JOURNEY TO CANADA.
GOOD SAMARITANS.--ALONE IN THE WILDERNESS.--MEET
SOME INDIANS.--REACH SANDUSKY.--ANOTHER FRIEND.--ALL
ABOARD.--BUFFALO.--A "FREE NIGGER."--FRENZY OF JOY ON
REACHING CANADA.
I now felt comparatively at home. Before entering the town I hid my
wife and children in the woods, and then walked on alone in search of
my friends. They welcomed me warmly, and just after dusk my wife and
children were brought in, and we found ourselves hospitably cheered
and refreshed. Two weeks of exposure to incessant fatigue, anxiety,
rain, and chill, made it indescribably sweet to enjoy once more the
comfort of rest and shelter.
Since I have lived in a land of freedom, I have heard harsh and bitter
words spoken of those devoted men who are banded together to succor
and bid God speed the hunted fugitive; men who, through pity for the
suffering, have voluntarily exposed themselves to hatred, fines, and
imprisonment. If there be a God who will have mercy on the merciful,
great shall be their reward. In the great day when men shall stand in
judgment before the Divine Master, crowds of the outcast and forsaken
of earth shall gather around them, and in joyful tones bear witness,
"We were hungry and ye gave us meat, thirsty and ye gave us drink,
naked and ye clothed us, sick and ye visited us." And he who has
declared that, "inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me," shall accept the attestation, and
hail them with his welcome, "Come ye blessed of my father." They can
afford to bide their time. Their glory shall yet be proclaimed from
the house-tops. Meanwhile may that "peace of God which the world can
neither give nor take away" dwell richly in their hearts.
Among such as these--good Samaritans, of whom the Lord would say, "go
ye and do likewise,"--our lot was now cast. Carefully they provided
for our welfare until our strength was recruited, and then they set us
thirty miles on our way by wagon.
We followed the same course as before--travelling by night and resting
by day--till we arrived at the Scioto, where we had been told we
should strike the military road of General Hull, in the last war
with Great Britain, and might then safely travel by day. We found
the road, accordingly, by the large sycamore and elms which marked
its beginning, and entered upon it with fresh spirits early in the
day. Nobody had told us that it was cut through the wilderness, and
I had neglected to provide any food, thinking we should soon come
to some habitation, where we could be supplied. But we travelled on
all day without seeing one, and lay down at night, hungry and weary
enough. The wolves were howling around us, and though too cowardly to
approach, their noise terrified my poor wife and children. Nothing
remained to us in the morning but a little piece of dried beef, too
little, indeed, to satisfy our cravings, but enough to afflict us
with intolerable thirst. I divided most of this among us, and then we
started for a second day's tramp in the wilderness. A painful day it
was to us. The road was rough, the underbrush tore our clothes and
exhausted our strength; trees that had been blown down blocked the
way; we were faint with hunger; and no prospect of relief opened up
before us. We spoke little, but steadily struggled along; I with my
babes on my back, my wife aiding the two other children to climb over
the fallen trunks and force themselves through the briers. Suddenly,
as I was plodding along a little ahead of my wife and the boys, I
heard them call me, and turning round saw my wife prostrate on the
ground. "Mother's dying," cried Tom; and when I reached her it seemed
really so. From sheer exhaustion she had fallen in surmounting a log.
Distracted with anxiety, I feared she was gone. For some minutes no
sign of life was manifest; but after a time she opened her eyes, and
finally recovering enough to take a few mouthfuls of the beef, her
strength returned, and we once more went bravely on our way. I cheered
the sad group with hopes I was far from sharing myself. For the first
time I was nearly ready to abandon myself to despair. Starvation in
the wilderness was the doom that stared me and mine in the face. But
again, "man's extremity was God's opportunity."
We had not gone far, and I suppose it was about three o'clock in the
afternoon, when we discerned some persons approaching us at no great
distance. We were instantly on the alert, as we could hardly expect
them to be friends. The advance of a few paces showed me they were
Indians, with packs on their shoulders; and they were so near that if
they were hostile it would be useless to try to escape. So I walked
along boldly, till we came close upon them. They were bent down with
their burdens, and had not raised their eyes till now; and when they
did so, and saw me coming towards them, they looked at me in a
frightened sort of way for a moment, and then, setting up a peculiar
howl, turned round, and ran as fast as they could. There were three
or four of them, and what they were afraid of I could not imagine,
unless they supposed I was the devil, whom they had perhaps heard of
as black. But, even then, one would have thought my wife and children
might have reassured them. However, there was no doubt they were well
frightened, and we heard their wild and prolonged howl, as they ran,
for a mile or more. My wife was alarmed, too, and thought they were
merely running back to collect more of a party, and then to come and
murder us; and she wanted to turn back. I told her they were numerous
enough to do that, if they wanted to, without help; and that as for
turning back, I had had quite too much of the road behind us, and that
it would be a ridiculous thing that both parties should run away. If
they were disposed to run, I would follow. We did follow, and the
noise soon ceased. As we advanced, we could discover Indians peeping
at us from behind the trees, and dodging out of sight if they thought
we were looking at them. Presently we came upon their wigwams, and saw
a fine-looking, stately Indian, with his arms folded, waiting for us
to approach. He was, apparently, the chief; and, saluting us civilly,
he soon discovered we were human beings, and spoke to his young men,
who were scattered about, and made them come in and give up their
foolish fears. And now curiosity seemed to prevail. Each one wanted
to touch the children, who were as shy as partridges with their long
life in the woods; and as they shrunk away, and uttered a little cry
of alarm, the Indian would jump back too, as if he thought they would
bite him. However, a little while sufficed to make them understand
what we were, and whither we were going, and what we needed; and as
little to set them about supplying our wants, feeding us bountifully,
and giving us a comfortable wigwam for our night's rest. The next day
we resumed our march, having ascertained from the Indians that we were
only about twenty-five miles from the lake. They sent some of their
young men to point out the place where we were to turn off, and parted
from us with as much kindness as possible.
In passing over the part of Ohio near the lake, where such an
extensive plain is found, we came to a spot overflowed by a stream,
across which the road passed. I forded it first, with the help of a
sounding-pole, and then taking the children on my back, first the
two little ones, and then the others, one at a time, and, lastly, my
wife, I succeeded in getting them safely across. At this time the skin
was worn from my back to an extent almost equal to the size of the
knapsack.
One night more was passed in the woods, and in the course of the next
forenoon we came out upon the wide plain, without trees, which lies
south and west of Sandusky city. The houses of the village were in
plain sight. About a mile from the lake I hid my wife and children
in the bushes, and pushed forward. I was attracted by a house on the
left, between which and a small coasting vessel a number of men
were passing and repassing with great activity. Promptly deciding to
approach them, I drew near, and scarcely had I come within hailing
distance, when the captain of the schooner cried out, "Hollo there,
man! you want to work?" "Yes, sir!" shouted I. "Come along, come
along; I'll give you a shilling an hour. Must get off with this wind."
As I came near, he said, "O, you can't work; you're crippled." "Can't
I?" said I; and in a minute I had hold of a bag of corn, and followed
the gang in emptying it into the hold. I took my place in the line of
laborers next to a colored man, and soon got into conversation with
him. "How far is it to Canada?" He gave me a peculiar look, and in a
minute I saw he knew all. "Want to go to Canada? Come along with us,
then. Our captain's a fine fellow. We're going to Buffalo." "Buffalo;
how far is that from Canada?" "Don't you know, man? Just across the
river." I now opened my mind frankly to him, and told him about my
wife and children. "I'll speak to the captain," said he. He did so,
and in a moment the captain took me aside, and said, "The Doctor
says you want to go to Buffalo with your family." "Yes, sir." "Well,
why not go with me!" was his frank reply. "Doctor says you've got a
family." "Yes sir." "Where do you stop?" "About a mile back." "How
long have you been here?" "No time," I answered, after a moment's
hesitation. "Come, my good fellow, tell us all about it. You're
running away, ain't you?" I saw he was a friend, and opened my heart
to him. "How long will it take you to get ready?" "Be here in half an
hour, sir." "Well, go along and get them." Off I started; but, before
I had run fifty feet, he called me back. "Stop," says he; "you go on
getting the grain in. When we get off, I'll lay to over opposite that
island, and send a boat back. There's a lot of regular nigger-catchers
in the town below, and they might suspect if you brought your party
out of the bush by daylight." I worked away with a will. Soon the two
or three hundred bushels of corn were aboard, the hatches fastened
down, the anchor raised, and the sails hoisted.
I watched the vessel with intense interest as she left her moorings.
Away she went before the free breeze. Already she seemed beyond the
spot at which the captain agreed to lay to, and still she flew along.
My heart sunk within me; so near deliverance, and again to have my
hopes blasted, again to be cast on my own resources. I felt that they
had been making a mock of my misery. The sun had sunk to rest, and
the purple and gold of the west were fading away into grey. Suddenly,
however, as I gazed with weary heart, the vessel swung round into the
wind, the sails flapped, and she stood motionless. A moment more, and
a boat was lowered from her stern, and with steady stroke made for the
point at which I stood. I felt that my hour of release had come. On
she came, and in ten minutes she rode up handsomely on to the beach.
My black friend and two sailors jumped out, and we started off at once
for my wife and children. To my horror, they were gone from the place
where I left them. Overpowered with fear, I supposed they had been
found and carried off. There was no time to lose, and the men told
me I would have to go alone. Just at the point of despair, however,
I stumbled on one of the children. My wife, it seemed, alarmed at my
long absence, had given up all for lost, and supposed I had fallen
into the hands of the enemy. When she heard my voice, mingled with
those of the others, she thought my captors were leading me back to
make me discover my family, and in the extremity of her terror she
had tried to hide herself. I had hard work to satisfy her. Our long
habits of concealment and anxiety had rendered her suspicious of every
one; and her agitation was so great that for a time she was incapable
of understanding what I said, and went on in a sort of paroxysm of
distress and fear. This, however, was soon over, and the kindness of
my companions did much to facilitate the matter.
And now we were off for the boat. It required little time to embark
our baggage--one convenience, at least, of having nothing. The men
bent their backs with a will, and headed steadily for a light hung
from the vessel's mast. I was praising God in my soul. Three hearty
cheers welcomed us as we reached the schooner, and never till my dying
day shall I forget the shout of the captain--he was a Scotchman--"Coom
up on deck, and clop your wings and craw like a rooster; you're a free
nigger as sure as the devil." Round went the vessel, the wind plunged
into her sails as though innoculated with the common feeling--the
water seethed and hissed passed her sides. Man and nature, and, more
than all, I felt the God of man and nature, who breathes love into the
heart and maketh the winds his ministers, were with us. My happiness,
that night, rose at times to positive pain. Unnerved by so sudden
a change from destitution and danger to such kindness and blessed
security, I wept like a child.
The next evening we reached Buffalo, but it was too late to cross
the river that night. "You see those trees," said the noble hearted
captain next morning, pointing to a group in the distance; "they grow
on free soil, and as soon as your feet touch that you're a _mon_. I
want to see you go and be a freeman. I'm poor myself, and have nothing
to give you; I only sail the boat for wages; but I'll see you across.
Here Green," said he to a ferryman; "what will you take this man and
his family over for--he's got no money?" "Three shillings." He then
took a dollar out of his pocket and gave it to me. Never shall I
forget the spirit in which he spoke. He put his hand on my head and
said, "Be a good fellow, won't you?" I felt streams of emotion running
down in electric courses from head to foot. "Yes," said I; "I'll use
my freedom well; I'll give my soul to God." He stood waving his hat
as we pushed off for the opposite shore. God bless him! God bless him
eternally! Amen!
It was the 28th of October, 1830, in the morning, when my feet first
touched the Canada shore. I threw myself on the ground, rolled in the
sand, seized handfuls of it and kissed them, and danced round till,
in the eyes of several who were present, I passed for a madman. "He's
some crazy fellow," said a Colonel Warren, who happened to be there.
"O, no, master! don't you know? I'm free!" He burst into a shout of
laughter. "Well, I never knew freedom make a man roll in the sand in
such a fashion." Still I could not control myself. I hugged and kissed
my wife and children, and, until the first exuberant burst of feeling
was over, went on as before.