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ind, 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

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