Chapter XIII: Preface (12)

This prince, Rer Trimmonongarevo, made, as I thought, a very odd and formidable figure, whether it was because I had heard many stories of some of his rash and barbarous proceedings, which had prejudiced me against him. His dress was very singular, and such as I had never seen before; his hair was plaited in ringlets, beginning at the crown of the head; then another range of knots was bigger than the former, and so downwards, every lower circle was larger than the upper; on several of these knots of hair hung a large quantity of fine beads. Some part of his fore-headpiece of beads hung almost over his nose, among these were several gold ones. He had a very fine gold necklace about his neck; over his shoulders hung two strings of beads, and several of them gold, in much the same manner as our aldermen of London’s chains; on each wrist about six manelers of silver, seeming large enough to weigh nearly three dollars apiece, and four rings of gold on his fingers. Nearly twenty strings of beads, closely set, were twisted round his legs; a silk lamber hung over his shoulders, loose like a mantle, and another, as usual, twisted round his waist. He was an old prince, not less, by what I could understand, than fourscore years of age at least, yet of a robust and healthy constitution. His colour was rather tawny, like an Indian, than perfectly black; his eyes fierce, and his whole appearance formidable; or the singularity of his dress and character made me imagine so; he soon took notice of me, and asked Rer Vove if I was the white man he had taken prisoner? and what was my name? He called to me, “Robin, mehove a toee,” which is come hither. I then laid my blunderbuss down, and approached him with my hands lifted up and closed before me. As soon as I got to him I fell on my knees, and licked first one of his feet and then the other, as the common people did before me. He ordered me to sit by him, but not on his own mat neither. He asked several questions in relation to my first coming on this island, and informed me that he had a white man of his own; “but he is an Englishman,” said he, “and whether you can speak that language, or not, I cannot say.” I told him I was an Englishman myself. I began to cheer up, and have a little more courage upon this agreeable news; and was surprised that my master had not mentioned this circumstance before. I asked the king how long his white man had been with him? and what his name was? “Six or seven years,” said he: “his name is Will.” Upon this, he ordered a man to call him immediately, who brought word that Will was gone out of town, and would not be back in less than three or four days; so finding the king enter upon some new discourse with the general, I withdrew to my former post.

Soon after we went to a house which was ordered for our reception, where I was discharged from guarding his slaves; for he did that, as he told me afterwards, only to try my fidelity, since he knew very well, if I had not been honest, they would have all got away; but as he was convinced I did him justice, he had a post of much greater importance to intrust me with. By this time, came in Ry Chemotoea, the king’s principal wife, and the grandmother of Rer Vove, my master. She was the largest woman I had ever seen in all my life. When she sat, her breasts hung down to her lap; she walked but little, being generally carried on a kind of bier on men’s shoulders. She had a numerous retinue, besides slaves, who brought four calabashes of toake; two of honey, and two of sugar canes, together with six baskets of rice. The king sent ten beeves, four of which were very large fat oxen. As soon as Ry Chemotoea was gone, we sat down to drinking the honey-toake, till Rer Vove was perfectly intoxicated, and fell asleep, at which time three slaves came from his grandmother laden with presents; one with a fat capon boiled, for they made capons here; another with a pot of dried rice; and the third with a basket, a wooden dish, and a spoon. This was the best supper I had seen of the natives dressing, and I had my share of it; but for all this good cheer, I could not forbear thinking of this Will, the Englishman, and was very much concerned that we could not stay till he came home.

The next day we marched homewards, and though it was two days’ journey, yet we hastened to come in as early as we could the second day, because of the great triumph we were then to make. The solemnity of which was much the same as I have described in other places, and consisted in their wives licking their feet, &c.

Rer Vove’s house was nearly eight yards long, and about six broad, built of boards, as all the great men’s houses are in Saccalauvor. Notwithstanding they have no saws, with a great deal of labour, however, they hew out boards very even with their hatchets. The language is much the same with that in other countries, except as English in Yorkshire, or the west of England, where each place has a particular dialect, and some small difference in its pronunciation.

My post here was a grand one, for I was constituted captain of my master’s guard. There were palisades all round his house, and at the portal, or gateway, was a little house for several young men of a higher degree to lie in, who were his guard, and over whom, as I said before, I was appointed chief, but this did not last above a month; at which time he thought proper to go a shooting wild fowl, and took no one but me with him. In our private conversation, he told me how vicious the people of Saccalauvor were grown within a few years, as their country grew rich; and that young men living so high, and drinking such large quantities of toake, induced them frequently to lie with other men’s wives, by which means murders, and several other misfortunes, have ensued. “As for my part,” said he, “I have no reason, indeed, to suspect my wife Ry Kaley; however, to prevent all jealous thoughts for the future, I will intrust her to your care, and desire that she may never be absent from your charge by night or day, on any pretence, how plausible soever, unless she be with me. I am very well satisfied she will not take this amiss, and you have no occasion to regard any one else.” I returned him thanks for the favourable opinion he had of my integrity; and assured him I would take the same care I had done hitherto, in the due discharge of my duty to him in all things, wherein he thought proper to command me; but I was afraid, lest some of his trusty old servants should envy me my post, and insinuate to him things prejudicial to his honour and my care. “Upon that account,” said he, “you have no cause for fear, since it is always expected here, that marks of favour and distinction be shown to white men.” When we came home, he broke his mind to her, with much such another apology as he did to me. She prevented him, however, from asking her consent, apprehending in a moment what he aimed at; so saying, “I desire nothing more than that you will take all the measures you think proper, in order to retain the same opinion of me you always had; and in case Robin is to be my guardian, I will submit with pleasure to his directions; and from henceforth, Robin,” said she, “I will never be out of your sight, but when I am with Rer Vove himself; and as I am now under your jurisdiction, be sure you discharge your trust as you ought, and don’t imagine that you can displease me by the strictest observance of your orders. On the other hand, I propose abundance of pleasure in your conversation, by telling me stories of your uncommon adventures.” Indeed, she gave me good grounds to think she was not displeased with me. It was my business to attend her on all occasions. Sometimes, indeed, her women slaves were with her, but we were oftener by ourselves, and that too through her own contrivance; and whether my master had, in reality, so great an opinion of her chastity as he pretended, I cannot determine; but I found her to be a very gay, wanton lady, and was forced to exert all the art I was master of, in order to keep her out of other company, as well as to preserve my own innocence. However, as my life lay at stake, I was resolved to be true to my trust. It was full three quarters of a year before I got rid of this troublesome office; during which time, my master took a fancy to another woman who had lately been divorced from a cousin of his, and made her, if we may call her so, his supernumerary wife. He was extremely fond of her at first, but soon quarrelled with her, used her ill, turned her in short quite off, and returned with as much indulgence as ever to my charge, Ry Kaley, again.

Not long after this, Rer Vove proposed to take a tour to the northward, for his pleasure, and to take a survey of his cattle; so ordering his furniture to be removed to his head slave’s till his return, our house was locked up, and away we marched. We were a large company of us, Ry Kaley, his wife, his friend Guy, with several other attendants, besides slaves. It had rained very hard for some time before we set out; so coming to a small river, which was considerably swelled with the floods, the people made a halt, not caring to push forwards with too much precipitation, lest some alligators might have come up into the marshes, as is customary, and return again to their old haunts upon the fall of the waters. As the river was shallow enough to wade through, I was so fool-hardy as out of a bravado to lead the way. Two fine dogs, that were my master’s favourites, went into the water along with me, but kept close to my heels, one on each side of me, for the dogs are very apprehensive of alligators. I was up to my belly in the water, or thereabouts, when an alligator, all on a sudden, gave such a spring at the dog on my left side, that the monster’s nose struck me down. The alligator, dog, and I vanishing, as it were, at once, our people took it for granted I had been carried off; but rising at a small distance and finding myself not hurt, I went directly over; upon which they all followed me. For if a noise be made by a great number of people, an alligator will sink, like a stone, to the bottom, and lie without the least motion, and though you tread on him, he will not stir an inch. As we took our journey for pleasure only, we had no occasion to fatigue ourselves, so we marched but slowly. In a few hours we arrived on the banks of a very large river, called Mernee. Here we came to a town inhabited by a people of a different species, as it were, from the rest of mankind, and of a language peculiar to themselves, though they can speak the general language if they please. Their customs too, and manners, being as different as their persons, of which I shall give a particular detail, according as I was farther informed soon after.

Rer Vove gave orders that one of the houses of these Virzimbers, which is the name they are generally known by, should be made clean for him, and all the old furniture be removed; and as for us, who were of his retinue, we might shift as well as we could. There are very few Saccalauvors care to lie in any of their houses, for fear of an insect like a cow-tick, called poropongee, which is frequently found upon cattle, and this insect is found nowhere else; but these people breed them, on purpose to make their houses shunned by the Saccalauvors; for the Virzimbers, till very lately, were under no government, and often changing their habitations; so that upon their first settlement here, the natives used to come into their houses, and take away whatever they saw convenient; imposing most shamefully upon them, till the king, under whose protection they are at present, redressed their grievances upon hearing their complaints. These poropongees will make those who are bitten by them sick, sometimes for six weeks, or two months together; sticking close to the skin, or penetrating into it for a long time; but when a man has been once tormented by them, and has overcome the sickness, he never has it again, though he lies among ever so many of them; or, at least, like persons who have had the small pox, they never fear a return of their distemper. These Virzimbers are very subject likewise to what they call colah, which is a kind of the yaws, a disease which has been described before. It is so frequent, however, here, that a third part of the people of a town are sometimes spotted like lepers, with dry scabs. We continued here but one night, and passed over this large river in canoes the next morning.

About half a day’s march from hence lives Rer Moume, king Trimmonongarevo’s eldest son, and uncle to Rer Vove, to whom we went to pay a visit. Messengers, for form sake, were sent before; an agreeable answer being received, we approached the town, and found him sitting for the shade sake, in great state under a tamarind tree, as it was excessively hot. He is a very great prince, and extremely well beloved: there were twelve wives, and a great many other people then with him. When Rer Vove, accompanied by his wife Ry Kaley, came to him, they kneeled and licked his knee. After which she soon withdrew among the women, but he sat down on a mat near his uncle. All his aunts in general, except one who was blind, came to him and licked his shoulder, for they had not seen him since his return from his expedition at Feraignher. The toake went about plentifully, and some was given to our principal people, among whom I was constantly with Guy, who had a particular regard for me. My master, however, being not a little proud of his white man, called to me in broken English, for he had just enough to say, “Come hither;” or, “How do you do?” When Rer Moume saw me; “Were it not for his hair and eyes,” said he, “I should scarcely have known him to be white, his skin is so scorched with the sun that it is as swarthy almost as my own: Ry Anzacker there, is as white as he.” And, to confess the truth, there was no great difference in our complexion. This was his second wife, and sister to deaan Tokeoffu, king of Munnongaro, alias Masseleege. Rer Moume was of a copper colour, rather than a black. Though he had no visible distemper upon him, yet he had lost the use of his limbs, and though he had no swelling in his legs or sores about him, and looked well to all outward appearance, yet he could not stand upright. This misfortune was supposed to be brought upon him by poison, which was given him by one of his wives with a treacherous intent to kill him, she having been a captive, and the consort of a neighbouring prince who opposed him, and was killed in battle. He sat on a square seat, or throne, made on purpose for him, but so low that he could rest his legs on the ground if he thought fit.

Perceiving I could speak their language, he was extremely delighted with me, for he was a good-natured, courteous man, which I have just reason to acknowledge: for by his compassion I was redeemed from the hardships of slavery during my continuance here; and, at last, dismissed in a friendly and genteel manner, and by his means sent home to England. The whole discourse now turned on me and my surprising adventures; the women, too, bore a part in the conversation, and expressed their pity, saying, they should be glad to have me among them, and should think they could never do enough for me, if I would oblige them with the agreeable stories of my travels. But this happy time was not yet come, I was to undergo a few more fatigues first, though my state of slavery did not continue long.

My master, Rer Vove, was a gay young man, who pursued his pleasures and was guilty of some vices, like many of our young noblemen in Europe, was always in action, full of fire, and as his constitution was very warm and sanguine, he would be guilty of too many of the follies which youth are prone to. As to his stature he was very tall, for in an army or crowd he might be distinguished at a distance, being a head taller at least than most of the people; however, he was exactly proportioned and well-shaped, his legs and arms were finely tapered. I was obliged sometimes to assist him in his love adventures, of which a pretty remarkable, as well as dangerous one, was on this journey; as follows:—

No sooner had he parted from his uncle, than he determined to visit his cousin, Rer Chemunghoher; but coming near his town, and being informed that he was gone from home as far as Moherbo, a thought came into his head to send his wife one way, whilst he took another under a pretence of business, and to meet about four days after, advising her at the same time to go through some towns of the Virzimbers, who always make one present or another to those of the family, according as their abilities will permit. His attendants, or the greatest part of them, were ordered to accompany his wife; and as for me, whom she expected to have been left her guardian, he bid follow him. When we were at a sufficient distance from the people, he told me he had a secret to communicate to me of no small importance, and desired, likewise, my assistance in a particular affair, which he proposed to put in execution. “You know my fidelity,” said I, “and are sensible that I would scruple nothing but the commission of murder to serve you.” “It is nothing of that nature, I assure you,” said he, “but the consequence may prove fatal if you do not act with discretion: Rer Chemunghoher, in short, has married one who was my consort before Ry Kaley; and, on a quarrel, I put her away a little too rashly, and my kinsman also married her in too much hurry, or we should probably have agreed again. The woman I still have an affection for, and as her husband happens to be abroad, I have some thoughts of your procuring me an interview with her. There is a Maurominter, that is to say, a black man of any other country, who can speak English; you shall pay him a visit, by which means you may come to the speech of her.” I was fond of this opportunity to see this English Maurominter; and for that reason I readily agreed to his proposal; and having my full instruction, and a man for my guide, I left my master at a small village, about two hours’ walk from Rer Chemunghoher’s town, and proceeded immediately on my errand.

Lewis (for that was his name) received and entertained me in a handsome manner. He was born, he said, in Jamaica, followed the sea, and being taken by pirates was set on shore at St. Augustine-bay, where he lived some time, but the troubles of that country coming on, he, as well as many of the natives, came away, not only for their security, but for more plentiful living: so that between the affairs of Feraignher and England, we had subject matter of discourse enough for a long time. His wife going out, I took the opportunity of asking him, if he could possibly introduce me to their lord’s wife? He, knowing the story, guessed at my intention, though I told him no more than what was requisite for my purpose. He went accordingly to her, and she sent word she would come, which she did soon, with one maid only to attend her. I was a good excuse enough for her to say her curiosity led her to see a white man. Lewis and his wife withdrawing, and she saying I might freely speak before her maid, whom she could trust with her life, I soon delivered my message, and told her how disconsolate Rer Vove was ever since he came near the town: I found her, in short, as eager for the interview as himself, and she appointed that very night in a wood at a convenient distance. As soon as she returned home she sent her maid with some toake to me; which, when Lewis and I had drank up, I went with the good news to my master. And as it proved a fine moonlight night, we soon came to the place assigned; though by going over a river, and through a plantation where there were dogs, and they barking, the owner had like to have discovered us; for the wild hogs often making great havoc in the night, they are very attentive if their dogs do but stir.

I left them in the wood, and went to Lewis, for whom she waited. He conducted her through a breach made in the palisade, for the gate was always guarded, and I conducted her to her gallant. Her maid accompanied her with a capon, some rice, and a calabash of toake. They embraced each other with all the passion imaginable; the maid, indeed, was for serving up the supper, but they had affairs of greater moment to talk of first, which we plainly perceiving withdrew, and diverted ourselves for some time as well as we could. In about two hours we heard him whistle, which was the signal for our coming, when we supped all together. Our bellies being full, Lewis and I roved about at a distance, and left them again till it was daybreak. “Now, Robin,” says he, “we must do as the wild boars do, get a great distance from the place where they have been doing their mischief.” So crossing the river again, we walked about till noon; when a man was to come and bring us some provisions. As I was looking out sharply, and listening for the token, which was a whistle, I approached him, but the fellow being silly, and knowing nothing of a white man, threw down the meat, and a whole calabash of toake, and took to his heels. As soon as he got home he told his mistress, that he saw a white spirit, and it ran after him for the meat, which he was forced to leave behind him. This gave us some diversion the next night, when she came again: a capon, rice, and toake were brought this evening likewise; and I could not forbear rallying my master on having patience enough now to sup, and regale himself with toake as soon as it came. When we had drank plentifully they bid us go and watch at a distance, and find out some amusement or other to pass away the night. And, indeed, had we not made ourselves merry, and been as agreeable to one another as such an occasion required, the night would have seemed very long and tedious. We slept a little towards daybreak, and when I went to them they were not up; however, they soon arose, and took their leave too, by rubbing their noses together, and drawing their breath like persons who take snuff. After this they parted well satisfied for the present.

It was now broad daylight, so that when we attempted to go over the plantation the same way as we came, the people were up; and as we were both remarkable persons, he by his height, and I by my colour, the very seeing us at a distance would have been enough to betray the whole secret. We had no way, therefore, to take but through a thicket of thorny wood. I went first upon my knees, and beat them down with a stick, and my master followed. Though our shoulders bled in many places, which we did not regard at first through eagerness, and when we did it was to little purpose, for it would have been as bad to have retreated. So, in short, we went through; but on our arrival on the other side of the river, we stood still to look on one another, and perceiving how miserably our hides were scratched and torn, we could not refrain from laughter, though we were severely mortified. We still endeavoured to find out private ways, being as much ashamed now as we were afraid before of being seen. As soon as Guy saw us, he could not forbear smiling. Rer Vove told him, we had been hunting a wild boar, and by pursuing him too eagerly into the thickets, we got scratched in this piteous manner. “It is much more probable,” said Guy, “a wild woman, and the right owner pursuing you too closely, you were glad to escape to the first wood you came at.” Ry Kaley grew a little jealous too upon the occasion, but we laughed it off.

We being all met again, we proceeded to the northward, where the cattle are all kept. This is as fine a country as ever I saw, and the best stocked with all the necessaries of life. These people never go forth to war, but constantly employ the whole of their time in taking care of the king’s and their lord’s cattle: they have plenty likewise of their own. The king’s cattle are marked with the stamp called chemerango. Here are such numbers of them, that it is not known within two or three thousand how many belong to him. Some of these oxen are scarcely able to walk for age, and others are so fat they cannot stir. They never milk above the fourth part of the cows, though the place is populous, and as large as some king’s dominions. They have a great many towns, and many Virzimbers dwell among them. The chief town is of large extent, where the principal herdsman keeps a great court, and has full power and authority to decide all controversies, and punish any offender without appeal. When we saw him, he made as grand a figure as a king, and was sitting with his attendants about him in the same manner. However, he arose to kiss Rer Vove’s knee, (not his feet,) as a testimony of his more than common respect for him. He had eight thousand head of cattle of his own, and near three hundred slaves. He made my master a present of five of his own, and fifteen of the chemango’s. He seldom, if ever, goes out on foot, but is carried on a bier on men’s shoulders. He is very old, indeed, having been cow-keeper to Rer Trimmonongarevo’s father, deaan Lohefute.

Butter and cheese might be made here in plenty, were there but people who understood the art of it, for the cows give abundance of milk, though not altogether so much as ours do in England, but then they continue it longer; summer time in this hot country being the worst for the cattle. In this place, however, there are so many rivers, brooks, and springs, that they are never incommoded with such droughts as they sometimes are in Anterndroea. Here are tallow and hides too in abundance, but few think it worth their while to regard them. Several other commodities are to be found here which are worthy of notice: wax is so plentiful that it is thrown away; there is iron too in many parts of the country, as well as here, and the natives are no strangers to the making of steel. Here is copper, likewise, of their own production, of which they make mannelers. In some of the most mountainous and inland parts of the country they have silver, and know how to make ear-plates of it, and mannelers: so that I have the highest reason to think the country produces it, as well as it does a white metal, much like our British tin, or tutanag; nor is there any reason to doubt that gold is to be found here. Here are many other things, but as I cannot give a satisfactory account of them, I pass them over in silence. But,

I must not here omit to mention the several sorts of silk, of which there is plenty in every part of the island where I have been. Some is of a brownish colour, others of a white; the outside is full of small pointed prickles; the cod or bag is nearly three inches long, and shaped like a nine pin; at the top, when we take it, there is a hole, out of which I have extracted a blackish worm; but I am not able to describe it, or the manner of its transformation, as the common silkworm: this I know, that there are no mulberry trees. The silk of these worms is found upon three or four several sorts of trees; for when they spin they cleave to the thick branches or body of the tree. I have seen the people on their knees, pull the cod out to a great length, which they tease to pieces, and then spin it with a spindle, made of bone, and a rock-staff; after that they weave it as they do cotton, and it makes not only pretty, but very fine lambers. There is some trouble in the management of it, which is all the reason I can offer for their making so little use of it. In this part of Saccalauvor, where the cattle are kept, is a tree called rofeer; which is of singular service to the middle sort of people to make lambers of. The leaf is like that of a cocoa-nut tree, but longer by two feet; they take off the outer part, and put the other to dry for two or three days together, which is then thin and white like a long shaving. After that they moisten it again, and split it into threads, which they knot in a very neat manner, and weave into cloth: some of it is frequently dyed, and made into lambers striped. This tree bears a fruit that much resembles a damson.

After Rer Vove had taken a review of his cattle, and left behind him about two hundred of them, which he got by this journey, we returned home to plant rice; for men of the highest distinction here look after their plantations themselves, and take care to furnish their families with proper provisions. He had not been long at home, before some business called him to Moherbo, and through Guy’s artifice and intercession I got leave to accompany him, for I had a strong inclination to see the Englishman. He soon perceived I was his countryman, and we were more overjoyed to see each other, than relations are who live ever so distant. His name was William Thornbury, he had been nine years in the country. It was his first voyage; for he was then a boy, who like me, was resolutely bent on going to sea; but a hard gale of wind arising suddenly, drove their ship from her anchors, and whether some pirate was in sight, or what was the real cause he could not tell, but they never returned, leaving him with the surgeon and another man ashore; the two last in a few months died with grief, and he was left alone. The king took what small quantity of goods their captain had left on shore, and sent immediately for Thornbury. He went, and his majesty very kindly told him he had no occasion to fear any thing; for he would take care he should not only be supplied with whatever he wanted, but that he would, moreover, send him home by the first vessel. In all which he was as good as his word, nor ever attempted to make a slave of him, as Mevarrow did of me; so that when we compared our hard destinies, mine was much the severer of the two. He went to the king’s eldest wife for some toake, in order to treat me with it, which she readily granted.

I have already given the reader an idea of this king’s person: as to his hasty temper and cruel actions I had heard much talk of them before now; William Thornbury, however, let me more fully into his character. I found, upon taking in the whole detail of him, that glory and ambition were his principal aim; which he looked upon to consist in the wealth and prosperity of his country. For Saccalauvor was neither richer nor more powerful than other countries till his accession to the regal state. But he having expelled both his brothers upon his assumption of the supreme dignity, one of them, as I have mentioned before, fled to Feraignher, and got possession of part of the country to the southward; the other, accompanied by about eight hundred men, passed through the fine country where the cattle are kept, and where the Virzimbers at that time resided, moving still farther to the northward, and settled on that river which the Europeans at this time call Masseleege. The Virzimbers fled from him on his first approach, but finding that his intentions were peaceable, and that he was only seeking a place of refuge for himself, they returned to their habitations, and lived under his jurisdiction. Here he established a kingdom almost as extensive and powerful as his brother’s; which his son, deaan Tokeoffu is now in the possession of. Rer Trimmenongarevo understanding his brother had thus happily settled himself, sent ambassadors to propose an amicable alliance between them; which he, being a good-natured man, readily came into; hoping God, and his deceased father deaan Lohefute, would forgive his brother, and for the future bless them both.

Rer Trimmonongarevo now caressed some of the Virzimbers, and gave them towns on the banks of Mernee. He was very generous likewise to his own subjects, and made considerable presents, not only of cattle, but slaves to those who had suffered losses in his service; but more especially he took all the engaging and political ways he could devise to tempt people from other countries to come and live in Saccalauvor. I have already mentioned his courteous treatment of the Feraignher people whose families had been taken in war; restoring all the captives and cattle to such masters and relations as would come and settle in his dominions. By this means they are grown not only vastly populous, but rich, and the people live in plenty as well as peace; they reverence and adore him, in short, as a tender and indulgent father of his country. But see now the danger of submitting implicitly to the arbitrary will and pleasure of any man; even though he has many useful and great virtues to recommend him. People by such means become slaves to the man who is not in every respect a hero, but attended with human frailties, and subject to passions less governable than in men of lower station. Superior greatness is his view, which explained, is advancing his prerogative beyond that of his predecessors, and showing that he can determine according to his own will more absolutely than any of his contemporaries. Absolute power is what all ambitious princes aim at, and thirst to enjoy it. This the world may see is the darling passion of the vicious great; and this was the misfortune that attended Saccalauvor; at least that part of it which was under the immediate jurisdiction of Rer Trimmonongarevo: for the other lords, his sons and nephews, were as humane as those in any other part of the island; but the authority he had usurped had made him so haughty and imperious, that to show he could act as he pleased, and was not to be governed by the traditional laws, when an ambassador or any strangers were at his town, he would order some one or other of any two contending parties to immediate execution for very trivial faults, and sometimes for none at all. This barbarous disposition, however, did not appear till he was sufficiently established in his government; and then several instances of his cruelty were too conspicuous. By these vile actions he lost the love of many of his subjects, who withdrew to live under more humane sovereigns. Some quite abandoned the country, and went to his brother’s son Toakoffu; though they might have been tolerably safe with his sons and nephews. And this is the only remedy which these people have against arbitrary power; for they have no notion of a _jus divinum_, as we call it, nor think themselves obliged by the laws of religion to suffer any impositions. The lords likewise have contracted a very laudable and humane custom of being extremely fond of relieving such as are distressed, even though there has been enmity before. This was deaan Crindo’s son’s case when he fled to Antenosa, and this very king’s brother, Rer Mimebolambo’s, when he fled to Feraignher; and to this generous virtue my own deliverance was principally owing.

I was one day in this king’s presence when there was a crowd about him, and upon his coughing and fetching his breath a little uneasily, the people fell immediately prostrate on the ground. The reason, as I understood afterwards was, because not long before, in such a fit of short breathing, he took up a blunderbuss and discharged it among them without speaking a word, or making any other excuse, when he had thus killed two or three of his attendants, than “why did they stifle him?” I never saw such abject slavery on the island before; and yet to do him justice I must say he was far from being in all his actions and resolutions a bloody tyrant; for, two or three instances of severe executions only excepted, which he ordered out of ostentation, his other barbarities were only now and then the effects of his inordinate passion; which, indeed, grew worse as he advanced in years. It must be acknowledged that he directed corporal punishments oftener than were practised in any other country. Here was during my residence amongst them, a woman who complained to him against another for robbing one of his wives, who was her mistress; but upon examination the accuser was found a very sorry creature, and one whose ears had been cut off for a former misdemeanour. Some ambassadors being then present, the wicked wretch made choice of that time to accomplish the end of her malice the more effectually; for as the people expected a bloody decision, so it happened; yet one can hardly pronounce it was unjust though very severe; for after hearing, with a great deal of patience, all that she alleged, and inquiring into every minute circumstance of the case, he ordered the base accuser to be carried off and killed directly. The person so unjustly accused desired to have the liberty of being the executioner herself, with which he complied, and gave her a sword for that purpose. She soon overtook the proper officer, who, seeing the king’s sword, held the criminal while the other cut her throat. These are instances sufficient to show the virtues and vices, as well as the singular disposition of this extraordinary king.

During my stay here I saw William Purser, the interpreter, and several others of Feraignher; and among the rest my old friend Ry-Nanno, (Rer Vovvern’s ambassador to deaan Crindo, who was the first that directed me to Feraignher,) came to pay me a visit. He lived as great as in his own country, having voluntarily followed some of his family who were taken prisoners.

Rer Vove was now on his return home, and my countryman and I were to part, which we did with no small reluctance; yet not before we had given each other full instructions where to find our respective friends, whoever should be so happy as to reach England first, which proved to be his good fortune.

Some few days after we were got home the two Amboer-lambo ambassadors, who were at Moherbo, being on their return into their own country, and passing through our town, Rer Vove prevailed on them to stay a night with him, and allotted them a commodious apartment, to which they invited me, and seated me on their own mat between them. Their curiosity, they said, led them to inquire after the manners and customs of my country in general, and of my own adventures in particular. I gratified them in the best manner I could, or rather so as they were best capable of understanding me. For as to the largeness and grandeur of our court, city, fleets, armies, &c., on all which I expatiated, they would give no credit to it, and looked upon it only as a mere romance. In my turn I asked them where their country lay. They told me it was a mountainous inland place, divided into two kingdoms, called Amboer-lambo, which were governed by two brothers. They had vast large ears, with silver plates in them that glittered like comets. I was very desirous to know how they came so. They informed me that when they are young a small hole only is made at first and a piece of lead put into it; when the wound is healed they have a small spring-ring put into it, which extends it by degrees, and after this another, till the hole is as large as they think convenient; then they place these silver plates in it, which are neatly made, and exactly fitted to the hole, with great precaution for fear of breaking it. Some of these holes in their ears are so large, that a woman may put her hand through it. They have several artificers among themselves who make these ornaments. The poorer sort, they said, who could not afford silver, had them of tutanag; which they call ferochfutey. They came into this country to trade chiefly in iron, of which they make abundance; however, they bring great quantities of silk likewise. Their vallies are very foggy and marshy, unwholesome for cattle, and not fit to be inhabited, so that they buy cattle. The mountains are so stony, that they have scarcely earth sufficient for the foundations of their houses. They told me moreover, that Rer Trimmonongarevo will not sell them any guns, nor suffer his people to supply them with fire-arms. Before the Europeans had stocked the island with guns, they were too strong for the Saccalauvors in deaan Lohefute’s time; but this king is at present too powerful. They have (they said) a trade sometimes to Mattatanna and Antenosa; but not sufficient to furnish them with arms and ammunition. I observed, that metals of all kinds were commodities they dealt in.

Hitherto I lived pretty well; and indeed for about three months afterwards; at which time a ship came to Yong-Owl to trade. Her name (as I have since been informed) was the Clapham-galley, captain Wilks commander. Those who had slaves to sell carried them down to the seaside. My master was likewise preparing some for that purpose; the thought of it almost transported me, yet I could not tell how to make my request known. At length I made my application to my friend Guy, and having expostulated the case with him and his wife, I prevailed on him to solicit my master that I might be sent down and sold to the captain; he made the motion accordingly one evening in my absence. And it was happy for me that I was abroad, for had it not been for the mediation of some friends he would have found me out and shot me directly. As soon as I came to him he ordered me to deliver him my gun, saying, I was a prisoner of war, and a slave too; and he would make me know as much. As for Will. he was an unfortunate youth indeed, and was left by mere accident upon the shore; there is a wide difference between his case and yours. Upon which he called his cook; “Here, Mechorow,” said he, “take care of this white captive; and see that he, like other slaves, obeys your orders.” Mechorow did not fail to observe his instructions, and was the severer upon me, because there was a time when I had authority over him. He frequently made me carry an iron pot on my head, when Rer Vove and his wife took their pleasure on the islands in the middle of the river Mernee; where one while he would go to kill wild fowl, and at another to destroy alligators. But before the ship set sail I endeavoured to inform the captain by this stratagem. I took a satter-leaf, which was about two inches broad, and a foot and a half long, and marked upon it these words following. Robert Drury, son of Mr Drury, living at the King’s-Head in the Old Jewry; now a slave on the island of Madagascar in the country of Morandavo, or Yong-owl. I desired the favour of one who was going to the seaside to deliver this leaf to the first white man he saw; but when he returned I asked him what answer he had? “None at all,” said he, “for I suppose the white man did not like it, since he threw the leaf away; though I am sure it was as good, if not better, than that which you gave me. ’Tis true, I dropped yours, but then I pulled one of the best I could find from off a tree.” My heart was ready to break at this disappointment; whereupon I turned from him, and went directly into the woods to vent my grief in tears. I heard soon after, that Will. Thornbury was discharged; I was then in some hopes that by his means my redemption might be accomplished. But to my no small mortification I soon heard the ship had sailed, and not one word of me mentioned. This drove me almost to madness, and what could be the reason why the captain should take no notice of me, I cannot conceive; for Will. Thornbury, doubtless, would have mentioned me to him.

Not long after this I was taken with a violent pain in my bones; which at first I took for a cold. But it increased to that degree that I could not walk without crutches. This disease continued three months successively, and then I began to have large boils or blotches break out all over my body; my neighbours soon perceived it was the colah or yaws; and Rer Vove sent me to a Virzimber’s house on the banks of Mernee, in order for a cure. They took the bark of a tree, of which I do not recollect the name, steeping it in water. With this they washed and bathed me every day, which in a few weeks made my bones much easier; and in a few weeks more the blotches died, and wore away; after which I recovered my strength apace. I lived with these Virzimbers in all about six months.

These people are almost of a different species from the others. Their heads are of a peculiar shape, the hinder part and the forehead are almost as flat as a trencher: but this I imagine to be unnatural, for it is framed thus by a daily pressure of their children from the cradle. Their hair is neither so long nor so woolly as that of the other nations. Their religion, likewise, is widely distant from other people’s. They have no owleys in their houses, but pay an awful regard to the new moon, and to several animals; namely, a cock, a lizard, and the like. Whether they think these creatures have spirits or not, or demons that attend them, I cannot determine; for whenever they discoursed among themselves, it was in a peculiar language, to which I was so much a stranger, that I was not able to give a sufficient reason for these particulars. When they seat themselves to their meals, they take a bit of meat, and throw it over their heads, saying, “There’s a bit for the spirit.” In the next place, they cut four little bits more and throw to the sovereigns or rulers of the four quarters of the earth. This is the constant practice of such as have any regard to religious ceremonies, but there are too many who neglect it, as some in Europe, and look on saying grace at their meals, as an idle fashion. They dress their victuals much more agreeably than the other people; for they always boil plantains or potatoes with their meat, and make good soup, and well thickened as they do in Europe.

They make curious earthenware, such as pots, dishes, and jugs, glazing them both within and without; and are very ingenious artificers in many other particulars. Though their ingenuity was superior, yet I could not perceive they ever formed themselves into regular kingdoms, or into large commonwealths, but herded together in towns; each town being a distinct and independent republic, which too often produced quarrels and bloodshed, one little town standing in opposition to another. There being no general law or government which could settle their just claims, or determine any unhappy dissensions between one town and another; till they in this part made Rer Trimmonongarevo their patron and protector, whilst others put their whole confidence in deaan Tokeoffu. There are more of them as I have heard, in other parts of the island, scattered up and down, who shift their habitations; which these were wont to do formerly. ’Tis no easy matter to determine whether these are not the original natives, or first inhabitants of the land. I observed here, that difference in religion was looked upon as no crime, nor any offence to one another. Moreover, that they, like the others, have no priests.

Having now in great measure recovered my strength, I began to reflect on the misery of returning to my former slavery; and for that reason, after some conflict with myself, I determined to run the risk of throwing myself at Rer Moume’s feet, to beg his protection, be the consequence what it would; death being preferable to perpetual slavery. Having imbibed this notion, I desired my landlord one morning to put me over the water in his canoe; for I would willingly pay a visit to a friend on that side, it not being above two hours’ walk to Rer Moume’s town.