more favourable to me. One of my master's vessels, a Bermudas sloop,
about sixty tons, was commanded by one Captain Thomas Farmer, an
Englishman, a very alert and active man, who gained my master a great
deal of money by his good management in carrying passengers from one
island to another; but very often his sailors used to get drunk and
run away from the vessel, which hindered him in his business very
much. This man had taken a liking to me; and many different times
begged of my master to let me go a trip with him as a sailor; but he
would tell him he could not spare me, though the vessel sometimes
could not go for want of hands, for sailors were generally very scarce
in the island. However, at last, from necessity or force, my master
was prevailed on, though very reluctantly, to let me go with this
captain; but he gave great charge to him to take care that I did not
run away, for if I did he would make him pay for me. This being the
case, the captain had for some time a sharp eye upon me whenever the
vessel anchored; and as soon as she returned I was sent for on shore
again. Thus was I slaving as it were for life, sometimes at one thing,
and sometimes at another; so that the captain and I were nearly the
most useful men in my master's employment. I also became so useful to
the captain on shipboard, that many times, when he used to ask for me
to go with him, though it should be but for twenty-four hours, to some
of the islands near us, my master would answer he could not spare me,
at which the captain would swear, and would not go the trip; and tell
my master I was better to him on board than any three white men he
had; for they used to behave ill in many respects, particularly in
getting drunk; and then they frequently got the boat stove, so as to
hinder the vessel from coming back as soon as she might have done.
This my master knew very well; and at last, by the captain's constant
entreaties, after I had been several times with him, one day, to my
great joy, my master told me the captain would not let him rest, and
asked me whether I would go aboard as a sailor, or stay on shore and
mind the stores, for he could not bear any longer to be plagued in
this manner. I was very happy at this proposal, for I immediately
thought I might in time stand some chance by being on board to get a
little money, or possibly make my escape if I should be used ill: I
also expected to get better food, and in greater abundance; for I had
felt much hunger oftentimes, though my master treated his slaves, as I
have observed, uncommonly well. I therefore, without hesitation,
answered him, that I would go and be a sailor if he pleased.
Accordingly I was ordered on board directly. Nevertheless, between the
vessel and the shore, when she was in port, I had little or no rest,
as my master always wished to have me along with him. Indeed he was a
very pleasant gentleman, and but for my expectations on shipboard I
should not have thought of leaving him. But the captain liked me also
very much, and I was entirely his right-hand man. I did all I could to
deserve his favour, and in return I received better treatment from him
than any other I believe ever met with in the West Indies in my
situation.
After I had been sailing for some time with this captain, at length I
endeavoured to try my luck and commence merchant. I had but a very
small capital to begin with; for one single half bit, which is equal
to three pence in England, made up my whole stock. However I trusted
to the Lord to be with me; and at one of our trips to St. Eustatia, a
Dutch island, I bought a glass tumbler with my half bit, and when I
came to Montserrat I sold it for a bit, or sixpence. Luckily we made
several successive trips to St. Eustatia (which was a general mart for
the West Indies, about twenty leagues from Montserrat); and in our
next, finding my tumbler so profitable, with this one bit I bought two
tumblers more; and when I came back I sold them for two bits, equal to
a shilling sterling. When we went again I bought with these two bits
four more of these glasses, which I sold for four bits on our return
to Montserrat; and in our next voyage to St. Eustatia I bought two
glasses with one bit, and with the other three I bought a jug of
Geneva, nearly about three pints in measure. When we came to
Montserrat I sold the gin for eight bits, and the tumblers for two, so
that my capital now amounted in all to a dollar, well husbanded and
acquired in the space of a month or six weeks, when I blessed the Lord
that I was so rich. As we sailed to different islands, I laid this
money out in various things occasionally, and it used to turn out to
very good account, especially when we went to Guadaloupe, Grenada, and
the rest of the French islands. Thus was I going all about the islands
upwards of four years, and ever trading as I went, during which I
experienced many instances of ill usage, and have seen many injuries
done to other negroes in our dealings with Europeans: and, amidst our
recreations, when we have been dancing and merry-making, they, without
cause, have molested and insulted us. Indeed I was more than once
obliged to look up to God on high, as I had advised the poor fisherman
some time before. And I had not been long trading for myself in the
manner I have related above, when I experienced the like trial in
company with him as follows: This man being used to the water, was
upon an emergency put on board of us by his master to work as another
hand, on a voyage to Santa Cruz; and at our sailing he had brought his
little all for a venture, which consisted of six bits' worth of limes
and oranges in a bag; I had also my whole stock, which was about
twelve bits' worth of the same kind of goods, separate in two bags;
for we had heard these fruits sold well in that island. When we came
there, in some little convenient time he and I went ashore with our
fruits to sell them; but we had scarcely landed when we were met by
two white men, who presently took our three bags from us. We could not
at first guess what they meant to do; and for some time we thought
they were jesting with us; but they too soon let us know otherwise,
for they took our ventures immediately to a house hard by, and
adjoining the fort, while we followed all the way begging of them to
give us our fruits, but in vain. They not only refused to return them,
but swore at us, and threatened if we did not immediately depart they
would flog us well. We told them these three bags were all we were
worth in the world, and that we brought them with us to sell when we
came from Montserrat, and shewed them the vessel. But this was rather
against us, as they now saw we were strangers as well as slaves. They
still therefore swore, and desired us to be gone, and even took sticks
to beat us; while we, seeing they meant what they said, went off in
the greatest confusion and despair. Thus, in the very minute of
gaining more by three times than I ever did by any venture in my life
before, was I deprived of every farthing I was worth. An
insupportable misfortune! but how to help ourselves we knew not. In
our consternation we went to the commanding officer of the fort and
told him how we had been served by some of his people; but we obtained
not the least redress: he answered our complaints only by a volley of
imprecations against us, and immediately took a horse-whip, in order
to chastise us, so that we were obliged to turn out much faster than
we came in. I now, in the agony of distress and indignation, wished
that the ire of God in his forked lightning might transfix these cruel
oppressors among the dead. Still however we persevered; went back
again to the house, and begged and besought them again and again for
our fruits, till at last some other people that were in the house
asked if we would be contented if they kept one bag and gave us the
other two. We, seeing no remedy whatever, consented to this; and they,
observing one bag to have both kinds of fruit in it, which belonged to
my companion, kept that; and the other two, which were mine, they gave
us back. As soon as I got them, I ran as fast as I could, and got the
first negro man I could to help me off; my companion, however, stayed
a little longer to plead; he told them the bag they had was his, and
likewise all that he was worth in the world; but this was of no avail,
and he was obliged to return without it. The poor old man, wringing
his hands, cried bitterly for his loss; and, indeed, he then did look
up to God on high, which so moved me with pity for him, that I gave
him nearly one third of my fruits. We then proceeded to the markets to
sell them; and Providence was more favourable to us than we could have
expected, for we sold our fruits uncommonly well; I got for mine about
thirty-seven bits. Such a surprising reverse of fortune in so short a
space of time seemed like a dream to me, and proved no small
encouragement for me to trust the Lord in any situation. My captain
afterwards frequently used to take my part, and get me my right, when
I have been plundered or used ill by these tender Christian
depredators; among whom I have shuddered to observe the unceasing
blasphemous execrations which are wantonly thrown out by persons of
all ages and conditions, not only without occasion, but even as if
they were indulgences and pleasure.
At one of our trips to St. Kitt's I had eleven bits of my own; and my
friendly captain lent me five bits more, with which I bought a Bible.
I was very glad to get this book, which I scarcely could meet with any
where. I think there was none sold in Montserrat; and, much to my
grief, from being forced out of the Ætna in the manner I have related,
my Bible, and the Guide to the Indians, the two books I loved above
all others, were left behind.
While I was in this place, St. Kitt's, a very curious imposition on
human nature took place:--A white man wanted to marry in the church a
free black woman that had land and slaves in Montserrat: but the
clergyman told him it was against the law of the place to marry a
white and a black in the church. The man then asked to be married on
the water, to which the parson consented, and the two lovers went in
one boat, and the parson and clerk in another, and thus the ceremony
was performed. After this the loving pair came on board our vessel,
and my captain treated them extremely well, and brought them safe to
Montserrat.
The reader cannot but judge of the irksomeness of this situation to a
mind like mine, in being daily exposed to new hardships and
impositions, after having seen many better days, and having been as it
were in a state of freedom and plenty; added to which, every part of
the world I had hitherto been in seemed to me a paradise in comparison
of the West Indies. My mind was therefore hourly replete with
inventions and thoughts of being freed, and, if possible, by honest
and honourable means; for I always remembered the old adage; and I
trust it has ever been my ruling principle, that honesty is the best
policy; and likewise that other golden precept--to do unto all men as
I would they should do unto me. However, as I was from early years a
predestinarian, I thought whatever fate had determined must ever come
to pass; and therefore, if ever it were my lot to be freed nothing
could prevent me, although I should at present see no means or hope to
obtain my freedom; on the other hand, if it were my fate not to be
freed I never should be so, and all my endeavours for that purpose
would be fruitless. In the midst of these thoughts I therefore looked
up with prayers anxiously to God for my liberty; and at the same time
I used every honest means, and endeavoured all that was possible on
my part to obtain it. In process of time I became master of a few
pounds, and in a fair way of making more, which my friendly captain
knew very well; this occasioned him sometimes to take liberties with
me: but whenever he treated me waspishly I used plainly to tell him my
mind, and that I would die before I would be imposed on as other
negroes were, and that to me life had lost its relish when liberty was
gone. This I said although I foresaw my then well-being or future
hopes of freedom (humanly speaking) depended on this man. However, as
he could not bear the thoughts of my not sailing with him, he always
became mild on my threats. I therefore continued with him; and, from
my great attention to his orders and his business, I gained him
credit, and through his kindness to me I at last procured my liberty.
While I thus went on, filled with the thoughts of freedom, and
resisting oppression as well as I was able, my life hung daily in
suspense, particularly in the surfs I have formerly mentioned, as I
could not swim. These are extremely violent throughout the West
Indies, and I was ever exposed to their howling rage and devouring
fury in all the islands. I have seen them strike and toss a boat right
up an end, and maim several on board. Once in the Grenada islands,
when I and about eight others were pulling a large boat with two
puncheons of water in it, a surf struck us, and drove the boat and all
in it about half a stone's throw, among some trees, and above the high
water mark. We were obliged to get all the assistance we could from
the nearest estate to mend the boat, and launch it into the water
again. At Montserrat one night, in pressing hard to get off the shore
on board, the punt was overset with us four times; the first time I
was very near being drowned; however the jacket I had on kept me up
above water a little space of time, while I called on a man near me
who was a good swimmer, and told him I could not swim; he then made
haste to me, and, just as I was sinking, he caught hold of me, and
brought me to sounding, and then he went and brought the punt also. As
soon as we had turned the water out of her, lest we should be used ill
for being absent, we attempted again three times more, and as often
the horrid surfs served us as at first; but at last, the fifth time we
attempted, we gained our point, at the imminent hazard of our lives.
One day also, at Old Road in Montserrat, our captain, and three men
besides myself, were going in a large canoe in quest of rum and sugar,
when a single surf tossed the canoe an amazing distance from the
water, and some of us even a stone's throw from each other: most of us
were very much bruised; so that I and many more often said, and really
thought, that there was not such another place under the heavens as
this. I longed therefore much to leave it, and daily wished to see my
master's promise performed of going to Philadelphia. While we lay in
this place a very cruel thing happened on board of our sloop which
filled me with horror; though I found afterwards such practices were
frequent. There was a very clever and decent free young mulatto-man
who sailed a long time with us: he had a free woman for his wife, by
whom he had a child; and she was then living on shore, and all very
happy. Our captain and mate, and other people on board, and several
elsewhere, even the natives of Bermudas, all knew this young man from
a child that he was always free, and no one had ever claimed him as
their property: however, as might too often overcomes right in these
parts, it happened that a Bermudas captain, whose vessel lay there for
a few days in the road, came on board of us, and seeing the
mulatto-man, whose name was Joseph Clipson, he told him he was not
free, and that he had orders from his master to bring him to Bermudas.
The poor man could not believe the captain to be in earnest; but he
was very soon undeceived, his men laying violent hands on him: and
although he shewed a certificate of his being born free in St. Kitt's,
and most people on board knew that he served his time to boat
building, and always passed for a free man, yet he was taken forcibly
out of our vessel. He then asked to be carried ashore before the
secretary or magistrates, and these infernal invaders of human rights
promised him he should; but, instead of that, they carried him on
board of the other vessel: and the next day, without giving the poor
man any hearing on shore, or suffering him even to see his wife or
child, he was carried away, and probably doomed never more in this
world to see them again. Nor was this the only instance of this kind
of barbarity I was a witness to. I have since often seen in Jamaica
and other islands free men, whom I have known in America, thus
villainously trepanned and held in bondage. I have heard of two
similar practices even in Philadelphia: and were it not for the
benevolence of the quakers in that city many of the sable race, who
now breathe the air of liberty, would, I believe, be groaning indeed
under some planter's chains. These things opened my mind to a new
scene of horror to which I had been before a stranger. Hitherto I had
thought only slavery dreadful; but the state of a free negro appeared
to me now equally so at least, and in some respects even worse, for
they live in constant alarm for their liberty; and even this is but
nominal, for they are universally insulted and plundered without the
possibility of redress; for such is the equity of the West Indian
laws, that no free negro's evidence will be admitted in their courts
of justice. In this situation is it surprising that slaves, when
mildly treated, should prefer even the misery of slavery to such a
mockery of freedom? I was now completely disgusted with the West
Indies, and thought I never should be entirely free until I had left
them.
"With thoughts like these my anxious boding mind
Recall'd those pleasing scenes I left behind;
Scenes where fair Liberty in bright array
Makes darkness bright, and e'en illumines day;
Where nor complexion, wealth, or station, can
Protect the wretch who makes a slave of man."