I desired that the
slaves might try also. When I found he was still obstinate, not knowing
whether it was from sulkiness or insanity, I ordered a person to present
him with a piece of fire in one hand, and a piece of yam in the other,
and to tell me what effect this had upon him. I learnt that he took the
yam and began to eat it, but he threw the fire overboard." Such was his
own account of the matter. This was eating by duresse, if anything could
be called so. The captain, however, triumphed in his expedient; and
concluded by telling the committee, that he sold this very slave at
Grenada for forty pounds. Mark here the moral of the tale, and learn the
nature and the cure of sulkiness.
But upon whom did the cruelties, thus arising out of the prosecution of
this barbarous traffic, fall? Upon a people with feeling and intellect
like ourselves. One witness had spoken of the acuteness of their
understandings; another, of the extent of their memories; a third, of
their genius for commerce: a fourth, of their proficiency in
manufactures at home. Many had admired their gentle and peaceable
disposition, their cheerfulness, and their hospitality. Even they who
were nominally slaves, in Africa lived a happy life.
Pages:
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713