Captain Lace, he said, had been
long in the Slave Trade, and could give me very accurate information
about it. I accepted his offer. On talking to Captain Lace, relative to
the productions of Africa, he told me that mahogany grew at Calabar. He
began to describe a tree of that kind, which he had seen there. This
tree was from about eighteen inches to two feet in diameter, and about
sixty feet high, or, as he expressed it, of the height of a tall
chimney. As soon as he mentioned Calabar, a kind of horror came over me.
His name became directly associated in my mind with the place. It almost
instantly occurred to me, that he commanded the Edgar out of Liverpool,
when the dreadful massacre there, as has been related, took place.
Indeed I seemed to be so confident of it, that, attending more to my
feelings than to my reason at this moment, I accused him with being
concerned in it. This produced great confusion among us. For he looked
incensed at Captain Chaffers, as if he had introduced me to him for this
purpose. Captain Chaffers again seemed to be all astonishment that I
should have known of this circumstance, and to be vexed that I should
have mentioned it in such a manner.
Pages:
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373