"Soft airs, and gentle heavings of the wave,
Impel the fleet whose errand is to save!
But ah! what wish can prosper, or what pray'r,
For merchants rich in cargoes of despair.
The sable warrior, frantic with regret
Of her he loves, and never can forget,
Loses, in tears, the far-receding shore,
But not the thought that they must meet no more."
Cowper.
Night shed her silent influence over the mighty deep; the firmament
was bright with myriads of glittering worlds; the moon, in full and
mild lustre, rode majestically, like a sphere of silver light, on the
summit of fleecy clouds, and was reflected, in many a fantastic form,
by the tossing waves, the gentle ripplings of which were mingled
with the distant sound of "All is well," borne on the gale from the
fort, the regular tread of the watch on deck, and the boatswain's
shrill whistle. The rush of the shark, "cutting the briny deep,"
as it instinctively followed the floating receptacle of misery, was
the only sound that interrupted, painfully, the heavenly calmness
of the scene and hour; a calmness, alas! little according with the
soul-sickening agitations of the wretched beings, now silently borne
from all held dear and precious, and on their way to all the horrors
of a life in chains. Cargoes of despair they may truly be called!
Imagination, in its loftiest flight, must come short in attempting to
embody in words, the smallest part of the aggregate of misery which
exists on board a slave-ship; it will, therefore, not be attempted:
one only being of the wretched number must appear a moment on our
theatre of woe; he who had so forcibly arrested the attention of
Irving, when visiting the slave-rooms.
Confined promiscuously with such a multitude of his wretched
countrymen, the agony of his feelings is not to be described. With the
form and visage of a man, he felt, indignantly felt, that his destiny
was that of the beast of the field, and his soul seemed bursting from
the frame that confined it. Wearied nature at length found a short
cessation from the unutterable pangs of woe, in sleep--in consoling
visions! He dreamt he was in his own beloved country, in the enjoyment
of honour and command, caressed by his family, served by his wonted
attendants, and surrounded with the comforts of his former life:
his spicy groves exhaling sweets, his palm-tree's refreshing shade,
his rivers teeming riches, his domestic endearments, his war-like
preparations, and his hard-earned triumphs, came in succession on
his fancy. But the sweet delusions were too soon dispelled: he awoke,
with a hurried start, to the sad, sad reality, that he was a slave in
the midst of slaves. The rapid retrospect of former happiness with
existing misery, rushed on his soul; and the dreadful reverse drew
from his manly breast the most affecting lamentations. Every dear
object of his regard flitted before his mental view; but, alas! there
was no reality but misery--interminable bondage: there was no fond eye
to behold, no persuasive tongue to soothe, no attentive ear to listen
to his woe. Mingled with the meanest of his subjects, whom he had no
power to relieve; subjected to the cruelty and insolence of wretches
a thousand degrees lower in the scale of humanity and intellectual
endowment, yet arrogating their superiority as Christians, and the
proud distinctions of national advantages, his soul refused comfort,
and he determined upon death. Little did he think this foe to nature
was so near; little did he imagine the horrid form in which he would
present himself; and that there might be circumstances which, at the
moment of expiring nature, would make him cling to, and even give
value to a life of perpetual bondage!
The vessel made considerable way during the night, and the morning
rose, with glorious splendour and beneficent freshness, upon the
world of waters; on the majestic bosom of which, floated such an
accumulation of moral turpitude and excelling misery! The hour
arrived when the slaves were to be brought on deck for air and
exercise. The sable warrior anticipated it with a gloomy joy, as
the most favourable opportunity of effecting his designed purpose of
self-destruction; and when he found he was to be fastened to the deck,
he violently resisted. This, however, did but provoke his oppressors
to increased indignities. In the midst of this struggle, he became
calm as a lamb, resistless as an infant. The sound of a female voice,
singing a mournful African air, seemed to have bound him by a potent
spell. (Note P.) His eyes appeared as if bursting from their orbits,
his whole frame trembled; while the big tear rolled silently down
his sable countenance, which assumed a mingled expression of doubt,
hope, and agony. He at first directed his piercing eyes to the air,
as if he thought the song proceeded from some hovering, viewless
spirit. He again renewed his efforts to get free, and fixed his gaze
intently on the remotest part of the ship, from whence the sound
seemed to proceed, but nothing met his view: the song, however, still
continued, only interrupted, at intervals, by deep sobs of anguish,
and the scarcely-heard voice of infantine distress.
Rendered desperate by the confinement under such powerful emotions,
he called loudly on the spirits of his fathers, to avenge him on the
Christian tyrants; and while enduring, in consequence, the cruel
scourging and insulting mockery of the barbarian crew, a piercing
scream was heard, and the poor Imihie was seen rushing from an
obscure place, (in which the captain had indulged her to remain,)
with the infant Samboe clinging to her bosom. In a moment the names
of Tumiáh! Imihie! were interchanged; and the exhausted Imihie,
letting her child fall from her relaxing arms, threw herself upon
the panting bosom of her enchained and manacled husband.
We invade not the feelings of that moment: language has nothing to
do with them. The Being who formed the heart of man, can alone judge
of its emotions.
The maternal affection was not, however, long absorbed in the conjugal;
and the half frantic Imihie recollected, that Samboe was not enfolded
with her in the arms of Tumiáh. She loosened herself with difficulty
from his embrace, to restore her child to his wonted protection within
her own; but, at the moment she arose for the purpose, a tumultuous cry
resounded through the ship, of "fire! fire! Loosen the slaves! loosen
the slaves!" The fire, however, spread with such violence, bursting
from the spirit-room, that the sailors, apprehending that it was
impossible to extinguish it before it would reach a large quantity of
gunpowder on board, concluded it necessary to precipitate themselves
into the sea, as offering the only chance of saving their lives.
However, they did first endeavour to loose the chains by which the
slaves were fastened to the deck; but in the confusion the key
could not be found, and they had but just time to loosen one of
the fastenings, by wrenching the staple, before the vehemence of
the fire so increased, that they simultaneously jumped overboard;
when immediately, the fire having gained the powder, the vessel blew
up, with every slave that was confined by the unloosened chain, and
such others as had not possessed the power to follow the example of
the sailors.
We hardly know whether to style it fortunate, that any circumstance
should save these victims of avarice from a watery grave, after
escaping that which, to the sense, seems more terrible. Providence,
however, ordained that there should be some vessels in sight; which,
putting out their boats, took up about two hundred and fifty of the
poor souls that remained alive; but the most of them being those who
had been fastened together with shackles, had, from the violence of
the shock, and the confinement of the irons, experienced dreadful
fractures of the limbs; which, inflamed by the struggles they had
instinctively made, the heat, and the agitated state of the blood,
quickly mortified, and ere they were scarcely sensible of their
increase of calamity, released them, for ever, from all fear of it
more. Among the number who thus yielded up his manly spirit, was
Tumiáh, rejoicing in the belief that his Imihie and Samboe were also
removed to a land of spirits--a land where no man-stealer can enter,
no treachery gain access, no violence invade. He might have adopted
the words of the poet:
"Now, Christian, glut thy ravish'd eyes;
I reach the joyful hour:
Let, let the scorching flames arise,
And these poor limbs devour.
"O Death, how welcome to th' opprest!
Thy kind embrace I crave;
Thou bringst to Misery's bosom rest,
And freedom to the slave!"
The fond belief, however, of the expiring Tumiáh, that his wife and
child had escaped the horrors of bondage, was fallacious. Previously
to the calamity, the feelings of the wretched Imihie had been wrought
up nearly to their utmost height; the sight of the quick-advancing
flames, therefore, was sufficient to augment them to frenzy, and with a
strength which frenzy only could impart, to a frame exhausted by want
of nourishment and continual grief, she snatched the infant Samboe
from the deck, upon which he had fallen, and where, unheeded by one
pitying eye, he remained, without uttering any cry or attempting to
move; for, overcome by terror of the noise and brutality of the crew,
the sight of the immense ocean, and the want of that nourishment which
he in vain sought from the exhausted bosom of his wretched mother,
the suffering child seemed unable to move, or even to utter any sound.
Imihie pressed him closely to her breast, turned a momentary and
frenzied glance upon her enchained husband, and uttering a faint cry of
terror, cast herself and precious burden into the foaming deep. But it
was not decreed to become her tomb. Almost by miracle, she was thrown
near a boat which had put off from a Spanish slave-vessel, and was
picked up by the crew, with Samboe still closely entwined within her
arms; without, however, exhibiting the smallest appearance of remaining
life. But the vital spark was not yet extinct. She was immediately
put on board the ship, and means of resuscitation used with both her
and her child, as well as several other equally miserable victims of
avarice. Heaven decreed these efforts to be effectual: and thus was
the widowed mother transferred, by the sudden calamity, from one set
of mercenaries to another, yet still doomed to slavery! The vessel
had taken in her cargo at Rio Pongos, and was bound for the Havannah;
but her stowage was too small to allow her, with impunity, to keep the
increase occasioned by the casualty of the fire. She therefore put
into a port, and disposed of them to a ship bound for Jamaica. This
occasioned considerable delay; in consequence of which, when the
transferred slaves were at length on their passage, they were subjected
to all the evils of improper seasons; water failed, provisions became
spoiled and scanty, and many of the slaves the victims of disease,
ere they entered the magnificent harbour of Port Royal.
Arrived at Kingston, they were put in store, until notice should
be given of sale, which was immediately done by advertisement: "On
Tuesday next will be put up for sale, in their store, fifty superb
negroes of the coast; to the purchasers of which will be afforded
all the facilities wished."
* * * "What man reading this,
And having human feelings, does not blush
And hang his head, to think himself a man?"