which shocked him to that degree, that he could scarce tell what to say
to him; but after a little reflection, and looking wishfully on Sam, he
directed him to say that we have wives, children, and relations, who are
impatient to see us, and we are as desirous of seeing them; that it was
impossible for us to live here always; and for that reason, we begged he
would permit us to go to some port where we might meet with ships and
return to our native country. The king paused awhile before he made any
reply; but at length he ordered Sam to tell us, that we should stay in
his country till some ships should come there to trade; and that then we
should go home. The captain knowing there was no port in his dominions,
nor any harbour for a ship to put into, took it to be artifice all, and
a mere compliment, for we might stay for ever before a ship came there
with the view he proposed. He therefore desired Sam to tell him he would
think of it, and return an answer the next day; upon this the king
departed and gave us no farther trouble at that time.
As soon as he was gone the captain called us all together, and in a very
pathetic speech addressed himself to us in the following manner:—“I am
now on an equality with the meanest man here present, my fortune is as
low and my life is as little to be regarded: I do not pretend,
therefore, to command, but to consult with you what is most expedient to
be done in the present unhappy situation of our affairs. However,” said
he, “I am happy in this, that though my life and liberty are lost as
well as yours, yet this misfortune is not any ways chargeable on me, for
I would rather have kept on my course to the Cape of Good Hope, and
relied on Providence in a leaky ship, than put in here, but you
strenuously opposed it; for death, in my opinion, is to be preferred to
our present slavery, and the consequences that will naturally attend it.
In death our sorrows will have an end, but now, who can tell the
troubles and torments we shall yet undergo; (at this the tears stood in
his eyes.) Consider, gentlemen,” said he, “we have neither arms nor
ammunition wherewith to defend ourselves; and I have endeavoured to
prevail on the king to give us a passage through his country to a
seaport, but in vain; think of it, therefore,” says he, “and consult
your own safety as well as you can; be but of one mind, and I am ready
to comply with any thing you would have me: as for my own life, I set no
value upon it; it would not now be worth preserving, but for the hopes I
have of being serviceable to my friends. Remember I must return an
answer to-morrow morning, and I will advise nothing, nor do any thing
without your concurrence.”
We went together and consulted, as the captain advised, and came soon to
an agreement; for the matter in debate lay within a small compass; the
king had refused to give us leave to go to a seaport, and we had no arms
to fight and force our way, if we could have found it; we therefore
determined to go quietly up the country with the king, to the place of
his residence, where we were in hopes of seeing and conversing with
captain Drummond, captain Steward, and the other people, who (being
gallant and courageous men, and by this time somewhat acquainted with
the natives) might probably be capable of giving us more proper and
seasonable advice.
We then acquainted the captain with our resolution, and he seemed to be
very well contented with it; for indeed, he was not over solicitous what
became of himself since he had in so unhappy a manner lost his ship and
fortune, and despaired of ever getting off the island.
Next morning the king paid the captain a visit; they saluted each other
in their usual manner, and sat down together upon the sand, whilst we
all stood round them; soon after the king ordered Sam to ask the captain
if he was ready to go, for it would be best to walk in the cool of the
morning and rest at noon. The captain observed that he did not ask
whether he was inclined to go or not, as might reasonably be expected
since he pretended to give him time to consider of it, but peremptorily
asked, if he was ready to go.
As the captain saw there was no avoiding it, and having our consent, it
signified nothing to dispute it; so he told him we were ready to wait on
him when he pleased. At this the king seemed fully satisfied, and
ordered Sam to tell us he would breakfast first and advised us to do so
too, that we might be the better enabled to perform our journey.
We had little satisfaction, however, in eating and drinking, especially
since the hour was come in which we were obliged to leave the seaside;
and it galled us severely to think how we were forced up the country
like a flock of sheep, at the pleasure of a parcel of barbarous negroes,
without any power to make terms for ourselves like men. Some cursed and
others bewailed their hard fortune, nor were reflections wanting; for my
own part, though I could not, at that time, see any reason for
complaint, yet I have since thought that our captain was young, and had
not so much experience as his father, who would not have put to sea from
Mauritius in a leaky vessel, but have taken out the company’s cargo and
left it there, till another ship had been sent for it, and saved all our
lives; however Providence ordained it otherwise.
The king sent, and the word was given to march. I was ready in an
instant, for I carried nothing with me but what I brought ashore; but
many of our people took pieces of silk and fine calico. We assembled
together, and went to see the place where the king’s tent was pitched.
We were no sooner come, than he was for marching. We left the sea with
heavy hearts, looking very wishfully back as long as we could discern
it; and as oft as we did, we observed the negroes hard at work, breaking
up our bales, and enriching themselves with the plunder of our goods; in
short, they were so busy that but few went back with the king.
Our people were but ill-disposed for travelling, since every body was
tired with working, and want of rest; many were lamed with hurts
received in getting on shore; some were also without shoes, and most of
us had but bad ones; then again, the country near the seaside and some
few miles further, is full of short underwood and thorny shrubs, which
tore our clothes to rags, for the path was very narrow, and before this
accident but little frequented; the ground also was sandy, so that when
the sun was advanced pretty high, it scorched our feet to that degree
that we were scarcely able to walk.
About noon we came to one of their small mean villages, consisting of
about eight or ten houses, or rather huts, for they were not above six
or seven feet high, and about eight or nine feet in length, and their
doors not above three or four feet high; our people crept into these
hovels to rest, and to see what they could meet with to refresh
themselves. Some found honey, others milk, and others beef, for the king
had given us free permission to take what eatables soever came to hand.
The inhabitants were all absent, the men at the seaside making advantage
of our wreck, and the women and children fled into the woods at our
approach. We passed several of these poor villages, but saw few of the
people. Here we reposed ourselves till the heat abated, when we made
ourselves but a poor compensation by robbing them of their trifles,
while they were enriching themselves with our most valuable commodities;
however, I observed some of our people found a secret pleasure in
gratifying their resentment.
In the cool of the evening we marched again, and in a little time came
to a more open and better road. As we were now some miles from the sea
the king left us, and went before to his seat, leaving us to march at
our leisure; having before taken care that we should not want
provisions, and left his chief officer (whom I shall call his general)
strict orders to supply us with whatever we wanted, and what the country
would afford.
At night we came to another of these little villages, where we killed a
bullock, and got a few earthen pots to cook our meat in; the water was
very thick and nasty, they having none but what they fetched at a great
distance out of holes and pits in the woods, and kept in calabashes, or
long tubs, which hold about four or five gallons each; however it served
our purpose, for at that time we were not very curious. We reposed
ourselves on the ground in the best manner we could, and rose the next
morning by daylight. We had beef for our breakfast without any bread or
roots in the room of it, and our meat was full of sand; however, eating
and drinking was the least of our concern at that time. We passed this
day much after the same manner as the day before, with this difference
only, that those who wanted shoes were sadly harassed in the woods.
On the third day of our march we came to our journey’s end; we were
obliged to walk much faster than either of the two former, having more
ground to traverse and less time to do it in, for we were ordered to be
at the king’s town before sunset. I missed one of my purses in this
day’s journey, but the loss of it was not of any great importance to me
at that time, for it would have been of little service to me had I kept
it; but the loss of a medal afterwards which my dear mother had
presented me as a testimony of her love, and a token to remember her,
was no small addition to my other misfortunes.
The residence of this king is about fifty miles from the seaside, for I
reckon we might travel sixteen or seventeen miles a day. It stands in a
wood secured with trees all round it, which seem to have been planted
there when very young; they grow very regular and tall, and so close
together, that a small dog cannot pass between them. They are likewise
armed with large strong thorns, so that there is no breaking through or
climbing over them. There are but two passages or gates, which are so
narrow that two only can go abreast; one of these is to the northward,
and the other to the southward; the whole is about a mile in
circumference.
When we came near our journey’s end we halted, whilst Sam went to inform
the king of our arrival. We were ordered to wait till he was ready for
our reception; our captain too put us into the best form he could,
ordering all our baggage and such things as our people brought with
them, to be lodged under a tamarind tree, and three or four Lascars to
look after them. He soon sent for us, and we marched in order by fours.
The king was sitting on a mat, cross-legged, in the open air, just
before the door of his palace, with a gun leaning on his shoulder, and a
brace of pistols lying by his side; his sons and kinsman sat in the same
manner on the ground on each hand of him, armed with guns and lances;
the natives joined them on both sides, and formed together a semicircle;
most of these were likewise furnished with guns and lances. There were
mats spread from one end of the people to the other for us to sit on, so
that when we had joined them, the assembly was almost a circular form.
We were somewhat concerned to see them all thus in arms, till Sam
informed us, that they never go from one house to another without them.
As soon as we were seated, the king (by Sam) assured the captain he was
welcome, and sent for ten calabashes of toake, six he gave to our
people, three to his own, and one he reserved for our captain and
himself. He also sent for captain Drummond, captain Steward, and the
rest of their company. Captain Younge arose to salute them, and after
the usual compliments were passed, the captains sat down together. The
king ordered a servant to pour out some toake into a clean earthen cup
which he kept for his own use, and drank it up without drinking to any
body, but ordered some more to be poured out for our captain in another
cup, but as it was dirty he refused it. The king asked Sam the reason of
it, who told him the truth, so the king sent a man immediately to wash
it. The captain, indeed, expected to be served out of the king’s cup,
but Sam informed him, that neither black nor white, nor even his wives
or children, ever drank out of his cup; and this is the general custom
of the country.
When I saw the servant returning with the cup our captain had refused, I
took out my silver one, and presented it to him; after we had all drank
out of it, the king desired to see it, and was so wonderfully pleased
with it that he desired to keep it. But the captain informed him that it
was none of his, but belonged to a lad that was behind him. I called to
Sam and desired him to acquaint the king, that since so many people had
drank out of it, I humbly conceived it could not be fit for his use. At
this he and the people round him laughed heartily. He ordered me to
stand up that he might see me; however I saved my cup this time. Night
drawing on he withdrew, ordering us a bullock for our supper.
Notwithstanding his courteous reception of us, he would not trust us all
to lie within the gates of the town; our captain, Mr Prat, our chief
mate, Mr Bembo, our second mate, and myself, were the only persons that
were so far indulged. We had a hutch ordered us next to captain Drummond
and his companions, but the rest of the people lay without the gates
under the trees.
In this manner we lived for some few days; what particular amusements
some of our people found out to pass away their tedious hours I know
not, but there occurred to me an affair of a most agreeable and
surprising nature, which some would have improved, and made use of to
advantage.
This king had a daughter about thirteen or fourteen years of age who
would talk to me sometimes an hour or two together, though I did not
comprehend one word she said. Though she seemed to be very desirous I
should know her meaning, yet she was very modest, and used no indecent
gestures to intimate any vicious inclinations, neither did I entertain
any idea of an intrigue, so that our conversation on my side aimed at
nothing; this she at length perceived, and sent Sam to me one day to
desire I would come to her nurse’s house where she was educated, and
partake of a small entertainment. I went along with him, and as soon as
we entered I found a mat spread on one side of the house, on which she
desired us to seat ourselves, and ordered one of her attendants to boil
some guinea corn and milk and roast some beef. She sat down over against
me, and though I had no notion of love, yet I could not help observing a
particular softness in the tone of her voice; and when she inquired of
Sam about our misfortunes, she showed abundance of concern for us; and
looked at me with a more than common pleasure, as people of taste do at
pictures which please them; and, in short, stared me almost out of
countenance. I imagined she was resolved to know me again, by her narrow
observance of every motion. She was extremely courteous and obliging,
and often sighed with pity at the sense she seemed to have of our
deplorable condition. I looked upon her as a good-natured creature, and
that curiosity more than love had made her fond of conversing with a
white man, which is a novelty in their country.
We were just entering into the best part of the conversation, and our
interpreter had begun, at her request, to acquaint me with the reason of
her extraordinary complaisance and observance of me, when her mother
came to the door, and desired her to take a walk with her without the
gates to see the white men. I was a little nettled at this interruption,
and she seemed much more concerned at it herself; however it would have
been an act of the highest disobedience in her to have refused her
mother’s request; so she complied with a seeming readiness, and we
returned.
Sam told me he had private orders from her to inform me, that she was in
love with me; but laid her commands upon him to say nothing of it to any
person whomsoever, either white or black. I was strangely startled at
this open declaration, and that this was the private motive that induced
her to be fond of my company and conversation. Since I came to be a man,
I have stood astonished at my own stupidity in putting a modest young
lady of her birth and character to the mortification of acquainting me
with her love, and exposing herself to the censures of another man. I
have nothing to plead in my excuse, but that being a lad scarce sixteen
years of age, the discovery of so important a secret created in me more
fear than affection; lest the consequences of so dangerous an affair
might prove fatal to me. She sent again for me that very night, and I
attended her accordingly; and behaved myself with all the decency and
good manners, as common prudence and gratitude for her civilities
obliged me to. I knew she was the king’s darling, and therefore dreaded
to disoblige her, lest she might tell her father what story she thought
proper and destroy me in a moment. At length I perceived she was equally
afraid of her father’s knowledge of her passion; so that I looked upon
myself in danger on both sides: for which reason, when Sam informed me
that she desired my company again the next night, I pretended to be very
sick and unable to go abroad; so that this affair, which might have
proved highly agreeable to some warmer persons, proved to me, in the
circumstances I was then, a matter of vexation and fatigue; but two days
after, our amour, if I may call it so, was totally disconcerted.
Every morning we went, as was expected, in a body to visit the king; but
one morning he ordered Sam to inform us, that he had an inveterate enemy
to the westward, who had hitherto proved too powerful for him; but since
his gods had been so indulgent as to send some white men into his
dominions, he would embrace so favourable an opportunity once more to
try his strength with our assistance; but in the mean time he should be
obliged to distribute us among his sons, who lived at distant towns, not
only for the convenience of providing for such a number of us, (there
not being room enough in this town,) but to ease himself of a charge
which was too great and burthensome for him to support alone. He also
sent to me this night to beg the silver cup before-mentioned, with which
request (knowing it was in his power to take it by force if he thought
fit) I readily complied. This unexpected separation was a terrible blow
to us, and we returned to our cottages with heavy hearts, well knowing,
if we could not find out some way to prevent it, there were no hopes of
ever getting off the island.
Hereupon the three captains, viz. Drummond, Steward, and Younge, with
some of the chief of our people, entered immediately into a consultation
about what was proper to be done in this emergency; and to make some
bold attempt for our lives and liberty. Captain Drummond, as I heard
afterwards, was the man who proposed to take the king prisoner; and by
that means to make their own terms with the natives. Now captain
Drummond and some others were men of experience and undaunted
resolution: our captain, indeed, had courage enough, but he was too
young. However, the proposition was universally approved of, and the
time and manner of the execution was fixed. I was too young to be
admitted as one of the council; therefore I shall not pretend to relate
what reasons were produced either for, or against the proposal; though I
was told afterwards: that night, however, I was wholly ignorant. I
observed captain Younge and Mr Bembo to talk with great earnestness, but
in whispers, and with the utmost precaution. As I was then a stranger to
that design I slept soundly, till I was roused in the morning by a great
and sudden noise in the town, occasioned by the plot being put into
execution. Our people went, as usual, betimes in the morning to pay
their compliments to the king; and whilst some of them were at the
prince’s house the signal was given by one of captain Drummond’s men
firing a pistol; at which the king was seized, and his son at the same
instant.
This instantly alarmed the whole town. I started up without my shoes,
being frighted at the sudden outcry. Not knowing what was the matter,
and seeing the negroes flocking out of the town, I ran with them, till I
was taken notice of by one of our men, who called me back; and I was as
much amazed as the natives to see the king, his consort, and one of his
sons, with their hands tied behind them, under the guard of our people.
They soon plundered the king’s mansion-house, and every other place
where they could find any agreeable plunder. We happened to find about
thirty small arms, a small quantity of powder and shot, and a few
lances. The natives (as I observed before) ran out of the town, but they
did it with no other view than to procure assistance; for they soon
alarmed the country, and returned with great numbers from all the
adjacent towns; and immediately besieged us. They fired in upon us, and
wounded one of our men in the groin; on which captain Younge ordered Sam
to tell the king if they fired any more they would kill him that very
moment. The king hearing their resolution, called to his men, and
desired them to desist if they had a mind to save his life.
This attempt, indeed, was bold and hazardous, and some perhaps may
censure it as criminal; I shall not say much in its defence: but since I
have arrived to years of maturity, I cannot forbear reflecting that if
nature, even in a christian country, will rebel against principle, what
will it not do for life and liberty under the tyranny and oppression of
a barbarous and savage nation!
However, at length we put ourselves in a posture of defence and marched
out of the town. Six men under arms marched in the front, and in the
body where the king was, six went armed before him and six behind; three
before his son and three behind him; and six brought up the rear, in
which were the Lascars. Captain Younge, out of compassion, would have
released the queen, and let her go wherever she pleased, but she would
not abandon her husband.
We had not gone above four miles on our march, before our wounded
companion fainted; and not being able to carry him off, we were forced
to leave him by the side of a pond of water; where, as I was afterwards
informed, they soon put him out of his pain, by striking their lances
into several parts of his body. Having marched about two or three miles
farther, we got out of the woods, and found ourselves in a spacious,
open plain, where we could see all around us; and soon found that our
enemies were not only near, but numerous, and threatened immediately to
attack us. We faced towards them, our armed men being in the front, with
the king bound before them. Sam was ordered at the same time to tell
him, that our design was not to hurt either him or his son, nor to carry
them into their enemies’ country, but only to detain them as hostages
for our safeguard while we passed through his dominions; and that as
soon as we came to the borders of Port Dauphine, we would let them go
again, and give them back the arms and ammunition we had taken from
them; but if the least violence were offered to us we would sacrifice
them both; and this we desired him to tell his people.
Hereupon he called one of his generals to him, assuring him that he
should receive no harm. Accordingly he left his gun and lance behind him
and came to us, where he was informed, both by us and the king, of our
resolution; upon which he told us there should not be a gun fired whilst
we preserved the king alive, and gave him civil treatment.
This parley being over, we continued our march through the plain till
near evening; many of us without shoes as well as myself, and some sick;
which obliged us to take up our quarters sooner than we would otherwise
have done; so that every one was almost faint and glad of rest. The king
ordered Sam to tell us that an ox should be sent to us forthwith. We
made a trench, like a ring, in the midst whereof we planted the black
king and his son; our captain, and some few others were appointed as a
guard over them: our armed men were divided into four parts, in order to
secure us in the best manner they could. We had just finished our camp,
when the officer, who had been with us before, and three other men
brought us a bullock. He brought likewise some roasted meat in his hand,
and a horn of water for the king; so we loosed our royal prisoners’
hands that they might feed themselves. They eat some small matter, and
gave the remainders to captain Younge.