When Mr. Graham had written a considerable part, as particularly
directed, manifesting the feelings and generosity of his heart,
Naimbanna complained of fatigue, and said he would finish it after he
had taken a little rest. But his fever came on with increased violence,
and his delirium scarcely ever left him afterward.
The night after, the vessel, though close to the African coast, durst
not attempt to land, as the wind was contrary, and there was danger of
running on the Scarries bank. Next morning, though, the wind continued
contrary, Mr. Graham went off to the settlement in an open boat to
procure medical aid. But when the physician came on board, Naimbanna
was just alive; and in that state he was carried to the settlement, the
next morning, July 17th, 1793, when the ship came to anchor.
On the first account of his illness, an express was sent to inform his
friends at Robanna; and soon after he was landed, his mother, brothers,
sisters, and relatives came to the settlement. The distracted looks of
his mother, and the wildness of his sisters' grief, affected everyone.
His cousin Henry, an ingenuous youth, who stood among them, attracted
the attention of all by the solemn sorrow of his countenance, which
seemed to discover a heart full of tenderness and woe. In the meantime,
the dying youth appeared every moment drawing nearer the close of life.
His voice failing more and more, the little he said was with difficulty
understood. Once or twice, those who stood around him caught hold of
something like our Saviour's words: "Many are called, but few chosen."
About an hour before he died, his voice wholly failed. He was awhile
restless and uneasy, till, turning his head on his pillow, he found an
easier posture, and lay perfectly quiet.
About seven in the evening of the day on which he was brought on shore,
he expired without a groan. When his mother and other relatives found
his breath was gone, their shrieks and agonizing cries were distressing
beyond measure. Instantly, in a kind of frantic madness, they snatched
up his body, hurried it into a canoe, and went off with it to Robanna.
Some of the gentlemen of the factory immediately followed in boats,
with a coffin.
When the corpse was laid decently into it, Mr. Horne, the clergyman,
read the funeral service over it, amid a number of people, and finished
with an extempore prayer. The ceremony was conducted with so much
solemnity, and performed in so affecting a manner, that the impression
was communicated throughout the whole crowd. They drew closer and
closer, as Mr. Horne continued to speak; and though they understood not
a syllable of what he said, they listened to him with great attention,
and bore witness, with every mark of sorrow, to the powers of sympathy.
After the ceremony was over, the gentlemen of the factory retired to
their boats, leaving the corpse, as his friend desired, to be buried
according to the custom of the country.
ZILPAH MONTJOY.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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