of cow-keeper. I had a great deal of trouble sometimes with these
cattle, for they are very unruly; and notwithstanding they are larger
beasts than any I ever saw elsewhere of the kind, they are so nimble
that they will leap over high fences like a greyhound. They have an
excrescence between their shoulders, somewhat like that of camels, all
fat and flesh; some of which will weigh about three or four score
pounds; they are also beautifully coloured, some are streaked like a
tiger, others, like a leopard, are marked with various spots. They do
not give so much milk as our cows in England, nor will they ever suffer
themselves to be milked till their calves have first sucked; so that
they keep one calf for every cow all the year, or till the cow is
pregnant again, and they seldom miss a season. Here are also some sheep
with large heavy tails, like Turkey sheep; they are not woolly as ours,
but more like a goat. Here are also a small number of goats, like those
in other countries. They bring up no hogs, though there are enough in
the country; for they are so mischievous to the plantations, that we are
forced to set traps to catch them; but in this country of Anterndroea
nobody eats them, except the very refuse of the people.
Whilst I was peaceably tending my cattle, and all things seemed
perfectly quiet and easy, the scene of our affairs was changed at once
by some sudden news, and my master was summoned to war in good earnest.
It is a common practice for parties to stroll out and surprise their
enemies by night, when least they expect them: on these expeditions it
is customary for every man to carry a piece of meat in his hand, and
when they have entered a town in the dead of night they throw the meat
to the dogs, in order to prevent their barking. When they are all got
in, one fires a musket, but makes no other noise; the inhabitants
thereupon being alarmed, and hastily creeping out of the doors of their
low huts in a stooping posture, are stabbed with lances: as to the women
and children they take them captive, and drive away with them all the
cattle they can find, set the town on fire, and return home by private
unpractised ways. In this manner did my master, his brother, and some
others belonging to deaan Crindo, enter several of the king of
Mefaughla’s remote and defenceless towns; whereupon, in order to
retaliate the indignity offered him, the injured king mustered up an
army of three thousand men, and entered Anterndroea, with a firm
resolution either to fight the deaan in the field, or attack him in his
own town, called Fennoarevo; and by fire to lay it level with the
ground: accordingly he sent a messenger to deaan Crindo, to tell him
that he should soon feel the weight of his just resentment. To which he
answered, he would not stir out of the town but wait for him there; and
defied him to put his purpose in execution.
Deaan Crindo, therefore, summoned all his people to his assistance, and
to be ready at hand in Fennoarevo, or the adjacent villages. He had four
sons who were chiefs of towns, besides nephews and grandsons. His sons
were deaan Mundumber, deaan Frukey, deaan Trodaughe, but deaan Chahary
was unfortunately gone with five hundred able men to traffic into
Feraignher; which is Augustine-bay country.
It is a constant custom amongst them in time of war to conceal their
wives, children, and cattle in remote and secret places in the woods,
that the enemy when they plunder the country may not be able to find
them; but the women and children are never with the cattle, lest their
bellowing should discover them. The women for the most part secure
themselves, by trailing a bough after them as they go to their recess;
which prevents their track from being followed. Thus did my master and
his people secure their wives, children, and cattle. I was left with the
latter; for that reason am incapable of giving an exact account of this
war, knowing no more of it than what was told me at their return; which
in general was to the following effect.
That deaan Woozington, the king, and his son Chemermaundy, with Ryopheck
his nephew, a gallant man who commanded the army of Merfaughla, entered
the country without the least opposition; for deaan Crindo having
received his menacing message, took care in the first place to secure
the families and cattle belonging to his people, and then drew up all
his armed men in the town, resolving to wait for his coming; but deaan
Mundumber, Frukey, and the younger chiefs, had not patience to hear of
his passing without resistance; so they prevailed on the king, though
against his will, to let them go out with two thousand men and obstruct
his march. Deaan Crindo, however, was resolute and would not stir out of
the town. This army was commanded in chief by deaan Mundumber and
Frukey; who behaved themselves with great courage and conduct, first
sending word to deaan Woozington, that they were come by their father’s
command to give him a suitable reception into their country, and hoped
he would not fail to meet them. To which he answered, he would most
assuredly pay them a visit and make himself welcome; and was as good as
his word. They joined battle, and Mundumber was obliged to retire, which
he did in good order after a sharp and obstinate fight; in which deaan
Woozington’s son was dangerously wounded. Deaan Mundumber returned to
his father with eight hundred men, and used his utmost endeavours to
prevail on him to go out with his forces, and give deaan Woozington
battle; but the old king persisted in his first resolution. So Mundumber
continued at home with him, and fortified the town as well as the time
would admit.
After this, deaan Frukey and Trodaughe made themselves masters of a pass
between two hills, and cut down several large trees to defend them; by
which means they entirely stopped deaan Woozington’s progress,
notwithstanding he attacked them in the most vigorous manner, and was as
gallantly repulsed: at last, Ryopheck, by the direction of a man who was
well acquainted with the country, got behind them, and deaan Woozington,
at the same time, with Ryopheck charged them again. Frukey, however, and
his brethren, were obliged to retire, which they did with great
resolution, even through Ryopheck’s party. In this action Ryopheck, who
was always in the hottest place, with much difficulty escaped.
Though deaan Woozington at last arrived at Fennoarevo, and attacked it
in a vigorous manner, yet he was as bravely repulsed; deaan Crindo and
his sons resisting till they were overpowered, and when their enemies
were got within the town, they even disputed every inch of ground, till
deaan Crindo himself was obliged to cut down several trees, which are
their walls, to make a way for their escape. He so much depended on his
own courage and conduct, that he kept his wife and daughter in his own
house, notwithstanding all the other women and children were sent away
long before; these unhappily fell into the hands of deaan Woozington,
and were made his captives. The town was reduced to ashes, as soon as
they had plundered it of such trifles as their treasures consist in, the
principal of which are beads; these they often conceal in holes: so that
there is nothing to be got but iron shovels, hoes, earthen and wooden
dishes, spoons, &c. some cattle, indeed, they found, which were brought
into the town for their necessary subsistence during the siege; and in
such cases these cattle live well enough upon the thatches of their
houses. They had also filled a great many tubs with water.
Deaan Crindo was inconsolable for the loss of his wife and daughter, and
like a distracted man; when his sons told him if he would now join them,
as he should have done at first, they were yet able to deal with deaan
Woozington. And accordingly they mustered all their forces into one
army, and made a number equal to their enemies. Deaan Woozington having
no intelligence of this, was detaching a thousand men to plunder the
country, and bring in all the women, children, and cattle they could
find; which is their constant practice after a complete victory. Just at
this juncture deaan Crindo appeared with his potent army, and sent
messengers to acquaint him that he must either deliver up the queen and
princess with the other people and cattle he was possessed of, or
immediately decamp and give them battle. Deaan Woozington in answer
thereto, assured him he had no thoughts of detaining his wife and
daughter, neither did he come for slaves or cattle, he having plenty of
both; but since deaan Crindo had sent him a challenge boasting of his
superior strength, and bidding defiance to all the kings on the island,
on account of the number of white men that were his friends, he came to
see them; but as he could find none, he hoped that the proud deaan
Crindo was sufficiently mortified; so he was ready to send him his wife
and daughter again: but as to the few slaves and cattle which he had
taken, his people should detain them to make themselves some
compensation for the robberies which Mevarrow, and some others, had
committed in his country.
At last a peace was concluded, and sworn to by the generals on both
sides, with the usual formality of killing an ox, and eating a piece of
the liver from off the point of a lance; each general wishing at the
same time, that whoever first fired a gun might die upon the spot. The
ceremony being over, public rejoicings were made on both sides; deaan
Woozington returned into his own country, and deaan Crindo to rebuild
his shattered town, which was finished with the utmost expedition, and
all his chiefs with their people repaired to their respective homes.
As soon as we were well settled again, three boys who belonged to some
principal men of our town, and myself, were sent some miles off with
about two hundred head of cattle, to look after them and provide for
ourselves. There were not above five or six of them however, which gave
milk, so that we were at a short allowance: if we expected any other
diet, we must search for it in the woods, and get it where and when we
could find it. My mistress furnished me with an earthen pot to warm my
milk in, a calabash to drink out of, and a mat to lie upon. My master
gave me a hatchet to make fences with, and a lance to fight with if any
body came to steal my cattle: he also gave me a new clout, to wear after
their country fashion, my old one being worn out; the common people
seldom wear one broader than a napkin; they call it a lamber, and so
shall I for the future; the name of a—se-clout (by which our English
seamen distinguish it by way of derision) being too vulgar an
expression.
We drove our cattle to the proposed place, and the first thing we
employed ourselves about was, the erection of a house, which we
completed in about a day and a half. We finished our cow-pen next, and
made a small one for the calves, to keep them from sucking while we
milked the cows. Our house, however, was but a poor little hut, and but
badly thatched; and it being the rainy season, (which is their winter,
and sometimes very cold,) we had but a very indifferent lodging. We
kept, indeed, a fire, and happy was he who could lie nearest it; for we
had no other covering than our lambers, which we pulled off to lay over
us. Now I began to feel the weight of my slavery, being almost famished;
for all the food we could get, was a small fowl now and then, which
creeps upon the ground; and which we caught in traps.
We lived in this melancholy situation almost three months, but at last
we formed a project for killing one of our master’s beasts, and dressing
it in private. A great many schemes were offered, till at length I
proposed one, which was unanimously agreed to; namely, to kill a cow by
stabbing her in the side with a sharp pointed stick, and make the horn
of another cow, which belonged to the same man, all over bloody, that he
might imagine the misfortune came by goring. But then a debate arose,
whose beast should be killed; for every one was unwilling that his
master should be the sufferer. However, I soon determined that point, by
drawing lots with four sticks shorter than each other; and I so
contrived it, that I kept the longest in my hand, and by that means
secured my master’s.
When the job was done, away ran the boy to inform his master that one
heifer had killed another; he and his family came immediately upon the
news, and finding a cow with a bloody horn, they all concluded it was
done by her. Though the master was sadly nettled at the disaster, yet he
soon cut up the dead beast, and gave us a good large piece of it,
besides the legs and the entrails; and then went home again. Thus far
our scheme succeeded to our wish, but our principal aim was, under
colour of having meat given us by our masters, to despatch another
heifer privately; and if any person happened to see us (as we were not
far from strangers, though we were from our own homes) and ask how we
came by our beef, we could say our masters gave it us. But success made
us too bold, for one day having killed a beast that had strayed from
some other people amongst ours, our masters came to see their cattle,
which they found in the cow pens, but finding none of us near them, they
began to suspect us: whereupon they divided themselves, and made a more
narrow inquiry; one of them heard a noise in the wood, like the felling
of trees, where we were very busy; and following the sound, they soon
smelt roast meat: in short, our masters surprised us, and came at once
amongst us with their guns cocked, crying out, _vonne terach com boar_;
which in English is, kill the sons of bitches.
The reader may imagine we were frightened to the last degree, and
expected nothing but immediate death; and indeed it proved almost fatal
to the other three. They asked us whose beast it was? We answered, a
strange one. They told us, however, that the crime was the same; for if
we had practised the art of killing cattle privately, they were sensible
that theirs must some time or other be our prey, when no others offered;
and for that reason were resolved to punish us with the utmost severity.
Hereupon each of my comrades’ masters took his slave, and in an instant
castrated him. I, not relishing that sort of punishment, fell down at my
master’s feet, and endeavoured all I could to convince him that I had
been peculiarly careful of his cattle; and told him, moreover, that I
would stand the chance of being killed by submitting myself to be shot
at, provided he stood at any reasonable distance; or run any other
hazard he should think fit, rather than be deprived of my manhood. My
proposition was accepted, and accordingly he took me out of the wood and
tied my arms behind me round a tree, and placed himself at about
fourscore yards; then seeming to take good aim at me, fired, but missed
me: whether he did it on purpose I can’t say, but I presume he did;
imagining the terror was sufficient, having seen how severely the others
were punished. They went away, and told us if ever they found us at such
pranks again, nothing should save us from immediate death.
They were no sooner gone from us than I began to reflect on the
injustice of our masters, who, though they had cattle of their own,
would frequently oblige us to go with them on their thievish
expeditions; and yet so severely punish us for one poor crime to satisfy
our craving appetites. However, after all, I was forced to be doctor to
my comrades in distress, for their masters took no care of them; so I
warmed some water and washed off the blood, and dressed their wounds: I
was also forced while we remained there to look after all the cattle,
and milk them too; for they were not perfectly recovered, when orders
were brought us to return with our cattle. As my poor comrades could
scarce walk, I made the messenger who came to us assist me in driving
the cattle home.
When I came home, I was soon informed that deaan Tuley-Noro, king of
Antenosa, had given my master all this trouble by marching his people
into Anterndroea, and demanding satisfaction of deaan Crindo for the
murder of the white men. Now, though this was two years and a half
before (for so long I had been in the country) yet I soon heard that
captain Drummond, captain Steward, Mr Bembo, and the rest, who escaped
the night before the massacre, were with him; and that there had not
been, during all that time, a ship at Port Dauphine, for them to return
in; but that notwithstanding they lived free and entirely at their own
disposal. This deaan Tuley-Noro was king Samuel, whom I mentioned
before, and whose dominions were on the other side of the river
Manderra.
As soon as I got home I was taken from the cattle, and two men were
ordered to guard me and see that I did not run away to king Samuel. The
next day we heard the Antenosa people were within ten miles of our town,
which put them all into a great hurry and confusion. The cattle were
sent one way, and the women and children another; poor Robin, their
white slave, was along with them, but had his hands tied behind him. I
had not been long there before a messenger came to my mistress in great
haste, with order to send me to my master in the camp, for the white men
were to purchase me, and proposed to give two Buccaneer guns as a
valuable consideration. My mistress was loth to part with me; I
dissembled as much as I could, and showed a seeming reluctance at
parting since I had been so long amongst them; though at the same time I
struggled hard to conceal my joy. I kneeled down and licked her feet,
thanking her for all her favours, and away I went with the messenger, in
great hopes now of seeing some of my countrymen again, and getting a
passage to England. But see how fortune tantalized me! It was twenty
miles, or thereabouts, to the camp where my master was; and it might be
somewhat after midnight when we arrived there: my master set a watch
over me the remaining part of the night, and made me swear I would never
discover the hiding places of their wives and cattle; which I readily
complied with.
The next morning king Samuel sent to know if I was come, and desired
they would permit a hundred men to be sent down with me between the two
camps; and he would send the like number to meet them with the two
Buccaneer guns. This being agreed to, deaan Crindo ordered my master to
go with the party; and king Samuel seeing them approach, gave directions
for his men to meet them; among whom were captain Drummond, and the rest
of the white men. When we came near one another, captain Drummond, being
glad to see me, called me by my name; and asked me how I did. My master,
thereupon, clapped his hand upon my mouth, and vowed if I offered to
speak he would kill me; so that I durst not return any answer. Captain
Drummond finding I made no reply, imagined, as I suppose, that I could
not hear, whereupon he and the white men came nearer. My master, on
their approach, thought they came to take me by force, and cheat them of
the two guns; upon this he ordered his men to fire at them: so that
instead of a parley and an exchange of me for the two guns, a skirmish
ensued, and both armies advanced to support each other’s party. I was
immediately sent away under a strong guard to the woods, where I parted
with my mistress the night before: so that this pleasing prospect of
deliverance was nothing more than a short transitory dream of liberty,
which immediately vanished; and made me only feel the weight of slavery
much more sensibly than before. Which way I returned back I cannot tell;
but sure I am, I was in such a disorder of mind as a condemned criminal
is when going to execution. In a few hours, however, I found myself in
my former station; my legs in parra-pingo (a fastening almost like
fetters) for fear I should run away: my old companions stood round about
me, and my mistress and the women were glad to see me again. But I was
in too melancholy a mood to return them any compliments; nor could they
extract from me any thing but tears and exclamations at my hard fortune.
I wished for death, and was very near being gratified in my desire two
days after.
The next day news came that deaan Tuley-Noro was returning back to his
own country; he being (as they said) obliged to retire by deaan Crindo,
though the Antenosa army was twice their number. We were also ordered to
return home, and I was released from parra-pingo, and set at liberty; my
guard being also discharged.
The day following came deaan Mevarrow, deaan Sambo, and their little
army, entering the town with great pomp and grandeur, as if they had
gained some extraordinary victory; though I heard of nothing but a
little bush-fighting and ambuscades. The deaan, however, sat himself
down with his brother, the other chiefs, and the rest in the usual form
before his house: my mistress, according to custom, crept out to lick
her hero’s feet; when she had done, the rest of the women performed the
same ceremony; and after them the slaves, among whom I was one. As I was
getting up to depart, he ordered me to stay; I stood some time to hear
him tell his wife, how like a coward deaan Tuley-Noro behaved himself,
though he had twice their number of men. After he had told his tale, he
turned his head, and with an angry countenance asked me what the white
men said when they called me? Sir, said I, they only asked me how I did?
And nothing else, said he. I replied, no, sir. At this he rose up in a
rage, cocked his gun, and put the muzzle to my breast; saying, if I did
not tell him the truth he would shoot me that moment. I was not much
daunted, as I had little or no regard for my life in my then melancholy
humour; so with little concern I repeated what I said. At this he pulled
the trigger, but Providence being pleased to preserve me for some other
purpose, the cock snapped, and missed fire. Whether the prime was wet in
the pan, or by what other miracle it was I escaped his fury, I cannot
say; but that not succeeding to his wish, he took his lance to stab me;
when his brother and the rest of his chief men ran in between us and
told him it was cruel and inhuman, and that he had better have killed me
at first, than saved me only to terrify me with death on every slight
occasion; there being no reason at all for such severe treatment. With
much persuasion he returned to his seat and told them there were just
grounds to suspect the white men had formed a design to commit some
treacherous action, since they came nearer than they ought to have done.
And, indeed, their fears proceeded from a natural dread they have of
white men, ten of whom will drive fifty black men before them. Besides,
captain Drummond and the rest being completely armed with pistols in
their girdles, was an additional terror to them. What was the true
reason of king Samuel’s retiring I know not; but when this broil was
over, my curiosity led me to understand the whole affair; which was thus
related to me.
King Samuel’s intention was to have marched directly to Fennoarevo, and
fall upon deaan Crindo before he could be provided for him: his way lay
over a large plain called Ambovo, leading to a great wood; through which
they must also pass. Deaan Crindo having more timely notice than they
expected, laid an ambuscade in the wood; king Samuel being lame of the
gout was carried on men’s shoulders; they suffered him and great part of
his army to enter the wood, and then gave the signal: whereupon deaan
Crindo’s men arose and attacked them so vigorously and with so much
advantage, (knowing the wood which the others did not,) that king Samuel
himself was in danger of being taken; but was gallantly defended by the
white men, and others of his bravest people. They were obliged, however,
to retire into the plain, where they encamped, as did deaan Crindo’s
people close by the wood side, and even in it; by that means securing
themselves from the superior number of the Antenosa army, which, as they
were informed, consisted of six thousand men. Here they came to a
parley: king Samuel sent one of his chiefs to acquaint deaan Crindo,
that he had no intention to deprive him either of his cattle or his
slaves; but that as he had been brought up among white men, all such
were his friends; and he looked on himself obliged in duty and honour to
demand some satisfaction of deaan Crindo, for the white men he had so
inhumanly sacrificed to his resentment; and if there were any yet alive,
he desired to have them in order to send them to their native country.