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so, but that he would not at any time either eat or drink till I had
taken first, because I was the eldest, which was agreeable to our
custom. Indeed every thing here, and all their treatment of me, made
me forget that I was a slave. The language of these people resembled
ours so nearly, that we understood each other perfectly. They had also
the very same customs as we. There were likewise slaves daily to
attend us, while my young master and I with other boys sported with
our darts and bows and arrows, as I had been used to do at home. In
this resemblance to my former happy state I passed about two months;
and I now began to think I was to be adopted into the family, and was
beginning to be reconciled to my situation, and to forget by degrees
my misfortunes, when all at once the delusion vanished; for, without
the least previous knowledge, one morning early, while my dear master
and companion was still asleep, I was wakened out of my reverie to
fresh sorrow, and hurried away even amongst the uncircumcised.

Thus, at the very moment I dreamed of the greatest happiness, I found
myself most miserable; and it seemed as if fortune wished to give me
this taste of joy, only to render the reverse more poignant. The
change I now experienced was as painful as it was sudden and
unexpected. It was a change indeed from a state of bliss to a scene
which is inexpressible by me, as it discovered to me an element I had
never before beheld, and till then had no idea of, and wherein such
instances of hardship and cruelty continually occurred as I can never
reflect on but with horror.

All the nations and people I had hitherto passed through resembled our
own in their manners, customs, and language: but I came at length to a
country, the inhabitants of which differed from us in all those
particulars. I was very much struck with this difference, especially
when I came among a people who did not circumcise, and ate without
washing their hands. They cooked also in iron pots, and had European
cutlasses and cross bows, which were unknown to us, and fought with
their fists amongst themselves. Their women were not so modest as
ours, for they ate, and drank, and slept, with their men. But, above
all, I was amazed to see no sacrifices or offerings among them. In
some of those places the people ornamented themselves with scars, and
likewise filed their teeth very sharp. They wanted sometimes to
ornament me in the same manner, but I would not suffer them; hoping
that I might some time be among a people who did not thus disfigure
themselves, as I thought they did. At last I came to the banks of a
large river, which was covered with canoes, in which the people
appeared to live with their household utensils and provisions of all
kinds. I was beyond measure astonished at this, as I had never before
seen any water larger than a pond or a rivulet: and my surprise was
mingled with no small fear when I was put into one of these canoes,
and we began to paddle and move along the river. We continued going on
thus till night; and when we came to land, and made fires on the
banks, each family by themselves, some dragged their canoes on shore,
others stayed and cooked in theirs, and laid in them all night. Those
on the land had mats, of which they made tents, some in the shape of
little houses: in these we slept; and after the morning meal we
embarked again and proceeded as before. I was often very much
astonished to see some of the women, as well as the men, jump into the
water, dive to the bottom, come up again, and swim about. Thus I
continued to travel, sometimes by land, sometimes by water, through
different countries and various nations, till, at the end of six or
seven months after I had been kidnapped, I arrived at the sea coast.
It would be tedious and uninteresting to relate all the incidents
which befell me during this journey, and which I have not yet
forgotten; of the various hands I passed through, and the manners and
customs of all the different people among whom I lived: I shall
therefore only observe, that in all the places where I was the soil
was exceedingly rich; the pomkins, eadas, plantains, yams, &c. &c.
were in great abundance, and of incredible size. There were also vast
quantities of different gums, though not used for any purpose; and
every where a great deal of tobacco. The cotton even grew quite wild;
and there was plenty of redwood. I saw no mechanics whatever in all
the way, except such as I have mentioned. The chief employment in all
these countries was agriculture, and both the males and females, as
with us, were brought up to it, and trained in the arts of war.

The first object which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast was
the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and
waiting for its cargo. These filled me with astonishment, which was
soon converted into terror when I was carried on board. I was
immediately handled and tossed up to see if I were sound by some of
the crew; and I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of
bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me. Their complexions
too differing so much from ours, their long hair, and the language
they spoke, (which was very different from any I had ever heard)
united to confirm me in this belief. Indeed such were the horrors of
my views and fears at the moment, that, if ten thousand worlds had
been my own, I would have freely parted with them all to have
exchanged my condition with that of the meanest slave in my own
country. When I looked round the ship too and saw a large furnace or
copper boiling, and a multitude of black people of every description
chained together, every one of their countenances expressing dejection
and sorrow, I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite overpowered
with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted.
When I recovered a little I found some black people about me, who I
believed were some of those who brought me on board, and had been
receiving their pay; they talked to me in order to cheer me, but all
in vain. I asked them if we were not to be eaten by those white men
with horrible looks, red faces, and loose hair. They told me I was
not; and one of the crew brought me a small portion of spirituous
liquor in a wine glass; but, being afraid of him, I would not take it
out of his hand. One of the blacks therefore took it from him and gave
it to me, and I took a little down my palate, which, instead of
reviving me, as they thought it would, threw me into the greatest
consternation at the strange feeling it produced, having never tasted
any such liquor before. Soon after this the blacks who brought me on
board went off, and left me abandoned to despair. I now saw myself
deprived of all chance of returning to my native country, or even the
least glimpse of hope of gaining the shore, which I now considered as
friendly; and I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my
present situation, which was filled with horrors of every k

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