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[Illustration:
CAPTAIN CANOT
OR
TWENTY YEARS
OF AN
AFRICAN SLAVER
D. APPLETON & CO.]
CAPTAIN CANOT;
OR,
TWENTY YEARS OF AN AFRICAN SLAVER
BEING AN ACCOUNT OF
HIS CAREER AND ADVENTURES ON THE COAST,
IN THE INTERIOR, ON SHIPBOARD, AND IN
THE WEST INDIES.
WRITTEN OUT AND EDITED FROM THE
Captain's Journals, Memoranda and Conversations,
BY
BRANTZ MAYER.
NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
846 & 848 BROADWAY.
LONDON: 16 LITTLE BRITAIN.
M.DCCC.LIV.
[Illustration: MANDINGO CHIEF AND HIS SWORD BEARER.]
ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by
BRANTZ MAYER,
in the Clerk's Office of the United States District Court for the
District of Maryland.
TO
N. P. WILLIS,
OF IDLEWILD.
MY DEAR WILLIS,
While inscribing this work with your name, as a testimonial of our
long, unbroken friendship, you will let me say, I am sure, not only
how, but why I have written it.
About a year ago I was introduced to its hero, by Dr. James Hall, the
distinguished founder and first governor of our colony at Cape Palmas.
While busy with his noble task in Africa, Dr. Hall accidentally became
acquainted with Captain Canot, during his residence at Cape Mount, and
was greatly impressed in his favor by the accounts of all who knew
him. Indeed,--setting aside his career as a slaver,--Dr. Hall's
observation convinced him that Canot was a man of unquestionable
integrity. The zeal, moreover, with which he embraced the first
opportunity, after his downfall, to mend his fortunes by honorable
industry in South America, entitled him to respectful confidence. As
their acquaintance ripened, my friend gradually drew from the wanderer
the story of his adventurous life, and so striking were its incidents,
so true its delineations of African character, that he advised the
captain to prepare a copious memorandum, which I should write out for
the public.
Let me tell you why I undertook this task; but first, let me assure
you that, entertaining as the story might have been for a large class
of readers, I would not have composed a line for the mere
gratification of scandalous curiosity. My conversations with Canot
satisfied me that his disclosures were more thoroughly candid than
those of any one who has hitherto related his connection with the
traffic. I thought that the evidence of one who, for twenty years,
played the chief part in such a drama, was of value to society, which,
is making up its mind, not only about a great political and domestic
problem, but as to the nature of the race itself. I thought that a
true picture of aboriginal Africa,--unstirred by progress,--unmodified
by reflected civilization,--full of the barbarism that blood and
tradition have handed down from the beginning, and embalmed in its
prejudices, like the corpses of Egypt,--could not fail to be of
incalculable importance to philanthropists who regard no people as
beyond the reach of enlightenment.
The completed task rises before me like a moving panorama whose
scenery and background are the ocean and tropics, and whose principal
actor combines the astuteness of Fouche with the dexterity of Gil
Blas. I have endeavored to set forth his story as plainly as possible,
letting events instead of descriptions develope a chequered life which
was incessantly connected with desperate men of both colors. As he
unmasked his whole career, and gave me leave to use the incidents, I
have not dared to hide what the actor himself displayed no wish to
conceal. Besides the sketches of character which familiarize us with
the aboriginal negro in Africa, there is a good moral in the
resultless life, which, after all its toils, hazards, and successes
leaves the adventurer a stranded wreck in the prime of manhood. One
half the natural capacity, employed industriously in lawful commerce,
would have made the captain comfortable and independent. Nor is there
much to attract in the singular abnegation of civilized happiness in a
slaver's career. We may not be surprised, that such an _animal_ as Da
Souza, who is portrayed in these pages, should revel in the
sensualities of Dahomey; but we must wonder at the passive endurance
that could chain a superior order of man, like Don Pedro Blanco, for
fifteen unbroken years, to his pestilential hermitage, till the
avaricious anchorite went forth from the marshes of Gallinas, laden
with gold. I do not think this story is likely to seduce or educate a
race of slavers!
The frankness of Canot's disclosures may surprise the more reserved
and timid classes of society; but I am of opinion that there is an
ethnographic value in the account of his visit to the Mandingoes and
Fullahs, and especially in his narrative of the wars, jugglery,
cruelty, superstition, and crime, by which one sixth of Africa
subjects the remaining five sixths to servitude.
As the reader peruses these characteristic anecdotes, he will ask
himself how,--in the progress of mankind,--such a people is to be
approached and dealt with? Will the Mahometanism of the North which is
winning its way southward, and infusing itself among the crowds of
central Africa, so as, in some degree, to modify their barbarism,
prepare the primitive tribes to receive a civilization and faith which
are as true as they are divine? Will our colonial fringe spread its
fibres from the coast to the interior, and, like veins of refreshing
blood, pour new currents into the mummy's heart? Is there hope for a
nation which, in three thousand years, has hardly turned in its sleep?
The identical types of race, servitude, occupation, and character that
are now extant in Africa, may be found on the Egyptian monuments built
forty centuries ago; while a Latin poem, attributed to Virgil,
describes a menial negress who might unquestionably pass for a slave
of our Southern plantations:
"Interdum clamat Cybalen; erat unica custos;
Afra genus, tota patriam testante figura;
Torta comam, labroque tumens, et fusca colorem;
Pectore lata, jacens mammis, compressior alvo,
Cruribus exilis, spatiosa prodiga planta;
Continuis rimis calcanea scissa rigebant."[1]
It will be seen from these hints that our memoir has nothing to do
with slavery as a North American institution, except so far as it is
an inheritance from the system it describes; yet, in proportion as the
details exhibit an innate or acquired inferiority of the negro race
_in its own land_, they must appeal to every generous heart in behalf
of the benighted continent.
It has lately become common to assert that Providence permits _an
exodus through slavery_, in order that the liberated negro may in time
return, and, with foreign acquirements, become the pioneer of African
civilization. It is attempted to reconcile us to this "good from
evil," by stopping inquiry with the "inscrutability of God's ways!"
But we should not suffer ourselves to be deceived by such imaginary
irreverence; for, in God's ways, there is nothing _less_ inscrutable
than his _law of right_. That law is never qualified in this world. It
moves with the irresistible certainty of organized nature, and, while
it makes man free, in order that his responsibility may be
unquestionable, it leaves mercy, even, for the judgment hereafter.
Such a system of divine law can never palliate _the African slave
trade_, and, in fact, it is the basis of that human legislation which
converts the slaver into a pirate, and awards him a felon's doom.
For these reasons, we should discountenance schemes like those
proposed not long ago in England, and sanctioned by the British
government, for the encouragement of spontaneous emigration from
Africa under the charge of _contractors_. The plan was viewed with
fear by the colonial authorities, and President Roberts at once issued
a proclamation to guard the natives. No one, I think, will read this
book without a conviction that the idea of _voluntary expatriation_
has not dawned on the African mind, and, consequently, what might
begin in laudable philanthropy would be likely to end in practical
servitude.
Intercourse, trade, and colonization, in slow but steadfast growth,
are the providences intrusted to us for the noble task of
civilization. They who are practically acquainted with the colored
race of our country, have long believed that gradual colonization was
the only remedy for Africa as well as America. The repugnance of the
free blacks to _emigration from our shores_ has produced a tardy
movement, and thus the African population has been thrown back grain
by grain, and not wave by wave. Every one conversant with the state of
our colonies, knows how beneficial this languid accretion has been. It
moved many of the most enterprising, thrifty, and independent. It
established a social nucleus from the best classes of American colored
people. Like human growth, it allowed the frame to mature in muscular
solidity. It gave immigrants time to test the climate; to learn the
habit of government in states as well as in families; to acquire the
bearing of freemen; to abandon their imitation of the whites among
whom they had lived; and thus, by degrees, to consolidate a social and
political system which may expand into independent and lasting
nationality. Instead, therefore, of lamenting the slowness with which
the colonies have reached their vigorous promise, we should consider
it a blessing that the vicious did not rush forth in turbulent crowds
with the worthy, and impede the movements of better folks, who were
still unused to the task of self-reliance.
Men are often too much in a hurry to do good, and mar by excessive
zeal what patience would complete. "Deus quies quia aeternus," saith
St. Augustine. The cypress is a thousand years in growth, yet its
limbs touch not the clouds, save on a mountain top. Shall the
regeneration of a continent be quicker than its ripening? That would
be miracle--not progress.
Accept this offering, my dear Willis, as a token of that sincere
regard, which, during an intimacy of a quarter of a century, has never
wavered in its friendly trust.
Faithfully, yours,
BRANTZ MAYER.
BALTIMORE, _1st July, 1854_.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] MORETUM,--Carm. Virg. Wagner's ed. vol. 4, p. 301.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAP. I.--My parentage and education--Apprenticed at Leghorn to
an American captain--First voyage--its mishaps--overboard--black
cook--Sumatra--cabin-boy--Arrival in Boston--My first
_command_--View of Boston harbor from the mast-head--My first
interview with a Boston merchant, WILLIAM GRAY 1
CHAP. II.--My uncle tells my adventure with LORD BYRON--CAPTAIN
TOWNE, and my life in Salem--My skill in Latin--Five years
voyaging from Salem--I rescue a Malay girl at Quallahbattoo--The
_first_ slave I ever saw--End of my apprenticeship--My backslidings
in Antwerp and Paris--Ship on a British vessel for Brazil--The
captain and his wife--Love, grog, and grumbling--A scene in the
harbor of Rio--Matrimonial happiness--Voyage to Europe--Wreck
and loss on the coast near Ostend 10
CHAP. III.--I design going to South America--A Dutch galliot
for Havana--Male and female captain--Run foul of in the Bay
of Biscay--Put into Ferrol, in Spain--I am appropriated by
a _new_ mother, grandmother, and sisters--A comic scene--How
I got out of the scrape--Set sail for Havana--Jealousy of
the captain--Deprived of my post--Restored--Refuse to do
duty--Its sad consequences--Wrecked on a reef near
Cuba--Fisherman-wreckers--Offer to land cargo--Make a bargain
with our salvors--A sad _denouement_--A night bath and escape 19
CHAP. IV.--Bury my body in the sand to escape the insects--Night
of horror--Refuge on a tree--Scented by bloodhounds--March to
the rancho--My guard--Argument about my fate--"MY UNCLE" RAFAEL
suddenly appears on the scene--Magic change effected by
my relationship--Clothed, and fed, and comforted--I find an
uncle, and am protected--MESCLET--Made cook's mate--Gallego,
the cook--His appearance and character--DON RAFAEL'S
story--"Circumstances"--His counsel for my conduct on the
island 31
CHAP. V.--Life on a sand key--Pirates and wreckers--Their
difference--Our galliot destroyed--the gang goes to Cuba--I am
left with Gallego--His daily fishing and nightly flitting--I
watch him--My discoveries in the graveyard--Return of the
wreckers--"Amphibious Jews"--Visit from a Cuban
inspector--"Fishing license"--Gang goes to Cape Verde--Report
of a fresh wreck--Chance of escape--Arrival--Return of
wreckers--Bachicha and his clipper--Death of Mesclet--My
adventures in a privateer--My restoration to the key--Gallego's
charges--His trial and fate 41
CHAP. VI.--I am sent from the key--Consigned to a grocer at
Regla--CIBO--His household--Fish-loving padre--Our dinners
and studies--Rafael's fate--Havana--A slaver--I sail for
Africa--The Areostatico's voyage, crew, gale--Mutiny--How
I meet it alone--My first night in Africa! 57
CHAP. VII.--Reflections on my conduct and character--Morning
after the mutiny--Burial of the dead--My wounds--JACK ORMOND
or the "MONGO JOHN"--My physician and his prescription--Value
of woman's milk--I make the vessel ready for her slave cargo--I
dine with Mongo John--His harem--Frolic in it--Duplicity of my
captain--I take service with Ormond as his clerk--I _pack_ the
human cargo of the Areostatico--Farewell to my English
cabin-boy--His story 68
CHAP. VIII.--I take possession of my new quarters--My household
and its fittings--History of Mr. Ormond--How he got his rights
in Africa--I take a survey of his property and of my duties--The
Cerberus of his harem--Unga-golah's stealing--Her rage at my
opposition--A night visit at my quarters--ESTHER, the
quarteroon--A warning and a sentimental scene--Account of
an African factor's harem--Mongo John in his decline--His
women--Their flirtations--Battles among the girls--How African
beaus fight a duel _for love_!--Scene of passionate jealousy
among the women 76
CHAP. IX.--Pains and dreariness of the "wet season"--African
rain!--A CARAVAN announced as coming to the Coast--Forest
paths and trails in Africa--How we arrange to catch a
caravan--"Barkers," who they are--AHMAH-DE-BELLAH, son of
the ALI-MAMI of FOOTHA-YALLON--A Fullah chief leads the caravan
of 700 persons--Arrival of the caravan--Its character and
reception--Its produce taken charge of--People billeted--Mode
of trading for the produce of a caravan--(_Note:_ Account of
the produce, its value and results)--Mode of purchasing
the produce--Sale over--Gift of an ostrich--Its value in
guns--_Bungee_ or "_dash_"--Ahmah-de-Bellah--How he got up
his caravan--Blocks the forest paths--Convoy duties--Value and
use of blocking the forest paths--Collecting debts, &c.--My
talks with Ahmah--his instructions and sermons on Islamism--My
geographical disquisitions, rotundity of the world, the Koran--I
consent to turn, _minus_ the baptism!--Ahmah's attempt to vow
me to Islamism--Fullah punishments--Slave wars--Piety and
profit--Ahmah and I exchange gifts--A double-barrelled gun
for a Koran--I promise to visit the Fullah country 84
CHAP. X.--Mode of purchasing Slaves at factories--Tricks of
jockeys--Gunpowder and lemon-juice--I become absolute manager
of the stores--Reconciliation with Unga-golah--La belle
Esther--I get the African fever--My nurses--Cured by sweating
and bitters--Ague--Showerbath remedy--MR. EDWARD JOSEPH--My
union with him--I quit the Mongo, and take up my quarters with
the Londoner 94
CHAP. XI.--An epoch in my life in 1827--A vessel arrives
consigned to me for slaves--LA FORTUNA--How I managed to sell
my cigars and get a cargo, though I had no factory--My first
shipment--(Note on the cost and profit of a slave voyage)--How
slaves are selected for various markets, and shipped--Go on
board naked--hearty feed before embarkation--Stowage--Messes--Mode
of eating--Grace--Men and women separated--Attention to health,
cleanliness, ventilation--Singing and amusements--Daily
purification of the vessel--Night, order and silence preserved
by negro constables--Use and disuse of handcuffs--Brazilian
slavers--(Note on condition of slavers since the treaty with
Spain) 99
CHAP. XII.--How a cargo of slaves is landed in Cuba--Detection
avoided--"_Gratificaciones_." Clothes distributed--Vessel burnt
or sent in as a coaster, or in distress--A slave's first glimpse
of a Cuban plantation--Delight with food and dress--Oddity of
beasts of burden and vehicles--A slave's first interview
with a negro _postilion_--the postilion's sermon in favor of
slavery--Dealings with the anchorites--How tobacco smoke blinds
public functionaries--My popularity on the Rio Pongo--Ormond's
enmity to me 107
CHAP. XIII.--I become intimate with "Country princes" and receive
their presents--Royal marriages--Insulting to refuse a proffered
wife--I am pressed to wed a princess and my diplomacy to escape
the sable noose--My partner agrees to marry the princess--The
ceremonial of wooing and wedding in African high life--COOMBA 110
CHAP. XIV.--JOSEPH, my partner, has to fly from Africa--How
I save our property--My visit to the BAGERS--their primitive
mode of life--Habits--Honesty--I find my property unguarded and
safe--My welcome in the village--Gift of a goat--Supper--Sleep--A
narrow escape in the surf on the coast--the skill of KROOMEN 118
CHAP. XV.--I study the institution of SLAVERY IN AFRICA--Man
becomes a "legal tender," or the coin of Africa--Slave wars,
how they are directly promoted by the peculiar adaptation
of the trade of the great commercial nations--Slavery an
immemorial institution in Africa--How and why it will always be
retained--Who are made _home_ slaves--Jockeys and brokers--Five
sixths of Africa in domestic bondage 126
CHAP. XVI.--Caravan announced--MAMI-DE-YONG, from Footha-Yallon,
uncle of Ahmah-de-Bellah--My ceremonious reception--My
preparations for the chief--Coffee--his school and
teaching--NARRATIVE OF HIS TRIP TO TIMBUCTOO--Queer
black-board map--prolix story teller--Timbuctoo and its
trade--Slavery 129
CHAP. XVII.--I set forth on my journey to TIMBO, to see
the father of Ahmah-de-Bellah--My caravan and its mode of
travel--My Mussulman passport--Forest roads--Arrive at KYA
among the MANDINGOES--My lodgings--IBRAHIM ALI--Our supper
and "bitters"--A scene of piety, love and liquor--Next morning's
headache--ALI-NINPHA begs leave to halt for a day--I manage our
Fullah guide--My fever--Homoeopathic dose of Islamism from the
Koran--My cure--Afternoon 136
CHAP. XVIII.--A ride on horseback--Its exhilaration in the
forest--Visit to the DEVIL'S FOUNTAIN--Tricks of an echo and
sulphur water--Ibrahim and I discourse learnedly upon the ethics
of fluids--My respect for national peculiarities--Our host's
liberality--Mandingo etiquette at the departure of a guest--A
valuable gift from Ibrahim and its delicate bestowal--My offering
in return--Tobacco and brandy 143
CHAP. XIX.--A night bivouac in the forest--Hammock swung between
trees--A surprise and capture--What we do with the fugitive
slaves--A Mandingo upstart and his "town"--Inhospitality--He
insults my Fullah leader--A quarrel--The Mandingo is seized and
his townsfolk driven out--We tarry for Ali-Ninpha--He returns and
tries his countrymen--Punishment--Mode of inculcating the social
virtues among these interior tribes--We cross the Sanghu on an
impromptu bridge--Game--Forest food--Vegetables--A "Witch's
cauldron" of reptiles for the negroes 147
CHAP. XX.--Spread of Mahometanism in the interior of Africa--The
external aspect of nature in Africa--Prolific land--Indolence
a law of the physical constitution--My caravan's progress--The
ALI-MAMI'S PROTECTION, its value--Forest scenery--Woods,
open plains, barrancas and ravines--Their intense
heat--Prairies--Swordgrass--River scenery, magnificence
of the shores, foliage, flowers, fruits and birds; picturesque
towns, villages and herds--Mountain scenery, view, at _morning_,
over the lowlands--An African noon 153
CHAP. XXI.--We approach TAMISSO--Our halt at a brook--bathing,
beautifying, and adornment of the women--Message and welcome
from MOHAMEDOO, by his son, with a gift of food--Our musical
escort and procession to the city--My horse is led by a buffoon
of the court, who takes care of my face--Curiosity of the
townsfolk to see the white Mongo--I pass on hastily to the
PALACE OF MOHAMEDOO--What an African palace and its furniture
is--Mohamedoo's appearance, greeting and dissatisfaction--I make
my present and clear up the clouds--I determine to bathe--How
the girls watch me--Their commentaries on my skin and
complexion--Negro curiosity--A bath scene--Appearance of
Tamisso, and my entertainment there 157
CHAP. XXII.--Improved character of country and population as
we advance to the interior--We approach JALLICA--Notice to
SUPHIANA--A halt for refreshment and ablutions--Ali-Ninpha's
early home here--A great man in SOOLIMANA--Sound of the
war-drum at a distance--Our welcome--Entrance to the town--My
party, with the Fullah, is barred out--We are rescued--Grand
ceremonial procession and reception, lasting two hours--I am,
at last, presented to Suphiana--My entertainment in Jallica--A
concert--Musical instruments--MADOO, the _ayah_--I reward her
dancing and singing 162
CHAP. XXIII.--Our caravan proceeds towards Timbo--Met
and welcomed in advance, on a lofty table land, by
Ahmah-de-Bellah--Psalm of joy song by the Fullahs for our
safety--We reach TIMBO before day--A house has been specially
built and furnished for me--Minute care for my taste and
comforts--Ahmah-de-Bellah _a trump_--A fancy dressing-gown
and ruffled shirt--I bathe, dress, and am presented to
the ALI-MAMI--His inquisitive but cordial reception and
recommendation--Portrait of a Fullah king--A breakfast with
his wife--My formal reception by the Chiefs of Timbo and
SULIMANI-ALI--The ceremonial--Ahmah's speech as to my
purposes--Promise of hospitality--My gifts--I design purchasing
slaves--scrutiny of the presents--_Cantharides_--ABDULMOMEN-ALI,
a prince and book-man--His edifying discourse on Islamism--My
submission 167
CHAP. XXIV.--Site of Timbo and the surrounding country--A ride
with the princes--A modest custom of the Fullahs in passing
streams--Visit to villages--The inhabitants fly, fearing we are
on a slave scout--Appearance of the cultivated lands, gardens,
near Findo and Furo--Every body shuns me--A walk through Timbo--A
secret expedition--I watch the girls and matrons as they go to
the stream to draw water--Their figures, limbs, dress--A splendid
headdress--The people of Timbo, their character, occupation,
industry, reading--I announce my approaching departure--Slave
forays to supply me--A capture of forty-five by Sulimani-Ali--The
personal dread of me increases--Abdulmomen and Ahmah-de-Bellah
continue their slave hunts by day, and their pious discourses on
Islamism by night--I depart--The farewell gifts--two pretty
damsels 176
CHAP. XXV.--My home journey--We reach home with a caravan near a
thousand strong--Kambia in order--Mami-de-Yong and my clerk--The
story and fate of the Ali-Mami's daughter BEELJIE 183
CHAP. XXVI.--Arrival of a French slaver, LA PEROUSE, Captain
Brulot--Ormond and I breakfast on board--Its sequel--We are made
prisoners and put in irons--Short mode of collecting an old debt
on the coast of Africa--The Frenchman gets possession of our
slaves--Arrival of a Spanish slaver 190
CHAP. XXVII.--Ormond communicates with the Spaniard, and arranges
for our rescue--LA ESPERANZA--Brulot gives in--How we fine him
two hundred and fifty doubloons for the expense of his suit, and
teach him the danger of playing tricks upon African factors 196
CHAP. XXVIII.--CAPT. ESCUDERO of the Esperanza dies--I resolve
to take his place in command and visit Cuba--Arrival of a Danish
slaver--Quarrel and battle between the crews of my Spaniard and
the Dane--The Dane attempts to punish me through the duplicity of
Ormond--I bribe a servant and discover the trick--My conversation
with Ormond--We agree to circumvent the enemy--How I get a cargo
without cash 200
CHAP. XXIX.--Off to sea--A calm--A British man-of-war--Boat
attack--Reinforcement--A battle--A catastrophe--A prisoner 206
CHAP. XXX.--I am sent on board the corvette--My reception--A
dangerous predicament--The Captain and surgeon make me
comfortable for the night--Extraordinary conveniences for
escape, of which I take the liberty to avail myself 214
CHAP. XXXI.--I drift away in a boat with my servant--Our
adventures till we land in the ISLES DE LOSS--My illness and
recovery--I return to the Rio Pongo--I am received on board a
French slaver--Invitation to dinner--Monkey soup and its
consequences 218
CHAP. XXXII.--My greeting in KAMBIA--The FELIZ from
Matanzas--Negotiations for her cargo--Ormond attempts
to poison me--Ormond's _suicide_--His burial according
to African customs 222
CHAP. XXXIII.--A visit to the MATACAN river in quest of
slaves--My reception by the king--His appearance--Scramble
for my gifts--How slaves are sometimes trapped on a hasty
hunt--I visit the MATACAN WIZARD; his cave, leopard, blind
boy--Deceptions and jugglery--Fetiches--A scale of African
intellect 227
CHAP. XXXIV.--What became of the Esperanza's officers and
crew--The destruction of my factory at Kambia by fire--I lose
all but my slaves--the incendiary detected--Who instigated the
deed--Ormond's relatives--DEATH OF ESTHER--I go to sea in a
schooner from Sierra Leone--How I acquire a cargo of slaves
in the Rio Nunez without money 233
CHAP. XXXV.--I escape capture--Symptoms of mutiny and detection
of the plot--How we put it down 240
CHAP. XXXVI.--A "white squall"--I land my cargo near St. Jago de
Cuba--Trip to Havana on horseback--My consignees and their prompt
arrangements--success of my voyage--Interference of the French
Consul--I am _nearly_ arrested--How things were managed, of old,
in Cuba 244
CHAP. XXXVII.--A long holiday--I am wrecked on a key--My
rescue by salvors--New Providence--I ship on the SAN PABLO,
from St. Thomas's, as sailing master--Her captain and
his arrangements--Encounter a transport--Benefit of the
small-pox--Mozambique Channel--Take cargo near QUILLIMANE--How
we managed to get slaves--Illness of our captain--The
small-pox breaks out on our brig--Its fatality 248
CHAP. XXXVIII.--Our captain _longs_ for calomel, and how I get
it from a Scotchman--Our captain's last will and testament--We
are chased by a British cruiser--How we out-manoevred and
crippled her--Death of our captain--Cargo landed and the San
Pablo burnt 255
CHAP. XXXIX.--My returns from the voyage $12,000, and how I apply
them--A custom-house encounter which loses me LA CONCHITA and
my money--I get command of a slaver for AYUDAH--LA ESTRELLA--I
consign her to the notorious DA SOUZA or CHA-CHA--His history
and mode of life in Africa--His gambling houses and women--I
keep aloof from his temptations, and contrive to get my cargo
in two months 260
CHAP. XL.--All Africans believe in divinities or powers of
various degree, except the Bagers--Iguanas worshipped in
Ayudah--Invitation to witness the HUMAN SACRIFICES at the court
of DAHOMEY--How they travel to ABOMEY--The King, his court,
amazons, style of life, and brutal festivities--Superstitious
rights at LAGOS--The JUJU hunts by night for the virgin to be
sacrificed--Gree-gree bush--The sacrifice--African priest and
kingcraft 265
CHAP. XLI.--My voyage home in the ESTRELLA--A REVOLT OF THE
SLAVES during a squall, and how we were obliged to suppress
it--Use of pistols and hot water 272
CHAP. XLII.--Smallpox and a _necessary murder_--Bad luck every
where--A chase and a narrow escape 276
CHAP. XLIII.--The AGUILA DE ORO, a Chesapeake clipper--my race
with the Montesquieu--I enter the river Salum to trade for
slaves--I am threatened, then arrested, and my clipper seized by
French man-of-war's men--Inexplicable mystery--We are imprisoned
at GOREE--Transferred to San Louis on the Senegal--The Frenchmen
appropriate my schooner without condemnation--How they used her
The sisters of charity in our prison--The trial scene in court,
and our sentence--Friends attempt to facilitate my escape, but
our plans detected--I am transferred to a guard-ship in the
stream--New projects for my escape--A jolly party and the nick
of time, but the captain spoils the sport 280
CHAP. XLIV.--I am sent to France in the frigate FLORA--Sisters
of charity--The prison of Brest--My prison companions--Prison
mysteries--CORPORAL BLON--I apply to the Spanish
minister--Transfer to the civil prison 286
CHAP. XLV.--MADAME SORRET and my new quarters--Mode of life--A
lot of Catalan girls--Prison boarding and lodging--Misery of
the convicts in the coast prisons--Improvement of the central
prisons 292
CHAP. XLVI.--New lodgers in our quarters--How we pass our
time in pleasant diversions by aid of the Catalan girls and
my cash--Soirees--My funds give out--Madame Sorret makes a
suggestion--I turn schoolmaster, get pupils, teach English
and penmanship, and support my whole party 295
CHAP. XLVII.--MONSIEUR GERMAINE, the forger--His trick--Cause of
Germaine's arrest--An adroit and rapid forgery--Its detection 300
CHAP. XLVIII.--Plan of escape--Germaine's project against
Babette--A new scheme for New Year's night--Passports--PIETRO
NAZZOLINI and DOMINICO ANTONETTI--Preparations for our "French
leave"--How the attempt eventuated 304
CHAP. XLIX.--Condition of the sentinel when he was found--His
story--Prison researches next day--How we avoid detection--Louis
Philippe receives my petition favorably--Germaine's philosophic
pilfering and principles--His plan to rob the SANTISSIMA CASA OF
LORETTO--He designs making an attempt on the Emperor Nicholas--I
am released and banished from France 310
CHAP. L.--I go to Portugal, and return in disguise to Marseilles,
in order to embark for Africa--I resolve to continue a slaver--A
Marseilles hotel during the cholera--DOCTOR DU JEAN and MADAME
DUPREZ--Humors of the _table d'hote_--Coquetry and flirtation--A
phrenological _denouement_ 316
CHAP. LI.--I reach Goree, and hasten to Sierra Leone, where I
become a coast-pilot to GALLINAS--Site of that celebrated
factory--_Don_ PEDRO BLANCO--His monopoly of the Vey
country--Slave-trade and its territorial extent prior to
the AMERICAN SCHEME OF COLONIZATION--Blanco's arrangements,
telegraphs, &c. at Gallinas--Appearance and mode of life--Blanco
and the Lords' prayer in Latin 324
CHAP. LII.--Anecdotes of Blanco--Growth of slave-trade in
the VEY country--Local wars--AMARAR and SHIAKAR--Barbarities
of the natives 330
CHAP. LIII.--I visit LIBERIA, and observe a new phase of negro
development--I go to NEW SESTROS, and establish trade--Trouble
with Prince FREEMAN--The value of gunpowder physic 335
CHAP. LIV.--My establishment at New Sestros, and how I created
the slave-trade in that region--The ordeal of SAUCY-WOOD--My
mode of attacking a superstitious usage, and of saving the
victims--The story of BARRAH and his execution 339
CHAP. LV.--No river at New Sestros--Beach--Kroomen and
Fishmen--Bushmen--Kroo boats--I engage a fleet of them for
my factory--I ship a cargo of slaves in a hurry--My mode
of operating--Value of rum and mock coral beads--Return
of the cruiser 344
CHAP. LVI.--I go on a pleasure voyage in the Brilliant,
accompanied by GOVERNOR FINDLEY--Murder of the Governor--I
fit out an expedition to revenge his death--A fight with
the beach negroes--We burn five towns--A disastrous retreat--I
am wounded--Vindication of Findley's memory 349
CHAP. LVII.--What Don Pedro Blanco thought of my
Quixotism--Painful effects of my wound--Blanco's
liberality to Findley's family--My slave _nurseries_
on the coast--Digby--I pack nineteen negroes on my launch,
and set sail for home--Disastrous voyage--Stories--I land
my cargo at night at MONROVIA, and carry it through the
colony!--Some new views of commercial Morality! 356
CHAP. LVIII.--My compliments to British cruisers--The BONITO--I
offer an inspection of my barracoons, &c., to her officers--A
lieutenant and the surgeon are sent ashore--My reception of them,
and the review of my slaves, feeding, sleeping, &c.--Our night
frolic--Next morning--A surprise--The Bonito off, and her
officers ashore!--Almost a quarrel--How I pacified my guests over
a good breakfast--Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander 362
CHAP. LIX.--Ups and downs--I am captured in a Russian vessel,
and sent to Sierra Leone--It is resolved that I am to be despatched
to England--I determine to take French leave--Preparation
to celebrate a birthday--A feast--A martinet--CORPORAL
BLUNT--Pleasant effects of cider--A swim for life and liberty
at night--My concealment--I manage to equip myself, and depart
in a Portuguese vessel--I ship thirty-one slaves at Digby--A
narrow escape from a cruiser--My return to New Sestros--Report
of my death--How I restored confidence in my actual existence--Don
Pedro's notion of me--The gift of a donkey, and its disastrous
effect on the married ladies of New Sestros 369
CHAP. LX.--The confession of a dying sailor--SANCHEZ--The story
of the murder of Don Miguel, and destruction of his factory by
THOMPSON--A piratical revenge--An _auto-da-fe_ at sea 377
CHAP. LXI.--My establishment at Digby--The rival kinsmen,
and their quarrel--JEN-KEN, THE BUSHMAN--My arrival at
Digby, carousal--A night attack by the rival and his
allies--A rout--Horrid scenes of massacre, barbarity,
and cannibalism--My position and ransom 382
CHAP. LXII.--I escape from the bloody scene in a boot with
a Krooman--Storm on the coast--My perilous attempt to land
at Gallinas--How I am warned off--An African tornado--The
sufferings of my companion and myself while exposed in the
boat, and our final rescue 387
CHAP. LXIII.--Don Pedro Blanco leaves Gallinas--I visit Cape
Mount, to restore his son to the Chief--His reception--I go
to England in the GIL BLAS; she is run down by steamer in the
Channel--Rescued, and reach Dover--I see London and the British
Islands--The diversions, sufferings, and opinions of my servant
LUNES in Great Britain--He leaves voluntarily for Africa--A queer
chat and scene with the ladies--His opinion of negro dress and
negro bliss 391
CHAP. LXIV.--I make arrangements for future trade and business
with MR. REDMAN--I go to Havana, resolved to obtain a release
from Blanco, and engage in lawful commerce--Don Pedro refuses,
and sends me back with a freight--A voyage with two African
females revisiting their native country--Their story in Cuba;
results of frugality and industry--Shiakar's daughter--Her
reception at home--Her disgust with her savage home in Africa,
and return to Cuba 396
CHAP. LXV.--I find my establishment in danger, from the colonists
and others--A correspondence with LIEUT. BELL, U. S. N.--Harmless
termination of GOVERNOR BUCHANAN's onslaught--Threatened with
famine; my relief--The VOLADOR takes 749 slaves;--THE LAST CARGO
I EVER SHIPPED 399
CHAP. LXVI.--I am attacked by the British cruiser TERMAGANT,
Lieut. SEAGRAM--Correspondence and diplomacy--I go on board the
cruiser in a _damp uniform_--My reception and jollification--I
CONFESS MY INTENTION TO ABANDON THE SLAVE-TRADE--My compact
with Seagram--How we manage Prince Freeman--His treaty with
the Lieutenant for the suppression of the trade--The negro's
duplicity outwits himself--The British officer guaranties
the safe removal of my property, whereupon I release 100
slaves--Captain DENMAN'S DESTRUCTION OF GALLINAS--Freeman
begins to see my diplomacy, and regrets his inability to
plunder my property, as the natives had done at Gallinas--His
plot to effect this--How I counteract it 405
CHAP. LXVII.--My barracoons destroyed--Adieus to New Sestros--I
sail with Seagram, in the Termagant, for Cape Mount--A slaver
in sight--All the nautical men depart to attack her in boats
during a calm--I am left in charge of Her Britannic Majesty's
cruiser--The fruitless issue--Escape of the Serea 411
CHAP. LXVIII.--We land at Cape Mount, and obtain a cession of
territory, by deed, from KING FANA-TORO and PRINCE GRAY--I
explore the region--Site of old English slave factory--Difficulty
of making the negroes comprehend my improvements at New
Florence--Negro speculations and philosophy in regard to labor. 414
CHAP. LXIX.--Visit to Monrovia--Description of the colony and
its products--Speculations on the future of the republic, and
the character of colored colonization 419
CHAP. LXX.--I remove, and settle permanently at New Florence--I
open communications with cruisers to supply them with provisions,
&c.--Anecdote of SOMA, the gambler--His sale and danger in the
hands of a Bushman--Mode of gambling one's self away in Africa--A
letter from Governor Macdonald destroys my prospect of British
protection--I haul down the British flag--I determine to devote
myself to husbandry--Bad prospect 424
CHAP. LXXI.--Account of the character of the VEY negroes--The
GREE-GREE bush--Description of this institution, its rites,
services, and uses--Marriage and midwifery--A scene with
Fana-Toro, at Toso--Human sacrifice of his enemy; frying a
heart; indignity committed on the body--Anecdote of the king's
endurance; burns his finger as a test, and rallies his men--Death
of Prince Gray--Funeral rites among the Vey people--_Smoking the
corpse_--I am offered the choice of his widows 429
CHAP. LXXII.--My workshops, gardens, and plantations at the Cape
Mount settlement--I do not prosper as a farmer or trader with
_the interior_--I decide to send a _coaster_ to aid in the
transfer of the Yankee clipper A---- to a slaver--I part on bad
terms with the British--Game at Cape Mount--Adventure of a boy
and an _Ourang-outang_--How we killed leopards, and saved our
castle--Mode of hunting elephants--Elephant law 437
CHAP. LXXIII.--Fana-Toro's war, and its effect on my
establishment--I decline joining actively in the conflict--I
allow captives to be shipped by a Gallinas factor--Two years
of blockade by the British--A miraculous voyage of a long-boat
with thirty-three slaves to Bahia--My disasters and mishaps
at Cape Mount in consequence of this war--Exaggerations of
my enemies--My true character--Letter from Rev. JOHN SEYS to
me--My desire to aid the missionaries--CAIN and CURTIS stimulate
the British against me--Adventure of the Chancellor--the British
destroy my establishment--Death of Fana-Toro--The natives revenge
my loss--The end 442
THEODORE CANOT.
CHAPTER I.
Whilst Bonaparte was busy conquering Italy, my excellent father, Louis
Canot, a captain and paymaster in the French army, thought fit to
pursue his fortunes among the gentler sex of that fascinating country,
and luckily won the heart and hand of a blooming Piedmontese, to whom
I owe my birth in the capital of Tuscany.
My father was faithful to the Emperor as well as the Consul. He
followed his sovereign in his disasters as well as glory: nor did he
falter in allegiance until death closed his career on the field of
Waterloo.
Soldiers' wives are seldom rich, and my mother was no exception to the
rule. She was left in very moderate circumstances, with six children
to support; but the widow of an old campaigner, who had partaken the
sufferings of many a long and dreary march with her husband, was
neither disheartened by the calamity, nor at a loss for thrifty
expedients to educate her younger offspring. Accordingly, I was kept
at school, studying geography, arithmetic, history and the languages,
until near twelve years old, when it was thought time for me to choose
a profession. At school, and in my leisure hours, I had always been a
greedy devourer of books of travel, or historical narratives full of
stirring incidents, so that when I avowed my preference for a
sea-faring life, no one was surprised. Indeed, my fancy was rather
applauded, as two of my mother's brothers had served in the Neapolitan
navy, under Murat. Proper inquiries were quickly made at Leghorn; and,
in a few weeks, I found myself on the _mole_ of that noble seaport,
comfortably equipped, with a liberal outfit, ready to embark, as an
apprentice, upon the American ship Galatea, of Boston.
It was in the year 1819, that I first saluted the element upon which
it has been my destiny to pass so much of my life. The reader will
readily imagine the discomforts to which I was subjected on this
voyage. Born and bred in the interior of Italy, I had only the most
romantic ideas of the sea. My opinions had been formed from the lives
of men in loftier rank and under more interesting circumstances. My
career was necessarily one of great hardship; and, to add to my
misfortunes, I had neither companion nor language to vent my grief and
demand sympathy. For the first three months, I was the butt of every
joker in the ship. I was the scape-goat of every accident and of every
one's sins or carelessness. As I lived in the cabin, each plate,
glass, or utensil that fell to leeward in a gale, was charged to my
negligence. Indeed, no one seemed to compassionate my lot save a fat,
lubberly negro cook, whom I could not endure. He was the _first_
African my eye ever fell on, and I must confess that he was the only
friend I possessed during my early adventures.
Besides the officers of the Galatea, there was a clerk on board, whom
the captain directed to teach me English, so that, by the time we
reached Sumatra, I was able to stand up for my rights, and plead my
cause. As we could not obtain a cargo of pepper on the island, we
proceeded to Bengal; and, on our arrival at Calcutta, the captain, who
was also supercargo, took apartments on shore, where the clerk and
myself were allowed to follow him.
According to the fashion of that period, the house provided for our
accommodation was a spacious and elegant one, equipped with every
oriental comfort and convenience, while fifteen or twenty servants
were always at the command of its inmates. For three months we lived
like nabobs, and sorry, indeed, was I when the clerk announced that
the vessel's loading was completed, and our holiday over.
On the voyage home, I was promoted from the cabin, and sent into the
steerage to do duty as a "light hand," in the chief mate's watch.
Between this officer and the captain there was ill blood, and, as I
was considered the master's pet, I soon began to feel the bitterness
of the subordinate's spite. This fellow was not only cross-grained,
but absolutely malignant. One day, while the ship was skimming along
gayly with a five-knot breeze, he ordered me out to the end of the
jib-boom to loosen the sail; yet, without waiting until I was clear of
the jib, he suddenly commanded the men who were at the halliards to
hoist the canvas aloft. A sailor who stood by pointed out my
situation, but was cursed into silence. In a moment I was jerked into
the air, and, after performing half a dozen involuntary summersets,
was thrown into the water, some distance from the ship's side. When I
rose to the surface, I heard the prolonged cry of the anxious crew,
all of whom rushed to the ship's side, some with ropes' ends, some
with chicken coops, while others sprang to the stern boat to prepare
it for launching. In the midst of the hurly-burly, the captain reached
the deck, and laid the ship to; the sailor who had remonstrated with
the mate having, in the meantime, clutched that officer, and attempted
to throw him over, believing I had been drowned by his cruelty. As the
sails of the Galatea flattened against the wind, many an anxious eye
was strained over the water in search of me; but I was nowhere seen!
In truth, as the vessel turned on her heel, the movement brought her
so close to the spot where I rose, that I clutched a rope thrown over
for my rescue, and climbed to the lee channels without being
perceived. As I leaped to the deck, I found one half the men in
tumultuous assemblage around the struggling mate and sailor; but my
sudden apparition served to divert the mob from its fell purpose, and,
in a few moments, order was perfectly restored. Our captain was an
intelligent and just man, as may be readily supposed from the fact
that he exclusively controlled so valuable an enterprise.
Accordingly, the matter was examined with much deliberation; and, on
the following day, the chief mate was deprived of his command. I
should not forget to mention that, in the midst of the excitement, my
sable friend the cook leaped overboard to rescue his _protege_. Nobody
happened to notice the darkey when he sprang into the sea; and, as he
swam in a direction quite contrary from the spot where I fell, he was
nigh being lost, when the ship's sails were trimmed upon her course.
Just at that moment a faint call was heard from the sea, and the
woolly skull perceived in time for rescue.
This adventure elevated not only "little Theodore," but our "culinary
artist" in the good opinion of the mess. Every Saturday night my
African friend was allowed to share the cheer of the forecastle, while
our captain presented him with a certificate of his meritorious deed,
and made the paper more palatable by the promise of a liberal bounty
in current coin at the end of the voyage.
I now began to feel at ease, and acquire a genuine fondness for sea
life. My aptitude for languages not only familiarized me with English,
but enabled me soon to begin the scientific study of navigation, in
which, I am glad to say, that Captain Solomon Towne was always pleased
to aid my industrious efforts.
We touched at ST. HELENA for supplies, but as Napoleon was still
alive, a British frigate met us within five miles of that rock-bound
coast, and after furnishing a scant supply of water, bade us take our
way homeward.
I remember very well that it was a fine night in July, 1820, when we
touched the wharf at Boston, Massachusetts. Captain Towne's family
resided in Salem, and, of course, he was soon on his way thither. The
new mate had a young wife in Boston, and he, too, was speedily
missing. One by one, the crew sneaked off in the darkness. The second
mate quickly found an excuse for a visit in the neighborhood; so that,
by midnight, the Galatea, with a cargo valued at about one hundred and
twenty thousand dollars, was intrusted to the watchfulness of a
stripling cabin-boy.
I do not say it boastfully, but it is true that, whenever I have been
placed in responsible situations, from the earliest period of my
recollection, I felt an immediate stirring of that pride which always
made me equal, or at least willing, for the required duty. All night
long I paced the deck. Of all the wandering crowd that had accompanied
me nearly a year across many seas, I alone had no companions, friends,
home, or sweetheart, to seduce me from my craft; and I confess that
the sentiment of loneliness, which, under other circumstances, might
have unmanned me at my American greeting, was stifled by the mingled
vanity and pride with which I trod the quarter-deck as temporary
captain.
When dawn ripened into daylight, I remembered the stirring account my
shipmates had given of the beauty of Boston, and I suddenly felt
disposed to imitate the example of my fellow-sailors. Honor, however,
checked my feet as they moved towards the ship's ladder; so that,
instead of descending her side, I closed the cabin door, and climbed
to the main-royal yard, to _see_ the city at least, if I could not
mingle with its inhabitants. I expected to behold a second Calcutta;
but my fancy was not gratified. Instead of observing the long,
glittering lines of palaces and villas I left in India and on the
Tuscan shore, my Italian eyes were first of all saluted by dingy
bricks and painted boards. But, as my sight wandered away from the
town, and swept down both sides of the beautiful bay, filled with its
lovely islands, and dressed in the fresh greenness of summer, I
confess that my memory and heart were magically carried away into the
heart of Italy, playing sad tricks with my sense of duty, when I was
abruptly restored to consciousness by hearing the heavy footfall of a
stranger on deck.
The intruder--as well as I could see from aloft--seemed to be a stout,
elderly person. I did not delay to descend the ratlins, but slid down
a back-stay, just in time to meet the stranger as he approached our
cabin. My notions of Italian manners did not yet permit me to
appreciate the greater freedom and social liberty with which I have
since become so familiar in America, and it may naturally be supposed
that I was rather peremptory in ordering the inquisitive Bostonian to
leave the ship. I was in command--in my _first_ command; and so
unceremonious a visit was peculiarly annoying. Nor did the conduct of
the intruder lessen my anger, as, quietly smiling at my order, he
continued moving around the ship, and peered into every nook and
corner. Presently he demanded whether I was alone? My self-possession
was quite sufficient to leave the question unanswered; but I ordered
him off again, and, to enforce my command, called a dog that did not
exist. My _ruse_, however, did not succeed. The Yankee still continued
his examination, while I followed closely on his heels, now and then
twitching the long skirts of his surtout to enforce my mandate for his
departure.
During this promenade, my unwelcome guest questioned me about the
captain's health,--about the mate,--as to the cause of his
dismissal,--about our cargo,--and the length of our voyage. Each new
question begot a shorter and more surly answer. I was perfectly
satisfied that he was not only a rogue, but a most impudent one; and
my Franco-Italian temper strained almost to bursting.
By this time, we approached the house which covered the steering-gear
at the ship's stern, and in which were buckets containing a dozen
small turtles, purchased at the island of Ascension, where we stopped
to water after the refusal at St. Helena. The turtle at once attracted
the stranger's notice, and he promptly offered to purchase them. I
stated that only half the lot belonged to me, but that I would sell
the whole, provided he was able to pay. In a moment, my persecutor
drew forth a well-worn pocket-book, and handing me six dollars, asked
whether I was satisfied with the price. The dollars were
unquestionable gleams, if not absolute proofs, of honesty, and I am
sure my heart would have melted had not the purchaser insisted on
taking one of the buckets to convey the turtles home. Now, as these
charming implements were part of the ship's pride, as well as
property, and had been laboriously adorned by our marine artists with
a spread eagle and the vessel's name, I resisted the demand, offering,
at the same time, to return the money. But my turtle-dealer was not to
be repulsed so easily; his ugly smile still sneered in my face as he
endeavored to push me aside and drag the bucket from my hand. I soon
found that he was the stronger of the two, and that it would be
impossible for me to rescue my bucket fairly; so, giving it a sudden
twist and shake, I contrived to upset both water and turtles on the
deck, thus sprinkling the feet and coat-tails of the veteran with a
copious ablution. To my surprise, however, the tormentor's cursed grin
not only continued but absolutely expanded to an immoderate laugh, the
uproariousness of which was increased by another suspicious Bostonian,
who leaped on deck during our dispute. By this time I was in a red
heat. My lips were white, my checks in a blaze, and my eyes sparks.
Beyond myself with ferocious rage, I gnashed my teeth, and buried them
in the hand which I could not otherwise release from its grasp on the
bucket. In the scramble, I either lost or destroyed part of my bank
notes; yet, being conqueror at last, I became clement, and taking up
my turtles, once more insisted upon the departure of my annoyers.
There is no doubt that I larded my language with certain epithets,
very current among sailors, most of which are learned more rapidly by
foreigners than the politer parts of speech.
Still the abominable monster, nothing daunted by my onslaught, rushed
to the cabin, and would doubtless have descended, had not I been
nimbler than he in reaching the doors, against which I placed my back,
in defiance. Here, of course, another battle ensued, enlivened by a
chorus of laughter from a crowd of laborers on the wharf. This time I
could not bite, yet I kept the apparent thief at bay with my feet,
kicking his shins unmercifully whenever he approached, and swearing in
the choicest Tuscan.
He who knows any thing of Italian character, especially when it is
additionally spiced by French condiments, may imagine the intense rage
to which so volcanic a nature as mine was, by this time, fully
aroused. Language and motion were nearly exhausted. I could neither
speak nor strike. The mind's passion had almost produced the body's
paralysis. Tears began to fall from my eyes: but still he laughed! At
length, I suddenly flung wide the cabin doors, and leaping below at a
bound, seized from the rack a loaded musket, with which I rushed upon
deck. As soon as the muzzle appeared above the hatchway, my tormentor
sprang over the ship, and by the time I reached the ladder, I found
him on the wharf, surrounded by a laughing and shouting crowd. I shook
my head menacingly at the group; and shouldering my firelock, mounted
guard at the gangway. It was fully a quarter of an hour that I paraded
(occasionally ramming home my musket's charge, and varying the
amusement by an Italian defiance to the jesters), before the tardy
mate made his appearance on the wharf. But what was my consternation,
when I beheld him advance deferentially to my pestilent visitor, and
taking off his hat, respectfully offer to conduct him on board! This
was a great lesson to me in life on the subject of "appearances." The
shabby old individual was no less a personage than the celebrated
William Gray, of Boston, owner of the Galatea and cargo, and
proprietor of many a richer craft then floating on every sea.
But Mr. Gray was a forgiving enemy. As he left the ship that morning,
he presented me fifty dollars, "in exchange," he said, "for the six
destroyed in protection of his property;" and, on the day of my
discharge, he not only paid the wages of my voyage, but added fifty
dollars more to aid my schooling in scientific navigation.
Four years after, I again met this distinguished merchant at the
Marlborough Hotel, in Boston. I was accompanied, on that occasion, by
an uncle who visited the United States on a commercial tour. When my
relative mentioned my name to Mr. Gray, that gentleman immediately
recollected me, and told my venerable kinsman that he never received
such abuse as I bestowed on him in July, 1820! The sting of my teeth,
he declared, still tingled in his hand, while the kicks I bestowed on
his ankles, occasionally displayed the scars they had left on his
limbs. He seemed particularly annoyed, however, by some caustic
remarks I had made about his protuberant stomach, and forgave the
blows but not the language.
My uncle, who was somewhat of a tart disciplinarian, gave me an
extremely black look, while, in French, he demanded an explanation of
my conduct. I knew Mr. Gray, however, better than my relative; and so,
without heeding his reprimand, I answered, in English, that if I
cursed the ship's owner on that occasion, it was my _debut_ in the
English language on the American continent; and as my Anglo-Saxon
education had been finished in a forecastle, it was not to be expected
I should be select in my vocabulary. "Never the less," I added, "Mr.
Gray was so delighted with my _accolade_, that he valued my defence of
his property and our delicious _tete-a-tete_ at the sum of a hundred
dollars!"