The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African
knew not. The captain immediately ordered the hatches to be nailed
down on the slaves in the hold, where there were above twenty, all of
whom must unavoidably have perished if he had been obeyed. When he
desired the man to nail down the hatches I thought that my sin was the
cause of this, and that God would charge me with these people's blood.
This thought rushed upon my mind that instant with such violence, that
it quite overpowered me, and I fainted. I recovered just as the people
were about to nail down the hatches; perceiving which, I desired them
to stop. The captain then said it must be done: I asked him why? He
said that every one would endeavour to get into the boat, which was
but small, and thereby we should be drowned; for it would not have
carried above ten at the most. I could no longer restrain my emotion,
and I told him he deserved drowning for not knowing how to navigate
the vessel; and I believe the people would have tossed him overboard
if I had given them the least hint of it. However the hatches were not
nailed down; and, as none of us could leave the vessel then on account
of the darkness, and as we knew not where to go, and were convinced
besides that the boat could not survive the surfs, we all said we
would remain on the dry part of the vessel, and trust to God till
daylight appeared, when we should know better what to do.
I then advised to get the boat prepared against morning, and some of
us began to set about it; but some abandoned all care of the ship and
themselves, and fell to drinking. Our boat had a piece out of her
bottom near two feet long, and we had no materials to mend her;
however, necessity being the mother of invention, I took some pump
leather and nailed it to the broken part, and plastered it over with
tallow-grease. And, thus prepared, with the utmost anxiety of mind we
watched for daylight, and thought every minute an hour till it
appeared. At last it saluted our longing eyes, and kind Providence
accompanied its approach with what was no small comfort to us; for the
dreadful swell began to subside; and the next thing that we discovered
to raise our drooping spirits, was a small key or island, about five
or six miles off; but a barrier soon presented itself; for there was
not water enough for our boat to go over the reefs, and this threw us
again into a sad consternation; but there was no alternative, we were
therefore obliged to put but few in the boat at once; and, what is
still worse, all of us were frequently under the necessity of getting
out to drag and lift it over the reefs. This cost us much labour and
fatigue; and, what was yet more distressing, we could not avoid having
our legs cut and torn very much with the rocks. There were only four
people that would work with me at the oars; and they consisted of
three black men and a Dutch Creole sailor; and, though we went with
the boat five times that day, we had no others to assist us. But, had
we not worked in this manner, I really believe the people could not
have been saved; for not one of the white men did any thing to
preserve their lives; and indeed they soon got so drunk that they were
not able, but lay about the deck like swine, so that we were at last
obliged to lift them into the boat and carry them on shore by force.
This want of assistance made our labour intolerably severe; insomuch,
that, by putting on shore so often that day, the skin was entirely
stript off my hands.
However, we continued all the day to toil and strain our exertions,
till we had brought all on board safe to the shore; so that out of
thirty-two people we lost not one. My dream now returned upon my mind
with all its force; it was fulfilled in every part; for our danger was
the same I had dreamt of: and I could not help looking on myself as
the principal instrument in effecting our deliverance; for, owing to
some of our people getting drunk, the rest of us were obliged to
double our exertions; and it was fortunate we did, for in a very
little time longer the patch of leather on the boat would have been
worn out, and she would have been no longer fit for service. Situated
as we were, who could think that men should be so careless of the
danger they were in? for, if the wind had but raised the swell as it
was when the vessel struck, we must have bid a final farewell to all
hopes of deliverance; and though, I warned the people who were
drinking and entreated them to embrace the moment of deliverance,
nevertheless they persisted, as if not possessed of the least spark of
reason. I could not help thinking, that, if any of these people had
been lost, God would charge me with their lives, which, perhaps, was
one cause of my labouring so hard for their preservation, and indeed
every one of them afterwards seemed so sensible of the service I had
rendered them; and while we were on the key I was a kind of chieftain
amongst them. I brought some limes, oranges, and lemons ashore; and,
finding it to be a good soil where we were, I planted several of them
as a token to any one that might be cast away hereafter. This key, as
we afterwards found, was one of the Bahama islands, which consist of a
cluster of large islands, with smaller ones or keys, as they are
called, interspersed among them. It was about a mile in circumference,
with a white sandy beach running in a regular order along it. On that
part of it where we first attempted to land there stood some very
large birds, called flamingoes: these, from the reflection of the sun,
appeared to us at a little distance as large as men; and, when they
walked backwards and forwards, we could not conceive what they were:
our captain swore they were cannibals. This created a great panic
among us; and we held a consultation how to act. The captain wanted to
go to a key that was within sight, but a great way off; but I was
against it, as in so doing we should not be able to save all the
people; 'And therefore,' said I, 'let us go on shore here, and perhaps
these cannibals may take to the water.' Accordingly we steered towards
them; and when we approached them, to our very great joy and no less
wonder, they walked off one after the other very deliberately; and at
last they took flight and relieved us entirely from our fears. About
the key there were turtles and several sorts of fish in such abundance
that we caught them without bait, which was a great relief to us after
the salt provisions on board. There was also a large rock on the
beach, about ten feet high, which was in the form of a punch-bowl at
the top; this we could not help thinking Providence had ordained to
supply us with rainwater; and it was something singular that, if we
did not take the water when it rained, in some little time after it
would turn as salt as sea-water.
Our first care, after refreshment, was to make ourselves tents to
lodge in, which we did as well as we could with some sails we had
brought from the ship. We then began to think how we might get from
this place, which was quite uninhabited; and we determined to repair
our boat, which was very much shattered, and to put to sea in quest of
a ship or some inhabited island. It took us up however eleven days
before we could get the boat ready for sea in the manner we wanted it,
with a sail and other necessaries. When we had got all things prepared
the captain wanted me to stay on shore while he went to sea in quest
of a vessel to take all the people off the key; but this I refused;
and the captain and myself, with five more, set off in the boat
towards New Providence. We had no more than two musket load of
gunpowder with us if any thing should happen; and our stock of
provisions consisted of three gallons of rum, four of water, some salt
beef, some biscuit; and in this manner we proceeded to sea.
On the second day of our voyage we came to an island called Obbico,
the largest of the Bahama islands. We were much in want of water; for
by this time our water was expended, and we were exceedingly fatigued
in pulling two days in the heat of the sun; and it being late in the
evening, we hauled the boat ashore to try for water and remain during
the night: when we came ashore we searched for water, but could find
none. When it was dark, we made a fire around us for fear of the wild
beasts, as the place was an entire thick wood, and we took it by turns
to watch. In this situation we found very little rest, and waited with
impatience for the morning. As soon as the light appeared we set off
again with our boat, in hopes of finding assistance during the day. We
were now much dejected and weakened by pulling the boat; for our sail
was of no use, and we were almost famished for want of fresh water to
drink. We had nothing left to eat but salt beef, and that we could not
use without water. In this situation we toiled all day in sight of the
island, which was very long; in the evening, seeing no relief, we made
ashore again, and fastened our boat. We then went to look for fresh
water, being quite faint for the want of it; and we dug and searched
about for some all the remainder of the evening, but could not find
one drop, so that our dejection at this period became excessive, and
our terror so great, that we expected nothing but death to deliver us.
We could not touch our beef, which was as salt as brine, without fresh
water; and we were in the greatest terror from the apprehension of
wild beasts. When unwelcome night came we acted as on the night
before; and the next morning we set off again from the island in hopes
of seeing some vessel. In this manner we toiled as well as we were
able till four o'clock, during which we passed several keys, but could
not meet with a ship; and, still famishing with thirst, went ashore on
one of those keys again in hopes of finding some water. Here we found
some leaves with a few drops of water in them, which we lapped with
much eagerness; we then dug in several places, but without success. As
we were digging holes in search of water there came forth some very
thick and black stuff; but none of us could touch it, except the poor
Dutch Creole, who drank above a quart of it as eagerly as if it had
been wine. We tried to catch fish, but could not; and we now began to
repine at our fate, and abandon ourselves to despair; when, in the
midst of our murmuring, the captain all at once cried out 'A sail! a
sail! a sail!' This gladdening sound was like a reprieve to a
convict, and we all instantly turned to look at it; but in a little
time some of us began to be afraid it was not a sail. However, at a
venture, we embarked and steered after it; and, in half an hour, to
our unspeakable joy, we plainly saw that it was a vessel. At this our
drooping spirits revived, and we made towards her with all the speed
imaginable. When we came near to her, we found she was a little sloop,
about the size of a Gravesend hoy, and quite full of people; a
circumstance which we could not make out the meaning of. Our captain,
who was a Welchman, swore that they were pirates, and would kill us. I
said, be that as it might, we must board her if we were to die for it;
and, if they should not receive us kindly, we must oppose them as well
as we could; for there was no alternative between their perishing and
ours. This counsel was immediately taken; and I really believe that
the captain, myself, and the Dutchman, would then have faced twenty
men. We had two cutlasses and a musquet, that I brought in the boat;
and, in this situation, we rowed alongside, and immediately boarded
her. I believe there were about forty hands on board; but how great
was our surprise, as soon as we got on board, to find that the major
part of them were in the same predicament as ourselves!
They belonged to a whaling schooner that was wrecked two days before