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Page 18
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
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