V. my case, between the two extremes of neglect and impor- CHA P. tunity, had it not been for the happy intervention of poor Joanna, who one morning entered my apartment, to my unspeakable joy and surprise, accompanied by one of her sisters. She informed me that she was acquainted with my forlorn situation; that if I still entertained for her the same good opinion, her only request was, that she might wait upon me till I should be recovered. I indeed gratefully accepted her offer; and by her unremitting care and attention had the good fortune so far to regain my health and spirits, as to be able, in a few days after, to take an airing in Mr. Kennedy's carriage. Till this time I had chiefly been Joanna's friend; but now I began to feel I was her captive. I renewed my wild proposals of purchasing, educating, and transporting her to Europe; which, though offered with the most perfect sincerity, were, by her, rejected once more, with this humble declaration : "I am born a low contemptible slave. Were you to "treat me with too much attention, you must degrade yourself with all your friends and relations; while the 66 66 purchase of my freedom you will find expensive, diffi“cult, and apparently impossible. Yet though a slave, "I have a soul, I hope, not inferior to that of an European; and blush not to avow the regard I retain for 66 66 you, who have distinguished me so much above all others of my unhappy birth. You have, You have, Sir, pitied me; and CHAP. V. <6 now, independent of every other thought, I shall have pride in throwing myself at your feet, till fate shall part us, or my conduct become such as to give you cause to "banish me from your presence." 66 This she uttered with a down-cast look, and tears dropping on her heaving bosom, while she held her companion by the hand. From that instant this excellent creature was mine ; nor had I ever after cause to repent of the step I had taken, as will more particularly appear in the course of this narrative. I cannot omit to record, that having purchased for her presents to the value of twenty guineas, I was the next day greatly astonished to see all my gold returned upon my table; the charming Joanna having carried every article back to the merchants, who cheerfully returned her the money. "Your generous intentions alone, Sir, (she said) were "sufficient: but allow me to tell you, that I cannot help 66 considering any superfluous expence on my account as a "diminution of that good opinion which I hope you have, "and will ever entertain, of my disinterested disposition." Such was the language of a slave, who had simple nature only for her instructor, the purity of whose sentiments stood in need of no comment, and these I was now determined to improve by every care. I shall now only add, that a regard for her superior virtues, 5 V. virtues, so singular amongst her cast, gratitude for her par- c A P. ticular attention to me, and the pleasure of producing to the world such an accomplished character under the appearance of a slave, could alone embolden me to risk the censure of my readers, by intruding on them this subject: let this be my apology, and if it be accepted but by few, I shall not be inclined to complain. In the evening I visited Mr. Demelly, who, with his lady, congratulated me on my recovery from sickness; and at the same time, however strange it may appear to many readers, they, with a smile, wished me joy of what, with their usual good humour, they were pleased to call my conquest; which, one of the ladies in company assured me, while it was perhaps censured by some, was applauded by many, but she believed in her heart envied by all.— A decent wedding, at which many of our respectable friends made their appearance, and at which I was as happy as any bridegroom ever was, concluded the ceremony; with which I shall beg leave to conclude a chapter, which, methinks I hear many readers whisper, had better never had a beginning. СНАР. VI. CHAP. VI. Account of a dreadful Execution-Fluctuating State of political Affairs-Short Glimpse of Peace-An Officer shot dead; his whole Party cut to Pieces, and the general Alarm revived throughout the Colony. ON N the 21st of May our Lieutenant Colonel, Lantman, died, and a number of our officers lay sick. Instead of gaiety and dissipation, disease and mortality now began to rage amongst us; and the devastation increased from day to day among the private men, in a most alarming proportion. The remains of the deceased officer were interred with military honours, in the centre of the fortress Zelandia, where all criminals are imprisoned, and all field officers buried. At this place I was not a little shocked to see the captive rebel negroes and others clanking their chains, and roasting plantains and yams upon the sepulchres of the dead; they presented to my imagination the image of a number of diabolical fiends in the shape of African slaves, tormenting the souls of their European persecutors. From these gloomy mansions of despair, on this day, seven captive negroes were selected, who being led by a few soldiers to the place of execution, which is in the Savannah, where the sailors and soldiers VI. soldiers are interred, six were hanged, and one broken CHAP. alive upon the rack, with an iron bar; besides which a white man was scourged before the Court House, by the public executioner, who is in this country always a black. The circumstance which led me to take particular notice of this affair was the shameful injustice of shewing a partiality to the European, who ought to have been better informed, by letting him escape with only a slight corporal punishment; while the poor uneducated African for the same crime, viz. stealing money out of the Town Hall, lost his life under the most excruciating torments, which he supported without heaving a sigh or making a complaint; while one of his companions, with the rope about his neck, and just on the point of being turned off, uttered a laugh of contempt at the magistrates who attended the execution. I ought not in this place to omit, that the negro who flogged the white man inflicted the punishment with the greatest marks of commiseration. These transactions almost induced me to decide between the Europeans and Africans in this colony, that the first were the greater barbarians of the two-a name which tarnishes Christianity, and is bestowed on them in too many corners of the globe, with what real degree of justice I will not take on me to determine. Having testified how much I was hurt at the cruelty of the above execution, and surprised at the intrepidity with which the negroes bore their punishment, a decent looking |