By this time my curiosity was not only satiated by the diversions of
the great metropolis, but I had wandered off to the country and
visited the most beautiful parts of the islands. Two months thus
slipped by delightfully in Great Britain when a sense of duty called
me to Havana; yet, before my departure, I resolved, if possible, to
secure the alliance of some opulent Englishman to aid me in the
foundation and maintenance of lawful commerce at Cape Mount. Such a
person I found in Mr. George Clavering Redman, of London, who owned
the Gil Blas, which, with two other vessels, he employed in trade
between England and Africa.
I had been introduced to this worthy gentleman as "a lawful trader on
the coast," still, as I did not think that business relations ought to
exist between us while he was under so erroneous an impression, I
seized an early opportunity to unmask myself. At the same time, I
announced my unalterable resolution to abandon a slaver's life for
ever; to establish a trading post at some fortunate location; and,
while I recounted the friendship and peculiar bonds between the king
and myself, offered to purchase Cape Mount from its African
proprietor, if such an enterprise should be deemed advisable.
Redman was an enterprising merchant. He heard my proposal with
interest, and, after a few days' consideration, assented to a
negotiation, as soon as I gave proofs of having abandoned the slave
traffic for ever. It was understood that no contract was to be entered
into, or document signed, till I was at liberty to withdraw completely
from Don Pedro Blanco and all others concerned with him. This
accomplished, I was to revisit England and assume my lawful functions.
* * * * *
When I landed in the beautiful Queen of the Antilles I found Don Pedro
in no humor to accede to these philanthropic notions. The veteran
slaver regarded me, no doubt, as a sort of cross between a fool and
zealot. An American vessel had been recently chartered to carry a
freight to the coast; and, accordingly, instead of receiving a release
from servitude, I was ordered on board the craft as supercargo of the
enterprise! In fact, on the third day after my arrival at Havana, I
was forced to re-embark for the coast without a prospect of securing
my independence.
The reader may ask why I did not burst the bond, and free myself at a
word from a commerce with which I was disgusted? The question is
_natural_--but the reply is _human_. I had too large an unliquidated
interest at New Sestros, and while it remained so, I was not entitled
to demand from my employer a final settlement for my years of labor.
In other words _I was in his power_, so far as my means were
concerned, and my services were too valuable to be surrendered by him
voluntarily.
A voyage of forty-two days brought me once more to New Sestros,
accompanied by a couple of negro women, who paid their passage and
were lodged very comfortably in the steerage. The elder was about
forty and extremely corpulent, while her companion was younger as well
as more comely.
This respectable dame, after an absence of twenty-four years, returned
to her native Gallinas, on a visit to her father, king Shiakar. At the
age of fifteen, she had been taken prisoner and sent to Havana. A
Cuban confectioner purchased the likely girl, and, for many years,
employed her in hawking his cakes and pies. In time she became a
favorite among the townsfolk, and, by degrees, managed to accumulate
a sufficient amount to purchase her freedom. Years of frugality and
thrift made her proprietor of a house in the city and an egg-stall in
the market, when chance threw in her way a cousin, lately imported
from Africa, who gave her news of her father's family. A quarter of a
century had not extinguished the natural fire in this negro's heart,
and she immediately resolved to cross the Atlantic and behold once
more the savage to whom she owed her birth.
I sent these adventurous women to Gallinas by the earliest trader that
drifted past New Sestros, and learned that they were welcomed among
the islands with all the ceremony common among Africans on such
occasions. Several canoes were despatched to the vessel, with flags,
tom-toms, and horns, to receive and welcome the ladies. On the shore,
a procession was formed, and a bullock offered to the captain in token
of gratitude for his attention.
When her elder brother was presented to the retired egg-merchant, he
extended his arms to embrace his kinswoman; but, to the amazement of
all, she drew back with a mere offer of her hand, refusing every
demonstration of affection _till he should appear dressed with
becoming decency_. This rebuke, of course, kept the rest of her
relatives at bay, for there was a sad deficiency of trowsers in the
gang, and it was the indispensable garment that caused so unsisterly a
reception.
But Shiakar's daughter, travelled as she was, could neither set the
fashions nor reform the tastes of Gallinas. After a sojourn of ten
days, she bade her kindred an eternal adieu, and returned to Havana,
disgusted with the manners and customs of her native land.