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
He was very much astonished,
and appeared very sorry for it. After treating me with kindness, he
gave me some refreshment, and three heads of roasted Indian corn, for
a voyage of about eighteen miles south, to look for another vessel. He
then directed me to an Indian chief of a district, who was also the
Musquito admiral, and had once been at our dwelling; after which I set
off with the canoe across a large lagoon alone (for I could not get
any one to assist me), though I was much jaded, and had pains in my
bowels, by means of the rope I had hung by the night before. I was
therefore at different times unable to manage the canoe, for the
paddling was very laborious. However, a little before dark I got to my
destined place, where some of the Indians knew me, and received me
kindly. I asked for the admiral; and they conducted me to his
dwelling. He was glad to see me, and refreshed me with such things as
the place afforded; and I had a hammock to sleep in. They acted
towards me more like Christians than those whites I was amongst the
last night, though they had been baptized. I told the admiral I wanted
to go to the next port to get a vessel to carry me to Jamaica; and
requested him to send the canoe back which I then had, for which I was
to pay him. He agreed with me, and sent five able Indians with a large
canoe to carry my things to my intended place, about fifty miles; and
we set off the next morning. When we got out of the lagoon and went
along shore, the sea was so high that the canoe was oftentimes very
near being filled with water. We were obliged to go ashore and drag
across different necks of land; we were also two nights in the swamps,
which swarmed with musquito flies, and they proved troublesome to us.
This tiresome journey of land and water ended, however, on the third
day, to my great joy; and I got on board of a sloop commanded by one
Captain Jenning. She was then partly loaded, and he told me he was
expecting daily to sail for Jamaica; and having agreed with me to work
my passage, I went to work accordingly. I was not many days on board
before we sailed; but to my sorrow and disappointment, though used to
such tricks, we went to the southward along the Musquito shore,
instead of steering for Jamaica. I was compelled to assist in cutting
a great deal of mahogany wood on the shore as we coasted along it, and
load the vessel with it, before she sailed. This fretted me much; but,
as I did not know how to help myself among these deceivers, I thought
patience was the only remedy I had left, and even that was forced.
There was much hard work and little victuals on board, except by good
luck we happened to catch turtles. On this coast there was also a
particular kind of fish called manatee, which is most excellent
eating, and the flesh is more like beef than fish; the scales are as
large as a shilling, and the skin thicker than I ever saw that of any
other fish. Within the brackish waters along shore there were likewise
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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