therefore expected, as my captain was absent, that he
would be as good as his word: and he was just proceeding to strike me,
when fortunately a British seaman on board, whose heart had not been
debauched by a West India climate, interposed and prevented him. But
had the cruel man struck me I certainly should have defended myself at
the hazard of my life; for what is life to a man thus oppressed? He
went away, however, swearing; and threatened that whenever he caught
me on shore he would shoot me, and pay for me afterwards.
The small account in which the life of a negro is held in the West
Indies is so universally known, that it might seem impertinent to
quote the following extract, if some people had not been hardy enough
of late to assert that negroes are on the same footing in that respect
as Europeans. By the 329th Act, page 125, of the Assembly of
Barbadoes, it is enacted 'That if any negro, or other slave, under
punishment by his master, or his order, for running away, or any other
crime or misdemeanor towards his said master, unfortunately shall
suffer in life or member, no person whatsoever shall be liable to a
fine; but if any man shall out of _wantonness, or only of
bloody-mindedness, or cruel intention, wilfully kill a negro, or other
slave, of his own, he shall pay into the public treasury fifteen
pounds sterling_.' And it is the same in most, if not all, of the West
India islands. Is not this one of the many acts of the islands which
call loudly for redress? And do not the assembly which enacted it
deserve the appellation of savages and brutes rather than of
Christians and men? It is an act at once unmerciful, unjust, and
unwise; which for cruelty would disgrace an assembly of those who are
called barbarians; and for its injustice and _insanity_ would shock
the morality and common sense of a Samaide or a Hottentot.
Shocking as this and many more acts of the bloody West India code at
first view appear, how is the iniquity of it heightened when we
consider to whom it may be extended! Mr. James Tobin, a zealous
labourer in the vineyard of slavery, gives an account of a French
planter of his acquaintance, in the island of Martinico, who shewed
him many mulattoes working in the fields like beasts of burden; and he
told Mr. Tobin these were all the produce of his own loins! And I
myself have known similar instances. Pray, reader, are these sons and
daughters of the French planter less his children by being begotten on
a black woman? And what must be the virtue of those legislators, and
the feelings of those fathers, who estimate the lives of their sons,
however begotten, at no more than fifteen pounds; though they should
be murdered, as the act says, _out of wantonness and bloody-mindedness_!
But is not the slave trade entirely a war with the heart of man? And
surely that which is begun by breaking down the barriers of virtue
involves in its continuance destruction to every principle, and buries
all sentiments in ruin!
I have often seen slaves, particularly those who were meagre, in
different islands, put into scales and weighed; and then sold from
three pence to six pence or nine pence a pound. My master, however,
whose humanity was shocked at this mode, used to sell such by the
lump. And at or after a sale it was not uncommon to see negroes taken
from their wives, wives taken from their husbands, and children from
their parents, and sent off to other islands, and wherever else their
merciless lords chose; and probably never more during life to see each
other! Oftentimes my heart has bled at these partings; when the
friends of the departed have been at the water side, and, with sighs
and tears, have kept their eyes fixed on the vessel till it went out
of sight.
A poor Creole negro I knew well, who, after having been often thus
transported from island to island, at last resided in Montserrat. This
man used to tell me many melancholy tales of himself. Generally, after
he had done working for his master, he used to employ his few leisure
moments to go a fishing. When he had caught any fish, his master would
frequently take them from him without paying him; and at other times
some other white people would serve him in the same manner. One day he
said to me, very movingly, 'Sometimes when a white man take away my
fish I go to my maser, and he get me my right; and when my maser by
strength take away my fishes, what me must do? I can't go to any body
to be righted; then' said the poor man, looking up above 'I must look
up to God Mighty in the top for right.' This artless tale moved me
much, and I could not help feeling the just cause Moses had in
redressing his brother against the Egyptian. I exhorted the man to
look up still to the God on the top, since there was no redress below.
Though I little thought then that I myself should more than once
experience such imposition, and read the same exhortation hereafter,
in my own transactions in the islands; and that even this poor man and
I should some time after suffer together in the same manner, as shall
be related hereafter.
Nor was such usage as this confined to particular places or
individuals; for, in all the different islands in which I have been
(and I have visited no less than fifteen) the treatment of the slaves
was nearly the same; so nearly indeed, that the history of an island,
or even a plantation, with a few such exceptions as I have mentioned,
might serve for a history of the whole. Such a tendency has the
slave-trade to debauch men's minds, and harden them to every feeling
of humanity! For I will not suppose that the dealers in slaves are
born worse than other men--No; it is the fatality of this mistaken
avarice, that it corrupts the milk of human kindness and turns it into
gall. And, had the pursuits of those men been different, they might
have been as generous, as tender-hearted and just, as they are
unfeeling, rapacious and cruel. Surely this traffic cannot be good,
which spreads like a pestilence, and taints what it touches! which
violates that first natural right of mankind, equality and
independency, and gives one man a dominion over his fellows which God
could never intend! For it raises the owner to a state as far above
man as it depresses the slave below it; and, with all the presumption
of human pride, sets a distinction between them, immeasurable in
extent, and endless in duration! Yet how mistaken is the avarice even
of the planters? Are slaves more useful by being thus humbled to the
condition of brutes, than they would be if suffered to enjoy the
privileges of men? The freedom which diffuses health and prosperity
throughout Britain answers you--No. When you make men slaves you
deprive them of half their virtue, you set them in your own conduct an
example of fraud, rapine, and cruelty, and compel them to live with
you in a state of war; and yet you complain that they are not honest
or faithful! You stupify them with stripes, and think it necessary to
keep them in a state of ignorance; and yet you assert that they are
incapable of learning; that their minds are such a barren soil or
moor, that culture would be lost on them; and that they come from a
climate, where nature, though prodigal of her bounties in a degree
unknown to yourselves, has left man alone scant and unfinished, and
incapable of enjoying the treasures she has poured out for him!--An
assertion at once impious and absurd. Why do you use those instruments
of torture? Are they fit to be applied by one rational being to
another? And are ye not struck with shame and mortification, to see
the partakers of your nature reduced so low? But, above all, are there
no dangers attending this mode of treatment? Are you not hourly in
dread of an insurrection? Nor would it be surprising: for when
"--No peace is given
To us enslav'd, but custody severe;
And stripes and arbitrary punishment
Inflicted--What peace can we return?
But to our power, hostility and hate;
Untam'd reluctance, and revenge, though slow,
Yet ever plotting how the conqueror least
May reap his conquest, and may least rejoice
In doing what we most in suffering feel."
But by changing your conduct, and treating your slaves as men, every
cause of fear would be banished. They would be faithful, honest,
intelligent and vigorous; and peace, prosperity, and happiness, would
attend you.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote O: Thus was I sacrificed to the envy and resentment of this
woman for knowing that the lady whom she had succeeded in my master's
good graces designed to take me into her service; which, had I once
got on shore, she would not have been able to prevent. She felt her
pride alarmed at the superiority of her rival in being attended by a
black servant: it was not less to prevent this than to be revenged on
me, that she caused the captain to treat me thus cruelly.]
[Footnote P: "The Dying Negro," a poem originally published in 1773.
Perhaps it may not be deemed impertinent here to add, that this
elegant and pathetic little poem was occasioned, as appears by the
advertisement prefixed to it, by the following incident. "A black,
who, a few days before had ran away from his master, and got himself
christened, with intent to marry a white woman his fellow-servant,
being taken and sent on board a ship in the Thames, took an
opportunity of shooting himself through the head."]
[Footnote Q: These pisterines are of the value of a shilling.]
[Footnote R: Mr. Dubury, and many others, Montserrat.]
[Footnote S: Sir Philip Gibbes, Baronet, Barbadoes.]
[Footnote T: Benezet's Account of Guinea, p. 16.]
CHAP. VI.
_Some account of Brimstone-Hill in Montserrat--Favourable
change in the author's situation--He commences merchant with
three pence--His various success in dealing in the different
islands, and America, and the impositions he meets with in
his transactions with Europeans--A curious imposition on
human nature--Danger of the surfs in the West
Indies--Remarkable instance of kidnapping a free
mulatto--The author is nearly murdered by Doctor Perkins in
Savannah._
In the preceding chapter I have set before the reader a few of those
many instances of oppression, extortion, and cruelty, which I have
been a witness to in the West Indies: but, were I to enumerate them
all, the catalogue would be tedious and disgusting. The punishments of
the slaves on every trifling occasion are so frequent, and so well
known, together with the different instruments with which they are
tortured, that it cannot any longer afford novelty to recite them; and
they are too shocking to yield delight either to the writer or the
reader. I shall therefore hereafter only mention such as incidentally
befel myself in the course of my adventures.
In the variety of departments in which I was employed by my master, I
had an opportunity of seeing many curious scenes in different islands;
but, above all, I was struck with a celebrated curiosity called
Brimstone-Hill, which is a high and steep mountain, some few miles
from the town of Plymouth in Montserrat. I had often heard of some
wonders that were to be seen on this hill, and I went once with some
white and black people to visit it. When we arrived at the top, I saw
under different cliffs great flakes of brimstone, occasioned by the
steams of various little ponds, which were then boiling naturally in
the earth. Some of these ponds were as white as milk, some quite blue,
and many others of different colours. I had taken some potatoes with
me, and I put them into different ponds, and in a few minutes they
were well boiled. I tasted some of them, but they were very
sulphurous; and the silver shoe buckles, and all the other things of
that metal we had among us, were, in a little time, turned as black
as lead.
Some time in the year 1763 kind Providence seemed to appear rather
more favourable to me. One of my master's vessels, a Bermudas sloop,
about sixty tons, was commanded by one Captain Thomas Farmer, an
Englishman, a very alert and active man, who gained my master a great
deal of money by his good management in carrying passengers from one
island to another; but very often his sailors used to get drunk and
run away from the vessel, which hindered him in his business very
much. This man had taken a liking to me; and many different times
begged of my master to let me go a trip with him as a sailor; but he
would tell him he could not spare me, though the vessel sometimes
could not go for want of hands, for sailors were generally very scarce
in the island. However, at last, from necessity or force, my master
was prevailed on, though very reluctantly, to let me go with this
captain; but he gave great charge to him to take care that I did not
run away, for if I did he would make him pay for me. This being the
case, the captain had for some time a sharp eye upon me whenever the
vessel anchored; and as soon as she returned I was sent for on shore
again. Thus was I slaving as it were for life, sometimes at one thing,
and sometimes at another; so that the captain and I were nearly the
most useful men in my master's employment. I also became so useful to
the captain on shipboard, that many times, when he used to ask for me
to go with him, though it should be but for twenty-four hours, to some
of the islands near us, my master would answer he could not spare me,
at which the captain would swear, and would not go the trip; and tell
my master I was better to him on board than any three white men he
had; for they used to behave ill in many respects, particularly in
getting drunk; and then they frequently got the boat stove, so as to
hinder the vessel from coming back as soon as she might have done.
This my master knew very well; and at last, by the captain's constant
entreaties, after I had been several times with him, one day, to my
great joy, my master told me the captain would not let him rest, and
asked me whether I would go aboard as a sailor, or stay on shore and
mind the stores, for he could not bear any longer to be plagued in
this manner. I was very happy at this proposal, for I immediately
thought I might in time stand some chance by being on board to get a
little money, or possibly make my escape if I should be used ill: I
also expected to get better food, and in greater abundance; for I had
felt much hunger oftentimes, though my master treated his slaves, as I
have observed, uncommonly well. I therefore, without hesitation,
answered him, that I would go and be a sailor if he pleased.
Accordingly I was ordered on board directly. Nevertheless, between the
vessel and the shore, when she was in port, I had little or no rest,
as my master always wished to have me along with him. Indeed he was a
very pleasant gentleman, and but for my expectations on shipboard I
should not have thought of leaving him. But the captain liked me also
very much, and I was entirely his right-hand man. I did all I could to
deserve his favour, and in return I received better treatment from him
than any other I believe ever met with in the West Indies in my
situation.
After I had been sailing for some time with this captain, at length I
endeavoured to try my luck and commence merchant. I had but a very
small capital to begin with; for one single half bit, which is equal
to three pence in England, made up my whole stock. However I trusted
to the Lord to be with me; and at one of our trips to St. Eustatia, a
Dutch island, I bought a glass tumbler with my half bit, and when I
came to Montserrat I sold it for a bit, or sixpence. Luckily we made
several successive trips to St. Eustatia (which was a general mart for
the West Indies, about twenty leagues from Montserrat); and in our
next, finding my tumbler so profitable, with this one bit I bought two
tumblers more; and when I came back I sold them for two bits, equal to
a shilling sterling. When we went again I bought with these two bits
four more of these glasses, which I sold for four bits on our return
to Montserrat; and in our next voyage to St. Eustatia I bought two
glasses with one bit, and with the other three I bought a jug of
Geneva, nearly about three pints in measure. When we came to
Montserrat I sold the gin for eight bits, and the tumblers for two, so
that my capital now amounted in all to a dollar, well husbanded and
acquired in the space of a month or six weeks, when I blessed the Lord
that I was so rich. As we sailed to different islands, I laid this
money out in various things occasionally, and it used to turn out to
very good account, especially when we went to Guadaloupe, Grenada, and
the rest of the French islands. Thus was I going all about the islands
upwards of four years, and ever trading as I went, during which I
experienced many instances of ill usage, and have seen many injuries
done to other negroes in our dealings with Europeans: and, amidst our
recreations, when we have been dancing and merry-making, they, without
cause, have molested and insulted us. Indeed I was more than once
obliged to look up to God on high, as I had advised the poor fisherman
some time before. And I had not been long trading for myself in the
manner I have related above, when I experienced the like trial in
company with him as follows: This man being used to the water, was
upon an emergency put on board of us by his master to work as another
hand, on a voyage to Santa Cruz; and at our sailing he had brought his
little all for a venture, which consisted of six bits' worth of limes
and oranges in a bag; I had also my whole stock, which was about
twelve bits' worth of the same kind of goods, separate in two bags;
for we had heard these fruits sold well in that island. When we came
there, in some little convenient time he and I went ashore with our
fruits to sell them; but we had scarcely landed when we were met by
two white men, who presently took our three bags from us. We could not
at first guess what they meant to do; and for some time we thought
they were jesting with us; but they too soon let us know otherwise,
for they took our ventures immediately to a house hard by, and
adjoining the fort, while we followed all the way begging of them to
give us our fruits, but in vain. They not only refused to return them,
but swore at us, and threatened if we did not immediately depart they
would flog us well. We told them these three bags were all we were
worth in the world, and that we brought them with us to sell when we
came from Montserrat, and shewed them the vessel. But this was rather
against us, as they now saw we were strangers as well as slaves. They
still therefore swore, and desired us to be gone, and even took sticks
to beat us; while we, seeing they meant what they said, went off in
the greatest confusion and despair. Thus, in the very minute of
gaining more by three times than I ever did by any venture in my life
before, was I deprived of every farthing I was worth. An
insupportable misfortune! but how to help ourselves we knew not. In
our consternation we went to the commanding officer of the fort and
told him how we had been served by some of his people; but we obtained
not the least redress: he answered our complaints only by a volley of
imprecations against us, and immediately took a horse-whip, in order
to chastise us, so that we were obliged to turn out much faster than
we came in. I now, in the agony of distress and indignation, wished
that the ire of God in his forked lightning might transfix these cruel
oppressors among the dead. Still however we persevered; went back
again to the house, and begged and besought them again and again for
our fruits, till at last some other people that were in the house
asked if we would be contented if they kept one bag and gave us the
other two. We, seeing no remedy whatever, consented to this; and they,
observing one bag to have both kinds of fruit in it, which belonged to
my companion, kept that; and the other two, which were mine, they gave
us back. As soon as I got them, I ran as fast as I could, and got the
first negro man I could to help me off; my companion, however, stayed
a little longer to plead; he told them the bag they had was his, and
likewise all that he was worth in the world; but this was of no avail,
and he was obliged to return without it. The poor old man, wringing
his hands, cried bitterly for his loss; and, indeed, he then did look
up to God on high, which so moved me with pity for him, that I gave
him nearly one third of my fruits. We then proceeded to the markets to
sell them; and Providence was more favourable to us than we could have
expected, for we sold our fruits uncommonly well; I got for mine about
thirty-seven bits. Such a surprising reverse of fortune in so short a
space of time seemed like a dream to me, and proved no small
encouragement for me to trust the Lord in any situation. My captain
afterwards frequently used to take my part, and get me my right, when
I have been plundered or used ill by these tender Christian
depredators; among whom I have shuddered to observe the unceasing
blasphemous execrations which are wantonly thrown out by persons of
all ages and conditions, not only without occasion, but even as if
they were indulgences and pleasure.
At one of our trips to St. Kitt's I had eleven bits of my own; and my
friendly captain lent me five bits more, with which I bought a Bible.
I was very glad to get this book, which I scarcely could meet with any
where. I think there was none sold in Montserrat; and, much to my
grief, from being forced out of the Ætna in the manner I have related,
my Bible, and the Guide to the Indians, the two books I loved above
all others, were left behind.
While I was in this place, St. Kitt's, a very curious imposition on
human nature took place:--A white man wanted to marry in the church a
free black woman that had land and slaves in Montserrat: but the
clergyman told him it was against the law of the place to marry a
white and a black in the church. The man then asked to be married on
the water, to which the parson consented, and the two lovers went in
one boat, and the parson and clerk in another, and thus the ceremony
was performed. After this the loving pair came on board our vessel,
and my captain treated them extremely well, and brought them safe to
Montserrat.
The reader cannot but judge of the irksomeness of this situation to a
mind like mine, in being daily exposed to new hardships and
impositions, after having seen many better days, and having been as it
were in a state of freedom and plenty; added to which, every part of
the world I had hitherto been in seemed to me a paradise in comparison
of the West Indies. My mind was therefore hourly replete with
inventions and thoughts of being freed, and, if possible, by honest
and honourable means; for I always remembered the old adage; and I
trust it has ever been my ruling principle, that honesty is the best
policy; and likewise that other golden precept--to do unto all men as
I would they should do unto me. However, as I was from early years a
predestinarian, I thought whatever fate had determined must ever come
to pass; and therefore, if ever it were my lot to be freed nothing
could prevent me, although I should at present see no means or hope to
obtain my freedom; on the other hand, if it were my fate not to be
freed I never should be so, and all my endeavours for that purpose
would be fruitless. In the midst of these thoughts I therefore looked
up with prayers anxiously to God for my liberty; and at the same time
I used every honest means, and endeavoured all that was possible on
my part to obtain it. In process of time I became master of a few
pounds, and in a fair way of making more, which my friendly captain
knew very well; this occasioned him sometimes to take liberties with
me: but whenever he treated me waspishly I used plainly to tell him my
mind, and that I would die before I would be imposed on as other
negroes were, and that to me life had lost its relish when liberty was
gone. This I said although I foresaw my then well-being or future
hopes of freedom (humanly speaking) depended on this man. However, as
he could not bear the thoughts of my not sailing with him, he always
became mild on my threats. I therefore continued with him; and, from
my great attention to his orders and his business, I gained him
credit, and through his kindness to me I at last procured my liberty.
While I thus went on, filled with the thoughts of freedom, and
resisting oppression as well as I was able, my life hung daily in
suspense, particularly in the surfs I have formerly mentioned, as I
could not swim. These are extremely violent throughout the West
Indies, and I was ever exposed to their howling rage and devouring
fury in all the islands. I have seen them strike and toss a boat right
up an end, and maim several on board. Once in the Grenada islands,
when I and about eight others were pulling a large boat with two
puncheons of water in it, a surf struck us, and drove the boat and all
in it about half a stone's throw, among some trees, and above the high
water mark. We were obliged to get all the assistance we could from
the nearest estate to mend the boat, and launch it into the water
again. At Montserrat one night, in pressing hard to get off the shore
on board, the punt was overset with us four times; the first time I
was very near being drowned; however the jacket I had on kept me up
above water a little space of time, while I called on a man near me
who was a good swimmer, and told him I could not swim; he then made
haste to me, and, just as I was sinking, he caught hold of me, and
brought me to sounding, and then he went and brought the punt also. As
soon as we had turned the water out of her, lest we should be used ill
for being absent, we attempted again three times more, and as often
the horrid surfs served us as at first; but at last, the fifth time we
attempted, we gained our point, at the imminent hazard of our lives.
One day also, at Old Road in Montserrat, our captain, and three men
besides myself, were going in a large canoe in quest of rum and sugar,
when a single surf tossed the canoe an amazing distance from the
water, and some of us even a stone's throw from each other: most of us
were very much bruised; so that I and many more often said, and really
thought, that there was not such another place under the heavens as
this. I longed therefore much to leave it, and daily wished to see my
master's promise performed of going to Philadelphia. While we lay in
this place a very cruel thing happened on board of our sloop which
filled me with horror; though I found afterwards such practices were
frequent. There was a very clever and decent free young mulatto-man
who sailed a long time with us: he had a free woman for his wife, by
whom he had a child; and she was then living on shore, and all very
happy. Our captain and mate, and other people on board, and several
elsewhere, even the natives of Bermudas, all knew this young man from
a child that he was always free, and no one had ever claimed him as
their property: however, as might too often overcomes right in these
parts, it happened that a Bermudas captain, whose vessel lay there for
a few days in the road, came on board of us, and seeing the
mulatto-man, whose name was Joseph Clipson, he told him he was not
free, and that he had orders from his master to bring him to Bermudas.
The poor man could not believe the captain to be in earnest; but he
was very soon undeceived, his men laying violent hands on him: and
although he shewed a certificate of his being born free in St. Kitt's,
and most people on board knew that he served his time to boat
building, and always passed for a free man, yet he was taken forcibly
out of our vessel. He then asked to be carried ashore before the
secretary or magistrates, and these infernal invaders of human rights
promised him he should; but, instead of that, they carried him on
board of the other vessel: and the next day, without giving the poor
man any hearing on shore, or suffering him even to see his wife or
child, he was carried away, and probably doomed never more in this
world to see them again. Nor was this the only instance of this kind
of barbarity I was a witness to. I have since often seen in Jamaica
and other islands free men, whom I have known in America, thus
villainously trepanned and held in bondage. I have heard of two
similar practices even in Philadelphia: and were it not for the
benevolence of the quakers in that city many of the sable race, who
now breathe the air of liberty, would, I believe, be groaning indeed
under some planter's chains. These things opened my mind to a new
scene of horror to which I had been before a stranger. Hitherto I had
thought only slavery dreadful; but the state of a free negro appeared
to me now equally so at least, and in some respects even worse, for
they live in constant alarm for their liberty; and even this is but
nominal, for they are universally insulted and plundered without the
possibility of redress; for such is the equity of the West Indian
laws, that no free negro's evidence will be admitted in their courts
of justice. In this situation is it surprising that slaves, when
mildly treated, should prefer even the misery of slavery to such a
mockery of freedom? I was now completely disgusted with the West
Indies, and thought I never should be entirely free until I had left
them.
"With thoughts like these my anxious boding mind
Recall'd those pleasing scenes I left behind;
Scenes where fair Liberty in bright array
Makes darkness bright, and e'en illumines day;
Where nor complexion, wealth, or station, can
Protect the wretch who makes a slave of man."
I determined to make every exertion to obtain my freedom, and to
return to Old England. For this purpose I thought a knowledge of
navigation might be of use to me; for, though I did not intend to run
away unless I should be ill used, yet, in such a case, if I understood
navigation, I might attempt my escape in our sloop, which was one of
the swiftest sailing vessels in the West Indies, and I could be at no
loss for hands to join me: and if I should make this attempt, I had
intended to have gone for England; but this, as I said, was only to be
in the event of my meeting with any ill usage. I therefore employed
the mate of our vessel to teach me navigation, for which I agreed to
give him twenty-four dollars, and actually paid him part of the money
down; though when the captain, some time after, came to know that the
mate was to have such a sum for teaching me, he rebuked him, and said
it was a shame for him to take any money from me. However, my
progress in this useful art was much retarded by the constancy of our
work. Had I wished to run away I did not want opportunities, which
frequently presented themselves; and particularly at one time, soon
after this. When we were at the island of Gaurdeloupe there was a
large fleet of merchantmen bound for Old France; and, seamen then
being very scarce, they gave from fifteen to twenty pounds a man for
the run. Our mate, and all the white sailors, left our vessel on this
account, and went on board of the French ships. They would have had me
also to go with them, for they regarded me; and they swore to protect
me, if I would go: and, as the fleet was to sail the next day, I
really believe I could have got safe to Europe at that time. However,
as my master was kind, I would not attempt to leave him; and,
remembering the old maxim, that 'honesty is the best policy,' I
suffered them to go without me. Indeed my captain was much afraid of
my leaving him and the vessel at that time, as I had so fair an
opportunity: but, I thank God, this fidelity of mine turned out much
to my advantage hereafter, when I did not in the least think of it;
and made me so much in favour with the captain, that he used now and
then to teach me some parts of navigation himself: but some of our
passengers, and others, seeing this, found much fault with him for it,
saying it was a very dangerous thing to let a negro know navigation;
thus I was hindered again in my pursuits. About the latter end of the
year 1764 my master bought a larger sloop, called the Providence,
about seventy or eighty tons, of which my captain had the command. I
went with him into this vessel, and we took a load of new slaves for
Georgia and Charles Town. My master now left me entirely to the
captain, though he still wished for me to be with him; but I, who
always much wished to lose sight of the West Indies, was not a little
rejoiced at the thoughts of seeing any other country. Therefore,
relying on the goodness of my captain, I got ready all the little
venture I could; and, when the vessel was ready, we sailed, to my
great joy. When we got to our destined places, Georgia and Charles
Town, I expected I should have an opportunity of selling my little
property to advantage: but here, particularly in Charles Town, I met
with buyers, white men, who imposed on me as in other places.
Notwithstanding, I was resolved to have fortitude; thinking no lot or
trial is too hard when kind Heaven is the rewarder. We soon got loaded
again, and returned to Montserrat; and there, amongst the rest of the
islands, I sold my goods well; and in this manner I continued trading
during the year 1764; meeting with various scenes of imposition, as
usual. After this, my master fitted out his vessel for Philadelphia,
in the year 1765; and during the time we were loading her, and getting
ready for the voyage, I worked with redoubled alacrity, from the hope
of getting money enough by these voyages to buy my freedom in time, if
it should please God; and also to see the town of Philadelphia, which
I had heard a great deal about for some years past; besides which, I
had always longed to prove my master's promise the first day I came to
him. In the midst of these elevated ideas, and while I was about
getting my little merchandize in readiness, one Sunday my master sent
for me to his house. When I came there I found him and the captain
together; and, on my going in, I was struck with astonishment at his
telling me he heard that I meant to run away from him when I got to
Philadelphia: 'And therefore,' said he, 'I must sell you again: you
cost me a great deal of money, no less than forty pounds sterling; and
it will not do to lose so much. You are a valuable fellow,' continued
he; 'and I can get any day for you one hundred guineas, from many
gentlemen in this island.' And then he told me of Captain Doran's
brother-in-law, a severe master, who ever wanted to buy me to make me
his overseer. My captain also said he could get much more than a
hundred guineas for me in Carolina. This I knew to be a fact; for the
gentleman that wanted to buy me came off several times on board of us,
and spoke to me to live with him, and said he would use me well. When
I asked what work he would put me to he said, as I was a sailor, he
would make me a captain of one of his rice vessels. But I refused: and
fearing, at the same time, by a sudden turn I saw in the captain's
temper, he might mean to sell me, I told the gentleman I would not
live with him on any condition, and that I certainly would run away
with his vessel: but he said he did not fear that, as he would catch
me again; and then he told me how cruelly he would serve me if I
should do so. My captain, however, gave him to understand that I knew
something of navigation: so he thought better of it; and, to my great
joy, he went away. I now told my master I did not say I would run away
in Philadelphia; neither did I mean it, as he did not use me ill, nor
yet the captain: for if they did I certainly would have made some
attempts before now; but as I thought that if it were God's will I
ever should be freed it would be so, and, on the contrary, if it was
not his will it would not happen; so I hoped, if ever I were freed,
whilst I was used well, it should be by honest means; but, as I could
not help myself, he must do as he pleased; I could only hope and trust
to the God of Heaven; and at that instant my mind was big with
inventions and full of schemes to escape. I then appealed to the
captain whether he ever saw any sign of my making the least attempt to
run away; and asked him if I did not always come on board according to
the time for which he gave me liberty; and, more particularly, when
all our men left us at Gaurdeloupe and went on board of the French
fleet, and advised me to go with them, whether I might not, and that
he could not have got me again. To my no small surprise, and very
great joy, the captain confirmed every syllable that I had said: and
even more; for he said he had tried different times to see if I would
make any attempt of this kind, both at St. Eustatia and in America,
and he never found that I made the smallest; but, on the contrary, I
always came on board according to his orders; and he did really
believe, if I ever meant to run away, that, as I could never have had
a better opportunity, I would have done it the night the mate and all
the people left our vessel at Gaurdeloupe. The captain then informed
my master, who had been thus imposed on by our mate, though I did not
know who was my enemy, the reason the mate had for imposing this lie
upon him; which was, because I had acquainted the captain of the
provisions the mate had given away or taken out of the vessel. This
speech of the captain was like life to the dead to me, and instantly
my soul glorified God; and still more so on hearing my master
immediately say that I was a sensible fellow, and he never did intend
to use me as a common slave; and that but for the entreaties of the
captain, and his character of me, he would not have let me go from the
stores about as I had done; that also, in so doing, he thought by
carrying one little thing or other to different places to sell I might
make money. That he also intended to encourage me in this by crediting
me with half a puncheon of rum and half a hogshead of sugar at a time;
so that, from being careful, I might have money enough, in some time,
to purchase my freedom; and, when that was the case, I might depend
upon it he would let me have it for forty pounds sterling money, which
was only the same price he gave for me. This sound gladdened my poor
heart beyond measure; though indeed it was no more than the very idea
I had formed in my mind of my master long before, and I immediately
made him this reply: 'Sir, I always had that very thought of you,
indeed I had, and that made me so diligent in serving you.' He then
gave me a large piece of silver coin, such as I never had seen or had
before, and told me to get ready for the voyage, and he would credit
me with a tierce of sugar, and another of rum; he also said that he
had two amiable sisters in Philadelphia, from whom I might get some
necessary things. Upon this my noble captain desired me to go aboard;
and, knowing the African metal, he charged me not to say any thing of
this matter to any body; and he promised that the lying mate should
not go with him any more. This was a change indeed; in the same hour
to feel the most exquisite pain, and in the turn of a moment the
fullest joy. It caused in me such sensations as I was only able to
express in my looks; my heart was so overpowered with gratitude that I
could have kissed both of their feet. When I left the room I
immediately went, or rather flew, to the vessel, which being loaded,
my master, as good as his word, trusted me with a tierce of rum, and
another of sugar, when we sailed, and arrived safe at the elegant town
of Philadelphia. I soon sold my goods here pretty well; and in this
charming place I found every thing plentiful and cheap.
While I was in this place a very extraordinary occurrence befell me. I
had been told one evening of a _wise_ woman, a Mrs. Davis, who
revealed secrets, foretold events, &c. I put little faith in this
story at first, as I could not conceive that any mortal could foresee
the future disposals of Providence, nor did I believe in any other
revelation than that of the Holy Scriptures; however, I was greatly
astonished at seeing this woman in a dream that night, though a
person I never before beheld in my life; this made such an impression
on me, that I could not get the idea the next day out of my mind, and
I then became as anxious to see her as I was before indifferent;
accordingly in the evening, after we left off working, I inquired
where she lived, and being directed to her, to my inexpressible
surprise, beheld the very woman in the very same dress she appeared to
me to wear in the vision. She immediately told me I had dreamed of her
the preceding night; related to me many things that had happened with
a correctness that astonished me; and finally told me I should not be
long a slave: this was the more agreeable news, as I believed it the
more readily from her having so faithfully related the past incidents
of my life. She said I should be twice in very great danger of my life
within eighteen months, which, if I escaped, I should afterwards go on
well; so, giving me her blessing, we parted. After staying here some
time till our vessel was loaded, and I had bought in my little
traffic, we sailed from this agreeable spot for Montserrat, once more
to encounter the raging surfs.
We arrived safe at Montserrat, where we discharged our cargo; and soon
after that we took slaves on board for St. Eustatia, and from thence
to Georgia. I had always exerted myself and did double work, in order
to make our voyages as short as possible; and from thus over-working
myself while we were at Georgia I caught a fever and ague. I was very
ill for eleven days and near dying; eternity was now exceedingly
impressed on my mind, and I feared very much that awful event. I
prayed the Lord therefore to spare me; and I made a promise in my mind
to God, that I would be good if ever I should recover. At length, from
having an eminent doctor to attend me, I was restored again to health;
and soon after we got the vessel loaded, and set off for Montserrat.
During the passage, as I was perfectly restored, and had much business
of the vessel to mind, all my endeavours to keep up my integrity, and
perform my promise to God, began to fail; and, in spite of all I could
do, as we drew nearer and nearer to the islands, my resolutions more
and more declined, as if the very air of that country or climate
seemed fatal to piety. When we were safe arrived at Montserrat, and I
had got ashore, I forgot my former resolutions.--Alas! how prone is
the heart to leave that God it wishes to love! and how strongly do the
things of this world strike the senses and captivate the soul!--After
our vessel was discharged, we soon got her ready, and took in, as
usual, some of the poor oppressed natives of Africa, and other
negroes; we then set off again for Georgia and Charlestown. We arrived
at Georgia, and, having landed part of our cargo, proceeded to
Charlestown with the remainder. While we were there I saw the town
illuminated; the guns were fired, and bonfires and other
demonstrations of joy shewn, on account of the repeal of the stamp
act. Here I disposed of some goods on my own account; the white men
buying them with smooth promises and fair words, giving me however but
very indifferent payment. There was one gentleman particularly who
bought a puncheon of rum of me, which gave me a great deal of trouble;
and, although I used the interest of my friendly captain, I could not
obtain any thing for it; for, being a negro man, I could not oblige
him to pay me. This vexed me much, not knowing how to act; and I lost
some time in seeking after this Christian; and though, when the
Sabbath came (which the negroes usually make their holiday) I was much
inclined to go to public worship, I was obliged to hire some black men
to help to pull a boat across the water to God in quest of this
gentleman. When I found him, after much entreaty, both from myself and
my worthy captain, he at last paid me in dollars; some of them,
however, were copper, and of consequence of no value; but he took
advantage of my being a negro man, and obliged me to put up with those
or none, although I objected to them. Immediately after, as I was
trying to pass them in the market, amongst other white men, I was
abused for offering to pass bad coin; and, though I shewed them the
man I got them from, I was within one minute of being tied up and
flogged without either judge or jury; however, by the help of a good
pair of heels, I ran off, and so escaped the bastinadoes I should have
received. I got on board as fast as I could, but still continued in
fear of them until we sailed, which I thanked God we did not long
after; and I have never been amongst them since.
We soon came to Georgia, where we were to complete our lading; and
here worse fate than ever attended me: for one Sunday night, as I was
with some negroes in their master's yard in the town of Savannah, it
happened that their master, one Doctor Perkins, who was a very severe
and cruel man, came in drunk; and, not liking to see any strange
negroes in his yard, he and a ruffian of a white man he had in his
service beset me in an instant, and both of them struck me with the
first weapons they could get hold of. I cried out as long as I could
for help and mercy; but, though I gave a good account of myself, and
he knew my captain, who lodged hard by him, it was to no purpose. They
beat and mangled me in a shameful manner, leaving me near dead. I lost
so much blood from the wounds I received, that I lay quite motionless,
and was so benumbed that I could not feel any thing for many hours.
Early in the morning they took me away to the jail. As I did not
return to the ship all night, my captain, not knowing where I was, and
being uneasy that I did not then make my appearance, he made inquiry
after me; and, having found where I was, immediately came to me. As
soon as the good man saw me so cut and mangled, he could not forbear
weeping; he soon got me out of jail to his lodgings, and immediately
sent for the best doctors in the place, who at first declared it as
their opinion that I could not recover. My captain on this went to all
the lawyers in the town for their advice, but they told him they could
do nothing for me as I was a negro. He then went to Doctor Perkins,
the hero who had vanquished me, and menaced him, swearing he would be
revenged of him, and challenged him to fight.--But cowardice is ever
the companion of cruelty--and the Doctor refused. However, by the
skilfulness of one Doctor Brady of that place, I began at last to
amend; but, although I was so sore and bad with the wounds I had all
over me that I could not rest in any posture, yet I was in more pain
on account of the captain's uneasiness about me than I otherwise
should have been. The worthy man nursed and watched me all the hours
of the night; and I was, through his attention and that of the doctor,
able to get out of bed in about sixteen or eighteen days. All this
time I was very much wanted on board, as I used frequently to go up
and down the river for rafts, and other parts of our cargo, and stow
them when the mate was sick or absent. In about four weeks I was able
to go on duty; and in a fortnight after, having got in all our
lading, our vessel set sail for Montserrat; and in less than three
weeks we arrived there safe towards the end of the year. This ended my
adventures in 1764; for I did not leave Montserrat again till the
beginning of the following year.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
They ran the ship aground: and the fore part stuck fast, and
remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with
the violence of the waves.
Acts xxvii. 41.
Howbeit, we must be cast upon a certain island;
Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it
shall be even as it was told me.
Acts xxvii. 26, 25.
Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received
a little thereof.
In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep
falleth on men.
Job iv. 12, 13.
Lo, all these _things_ worketh God oftentimes with man,
To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with
the light of the living.
Job xxxiii. 29, 30.
VOLUME II
CHAP. VII.
_The author's disgust at the West Indies--Forms schemes to
obtain his freedom--Ludicrous disappointment he and his
Captain meet with in Georgia--At last, by several successful
voyages, he acquires a sum of money sufficient to purchase
it--Applies to his master, who accepts it, and grants his
manumission, to his great joy--He afterwards enters as a
freeman on board one of Mr. King's ships, and sails for
Georgia--Impositions on free negroes as usual--His venture
of turkies--Sails for Montserrat, and on his passage his
friend, the Captain, falls ill and dies._
Every day now brought me nearer my freedom, and I was impatient till
we proceeded again to sea, that I might have an opportunity of getting
a sum large enough to purchase it. I was not long ungratified; for, in
the beginning of the year 1766, my master bought another sloop, named
the Nancy, the largest I had ever seen. She was partly laden, and was
to proceed to Philadelphia; our Captain had his choice of three, and I
was well pleased he chose this, which was the largest; for, from his
having a large vessel, I had more room, and could carry a larger
quantity of goods with me. Accordingly, when we had delivered our old
vessel, the Prudence, and completed the lading of the Nancy, having
made near three hundred per cent, by four barrels of pork I brought
from Charlestown, I laid in as large a cargo as I could, trusting to
God's providence to prosper my undertaking. With these views I sailed
for Philadelphia. On our passage, when we drew near the land, I was
for the first time surprised at the sight of some whales, having never
seen any such large sea monsters before; and as we sailed by the land
one morning I saw a puppy whale close by the vessel; it was about the
length of a wherry boat, and it followed us all the day till we got
within the Capes. We arrived safe and in good time at Philadelphia,
and I sold my goods there chiefly to the quakers. They always appeared
to be a very honest discreet sort of people, and never attempted to
impose on me; I therefore liked them, and ever after chose to deal
with them in preference to any others. One Sunday morning while I was
here, as I was going to church, I chanced to pass a meeting-house. The
doors being open, and the house full of people, it excited my
curiosity to go in. When I entered the house, to my great surprise, I
saw a very tall woman standing in the midst of them, speaking in an
audible voice something which I could not understand. Having never
seen anything of this kind before, I stood and stared about me for
some time, wondering at this odd scene. As soon as it was over I took
an opportunity to make inquiry about the place and people, when I was
informed they were called Quakers. I particularly asked what that
woman I saw in the midst of them had said, but none of them were
pleased to satisfy me; so I quitted them, and soon after, as I was
returning, I came to a church crowded with people; the church-yard was
full likewise, and a number of people were even mounted on ladders,
looking in at the windows. I thought this a strange sight, as I had
never seen churches, either in England or the West Indies, crowded in
this manner before. I therefore made bold to ask some people the
meaning of all this, and they told me the Rev. Mr. George Whitfield
was preaching. I had often heard of this gentleman, and had wished to
see and hear him; but I had never before had an opportunity. I now
therefore resolved to gratify myself with the sight, and I pressed in
amidst the multitude. When I got into the church I saw this pious man
exhorting the people with the greatest fervour and earnestness, and
sweating as much as I ever did while in slavery on Montserrat beach. I
was very much struck and impressed with this; I thought it strange I
had never seen divines exert themselves in this manner before, and I
was no longer at a loss to account for the thin congregations they
preached to. When we had discharged our cargo here, and were loaded
again, we left this fruitful land once more, and set sail for
Montserrat. My traffic had hitherto succeeded so well with me, that I
thought, by selling my goods when we arrived at Montserrat, I should
have enough to purchase my freedom. But, as soon as our vessel arrived
there, my master came on board, and gave orders for us to go to St.
Eustatia, and discharge our cargo there, and from thence proceed for
Georgia. I was much disappointed at this; but thinking, as usual, it
was of no use to encounter with the decrees of fate, I submitted
without repining, and we went to St. Eustatia. After we had discharged
our cargo there we took in a live cargo, as we call a cargo of slaves.
Here I sold my goods tolerably well; but, not being able to lay out
all my money in this small island to as much advantage as in many
other places, I laid out only part, and the remainder I brought away
with me neat. We sailed from hence for Georgia, and I was glad when we
got there, though I had not much reason to like the place from my last
adventure in Savannah; but I longed to get back to Montserrat and
procure my freedom, which I expected to be able to purchase when I
returned. As soon as we arrived here I waited on my careful doctor,
Mr. Brady, to whom I made the most grateful acknowledgments in my
power for his former kindness and attention during my illness. While
we were here an odd circumstance happened to the Captain and me, which
disappointed us both a good deal. A silversmith, whom we had brought
to this place some voyages before, agreed with the Captain to return
with us to the West Indies, and promised at the same time to give the
Captain a great deal of money, having pretended to take a liking to
him, and being, as we thought, very rich. But while we stayed to load
our vessel this man was taken ill in a house where he worked, and in a
week's time became very bad. The worse he grew the more he used to
speak of giving the Captain what he had promised him, so that he
expected something considerable from the death of this man, who had no
wife or child, and he attended him day and night. I used also to go
with the Captain, at his own desire, to attend him; especially when we
saw there was no appearance of his recovery: and, in order to
recompense me for my trouble, the Captain promised me ten pounds, when
he should get the man's property. I thought this would be of great
service to me, although I had nearly money enough to purchase my
freedom, if I should get safe this voyage to Montserrat. In this
expectation I laid out above eight pounds of my money for a suit of
superfine clothes to dance with at my freedom, which I hoped was then
at hand. We still continued to attend this man, and were with him even
on the last day he lived, till very late at night, when we went on
board. After we were got to bed, about one or two o'clock in the
morning, the Captain was sent for, and informed the man was dead. On
this he came to my bed, and, waking me, informed me of it, and desired
me to get up and procure a light, and immediately go to him. I told
him I was very sleepy, and wished he would take somebody else with
him; or else, as the man was dead, and could want no farther
attendance, to let all things remain as they were till the next
morning. 'No, no,' said he, 'we will have the money to-night, I cannot
wait till to-morrow; so let us go.' Accordingly I got up and struck a
light, and away we both went and saw the man as dead as we could wish.
The Captain said he would give him a grand burial, in gratitude for
the promised treasure; and desired that all the things belonging to
the deceased might be brought forth. Among others, there was a nest of
trunks of which he had kept the keys whilst the man was ill, and when
they were produced we opened them with no small eagerness and
expectation; and as there were a great number within one another, with
much impatience we took them one out of the other. At last, when we
came to the smallest, and had opened it, we saw it was full of papers,
which we supposed to be notes; at the sight of which our hearts leapt
for joy; and that instant the Captain, clapping his hands, cried out,
'Thank God, here it is.' But when we took up the trunk, and began to
examine the supposed treasure and long-looked-for bounty, (alas! alas!
how uncertain and deceitful are all human affairs!) what had we found!
While we thought we were embracing a substance we grasped an empty
nothing. The whole amount that was in the nest of trunks was only one
dollar and a half; and all that the man possessed would not pay for
his coffin. Our sudden and exquisite joy was now succeeded by a sudden
and exquisite pain; and my Captain and I exhibited, for some time,
most ridiculous figures--pictures of chagrin and disappointment! We
went away greatly mortified, and left the deceased to do as well as he
could for himself, as we had taken so good care of him when alive for
nothing. We set sail once more for Montserrat, and arrived there safe;
but much out of humour with our friend the silversmith. When we had
unladen the vessel, and I had sold my venture, finding myself master
of about forty-seven pounds, I consulted my true friend, the Captain,
how I should proceed in offering my master the money for my freedom.
He told me to come on a certain morning, when he and my master would
be at breakfast together. Accordingly, on that morning I went, and met
the Captain there, as he had appointed. When I went in I made my
obeisance to my master, and with my money in my hand, and many fears
in my heart, I prayed him to be as good as his offer to me, when he
was pleased to promise me my freedom as soon as I could purchase it.
This speech seemed to confound him; he began to recoil: and my heart
that instant sunk within me. 'What,' said he, 'give you your freedom?
Why, where did you get the money? Have you got forty pounds sterling?'
'Yes, sir,' I answered. 'How did you get it?' replied he. I told him,
very honestly. The Captain then said he knew I got the money very
honestly and with much industry, and that I was particularly careful.
On which my master replied, I got money much faster than he did; and
said he would not have made me the promise he did if he had thought I
should have got money so soon. 'Come, come,' said my worthy Captain,
clapping my master on the back, 'Come, Robert, (which was his name) I
think you must let him have his freedom; you have laid your money out
very well; you have received good interest for it all this time, and
here is now the principal at last. I know Gustavus has earned you more
than an hundred a-year, and he will still save you money, as he will
not leave you:--Come, Robert, take the money.' My master then said, he
would not be worse than his promise; and, taking the money, told me to
go to the Secretary at the Register Office, and get my manumission
drawn up. These words of my master were like a voice from heaven to
me: in an instant all my trepidation was turned into unutterable
bliss; and I most reverently bowed myself with gratitude, unable to
express my feelings, but by the overflowing of my eyes, while my true
and worthy friend, the Captain, congratulated us both with a peculiar
degree of heartfelt pleasure. As soon as the first transports of my
joy were over, and that I had expressed my thanks to these my worthy
friends in the best manner I was able, I rose with a heart full of
affection and reverence, and left the room, in order to obey my
master's joyful mandate of going to the Register Office. As I was
leaving the house I called to mind the words of the Psalmist, in the
126th Psalm, and like him, 'I glorified God in my heart, in whom I
trusted.' These words had been impressed on my mind from the very day
I was forced from Deptford to the present hour, and I now saw them, as
I thought, fulfilled and verified. My imagination was all rapture as I
flew to the Register Office, and, in this respect, like the apostle
Peter,[U] (whose deliverance from prison was so sudden and
extraordinary, that he thought he was in a vision) I could scarcely
believe I was awake. Heavens! who could do justice to my feelings at
this moment! Not conquering heroes themselves, in the midst of a
triumph--Not the tender mother who has just regained her long-lost
infant, and presses it to her heart--Not the weary hungry mariner, at
the sight of the desired friendly port--Not the lover, when he once
more embraces his beloved mistress, after she had been ravished from
his arms!--All within my breast was tumult, wildness, and delirium! My
feet scarcely touched the ground, for they were winged with joy, and,
like Elijah, as he rose to Heaven, they 'were with lightning sped as I
went on.' Every one I met I told of my happiness, and blazed about the
virtue of my amiable master and captain.
When I got to the office and acquainted the Register with my errand he
congratulated me on the occasion, and told me he would draw up my
manumission for half price, which was a guinea. I thanked him for his
kindness; and, having received it and paid him, I hastened to my
master to get him to sign it, that I might be fully released.
Accordingly he signed the manumission that day, so that, before night,
I who had been a slave in the morning, trembling at the will of
another, was become my own master, and completely free. I thought this
was the happiest day I had ever experienced; and my joy was still
heightened by the blessings and prayers of the sable race,
particularly the aged, to whom my heart had ever been attached with
reverence.
* * * * *
As the form of my manumission has something peculiar in it, and
expresses the absolute power and dominion one man claims over his
fellow, I shall beg leave to present it before my readers at full
length:
_Montserrat_.--To all men unto whom these presents shall
come: I Robert King, of the parish of St. Anthony in the
said island, merchant, send greeting: Know ye, that I the
aforesaid Robert King, for and in consideration of the sum
of seventy pounds current money of the said island, to me in
hand paid, and to the intent that a negro man-slave, named
Gustavus Vassa, shall and may become free, have manumitted,
emancipated, enfranchised, and set free, and by these
presents do manumit, emancipate, enfranchise, and set free,
the aforesaid negro man-slave, named Gustavus Vassa, for
ever, hereby giving, granting, and releasing unto him, the
said Gustavus Vassa, all right, title, dominion,
sovereignty, and property, which, as lord and master over
the aforesaid Gustavus Vassa, I had, or now I have, or by
any means whatsoever I may or can hereafter possibly have
over him the aforesaid negro, for ever. In witness whereof I
the abovesaid Robert King have unto these presents set my
hand and seal, this tenth day of July, in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and sixty-six.
Robert King.
Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of Terrylegay,
Montserrat.
Registered the within manumission at full length, this
eleventh day of July, 1766, in liber D.
Terrylegay, Register.
* * * * *
In short, the fair as well as black people immediately styled me by a
new appellation, to me the most desirable in the world, which was
Freeman, and at the dances I gave my Georgia superfine blue clothes
made no indifferent appearance, as I thought. Some of the sable
females, who formerly stood aloof, now began to relax and appear less
coy; but my heart was still fixed on London, where I hoped to be ere
long. So that my worthy captain and his owner, my late master,
finding that the bent of my mind was towards London, said to me, 'We
hope you won't leave us, but that you will still be with the vessels.'
Here gratitude bowed me down; and none but the generous mind can judge
of my feelings, struggling between inclination and duty. However,
notwithstanding my wish to be in London, I obediently answered my
benefactors that I would go in the vessel, and not leave them; and
from that day I was entered on board as an able-bodied sailor, at
thirty-six shillings per month, besides what perquisites I could make.
My intention was to make a voyage or two, entirely to please these my
honoured patrons; but I determined that the year following, if it
pleased God, I would see Old England once more, and surprise my old
master, Capt. Pascal, who was hourly in my mind; for I still loved
him, notwithstanding his usage of me, and I pleased myself with
thinking of what he would say when he saw what the Lord had done for
me in so short a time, instead of being, as he might perhaps suppose,
under the cruel yoke of some planter. With these kind of reveries I
used often to entertain myself, and shorten the time till my return;
and now, being as in my original free African state, I embarked on
board the Nancy, after having got all things ready for our voyage. In
this state of serenity we sailed for St. Eustatia; and, having smooth
seas and calm weather, we soon arrived there: after taking our cargo
on board, we proceeded to Savannah in Georgia, in August, 1766. While
we were there, as usual, I used to go for the cargo up the rivers in
boats; and on this business I have been frequently beset by
alligators, which were very numerous on that coast, and I have shot
many of them when they have been near getting into our boats; which we
have with great difficulty sometimes prevented, and have been very
much frightened at them. I have seen a young one sold in Georgia alive
for six pence. During our stay at this place, one evening a slave
belonging to Mr. Read, a merchant of Savannah, came near our vessel,
and began to use me very ill. I entreated him, with all the patience I
was master of, to desist, as I knew there was little or no law for a
free negro here; but the fellow, instead of taking my advice,
persevered in his insults, and even struck me. At this I lost all
temper, and I fell on him and beat him soundly. The next morning his
master came to our vessel as we lay alongside the wharf, and desired
me to come ashore that he might have me flogged all round the town,
for beating his negro slave. I told him he had insulted me, and had
given the provocation, by first striking me. I had told my captain
also the whole affair that morning, and wished him to have gone along
with me to Mr. Read, to prevent bad consequences; but he said that it
did not signify, and if Mr. Read said any thing he would make matters
up, and had desired me to go to work, which I accordingly did. The
Captain being on board when Mr. Read came, he told him I was a free
man; and when Mr. Read applied to him to deliver me up, he said he
knew nothing of the matter. I was astonished and frightened at this,
and thought I had better keep where I was than go ashore and be
flogged round the town, without judge or jury. I therefore refused to
stir; and Mr. Read went away, swearing he would bring all the
constables in the town, for he would have me out of the vessel. When
he was gone, I thought his threat might prove too true to my sorrow;
and I was confirmed in this belief, as well by the many instances I
had seen of the treatment of free negroes, as from a fact that had
happened within my own knowledge here a short time before. There was a
free black man, a carpenter, that I knew, who, for asking a gentleman
that he worked for for the money he had earned, was put into gaol; and
afterwards this oppressed man was sent from Georgia, with false
accusations, of an intention to set the gentleman's house on fire, and
run away with his slaves. I was therefore much embarrassed, and very
apprehensive of a flogging at least. I dreaded, of all things, the
thoughts of being striped, as I never in my life had the marks of any
violence of that kind. At that instant a rage seized my soul, and for
a little I determined to resist the first man that should offer to lay
violent hands on me, or basely use me without a trial; for I would
sooner die like a free man, than suffer myself to be scourged by the
hands of ruffians, and my blood drawn like a slave. The captain and
others, more cautious, advised me to make haste and conceal myself;
for they said Mr. Read was a very spiteful man, and he would soon come
on board with constables and take me. At first I refused this counsel,
being determined to stand my ground; but at length, by the prevailing
entreaties of the captain and Mr. Dixon, with whom he lodged, I went
to Mr. Dixon's house, which was a little out of town, at a place
called Yea-ma-chra. I was but just gone when Mr. Read, with the
constables, came for me, and searched the vessel; but, not finding me
there, he swore he would have me dead or alive. I was secreted about
five days; however, the good character which my captain always gave me
as well as some other gentlemen who also knew me, procured me some
friends. At last some of them told my captain that he did not use me
well, in suffering me thus to be imposed upon, and said they would see
me redressed, and get me on board some other vessel. My captain, on
this, immediately went to Mr. Read, and told him, that ever since I
eloped from the vessel his work had been neglected, and he could not
go on with her loading, himself and mate not being well; and, as I had
managed things on board for them, my absence must retard his voyage,
and consequently hurt the owner; he therefore begged of him to forgive
me, as he said he never had any complaint of me before, for the many
years that I had been with him. After repeated entreaties, Mr. Read
said I might go to hell, and that he would not meddle with me; on
which my captain came immediately to me at his lodging, and, telling
me how pleasantly matters had gone on, he desired me to go on board.
Some of my other friends then asked him if he had got the constable's
warrant from them; the captain said, No. On this I was desired by them
to stay in the house; and they said they would get me on board of some
other vessel before the evening. When the captain heard this he became
almost distracted. He went immediately for the warrant, and, after
using every exertion in his power, he at last got it from my hunters;
but I had all the expenses to pay. After I had thanked all my friends
for their attention, I went on board again to my work, of which I had
always plenty. We were in haste to complete our lading, and were to
carry twenty head of cattle with us to the West Indies, where they are
a very profitable article. In order to encourage me in working, and to
make up for the time I had lost, my captain promised me the privilege
of carrying two bullocks of my own with me; and this made me work with
redoubled ardour. As soon as I had got the vessel loaded, in doing
which I was obliged to perform the duty of the mate as well as my own
work, and that the bullocks were near coming on board, I asked the
captain leave to bring my two, according to his promise; but, to my
great surprise, he told me there was no room for them. I then asked
him to permit me to take one; but he said he could not. I was a good
deal mortified at this usage, and told him I had no notion that he
intended thus to impose on me; nor could I think well of any man that
was so much worse than his word. On this we had some disagreement, and
I gave him to understand, that I intended to leave the vessel. At this
he appeared to be very much dejected; and our mate, who had been very
sickly, and whose duty had long devolved upon me, advised him to
persuade me to stay: in consequence of which he spoke very kindly to
me, making many fair promises, telling me that, as the mate was so
sickly, he could not do without me, and that, as the safety of the
vessel and cargo depended greatly upon me, he therefore hoped that I
would not be offended at what had passed between us, and swore he
would make up all matters when we arrived in the West Indies; so I
consented to slave on as before. Soon after this, as the bullocks were
coming on board, one of them ran at the captain, and butted him so
furiously in the breast, that he never recovered of the blow. In order
to make me some amends for his treatment about the bullocks, the
captain now pressed me very much to take some turkeys, and other
fowls, with me, and gave me liberty to take as many as I could find
room for; but I told him he knew very well I had never carried any
turkeys before, as I always thought they were such tender birds that
they were not fit to cross the seas. However, he continued to press me
to buy them for once; and, what was very surprising to me, the more I
was against it, the more he urged my taking them, insomuch that he
ensured me from all losses that might happen by them, and I was
prevailed on to take them; but I thought this very strange, as he had
never acted so with me before. This, and not being able to dispose of
my paper-money in any other way, induced me at length to take four
dozen. The turkeys, however, I was so dissatisfied about that I
determined to make no more voyages to this quarter, nor with this
captain; and was very apprehensive that my free voyage would be the
worst I had ever made. We set sail for Montserrat. The captain and
mate had been both complaining of sickness when we sailed, and as we
proceeded on our voyage they grew worse. This was about November, and
we had not been long at sea before we began to meet with strong
northerly gales and rough seas; and in about seven or eight days all
the bullocks were near being drowned, and four or five of them died.
Our vessel, which had not been tight at first, was much less so now;
and, though we were but nine in the whole, including five sailors and
myself, yet we were obliged to attend to the pumps every half or three
quarters of an hour. The captain and mate came on deck as often as
they were able, which was now but seldom; for they declined so fast,
that they were not well enough to make observations above four or five
times the whole voyage. The whole care of the vessel rested,
therefore, upon me, and I was obliged to direct her by my former
experience, not being able to work a traverse. The captain was now
very sorry he had not taught me navigation, and protested, if ever he
should get well again, he would not fail to do so; but in about
seventeen days his illness increased so much, that he was obliged to
keep his bed, continuing sensible, however, till the last, constantly
having the owner's interest at heart; for this just and benevolent man
ever appeared much concerned about the welfare of what he was
intrusted with. When this dear friend found the symptoms of death
approaching, he called me by my name; and, when I came to him, he
asked (with almost his last breath) if he had ever done me any harm?
'God forbid I should think so,' I replied, 'I should then be the most
ungrateful of wretches to the best of sorrow by his bedside, he
expired without saying another word; and the day following we
committed his body to the deep. Every man on board loved this man, and
regretted his death; but I was exceedingly affected at it, and I found
that I did not know, till he was gone, the strength of my regard for
him. Indeed I had every reason in the world to be attached to him;
for, besides that he was in general mild, affable, generous, faithful,
benevolent, and just, he was to me a friend and a father; and, had it
pleased Providence that he had died but five months before, I verily
believe I should not have obtained my freedom when I did; and it is
not improbable that I might not have been able to get it at any rate
afterwards. The captain being dead, the mate came on the deck, and
made such observations as he was able, but to no purpose. In the
course of a few days more, the few bullocks that remained were found
dead; but the turkies I had, though on the deck, and exposed to so
much wet and bad weather, did well, and I afterwards gained near three
hundred per cent, on the sale of them; so that in the event it proved
a happy circumstance for me that I had not bought the bullocks I
intended, for they must have perished with the rest; and I could not
help looking on this, otherwise trifling circumstance, as a particular
providence of God, and I was thankful accordingly. The care of the
vessel took up all my time, and engaged my attention entirely. As we
were now out of the variable winds, I thought I should not be much
puzzled to hit upon the islands. I was persuaded I steered right for
Antigua, which I wished to reach, as the nearest to us; and in the
course of nine or ten days we made this island, to our great joy; and
the next day after we came safe to Montserrat. Many were surprised
when they heard of my conducting the sloop into the port, and I now
obtained a new appellation, and was called Captain. This elated me not
a little, and it was quite flattering to my vanity to be thus styled
by as high a title as any free man in this place possessed. When the
death of the captain became known, he was much regretted by all who
knew him; for he was a man universally respected. At the same time the
sable captain lost no fame; for the success I had met with increased
the affection of my friends in no small measure.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote U: Acts, chap. xii. ver. 9.]
CHAP. VIII.
_The author, to oblige Mr. King, once more embarks for
Georgia in one of his vessels--A new captain is
appointed--They sail, and steer a new course--Three
remarkable dreams--The vessel is shipwrecked on the Bahama
bank, but the crew are preserved, principally by means of
the author--He sets out from the island with the captain, in
a small boat, in quest of a ship--Their distress--Meet with
a wrecker--Sail for Providence--Are overtaken again by a
terrible storm, and are all near perishing--Arrive at New
Providence--The author, after some time, sails from thence
to Georgia--Meets with another storm, and is obliged to put
back and refit--Arrives at Georgia--Meets new
impositions--Two white men attempt to kidnap him--Officiates
as a parson at a funeral ceremony--Bids adieu to Georgia,
and sails for Martinico._
As I had now, by the death of my captain, lost my great benefactor and
friend, I had little inducement to remain longer in the West Indies,
except my gratitude to Mr. King, which I thought I had pretty well
discharged in bringing back his vessel safe, and delivering his cargo
to his satisfaction. I began to think of leaving this part of the
world, of which I had been long tired, and returning to England, where
my heart had always been; but Mr. King still pressed me very much to
stay with his vessel; and he had done so much for me that I found
myself unable to refuse his requests, and consented to go another
voyage to Georgia, as the mate, from his ill state of health, was
quite useless in the vessel. Accordingly a new captain was appointed,
whose name was William Phillips, an old acquaintance of mine; and,
having refitted our vessel, and taken several slaves on board, we set
sail for St. Eustatia, where we stayed but a few days; and on the 30th
of January 1767 we steered for Georgia. Our new captain boasted
strangely of his skill in navigating and conducting a vessel; and in
consequence of this he steered a new course, several points more to
the westward than we ever did before; this appeared to me very
extraordinary.
On the fourth of February, which was soon after we had got into our
new course, I dreamt the ship was wrecked amidst the surfs and rocks,
and that I was the means of saving every one on board; and on the
night following I dreamed the very same dream. These dreams however
made no impression on my mind; and the next evening, it being my watch
below, I was pumping the vessel a little after eight o'clock, just
before I went off the deck, as is the custom; and being weary with the
duty of the day, and tired at the pump, (for we made a good deal of
water) I began to express my impatience, and I uttered with an oath,
'Damn the vessel's bottom out.' But my conscience instantly smote me
for the expression. When I left the deck I went to bed, and had
scarcely fallen asleep when I dreamed the same dream again about the
ship that I had dreamt the two preceeding nights. At twelve o'clock
the watch was changed; and, as I had always the charge of the
captain's watch, I then went upon deck. At half after one in the
morning the man at the helm saw something under the lee-beam that the
sea washed against, and he immediately called to me that there was a
grampus, and desired me to look at it. Accordingly I stood up and
observed it for some time; but, when I saw the sea wash up against it
again and again, I said it was not a fish but a rock. Being soon
certain of this, I went down to the captain, and, with some confusion,
told him the danger we were in, and desired him to come upon deck
immediately. He said it was very well, and I went up again. As soon as
I was upon deck the wind, which had been pretty high, having abated a
little, the vessel began to be carried sideways towards the rock, by
means of the current. Still the captain did not appear. I therefore
went to him again, and told him the vessel was then near a large rock,
and desired he would come up with speed. He said he would, and I
returned to the deck. When I was upon the deck again I saw we were not
above a pistol shot from the rock, and I heard the noise of the
breakers all around us. I was exceedingly alarmed at this; and the
captain having not yet come on the deck I lost all patience; and,
growing quite enraged, I ran down to him again, and asked him why he
did not come up, and what he could mean by all this? 'The breakers,'
said I, 'are round us, and the vessel is almost on the rock.' With
that he came on the deck with me, and we tried to put the vessel
about, and get her out of the current, but all to no purpose, the
wind being very small. We then called all hands up immediately; and
after a little we got up one end of a cable, and fastened it to the
anchor. By this time the surf was foaming round us, and made a
dreadful noise on the breakers, and the very moment we let the anchor
go the vessel struck against the rocks. One swell now succeeded
another, as it were one wave calling on its fellow: the roaring of the
billows increased, and, with one single heave of the swells, the sloop
was pierced and transfixed among the rocks! In a moment a scene of
horror presented itself to my mind, such as I never had conceived or
experienced before. All my sins stared me in the face; and especially,
I thought that God had hurled his direful vengeance on my guilty head
for cursing the vessel on which my life depended. My spirits at this
forsook me, and I expected every moment to go to the bottom: I
determined if I should still be saved that I would never swear again.
And in the midst of my distress, while the dreadful surfs were dashing
with unremitting fury among the rocks, I remembered the Lord, though
fearful that I was undeserving of forgiveness, and I thought that as
he had often delivered he might yet deliver; and, calling to mind the
many mercies he had shewn me in times past, they gave me some small
hope that he might still help me. I then began to think how we might
be saved; and I believe no mind was ever like mine so replete with
inventions and confused with schemes, though how to escape death I
knew not. The captain immediately ordered the hatches to be nailed
down on the slaves in the hold, where there were above twenty, all of
whom must unavoidably have perished if he had been obeyed. When he
desired the man to nail down the hatches I thought that my sin was the
cause of this, and that God would charge me with these people's blood.
This thought rushed upon my mind that instant with such violence, that
it quite overpowered me, and I fainted. I recovered just as the people
were about to nail down the hatches; perceiving which, I desired them
to stop. The captain then said it must be done: I asked him why? He
said that every one would endeavour to get into the boat, which was
but small, and thereby we should be drowned; for it would not have
carried above ten at the most. I could no longer restrain my emotion,
and I told him he deserved drowning for not knowing how to navigate
the vessel; and I believe the people would have tossed him overboard
if I had given them the least hint of it. However the hatches were not
nailed down; and, as none of us could leave the vessel then on account
of the darkness, and as we knew not where to go, and were convinced
besides that the boat could not survive the surfs, we all said we
would remain on the dry part of the vessel, and trust to God till
daylight appeared, when we should know better what to do.
I then advised to get the boat prepared against morning, and some of
us began to set about it; but some abandoned all care of the ship and
themselves, and fell to drinking. Our boat had a piece out of her
bottom near two feet long, and we had no materials to mend her;
however, necessity being the mother of invention, I took some pump
leather and nailed it to the broken part, and plastered it over with
tallow-grease. And, thus prepared, with the utmost anxiety of mind we
watched for daylight, and thought every minute an hour till it
appeared. At last it saluted our longing eyes, and kind Providence
accompanied its approach with what was no small comfort to us; for the
dreadful swell began to subside; and the next thing that we discovered
to raise our drooping spirits, was a small key or island, about five
or six miles off; but a barrier soon presented itself; for there was
not water enough for our boat to go over the reefs, and this threw us
again into a sad consternation; but there was no alternative, we were
therefore obliged to put but few in the boat at once; and, what is
still worse, all of us were frequently under the necessity of getting
out to drag and lift it over the reefs. This cost us much labour and
fatigue; and, what was yet more distressing, we could not avoid having
our legs cut and torn very much with the rocks. There were only four
people that would work with me at the oars; and they consisted of
three black men and a Dutch Creole sailor; and, though we went with
the boat five times that day, we had no others to assist us. But, had
we not worked in this manner, I really believe the people could not
have been saved; for not one of the white men did any thing to
preserve their lives; and indeed they soon got so drunk that they were
not able, but lay about the deck like swine, so that we were at last
obliged to lift them into the boat and carry them on shore by force.
This want of assistance made our labour intolerably severe; insomuch,
that, by putting on shore so often that day, the skin was entirely
stript off my hands.
However, we continued all the day to toil and strain our exertions,
till we had brought all on board safe to the shore; so that out of
thirty-two people we lost not one. My dream now returned upon my mind
with all its force; it was fulfilled in every part; for our danger was
the same I had dreamt of: and I could not help looking on myself as
the principal instrument in effecting our deliverance; for, owing to
some of our people getting drunk, the rest of us were obliged to
double our exertions; and it was fortunate we did, for in a very
little time longer the patch of leather on the boat would have been
worn out, and she would have been no longer fit for service. Situated
as we were, who could think that men should be so careless of the
danger they were in? for, if the wind had but raised the swell as it
was when the vessel struck, we must have bid a final farewell to all
hopes of deliverance; and though, I warned the people who were
drinking and entreated them to embrace the moment of deliverance,
nevertheless they persisted, as if not possessed of the least spark of
reason. I could not help thinking, that, if any of these people had
been lost, God would charge me with their lives, which, perhaps, was
one cause of my labouring so hard for their preservation, and indeed
every one of them afterwards seemed so sensible of the service I had
rendered them; and while we were on the key I was a kind of chieftain
amongst them. I brought some limes, oranges, and lemons ashore; and,
finding it to be a good soil where we were, I planted several of them
as a token to any one that might be cast away hereafter. This key, as
we afterwards found, was one of the Bahama islands, which consist of a
cluster of large islands, with smaller ones or keys, as they are
called, interspersed among them. It was about a mile in circumference,
with a white sandy beach running in a regular order along it. On that
part of it where we first attempted to land there stood some very
large birds, called flamingoes: these, from the reflection of the sun,
appeared to us at a little distance as large as men; and, when they
walked backwards and forwards, we could not conceive what they were:
our captain swore they were cannibals. This created a great panic
among us; and we held a consultation how to act. The captain wanted to
go to a key that was within sight, but a great way off; but I was
against it, as in so doing we should not be able to save all the
people; 'And therefore,' said I, 'let us go on shore here, and perhaps
these cannibals may take to the water.' Accordingly we steered towards
them; and when we approached them, to our very great joy and no less
wonder, they walked off one after the other very deliberately; and at
last they took flight and relieved us entirely from our fears. About
the key there were turtles and several sorts of fish in such abundance
that we caught them without bait, which was a great relief to us after
the salt provisions on board. There was also a large rock on the
beach, about ten feet high, which was in the form of a punch-bowl at
the top; this we could not help thinking Providence had ordained to
supply us with rainwater; and it was something singular that, if we
did not take the water when it rained, in some little time after it
would turn as salt as sea-water.
Our first care, after refreshment, was to make ourselves tents to
lodge in, which we did as well as we could with some sails we had
brought from the ship. We then began to think how we might get from
this place, which was quite uninhabited; and we determined to repair
our boat, which was very much shattered, and to put to sea in quest of
a ship or some inhabited island. It took us up however eleven days
before we could get the boat ready for sea in the manner we wanted it,
with a sail and other necessaries. When we had got all things prepared
the captain wanted me to stay on shore while he went to sea in quest
of a vessel to take all the people off the key; but this I refused;
and the captain and myself, with five more, set off in the boat
towards New Providence. We had no more than two musket load of
gunpowder with us if any thing should happen; and our stock of
provisions consisted of three gallons of rum, four of water, some salt
beef, some biscuit; and in this manner we proceeded to sea.
On the second day of our voyage we came to an island called Obbico,
the largest of the Bahama islands. We were much in want of water; for
by this time our water was expended, and we were exceedingly fatigued
in pulling two days in the heat of the sun; and it being late in the
evening, we hauled the boat ashore to try for water and remain during
the night: when we came ashore we searched for water, but could find
none. When it was dark, we made a fire around us for fear of the wild
beasts, as the place was an entire thick wood, and we took it by turns
to watch. In this situation we found very little rest, and waited with
impatience for the morning. As soon as the light appeared we set off
again with our boat, in hopes of finding assistance during the day. We
were now much dejected and weakened by pulling the boat; for our sail
was of no use, and we were almost famished for want of fresh water to
drink. We had nothing left to eat but salt beef, and that we could not
use without water. In this situation we toiled all day in sight of the
island, which was very long; in the evening, seeing no relief, we made
ashore again, and fastened our boat. We then went to look for fresh
water, being quite faint for the want of it; and we dug and searched
about for some all the remainder of the evening, but could not find
one drop, so that our dejection at this period became excessive, and
our terror so great, that we expected nothing but death to deliver us.
We could not touch our beef, which was as salt as brine, without fresh
water; and we were in the greatest terror from the apprehension of
wild beasts. When unwelcome night came we acted as on the night
before; and the next morning we set off again from the island in hopes
of seeing some vessel. In this manner we toiled as well as we were
able till four o'clock, during which we passed several keys, but could
not meet with a ship; and, still famishing with thirst, went ashore on
one of those keys again in hopes of finding some water. Here we found
some leaves with a few drops of water in them, which we lapped with
much eagerness; we then dug in several places, but without success. As
we were digging holes in search of water there came forth some very
thick and black stuff; but none of us could touch it, except the poor
Dutch Creole, who drank above a quart of it as eagerly as if it had
been wine. We tried to catch fish, but could not; and we now began to
repine at our fate, and abandon ourselves to despair; when, in the
midst of our murmuring, the captain all at once cried out 'A sail! a
sail! a sail!' This gladdening sound was like a reprieve to a
convict, and we all instantly turned to look at it; but in a little
time some of us began to be afraid it was not a sail. However, at a
venture, we embarked and steered after it; and, in half an hour, to
our unspeakable joy, we plainly saw that it was a vessel. At this our
drooping spirits revived, and we made towards her with all the speed
imaginable. When we came near to her, we found she was a little sloop,
about the size of a Gravesend hoy, and quite full of people; a
circumstance which we could not make out the meaning of. Our captain,
who was a Welchman, swore that they were pirates, and would kill us. I
said, be that as it might, we must board her if we were to die for it;
and, if they should not receive us kindly, we must oppose them as well
as we could; for there was no alternative between their perishing and
ours. This counsel was immediately taken; and I really believe that
the captain, myself, and the Dutchman, would then have faced twenty
men. We had two cutlasses and a musquet, that I brought in the boat;
and, in this situation, we rowed alongside, and immediately boarded
her. I believe there were about forty hands on board; but how great
was our surprise, as soon as we got on board, to find that the major
part of them were in the same predicament as ourselves!
They belonged to a whaling schooner that was wrecked two days before
us about nine miles to the north of our vessel. When she was wrecked
some of them had taken to their boats and had left some of their
people and property on a key, in the same manner as we had done; and
were going, like us, to New Providence in quest of a ship, when they
met with this little sloop, called a wrecker; their employment in
those seas being to look after wrecks. They were then going to take
the remainder of the people belonging to the schooner; for which the
wrecker was to have all things belonging to the vessel, and likewise
their people's help to get what they could out of her, and were then
to carry the crew to New Providence.
We told the people of the wrecker the condition of our vessel, and we
made the same agreement with them as the schooner's people; and, on
their complying, we begged of them to go to our key directly, because
our people were in want of water. They agreed, therefore, to go along
with us first; and in two days we arrived at the key, to the
inexpressible joy of the people that we had left behind, as they had
been reduced to great extremities for want of water in our absence.
Luckily for us, the wrecker had now more people on board than she
could carry or victual for any moderate length of time; they therefore
hired the schooner's people to work on our wreck, and we left them our
boat, and embarked for New Providence.
Nothing could have been more fortunate than our meeting with this
wrecker, for New Providence was at such a distance that we never could
have reached it in our boat. The island of Abbico was much longer than
we expected; and it was not till after sailing for three or four days
that we got safe to the farther end of it, towards New Providence.
When we arrived there we watered, and got a good many lobsters and
other shellfish; which proved a great relief to us, as our provisions
and water were almost exhausted. We then proceeded on our voyage; but
the day after we left the island, late in the evening, and whilst we
were yet amongst the Bahama keys, we were overtaken by a violent gale
of wind, so that we were obliged to cut away the mast. The vessel was
very near foundering; for she parted from her anchors, and struck
several times on the shoals. Here we expected every minute that she
would have gone to pieces, and each moment to be our last; so much so
that my old captain and sickly useless mate, and several others,
fainted; and death stared us in the face on every side. All the
swearers on board now began to call on the God of Heaven to assist
them: and, sure enough, beyond our comprehension he did assist us, and
in a miraculous manner delivered us! In the very height of our
extremity the wind lulled for a few minutes; and, although the swell
was high beyond expression, two men, who were expert swimmers,
attempted to go to the buoy of the anchor, which we still saw on the
water, at some distance, in a little punt that belonged to the
wrecker, which was not large enough to carry more than two. She filled
different times in their endeavours to get into her alongside of our
vessel; and they saw nothing but death before them, as well as we; but
they said they might as well die that way as any other. A coil of very
small rope, with a little buoy, was put in along with them; and, at
last, with great hazard, they got the punt clear from the vessel; and
these two intrepid water heroes paddled away for life towards the buoy
of the anchor. The eyes of us all were fixed on them all the time,
expecting every minute to be their last: and the prayers of all those
that remained in their senses were offered up to God, on their behalf,
for a speedy deliverance; and for our own, which depended on them; and
he heard and answered us! These two men at last reached the buoy; and,
having fastened the punt to it, they tied one end of their rope to the
small buoy that they had in the punt, and sent it adrift towards the
vessel. We on board observing this threw out boat-hooks and leads
fastened to lines, in order to catch the buoy: at last we caught it,
and fastened a hawser to the end of the small rope; we then gave them
a sign to pull, and they pulled the hawser to them, and fastened it to
the buoy: which being done we hauled for our lives; and, through the
mercy of God, we got again from the shoals into deep water, and the
punt got safe to the vessel. It is impossible for any to conceive our
heartfelt joy at this second deliverance from ruin, but those who have
suffered the same hardships. Those whose strength and senses were gone
came to themselves, and were now as elated as they were before
depressed. Two days after this the wind ceased, and the water became
smooth. The punt then went on shore, and we cut down some trees; and
having found our mast and mended it we brought it on board, and fixed
it up. As soon as we had done this we got up the anchor, and away we
went once more for New Providence, which in three days more we reached
safe, after having been above three weeks in a situation in which we
did not expect to escape with life. The inhabitants here were very
kind to us; and, when they learned our situation, shewed us a great
deal of hospitality and friendship. Soon after this every one of my
old fellow-sufferers that were free parted from us, and shaped their
course where their inclination led them. One merchant, who had a large
sloop, seeing our condition, and knowing we wanted to go to Georgia,
told four of us that his vessel was going there; and, if we would work
on board and load her, he would give us our passage free. As we could
not get any wages whatever, and found it very hard to get off the
place, we were obliged to consent to his proposal; and we went on
board and helped to load the sloop, though we had only our victuals
allowed us. When she was entirely loaded he told us she was going to
Jamaica first, where we must go if we went in her. This, however, I
refused; but my fellow-sufferers not having any money to help
themselves with, necessity obliged them to accept of the offer, and to
steer that course, though they did not like it.
We stayed in New Providence about seventeen or eighteen days; during
which time I met with many friends, who gave me encouragement to stay
there with them: but I declined it; though, had not my heart been
fixed on England, I should have stayed, as I liked the place
extremely, and there were some free black people here who were very
happy, and we passed our time pleasantly together, with the melodious
sound of the catguts, under the lime and lemon trees. At length
Captain Phillips hired a sloop to carry him and some of the slaves
that he could not sell to Georgia; and I agreed to go with him in this
vessel, meaning now to take my farewell of that place. When the vessel
was ready we all embarked; and I took my leave of New Providence, not
without regret. We sailed about four o'clock in the morning, with a
fair wind, for Georgia; and about eleven o'clock the same morning a
short and sudden gale sprung up and blew away most of our sails; and,
as we were still amongst the keys, in a very few minutes it dashed the
sloop against the rocks. Luckily for us the water was deep; and the
sea was not so angry but that, after having for some time laboured
hard, and being many in number, we were saved through God's mercy;
and, by using our greatest exertions, we got the vessel off. The next
day we returned to Providence, where we soon got her again refitted.
Some of the people swore that we had spells set upon us by somebody in
Montserrat; and others that we had witches and wizzards amongst the
poor helpless slaves; and that we never should arrive safe at Georgia.
But these things did not deter me; I said, 'Let us again face the
winds and seas, and swear not, but trust to God, and he will deliver
us.' We therefore once more set sail; and, with hard labour, in seven
day's time arrived safe at Georgia.
After our arrival we went up to the town of Savannah; and the same
evening I went to a friend's house to lodge, whose name was Mosa, a
black man. We were very happy at meeting each other; and after supper
we had a light till it was between nine and ten o'clock at night.
About that time the watch or patrol came by; and, discerning a light
in the house, they knocked at the door: we opened it; and they came in
and sat down, and drank some punch with us: they also begged some
limes of me, as they understood I had some, which I readily gave them.
A little after this they told me I must go to the watch-house with
them: this surprised me a good deal, after our kindness to them; and I
asked them, Why so? They said that all negroes who had light in their
houses after nine o'clock were to be taken into custody, and either
pay some dollars or be flogged. Some of those people knew that I was a
free man; but, as the man of the house was not free, and had his
master to protect him, they did not take the same liberty with him
they did with me. I told them that I was a free man, and just arrived
from Providence; that we were not making any noise, and that I was not
a stranger in that place, but was very well known there: 'Besides,'
said I, 'what will you do with me?'--'That you shall see,' replied
they, 'but you must go to the watch-house with us.' Now whether they
meant to get money from me or not I was at a loss to know; but I
thought immediately of the oranges and limes at Santa Cruz: and seeing
that nothing would pacify them I went with them to the watch-house,
where I remained during the night. Early the the next morning these
imposing ruffians flogged a negro-man and woman that they had in the
watch-house, and then they told me that I must be flogged too. I asked
why? and if there was no law for free men? And told them if there was
I would have it put in force against them. But this only exasperated
them the more; and instantly they swore they would serve me as Doctor
Perkins had done; and they were going to lay violent hands on me; when
one of them, more humane than the rest, said that as I was a free man
they could not justify stripping me by law. I then immediately sent
for Doctor Brady, who was known to be an honest and worthy man; and on
his coming to my assistance they let me go.
This was not the only disagreeable incident I met with while I was in
this place; for, one day, while I was a little way out of the town of
Savannah, I was beset by two white men, who meant to play their usual
tricks with me in the way of kidnapping. As soon as these men accosted
me, one of them said to the other, 'This is the very fellow we are
looking for that you lost:' and the other swore immediately that I was
the identical person. On this they made up to me, and were about to
handle me; but I told them to be still and keep off; for I had seen
those kind of tricks played upon other free blacks, and they must not
think to serve me so. At this they paused a little, and one said to
the other--it will not do; and the other answered that I talked too
good English. I replied, I believed I did; and I had also with me a
revengeful stick equal to the occasion; and my mind was likewise good.
Happily however it was not used; and, after we had talked together a
little in this manner, the rogues left me. I stayed in Savannah some
time, anxiously trying to get to Montserrat once more to see Mr. King,
my old master, and then to take a final farewell of the American
quarter of the globe. At last I met with a sloop called the Speedwell,
Captain John Bunton, which belonged to Grenada, and was bound to
Martinico, a French island, with a cargo of rice, and I shipped myself
on board of her. Before I left Georgia a black woman, who had a child
lying dead, being very tenacious of the church burial service, and not
able to get any white person to perform it, applied to me for that
purpose. I told her I was no parson; and besides, that the service
over the dead did not affect the soul. This however did not satisfy
her; she still urged me very hard: I therefore complied with her
earnest entreaties, and at last consented to act the parson for the
first time in my life. As she was much respected, there was a great
company both of white and black people at the grave. I then
accordingly assumed my new vocation, and performed the funeral
ceremony to the satisfaction of all present; after which I bade adieu
to Georgia, and sailed for Martinico.
CHAP. IX
_The author arrives at Martinico--Meets with new
difficulties--Gets to Montserrat, where he takes leave of
his old master, and sails for England--Meets Capt.
Pascal--Learns the French horn--Hires himself with Doctor
Irving, where he learns to freshen sea water--Leaves the
doctor, and goes a voyage to Turkey and Portugal; and
afterwards goes a voyage to Grenada, and another to
Jamaica--Returns to the Doctor, and they embark together on
a voyage to the North Pole, with the Hon. Capt. Phipps--Some
account of that voyage, and the dangers the author was
in--He returns to England._
I thus took a final leave of Georgia; for the treatment I had received
in it disgusted me very much against the place; and when I left it and
sailed for Martinico I determined never more to revisit it. My new
captain conducted his vessel safer than my former one; and, after an
agreeable voyage, we got safe to our intended port. While I was on
this island I went about a good deal, and found it very pleasant: in
particular I admired the town of St. Pierre, which is the principal
one in the island, and built more like an European town than any I had
seen in the West Indies. In general also, slaves were better treated,
had more holidays, and looked better than those in the English
islands. After we had done our business here, I wanted my discharge,
which was necessary; for it was then the month of May, and I wished
much to be at Montserrat to bid farewell to Mr. King, and all my other
friends there, in time to sail for Old England in the July fleet. But,
alas! I had put a great stumbling block in my own way, by which I was
near losing my passage that season to England. I had lent my captain
some money, which I now wanted to enable me to prosecute my
intentions. This I told him; but when I applied for it, though I urged
the necessity of my occasion, I met with so much shuffling from him,
that I began at last to be afraid of losing my money, as I could not
recover it by law: for I have already mentioned, that throughout the
West Indies no black man's testimony is admitted, on any occasion,
against any white person whatever, and therefore my own oath would
have been of no use. I was obliged, therefore, to remain with him
till he might be disposed to return it to me. Thus we sailed from
Martinico for the Grenades. I frequently pressing the captain for my
money to no purpose; and, to render my condition worse, when we got
there, the captain and his owners quarrelled; so that my situation
became daily more irksome: for besides that we on board had little or
no victuals allowed us, and I could not get my money nor wages, I
could then have gotten my passage free to Montserrat had I been able
to accept it. The worst of all was, that it was growing late in July,
and the ships in the islands must sail by the 26th of that month. At
last, however, with a great many entreaties, I got my money from the
captain, and took the first vessel I could meet with for St. Eustatia.
From thence I went in another to Basseterre in St. Kitts, where I
arrived on the 19th of July. On the 22d, having met with a vessel
bound to Montserrat, I wanted to go in her; but the captain and others
would not take me on board until I should advertise myself, and give
notice of my going off the island. I told them of my haste to be in
Montserrat, and that the time then would not admit of advertising, it
being late in the evening, and the captain about to sail; but he
insisted it was necessary, and otherwise he said he would not take me.
This reduced me to great perplexity; for if I should be compelled to
submit to this degrading necessity, which every black freeman is
under, of advertising himself like a slave, when he leaves an island,
and which I thought a gross imposition upon any freeman, I feared I
should miss that opportunity of going to Montserrat, and then I could
not get to England that year. The vessel was just going off, and no
time could be lost; I immediately therefore set about, with a heavy
heart, to try who I could get to befriend me in complying with the
demands of the captain. Luckily I found, in a few minutes, some
gentlemen of Montserrat whom I knew; and, having told them my
situation, I requested their friendly assistance in helping me off the
island. Some of them, on this, went with me to the captain, and
satisfied him of my freedom; and, to my very great joy, he desired me
to go on board. We then set sail, and the next day, the 23d, I arrived
at the wished-for place, after an absence of six months, in which I
had more than once experienced the delivering hand of Providence,
when all human means of escaping destruction seemed hopeless. I saw my
friends with a gladness of heart which was increased by my absence and
the dangers I had escaped, and I was received with great friendship by
them all, but particularly by Mr. King, to whom I related the fate of
his sloop, the Nancy, and the causes of her being wrecked. I now
learned with extreme sorrow, that his house was washed away during my
absence, by the bursting of a pond at the top of a mountain that was
opposite the town of Plymouth. It swept great part of the town away,
and Mr. King lost a great deal of property from the inundation, and
nearly his life. When I told him I intended to go to London that
season, and that I had come to visit him before my departure, the good
man expressed a great deal of affection for me, and sorrow that I
should leave him, and warmly advised me to stay there; insisting, as I
was much respected by all the gentlemen in the place, that I might do
very well, and in a short time have land and slaves of my own. I
thanked him for this instance of his friendship; but, as I wished very
much to be in London, I declined remaining any longer there, and
begged he would excuse me. I then requested he would be kind enough to
give me a certificate of my behaviour while in his service, which he
very readily complied with, and gave me the following:
_Montserrat, January 26, 1767._
'The bearer hereof, Gustavus Vassa, was my slave for upwards
of three years, during which he has always behaved himself
well, and discharged his duty with honesty and assiduity.
Robert King.
'To all whom this may concern.'
Having obtained this, I parted from my kind master, after many sincere
professions of gratitude and regard, and prepared for my departure for
London. I immediately agreed to go with one Capt. John Hamer, for
seven guineas, the passage to London, on board a ship called the
Andromache; and on the 24th and 25th I had free dances, as they are
called, with some of my countrymen, previous to my setting off; after
which I took leave of all my friends, and on the 26th I embarked for
London, exceedingly glad to see myself once more on board of a ship;
and still more so, in steering the course I had long wished for. With
a light heart I bade Montserrat farewell, and never had my feet on it
since; and with it I bade adieu to the sound of the cruel whip, and
all other dreadful instruments of torture; adieu to the offensive
sight of the violated chastity of the sable females, which has too
often accosted my eyes; adieu to oppressions (although to me less
severe than most of my countrymen); and adieu to the angry howling,
dashing surfs. I wished for a grateful and thankful heart to praise
the Lord God on high for all his mercies!
We had a most prosperous voyage, and, at the end of seven weeks,
arrived at Cherry-Garden stairs. Thus were my longing eyes once more
gratified with a sight of London, after having been absent from it
above four years. I immediately received my wages, and I never had
earned seven guineas so quick in my life before; I had thirty-seven
guineas in all, when I got cleared of the ship. I now entered upon a
scene, quite new to me, but full of hope. In this situation my first
thoughts were to look out for some of my former friends, and amongst
the first of those were the Miss Guerins. As soon, therefore, as I had
regaled myself I went in quest of those kind ladies, whom I was very
impatient to see; and with some difficulty and perseverance, I found
them at May's-hill, Greenwich. They were most agreeably surprised to
see me, and I quite overjoyed at meeting with them. I told them my
history, at which they expressed great wonder, and freely acknowledged
it did their cousin, Capt. Pascal, no honour. He then visited there
frequently; and I met him four or five days after in Greenwich park.
When he saw me he appeared a good deal surprised, and asked me how I
came back? I answered, 'In a ship.' To which he replied dryly, 'I
suppose you did not walk back to London on the water.' As I saw, by
his manner, that he did not seem to be sorry for his behaviour to me,
and that I had not much reason to expect any favour from him, I told
him that he had used me very ill, after I had been such a faithful
servant to him for so many years; on which, without saying any more,
he turned about and went away. A few days after this I met Capt.
Pascal at Miss Guerin's house, and asked him for my prize-money. He
said there was none due to me; for, if my prize money had been
10,000 £. he had a right to it all. I told him I was informed
otherwise; on which he bade me defiance; and, in a bantering tone,
desired me to commence a lawsuit against him for it: 'There are
lawyers enough,' said he,'that will take the cause in hand, and you
had better try it.' I told him then that I would try it, which enraged
him very much; however, out of regard to the ladies, I remained still,
and never made any farther demand of my right. Some time afterwards
these friendly ladies asked me what I meant to do with myself, and how
they could assist me. I thanked them, and said, if they pleased, I
would be their servant; but if not, as I had thirty-seven guineas,
which would support me for some time, I would be much obliged to them
to recommend me to some person who would teach me a business whereby I
might earn my living. They answered me very politely, that they were
sorry it did not suit them to take me as their servant, and asked me
what business I should like to learn? I said, hair-dressing. They then
promised to assist me in this; and soon after they recommended me to a
gentleman whom I had known before, one Capt. O'Hara, who treated me
with much kindness, and procured me a master, a hair-dresser, in
Coventry-court, Haymarket, with whom he placed me. I was with this man
from September till the February following. In that time we had a
neighbour in the same court who taught the French horn. He used to
blow it so well that I was charmed with it, and agreed with him to
teach me to blow it. Accordingly he took me in hand, and began to
instruct me, and I soon learned all the three parts. I took great
delight in blowing on this instrument, the evenings being long; and
besides that I was fond of it, I did not like to be idle, and it
filled up my vacant hours innocently. At this time also I agreed with
the Rev. Mr. Gregory, who lived in the same court, where he kept an
academy and an evening-school, to improve me in arithmetic. This he
did as far as barter and alligation; so that all the time I was there
I was entirely employed. In February 1768 I hired myself to Dr.
Charles Irving, in Pall-mall, so celebrated for his successful
experiments in making sea water fresh; and here I had plenty of
hair-dressing to improve my hand. This gentleman was an excellent
master; he was exceedingly kind and good tempered; and allowed me in
the evenings to attend my schools, which I esteemed a great blessing;
therefore I thanked God and him for it, and used all my diligence to
improve the opportunity. This diligence and attention recommended me
to the notice and care of my three preceptors, who on their parts
bestowed a great deal of pains in my instruction, and besides were all
very kind to me. My wages, however, which were by two thirds less than
I ever had in my life (for I had only 12l. per annum) I soon found
would not be sufficient to defray this extraordinary expense of
masters, and my own necessary expenses; my old thirty-seven guineas
had by this time worn all away to one. I thought it best, therefore,
to try the sea again in quest of more money, as I had been bred to it,
and had hitherto found the profession of it successful. I had also a
very great desire to see Turkey, and I now determined to gratify it.
Accordingly, in the month of May, 1768, I told the doctor my wish to
go to sea again, to which he made no opposition; and we parted on
friendly terms. The same day I went into the city in quest of a
master. I was extremely fortunate in my inquiry; for I soon heard of a
gentleman who had a ship going to Italy and Turkey, and he wanted a
man who could dress hair well. I was overjoyed at this, and went
immediately on board of his ship, as I had been directed, which I
found to be fitted up with great taste, and I already foreboded no
small pleasure in sailing in her. Not finding the gentleman on board,
I was directed to his lodgings, where I met with him the next day, and
gave him a specimen of my dressing. He liked it so well that he hired
me immediately, so that I was perfectly happy; for the ship, master,
and voyage, were entirely to my mind. The ship was called the Delawar,
and my master's name was John Jolly, a neat smart good humoured man,
just such an one as I wished to serve. We sailed from England in July
following, and our voyage was extremely pleasant. We went to Villa
Franca, Nice, and Leghorn; and in all these places I was charmed with
the richness and beauty of the countries, and struck with the elegant
buildings with which they abound. We had always in them plenty of
extraordinary good wines and rich fruits, which I was very fond of;
and I had frequent occasions of gratifying both my taste and
curiosity; for my captain always lodged on shore in those places,
which afforded me opportunities to see the country around. I also
learned navigation of the mate, which I was very fond of. When we left
Italy we had delightful sailing among the Archipelago islands, and
from thence to Smyrna in Turkey. This is a very ancient city; the
houses are built of stone, and most of them have graves adjoining to
them; so that they sometimes present the appearance of church-yards.
Provisions are very plentiful in this city, and good wine less than a
penny a pint. The grapes, pomegranates, and many other fruits, were
also the richest and largest I ever tasted. The natives are well
looking and strong made, and treated me always with great civility. In
general I believe they are fond of black people; and several of them
gave me pressing invitations to stay amongst them, although they keep
the franks, or Christians, separate, and do not suffer them to dwell
immediately amongst them. I was astonished in not seeing women in any
of their shops, and very rarely any in the streets; and whenever I did
they were covered with a veil from head to foot, so that I could not
see their faces, except when any of them out of curiosity uncovered
them to look at me, which they sometimes did. I was surprised to see
how the Greeks are, in some measure, kept under by the Turks, as the
negroes are in the West Indies by the white people. The less refined
Greeks, as I have already hinted, dance here in the same manner as we
do in my nation. On the whole, during our stay here, which was about
five months, I liked the place and the Turks extremely well. I could
not help observing one very remarkable circumstance there: the tails
of the sheep are flat, and so very large, that I have known the tail
even of a lamb to weigh from eleven to thirteen pounds. The fat of
them is very white and rich, and is excellent in puddings, for which
it is much used. Our ship being at length richly loaded with silk, and
other articles, we sailed for England.
In May 1769, soon after our return from Turkey, our ship made a
delightful voyage to Oporto in Portugal, where we arrived at the time
of the carnival. On our arrival, there were sent on board to us
thirty-six articles to observe, with very heavy penalties if we should
break any of them; and none of us even dared to go on board any other
vessel or on shore till the Inquisition had sent on board and
searched for every thing illegal, especially bibles. Such as were
produced, and certain other things, were sent on shore till the ships
were going away; and any person in whose custody a bible was found
concealed was to be imprisoned and flogged, and sent into slavery for
ten years. I saw here many very magnificent sights, particularly the
garden of Eden, where many of the clergy and laity went in procession
in their several orders with the host, and sung Te Deum. I had a great
curiosity to go into some of their churches, but could not gain
admittance without using the necessary sprinkling of holy water at my
entrance. From curiosity, and a wish to be holy, I therefore complied
with this ceremony, but its virtues were lost on me, for I found
myself nothing the better for it. This place abounds with plenty of
all kinds of provisions. The town is well built and pretty, and
commands a fine prospect. Our ship having taken in a load of wine, and
other commodities, we sailed for London, and arrived in July
following. Our next voyage was to the Mediterranean. The ship was
again got ready, and we sailed in September for Genoa. This is one of
the finest cities I ever saw; some of the edifices were of beautiful
marble, and made a most noble appearance; and many had very curious
fountains before them. The churches were rich and magnificent, and
curiously adorned both in the inside and out. But all this grandeur
was in my eyes disgraced by the galley slaves, whose condition both
there and in other parts of Italy is truly piteous and wretched. After
we had stayed there some weeks, during which we bought many different
things which we wanted, and got them very cheap, we sailed to Naples,
a charming city, and remarkably clean. The bay is the most beautiful I
ever saw; the moles for shipping are excellent. I thought it
extraordinary to see grand operas acted here on Sunday nights, and
even attended by their majesties. I too, like these great ones, went
to those sights, and vainly served God in the day while I thus served
mammon effectually at night. While we remained here there happened an
eruption of mount Vesuvius, of which I had a perfect view. It was
extremely awful; and we were so near that the ashes from it used to be
thick on our deck. After we had transacted our business at Naples we
sailed with a fair wind once more for Smyrna, where we arrived in
December. A seraskier or officer took a liking to me here, and wanted
me to stay, and offered me two wives; however I refused the
temptation. The merchants here travel in caravans or large companies.
I have seen many caravans from India, with some hundreds of camels,
laden with different goods. The people of these caravans are quite
brown. Among other articles, they brought with them a great quantity
of locusts, which are a kind of pulse, sweet and pleasant to the
palate, and in shape resembling French beans, but longer. Each kind of
goods is sold in a street by itself, and I always found the Turks very
honest in their dealings. They let no Christians into their mosques or
churches, for which I was very sorry; as I was always fond of going to
see the different modes of worship of the people wherever I went. The
plague broke out while we were in Smyrna, and we stopped taking goods
into the ship till it was over. She was then richly laden, and we
sailed in about March 1770 for England. One day in our passage we met
with an accident which was near burning the ship. A black cook, in
melting some fat, overset the pan into the fire under the deck, which
immediately began to blaze, and the flame went up very high under the
foretop. With the fright the poor cook became almost white, and
altogether speechless. Happily however we got the fire out without
doing much mischief. After various delays in this passage, which was
tedious, we arrived in Standgate creek in July; and, at the latter end
of the year, some new event occurred, so that my noble captain, the
ship, and I all separated.
In April 1771 I shipped myself as a steward with Capt. Wm. Robertson
of the ship Grenada Planter, once more to try my fortune in the West
Indies; and we sailed from London for Madeira, Barbadoes, and the
Grenades. When we were at this last place, having some goods to sell,
I met once more with my former kind of West India customers. A white
man, an islander, bought some goods of me to the amount of some
pounds, and made me many fair promises as usual, but without any
intention of paying me. He had likewise bought goods from some more of
our people, whom he intended to serve in the same manner; but he still
amused us with promises. However, when our ship was loaded, and near
sailing, this honest buyer discovered no intention or sign of paying
for any thing he had bought of us; but on the contrary, when I asked
him for my money he threatened me and another black man he had bought
goods of, so that we found we were like to get more blows than
payment. On this we went to complain to one Mr. M'Intosh, a justice of
the peace; we told his worship of the man's villainous tricks, and
begged that he would be kind enough to see us redressed: but being
negroes, although free, we could not get any remedy; and our ship
being then just upon the point of sailing, we knew not how to help
ourselves, though we thought it hard to lose our property in this
manner. Luckily for us however, this man was also indebted to three
white sailors, who could not get a farthing from him; they therefore
readily joined us, and we all went together in search of him. When we
found where he was, I took him out of a house and threatened him with
vengeance; on which, finding he was likely to be handled roughly, the
rogue offered each of us some small allowance, but nothing near our
demands. This exasperated us much more; and some were for cutting his
ears off; but he begged hard for mercy, which was at last granted him,
after we had entirely stripped him. We then let him go, for which he
thanked us, glad to get off so easily, and ran into the bushes, after
having wished us a good voyage. We then repaired on board, and shortly
after set sail for England. I cannot help remarking here a very narrow
escape we had from being blown up, owing to a piece of negligence of
mine. Just as our ship was under sail, I went down into the cabin to
do some business, and had a lighted candle in my hand, which, in my
hurry, without thinking, I held in a barrel of gunpowder. It remained
in the powder until it was near catching fire, when fortunately I
observed it and snatched it out in time, and providentially no harm
happened; but I was so overcome with terror that I immediately fainted
at this deliverance.
In twenty-eight days time we arrived in England, and I got clear of
this ship. But, being still of a roving disposition, and desirous of
seeing as many different parts of the world as I could, I shipped
myself soon after, in the same year, as steward on board of a fine
large ship, called the Jamaica, Captain David Watt; and we sailed from
England in December 1771 for Nevis and Jamaica. I found Jamaica to be
a very fine large island, well peopled, and the most considerable of
the West India islands. There was a vast number of negroes here, whom
I found as usual exceedingly imposed upon by the white people, and the
slaves punished as in the other islands. There are negroes whose
business it is to flog slaves; they go about to different people for
employment, and the usual pay is from one to four bits. I saw many
cruel punishments inflicted on the slaves in the short time I stayed
here. In particular I was present when a poor fellow was tied up and
kept hanging by the wrists at some distance from the ground, and then
some half hundred weights were fixed to his ancles, in which posture
he was flogged most unmercifully. There were also, as I heard, two
different masters noted for cruelty on the island, who had staked up
two negroes naked, and in two hours the vermin stung them to death. I
heard a gentleman I well knew tell my captain that he passed sentence
on a negro man to be burnt alive for attempting to poison an overseer.
I pass over numerous other instances, in order to relieve the reader
by a milder scene of roguery. Before I had been long on the island,
one Mr. Smith at Port Morant bought goods of me to the amount of
twenty-five pounds sterling; but when I demanded payment from him, he
was going each time to beat me, and threatened that he would put me in
goal. One time he would say I was going to set his house on fire, at
another he would swear I was going to run away with his slaves. I was
astonished at this usage from a person who was in the situation of a
gentleman, but I had no alternative; I was therefore obliged to
submit. When I came to Kingston, I was surprised to see the number of
Africans who were assembled together on Sundays; particularly at a
large commodious place, called Spring Path. Here each different nation
of Africa meet and dance after the manner of their own country. They
still retain most of their native customs: they bury their dead, and
put victuals, pipes and tobacco, and other things, in the grave with
the corps, in the same manner as in Africa. Our ship having got her
loading we sailed for London, where we arrived in the August
following. On my return to London, I waited on my old and good master,
Dr. Irving, who made me an offer of his service again. Being now tired
of the sea I gladly accepted it. I was very happy in living with this
gentleman once more; during which time we were daily employed in
reducing old Neptune's dominions by purifying the briny element and
making it fresh. Thus I went on till May 1773, when I was roused by
the sound of fame, to seek new adventures, and to find, towards the
north pole, what our Creator never intended we should, a passage to
India. An expedition was now fitting out to explore a north-east
passage, conducted by the Honourable John Constantine Phipps, since
Lord Mulgrave, in his Majesty's sloop of war the Race Horse. My master
being anxious for the reputation of this adventure, we therefore
prepared every thing for our voyage, and I attended him on board the
Race Horse, the 24th day of May 1773. We proceeded to Sheerness, where
we were joined by his Majesty's sloop the Carcass, commanded by
Captain Lutwidge. On the 4th of June we sailed towards our destined
place, the pole; and on the 15th of the same month we were off
Shetland. On this day I had a great and unexpected deliverance from an
accident which was near blowing up the ship and destroying the crew,
which made me ever after during the voyage uncommonly cautious. The
ship was so filled that there was very little room on board for any
one, which placed me in a very aukward situation. I had resolved to
keep a journal of this singular and interesting voyage; and I had no
other place for this purpose but a little cabin, or the doctor's
store-room, where I slept. This little place was stuffed with all
manner of combustibles, particularly with tow and aquafortis, and many
other dangerous things. Unfortunately it happened in the evening as I
was writing my journal, that I had occasion to take the candle out of
the lanthorn, and a spark having touched a single thread of the tow,
all the rest caught the flame, and immediately the whole was in a
blaze. I saw nothing but present death before me, and expected to be
the first to perish in the flames. In a moment the alarm was spread,
and many people who were near ran to assist in putting out the fire.
All this time I was in the very midst of the flames; my shirt, and the
handkerchief on my neck, were burnt, and I was almost smothered with
the smoke. However, through God's mercy, as I was nearly giving up all
hopes, some people brought blankets and mattresses and threw them on
the flames, by which means in a short time the fire was put out. I was
severely reprimanded and menaced by such of the officers who knew it,
and strictly charged never more to go there with a light: and, indeed,
even my own fears made me give heed to this command for a little time;
but at last, not being able to write my journal in any other part of
the ship, I was tempted again to venture by stealth with a light in
the same cabin, though not without considerable fear and dread on my
mind. On the 20th of June we began to use Dr. Irving's apparatus for
making salt water fresh; I used to attend the distillery: I frequently
purified from twenty-six to forty gallons a day. The water thus
distilled was perfectly pure, well tasted, and free from salt; and was
used on various occasions on board the ship. On the 28th of June,
being in lat. 78, we made Greenland, where I was surprised to see the
sun did not set. The weather now became extremely cold; and as we
sailed between north and east, which was our course, we saw many very
high and curious mountains of ice; and also a great number of very
large whales, which used to come close to our ship, and blow the water
up to a very great height in the air. One morning we had vast
quantities of sea-horses about the ship, which neighed exactly like
any other horses. We fired some harpoon guns amongst them, in order to
take some, but we could not get any. The 30th, the captain of a
Greenland ship came on board, and told us of three ships that were
lost in the ice; however we still held on our course till July the
11th, when we were stopt by one compact impenetrable body of ice. We
ran along it from east to west above ten degrees; and on the 27th we
got as far north as 80, 37; and in 19 or 20 degrees east longitude
from London. On the 29th and 30th of July we saw one continued plain
of smooth unbroken ice, bounded only by the horizon; and we fastened
to a piece of ice that was eight yards eleven inches thick. We had
generally sunshine, and constant daylight; which gave cheerfulness and
novelty to the whole of this striking, grand, and uncommon scene; and,
to heighten it still more, the reflection of the sun from the ice gave
the clouds a most beautiful appearance. We killed many different
animals at this time, and among the rest nine bears. Though they had
nothing in their paunches but water yet they were all very fat. We
used to decoy them to the ship sometimes by burning feathers or skins.
I thought them coarse eating, but some of the ship's company relished
them very much. Some of our people once, in the boat, fired at and
wounded a sea-horse, which dived immediately; and, in a little time
after, brought up with it a number of others. They all joined in an
attack upon the boat, and were with difficulty prevented from staving
or oversetting her; but a boat from the Carcass having come to assist
ours, and joined it, they dispersed, after having wrested an oar from
one of the men. One of the ship's boats had before been attacked in
the same manner, but happily no harm was done. Though we wounded
several of these animals we never got but one. We remained hereabouts
until the 1st of August; when the two ships got completely fastened in
the ice, occasioned by the loose ice that set in from the sea. This
made our situation very dreadful and alarming; so that on the 7th day
we were in very great apprehension of having the ships squeezed to
pieces. The officers now held a council to know what was best for us
to do in order to save our lives; and it was determined that we should
endeavour to escape by dragging our boats along the ice towards the
sea; which, however, was farther off than any of us thought. This
determination filled us with extreme dejection, and confounded us with
despair; for we had very little prospect of escaping with life.
However, we sawed some of the ice about the ships to keep it from
hurting them; and thus kept them in a kind of pond. We then began to
drag the boats as well as we could towards the sea; but, after two or
three days labour, we made very little progress; so that some of our
hearts totally failed us, and I really began to give up myself for
lost, when I saw our surrounding calamities. While we were at this
hard labour I once fell into a pond we had made amongst some loose
ice, and was very near being drowned; but providentially some people
were near who gave me immediate assistance, and thereby I escaped
drowning. Our deplorable condition, which kept up the constant
apprehension of our perishing in the ice, brought me gradually to
think of eternity in such a manner as I never had done before. I had
the fears of death hourly upon me, and shuddered at the thoughts of
meeting the grim king of terrors in the _natural_ state I then was in,
and was exceedingly doubtful of a happy eternity if I should die in
it. I had no hopes of my life being prolonged for any time; for we
saw that our existence could not be long on the ice after leaving the
ships, which were now out of sight, and some miles from the boats. Our
appearance now became truly lamentable; pale dejection seized every
countenance; many, who had been before blasphemers, in this our
distress began to call on the good God of heaven for his help; and in
the time of our utter need he heard us, and against hope or human
probability delivered us! It was the eleventh day of the ships being
thus fastened, and the fourth of our drawing the boats in this manner,
that the wind changed to the E.N.E. The weather immediately became
mild, and the ice broke towards the sea, which was to the S.W. of us.
Many of us on this got on board again, and with all our might we hove
the ships into every open water we could find, and made all the sail
on them in our power; and now, having a prospect of success, we made
signals for the boats and the remainder of the people. This seemed to
us like a reprieve from death; and happy was the man who could first
get on board of any ship, or the first boat he could meet. We then
proceeded in this manner till we got into the open water again, which
we accomplished in about thirty hours, to our infinite joy and
gladness of heart. As soon as we were out of danger we came to anchor
and refitted; and on the 19th of August we sailed from this
uninhabited extremity of the world, where the inhospitable climate
affords neither food nor shelter, and not a tree or shrub of any kind
grows amongst its barren rocks; but all is one desolate and expanded
waste of ice, which even the constant beams of the sun for six months
in the year cannot penetrate or dissolve. The sun now being on the
decline the days shortened as we sailed to the southward; and, on the
28th, in latitude 73, it was dark by ten o'clock at night. September
the 10th, in latitude 58-59, we met a very severe gale of wind and
high seas, and shipped a great deal of water in the space of ten
hours. This made us work exceedingly hard at all our pumps a whole
day; and one sea, which struck the ship with more force than any thing
I ever met with of the kind before, laid her under water for some
time, so that we thought she would have gone down. Two boats were
washed from the booms, and the long-boat from the chucks: all other
moveable things on the deck were also washed away, among which were
many curious things of different kinds which we had brought from
Greenland; and we were obliged, in order to lighten the ship, to toss
some of our guns overboard. We saw a ship, at the same time, in very
great distress, and her masts were gone; but we were unable to assist
her. We now lost sight of the Carcass till the 26th, when we saw land
about Orfordness, off which place she joined us. From thence we sailed
for London, and on the 30th came up to Deptford. And thus ended our
Arctic voyage, to the no small joy of all on board, after having been
absent four months; in which time, at the imminent hazard of our
lives, we explored nearly as far towards the Pole as 81 degrees north,
and 20 degrees east longitude; being much farther, by all accounts,
than any navigator had ever ventured before; in which we fully proved
the impracticability of finding a passage that way to India.
CHAP. X.
_The author leaves Doctor Irving and engages on board a
Turkey ship--Account of a black man's being kidnapped on
board and sent to the West Indies, and the author's
fruitless endeavours to procure his freedom--Some account of
the manner of the author's conversion to the faith of Jesus
Christ._
Our voyage to the North Pole being ended, I returned to London with
Doctor Irving, with whom I continued for some time, during which I
began seriously to reflect on the dangers I had escaped, particularly
those of my last voyage, which made a lasting impression on my mind,
and, by the grace of God, proved afterwards a mercy to me; it caused
me to reflect deeply on my eternal state, and to seek the Lord with
full purpose of heart ere it was too late. I rejoiced greatly; and
heartily thanked the Lord for directing me to London, where I was
determined to work out my own salvation, and in so doing procure a
title to heaven, being the result of a mind blended by ignorance and
sin.
In process of time I left my master, Doctor Irving, the purifier of
waters, and lodged in Coventry-court, Haymarket, where I was
continually oppressed and much concerned about the salvation of my
soul, and was determined (in my own strength) to be a first-rate
Christian. I used every means for this purpose; and, not being able to
find any person amongst my acquaintance that agreed with me in point
of religion, or, in scripture language, 'that would shew me any good;'
I was much dejected, and knew not where to seek relief; however, I
first frequented the neighbouring churches, St. James's, and others,
two or three times a day, for many weeks: still I came away
dissatisfied; something was wanting that I could not obtain, and I
really found more heartfelt relief in reading my bible at home than in
attending the church; and, being resolved to be saved, I pursued other
methods still. First I went among the quakers, where the word of God
was neither read or preached, so that I remained as much in the dark
as ever. I then searched into the Roman catholic principles, but was
not in the least satisfied. At length I had recourse to the Jews,
which availed me nothing, for the fear of eternity daily harassed my
mind, and I knew not where to seek shelter from the wrath to come.
However this was my conclusion, at all events, to read the four
evangelists, and whatever sect or party I found adhering thereto such
I would join. Thus I went on heavily without any guide to direct me
the way that leadeth to eternal life. I asked different people
questions about the manner of going to heaven, and was told different
ways. Here I was much staggered, and could not find any at that time
more righteous than myself, or indeed so much inclined to devotion. I
thought we should not all be saved (this is agreeable to the holy
scriptures), nor would all be damned. I found none among the circle of
my acquaintance that kept wholly the ten commandments. So righteous
was I in my own eyes, that I was convinced I excelled many of them in
that point, by keeping eight out of ten; and finding those who in
general termed themselves Christians not so honest or so good in their
morals as the Turks, I really thought the Turks were in a safer way of
salvation than my neighbours: so that between hopes and fears I went
on, and the chief comforts I enjoyed were in the musical French horn,
which I then practised, and also dressing of hair. Such was my
situation some months, experiencing the dishonesty of many people
here. I determined at last to set out for Turkey, and there to end my
days. It was now early in the spring 1774. I sought for a master, and
found a captain John Hughes, commander of a ship called Anglicania,
fitting out in the river Thames, and bound to Smyrna in Turkey. I
shipped myself with him as a steward; at the same time I recommended
to him a very clever black man, John Annis, as a cook. This man was on
board the ship near two months doing his duty: he had formerly lived
many years with Mr. William Kirkpatrick, a gentleman of the island of
St. Kitts, from whom he parted by consent, though he afterwards tried
many schemes to inveigle the poor man. He had applied to many captains
who traded to St. Kitts to trepan him; and when all their attempts and
schemes of kidnapping proved abortive, Mr. Kirkpatrick came to our
ship at Union Stairs on Easter Monday, April the fourth, with two
wherry boats and six men, having learned that the man was on board;
and tied, and forcibly took him away from the ship, in the presence
of the crew and the chief mate, who had detained him after he had
notice to come away. I believe that this was a combined piece of
business: but, at any rate, it certainly reflected great disgrace on
the mate and captain also, who, although they had desired the
oppressed man to stay on board, yet he did not in the least assist to
recover him, or pay me a farthing of his wages, which was about five
pounds. I proved the only friend he had, who attempted to regain him
his liberty if possible, having known the want of liberty myself. I
sent as soon as I could to Gravesend, and got knowledge of the ship in
which he was; but unluckily she had sailed the first tide after he was
put on board. My intention was then immediately to apprehend Mr.
Kirkpatrick, who was about setting off for Scotland; and, having
obtained a _habeas corpus_ for him, and got a tipstaff to go with me
to St. Paul's church-yard, where he lived, he, suspecting something of
this kind, set a watch to look out. My being known to them occasioned
me to use the following deception: I whitened my face, that they might
not know me, and this had its desired effect. He did not go out of his
house that night, and next morning I contrived a well plotted
stratagem notwithstanding he had a gentleman in his house to personate
him. My direction to the tipstaff, who got admittance into the house,
was to conduct him to a judge, according to the writ. When he came
there, his plea was, that he had not the body in custody, on which he
was admitted to bail. I proceeded immediately to that philanthropist,
Granville Sharp, Esq. who received me with the utmost kindness, and
gave me every instruction that was needful on the occasion. I left him
in full hope that I should gain the unhappy man his liberty, with the
warmest sense of gratitude towards Mr. Sharp for his kindness; but,
alas! my attorney proved unfaithful; he took my money, lost me many
months employ, and did not do the least good in the cause: and when
the poor man arrived at St. Kitts, he was, according to custom, staked
to the ground with four pins through a cord, two on his wrists, and
two on his ancles, was cut and flogged most unmercifully, and
afterwards loaded cruelly with irons about his neck. I had two very
moving letters from him, while he was in this situation; and also was
told of it by some very respectable families now in London, who saw
him in St. Kitts, in the same state in which he remained till kind
death released him out of the hands of his tyrants. During this
disagreeable business I was under strong convictions of sin, and
thought that my state was worse than any man's; my mind was
unaccountably disturbed; I often wished for death, though at the same
time convinced I was altogether unprepared for that awful summons.
Suffering much by villains in the late cause, and being much concerned
about the state of my soul, these things (but particularly the latter)
brought me very low; so that I became a burden to myself, and viewed
all things around me as emptiness and vanity, which could give no
satisfaction to a troubled conscience. I was again determined to go to
Turkey, and resolved, at that time, never more to return to England. I
engaged as steward on board a Turkeyman (the Wester Hall, Capt.
Linna); but was prevented by means of my late captain, Mr. Hughes, and
others. All this appeared to be against me, and the only comfort I
then experienced was, in reading the holy scriptures, where I saw that
'there is no new thing under the sun,' Eccles. i. 9; and what was
appointed for me I must submit to. Thus I continued to travel in much
heaviness, and frequently murmured against the Almighty, particularly
in his providential dealings; and, awful to think! I began to
blaspheme, and wished often to be any thing but a human being. In
these severe conflicts the Lord answered me by awful 'visions of the
night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed,'
Job xxxiii. 15. He was pleased, in much mercy, to give me to see, and
in some measure to understand, the great and awful scene of the
judgment-day, that 'no unclean person, no unholy thing, can enter into
the kingdom of God,' Eph. v. 5. I would then, if it had been possible,
have changed my nature with the meanest worm on the earth; and was
ready to say to the mountains and rocks 'fall on me,' Rev. vi. 16; but
all in vain. I then requested the divine Creator that he would grant
me a small space of time to repent of my follies and vile iniquities,
which I felt were grievous. The Lord, in his manifold mercies, was
pleased to grant my request, and being yet in a state of time, the
sense of God's mercies was so great on my mind when I awoke, that my
strength entirely failed me for many minutes, and I was exceedingly
weak. This was the first spiritual mercy I ever was sensible of, and
being on praying ground, as soon as I recovered a little strength, and
got out of bed and dressed myself, I invoked Heaven from my inmost
soul, and fervently begged that God would never again permit me to
blaspheme his most holy name. The Lord, who is long-suffering, and
full of compassion to such poor rebels as we are, condescended to hear
and answer. I felt that I was altogether unholy, and saw clearly what
a bad use I had made of the faculties I was endowed with; they were
given me to glorify God with; I thought, therefore, I had better want
them here, and enter into life eternal, than abuse them and be cast
into hell fire. I prayed to be directed, if there were any holier than
those with whom I was acquainted, that the Lord would point them out
to me. I appealed to the Searcher of hearts, whether I did not wish to
love him more, and serve him better. Notwithstanding all this, the
reader may easily discern, if he is a believer, that I was still in
nature's darkness. At length I hated the house in which I lodged,
because God's most holy name was blasphemed in it; then I saw the word
of God verified, viz. 'Before they call, I will answer; and while they
are yet speaking, I will hear.'
I had a great desire to read the bible the whole day at home; but not
having a convenient place for retirement, I left the house in the day,
rather than stay amongst the wicked ones; and that day as I was
walking, it pleased God to direct me to a house where there was an old
sea-faring man, who experienced much of the love of God shed abroad in
his heart. He began to discourse with me; and, as I desired to love
the Lord, his conversation rejoiced me greatly; and indeed I had never
heard before the love of Christ to believers set forth in such a
manner, and in so clear a point of view. Here I had more questions to
put to the man than his time would permit him to answer; and in that
memorable hour there came in a dissenting minister; he joined our
discourse, and asked me some few questions; among others, where I
heard the gospel preached. I knew not what he meant by hearing the
gospel; I told him I had read the gospel: and he asked where I went to
church, or whether I went at all or not. To which I replied, 'I
attended St. James's, St. Martin's, and St. Ann's, Soho;'--'So,' said
he, 'you are a churchman.' I answered, I was. He then invited me to a
love-feast at his chapel that evening. I accepted the offer, and
thanked him; and soon after he went away, I had some further discourse
with the old Christian, added to some profitable reading, which made
me exceedingly happy. When I left him he reminded me of coming to the
feast; I assured him I would be there. Thus we parted, and I weighed
over the heavenly conversation that had passed between these two men,
which cheered my then heavy and drooping spirit more than any thing I
had met with for many months. However, I thought the time long in
going to my supposed banquet. I also wished much for the company of
these friendly men; their company pleased me much; and I thought the
gentlemen very kind, in asking me, a stranger, to a feast; but how
singular did it appear to me, to have it in a chapel! When the
wished-for hour came I went, and happily the old man was there, who
kindly seated me, as he belonged to the place. I was much astonished
to see the place filled with people, and no signs of eating and
drinking. There were many ministers in the company. At last they began
by giving out hymns, and between the singing the minister engaged in
prayer; in short, I knew not what to make of this sight, having never
seen any thing of the kind in my life before now. Some of the guests
began to speak their experience, agreeable to what I read in the
Scriptures; much was said by every speaker of the providence of God,
and his unspeakable mercies, to each of them. This I knew in a great
measure, and could most heartily join them. But when they spoke of a
future state, they seemed to be altogether certain of their calling
and election of God; and that no one could ever separate them from the
love of Christ, or pluck them out of his hands. This filled me with
utter consternation, intermingled with admiration. I was so amazed as
not to know what to think of the company; my heart was attracted and
my affections were enlarged. I wished to be as happy as them, and was
persuaded in my mind that they were different from the world 'that
lieth in wickedness,' 1 John v. 19. Their language and singing, &c.
did well harmonize; I was entirely overcome, and wished to live and
die thus. Lastly, some persons in the place produced some neat baskets
full of buns, which they distributed about; and each person
communicated with his neighbour, and sipped water out of different
mugs, which they handed about to all who were present. This kind of
Christian fellowship I had never seen, nor ever thought of seeing on
earth; it fully reminded me of what I had read in the holy scriptures,
of the primitive Christians, who loved each other and broke bread. In
partaking of it, even from house to house, this entertainment (which
lasted about four hours) ended in singing and prayer. It was the first
soul feast I ever was present at. This last twenty-four hours produced
me things, spiritual and temporal, sleeping and waking, judgment and
mercy, that I could not but admire the goodness of God, in directing
the blind, blasphemous sinner in the path that he knew not of, even
among the just; and instead of judgment he has shewed mercy, and will
hear and answer the prayers and supplications of every returning
prodigal:
O! to grace how great a debtor
Daily I'm constrain'd to be!
After this I was resolved to win Heaven if possible; and if I perished
I thought it should be at the feet of Jesus, in praying to him for
salvation. After having been an eye-witness to some of the happiness
which attended those who feared God, I knew not how, with any
propriety, to return to my lodgings, where the name of God was
continually profaned, at which I felt the greatest horror. I paused in
my mind for some time, not knowing what to do; whether to hire a bed
elsewhere, or go home again. At last, fearing an evil report might
arise, I went home, with a farewell to card-playing and vain jesting,
&c. I saw that time was very short, eternity long, and very near, and
I viewed those persons alone blessed who were found ready at midnight
call, or when the Judge of all, both quick and dead, cometh.
The next day I took courage, and went to Holborn, to see my new and
worthy acquaintance, the old man, Mr. C----; he, with his wife, a
gracious woman, were at work at silk weaving; they seemed mutually
happy, and both quite glad to see me, and I more so to see them. I sat
down, and we conversed much about soul matters, &c. Their discourse
was amazingly delightful, edifying, and pleasant. I knew not at last
how to leave this agreeable pair, till time summoned me away. As I
was going they lent me a little book, entitled "The Conversion of an
Indian." It was in questions and answers. The poor man came over the
sea to London, to inquire after the Christian's God, who, (through
rich mercy) he found, and had not his journey in vain. The above book
was of great use to me, and at that time was a means of strengthening
my faith; however, in parting, they both invited me to call on them
when I pleased. This delighted me, and I took care to make all the
improvement from it I could; and so far I thanked God for such company
and desires. I prayed that the many evils I felt within might be done
away, and that I might be weaned from my former carnal acquaintances.
This was quickly heard and answered, and I was soon connected with
those whom the scripture calls the excellent of the earth. I heard the
gospel preached, and the thoughts of my heart and actions were laid
open by the preachers, and the way of salvation by Christ alone was
evidently set forth. Thus I went on happily for near two months; and I
once heard, during this period, a reverend gentleman speak of a man
who had departed this life in full assurance of his going to glory. I
was much astonished at the assertion; and did very deliberately
inquire how he could get at this knowledge. I was answered fully,
agreeable to what I read in the oracles of truth; and was told also,
that if I did not experience the new birth, and the pardon of my sins,
through the blood of Christ, before I died, I could not enter the
kingdom of heaven. I knew not what to think of this report, as I
thought I kept eight commandments out of ten; then my worthy
interpreter told me I did not do it, nor could I; and he added, that
no man ever did or could keep the commandments, without offending in
one point. I thought this sounded very strange, and puzzled me much
for many weeks; for I thought it a hard saying. I then asked my
friend, Mr. L----d, who was a clerk in a chapel, why the commandments
of God were given, if we could not be saved by them? To which he
replied, 'The law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ,' who alone
could and did keep the commandments, and fulfilled all their
requirements for his elect people, even those to whom he had given a
living faith, and the sins of those chosen vessels _were already_
atoned for and forgiven them whilst living; and if I did not
experience the same before my exit, the Lord would say at that great
day to me 'Go ye cursed,' &c. &c. for God would appear faithful in his
judgments to the wicked, as he would be faithful in shewing mercy to
those who were ordained to it before the world was; therefore Christ
Jesus seemed to be all in all to that man's soul. I was much wounded
at this discourse, and brought into such a dilemma as I never
expected. I asked him, if _he_ was to die that moment, whether he was
sure to enter the kingdom of God? and added, 'Do you _know_ that your
sins are forgiven you?' He answered in the affirmative. Then
confusion, anger, and discontent seized me, and I staggered much at
this sort of doctrine; it brought me to a stand, not knowing which to
believe, whether salvation by works or by faith only in Christ. I
requested him to tell me how I might know when my sins were forgiven
me. He assured me he could not, and that none but God alone could do
this. I told him it was very mysterious; but he said it was really
matter of fact, and quoted many portions of scripture immediately to
the point, to which I could make no reply. He then desired me to pray
to God to shew me these things. I answered, that I prayed to God every
day. He said, 'I perceive you are a churchman.' I answered I was. He
then entreated me to beg of God to shew me what I was, and the true
state of my soul. I thought the prayer very short and odd; so we
parted for that time. I weighed all these things well over, and could
not help thinking how it was possible for a man to know that his sins
were forgiven him in this life. I wished that God would reveal this
self same thing unto me. In a short time after this I went to
Westminster chapel; the Rev. Mr. P---- preached, from Lam. iii. 39. It
was a wonderful sermon; he clearly shewed that a living man had no
cause to complain for the punishment of his sins; he evidently
justified the Lord in all his dealings with the sons of men; he also
shewed the justice of God in the eternal punishment of the wicked and
impenitent. The discourse seemed to me like a two-edged sword cutting
all ways; it afforded me much joy, intermingled with many fears, about
my soul; and when it was ended, he gave it out that he intended, the
ensuing week, to examine all those who meant to attend the Lord's
table. Now I thought much of my good works, and at the same time was
doubtful of my being a proper object to receive the sacrament; I was
full of meditation till the day of examining. However, I went to the
chapel, and, though much distressed, I addressed the reverend
gentleman, thinking, if I was not right, he would endeavour to
convince me of it. When I conversed with him, the first thing he asked
me was, what I knew of Christ? I told him I believed in him, and had
been baptized in his name. 'Then,' said he, 'when were you brought to
the knowledge of God? and how were you convinced of sin?' I knew not
what he meant by these questions; I told him I kept eight commandments
out of ten; but that I sometimes swore on board ship, and sometimes
when on shore, and broke the sabbath. He then asked me if I could
read? I answered, 'Yes.'--'Then,' said he,'do you not read in the
bible, he that offends in one point is guilty of all?' I said, 'Yes.'
Then he assured me, that one sin unatoned for was as sufficient to
damn a soul as one leak was to sink a ship. Here I was struck with
awe; for the minister exhorted me much, and reminded me of the
shortness of time, and the length of eternity, and that no
unregenerate soul, or any thing unclean, could enter the kingdom of
Heaven. He did not admit me as a communicant; but recommended me to
read the scriptures, and hear the word preached, not to neglect
fervent prayer to God, who has promised to hear the supplications of
those who seek him in godly sincerity; so I took my leave of him, with
many thanks, and resolved to follow his advice, so far as the Lord
would condescend to enable me. During this time I was out of employ,
nor was I likely to get a situation suitable for me, which obliged me
to go once more to sea. I engaged as steward of a ship called the
Hope, Capt. Richard Strange, bound from London to Cadiz in Spain. In a
short time after I was on board I heard the name of God much
blasphemed, and I feared greatly, lest I should catch the horrible
infection. I thought if I sinned again, after having life and death
set evidently before me, I should certainly go to hell. My mind was
uncommonly chagrined, and I murmured much at God's providential
dealings with me, and was discontented with the commandments, that I
could not be saved by what I had done; I hated all things, and wished
I had never been born; confusion seized me, and I wished to be
annihilated. One day I was standing on the very edge of the stern of
the ship, thinking to drown myself; but this scripture was instantly
impressed on my mind--'that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in
him,' 1 John iii. 15. Then I paused, and thought myself the unhappiest
man living. Again I was convinced that the Lord was better to me than
I deserved, and I was better off in the world than many. After this I
began to fear death; I fretted, mourned, and prayed, till I became a
burden to others, but more so to myself. At length I concluded to beg
my bread on shore rather than go again to sea amongst a people who
feared not God, and I entreated the captain three different times to
discharge me; he would not, but each time gave me greater and greater
encouragement to continue with him, and all on board shewed me very
great civility: notwithstanding all this I was unwilling to embark
again. At last some of my religious friends advised me, by saying it
was my lawful calling, consequently it was my duty to obey, and that
God was not confined to place, &c. &c. particularly Mr. G.S. the
governor of Tothil-fields Bridewell, who pitied my case, and read the
eleventh chapter of the Hebrews to me, with exhortations. He prayed
for me, and I believed that he prevailed on my behalf, as my burden
was then greatly removed, and I found a heartfelt resignation to the
will of God. The good man gave me a pocket Bible and Allen's Alarm to
the unconverted. We parted, and the next day I went on board again. We
sailed for Spain, and I found favour with the captain. It was the
fourth of the month of September when we sailed from London; we had a
delightful voyage to Cadiz, where we arrived the twenty-third of the
same month. The place is strong, commands a fine prospect, and is very
rich. The Spanish galloons frequent that port, and some arrived whilst
we were there. I had many opportunities of reading the scriptures. I
wrestled hard with God in fervent prayer, who had declared in his word
that he would hear the groanings and deep sighs of the poor in spirit.
I found this verified to my utter astonishment and comfort in the
following manner:
On the morning of the 6th of October, (I pray you to attend) or all
that day, I thought that I should either see or hear something
supernatural. I had a secret impulse on my mind of something that was
to take place, which drove me continually for that time to a throne of
grace. It pleased God to enable me to wrestle with him, as Jacob did:
I prayed that if sudden death were to happen, and I perished, it might
be at Christ's feet.
In the evening of the same day, as I was reading and meditating on the
fourth chapter of the Acts, twelfth verse, under the solemn
apprehensions of eternity, and reflecting on my past actions, I began
to think I had lived a moral life, and that I had a proper ground to
believe I had an interest in the divine favour; but still meditating
on the subject, not knowing whether salvation was to be had partly for
our own good deeds, or solely as the sovereign gift of God; in this
deep consternation the Lord was pleased to break in upon my soul with
his bright beams of heavenly light; and in an instant as it were,
removing the veil, and letting light into a dark place, I saw clearly
with the eye of faith the crucified Saviour bleeding on the cross on
mount Calvary: the scriptures became an unsealed book, I saw myself a
condemned criminal under the law, which came with its full force to my
conscience, and when 'the commandment came sin revived, and I died,' I
saw the Lord Jesus Christ in his humiliation, loaded and bearing my
reproach, sin, and shame. I then clearly perceived that by the deeds
of the law no flesh living could be justified. I was then convinced
that by the first Adam sin came, and by the second Adam (the Lord
Jesus Christ) all that are saved must be made alive. It was given me
at that time to know what it was to be born again, John iii. 5. I saw
the eighth chapter to the Romans, and the doctrines of God's decrees,
verified agreeable to his eternal, everlasting, and unchangeable
purposes. The word of God was sweet to my taste, yea sweeter than
honey and the honeycomb. Christ was revealed to my soul as the
chiefest among ten thousand. These heavenly moments were really as
life to the dead, and what John calls an earnest of the Spirit[V].
This was indeed unspeakable, and I firmly believe undeniable by many.
Now every leading providential circumstance that happened to me, from
the day I was taken from my parents to that hour, was then in my view,
as if it had but just then occurred. I was sensible of the invisible
hand of God, which guided and protected me when in truth I knew it
not: still the Lord pursued me although I slighted and disregarded it;
this mercy melted me down. When I considered my poor wretched state I
wept, seeing what a great debtor I was to sovereign free grace. Now
the Ethiopian was willing to be saved by Jesus Christ, the sinner's
only surety, and also to rely on none other person or thing for
salvation. Self was obnoxious, and good works he had none, for it is
God that worketh in us both to will and to do. The amazing things of
that hour can never be told--it was joy in the Holy Ghost! I felt an
astonishing change; the burden of sin, the gaping jaws of hell, and
the fears of death, that weighed me down before, now lost their
horror; indeed I thought death would now be the best earthly friend I
ever had. Such were my grief and joy as I believe are seldom
experienced. I was bathed in tears, and said, What am I that God
should thus look on me the vilest of sinners? I felt a deep concern
for my mother and friends, which occasioned me to pray with fresh
ardour; and, in the abyss of thought, I viewed the unconverted people
of the world in a very awful state, being without God and without
hope.
It pleased God to pour out on me the Spirit of prayer and the grace of
supplication, so that in loud acclamations I was enabled to praise and
glorify his most holy name. When I got out of the cabin, and told some
of the people what the Lord had done for me, alas, who could
understand me or believe my report!--None but to whom the arm of the
Lord was revealed. I became a barbarian to them in talking of the love
of Christ: his name was to me as ointment poured forth; indeed it was
sweet to my soul, but to them a rock of offence. I thought my case
singular, and every hour a day until I came to London, for I much
longed to be with some to whom I could tell of the wonders of God's
love towards me, and join in prayer to him whom my soul loved and
thirsted after. I had uncommon commotions within, such as few can tell
aught about. Now the bible was my only companion and comfort; I prized
it much, with many thanks to God that I could read it for myself, and
was not left to be tossed about or led by man's devices and notions.
The worth of a soul cannot be told.--May the Lord give the reader an
understanding in this. Whenever I looked in the bible I saw things
new, and many texts were immediately applied to me with great comfort,
for I knew that to me was the word of salvation sent. Sure I was that
the Spirit which indited the word opened my heart to receive the truth
of it as it is in Jesus--that the same Spirit enabled me to act faith
upon the promises that were so precious to me, and enabled me to
believe to the salvation of my soul. By free grace I was persuaded
that I had a part in the first resurrection, and was 'enlightened with
the light of the living,' Job xxxiii. 30. I wished for a man of God
with whom I might converse: my soul was like the chariots of Aminidab,
Canticles vi. 12. These, among others, were the precious promises that
were so powerfully applied to me: 'All things whatsoever ye shall ask
in prayer, believing, ye shall receive,' Mat. xxi. 22. 'Peace I leave
with you, my peace I give unto you,' John xiv. 27. I saw the blessed
Redeemer to be the fountain of life, and the well of salvation. I
experienced him all in all; he had brought me by a way that I knew
not, and he had made crooked paths straight. Then in his name I set up
my Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto he hath helped me: and could say to the
sinners about me, Behold what a Saviour I have! Thus I was, by the
teaching of that all-glorious Deity, the great One in Three, and Three
in One, confirmed in the truths of the bible, those oracles of
everlasting truth, on which every soul living must stand or fall
eternally, agreeable to Acts iv. 12. 'Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved, but only Christ Jesus.' May God give the
reader a right understanding in these facts! To him that believeth all
things are possible, but to them that are unbelieving nothing is pure,
Titus i. 15. During this period we remained at Cadiz until our ship
got laden. We sailed about the fourth of November; and, having a good
passage, we arrived in London the month following, to my comfort, with
heartfelt gratitude to God for his rich and unspeakable mercies. On my
return I had but one text which puzzled me, or that the devil
endeavoured to buffet me with, viz. Rom. xi. 6. and, as I had heard of
the Reverend Mr. Romaine, and his great knowledge in the scriptures, I
wished much to hear him preach. One day I went to Blackfriars church,
and, to my great satisfaction and surprise, he preached from that very
text. He very clearly shewed the difference between human works and
free election, which is according to God's sovereign will and
pleasure. These glad tidings set me entirely at liberty, and I went
out of the church rejoicing, seeing my spots were those of God's
children. I went to Westminster Chapel, and saw some of my old
friends, who were glad when they perceived the wonderful change that
the Lord had wrought in me, particularly Mr. G---- S----, my worthy
acquaintance, who was a man of a choice spirit, and had great zeal for
the Lord's service. I enjoyed his correspondence till he died in the
year 1784. I was again examined at that same chapel, and was received
into church fellowship amongst them: I rejoiced in spirit, making
melody in my heart to the God of all my mercies. Now my whole wish was
to be dissolved, and to be with Christ--but, alas! I must wait mine
appointed time.
* * * * *
MISCELLANEOUS VERSES,
or
Reflections on the State of my mind during my first
Convictions; of the Necessity of believing the Truth, and
experiencing the inestimable Benefits of Christianity.
Well may I say my life has been
One scene of sorrow and of pain;
From early days I griefs have known,
And as I grew my griefs have grown:
Dangers were always in my path;
And fear of wrath, and sometimes death;
While pale dejection in me reign'd
I often wept, by grief constrain'd.
When taken from my native land,
By an unjust and cruel band,
How did uncommon dread prevail!
My sighs no more I could conceal.
'To ease my mind I often strove,
And tried my trouble to remove:
I sung, and utter'd sighs between--
Assay'd to stifle guilt with sin.
'But O! not all that I could do
Would stop the current of my woe;
Conviction still my vileness shew'd;
How great my guilt--how lost from God!
'Prevented, that I could not die,
Nor might to one kind refuge fly;
An orphan state I had to mourn,--
Forsook by all, and left forlorn.'
Those who beheld my downcast mien
Could not guess at my woes unseen:
They by appearance could not know
The troubles that I waded through.
'Lust, anger, blasphemy, and pride,
With legions of such ills beside,
Troubled my thoughts,' while doubts and fears
Clouded and darken'd most my years.
'Sighs now no more would be confin'd--
They breath'd the trouble of my mind:
I wish'd for death, but check'd the word,
And often pray'd unto the Lord.'
Unhappy, more than some on earth,
I thought the place that gave me birth--
Strange thoughts oppress'd--while I replied
"Why not in Ethiopia died?"
And why thus spared, nigh to hell?--
God only knew--I could not tell!
'A tott'ring fence, a bowing wall
thought myself ere since the fall.'
'Oft times I mused, nigh despair,
While birds melodious fill'd the air:
Thrice happy songsters, ever free,
How bless'd were they compar'd to me!'
Thus all things added to my pain,
While grief compell'd me to complain;
When sable clouds began to rise
My mind grew darker than the skies.
The English nation call'd to leave,
How did my breast with sorrows heave!
I long'd for rest--cried "Help me, Lord!
Some mitigation, Lord, afford!"
Yet on, dejected, still I went--
Heart-throbbing woes within were pent;
Nor land, nor sea, could comfort give,
Nothing my anxious mind relieve.
Weary with travail, yet unknown
To all but God and self alone,
Numerous months for peace I strove,
And numerous foes I had to prove.
Inur'd to dangers, griefs, and woes,
Train'd up 'midst perils, deaths, and foes,
I said "Must it thus ever be?--
No quiet is permitted me."
Hard hap, and more than heavy lot!
I pray'd to God "Forget me not--
What thou ordain'st willing I'll bear;
But O! deliver from despair!"
Strivings and wrestlings seem'd in vain;
Nothing I did could ease my pain:
Then gave I up my works and will,
Confess'd and own'd my doom was hell!
Like some poor pris'ner at the bar,
Conscious of guilt, of sin and fear,
Arraign'd, and self-condemned, I stood--
'Lost in the world, and in my blood!'
Yet here,'midst blackest clouds confin'd,
A beam from Christ, the day-star, shin'd;
Surely, thought I, if Jesus please,
He can at once sign my release.
I, ignorant of his righteousness,
Set up my labours in its place;
'Forgot for why his blood was shed,
And pray'd and fasted in its stead.'
He dy'd for sinners--I am one!
Might not his blood for me atone?
Tho' I am nothing else but sin,
Yet surely he can make me clean!
Thus light came in, and I believ'd;
Myself forgot, and help receiv'd!
My Saviour then I know I found,
For, eas'd from guilt, no more I groan'd.
O, happy hour, in which I ceas'd
To mourn, for then I found a rest!
My soul and Christ were now as one--
Thy light, O Jesus, in me shone!
Bless'd be thy name, for now I know
I and my works can nothing do;
"The Lord alone can ransom man--
For this the spotless Lamb was slain!"
When sacrifices, works, and pray'r,
Prov'd vain, and ineffectual were,
"Lo, then I come!" the Saviour cry'd,
And, bleeding, bow'd his head and dy'd!
He dy'd for all who ever saw
No help in them, nor by the law:--
I this have seen; and gladly own
"Salvation is by Christ alone[W]!"
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote V: John xvi. 13, 14. &c.]
[Footnote W: Acts iv. 12.]
CHAP. XI.
_The author embarks on board a ship bound for Cadiz--Is near
being shipwrecked--Goes to Malaga--Remarkable fine cathedral
there--The author disputes with a popish priest--Picking up
eleven miserable men at sea in returning to England--Engages
again with Doctor Irving to accompany him to Jamaica and the
Mosquito Shore--Meets with an Indian prince on board--The
author attempts to instruct him in the truths of the
Gospel--Frustrated by the bad example of some in the
ship--They arrive on the Mosquito Shore with some slaves
they purchased at Jamaica, and begin to cultivate a
plantation--Some account of the manners and customs of the
Mosquito Indians--Successful device of the author's to quell
a riot among them--Curious entertainment given by them to
Doctor Irving and the author, who leaves the shore and goes
for Jamaica--Is barbarously treated by a man with whom he
engaged for his passage--Escapes and goes to the Mosquito
admiral, who treats him kindly--He gets another vessel and
goes on board--Instances of bad treatment--Meets Doctor
Irving--Gets to Jamaica--Is cheated by his captain--Leaves
the Doctor and goes for England._
When our ship was got ready for sea again, I was entreated by the
captain to go in her once more; but, as I felt myself now as happy as
I could wish to be in this life, I for some time refused; however, the
advice of my friends at last prevailed; and, in full resignation to
the will of God, I again embarked for Cadiz in March 1775. We had a
very good passage, without any material accident, until we arrived off
the Bay of Cadiz; when one Sunday, just as we were going into the
harbour, the ship struck against a rock and knocked off a garboard
plank, which is the next to the keel. In an instant all hands were in
the greatest confusion, and began with loud cries to call on God to
have mercy on them. Although I could not swim, and saw no way of
escaping death, I felt no dread in my then situation, having no desire
to live. I even rejoiced in spirit, thinking this death would be
sudden glory. But the fulness of time was not yet come. The people
near to me were much astonished in seeing me thus calm and resigned;
but I told them of the peace of God, which through sovereign grace I
enjoyed, and these words were that instant in my mind:
"Christ is my pilot wise, my compass is his word;
My soul each storm defies, while I have such a Lord.
I trust his faithfulness and power,
To save me in the trying hour.
Though rocks and quicksands deep through all my passage lie,
Yet Christ shall safely keep and guide me with his eye.
How can I sink with such a prop,
That bears the world and all things up?"
At this time there were many large Spanish flukers or passage-vessels
full of people crossing the channel; who seeing our condition, a
number of them came alongside of us. As many hands as could be
employed began to work; some at our three pumps, and the rest
unloading the ship as fast as possible. There being only a single rock
called the Porpus on which we struck, we soon got off it, and
providentially it was then high water, we therefore run the ship
ashore at the nearest place to keep her from sinking. After many
tides, with a great deal of care and industry, we got her repaired
again. When we had dispatched our business at Cadiz, we went to
Gibraltar, and from thence to Malaga, a very pleasant and rich city,
where there is one of the finest cathedrals I had ever seen. It had
been above fifty years in building, as I heard, though it was not then
quite finished; great part of the inside, however, was completed and
highly decorated with the richest marble columns and many superb
paintings; it was lighted occasionally by an amazing number of wax
tapers of different sizes, some of which were as thick as a man's
thigh; these, however, were only used on some of their grand
festivals.
I was very much shocked at the custom of bull-baiting, and other
diversions which prevailed here on Sunday evenings, to the great
scandal of Christianity and morals. I used to express my abhorrence of
it to a priest whom I met with. I had frequent contests about religion
with the reverend father, in which he took great pains to make a
proselyte of me to his church; and I no less to convert him to mine.
On these occasions I used to produce my Bible, and shew him in what
points his church erred. He then said he had been in England, and that
every person there read the Bible, which was very wrong; but I
answered him that Christ desired us to search the Scriptures. In his
zeal for my conversion, he solicited me to go to one of the
universities in Spain, and declared that I should have my education
free; and told me, if I got myself made a priest, I might in time
become even pope; and that Pope Benedict was a black man. As I was
ever desirous of learning, I paused for some time upon this
temptation; and thought by being crafty I might catch some with guile;
but I began to think that it would be only hypocrisy in me to embrace
his offer, as I could not in conscience conform to the opinions of his
church. I was therefore enabled to regard the word of God, which says,
'Come out from amongst them,' and refused Father Vincent's offer. So
we parted without conviction on either side.
Having taken at this place some fine wines, fruits, and money, we
proceeded to Cadiz, where we took about two tons more of money, &c.
and then sailed for England in the month of June. When we were about
the north latitude 42, we had contrary wind for several days, and the
ship did not make in that time above six or seven miles straight
course. This made the captain exceeding fretful and peevish: and I was
very sorry to hear God's most holy name often blasphemed by him. One
day, as he was in that impious mood, a young gentleman on board, who
was a passenger, reproached him, and said he acted wrong; for we ought
to be thankful to God for all things, as we were not in want of any
thing on board; and though the wind was contrary for us, yet it was
fair for some others, who, perhaps, stood in more need of it than we.
I immediately seconded this young gentleman with some boldness, and
said we had not the least cause to murmur, for that the Lord was
better to us than we deserved, and that he had done all things well. I
expected that the captain would be very angry with me for speaking,
but he replied not a word. However, before that time on the following
day, being the 21st of June, much to our great joy and astonishment,
we saw the providential hand of our benign Creator, whose ways with
his blind creatures are past finding out. The preceding night I
dreamed that I saw a boat immediately off the starboard main shrouds;
and exactly at half past one o'clock, the following day at noon, while
I was below, just as we had dined in the cabin, the man at the helm
cried out, A boat! which brought my dream that instant into my mind. I
was the first man that jumped on the deck; and, looking from the
shrouds onward, according to my dream, I descried a little boat at
some distance; but, as the waves were high, it was as much as we could
do sometimes to discern her; we however stopped the ship's way, and
the boat, which was extremely small, came alongside with eleven
miserable men, whom we took on board immediately. To all human
appearance, these people must have perished in the course of one hour
or less, the boat being small, it barely contained them. When we took
them up they were half drowned, and had no victuals, compass, water,
or any other necessary whatsoever, and had only one bit of an oar to
steer with, and that right before the wind; so that they were obliged
to trust entirely to the mercy of the waves. As soon as we got them
all on board, they bowed themselves on their knees, and, with hands
and voices lifted up to heaven, thanked God for their deliverance; and
I trust that my prayers were not wanting amongst them at the same
time. This mercy of the Lord quite melted me, and I recollected his
words, which I saw thus verified in the 107th Psalm 'O give thanks
unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever. Hungry
and thirsty, their souls fainted in them. They cried unto Lord in
their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he
led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of
habitation. O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for
his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the
longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
'Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death:
'Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out
of their distresses. They that go down to the sea in ships; that do
business in great waters: these see the works of the Lord, and his
wonders in the deep. Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even
they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord.'
The poor distressed captain said,'that the Lord is good; for, seeing
that I am not fit to die, he therefore gave me a space of time to
repent.' I was very glad to hear this expression, and took an
opportunity when convenient of talking to him on the providence of
God. They told us they were Portuguese, and were in a brig loaded with
corn, which shifted that morning at five o'clock, owing to which the
vessel sunk that instant with two of the crew; and how these eleven
got into the boat (which was lashed to the deck) not one of them could
tell. We provided them with every necessary, and brought them all safe
to London: and I hope the Lord gave them repentance unto life eternal.
I was happy once more amongst my friends and brethren, till November,
when my old friend, the celebrated Doctor Irving, bought a remarkable
fine sloop, about 150 tons. He had a mind for a new adventure in
cultivating a plantation at Jamaica and the Musquito Shore; asked me
to go with him, and said that he would trust me with his estate in
preference to any one. By the advice, therefore, of my friends, I
accepted of the offer, knowing that the harvest was fully ripe in
those parts, and hoped to be the instrument, under God, of bringing
some poor sinner to my well beloved master, Jesus Christ. Before I
embarked, I found with the Doctor four Musquito Indians, who were
chiefs in their own country, and were brought here by some English
traders for some selfish ends. One of them was the Musquito king's
son; a youth of about eighteen years of age; and whilst he was here he
was baptized by the name of George. They were going back at the
government's expense, after having been in England about twelve
months, during which they learned to speak pretty good English. When I
came to talk to them about eight days before we sailed, I was very
much mortified in finding that they had not frequented any churches
since they were here, to be baptized, nor was any attention paid to
their morals. I was very sorry for this mock Christianity, and had
just an opportunity to take some of them once to church before we
sailed. We embarked in the month of November 1775, on board of the
sloop Morning Star, Captain David Miller, and sailed for Jamaica. In
our passage, I took all the pains that I could to instruct the Indian
prince in the doctrines of Christianity, of which he was entirely
ignorant; and, to my great joy, he was quite attentive, and received
with gladness the truths that the Lord enabled me to set forth to him.
I taught him in the compass of eleven days all the letters, and he
could put even two or three of them together and spell them. I had
Fox's Martyrology with cuts, and he used to be very fond of looking
into it, and would ask many questions about the papal cruelties he saw
depicted there, which I explained to him. I made such progress with
this youth, especially in religion, that when I used to go to bed at
different hours of the night, if he was in his bed, he would get up on
purpose to go to prayer with me, without any other clothes than his
shirt; and before he would eat any of his meals amongst the gentlemen
in the cabin, he would first come to me to pray, as he called it. I
was well pleased at this, and took great delight in him, and used much
supplication to God for his conversion. I was in full hope of seeing
daily every appearance of that change which I could wish; not knowing
the devices of satan, who had many of his emissaries to sow his tares
as fast as I sowed the good seed, and pull down as fast as I built up.
Thus we went on nearly four fifths of our passage, when satan at last
got the upper hand. Some of his messengers, seeing this poor heathen
much advanced in piety, began to ask him whether I had converted him
to Christianity, laughed, and made their jest at him, for which I
rebuked them as much as I could; but this treatment caused the prince
to halt between two opinions. Some of the true sons of Belial, who did
not believe that there was any hereafter, told him never to fear the
devil, for there was none existing; and if ever he came to the prince,
they desired he might be sent to them. Thus they teazed the poor
innocent youth, so that he would not learn his book any more! He would
not drink nor carouse with these ungodly actors, nor would he be with
me, even at prayers. This grieved me very much. I endeavoured to
persuade him as well as I could, but he would not come; and entreated
him very much to tell me his reasons for acting thus. At last he asked
me, 'How comes it that all the white men on board who can read and
write, and observe the sun, and know all things, yet swear, lie, and
get drunk, only excepting yourself?' I answered him, the reason was,
that they did not fear God; and that if any one of them died so they
could not go to, or be happy with God. He replied, that if these
persons went to hell he would go to hell too. I was sorry to hear
this; and, as he sometimes had the toothach, and also some other
persons in the ship at the same time, I asked him if their toothach
made his easy: he said, No. Then I told him if he and these people
went to hell together, their pains would not make his any lighter.
This answer had great weight with him: it depressed his spirits much;
and he became ever after, during the passage, fond of being alone.
When we were in the latitude of Martinico, and near making the land,
one morning we had a brisk gale of wind, and, carrying too much sail,
the main-mast went over the side. Many people were then all about the
deck, and the yards, masts, and rigging, came tumbling all about us,
yet there was not one of us in the least hurt, although some were
within a hair's breadth of being killed: and, particularly, I saw two
men then, by the providential hand of God, most miraculously preserved
from being smashed to pieces. On the fifth of January we made Antigua
and Montserrat, and ran along the rest of the islands: and on the
fourteenth we arrived at Jamaica. One Sunday while we were there I
took the Musquito Prince George to church, where he saw the sacrament
administered. When we came out we saw all kinds of people, almost from
the church door for the space of half a mile down to the waterside,
buying and selling all kinds of commodities: and these acts afforded
me great matter of exhortation to this youth, who was much astonished.
Our vessel being ready to sail for the Musquito shore, I went with the
Doctor on board a Guinea-man, to purchase some slaves to carry with
us, and cultivate a plantation; and I chose them all my own
countrymen. On the twelfth of February we sailed from Jamaica, and on
the eighteenth arrived at the Musquito shore, at a place called
Dupeupy. All our Indian guests now, after I had admonished them and a
few cases of liquor given them by the Doctor, took an affectionate
leave of us, and went ashore, where they were met by the Musquito
king, and we never saw one of them afterwards. We then sailed to the
southward of the shore, to a place called Cape Gracias a Dios, where
there was a large lagoon or lake, which received the emptying of two
or three very fine large rivers, and abounded much in fish and land
tortoise. Some of the native Indians came on board of us here; and we
used them well, and told them we were come to dwell amongst them,
which they seemed pleased at. So the Doctor and I, with some others,
went with them ashore; and they took us to different places to view
the land, in order to choose a place to make a plantation of. We fixed
on a spot near a river's bank, in a rich soil; and, having got our
necessaries out of the sloop, we began to clear away the woods, and
plant different kinds of vegetables, which had a quick growth. While
we were employed in this manner, our vessel went northward to Black
River to trade. While she was there, a Spanish guarda costa met with
and took her. This proved very hurtful, and a great embarrassment to
us. However, we went on with the culture of the land. We used to make
fires every night all around us, to keep off wild beasts, which, as
soon as it was dark, set up a most hideous roaring. Our habitation
being far up in the woods, we frequently saw different kinds of
animals; but none of them ever hurt us, except poisonous snakes, the
bite of which the Doctor used to cure by giving to the patient, as
soon as possible, about half a tumbler of strong rum, with a good deal
of Cayenne pepper in it. In this manner he cured two natives and one
of his own slaves. The Indians were exceedingly fond of the Doctor,
and they had good reason for it; for I believe they never had such an
useful man amongst them. They came from all quarters to our dwelling;
and some _woolwow_, or flat-headed Indians, who lived fifty or sixty
miles above our river, and this side of the South Sea, brought us a
good deal of silver in exchange for our goods. The principal articles
we could get from our neighbouring Indians, were turtle oil, and
shells, little silk grass, and some provisions; but they would not
work at any thing for us, except fishing; and a few times they
assisted to cut some trees down, in order to build us houses; which
they did exactly like the Africans, by the joint labour of men, women,
and children. I do not recollect any of them to have had more than two
wives. These always accompanied their husbands when they came to our
dwelling; and then they generally carried whatever they brought to us,
and always squatted down behind their husbands. Whenever we gave them
any thing to eat, the men and their wives ate it separate. I never
saw the least sign of incontinence amongst them. The women are
ornamented with beads, and fond of painting themselves; the men also
paint, even to excess, both their faces and shirts: their favourite
colour is red. The women generally cultivate the ground, and the men
are all fishermen and canoe makers. Upon the whole, I never met any
nation that were so simple in their manners as these people, or had so
little ornament in their houses. Neither had they, as I ever could
learn, one word expressive of an oath. The worst word I ever heard
amongst them when they were quarreling, was one that they had got from
the English, which was, 'you rascal.' I never saw any mode of worship
among them; but in this they were not worse than their European
brethren or neighbours: for I am sorry to say that there was not one
white person in our dwelling, nor any where else that I saw in
different places I was at on the shore, that was better or more pious
than those unenlightened Indians; but they either worked or slept on
Sundays: and, to my sorrow, working was too much Sunday's employment
with ourselves; so much so, that in some length of time we really did
not know one day from another. This mode of living laid the foundation
of my decamping at last. The natives are well made and warlike; and
they particularly boast of having never been conquered by the
Spaniards. They are great drinkers of strong liquors when they can get
them. We used to distil rum from pine apples, which were very
plentiful here; and then we could not get them away from our place.
Yet they seemed to be singular, in point of honesty, above any other
nation I was ever amongst. The country being hot, we lived under an
open shed, where we had all kinds of goods, without a door or a lock
to any one article; yet we slept in safety, and never lost any thing,
or were disturbed. This surprised us a good deal; and the Doctor,
myself, and others, used to say, if we were to lie in that manner in
Europe we should have our throats cut the first night. The Indian
governor goes once in a certain time all about the province or
district, and has a number of men with him as attendants and
assistants. He settles all the differences among the people, like the
judge here, and is treated with very great respect. He took care to
give us timely notice before he came to our habitation, by sending his
stick as a token, for rum, sugar, and gunpowder, which we did not
refuse sending; and at the same time we made the utmost preparation to
receive his honour and his train. When he came with his tribe, and all
our neighbouring chieftains, we expected to find him a grave reverend
judge, solid and sagacious; but instead of that, before he and his
gang came in sight, we heard them very clamorous; and they even had
plundered some of our good neighbouring Indians, having intoxicated
themselves with our liquor. When they arrived we did not know what to
make of our new guests, and would gladly have dispensed with the
honour of their company. However, having no alternative, we feasted
them plentifully all the day till the evening; when the governor,
getting quite drunk, grew very unruly, and struck one of our most
friendly chiefs, who was our nearest neighbour, and also took his
gold-laced hat from him. At this a great commotion taken place; and
the Doctor interfered to make peace, as we could all understand one
another, but to no purpose; and at last they became so outrageous that
the Doctor, fearing he might get into trouble, left the house, and
made the best of his way to the nearest wood, leaving me to do as well
as I could among them. I was so enraged with the Governor, that I
could have wished to have seen him tied fast to a tree and flogged for
his behaviour; but I had not people enough to cope with his party. I
therefore thought of a stratagem to appease the riot. Recollecting a
passage I had read in the life of Columbus, when he was amongst the
Indians in Mexico or Peru, where, on some occasion, he frightened
them, by telling them of certain events in the heavens, I had recourse
to the same expedient; and it succeeded beyond my most sanguine
expectations. When I had formed my determination, I went in the midst
of them; and, taking hold of the Governor, I pointed up to the
heavens. I menaced him and the rest: I told them God lived there, and
that he was angry with them, and they must not quarrel so; that they
were all brothers, and if they did not leave off, and go away quietly,
I would take the book (pointing to the Bible), read, and _tell_ God to
make them dead. This was something like magic. The clamour immediately
ceased, and I gave them some rum and a few other things; after which
they went away peaceably; and the Governor afterwards gave our
neighbour, who was called Captain Plasmyah, his hat again. When the
Doctor returned, he was exceedingly glad at my success in thus getting
rid of our troublesome guests. The Musquito people within our
vicinity, out of respect to the Doctor, myself and his people, made
entertainments of the grand kind, called in their tongue _tourrie_ or
_dryckbot_. The English of this expression is, a feast of drinking
about, of which it seems a corruption of language. The drink consisted
of pine apples roasted, and casades chewed or beaten in mortars;
which, after lying some time, ferments, and becomes so strong as to
intoxicate, when drank in any quantity. We had timely notice given to
us of the entertainment. A white family, within five miles of us, told
us how the drink was made, and I and two others went before the time
to the village, where the mirth was appointed to be held; and there we
saw the whole art of making the drink, and also the kind of animals
that were to be eaten there. I cannot say the sight of either the
drink or the meat were enticing to me. They had some thousands of pine
apples roasting, which they squeezed, dirt and all, into a canoe they
had there for the purpose. The casade drink was in beef barrels and
other vessels, and looked exactly like hog-wash. Men, women, and
children, were thus employed in roasting the pine apples, and
squeezing them with their hands. For food they had many land torpins
or tortoises, some dried turtle, and three large alligators alive, and
tied fast to the trees. I asked the people what they were going to do
with these alligators; and I was told they were to be eaten. I was
much surprised at this, and went home, not a little disgusted at the
preparations. When the day of the feast was come, we took some rum
with us, and went to the appointed place, where we found a great
assemblage of these people, who received us very kindly. The mirth had
begun before we came; and they were dancing with music: and the
musical instruments were nearly the same as those of any other sable
people; but, as I thought, much less melodious than any other nation I
ever knew. They had many curious gestures in dancing, and a variety of
motions and postures of their bodies, which to me were in no wise
attracting. The males danced by themselves, and the females also by
themselves, as with us. The Doctor shewed his people the example, by
immediately joining the women's party, though not by their choice. On
perceiving the women disgusted, he joined the males. At night there
were great illuminations, by setting fire to many pine trees, while
the dryckbot went round merrily by calabashes or gourds: but the
liquor might more justly be called eating than drinking. One Owden,
the oldest father in the vicinity, was dressed in a strange and
terrifying form. Around his body were skins adorned with different
kinds of feathers, and he had on his head a very large and high
head-piece, in the form of a grenadier's cap, with prickles like a
porcupine; and he made a certain noise which resembled the cry of an
alligator. Our people skipped amongst them out of complaisance, though
some could not drink of their tourrie; but our rum met with customers
enough, and was soon gone. The alligators were killed and some of them
roasted. Their manner of roasting is by digging a hole in the earth,
and filling it with wood, which they burn to coal, and then they lay
sticks across, on which they set the meat. I had a raw piece of the
alligator in my hand: it was very rich: I thought it looked like fresh
salmon, and it had a most fragrant smell, but I could not eat any of
it. This merry-making at last ended without the least discord in any
person in the company, although it was made up of different nations
and complexions. The rainy season came on here about the latter end of
May, which continued till August very heavily; so that the rivers were
overflowed, and our provisions then in the ground were washed away. I
thought this was in some measure a judgment upon us for working on
Sundays, and it hurt my mind very much. I often wished to leave this
place and sail for Europe; for our mode of procedure and living in
this heathenish form was very irksome to me. The word of God saith,
'What does it avail a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own
soul?' This was much and heavily impressed on my mind; and, though I
did not know how to speak to the Doctor for my discharge, it was
disagreeable for me to stay any longer. But about the middle of June I
took courage enough to ask him for it. He was very unwilling at first
to grant my request; but I gave him so many reasons for it, that at
last he consented to my going, and gave me the following certificate
of my behaviour:
'The bearer, Gustavus Vassa, has served me several years
with strict honesty, sobriety, and fidelity. I can,
therefore, with justice recommend him for these
qualifications; and indeed in every respect I consider him
as an excellent servant. I do hereby certify that he always
behaved well, and that he is perfectly trust-worthy.
'CHARLES IRVING.'
_Musquito Shore, June 15, 1776._
Though I was much attached to the doctor, I was happy when he
consented. I got every thing ready for my departure, and hired some
Indians, with a large canoe, to carry me off. All my poor countrymen,
the slaves, when they heard of my leaving them, were very sorry, as I
had always treated them with care and affection, and did every thing I
could to comfort the poor creatures, and render their condition easy.
Having taken leave of my old friends and companions, on the 18th of
June, accompanied by the doctor, I left that spot of the world, and
went southward above twenty miles along the river. There I found a
sloop, the captain of which told me he was going to Jamaica. Having
agreed for my passage with him and one of the owners, who was also on
board, named Hughes, the doctor and I parted, not without shedding
tears on both sides. The vessel then sailed along the river till
night, when she stopped in a lagoon within the same river. During the
night a schooner belonging to the same owners came in, and, as she was
in want of hands, Hughes, the owner of the sloop, asked me to go in
the schooner as a sailor, and said he would give me wages. I thanked
him; but I said I wanted to go to Jamaica. He then immediately changed
his tone, and swore, and abused me very much, and asked how I came to
be freed. I told him, and said that I came into that vicinity with Dr.
Irving, whom he had seen that day. This account was of no use; he
still swore exceedingly at me, and cursed the master for a fool that
sold me my freedom, and the doctor for another in letting me go from
him. Then he desired me to go in the schooner, or else I should not go
out of the sloop as a freeman. I said this was very hard, and begged
to be put on shore again; but he swore that I should not. I said I had
been twice amongst the Turks, yet had never seen any such usage with
them, and much less could I have expected any thing of this kind
amongst Christians. This incensed him exceedingly; and, with a volley
of oaths and imprecations, he replied, 'Christians! Damn you, you are
one of St. Paul's men; but by G----, except you have St. Paul's or St.
Peter's faith, and walk upon the water to the shore, you shall not go
out of the vessel;' which I now found was going amongst the Spaniards
towards Carthagena, where he swore he would sell me. I simply asked
him what right he had to sell me? but, without another word, he made
some of his people tie ropes round each of my ancles, and also to each
wrist, and another rope round my body, and hoisted me up without
letting my feet touch or rest upon any thing. Thus I hung, without any
crime committed, and without judge or jury; merely because I was a
free man, and could not by the law get any redress from a white person
in those parts of the world. I was in great pain from my situation,
and cried and begged very hard for some mercy; but all in vain. My
tyrant, in a great rage, brought a musquet out of the cabin, and
loaded it before me and the crew, and swore that he would shoot me if
I cried any more. I had now no alternative; I therefore remained
silent, seeing not one white man on board who said a word on my
behalf. I hung in that manner from between ten and eleven o'clock at
night till about one in the morning; when, finding my cruel abuser
fast asleep, I begged some of his slaves to slack the rope that was
round my body, that my feet might rest on something. This they did at
the risk of being cruelly used by their master, who beat some of them
severely at first for not tying me when he commanded them. Whilst I
remained in this condition, till between five and six o'clock next
morning, I trust I prayed to God to forgive this blasphemer, who cared
not what he did, but when he got up out of his sleep in the morning
was of the very same temper and disposition as when he left me at
night. When they got up the anchor, and the vessel was getting under
way, I once more cried and begged to be released; and now, being
fortunately in the way of their hoisting the sails, they released me.
When I was let down, I spoke to one Mr. Cox, a carpenter, whom I knew
on board, on the impropriety of this conduct. He also knew the doctor,
and the good opinion he ever had of me. This man then went to the
captain, and told him not to carry me away in that manner; that I was
the doctor's steward, who regarded me very highly, and would resent
this usage when he should come to know it. On which he desired a young
man to put me ashore in a small canoe I brought with me. This sound
gladdened my heart, and I got hastily into the canoe and set off,
whilst my tyrant was down in the cabin; but he soon spied me out, when
I was not above thirty or forty yards from the vessel, and, running
upon the deck with a loaded musket in his hand, he presented it at me,
and swore heavily and dreadfully, that he would shoot me that instant,
if I did not come back on board. As I knew the wretch would have done
as he said, without hesitation, I put back to the vessel again; but,
as the good Lord would have it, just as I was alongside he was abusing
the captain for letting me go from the vessel; which the captain
returned, and both of them soon got into a very great heat. The young
man that was with me now got out of the canoe; the vessel was sailing
on fast with a smooth sea: and I then thought it was neck or nothing,
so at that instant I set off again, for my life, in the canoe, towards
the shore; and fortunately the confusion was so great amongst them on
board, that I got out of the reach of the musquet shot unnoticed,
while the vessel sailed on with a fair wind a different way; so that
they could not overtake me without tacking: but even before that could
be done I should have been on shore, which I soon reached, with many
thanks to God for this unexpected deliverance. I then went and told
the other owner, who lived near that shore (with whom I had agreed for
my passage) of the usage I had met with. He was very much astonished,
and appeared very sorry for it. After treating me with kindness, he
gave me some refreshment, and three heads of roasted Indian corn, for
a voyage of about eighteen miles south, to look for another vessel. He
then directed me to an Indian chief of a district, who was also the
Musquito admiral, and had once been at our dwelling; after which I set
off with the canoe across a large lagoon alone (for I could not get
any one to assist me), though I was much jaded, and had pains in my
bowels, by means of the rope I had hung by the night before. I was
therefore at different times unable to manage the canoe, for the
paddling was very laborious. However, a little before dark I got to my
destined place, where some of the Indians knew me, and received me
kindly. I asked for the admiral; and they conducted me to his
dwelling. He was glad to see me, and refreshed me with such things as
the place afforded; and I had a hammock to sleep in. They acted
towards me more like Christians than those whites I was amongst the
last night, though they had been baptized. I told the admiral I wanted
to go to the next port to get a vessel to carry me to Jamaica; and
requested him to send the canoe back which I then had, for which I was
to pay him. He agreed with me, and sent five able Indians with a large
canoe to carry my things to my intended place, about fifty miles; and
we set off the next morning. When we got out of the lagoon and went
along shore, the sea was so high that the canoe was oftentimes very
near being filled with water. We were obliged to go ashore and drag
across different necks of land; we were also two nights in the swamps,
which swarmed with musquito flies, and they proved troublesome to us.
This tiresome journey of land and water ended, however, on the third
day, to my great joy; and I got on board of a sloop commanded by one
Captain Jenning. She was then partly loaded, and he told me he was
expecting daily to sail for Jamaica; and having agreed with me to work
my passage, I went to work accordingly. I was not many days on board
before we sailed; but to my sorrow and disappointment, though used to
such tricks, we went to the southward along the Musquito shore,
instead of steering for Jamaica. I was compelled to assist in cutting
a great deal of mahogany wood on the shore as we coasted along it, and
load the vessel with it, before she sailed. This fretted me much; but,
as I did not know how to help myself among these deceivers, I thought
patience was the only remedy I had left, and even that was forced.
There was much hard work and little victuals on board, except by good
luck we happened to catch turtles. On this coast there was also a
particular kind of fish called manatee, which is most excellent
eating, and the flesh is more like beef than fish; the scales are as
large as a shilling, and the skin thicker than I ever saw that of any
other fish. Within the brackish waters along shore there were likewise
vast numbers of alligators, which made the fish scarce. I was on board
this sloop sixteen days, during which, in our coasting, we came to
another place, where there was a smaller sloop called the Indian
Queen, commanded by one John Baker. He also was an Englishman, and had
been a long time along the shore trading for turtle shells and silver,
and had got a good quantity of each on board. He wanted some hands
very much; and, understanding I was a free man, and wanted to go to
Jamaica, he told me if he could get one or two, that he would sail
immediately for that island: he also pretended to me some marks of
attention and respect, and promised to give me forty-five shillings
sterling a month if I would go with him. I thought this much better
than cutting wood for nothing. I therefore told the other captain that
I wanted to go to Jamaica in the other vessel; but he would not listen
to me: and, seeing me resolved to go in a day or two, he got the
vessel to sail, intending to carry me away against my will. This
treatment mortified me extremely. I immediately, according to an
agreement I had made with the captain of the Indian Queen, called for
her boat, which was lying near us, and it came alongside; and, by the
means of a north-pole shipmate which I met with in the sloop I was in,
I got my things into the boat, and went on board of the Indian Queen,
July the 10th. A few days after I was there, we got all things ready
and sailed: but again, to my great mortification, this vessel still
went to the south, nearly as far as Carthagena, trading along the
coast, instead of going to Jamaica, as the captain had promised me:
and, what was worst of all, he was a very cruel and bloody-minded man,
and was a horrid blasphemer. Among others he had a white pilot, one
Stoker, whom he beat often as severely as he did some negroes he had
on board. One night in particular, after he had beaten this man most
cruelly, he put him into the boat, and made two negroes row him to a
desolate key, or small island; and he loaded two pistols, and swore
bitterly that he would shoot the negroes if they brought Stoker on
board again. There was not the least doubt but that he would do as he
said, and the two poor fellows were obliged to obey the cruel mandate;
but, when the captain was asleep, the two negroes took a blanket and
carried it to the unfortunate Stoker, which I believe was the means of
saving his life from the annoyance of insects. A great deal of
entreaty was used with the captain the next day, before he would
consent to let Stoker come on board; and when the poor man was brought
on board he was very ill, from his situation during the night, and he
remained so till he was drowned a little time after. As we sailed
southward we came to many uninhabited islands, which were overgrown
with fine large cocoa nuts. As I was very much in want of provisions,
I brought a boat load of them on board, which lasted me and others for
several weeks, and afforded us many a delicious repast in our
scarcity. One day, before this, I could not help observing the
providential hand of God, that ever supplies all our wants, though in
the ways and manner we know not. I had been a whole day without food,
and made signals for boats to come off, but in vain. I therefore
earnestly prayed to God for relief in my need; and at the close of the
evening I went off the deck. Just as I laid down I heard a noise on
the deck; and, not knowing what it meant, I went directly on the the
deck again, when what should I see but a fine large fish about seven
or eight pounds, which had jumped aboard! I took it, and admired, with
thanks, the good hand of God; and, what I considered as not less
extraordinary, the captain, who was very avaricious, did not attempt
to take it from me, there being only him and I on board; for the rest
were all gone ashore trading. Sometimes the people did not come off
for some days: this used to fret the captain, and then he would vent
his fury on me by beating me, or making me feel in other cruel ways.
One day especially, in his wild, wicked, and mad career, after
striking me several times with different things, and once across my
mouth, even with a red burning stick out of the fire, he got a barrel
of gunpowder on the deck, and swore that he would blow up the vessel.
I was then at my wit's end, and earnestly prayed to God to direct me.
The head was out of the barrel; and the captain took a lighted stick
out of the fire to blow himself and me up, because there was a vessel
then in sight coming in, which he supposed was a Spaniard, and he was
afraid of falling into their hands. Seeing this I got an axe,
unnoticed by him, and placed myself between him and the powder, having
resolved in myself as soon as he attempted to put the fire in the
barrel to chop him down that instant. I was more than an hour in this
situation; during which he struck me often, still keeping the fire in
his hand for this wicked purpose. I really should have thought myself
justifiable in any other part of the world if I had killed him, and
prayed to God, who gave me a mind which rested solely on himself. I
prayed for resignation, that his will might be done; and the following
two portions of his holy word, which occurred to my mind, buoyed up my
hope, and kept me from taking the life of this wicked man. 'He hath
determined the times before appointed, and set bounds to our
habitations,' Acts xvii. 26. And, 'Who is there amongst you that
feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh
in darkness and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord,
and stay upon his God,' Isaiah 1. 10. And thus by the grace of God I
was enabled to do. I found him a present help in the time of need, and
the captain's fury began to subside as the night approached: but I
found,
"That he who cannot stem his anger's tide
Doth a wild horse without a bridle ride."
The next morning we discovered that the vessel which had caused such a
fury in the captain was an English sloop. They soon came to an anchor
where we were, and, to my no small surprise, I learned that Doctor
Irving was on board of her on his way from the Musquito shore to
Jamaica. I was for going immediately to see this old master and
friend, but the captain would not suffer me to leave the vessel. I
then informed the doctor, by letter, how I was treated, and begged
that he would take me out of the sloop: but he informed me that it was
not in his power, as he was a passenger himself; but he sent me some
rum and sugar for my own use. I now learned that after I had left the
estate which I managed for this gentleman on the Musquito shore,
during which the slaves were well fed and comfortable, a white
overseer had supplied my place: this man, through inhumanity and
ill-judged avarice, beat and cut the poor slaves most unmercifully;
and the consequence was, that every one got into a large Puriogua
canoe, and endeavoured to escape; but not knowing where to go, or how
to manage the canoe, they were all drowned; in consequence of which
the doctor's plantation was left uncultivated, and he was now
returning to Jamaica to purchase more slaves and stock it again. On
the 14th of October the Indian Queen arrived at Kingston in Jamaica.
When we were unloaded I demanded my wages, which amounted to eight
pounds and five shillings sterling; but Captain Baker refused to give
me one farthing, although it was the hardest-earned money I ever
worked for in my life. I found out Doctor Irving upon this, and
acquainted him of the captain's knavery. He did all he could to help
me to get my money; and we went to every magistrate in Kingston (and
there were nine), but they all refused to do any thing for me, and
said my oath could not be admitted against a white man. Nor was this
all; for Baker threatened that he would beat me severely if he could
catch me for attempting to demand my money; and this he would have
done, but that I got, by means of Dr. Irving, under the protection of
Captain Douglas of the Squirrel man of war. I thought this exceedingly
hard usage; though indeed I found it to be too much the practice there
to pay free men for their labour in this manner. One day I went with a
free negroe taylor, named Joe Diamond, to one Mr. Cochran, who was
indebted to him some trifling sum; and the man, not being able to get
his money, began to murmur. The other immediately took a horse-whip to
pay him with it; but, by the help of a good pair of heels, the taylor
got off. Such oppressions as these made me seek for a vessel to get
off the island as fast as I could; and by the mercy of God I found a
ship in November bound for England, when I embarked with a convoy,
after having taken a last farewell of Doctor Irving. When I left
Jamaica he was employed in refining sugars; and some months after my
arrival in England I learned, with much sorrow, that this my amiable
friend was dead, owing to his having eaten some poisoned fish. We had
many very heavy gales of wind in our passage; in the course of which
no material incident occurred, except that an American privateer,
falling in with the fleet, was captured and set fire to by his
Majesty's ship the Squirrel. On January the seventh, 1777, we arrived
at Plymouth. I was happy once more to tread upon English ground; and,
after passing some little time at Plymouth and Exeter among some pious
friends, whom I was happy to see, I went to London with a heart
replete with thanks to God for all past mercies.
CHAP. XII.
_Different transactions of the author's life till the
present time--His application to the late Bishop of London
to be appointed a missionary to Africa--Some account of his
share in the conduct of the late expedition to Sierra
Leona--Petition to the Queen--Conclusion._
Such were the various scenes which I was a witness to, and the fortune
I experienced until the year 1777. Since that period my life has been
more uniform, and the incidents of it fewer, than in any other equal
number of years preceding; I therefore hasten to the conclusion of a
narrative, which I fear the reader may think already sufficiently
tedious.
I had suffered so many impositions in my commercial transactions in
different parts of the world, that I became heartily disgusted with
the sea-faring life, and I was determined not to return to it, at
least for some time. I therefore once more engaged in service shortly
after my return, and continued for the most part in this situation
until 1784.
Soon after my arrival in London, I saw a remarkable circumstance
relative to African complexion, which I thought so extraordinary, that
I beg leave just to mention it: A white negro woman, that I had
formerly seen in London and other parts, had married a white man, by
whom she had three boys, and they were every one mulattoes, and yet
they had fine light hair. In 1779 I served Governor Macnamara, who had
been a considerable time on the coast of Africa. In the time of my
service, I used to ask frequently other servants to join me in family
prayers; but this only excited their mockery. However, the Governor,
understanding that I was of a religious turn, wished to know of what
religion I was; I told him I was a protestant of the church of
England, agreeable to the thirty-nine articles of that church, and
that whomsoever I found to preach according to that doctrine, those I
would hear. A few days after this, we had some more discourse on the
same subject: the Governor spoke to me on it again, and said that he
would, if I chose, as he thought I might be of service in converting
my countrymen to the Gospel faith, get me sent out as a missionary to
Africa. I at first refused going, and told him how I had been served
on a like occasion by some white people the last voyage I went to
Jamaica, when I attempted (if it were the will of God) to be the means
of converting the Indian prince; and I said I supposed they would
serve me worse than Alexander the coppersmith did St. Paul, if I
should attempt to go amongst them in Africa. He told me not to fear,
for he would apply to the Bishop of London to get me ordained. On
these terms I consented to the Governor's proposal to go to Africa, in
hope of doing good if possible amongst my countrymen; so, in order to
have me sent out properly, we immediately wrote the following letters
to the late Bishop of London:
_To the Right Reverend Father in God_,
ROBERT, _Lord Bishop of London_:
The MEMORIAL of Gustavus Vassa
Sheweth,
That your memorialist is a native of Africa, and has a
knowledge of the manners and customs of the inhabitants of
that country.
That your memorialist has resided in different parts of
Europe for twenty-two years last past, and embraced the
Christian faith in the year 1759.
That your memorialist is desirous of returning to Africa as
a missionary, if encouraged by your Lordship, in hopes of
being able to prevail upon his countrymen to become
Christians; and your memorialist is the more induced to
undertake the same, from the success that has attended the
like undertakings when encouraged by the Portuguese through
their different settlements on the coast of Africa, and also
by the Dutch: both governments encouraging the blacks, who,
by their education are qualified to undertake the same, and
are found more proper than European clergymen, unacquainted
with the language and customs of the country.
Your memorialist's only motive for soliciting the office of
a missionary is, that he may be a means, under God, of
reforming his countrymen and persuading them to embrace the
Christian religion. Therefore your memorialist humbly prays
your Lordship's encouragement and support in the
undertaking.
GUSTAVUS VASSA.
At Mr. Guthrie's, taylor,
No. 17, Hedge-lane.
My Lord,
I have resided near seven years on the coast of Africa, for
most part of the time as commanding officer. From the
knowledge I have of the country and its inhabitants, I am
inclined to think that the within plan will be attended with
great success, if countenanced by your Lordship. I beg leave
further to represent to your Lordship, that the like
attempts, when encouraged by other governments, have met
with uncommon success; and at this very time I know a very
respectable character a black priest at Cape Coast Castle. I
know the within named Gustavus Vassa, and believe him a
moral good man.
I have the honour to be,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's
Humble and obedient servant,
MATT. MACNAMARA.
Grove, 11th March 1779.
This letter was also accompanied by the following from Doctor Wallace,
who had resided in Africa for many years, and whose sentiments on the
subject of an African mission were the same with Governor Macnamara's.
_March 13, 1779_.
My Lord,
I have resided near five years on Senegambia on the coast of
Africa, and have had the honour of filling very considerable
employments in that province. I do approve of the within
plan, and think the undertaking very laudable and proper,
and that it deserves your Lordship's protection and
encouragement, in which case it must be attended with the
intended success.
I am,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's
Humble and obedient servant,
THOMAS WALLACE.
With these letters, I waited on the Bishop by the Governor's desire,
and presented them to his Lordship. He received me with much
condescension and politeness; but, from some certain scruples of
delicacy, declined to ordain me.
My sole motive for thus dwelling on this transaction, or inserting
these papers, is the opinion which gentlemen of sense and education,
who are acquainted with Africa, entertain of the probability of
converting the inhabitants of it to the faith of Jesus Christ, if the
attempt were countenanced by the legislature.
Shortly after this I left the Governor, and served a nobleman in the
Devonshire militia, with whom I was encamped at Coxheath for some
time; but the operations there were too minute and uninteresting to
make a detail of.
In the year 1783 I visited eight counties in Wales, from motives of
curiosity. While I was in that part of the country I was led to go
down into a coal-pit in Shropshire, but my curiosity nearly cost me my
life; for while I was in the pit the coals fell in, and buried one
poor man, who was not far from me: upon this I got out as fast as I
could, thinking the surface of the earth the safest part of it.
In the spring 1784 I thought of visiting old ocean again. In
consequence of this I embarked as steward on board a fine new ship
called the London, commanded by Martin Hopkin, and sailed for
New-York. I admired this city very much; it is large and well-built,
and abounds with provisions of all kinds. While we lay here a
circumstance happened which I thought extremely singular:--One day a
malefactor was to be executed on a gallows; but with a condition that
if any woman, having nothing on but her shift, married the man under
the gallows, his life was to be saved. This extraordinary privilege
was claimed; a woman presented herself; and the marriage ceremony was
performed. Our ship having got laden we returned to London in January
1785. When she was ready again for another voyage, the captain being
an agreeable man, I sailed with him from hence in the spring, March
1785, for Philadelphia. On the fifth of April we took our departure
from the Land's-end, with a pleasant gale; and about nine o'clock that
night the moon shone bright, and the sea was smooth, while our ship
was going free by the wind, at the rate of about four or five miles an
hour. At this time another ship was going nearly as fast as we on the
opposite point, meeting us right in the teeth, yet none on board
observed either ship until we struck each other forcibly head and
head, to the astonishment and consternation of both crews. She did us
much damage, but I believe we did her more; for when we passed by each
other, which we did very quickly, they called to us to bring to, and
hoist out our boat, but we had enough to do to mind ourselves; and in
about eight minutes we saw no more of her. We refitted as well as we
could the next day, and proceeded on our voyage, and in May arrived at
Philadelphia. I was very glad to see this favourite old town once
more; and my pleasure was much increased in seeing the worthy quakers
freeing and easing the burthens of many of my oppressed African
brethren. It rejoiced my heart when one of these friendly people took
me to see a free-school they had erected for every denomination of
black people, whose minds are cultivated here and forwarded to virtue;
and thus they are made useful members of the community. Does not the
success of this practice say loudly to the planters in the language of
scripture--"Go ye and do likewise?"
In October 1785 I was accompanied by some of the Africans, and
presented this address of thanks to the gentlemen called Friends or
Quakers, in Gracechurch-Court Lombard-Street:
Gentlemen,
By reading your book, entitled a Caution to Great Britain
and her Colonies, concerning the Calamitous State of the
enslaved Negroes: We the poor, oppressed, needy, and
much-degraded negroes, desire to approach you with this
address of thanks, with our inmost love and warmest
acknowledgment; and with the deepest sense of your
benevolence, unwearied labour, and kind interposition,
towards breaking the yoke of slavery, and to administer a
little comfort and ease to thousands and tens of thousands
of very grievously afflicted, and too heavy burthened
negroes.
Gentlemen, could you, by perseverance, at last be enabled,
under God, to lighten in any degree the heavy burthen of the
afflicted, no doubt it would, in some measure, be the
possible means, under God, of saving the souls of many of
the oppressors; and, if so, sure we are that the God, whose
eyes are ever upon all his creatures, and always rewards
every true act of virtue, and regards the prayers of the
oppressed, will give to you and yours those blessings which
it is not in our power to express or conceive, but which we,
as a part of those captived, oppressed, and afflicted
people, most earnestly wish and pray for.
These gentlemen received us very kindly, with a promise to exert
themselves on behalf of the oppressed Africans, and we parted.
While in town I chanced once to be invited to a quaker's wedding. The
simple and yet expressive mode used at their solemnizations is worthy
of note. The following is the true form of it:
After the company have met they have seasonable exhortations by
several of the members; the bride and bridegroom stand up, and, taking
each other by the hand in a solemn manner, the man audily declares to
this purpose:
"Friends, in the fear of the Lord, and in the presence of this
assembly, whom I desire to be my witnesses, I take this my friend,
M.N. to be my wife; promising, through divine assistance, to be unto
her a loving and faithful husband till death separate us:" and the
woman makes the like declaration. Then the two first sign their names
to the record, and as many more witnesses as have a mind. I had the
honour to subscribe mine to a register in Gracechurch-Court,
Lombard-Street.
We returned to London in August; and our ship not going immediately to
sea, I shipped as a steward in an American ship called the Harmony,
Captain John Willet, and left London in March 1786, bound to
Philadelphia. Eleven days after sailing we carried our foremast away.
We had a nine weeks passage, which caused our trip not to succeed
well, the market for our goods proving bad; and, to make it worse, my
commander began to play me the like tricks as others too often
practise on free negroes in the West Indies. But I thank God I found
many friends here, who in some measure prevented him. On my return to
London in August I was very agreeably surprised to find that the
benevolence of government had adopted the plan of some philanthropic
individuals to send the Africans from hence to their native quarter;
and that some vessels were then engaged to carry them to Sierra Leone;
an act which redounded to the honour of all concerned in its
promotion, and filled me with prayers and much rejoicing. There was
then in the city a select committee of gentlemen for the black poor,
to some of whom I had the honour of being known; and, as soon as they
heard of my arrival they sent for me to the committee. When I came
there they informed me of the intention of government; and as they
seemed to think me qualified to superintend part of the undertaking,
they asked me to go with the black poor to Africa. I pointed out to
them many objections to my going; and particularly I expressed some
difficulties on the account of the slave dealers, as I would certainly
oppose their traffic in the human species by every means in my power.
However these objections were over-ruled by the gentlemen of the
committee, who prevailed on me to go, and recommended me to the
honourable Commissioners of his Majesty's Navy as a proper person to
act as commissary for government in the intended expedition; and they
accordingly appointed me in November 1786 to that office, and gave me
sufficient power to act for the government in the capacity of
commissary, having received my warrant and the following order.
_By the principal Officers and Commissioners of
his Majesty's Navy_.
Whereas you were directed, by our warrant of the 4th of last
month, to receive into your charge from Mr. Irving the
surplus provisions remaining of what was provided for the
voyage, as well as the provisions for the support of the
black poor, after the landing at Sierra Leone, with the
cloathing, tools, and all other articles provided at
government's expense; and as the provisions were laid in at
the rate of two months for the voyage, and for four months
after the landing, but the number embarked being so much
less than was expected, whereby there may be a considerable
surplus of provisions, cloathing, &c. These are, in addition
to former orders, to direct and require you to appropriate
or dispose of such surplus to the best advantage you can for
the benefit of government, keeping and rendering to us a
faithful account of what you do herein. And for your
guidance in preventing any white persons going, who are not
intended to have the indulgences of being carried thither,
we send you herewith a list of those recommended by the
Committee for the black poor as proper persons to be
permitted to embark, and acquaint you that you are not to
suffer any others to go who do not produce a certificate
from the committee for the black poor, of their having their
permission for it. For which this shall be your warrant.
Dated at the Navy Office, January 16, 1787.
J. HINSLOW,
GEO. MARSH,
W. PALMER.
To Mr. Gustavus Vassa,
Commissary of Provisions and
Stores for the Black Poor
going to Sierra Leone.
I proceeded immediately to the execution of my duty on board the
vessels destined for the voyage, where I continued till the March
following.
During my continuance in the employment of government, I was struck
with the flagrant abuses committed by the agent, and endeavoured to
remedy them, but without effect. One instance, among many which I
could produce, may serve as a specimen. Government had ordered to be
provided all necessaries (slops, as they are called, included) for 750
persons; however, not being able to muster more than 426, I was
ordered to send the superfluous slops, &c. to the king's stores at
Portsmouth; but, when I demanded them for that purpose from the agent,
it appeared they had never been bought, though paid for by government.
But that was not all, government were not the only objects of
peculation; these poor people suffered infinitely more; their
accommodations were most wretched; many of them wanted beds, and many
more cloathing and other necessaries. For the truth of this, and much
more, I do not seek credit from my own assertion. I appeal to the
testimony of Capt. Thompson, of the Nautilus, who convoyed us, to whom
I applied in February 1787 for a remedy, when I had remonstrated to
the agent in vain, and even brought him to be a witness of the
injustice and oppression I complained of. I appeal also to a letter
written by these wretched people, so early as the beginning of the
preceding January, and published in the Morning Herald of the 4th of
that month, signed by twenty of their chiefs.
I could not silently suffer government to be thus cheated, and my
countrymen plundered and oppressed, and even left destitute of the
necessaries for almost their existence. I therefore informed the
Commissioners of the Navy of the agent's proceeding; but my dismission
was soon after procured, by means of a gentleman in the city, whom the
agent, conscious of his peculation, had deceived by letter, and whom,
moreover, empowered the same agent to receive on board, at the
government expense, a number of persons as passengers, contrary to the
orders I received. By this I suffered a considerable loss in my
property: however, the commissioners were satisfied with my conduct,
and wrote to Capt. Thompson, expressing their approbation of it.
Thus provided, they proceeded on their voyage; and at last, worn out
by treatment, perhaps not the most mild, and wasted by sickness,
brought on by want of medicine, cloaths, bedding, &c. they reached
Sierra Leone just at the commencement of the rains. At that season of
the year it is impossible to cultivate the lands; their provisions
therefore were exhausted before they could derive any benefit from
agriculture; and it is not surprising that many, especially the
lascars, whose constitutions are very tender, and who had been cooped
up in ships from October to June, and accommodated in the manner I
have mentioned, should be so wasted by their confinement as not long
to survive it.
Thus ended my part of the long-talked-of expedition to Sierra Leone;
an expedition which, however unfortunate in the event, was humane and
politic in its design, nor was its failure owing to government: every
thing was done on their part; but there was evidently sufficient
mismanagement attending the conduct and execution of it to defeat its
success.
I should not have been so ample in my account of this transaction, had
not the share I bore in it been made the subject of partial
animadversion, and even my dismission from my employment thought
worthy of being made by some a matter of public triumph[X]. The
motives which might influence any person to descend to a petty contest
with an obscure African, and to seek gratification by his depression,
perhaps it is not proper here to inquire into or relate, even if its
detection were necessary to my vindication; but I thank Heaven it is
not. I wish to stand by my own integrity, and not to shelter myself
under the impropriety of another; and I trust the behaviour of the
Commissioners of the Navy to me entitle me to make this assertion; for
after I had been dismissed, March 24, I drew up a memorial thus:
_To the Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of
his Majesty's Treasury:
The Memorial and Petition of_ Gustavus Vassa _a black Man,
late Commissary to the black Poor going to_ Africa.
HUMBLY SHEWETH,
That your Lordships' memorialist was, by the Honourable the
Commissioners of his Majesty's Navy, on the 4th of December
last, appointed to the above employment by warrant from that
board;
That he accordingly proceeded to the execution of his duty
on board of the Vernon, being one of the ships appointed to
proceed to Africa with the above poor;
That your memorialist, to his great grief and astonishment,
received a letter of dismission from the Honourable
Commissioners of the Navy, by your Lordships' orders;
That, conscious of having acted with the most perfect
fidelity and the greatest assiduity in discharging the trust
reposed in him, he is altogether at a loss to conceive the
reasons of your Lordships' having altered the favourable
opinion you were pleased to conceive of him, sensible that
your Lordships would not proceed to so severe a measure
without some apparent good cause; he therefore has every
reason to believe that his conduct has been grossly
misrepresented to your Lordships; and he is the more
confirmed in his opinion, because, by opposing measures of
others concerned in the same expedition, which tended to
defeat your Lordships' humane intentions, and to put the
government to a very considerable additional expense, he
created a number of enemies, whose misrepresentations, he
has too much reason to believe, laid the foundation of his
dismission. Unsupported by friends, and unaided by the
advantages of a liberal education, he can only hope for
redress from the justice of his cause, in addition to the
mortification of having been removed from his employment,
and the advantage which he reasonably might have expected to
have derived therefrom. He has had the misfortune to have
sunk a considerable part of his little property in fitting
himself out, and in other expenses arising out of his
situation, an account of which he here annexes. Your
memorialist will not trouble your Lordships with a
vindication of any part of his conduct, because he knows not
of what crimes he is accused; he, however, earnestly
entreats that you will be pleased to direct an inquiry into
his behaviour during the time he acted in the public
service; and, if it be found that his dismission arose from
false representations, he is confident that in your
Lordships' justice he shall find redress.
Your petitioner therefore humbly prays that your Lordships
will take his case into consideration, and that you will be
pleased to order payment of the above referred-to account,
amounting to 32l. 4s. and also the wages intended, which is
most humbly submitted.
_London, May 12, 1787._
The above petition was delivered into the hands of their Lordships,
who were kind enough, in the space of some few months afterwards,
without hearing, to order me 50l. sterling--that is, 18l. wages for
the time (upwards of four months) I acted a faithful part in their
service. Certainly the sum is more than a free negro would have had in
the western colonies!!!
* * * * *
March the 21st, 1788, I had the honour of presenting the Queen with a
petition on behalf of my African brethren, which was received most
graciously by her Majesty[Y]:
_To the_ QUEEN's _most Excellent Majesty_.
Madam,
Your Majesty's well known benevolence and humanity emboldens
me to approach your royal presence, trusting that the
obscurity of my situation will not prevent your Majesty from
attending to the sufferings for which I plead.
Yet I do not solicit your royal pity for my own distress; my
sufferings, although numerous, are in a measure forgotten. I
supplicate your Majesty's compassion for millions of my
African countrymen, who groan under the lash of tyranny in
the West Indies.
The oppression and cruelty exercised to the unhappy negroes
there, have at length reached the British legislature, and
they are now deliberating on its redress; even several
persons of property in slaves in the West Indies, have
petitioned parliament against its continuance, sensible that
it is as impolitic as it is unjust--and what is inhuman must
ever be unwise.
Your Majesty's reign has been hitherto distinguished by
private acts of benevolence and bounty; surely the more
extended the misery is, the greater claim it has to your
Majesty's compassion, and the greater must be your Majesty's
pleasure in administering to its relief.
I presume, therefore, gracious Queen, to implore your
interposition with your royal consort, in favour of the
wretched Africans; that, by your Majesty's benevolent
influence, a period may now be put to their misery; and that
they may be raised from the condition of brutes, to which
they are at present degraded, to the rights and situation of
freemen, and admitted to partake of the blessings of your
Majesty's happy government; so shall your Majesty enjoy the
heartfelt pleasure of procuring happiness to millions, and
be rewarded in the grateful prayers of themselves, and of
their posterity.
And may the all-bountiful Creator shower on your Majesty,
and the Royal Family, every blessing that this world can
afford, and every fulness of joy which divine revelation has
promised us in the next.
I am your Majesty's most dutiful and devoted servant to
command,
Gustavus Vassa,
The Oppressed Ethiopean.
No. 53, Baldwin's Gardens.
* * * * *
The negro consolidated act, made by the assembly of Jamaica last year,
and the new act of amendment now in agitation there, contain a proof
of the existence of those charges that have been made against the
planters relative to the treatment of their slaves.
I hope to have the satisfaction of seeing the renovation of liberty
and justice resting on the British government, to vindicate the honour
of our common nature. These are concerns which do not perhaps belong
to any particular office: but, to speak more seriously to every man of
sentiment, actions like these are the just and sure foundation of
future fame; a reversion, though remote, is coveted by some noble
minds as a substantial good. It is upon these grounds that I hope and
expect the attention of gentlemen in power. These are designs
consonant to the elevation of their rank, and the dignity of their
stations: they are ends suitable to the nature of a free and generous
government; and, connected with views of empire and dominion, suited
to the benevolence and solid merit of the legislature. It is a pursuit
of substantial greatness.--May the time come--at least the speculation
to me is pleasing--when the sable people shall gratefully commemorate
the auspicious æra of extensive freedom. Then shall those persons[Z]
particularly be named with praise and honour, who generously proposed
and stood forth in the cause of humanity, liberty, and good policy;
and brought to the ear of the legislature designs worthy of royal
patronage and adoption. May Heaven make the British senators the
dispersers of light, liberty, and science, to the uttermost parts of
the earth: then will be glory to God on the highest, on earth peace,
and goodwill to men:--Glory, honour, peace, &c. to every soul of man
that worketh good, to the Britons first, (because to them the Gospel
is preached) and also to the nations. 'Those that honour their Maker
have mercy on the poor.' 'It is righteousness exalteth a nation; but
sin is a reproach to any people; destruction shall be to the workers
of iniquity, and the wicked shall fall by their own wickedness.' May
the blessings of the Lord be upon the heads of all those who
commiserated the cases of the oppressed negroes, and the fear of God
prolong their days; and may their expectations be filled with
gladness! 'The liberal devise liberal things, and by liberal things
shall stand,' Isaiah xxxii. 8. They can say with pious Job, 'Did not I
weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the
poor?' Job xxx. 25.
As the inhuman traffic of slavery is to be taken into the
consideration of the British legislature, I doubt not, if a system of
commerce was established in Africa, the demand for manufactures would
most rapidly augment, as the native inhabitants will insensibly adopt
the British fashions, manners, customs, &c. In proportion to the
civilization, so will be the consumption of British manufactures.
The wear and tear of a continent, nearly twice as large as Europe, and
rich in vegetable and mineral productions, is much easier conceived
than calculated.
A case in point.--It cost the Aborigines of Britain little or nothing
in clothing, &c. The difference between their forefathers and the
present generation, in point of consumption, is literally infinite.
The supposition is most obvious. It will be equally immense in
Africa--The same cause, viz. civilization, will ever have the same
effect.
It is trading upon safe grounds. A commercial intercourse with Africa
opens an inexhaustible source of wealth to the manufacturing interests
of Great Britain, and to all which the slave trade is an objection.
If I am not misinformed, the manufacturing interest is equal, if not
superior, to the landed interest, as to the value, for reasons which
will soon appear. The abolition of slavery, so diabolical, will give a
most rapid extension of manufactures, which is totally and
diametrically opposite to what some interested people assert.
The manufacturers of this country must and will, in the nature and
reason of things, have a full and constant employ by supplying the
African markets.
Population, the bowels and surface of Africa, abound in valuable and
useful returns; the hidden treasures of centuries will be brought to
light and into circulation. Industry, enterprize, and mining, will
have their full scope, proportionably as they civilize. In a word, it
lays open an endless field of commerce to the British manufactures and
merchant adventurer. The manufacturing interest and the general
interests are synonymous. The abolition of slavery would be in reality
an universal good.
Tortures, murder, and every other imaginable barbarity and iniquity,
are practised upon the poor slaves with impunity. I hope the slave
trade will be abolished. I pray it may be an event at hand. The great
body of manufacturers, uniting in the cause, will considerably
facilitate and expedite it; and, as I have already stated, it is most
substantially their interest and advantage, and as such the nation's
at large, (except those persons concerned in the manufacturing
neck-yokes, collars, chains, hand-cuffs, leg-bolts, drags,
thumb-screws, iron muzzles, and coffins; cats, scourges, and other
instruments of torture used in the slave trade). In a short time one
sentiment alone will prevail, from motives of interest as well as
justice and humanity. Europe contains one hundred and twenty millions
of inhabitants. Query--How many millions doth Africa contain?
Supposing the Africans, collectively and individually, to expend 5l. a
head in raiment and furniture yearly when civilized, &c. an immensity
beyond the reach of imagination!
This I conceive to be a theory founded upon facts, and therefore an
infallible one. If the blacks were permitted to remain in their own
country, they would double themselves every fifteen years. In
proportion to such increase will be the demand for manufactures.
Cotton and indigo grow spontaneously in most parts of Africa; a
consideration this of no small consequence to the manufacturing towns
of Great Britain. It opens a most immense, glorious, and happy
prospect--the clothing, &c. of a continent ten thousand miles in
circumference, and immensely rich in productions of every denomination
in return for manufactures.
I have only therefore to request the reader's indulgence and conclude.
I am far from the vanity of thinking there is any merit in this
narrative: I hope censure will be suspended, when it is considered
that it was written by one who was as unwilling as unable to adorn the
plainness of truth by the colouring of imagination. My life and
fortune have been extremely chequered, and my adventures various. Even
those I have related are considerably abridged. If any incident in
this little work should appear uninteresting and trifling to most
readers, I can only say, as my excuse for mentioning it, that almost
every event of my life made an impression on my mind and influenced my
conduct. I early accustomed myself to look for the hand of God in the
minutest occurrence, and to learn from it a lesson of morality and
religion; and in this light every circumstance I have related was to
me of importance. After all, what makes any event important, unless by
its observation we become better and wiser, and learn 'to do justly,
to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God?' To those who are
possessed of this spirit, there is scarcely any book or incident so
trifling that does not afford some profit, while to others the
experience of ages seems of no use; and even to pour out to them the
treasures of wisdom is throwing the jewels of instruction away.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote X: See the Public Advertiser, July 14, 1787.]
[Footnote Y: At the request of some of my most particular friends, I
take the liberty of inserting it here.]
[Footnote Z: Grenville Sharp, Esq; the Reverend Thomas Clarkson; the
Reverend James Ramsay; our approved friends, men of virtue, are an
honour to their country, ornamental to human nature, happy in
themselves, and benefactors to mankind!]
THE END.
