The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African: Written By HimselfEquiano, Olaudah
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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
the 10th, in latitude 58-59, we met a very severe gale of wind and
high seas, and shipped a great deal of water in the space of ten
hours. This made us work exceedingly hard at all our pumps a whole
day; and one sea, which struck the ship with more force than any thing
I ever met with of the kind before, laid her under water for some
time, so that we thought she would have gone down. Two boats were
washed from the booms, and the long-boat from the chucks: all other
moveable things on the deck were also washed away, among which were
many curious things of different kinds which we had brought from
Greenland; and we were obliged, in order to lighten the ship, to toss
some of our guns overboard. We saw a ship, at the same time, in very
great distress, and her masts were gone; but we were unable to assist
her. We now lost sight of the Carcass till the 26th, when we saw land
about Orfordness, off which place she joined us. From thence we sailed
for London, and on the 30th came up to Deptford. And thus ended our
Arctic voyage, to the no small joy of all on board, after having been
absent four months; in which time, at the imminent hazard of our
lives, we explored nearly as far towards the Pole as 81 degrees north,
and 20 degrees east longitude; being much farther, by all accounts,
than any navigator had ever ventured before; in which we fully proved
the impracticability of finding a passage that way to India.
CHAP. X.
_The author leaves Doctor Irving and engages on board a
Turkey ship--Account of a black man's being kidnapped on
board and sent to the West Indies, and the author's
fruitless endeavours to procure his freedom--Some account of
the manner of the author's conversion to the faith of Jesus
Christ._
Our voyage to the North Pole being ended, I returned to London with
Doctor Irving, with whom I continued for some time, during which I
began seriously to reflect on the dangers I had escaped, particularly
those of my last voyage, which made a lasting impression on my mind,
and, by the grace of God, proved afterwards a mercy to me; it caused
me to reflect deeply on my eternal state, and to seek the Lord with
full purpose of heart ere it was too late. I rejoiced greatly; and
heartily thanked the Lord for directing me to London, where I was
determined to work out my own salvation, and in so doing procure a
title to heaven, being the result of a mind blended by ignorance and
sin.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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