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Page 14
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:
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