Captain Canot; Or, Twenty Years of an African Slaver
the "gentlemen's cabin," and as I was still clad in the thin cotton
undress in which I was embarking for the land of dreams when the
accident occurred, a shirt and trowsers were handed me fresh from the
slop-shop. When my native servant appeared in the cabin, a shower of
coppers greeted him from the passengers.
Next morning we were landed at Cowes, and as the steward claimed the
restitution of a pair of slippers in which I had encased my toes, I
was forced to greet the loyal earth of England with bare feet as well
as uncovered head. Our sailors, however, were better off. In the
forecastle they had fallen into the hands of Samaritans. A profusion
of garments was furnished for all their wants, while a subscription,
made up among the soldiers and women, supplied them with abundance of
coin for their journey to London.
* * * * *
An economical life in Africa, and a series of rather profitable
voyages, enabled me to enjoy my wish to see London, "above stairs as
well as below."
I brought with me from Africa a body-servant named Lunes, an active
youth, whose idea of city-life and civilization had been derived
exclusively from glimpses of New Sestros and Gallinas. I fitted him
out on my arrival in London as a fashionable "tiger," with red
waistcoat, corduroy smalls, blue jacket and gold band; and trotted him
after me wherever I went in search of diversion. It may be imagined
that I was vastly amused by the odd remarks and the complete
amazement, with which this savage greeted every object of novelty or
interest. After he became somewhat acquainted with the streets of
London, Lunes occasionally made explorations on his own account, yet
he seldom came back without a tale that showed the African to have
been quite as much a curiosity to the cockneys as the cockneys were to
the darkey.
It happened just at this time that "Jim Crow" was the rage at one of
the minor theatres, and as I felt interested to know how the
personification would strike the boy, I sent him one night to the
gallery with orders to return as soon as the piece was concluded. But
the whole night passed without the appearance of my valet. Next
morning I became anxious about his fate, and, after waiting in vain
till noon, I employed a reliable officer to search for the negro,
without disclosing the fact of his servitude.
In the course of a few hours poor Lunes was brought to me in a most
desolate condition. His clothes were in rags, and his gold-lace gone.
It appeared that "Jim Crow" had outraged his sense of African
character so greatly that he could not restrain his passion; but
vented it in the choicest _billingsgate_ with which his vocabulary had
been furnished in the forecastle of the "Gil Blas." His criticism of
the real Jim was by no means agreeable to the patrons of the
fictitious one. In a moment there was a row; and the result was, that
Lunes after a thorough dilapidation of his finery departed in custody
of the police, more, however, for the negro's protection than his
chastisement.
The loss of his dashing waistcoat, and the sound thrashing he received
at the hands of a London mob while asserting the dignity of his
country, and a night in the station house, spoiled my boy's opinion of
Great Britain. I could not induce him afterwards to stir from the
house without an escort, nor would he believe that every policeman was
not specially on the watch to apprehend him. I was so much attached to
the fellow, and his sufferings became so painful, that I resolved to
send him back to Africa; nor shall I ever forget his delight when my
decision was announced. The negro's joy, however, was incomprehensible
to my fellow-lodgers, and especially to the gentle dames, who could
not believe that an African, whose liberty was assured in England,
would _voluntarily_ return to Africa and slavery!
One evening, just before his departure, Lunes was sternly tried on
this subject in my presence in the parlor, yet nothing could make him
revoke his trip to the land of palm-trees and _malaria_. London was
too cold for him;--he hated stockings;--shoes were an abomination!
"Yet, tell me, Lunes," said one of the most bewitching of my fair
friends,--"how is it that you go home to be a slave, when you may
remain in London as a freeman?"
I will repeat his answer--divested of its native gibberish:
"Yes, Madam, I go--because I like my country best; if I am to be a
slave or work, I want to do so for a true _Spaniard_. I don't like
this thing, Miss,"--pointing to his shirt collar,--"it cuts my
ears;--I don't like this thing"--pointing to his trowsers; "I like my
country's fashion better than yours;"--and, taking out a large
handkerchief, he gave the inquisitive dame a rapid demonstration of
African economy in concealing nakedness, by twisting it round those
portions of the human frame which modesty is commonly in the habit of
hiding!
There was a round of applause and a blaze of blushes at this
extemporaneous pantomime, which Lunes concluded with the assurance
that he especially loved his master, because,--"when he grew to be a
proper man, I would give him plenty of wives!"
I confess that my valet's philanthropic audience was not exactly
prepared for this edifying culmination in favor of Africa; but, while
my friends were busy in obliterating the red and the wrinkles from
their cheeks, I took the liberty to enjoy, from behind the shadow of
my tea cup, the manifest disgust they felt for the bad taste of poor
Lunes!
CHAPTER LXIV.
By this time my curiosity was not only satiated by the diversions of
the great metropolis, but I had wandered off to the country and
visited the most beautiful parts of the islands. Two months thus
slipped by delightfully in Great Britain when a sense of duty called
me to Havana; yet, before my departure, I resolved, if possible, to
secure the alliance of some opulent Englishman to aid me in the
foundation and maintenance of lawful commerce at Cape Mount. Such a
person I found in Mr. George Clavering Redman, of London, who owned
the Gil Blas, which, with two other vessels, he employed in trade
between England and Africa.
I had been introduced to this worthy gentleman as "a lawful trader on
the coast," still, as I did not think that business relations ought to
exist between us while he was under so erroneous an impression, I
seized an early opportunity to unmask myself. At the same time, I
announced my unalterable resolution to abandon a slaver's life for
ever; to establish a trading post at some fortunate location; and,
while I recounted the friendship and peculiar bonds between the king
and myself, offered to purchase Cape Mount from its African
proprietor, if such an enterprise should be deemed advisable.
Redman was an enterprising merchant. He heard my proposal with
interest, and, after a few days' consideration, assented to a
negotiation, as soon as I gave proofs of having abandoned the slave
traffic for ever. It was understood that no contract was to be entered
into, or document signed, till I was at liberty to withdraw completely
from Don Pedro Blanco and all others concerned with him. This
accomplished, I was to revisit England and assume my lawful functions.
* * * * *
When I landed in the beautiful Queen of the Antilles I found Don Pedro
in no humor to accede to these philanthropic notions. The veteran
slaver regarded me, no doubt, as a sort of cross between a fool and
zealot. An American vessel had been recently chartered to carry a
freight to the coast; and, accordingly, instead of receiving a release
from servitude, I was ordered on board the craft as supercargo of the
enterprise! In fact, on the third day after my arrival at Havana, I
was forced to re-embark for the coast without a prospect of securing
my independence.
The reader may ask why I did not burst the bond, and free myself at a
word from a commerce with which I was disgusted? The question is
_natural_--but the reply is _human_. I had too large an unliquidated
interest at New Sestros, and while it remained so, I was not entitled
to demand from my employer a final settlement for my years of labor.
In other words _I was in his power_, so far as my means were
concerned, and my services were too valuable to be surrendered by him
voluntarily.
A voyage of forty-two days brought me once more to New Sestros,
accompanied by a couple of negro women, who paid their passage and
were lodged very comfortably in the steerage. The elder was about
forty and extremely corpulent, while her companion was younger as well
as more comely.
This respectable dame, after an absence of twenty-four years, returned
to her native Gallinas, on a visit to her father, king Shiakar. At the
age of fifteen, she had been taken prisoner and sent to Havana. A
Cuban confectioner purchased the likely girl, and, for many years,
employed her in hawking his cakes and pies. In time she became a
favorite among the townsfolk, and, by degrees, managed to accumulate
a sufficient amount to purchase her freedom. Years of frugality and
thrift made her proprietor of a house in the city and an egg-stall in
the market, when chance threw in her way a cousin, lately imported
from Africa, who gave her news of her father's family. A quarter of a
century had not extinguished the natural fire in this negro's heart,
and she immediately resolved to cross the Atlantic and behold once
more the savage to whom she owed her birth.
I sent these adventurous women to Gallinas by the earliest trader that
drifted past New Sestros, and learned that they were welcomed among
the islands with all the ceremony common among Africans on such
occasions. Several canoes were despatched to the vessel, with flags,
tom-toms, and horns, to receive and welcome the ladies. On the shore,
a procession was formed, and a bullock offered to the captain in token
of gratitude for his attention.
When her elder brother was presented to the retired egg-merchant, he
extended his arms to embrace his kinswoman; but, to the amazement of
all, she drew back with a mere offer of her hand, refusing every
demonstration of affection _till he should appear dressed with
becoming decency_. This rebuke, of course, kept the rest of her
relatives at bay, for there was a sad deficiency of trowsers in the
gang, and it was the indispensable garment that caused so unsisterly a
reception.
But Shiakar's daughter, travelled as she was, could neither set the
fashions nor reform the tastes of Gallinas. After a sojourn of ten
days, she bade her kindred an eternal adieu, and returned to Havana,
disgusted with the manners and customs of her native land.
CHAPTER LXV.
On my return to New Sestros, I found that the colonial authorities of
Liberia had been feeling the pulse of my African friend, Freeman, in
order to secure the co-operation of that distinguished personage in
the suppression of the slave traffic. Freeman professed his
willingness to conclude a treaty of commerce and amity with Governor
Buchanan, but respectfully declined to molest the factories within his
domain.
Still, Buchanan was not to be thwarted by a single refusal, and
enlisted the sympathy of an officer in command of a United States
cruiser, who accompanied the governor to the anchorage at New Sestros.
As soon as these personages reached their destination, a note was
despatched to the negro potentate, desiring him to expel from his
territory all Spaniards who were possessed of factories. To this, it
is said, the chief returned a short and tart rebuke for the
interference with his independence; whereupon the following singular
missive was immediately delivered to the Spaniards:--
"U. S. BRIG DOLPHIN,
"NEW SESTROS, _March 6, 1840_.
"SIR: