in it disgusted me very much against the place; and when I left it and
sailed for Martinico I determined never more to revisit it. My new
captain conducted his vessel safer than my former one; and, after an
agreeable voyage, we got safe to our intended port. While I was on
this island I went about a good deal, and found it very pleasant: in
particular I admired the town of St. Pierre, which is the principal
one in the island, and built more like an European town than any I had
seen in the West Indies. In general also, slaves were better treated,
had more holidays, and looked better than those in the English
islands. After we had done our business here, I wanted my discharge,
which was necessary; for it was then the month of May, and I wished
much to be at Montserrat to bid farewell to Mr. King, and all my other
friends there, in time to sail for Old England in the July fleet. But,
alas! I had put a great stumbling block in my own way, by which I was
near losing my passage that season to England. I had lent my captain
some money, which I now wanted to enable me to prosecute my
intentions. This I told him; but when I applied for it, though I urged
the necessity of my occasion, I met with so much shuffling from him,
that I began at last to be afraid of losing my money, as I could not
recover it by law: for I have already mentioned, that throughout the
West Indies no black man's testimony is admitted, on any occasion,
against any white person whatever, and therefore my own oath would
have been of no use. I was obliged, therefore, to remain with him
till he might be disposed to return it to me. Thus we sailed from
Martinico for the Grenades. I frequently pressing the captain for my
money to no purpose; and, to render my condition worse, when we got
there, the captain and his owners quarrelled; so that my situation
became daily more irksome: for besides that we on board had little or
no victuals allowed us, and I could not get my money nor wages, I
could then have gotten my passage free to Montserrat had I been able
to accept it. The worst of all was, that it was growing late in July,
and the ships in the islands must sail by the 26th of that month. At
last, however, with a great many entreaties, I got my money from the
captain, and took the first vessel I could meet with for St. Eustatia.
From thence I went in another to Basseterre in St. Kitts, where I
arrived on the 19th of July. On the 22d, having met with a vessel
bound to Montserrat, I wanted to go in her; but the captain and others
would not take me on board until I should advertise myself, and give
notice of my going off the island. I told them of my haste to be in
Montserrat, and that the time then would not admit of advertising, it
being late in the evening, and the captain about to sail; but he
insisted it was necessary, and otherwise he said he would not take me.
This reduced me to great perplexity; for if I should be compelled to
submit to this degrading necessity, which every black freeman is
under, of advertising himself like a slave, when he leaves an island,
and which I thought a gross imposition upon any freeman, I feared I
should miss that opportunity of going to Montserrat, and then I could
not get to England that year. The vessel was just going off, and no
time could be lost; I immediately therefore set about, with a heavy
heart, to try who I could get to befriend me in complying with the
demands of the captain. Luckily I found, in a few minutes, some
gentlemen of Montserrat whom I knew; and, having told them my
situation, I requested their friendly assistance in helping me off the
island. Some of them, on this, went with me to the captain, and
satisfied him of my freedom; and, to my very great joy, he desired me
to go on board. We then set sail, and the next day, the 23d, I arrived
at the wished-for place, after an absence of six months, in which I
had more than once experienced the delivering hand of Providence,
when all human means of escaping destruction seemed hopeless. I saw my
friends with a gladness of heart which was increased by my absence and
the dangers I had escaped, and I was received with great friendship by
them all, but particularly by Mr. King, to whom I related the fate of
his sloop, the Nancy, and the causes of her being wrecked. I now
learned with extreme sorrow, that his house was washed away during my
absence, by the bursting of a pond at the top of a mountain that was
opposite the town of Plymouth. It swept great part of the town away,
and Mr. King lost a great deal of property from the inundation, and
nearly his life. When I told him I intended to go to London that
season, and that I had come to visit him before my departure, the good
man expressed a great deal of affection for me, and sorrow that I
should leave him, and warmly advised me to stay there; insisting, as I
was much respected by all the gentlemen in the place, that I might do
very well, and in a short time have land and slaves of my own. I
thanked him for this instance of his friendship; but, as I wished very
much to be in London, I declined remaining any longer there, and
begged he would excuse me. I then requested he would be kind enough to
give me a certificate of my behaviour while in his service, which he
very readily complied with, and gave me the following:
_Montserrat, January 26, 1767._
'The bearer hereof, Gustavus Vassa, was my slave for upwards
of three years, during which he has always behaved himself
well, and discharged his duty with honesty and assiduity.
Robert King.
'To all whom this may concern.'
Having obtained this, I parted from my kind master, after many sincere
professions of gratitude and regard, and prepared for my departure for
London. I immediately agreed to go with one Capt. John Hamer, for
seven guineas, the passage to London, on board a ship called the
Andromache; and on the 24th and 25th I had free dances, as they are
called, with some of my countrymen, previous to my setting off; after
which I took leave of all my friends, and on the 26th I embarked for
London, exceedingly glad to see myself once more on board of a ship;
and still more so, in steering the course I had long wished for. With
a light heart I bade Montserrat farewell, and never had my feet on it
since; and with it I bade adieu to the sound of the cruel whip, and
all other dreadful instruments of torture; adieu to the offensive
sight of the violated chastity of the sable females, which has too
often accosted my eyes; adieu to oppressions (although to me less
severe than most of my countrymen); and adieu to the angry howling,
dashing surfs. I wished for a grateful and thankful heart to praise
the Lord God on high for all his mercies!
We had a most prosperous voyage, and, at the end of seven weeks,
arrived at Cherry-Garden stairs. Thus were my longing eyes once more
gratified with a sight of London, after having been absent from it
above four years. I immediately received my wages, and I never had
earned seven guineas so quick in my life before; I had thirty-seven
guineas in all, when I got cleared of the ship. I now entered upon a
scene, quite new to me, but full of hope. In this situation my first
thoughts were to look out for some of my former friends, and amongst
the first of those were the Miss Guerins. As soon, therefore, as I had
regaled myself I went in quest of those kind ladies, whom I was very
impatient to see; and with some difficulty and perseverance, I found
them at May's-hill, Greenwich. They were most agreeably surprised to
see me, and I quite overjoyed at meeting with them. I told them my
history, at which they expressed great wonder, and freely acknowledged
it did their cousin, Capt. Pascal, no honour. He then visited there
frequently; and I met him four or five days after in Greenwich park.
When he saw me he appeared a good deal surprised, and asked me how I
came back? I answered, 'In a ship.' To which he replied dryly, 'I
suppose you did not walk back to London on the water.' As I saw, by
his manner, that he did not seem to be sorry for his behaviour to me,
and that I had not much reason to expect any favour from him, I told
him that he had used me very ill, after I had been such a faithful
servant to him for so many years; on which, without saying any more,
he turned about and went away. A few days after this I met Capt.
Pascal at Miss Guerin's house, and asked him for my prize-money. He
said there was none due to me; for, if my prize money had been
10,000 £. he had a right to it all. I told him I was informed
otherwise; on which he bade me defiance; and, in a bantering tone,
desired me to commence a lawsuit against him for it: 'There are
lawyers enough,' said he, 'that will take the cause in hand, and you
had better try it.' I told him then that I would try it, which enraged
him very much; however, out of regard to the ladies, I remained still,
and never made any farther demand of my right. Some time afterwards
these friendly ladies asked me what I meant to do with myself, and how
they could assist me. I thanked them, and said, if they pleased, I
would be their servant; but if not, as I had thirty-seven guineas,
which would support me for some time, I would be much obliged to them
to recommend me to some person who would teach me a business whereby I
might earn my living. They answered me very politely, that they were
sorry it did not suit them to take me as their servant, and asked me
what business I should like to learn? I said, hair-dressing. They then
promised to assist me in this; and soon after they recommended me to a
gentleman whom I had known before, one Capt. O'Hara, who treated me
with much kindness, and procured me a master, a hair-dresser, in
Coventry-court, Haymarket, with whom he placed me. I was with this man
from September till the February following. In that time we had a
neighbour in the same court who taught the French horn. He used to
blow it so well that I was charmed with it, and agreed with him to
teach me to blow it. Accordingly he took me in hand, and began to
instruct me, and I soon learned all the three parts. I took great
delight in blowing on this instrument, the evenings being long; and
besides that I was fond of it, I did not like to be idle, and it
filled up my vacant hours innocently. At this time also I agreed with
the Rev. Mr. Gregory, who lived in the same court, where he kept an
academy and an evening-school, to improve me in arithmetic. This he
did as far as barter and alligation; so that all the time I was there
I was entirely employed. In February 1768 I hired myself to Dr.
Charles Irving, in Pall-mall, so celebrated for his successful
experiments in making sea water fresh; and here I had plenty of
hair-dressing to improve my hand. This gentleman was an excellent
master; he was exceedingly kind and good tempered; and allowed me in
the evenings to attend my schools, which I esteemed a great blessing;
therefore I thanked God and him for it, and used all my diligence to
improve the opportunity. This diligence and attention recommended me
to the notice and care of my three preceptors, who on their parts
bestowed a great deal of pains in my instruction, and besides were all
very kind to me. My wages, however, which were by two thirds less than
I ever had in my life (for I had only 12l. per annum) I soon found
would not be sufficient to defray this extraordinary expense of
masters, and my own necessary expenses; my old thirty-seven guineas
had by this time worn all away to one. I thought it best, therefore,
to try the sea again in quest of more money, as I had been bred to it,
and had hitherto found the profession of it successful. I had also a
very great desire to see Turkey, and I now determined to gratify it.
Accordingly, in the month of May, 1768, I told the doctor my wish to
go to sea again, to which he made no opposition; and we parted on
friendly terms. The same day I went into the city in quest of a
master. I was extremely fortunate in my inquiry; for I soon heard of a
gentleman who had a ship going to Italy and Turkey, and he wanted a
man who could dress hair well. I was overjoyed at this, and went
immediately on board of his ship, as I had been directed, which I
found to be fitted up with great taste, and I already foreboded no
small pleasure in sailing in her. Not finding the gentleman on board,
I was directed to his lodgings, where I met with him the next day, and
gave him a specimen of my dressing. He liked it so well that he hired
me immediately, so that I was perfectly happy; for the ship, master,
and voyage, were entirely to my mind. The ship was called the Delawar,
and my master's name was John Jolly, a neat smart good humoured man,
just such an one as I wished to serve. We sailed from England in July
following, and our voyage was extremely pleasant. We went to Villa
Franca, Nice, and Leghorn; and in all these places I was charmed with
the richness and beauty of the countries, and struck with the elegant
buildings with which they abound. We had always in them plenty of
extraordinary good wines and rich fruits, which I was very fond of;
and I had frequent occasions of gratifying both my taste and
curiosity; for my captain always lodged on shore in those places,
which afforded me opportunities to see the country around. I also
learned navigation of the mate, which I was very fond of. When we left
Italy we had delightful sailing among the Archipelago islands, and
from thence to Smyrna in Turkey. This is a very ancient city; the
houses are built of stone, and most of them have graves adjoining to
them; so that they sometimes present the appearance of church-yards.
Provisions are very plentiful in this city, and good wine less than a
penny a pint. The grapes, pomegranates, and many other fruits, were
also the richest and largest I ever tasted. The natives are well
looking and strong made, and treated me always with great civility. In
general I believe they are fond of black people; and several of them
gave me pressing invitations to stay amongst them, although they keep
the franks, or Christians, separate, and do not suffer them to dwell
immediately amongst them. I was astonished in not seeing women in any
of their shops, and very rarely any in the streets; and whenever I did
they were covered with a veil from head to foot, so that I could not
see their faces, except when any of them out of curiosity uncovered
them to look at me, which they sometimes did. I was surprised to see
how the 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 was at last granted him,
after we had entirely stripped him. We then let him go, for which he
thanked us, glad to get off so easily, and ran into the bushes, after
having wished us a good voyage. We then repaired on board, and shortly
after set sail for England. I cannot help remarking here a very narrow
escape we had from being blown up, owing to a piece of negligence of
mine. Just as our ship was under sail, I went down into the cabin to
do some business, and had a lighted candle in my hand, which, in my
hurry, without thinking, I held in a barrel of gunpowder. It remained
in the powder until it was near catching fire, when fortunately I
observed it and snatched it out in time, and providentially no harm
happened; but I was so overcome with terror that I immediately fainted
at this deliverance.