Part 2 (1/2)
This place, however, I thought a paradise to our foreon; and as ere not overworked, wethe air all day to refresh us fro for company; for there were at least three hundred of us about the whole work; and I often fanciedin a language of his own
Towards the latter end of our work our keepers grewthither, I had contracted a fado able tolerably to understand each other, he hinted tohis own country and family, who neither knehether he was dead or alive, or where he was, since he had left thedo to me, if I would endeavour to escape with him, and we succeeded, he would provide for me ”For,” says he, ”you see, now our work is aluarded; and if we stay till this job is once finished, we may be codoht we know, so that our labours will only cease with our lives: and for my part, immediate death in the atte life of slavery”
These, and such-like arguments, prevailed on me to accompany him, as he had told me he had travelled most of the country before in the wars of the different nations; so having taken our resolution, the following evening, soon after our day's work, and before the ti up, ithdrew fro if we should then be missed and called, ould appear and make some excuse for our absence, but if not, we should have the whole night before us
When ere first put upon this work, ere called over singly, by na, to be let out and in, and were very narrowly observed in ourbeen ever absent, our actions were at lengthus over was frequently oot away unobserved the first night, we should be out of the reach of pursuers by the next; which was the soonest it was possible for them to overtake us, as we proposed to travel the first part of our journey with the utmost despatch
CHAPTER VII
The author escapes with Glanlepze a native--Their hardshi+ps in travel--Plunder of a cottage--His fears--Adventure with a crocodile--Passage of a river--Adventure with a lioness and whelps--Arrive at Glanlepzis house--The trial of Glanlepze's wife's constancy--The tenderof her and her husband--The author's reflections thereupon
Having now set out with all possible speed, we seeh it cannot be supposed we had no fears in our minds the first part of our journey, for we had , with scarce any delay, pushed forwards for the first twenty-four hours, nature then began to have two very pressing demands upon us, food and rest; but as one of them was absolutely out of our power to comply with, she contented herself with the other till we should be better able to supply her, and gave a farther ti found us very eht's rest had contributed its utmost to refresh us But what added h our whole subsistence must come from fruits, there was not a tree to be found at a less distance than twelve leagues, in the open rocky country ere then in; but a good draught of excellent water we met with did us extraordinary service, and sent us with h they were quite out of the way of our route: there, by divers kinds of fruits, which, though er to, we satisfied our hunger for the present, and took a moderate supply for another opportunity This retarded our journey very ht
I cannot say this journey, though bad enough, would have been so discouraging, but for the trouble of fetching our provisions so far; and then, if we meant not to lose half the next day in the saress by that ot quite clear of Angola
On the eighth day, my companion, whose name was Glanlepze, told o, but there was one little village still in Angola by which we ree to it, he would go see what ot here to supply ourselves with I told him I was in an unknoorld, and would folloherever he should lead me; but asked him if he was not afraid of the people, as he was not of that country He told me as there had been wars between theo, he was not concerned for any mischief he should do them, or they him
”But,” says he, ”you have a knife in your pocket, and with that ill cut two stout clubs, and then follow ”
We soon cut our clubs, andon, in thetrees,a little hovel, larger indeed, but worse contrived, than an English hog-stye, to which we boldly advanced; and Glanlepze entering first, saluted an oldon a parcel of rushes The man attempted to run away, but Glanlepze stopped him, and we tied his hands and feet He then set up such a hideous howl, that had not Glanlepze threatened to murder him, and prepared to do it, he would have raised the whole village upon us; but we quieted hi to find provision, which was all anted, we by good luck spied best part of a goat hanging up behind a large mat at the farther end of the room By this time in comes a wohter, of about five-and-twenty Glanlepze bound her also, and laid her by the old man; but the two children we suffered to lie untied We then examined her, who told us the old oat that one to carry part of it to his sister; that they had little or no corn; and finding anted victuals, she told us there was an earthen pot wenow seen all that was to be had, ere going to ently put his head into the doorway: hireatrope he found there about the beast's neck, and laying the oat's flesh and a little corn in a calabash-shell; and then turning up the ether, and over all we tied the earthen pot; Glanlepze crying out at everything we loaded, ”It is no hurt to plunder an enereater apprehensions fro before ”For,” says I, ”if the woman's husband returns soon, or if she or her father can release thee upon us, and we are undone” But Glanlepze laughed at ola doo was at ith theo, whose subject hiolans durst not be seen out of their bounds on that side the kingdoovians in our ould certainly rise and destroy theh the war being carried on near the sea, the borders were quiet, yet, upon the least stir, the whole country would be in arh the woods very safely
Well, we marched on as fast as we could all the reht, close by the skirt of a long wood, that we ht take shelter therein, if there should be occasionand my eyes were the best part of the way behindto annoy us, and finding by the declivity of the ground we should soon be in some plain or bottom, and have a chance of water for us all, and pasture for our muletto, which was now become one of us, ould not halt till we found a bottom to the hill, which in half an hour more we came to, and in some minutes after to a rivulet of fine clear water, where we resolved to spend the night Here we fastened ourhie to fill his belly in beforeslips fro the cord, of sufficient length for the purpose And now, having each of us brought a bundle of dry fallen sticks froathered two or three flints as we ca, we struck fire on ood piece of our goat's flesh; and having made such a meal as we had neither of us made for many
As soon as day broke we packed up our goods, and filling our calabash ater, we loaded our ot forward very pleasantly that day and several others following, and had tolerable lodgings
About noon, one day, travelling with great glee, we met an adventure which very much dauntedwhere I intended We caue over, but full, and especially about the shores, of large trees that had fallen froed there in a shocking manner This river, Glanlepze told ht of it, and told hiet over, I would not desire to prevent hiswith his family; but as for my share, I had rather take e”Oh!” says Glanlepze, ”then you can't swim?”--”No,” says I; ”there's ood heart; I'll have you over” He then bade rew there near the shore, whilst he pulled up another where he then was, and bring theood ith an easy descent, so that it was very shallohere the reeds grew, and they stood very close together upon a large coround I had no sooner entered the reeds a few yards, to cut so about knee-deep in the water and h to keep theht I had trod upon a trunk of one of the trees, of which, as I said, there was such plenty thereabouts; and raising et that also upon the tree, as I fancied it, I found itwith me; upon which I roared out, when Glanlepze, as not far fro as the ht!” I knew not yet as the case, but did what I was bid, and gained the shore Looking back, I perceived the reeds shake and rustle all the way to the shore, by degrees after htened, and ran to Glanlepze, who then told er I had escaped, and that what I took for a tree was certainly a large alligator or crocodile
My blood ran chill within erous creature; but he had no sooner told me what it was, than out came the most hideous monster I had ever seen Glanlepze ran to secure thethe cord which had fastened hi it to each end of a broken arm of a tree that lay on the shore, he inning near the tail, with one leg on one side, and the other on the other side, he straddled over hi his pace as the beast crept forward, till he ca before his ainst the creature's nose, till he gaped wide enough to have taken in thethe wood between his jaith all his force by the cord, he gagged the beast, with his jaide open up to his throat, so that he could neither make use of his teeth nor shut his round, just before the creature's under-jahich, as he by degrees crept along over it, ca the other end of it in the same manner, he took up those ends and tied thes, which kept the gag firood distance), ”Peter,”
says he, ”bringso near, for the crocodile was turning his head this way and that very uneasy, and wanting to get to the river again, but yet I carried it, keeping ashith tossed my knife so near that Glanlepze could reach it; and he, just keeping behind the beast's forefeet, and leaning forward, first darted the knife into one eye, and then into the other; and i to me ”So, Peter,” says he, ”I have done the business”--”Aye! business enough, I think,” says I, ”and o”--”Why, Peter,” says he, ”there is nothing but a manin his view at once, and fairly deliberates on both sides what iven and taken from end to end What you have seen h notion I have of this beast and of myself, how far each of us hath power to act and counteract upon the other, and duly applying the means But,”, says he, ”this talk will not carry us across the river; come, here are the reeds I have pulled up, which I believe will be sufficient without any more, for I would not overload the muletto”--”Why,” says I, ”is the muletto to carry them?”--”No, they are to carry you,” says he--”I can never ride upon these,” says I--”Hush!+” says he, ”I'll not lose you, never fear Coth of these reeds”--”Well,” says I, ”this is all conjuration; but I don't see a step towardsover the river yet, unless I auide myself with the stick”
”I uess” So taking an arround, ”Now, Peter,” says he, ”lay that stick upon those reeds and tie theht at both ends”
I did so ”Now, Peter,” says he, ”lay yourself down upon thethwise, upon the reeds, Glanlepze laughed heartily at ht ht ofa handful of the reeds he had reserved by the theain at the ends ”Now, Peter,” says he, ”stand up;” which I did, but it was full asat the figure I cut, desired hi my life for a joke; for I could not think what he would do next withmore soberly, ordered me to walk to the river, and so stand just within the bank till he ca the muletto tothe cord in his hand, led the uide began to swim, then thebut drowning every one so far, I was asha out of , up I inable;us between the trees so dexterously, that not one accident happened to either of us all the way, and we arrived safe on the opposite shore
We had now got into a very low, close, swaan to be very stale through the heat, not only of the sun, but the muletto's back: however, we pleased ourselves we should have onetravelled about threeon a little rising, and tied ourbelow us, where he ood a meal in his way as we did in ours
We had but just supped, and were sauntering about to find the easiest spot to sleep on, e heard a rustling and a gruht, which see to approach nearer and nearer, Glanlepze roused hih to see a lioness and a small whelp which acco towards us, as we afterwards guessed, for the sake of our goat's flesh, which now s Glanlepze whipped on the contrary side of the fire to that where the goat's flesh lay, and fell to kicking the fire about at a great rate, which being made of dry wood, caused innumerable sparks to fly about us; but the beasts still approaching in a couchant oat and other bones (for we had only cut the flesh off), and grus, Glanlepze snatched up a fire-brand, flaht so terrified the creatures that they fled with great precipitation to the thicket again
Glanlepze was a little uneasy at the thoughts of quitting so good a lodging as we had found, but yet held it best to move farther; for as the lions had left the bones behind them, we must expect another visit if we stayed there, and could hope for no rest; and, above all, we ht possibly lose our muletto; so we rereat tranquillity
Reflections on the nature of hts concerning prayer in my journey to Bristol, and of the benefit I received from it, and how fully I was convinced of the necessity of it; which one would think was a sufficient motive to a reasonable creature to be constant in it; and yet, it is too true that, notwithstanding the difficulties I had laboured under, and hardshi+ps I had undergone, and the danger of starving at sea or being ent a necessity of begging Divine assistance as can be conceived, I never once thought of it, nor of the Object of it, nor returned thanks fordelivered, till the lioness had just leftreat sincerity
I shall not trouble you with a relation of the common accidents of our journey, which lasted two et subsistence, but shall at once conduct you to Quao about, and were once stopped by a cut that ed stone in his foot, which growing very bad, almost deprivedand licking it, which was the only rereen leaves chewed, that I laid to it by his direction, to supple and cool it, he soon began to be able to ride upon the muletto, and sometimes to walk a little