Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua, in his own words

At home in Djougou

p. 10

My father, (says Mahommah) rose every morning at four o'clock for prayers, after which he returned to bed, at sunrise he performed his second devotional exercises, at noon he worshipped again, and again at sunset.

Once a year a great fast is held, which lasts a month, during this time nothing is eaten during the day, but in the evening, after some ceremonies are performed, eating is allowed; after eating, worship is permitted in their own homes, and then assemblies for public worship are held. The place of worship was a large and pleasant yard belonging to my grandfather, my uncle was the officiating priest. The oldest people arrange themselves in rows, the priest standing in front, the oldest people next to him, and so on, arranging themselves in order according to age.

The priest commences the devotions by bowing his head toward the earth and saying the following words: "Allah-hah-koo-bar," the people responding "Allah-hah-koo-bar," signifying "God, hear our prayer, answer our prayer." The priest and people then kneel and press their foreheads to the earth, the priest repeating passages from the Koran, and the people responding as before. After this portion of the ceremony is over, the priest and people sitting on the ground count their beads, the priest occasionally repeating passages from the Koran.--They then pray for their king, that Allah would help him to conquer his enemies, and that he would preserve the people from famine, from the devouring locusts, and that he would grant them rain in due season.

Note from The First Refuge. Allahu akbar means "God is greatest". The gloss "God, hear our prayer" is the 1854 book's.

At the close of each day's ceremonies, the worshippers of the prophet go to their respective homes, where the best of everything is provided for the evening's repast. This same worship is repeated daily for thirty days, and closes with one immense mass meeting. The king comes to the city on this occasion and great multitudes from the country all round about, who together with the citizens, collect at the place appointed for worship, called Gui-ge-rah, a little out of the city. This place consecrated to the worship of the false prophet, is one of "God's first Temples." It consisted of several very large trees, forming an extensive and beautiful shade, the ground sandy and entirely destitute of grass, is kept perfectly clean, many thousands can be comfortably seated beneath those trees, and being upon high ground, the appearance of such a mighty assembly, is imposing in the extreme, the seats are merely mats spread out upon the ground. A mound of sand (this sand difers from the sand of the desert, it is a coarse red sand mixed with earth and small stones and can easily be formed into a substantial mound) is raised for the chief priest to stand upon whilst he addresses the people. On these occasions he is dressed in a loose black robe, reaching nearly to the ground, and is attended by four subordinate priests, who kneel around him, holding the bottom of his robe, waving it to and fro. Occasionally the chief priest will "squat like a toad," and when he arises, they resume the operation of waving his robe. These ceremonies concluded the people return home to offer sacrifice, (sarrah) for the dead and living. Thus ends the annual fast.

[ ... ]

Betrayed and sold

p. 34

It has already been stated, that when any person gives evidence of gaining an eminent position in the country, he is immediately envied, and means are taken to put him out of the way; thus when it was seen that my situation was one of trust and confidence with the king, I was of course soon singled out as a fit object of vengeance by an envious class of my countrymen, decoyed away and sold into slavery. I went to the city one day to see my mother, when I was followed by music (the drum) and called to by name, the drum beating to the measure of a song which had been composed apparently in honor of me, on account of, as I supposed, my elevated position with the king. This pleased me mightily, and I felt highly flattered, and was very liberal, and gave the people money and wine, they singing and gesturing the time. About a mile from my mother's house, where a strong drink called Bah-gee, was made out of the grain Har-nee; thither we repaired; and when I had drank plentifully of Bah-gee, I was quite intoxicated, and they persuaded me to go with them to Zar-ach-o, about one mile from Zoogoo, to visit a strange king that I had never seen before. When we arrived there, the king made much of us all, and a great feast was prepared, and plenty of drink was given to me, indeed all appeared to drink very freely.

p. 35

In the morning when I arose, I found that I was a prisoner, and my companions were all gone. Oh, horror! I then discovered that I had been betrayed into the hands of my enemies, and sold for a slave. Never shall I forget my feelings on that occasion; the thoughts of my poor mother harrassed me very much, and the loss of my liberty and honorable position with the king, grieved me very sorely. I lamented bitterly my folly in being so easily deceived, and was led to drown all caution in the bowl. Had it not been that my senses had been taken from me, the chance was that I should have escaped their snares, at least for that time.

The man, in whose company I found myself left by my cruel companions, was one, whose employment was to rid the country of all such as myself. The way he secured me, was after the following manner:--He took a limb of a tree that had two prongs, and shaped it so that it would cross the back of my neck, it was then fastened in front with an iron bolt; the stick was about six feet long.

[ ... ]

The road to the sea

p. 35

Confined thus, I was marched forward towards the coast, to a place called Ar-oo-zo, which was a large village; there I found some friends, who felt very much about my position, but had no means of helping me. We only stayed there one night, as my master wanted to hurry on, as I had told him I would get away from him and go home. He then took me to a place called Chir-a-chur-ee, there I also had friends, but could not see them, as he kept very close watch over me, and he always stayed at places prepared for the purpose of keeping the slaves in security; there were holes in the walls in which my feet were placed, (a kind of stocks.) He then took me on to a place called Cham-mah, (after passing through many strange places, the names of which I do not recollect) where he sold me. We had then been about four days from home and had traveled very rapidly. I remained only one day, when I was again sold to a woman, who took me to E-fau; she had along with her some young men, into whose charge I was given, but she journeyed with us; we were several days going there; I suffered very much traveling through the woods, and never saw a human being all the journey. There was no regular road, but we had to make our passage as well as we could.

p. 36

The inhabitants about Cham-mah live chiefly by hunting wild animals, which are there very numerous; I saw many during the two days, but do not know their names in English; the people go nearly naked and are of the rudest description. The country through which we passed after leaving Chir-a-chir-ee, was quite hilly, water abundant and of good quality, the trees are very large; we did not suffer anything from heat on the journey, as the weather was quite cool and pleasant; it would be a healthy and delightful country, were it inhabited by civilized people, and cultivated; the flowers are various and beautiful, the trees, full of birds, large and small, some sing very delightfully. We crossed several large streams of water, which had it not been the dry season, would have been very deep, as it was they were easily forded, being no more than three feet of water in some places. There were great quantities of aquatic birds sporting about; we saw swans in abundance, we tried to kill some, but found it very difficult, as their movements are very quick upon the water; they have a most beautiful appearance when on the wing, the necks and wings extended in the air, they are perfectly white, never fly very high nor far away; their flesh is sweet and good, and considered a great dish. After passing through the woods, we came to a small place, where the woman who had purchased me, had some friends; here I was treated very well, indeed, during the day, but at night I was closely confined, as they were afraid I would make my escape; I could not sleep all night, I was so tightly kept.

After remaining there for the space of two days, we started on our journey again, traveling day after day; the country through which we passed continued quite hilly and mountainous; we passed some very high mountains, which I believe were called the mountains of Kong. The weather all the time continued cool and pleasant, water was found in great abundance, of very excellent quality, the roads, in some places, where the land was level, was quite sandy, but only for short distances together.--The country was very thinly settled all the way from Cham-mah, the woods along the route are not very extensive, but large tracts of land, covered with a very tall grass. We passed some places where fire had consumed the grass, something after the manner of the prairies of South and South-western North America.

p. 37

I will here describe the manner of firing grass in Africa. The grass when it has attained a large growth, is a refuge or haunt for the wild animals, abounding in that part of the country, and when it is decided to fire the grass, notice is sent to all people for miles round about, and the hunters come prepared with bows and arrows, who station themselves all around for several miles, and form a large circle; when the fire is applied at one point, it is soon discovered by the party on the opposite, who immediately fires his portion, and so on, all round about until the whole is fired; the fire strikes inward, toward the centre, never spreading outside the circle; the hunters follow up the flames, and being prepared with branches of trees, bearing large leaves, throw them down before them to stand upon, so as to let fly their arrows upon the terrified animals, who flee before the devouring element into the centre of the fire; the hunters of course following up their game around the outside of the burning mass, slaying all before them as they proceed; they are excellent marksmen, and the poor affrighted creatures have very little chance for their lives, at such times; immense numbers are killed, as well as serpents in great quantities.

But to return:--Whilst passing over those places which had been recently burned, our travel was much quicker, not having much of anything to impede our progress, but where the grass stood as a wall on either side of us, we had to travel very cautiously, fearing the wild animals would spring out and fall upon us. The people of America do not know anything about tall grass, such as in Africa; the tall grass of the American prairies is as a child beside a giant, in comparison with the grass of the torrid zone. It grows generally twelve feet high, but sometimes much higher, and nothing can be seen that is ever so near you, it being so thick and stout; closer even than the small groves of timber in this country. At length we arrived at Efau, where I was again sold; the woman seemed sorry to part with me, and gave me a small present on my leaving them. Efau is quite a large place, the houses were of different construction to those in Zoogoo, and had not so good an appearance.

p. 38

The man to whom I was again sold, was very rich, and had a great number of wives and slaves. I was placed in charge of an old slave; whilst there a great dance was held and I was fearful they were going to kill me, as I had heard they did so in some places, and I fancied the dance was only a preliminary part of the ceremony; at any rate I did not feel at all comfortable about the matter. I was at Efau several weeks and was very well treated during that time; but as I did not like the work assigned me, they saw that I was uneasy, and as they were fearful of losing me, I was locked up every night.

The country around Efau was very mountainous, and from the city the mountains in the distance had a noble appearance.

After leaving Efau, we had no stopping place until we reached Dohama; we remained in the woods by night and traveled during the day, as there were wild beasts in great abundance, and we were compelled to build up large fires at night to keep away the ferocious animals, which otherwise would have fallen upon us and torn us to pieces, we could hear them howling round about during the night; there was one around in particular, the people most dreaded; it was of the form of a cat with a long body, some were all of a color, others spotted very beautifully; the eyes of which shone like lustrous orbs of fire by night, it is there called the Goo-noo. I presume from the description, it must be what is here known as the Leopard, as from what I understand, the description is about the same.

Dohama is about three days journey from Efau, and is quite a large city; the houses being built differently to any I had previously seen. The surrounding country is level and the roads are good; it is more thickly settled than any other part I had passed through, though not so well as Zoogoo, the manners of the people too, were altogether different to anything I had ever before seen.

p. 39

I was being conducted through the city, and as we passed along, we were met by a woman, and my keeper who was with me immediately took to his heels and ran back as hard as he could. I stood stock still, not knowing the meaning of it; he saw I did not attempt to follow him, or to move one way or another, and he called to me in the Efau language to follow him, which I did, he then told me, after we rested, that the woman we had met was the king's wife, and it is a mark of respect to run whenever she is in sight of any of her subjects. There were gates to this city, and a toll was demanded on passing through. I remained there but a short time, but I learned that it was a great place for whisky, and the people were very fond of dancing. At this place I saw oranges for the first time in my life. I was told, whilst there, that the king's house was ornamented on the outside with human skulls, but did not see it. When we arrived here I began to give up all hopes of ever getting back to my home again, but had entertained hopes until this time of being able to make my escape, and by some means or other of once more seeing my native place, but at last, hope gave way; the last ray seemed fading away, and my heart felt sad and weary within me, as I thought of my home, my mother! whom I loved most tenderly, and the thought of never more beholding her, added very much to my perplexities. I felt sad and lonely, wherever I did roam, and my heart sank within me, when I thought of the "old folks at home." Some persons suppose that the African has none of the finer feelings of humanity within his breast, and that the milk of human kindness runs not through his composition; this is an error, an error of the grossest kind; the feelings which animated the whole human race, lives within the sable creatures of the torrid zone, as well as the inhabitants of the temperate and frigid; the same impulses drive them to action, the same feeling of love move within their bosom, the same maternal and paternal affections are there, the same hopes and fears, griefs and joys, indeed all is there as in the rest of mankind; the only difference is their color, and that has been arranged by him who made the world and all that therein is, the heavens, and the waters of the mighty deep, the moon, the sun and stars, the firmament and all that has been made from the beginning until now, therefore why should any despise the works of his hands which has been made and fashioned according to his Almighty power, in the plentitude of his goodness and mercy.

p. 40

O ye despisers of his works, look ye to yourselves, and take heed; let him who thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. We then proceeded to Gra-fe, about a day and half's journey; the land we passed was pretty thickly settled and generally well cultivated; but I do not recollect that we passed any streams of water after entering upon this level country. At Gra-fe, I saw the first white man, which you may be sure took my attention very much; the windows in the houses also looked strange, as this was the first time in my life that I had ever seen houses having windows. They took me to a white man's house, where we remained until the morning, when my breakfast was brought in to me, and judge my astonishment to find that the person who brought in my breakfast was an old acquaintance, who came from the same place. He did not exactly know me at first, but when he asked me if my name was Gardo, and I told him it was, the poor fellow was overjoyed and took me by the hands and shook me violently he was so glad to see me; his name was Woo-roo, and had come from Zoogoo, having been enslaved about two years; his friends could never tell what had become of him. He inquired after his friends at Zoogoo, asked me if I had lately come from there, looked at my head and observed that I had the same shave that I had when we were in Zoogoo together; I told him that I had. It may be as well to remark in this place, that in Africa, the nations of the different parts of the country have their different modes of shaving the head and are known from that mark to what part of the country they belong. In Zoogoo, the hair is shaven off each side of the head, and on the top of the head from the forehead to the back part, it is left to grow in three round spots, which is allowed to grow quite long; the spaces between being shaven very close; there is no difficulty to a person acquainted with the different shaves, to know what part any man belongs to.

p. 41

Woo-roo seemed very anxious that I should remain at Gra-fe, but I was destined for other parts; this town is situated on a large river. After breakfast I was taken down to the river and placed on board a boat; the river was very large and branched off in two different directions, previous to emptying itself into the sea. The boat in which the slaves were placed was large and propelled by oars, although it had sails as well, but the wind not being strong enough, oars were used as well. We were two nights and one day on this river, when we came to a very beautiful place; the name of which I do not remember; we did not remain here very long, but as soon as the slaves were all collected together, and the ship ready to sail, we lost no time in putting to sea. Whilst at this place, the slaves were all put into a pen, and placed with our backs to the fire, and ordered not to look about us, and to insure obedience, a man was placed in front with a whip in his hand ready to strike the first who should dare to disobey orders; another man then went round with a hot iron, and branded us the same as they would the heads of barrels or any other inanimate goods or merchandize.

When all were ready to go aboard, we were chained together, and tied with ropes round about our necks, and were thus drawn down to the sea shore. The ship was lying some distance off. I had never seen a ship before, and my idea of it was, that it was some object of worship of the white man. I imangined that we were all to be slaughtered, and were being led there for that purpose. I felt alarmed for my safety, and despondency had almost taken sole possession of me.

A kind of feast was made ashore that day, and those who rowed the boats were plentifully regaled with whiskey, and the slaves were given rice and other good things in abundance. I was not aware that it was to be my last feast in Africa. I did not know my destiny. Happy for me, that I did not. All I knew was, that I was a slave, chained by the neck, and that I must readily and willingly submit, come what would, which I considered was as much as I had any right to know.

p. 42

At length, when we reached the beach, and stood on the sand, oh! how I wished that the sand would open and swallow me up. My wretchedness I cannot describe. It was beyond description. The reader may imagine, but anything like an outline of my feelings would fall very short of the mark, indeed. There were slaves brought hither from all parts of the country, and taken on board the ship. The first boat had reached the vessel in safety, notwithstanding the high wind and rough sea; but the last boat that ventured was upset, and all in her but one man were drowned. The number who were lost was about thirty. The man that was saved was very stout, and stood at the head of the boat with a chain in his hand, which he grasped very tightly in order to steady the boat; and when the boat turned over, he was thrown with the rest into the sea, but on rising, by some means under the boat, managed to turn it over, and thus saved himself by springing into her, when she righted. This required great strength, and being a powerful man gave him the advantage over the rest. The next boat that was put to sea, I was placed in; but God saw fit to spare me, perhaps for some good purpose. I was then placed in that most horrible of all places,

[ ... ]

The slave ship

p. 42

Its horrors, ah! who can describe? None can so truly depict its horrors as the poor unfortunate, miserable wretch that has been confined within its portals. Oh! friends of humanity, pity the poor African, who has been trepanned and sold away from friends and home, and consigned to the hold of a slave ship, to await even more horrors and miseries in a distant land, amongst the religious and benevolent. Yes, even in their very midst; but to the ship! We were thrust into the hold of the vessel in a state of nudity, the males being crammed on one side and the females on the other; the hold was so low that we could not stand up, but were obliged to crouch upon the floor or sit down; day and night were the same to us, sleep being denied as from the confined position of our bodies, and we became desperate through suffering and fatigue.

p. 43

Oh! the loathsomeness and filth of that horrible place will never be effaced from my memory; nay, as long as memory holds her seat in this distracted brain, will I remember that. My heart even at this day, sickens at the thought of it.

Let those humane individuals, who are in favor of slavery, only allow themselves to take the slave's position in the noisome hold of a slave ship, just for one trip from Africa to America, and without going into the horrors of slavery further than this, if they do not come out thorough-going abolitionists, then I have no more to say in favor of abolition. But I think their views and feelings regarding slavery will be changed in some degree, however; if not, let them continue in the course of slavery, and work out their term in a cotton or rice field, or other plantation, and then if they do not say hold, enough! I think they must be of iron frames, possessing neither hearts nor souls. I imagine there can be but one place more horrible in all creation than the hold of a slave ship, and that place is where slaveholders and their myrmidons are the most likely to find themselves some day, when alas, 'twill be too late, too late, alas!

The only food we had during the voyage was corn soaked and boiled. I cannot tell how long we were thus confined, but it seemed a very long while. We suffered very much for want of water, but was denied all we needed. A pint a day was all that was allowed, and no more; and a great many slaves died upon the passage. There was one poor fellow became so very desperate for want of water, that he attempted to snatch a knife from the white man who brought in the water, when he was taken up on deck and I never knew what became of him. I supposed he was thrown overboard.

When any one of us became refractory, his flesh was cut with a knife, and pepper or vinegar was rubbed in to make him peaceable(!) I suffered, and so did the rest of us, very much from sea sickness at first, but that did not cause our brutal owners any trouble. Our sufferings were our own, we had no one to share our troubles, none to care for us, or even to speak a word of comfort to us. Some were thrown overboard before breath was out of their bodies; when it was thought any would not live, they were got rid of in that way. Only twice during the voyage were we allowed to go on deck to wash ourselves -- once whilst at sea, and again just before going into port.

[ ... ]

Brazil

p. 44

We arrived at Pernambuco, South America, early in the morning, and the vessel played about during the day, without coming to anchor. All that day we neither ate or drank anything, and we were given to understand that we were to remain perfectly silent, and not make any out-cry, otherwise our lives were in danger. But when "night threw her sable mantle on the earth and sea," the anchor dropped, and we were permitted to go on deck to be viewed and handled by our future masters, who had come aboard from the city. We landed a few miles from the city, at a farmer's house, which was used as a kind of slave market. The farmer had a great many slaves, and I had not been there very long before I saw him use the lash pretty freely on a boy, which made a deep impression on my mind, as of course I imagined that would be my fate ere long, and oh! too soon, alas! were my fears realized.

When I reached the shore, I felt thankful to Providence that I was once more permitted to breathe pure air, the thought of which almost absorbed every other. I cared but little then that I was a slave, having escaped the ship was all I thought about. Some of the slaves on board could talk Portuguese. They had been living on the coast with Portuguese families, and they used to interpret to us. They were not placed in the hold with the rest of us, but come down occasionally to tell us something or other.

These slaves never knew they were to be sent away, until they were placed on board the ship. I remained in this slave market but a day or two, before I was again sold to a slave dealer in the city, who again sold me to a man in the country, who was a baker, and resided not a great distance from Pernambuco.

When a slaver comes in, the news spreads like wild-fire, and down come all those that are interested in the arrival of the vessel with its cargo of living merchandize, who select from the stock those most suited to their different purposes, and purchase the slaves precisely in the same way that oxen or horses would be purchased in a market; but if there are not the kind of slaves in the one cargo, suited to the wants and wishes of the slave buyers, an order is given to the Captain for the particular sorts required, which are furnished to order the next time the ship comes into port. Great numbers make quite a business of this buying and selling human flesh, and do nothing else for a living, depending entirely upon this kind of traffic.

p. 45

I had contrived whilst on my passage in the slave ship, to gather up a little knowledge of the Portuguese language, from the men before spoken of, and as my master was a Portuguese I could comprehend what he wanted very well, and gave him to understand that I would do all he needed as well as I was able, upon which he appeared quite satisfied.

His family consisted of himself, wife, two children and a woman who was related to them. He had four other slaves as well as myself. He was a Roman Catholic, and had family worship regularly twice a day, which was something after the following: He had a large clock standing in the entry of the house in which were some images made of clay, which were used in worship. We all had to kneel before them; the family in front, and the slaves behind. We were taught to chant some words which we did not know the meaning of. We also had to make the sign of the cross several times. Whilst worshiping, my master held a whip in his hand, and those who showed signs of inattention or drowsiness, were immediately brought to consciousness by a smart application of the whip. This mostly fell to the lot of the female slave, who would often fall asleep in spite of the images, crossings, and other like pieces of amusement.

I was soon placed at hard labor, such as none but slaves and horses are put to. At the time of this man's purchasing me, he was building a house, and had to fetch building stone from across the river, a considerable distance, and I was compelled to carry them that were so heavy it took three men to raise them upon my head, which burden I was obliged to bear for a quarter of a mile at least, down to where the boat lay. Sometimes the stone would press so hard upon my head that I was obliged to throw it down upon the ground, and then my master would be very angry indeed, and would say the cassoori (dog) had thrown down the stone, when I thought in my heart that he was the worst dog; but it was only a thought, as I dared not give utterance in words.

p. 46

I soon improved in my knowledge of the Portuguese language whilst here, and was able very shortly to count a hundred. I was then sent out to sell bread for my master, first going round through the town, and then out into the country, and in the evening, after coming home again, sold in the market till nine at night. Being pretty honest and persevering, I generally sold out, but sometimes was not quite so successful, and then the lash was my portion.

My companions in slavery were not quite so steady as I was, being much given to drink, so that they were not so profitable to my master. I took advantage of this, to raise myself in his opinion, by being very attentive and obedient; but it was all the same, do what I would, I found I had a tyrant to serve, nothing seemed to satisfy him, so I took to drinking likewise, then we were all of a sort, bad master, bad slaves.

Things went on worse and worse, and I was very anxious to change masters, so I tried running away, but was soon caught, tied and carried back. I next tried what it would do for me by being unfaithful and indolent; so one day when I was sent out to sell bread as usual, I only sold a small quantity, and the money I took and spent for whiskey, which I drank pretty freely, and went home well drunk, when my master went to count the days, taking in my basket and discovering the state of things, I was beaten very severely. I told him he must not whip me any more, and got quite angry, for the thought came into my head that I would kill him, and afterwards destroy myself. I at last made up my mind to drown myself; I would rather die than live to be a slave. I then ran down to the river and threw myself in, but being seen by some persons who were in a boat, I was rescued from drowning. The tide was low at the time, or their efforts would most likely have been unavailing, and notwithstanding my predetermination, I thanked God that my life had been preserved, and that so wicked a deed had not been consummated. It led me seriously to reflect that "God moves in a mysterious way," and that all his acts are acts of kindness and mercy.

p. 47

I was then but a poor heathen, almost as ignorant as a Hottentot, and had not learned the true God, nor any of his divine commandments. Yet ignorant and slave as I was, slavery I loathed, principally as I suppose, because I was its victim. After this and attempt upon my life, I was taken to my master's house, who tied my hands behind me, and placed my feet together and whipped me most unmercifully, and beat me about the head and face with a heavy stick, then shook me by the neck, and struck my head against the door posts, which cut and bruised me about the temples, the scars from which savage treatment are visible at this time, and will remain so as long as I live.

After all this cruelty he took me to the city, and sold me to a dealer, where he had taken me once before, but his friends advised him then not to part with me, as they considered it more to his advantage to keep me as I was a profitable slave. I have not related a tithe of the cruel suffering which I endured whilst in the service of this wretch in human form. The limits of the present work will not allow more than a hasty glance at the different scenes which took place in my brief career. I could tell more than would be pleasant for "ears polite," and could not possibly do any good. I could relate occurrences which would "freeze thy young blood, harrow up thy soul, and make each particular hair to stand on end like quills upon the fretful porcupine;" and yet it would be but a repetition of the thousand and one oft told tales of the horrors of the cruel system of slavery.

The man to whom I was again sold was very cruel indeed. He bought two females at the time he bought me; one of them was a very beautiful girl, and he treated her with shocking barbarity.

After a few weeks he shipped me off to Rio Janeiro, where I remained two weeks previous to being again sold. There was a colored man there who wanted to buy me, but for some reason or other he did not complete the purchase. I merely mention this fact to illustrate that slaveholding is generated in power, and any one having the means of buying his fellow creature with the paltry dross, can become a slave owner, no matter his color, his creed or country, and that the colored man would as soon enslave his fellow man as the white man, had he the power.

p. 48

I was at length sold to a Captain of a vessel who was what may be termed "a hard case." He invited me to go and see his Senora, (wife.) I made my best bow to her, and was soon installed into my new office, that of scouring the brass work about the ship, cleaning the knives and forks, and doing other little matters necessary to be done about the cabin. I did not at first like my situation; but as I got acquainted with the crew and the rest of the slaves, I got along pretty well. In a short time I was promoted to the office of under-steward. The steward provided for the table, and I carried the provisions to the cook and waited at table; being pretty smart, they gave me plenty to do. A short time after, the captain and steward disagreed, and he gave up his stewardship, when the keys of his office were entrusted to me. I did all in my power to please my master, the captain, and he in return placed confidence in me. The captain's lady was anything but a good woman; she had a most wretched temper. The captain had carried her off from St. Catharine's, just as she was on the point of getting married, and I believe was never married to her. She often got me into disgrace with my master, and then a whipping was sure to follow. She would at one time do all she could to get me a flogging, and at other times she would interfere and prevent it, just as she was in the humor. She was a strange compound of humanity and brutality. She always went to sea with the captain.

Our first voyage was to Rio Grande; the voyage itself was pleasant enough had I not suffered with sea sickness. The harbor at Rio Grande is rather shallow, and on entering we struck the ground, as it happened at low water, and we had great difficulty in getting her to float again. We finally succeeded, and exchanged our cargo for dried meat. We then went to Rio Janeiro and soon succeeded in disposing of the cargo. We then steered for St. Catharines to obtain Farina, a kind of breadstuff used mostly by the slaves. From thence, returned again in Rio Grande and exchanged our cargo for whale oil and put out again to sea, and stood for Rio Janeiro. The vessel being very heavily laden, we had a very bad time of it; we all expected that we should be lost, but by lightening the ship of part of her cargo, which we did by throwing overboard a quantity, the ship and all hands were once more saved from the devouring jaws of the destructive element. Head winds were prevalent, and although within sight of port for several days, we could not make the harbor, do all we could.

p. 49

Whilst in the doubtful position of whether we should be lost or not, it occurred to me that death would be but a release from my slavery, and on that account rather welcome than otherwise. Indeed I hardly dared to care either way. I was but a slave, and I felt myself to be one without hope or prospects of freedom, without friends or liberty. I had no hopes in this world and knew nothing of the next; all was gloom, all was fear. The present and the future were as one, no dividing mark, all Toil! Toil!! Cruelty! Cruelty!! No end but death to all my woes. I was not a Christian then; I knew not of a Savior's love, I knew nothing of his saving grace, of his love for poor lost sinners, of his mission of peace and good will to all men, nor had I heard of that good land so beautifully spoken of by the poet, "a land of pure delight where saints immortal dwell," and to which land of promise the Christian is daily shortening the journey. No! These "tidings of great joy" had not then been imparted to my gloomy mind, and all was black despair. But when I heard the Savior's words "come unto me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you rest." I sought and found him, which came as a balm to my wounds, as consolation to my afflicted soul. When think of all this and consider the past, I am content to struggle on in this world to fulfil my mission here and to do the work that is given me to do. Oh! Christianity thou soother of man's sufferings, thou guide to the blind, and strength to the weak, go thou on thy mission, speak the peaceful tidings of salvation all around and make glad the heart of man, "then shall the wilderness be glad and blossom as the rose." Then will slavery with all its horrors ultimately come to an end, for none possessing thy power and under thy influence can perpetuate a calling so utterly at variance with, and repugnant to all thy doctrines.

p. 50

After great labor and toil we were landed in perfect safety. During this voyage I endured more corporeal punishment than ever I did my life. The mate, a perfect brute of a fellow, ordered me one day to wash down the vessel, and after I had finished, he pointed to a place where he said was a spot, and with an oath ordered me to scrub it over again, and I did so, but not being in the best of humor he required it to be done a third time, and so on again.

When finding it was only out of caprice and there being no spot to clean. I in the end refused to scrub any more, when he took a broom stick to me, and having a scrubbing brush in my hand I lifted it to him. The master saw all that was going on, and was very angry at me for attempting to strike the mate.--He ordered one of the hands to cut a piece of rope for him; he told me I was to be whipped, and I answered "very well," but kept on with my work with an eye continually turned towards him, watching his movements. When I had set the breakfast ready, he came behind me before I could get out of his way, and struck me with the rope over my shoulders, and being rather long, the end of it swung down and struck my stomach very violently, which caused me some pain and sickness; the force with which the blow was struck completely knocked me down and afterwards he beat me whilst on deck in a most brutal manner.--My mistress interfered at this time and saved me from further violence.

We remained at Rio Janeiro nearly a month. Whilst there an incident occurred, which I will relate in illustration of the slave system.

One day it was necessary for me to go ashore with my master as one of the oarsmen, and whilst there I drank pretty freely of wine, and seeing my master about returning to the boat I made for where it lay, and being rather confused with drink as well as flurried at seeing my master, I fell into the water, but it being only shallow, I suffered nothing further than a good ducking for my drunkenness. I was easily got out. Whilst rowing my master, my head swam very much from the effects of the liquor I had drank, and consequently did not pull very steadily, when my master seeing the plight I was in asked me what was the matter, I said "nothing sir;" he said again, "have you been drinking?" I answered no sir! So that by being ill used I learned to drink, and from that I learned to tell lies, and no doubt should have gone on step by step from bad to worse, until nothing would have been wicked enough for me to have done, and all this through the horrible system of slavery. But I am happy to say that through the grace of God, I was led to abandon my evil ways.

[ ... ]

To New York

p. 51

When the cargo was landed, an English merchant having a quantity of coffee for shipment to New York, my master was engaged for the purpose, and it was arranged, after some time that I should accompany him, together with several others to serve on ship board.

We all had learned, that at New York there was no slavery; that it was a free country and that if we once got there we had nothing to dread from our cruel slave masters, and we were all most anxious to get there.

Previous to the time of the ship's sailing, we were informed that we were going to a land of freedom. I said then you will never see me any more after I once get there. I was overjoyed at the idea of going to a free country, and a ray of hope dawned upon me, that the day was not far distant when I should be a free man. Indeed I felt myself already free! How beautifully the sun shone on that eventful morning, the morning of our departure for that land of freedom we had heard so much about. The winds too were favorable, and soon the canvass spread before the exhilerating breeze, and our ship stood for that happy land. The duties of office, on that voyage, appeared light to me indeed, in anticipation of seeing the goodly land, and nothing at all appeared a trouble to me. I obeyed all orders cheerfully and with alacrity.

p. 52

That was that the happiest time in my life, even now my heart thrills with joyous delight when I think of that voyage, and believe that the God of all mercies ordered all for my good; how thankful was I.

The winds held favorable for a speedy passage several days together, after which we experienced very rough, tempestuous weather, which somewhat retarded our progress, and put us in some danger of being sent "to that bourne from whence no traveler returns," as fears were entertained for our safety. One night during the voyage, it blew a perfect hurricane the whole night, and just previous to day-break, the lamps in the binnacle went out with the heavy rolling of the ship. I was ordered to light it, but on account of the high wind, after several attempts I entirely failed. Aha, says the captain, my boy you can't light the binnacle, can't you?

The man at the helm said it was light enough, he could do without it, he could see the compass well enough; but as orders were given, whether the light was wanted or not, they must be obeyed; so three other hands were called and a blanket was placed around the binnacle to keep off the wind, when they succeeded at length in lighting it, but I not understanding how to do it, could not light it; I had tried over and over again. After this the captain got out of his berth, dressed himself and ordered me to light his lamp; when I went to him he took a large stick for the purpose of striking me, and aiming a blow at my head, I raised my arm to prevent my head being struck, he told me to keep my hand down. I did so, but when the blow was falling I again raised my hand and succeeded in saving my skull from being cracked; he did not want to strike my hand as that would provent me from doing my work, but whether my head was broke or not, I should have had to do my usual work. He then told me to turn round so that he might be able to strike my back. I told him to strike me all that he wanted. He was very angry and struck me at random over my head and body, just where it might happen. I defied him to do his worst, to do what he could and wreak his vengeance fully upon a miserable being like myself. He then called to three of the hands and ordered them to tie me to the cannon. I had thonghts of springing into the water, but was not quite satisfied to go alone; if I could have had the pleasure of taking him along with me I should have willingly done so. The three men fastened hold upon me and placed me upon the cannon, face downwards; they were then ordered to whip me, which they did pretty smartly; he then required me to make submission and beg for mercy, but that I would not do. I told him to kill me if he pleased, but for mercy at his hands I would not cry! I also told him that when they untied me from the cannon, he must take care of himself that day, as when I looked upon my lacerated bleeding body, I reflected that though it was bruised and torn, my heart was not subdued.

p. 53

As soon as I was loosened I made towards the captain, who gave orders to the men to place me securely in the bow of the vessel and not allow me to go near him again. I was so sore from my bruises and cuts that I could not do anything for several days.

The captain during my sickness would send me good victuals from his own table, no doubt to conciliate me after the cruel wrongs he had inflicted on me, but that was in vain. I was not in any great hurry to get to work again, as he frequently, previous to this, caused me to be flogged for not doing what it would have taken any three men to have done, so that I now felt inclined that he should do without any further services altogether.

Slavery is bad, slavery is wrong. This captain did a great many cruel things which would be horrible to relate; he treated the female slaves with very great cruelty and barbarity; he had it all his own way, there were none to take their part; he was for the time "monarch of all he surveyed;" "king of the floating house," none dared to gainsay his power or to control his will. But the day is coming when his power will be vested in another, and of his stewardship he must render an account; alas what account can he render of the crimes committed upon the writhing bodies of the poor pitiless wretches he had under his charge, when his kingship shall cease and the great account is called for; how shall he answer? And what will be his doom?--That will only be known when the great book is opened. May God pardon him (in his infinite mercy) for the tortures inflicted upon his fellow creatures, although of a different complexion.

p. 54

The first words of English that my two companions and myself ever learned was F-r-e-e; we were taught it by an Englishman on board, and oh! how many times did I repeat it, over and over again. This same man told me a great deal about New York City, (he could speak Portuguese). He told me how the colored people in New York were all free, and it made me feel very happy, and I longed for the day to come when I should be there. The day at length came, but it was not an easy matter for two boys and a girl, who could only speak one word of English, to make their escape, having, as we supposed, no friends to aid us. But God was our friend, as it proved in the end, and raised up for us many friends in a strange land.

The pilot who came aboard of our vessel treated us very kindly,--he appeared different to any person I had ever seen before, and we took courage from that little circumstance. The next day a great many colored persons came aboard the vessel, who inquired whether we were free. The captain had previously told us not to say that we were slaves, but we heeded not his wish, and he, seeing so many persons coming aboard, began to entertain fears that his property would take in their heads to lift their heels and run away, so he very prudently informed us that New York was no place for us to go about in--that it was a very bad place, and as sure as the people caught us they would kill us. But when we were alone we concluded that we would take the first opportunity and the chance, how we would fare in a free country.

One day when I had helped myself rather freely to wine, I was imprudent enough to say I would not stay aboard any longer; that I would be free. The captain hearing it, called me down below, and he and three others endeavored to confine me, but could not do so; but they ultimately succeeded in confining me in a room in the bow of the vessel. I was there in confinement several days. The man who brought my food would knock at the door, and if I told him to come in he would do so, otherwise he would pass along, and I got no food. I told him on one occasion that I would not remain confined there another day with my life; that out I would get; and there being some pieces of iron in the room, towards night I took hold of one of them--it was a bar, about two feet long--with that I broke open the door, and walked out. The men were all busy at work, and the captain's wife was standing on the deck when I ascended from my prison. I heard them asking one another who had let me ont; but no one could tell. I bowed to the captain's wife, and passed on to the side of the ship. There was a plank from the ship to the shore. I walked across it and ran as if for my life, of course not knowing whither I was going. I was observed during my flight by a watchman who was rather lame, and he undertook to stop me, but I shook him off, and passed on until I got to a store, at the door of which I halted a moment to take breath. They inquired of me what was the matter, but I could not tell them, as I knew nothing of English but the word F-r-e-e. Soon after, the lame watchman and another came up to me. One of them drew a bright star from his pocket and shewed it to me, but I could make nothing of it. I was then taken to the watch-house and locked up all night, when the captain called next morning, paid expenses, and took me back again to the ship along with him. The officers told me I should be a free man, if I chose, but I did not know how to act; so after a little persuasion, the captain induced me to go back with him, as I need not be afraid. This was on a Saturday, and on the following Monday afternoon three carriages drove up and stopped near the vessel. Some gentlemen came aboard from them, and walked about the deck, talking to the captain, telling him that all on board were free, and requesting him to hoist the flag. He blushed a good deal, and said he would not do so; he put himself in a great rage and stormed somewhat considerably. We were afterwards taken in their carriages, accompanied by the captain, to a very handsome building with a splendid portico in front, the entrance to which was ascended by a flight of marble steps, and was surrounded by a neat iron railing having gates at different points, the enclosure being ornamented with trees and shrubs of various kinds; it appeared to me a most beautiful place, as I had never seen anything like it before. I afterwards learned that this building was the City Hall of New York. When we arrived in the large room of the building it was crowded to excess by all kinds of people, and great numbers stood about the doors and steps, and all about the court-yard--some in conversation, others merely idling away the time walking to and fro. The Brazilian Consul was there, and when we were called upon I was asked if we wished to remain there or go back to Brazil. I answered for my companion and myself that we did not wish to return; but the female slave who was with us said she would return. I have no doubt she would have preferred staying behind, but seeing the captain there, she was intimidated and afraid to speak her mind, and so also, was the man, but I spoke boldly out that I would rather die than return into slavery!! After a great many questions had been asked us, and answered, we were taken to a prison, as I supposed it was, and there locked up. A few days afterwards we were taken again to the City Hall, and asked many more questions. We were then taken back to our old quarters the prison-house, I supposed preparatory to being shipped off again to Brazil, but of that I am not sure, as I could not understand all the ceremonies of locking us up and unlocking us, taking us to the court-house to ask questions and exhibit us before the audience there assembled--all this was new to me; I, therefore, could not fully understand the meaning of all this, but I feared greatly that we were about to be returned to slavery--I trembled at the thought! Whilst we were again locked up, some friends who had interested themselves very much in our behalf, contrived a means by which the prison-doors were opened whilst the keeper slept, and we found do difficulty in passing him, and gaining once more "the pure air of heaven," and by the assistance of those dear friends, whom I shall never forget, I was enabled to reach the city of Boston, in Massachusetts, and remained there under their protection about four weeks, when it was arranged that I should either be sent to England or Hayti, and I was consulted on the subject to know which I would prefer, and after considering for some time, I thought Hayti would be more like the climate of my own country and would agree better with my health and feelings. I did not know exactly what sort of a place England was or perhaps might have preferred to have gone there, more particularly as I have since learned that nearly all the English are friends to the colored man and his race, and that they have done so much for my people in the way of their welfare and advancement, and continue to this day to agitate anti-slavery and every other good cause. As it was, I determined to go to Hayti; accordingly, a free passage was procured for us, and considerable provisions were collected for my use use during the voyage.

[ ... ]

Haiti

p. 57

There was on board a colored man of the name of Jones, who could speak Spanish very well. During the voyage he took great pains to instruct me, and to give me correct ideas of things which I had formed the most absurd notion of. For instance, a person in walking in the sun will see his shadow; this shadow I had been led to believe was the soul of man that I had heard much of, and that when the body died the soul went to heaven (that is the shadow), and the body went to earth. His explanation of this shadow puzzled me very much, but the solution of the mystery pleased me, and I began to feel proud of my learning.

I worked occasionally for the captain on our passage to Hayti. When I arrived at Hayti I felt myself free, as indeed I was. No slavery exists there, yet all are people of color who dwell there. I did not know a word of their language, which was Creole; neither did I know where to go or what to do! We, however, went to the Emperor's house first. He was very kind to us. One of the Emperor's Generals, De Pe by name, and a mulatto, gave me plenty to eat and drink, and at night allowed me to lay down with his horses in the stables, and the musquitoes tormented me very much--they teazed me awfully. He often gave me whiskey and brandy to drink, and was every way very kind to me; these favors were (though only trifling in themselves under other circucumstances) to me great indeed, considering what my position was. I went about from house to house "a stranger in a strange land," and without being able to speak one word of the language of the people, and what was worse than all, not a copper in my possession to buy even a loaf to satisfy the cravings of my stomach. At length a colored man from America got me to work for him as cook about his house, but he was a very bad man and I did not stay with him very long. At night he took me up stairs and pointed to the floor where I was to sleep, although there was a bed in one corner of the room, but as soon as his back was turned I got into the bed and slept soundly till morning. When he discovered I had slept in the bed he beat me and knocked me about very much and ordered me not to do the like no more; but the next night I did the same again, for which he shook me about and turned me out of doors. So I became again an outcast and wanderer. I slept in the streets for several nights and became sick, so that when I walked about I was thought to be drunk, as my head was dizzy from the weakness of my system. In this way I went from house to house, and the people could not understand, but thought I was drunk. After this when General De Pe had taken notice of me, as before stated, my fellow in misfortune went to the Baptist Missionary, the Rev. Mr. Judd, and told him our circumstances, stating that we were two slaves from Brazil, and asked him if he could not do something for us, when he agreed to take me into his service, upon which I entered with the most cheerful alacrity.

p. 58

I remained with him upwards of two years, and a better man or christian than Mr. Judd, in my opinion, cannot be found. He treated me with every kindness; color to him being no cause of ill treatment. Neither shall I ever forget the kindness of his good lady; she behaved to me all the time of my servitude even as a christian should behave. I loved her for her goodness, although at all times I did not behave even to them as they deserved. I must confess, I sometimes treated them rather badly. I had not much gratitude then. I would often get very drunk and be abusive to them, but they overlooked my bad behavior always, and when Mrs. Judd would try to coax me to go home and behave myself, I would fight her and tell her I would not.

After my conversion to christianity I gave up drinking and all other kinds of vices. At the end of that time a stir was made in Hayti to enrol the militia; and being opposed to the spirit of war as well as was my master and mistress, it was agreed that I should leave Hayti on that account, and they provided for me a passage on board a vessel bound to New York, in order to educate me preparatory to going to my own people in Africa, to preach the Gospel of glad tidings of great joy to the ignorant and benighted of my fellow countrymen who are now believers in the false prophet Mahomed.

[ ... ]

Free, and this book

Two accounts of him by others come before this in the book: a passage from Foss and Mathews's Facts for Baptist Churches, and W. L. Judd's description of his baptism in Haiti.

p. 60

I will give a slight glance at the voyage from Port au Prince to New York, and relate the incidents connected with it as briefly as possible. We had a most miserable passage, head winds nearly all the way; indeed, they continued from our leaving Hayti until reaching a southern port in the United States of America, into which we were compelled to run on account of the weather. The wife of Mr. Judd accompanied me on my voyage, she being on a visit to the States, where her parents resided.

When the vessel put into port a slave owner came aboard, and seeing me, asked if I was for sale, remarking I was a likely nigger, and would look well skinned, as my hide was a little too dark. We encountered at sea very heavy weather, the ship rocking and pitching most fearfully. We had prayers aboard, but we did not fear the raging of the sea, as our trust was in Him "who resteth the sea, and stilleth the tempest." My mistress was very fond of me, and said she did not feel at all uneasy as long as Mahommah was near her. She had great confidence in me, not that I could have saved her in case of wreck, but I suppose she felt more at rest knowing me, and that I had been about her so long, and served her faithfully.

The weather, however, soon moderated, and we once more set sail again with a fair wind, and was soon on our way to the city of New York again, where we arrived on a Saturday. On the following day, one of the seamen who had professed great friendship for me during the voyage, took it into his head to turn ugly with me. As he was about going ashore, I merely said to him, "give my respects to your wife," as he had been so kind to me. What I said was intended merely as a little civility, when as (I found afterwards) he had been drinking. He took it completely amiss, called me a "nigger," and swore he would give me a thrashing. At night, when he returned again on board, he was very drunk and behaved with great violence, swearing that he would break my head with a stick which he flourished about over my head. I had placed chairs round the table for supper as usual, when he remarked, that he did not intend to sit down with a "nigger." He afterwards got more calm, and sat down and ate like a christian, but this was not till I had let him see a little of my own ugliness, and had threatened to beat him, that he became quieted; when he saw I was no longer to be played with, he gave in, and became a good man, only because he was obliged to.

p. 61

I followed out the Scripture injunction, to be as "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves," not at all intending to beat him, merely to quiet him. My wisdom I displayed in the first place, not needing to display any other spirit than an harmless one; in the second, I found my "wisdom" sufficient for the case at that time.

We safely reached the shore at New York, and were soon on our way steaming it to Albany, at which place we took the cars to within a short distance of Mrs. Judd's mother's house, which was a little way from a village called Milford in the State of New York. We arrived at Milford early in the following morning, and I was sent on to the house, whilst Mrs. Judd stood at the tavern to fetch a conveyance to take her on. When I reached her mother's house, I had a mind to impress them with the belief that I was a fugitive; but questions being put to me of a positive nature, I could not but give positive answers. I told her I was from Hayti, and she immediately conjectured who I was, as accounts were often sent to her from her daughter in papers printed there, and she asked me if I was Mahommah; I said I was. She wanted to know how I had got to America, who had brought me here. I at once told her, when orders were immediately given for horses, and I returned for my mistress, who was soon once more in the embraces of a kind, good mother. Mother and child had once again met after seas had separated them so great a distance.

p. 62

I remained there about four weeks, then went to Meredith, in Delaware county, amongst the Free Missions, to see whether they would undertake the task of educating me, when they agreed at once to do so. A gentleman by the name of Dalton was exceedingly kind to me, and undertook my case with the friends of the missions. They then sent me on to McGrawville, at the time C. P. Grosvenor was the President of the College, who was very kind to me, and made much of me, treating me in every way as an equal and a gentleman.

I remained nearly three years in the college, and during that time made very great progress in learning, before leaving the college. My teacher, Miss K. King, composed the following lines, which were spoken by me, before the primary department of the college.

Here the book prints a poem his teacher, Miss K. King, wrote for him to recite at the college.

p. 63

Whilst at college, some of the young gentleman there who did not altogether like my color, played considerable many practical jokes upon me, and tried to make me some mischief with the principals. They played all sorts of tricks upon me; they would, when I was out of the way, scatter my books and papers all over the room, and pile up my books in a heap; they would also choko up my stove pipe with shavings, so that when I attempted to make a fire, the room would become filled with smoke; but of these matters, I had only to complain in the right quarter, and all would be settled. But I did not like to be continually complaining of them, so I endured a great deal of their vexatious tricks in silence. I could not tell why they plagued me thus, excepting they did not like my color, and that they thought I was a good subject upon which to expend their frolicksome humor.

After I left the college, I went to the Free Missions, with whom I remained a short time, and received more learning from that source. I went to school at Freetown Corner, under the direction of the missions. I lived with my teacher, working occasionally for my board; during my stay here. I had a room to myself, and being cold weather, I always needed a fire, but being no place for the stove pipe to go into a chimney, a lady suggested that I should take a pane of glass from the window and put the pipe through the aperture, which I did, and it answered the purpose very well indeed, until a very windy day came, when the wind blowing down the pipe, caused my room to be filled with smoke; how to remedy the evil, I could not exactly tell, but an ingenious thought struck me. I went to the closet and procured a large flat candle-stick, which I took outside and placed over the pipe, the candle-stick being placed shank downwards. This answered the purpose well enough so far as keeping the wind out, but at dark my room was filled with the choking smoke as bad as ever; the remedy was as bad as the disease. I had not calculated upon the smoke escaping. I had imagined that the wind getting into the pipe prevented the smoke getting out, consequently my plan was to adopt some method to keep the wind out, which I did most effectually. The sequel is known. Thus a man may acquire knowledge, piece by piece, and in some things become very clever, but notwithstanding may become entangled in his ideas with the simplest thing imaginable. Cleverer and wiser men than Mahommah, have done even more foolish things than this.

p. 64

After this I returned to McGrawville for a short time, when, having a desire to see the manners and customs of the people living under the Government of Queen Victoria, of whom I had hoard so much, induced me to go to Canada, where I remained a short time, and being so well pleased with the reception I there met with, I at once determined to become a subject of her Majesty, for which purpose I attended at the proper office, gave the oath of allegiance, and procured my papers of naturalization without any difficulty.

I was kindly treated by all classes wherever I went, and must say in my heart I never expected to receive in a nation so distant from my native home, so much kindness, attention and humanity. I am thankful to God that I enjoy the blessings of liberty, in peace and tranquility, and that I am now in a land where "none dare make me afraid," where every man can or may "sit down under his own vine, and under his own fig tree:" where every man acting as a man, no matter what his color, is regarded as a brother, and where all are equally free to do and to say.

p. 65

Being thus surrounded by friends, and enabled to enjoy the blessing of peaceful freedom, I came to the conclusion that the time had arrived when I might with propriety commit to paper all that has been recounted in this work, and whenever the day may come that a way may be opened to me of being useful in the regeneration of my own loved country, I shall be ready to say "I come," and may God in his infinite wisdom hasten that day, is the constant and fervent prayer of the subscriber, whose sufferings and tortures it is to be hoped have still further opened the ears and hearts of sensibility.