Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History

Book

Open Original Text

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 w

Previous Next