The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By HimselfEquiano, Olaudah
History
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By Himself
Equiano, Olaudah
Enslaved persons -- Great Britain -- Biography; Enslaved persons -- United States -- Biography; Equiano, Olaudah, 1745-1797
to try the sea again in quest of more money, as I had been bred to it,
and had hitherto found the profession of it successful. I had also a
very great desire to see Turkey, and I now determined to gratify it.
Accordingly, in the month of May, 1768, I told the doctor my wish to
go to sea again, to which he made no opposition; and we parted on
friendly terms. The same day I went into the city in quest of a
master. I was extremely fortunate in my inquiry; for I soon heard of a
gentleman who had a ship going to Italy and Turkey, and he wanted a
man who could dress hair well. I was overjoyed at this, and went
immediately on board of his ship, as I had been directed, which I
found to be fitted up with great taste, and I already foreboded no
small pleasure in sailing in her. Not finding the gentleman on board,
I was directed to his lodgings, where I met with him the next day, and
gave him a specimen of my dressing. He liked it so well that he hired
me immediately, so that I was perfectly happy; for the ship, master,
and voyage, were entirely to my mind. The ship was called the Delawar,
and my master's name was John Jolly, a neat smart good humoured man,
just such an one as I wished to serve. We sailed from England in July
following, and our voyage was extremely pleasant. We went to Villa
Franca, Nice, and Leghorn; and in all these places I was charmed with
the richness and beauty of the countries, and struck with the elegant
buildings with which they abound. We had always in them plenty of
extraordinary good wines and rich fruits, which I was very fond of;
and I had frequent occasions of gratifying both my taste and
curiosity; for my captain always lodged on shore in those places,
which afforded me opportunities to see the country around. I also
learned navigation of the mate, which I was very fond of. When we left
Italy we had delightful sailing among the Archipelago islands, and
from thence to Smyrna in Turkey. This is a very ancient city; the
houses are built of stone, and most of them have graves adjoining to
them; so that they sometimes present the appearance of church-yards.
Provisions are very plentiful in this city, and good wine less than a
penny a pint. The grapes, pomegranates, and many other fruits, were
also the richest and largest I ever tasted. The natives are well
looking and strong made, and treated me always with great civility. In
general I believe they are fond of black people; and several of them
gave me pressing invitations to stay amongst them, although they keep
the franks, or Christians, separate, and do not suffer them to dwell
immediately amongst them. I was astonished in not seeing women in any
of their shops, and very rarely any in the streets; and whenever I did
they were covered with a veil from head to foot, so that I could not
see their faces, except when any of them out of curiosity uncovered
them to look at me, which they sometimes did. I was surprised to see
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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