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Page 15
--"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.
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