This Was The First Time Sekwebu Had Seen The Sea.
Captain Peyton Had Sent Two Boats In Case Of Accident.
The Waves Were So High That, When The Cutter Was In One Trough,
And We In The Pinnace In Another, Her Mast Was Hid.
We then mounted
to the crest of the wave, rushed down the slope, and struck the water again
with a blow which felt as if she had struck the bottom.
Boats must be singularly well constructed to be able to stand these shocks.
Three breakers swept over us.
The men lift up their oars,
and a wave comes sweeping over all, giving the impression
that the boat is going down, but she only goes beneath the top of the wave,
comes out on the other side, and swings down the slope,
and a man bales out the water with a bucket. Poor Sekwebu looked at me
when these terrible seas broke over, and said, "Is this the way you go?
Is this the way you go?" I smiled and said, "Yes; don't you see it is?"
and tried to encourage him. He was well acquainted with canoes,
but never had seen aught like this. When we reached the ship
- a fine, large brig of sixteen guns and a crew of one hundred and thirty -
she was rolling so that we could see a part of her bottom.
It was quite impossible for landsmen to catch the ropes and climb up,
so a chair was sent down, and we were hoisted in as ladies usually are,
and received so hearty an English welcome from Captain Peyton and all on board
that I felt myself at once at home in every thing except my own mother tongue.
I seemed to know the language perfectly, but the words I wanted would not come
at my call. When I left England I had no intention of returning,
and directed my attention earnestly to the languages of Africa, paying none
to English composition. With the exception of a short interval in Angola,
I had been three and a half years without speaking English,
and this, with thirteen years of previous partial disuse of my native tongue,
made me feel sadly at a loss on board the "Frolic".
We left Kilimane on the 12th of July, and reached the Mauritius
on the 12th of August, 1856. Sekwebu was picking up English, and becoming
a favorite with both men and officers. He seemed a little bewildered,
every thing on board a man-of-war being so new and strange;
but he remarked to me several times, "Your countrymen are very agreeable,"
and, "What a strange country this is - all water together!"
He also said that he now understood why I used the sextant.
When we reached the Mauritius a steamer came out to tow us into the harbor.
The constant strain on his untutored mind seemed now to reach a climax,
for during the night he became insane. I thought at first
that he was intoxicated. He had descended into a boat,
and, when I attempted to go down and bring him into the ship,
he ran to the stern and said, "No! no! it is enough that I die alone.
You must not perish; if you come, I shall throw myself into the water."
Perceiving that his mind was affected, I said, "Now, Sekwebu,
we are going to Ma Robert." This struck a chord in his bosom, and he said,
"Oh yes; where is she, and where is Robert?" and he seemed to recover.
The officers proposed to secure him by putting him in irons;
but, being a gentleman in his own country, I objected,
knowing that the insane often retain an impression of ill treatment,
and I could not bear to have it said in Sekeletu's country
that I had chained one of his principal men as they had seen slaves treated.
I tried to get him on shore by day, but he refused. In the evening
a fresh accession of insanity occurred; he tried to spear one of the crew,
then leaped overboard, and, though he could swim well, pulled himself down
hand under hand by the chain cable. We never found the body of poor Sekwebu.
At the Mauritius I was most hospitably received by Major General C. M. Hay,
and he generously constrained me to remain with him till,
by the influence of the good climate and quiet English comfort,
I got rid of an enlarged spleen from African fever. In November
I came up the Red Sea; escaped the danger of shipwreck
through the admirable management of Captain Powell,
of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company's ship "Candia",
and on the 12th of December was once more in dear old England.
The Company most liberally refunded my passage-money. I have not mentioned
half the favors bestowed, but I may just add that no one has cause
for more abundant gratitude to his fellow-men and to his Maker than I have;
and may God grant that the effect on my mind be such that I may be
more humbly devoted to the service of the Author of all our mercies!
Appendix. - Latitudes and Longitudes of Positions.
[The "Remarks" column has been replaced, where needed, with remarks listed
below the corresponding line, and inclosed in square brackets.]
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Positions. Latitude. Longitude. Date. No. of Sets
South. East. of Lunar
Distances.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
d ' " d ' " W. E.
Manakalongwe Pass. 22 55 52 . . . 1853, Jan. 26
Letloche. 22 38 0 . . . Jan. 28
Kanne. 22 26 56 . . . Jan. 31
Lotlokane, where the first 21 27 47 . . . Feb. 11, 12
Palmyra-trees occur.
Hence path to Nchokotsa N.N.W.,
thence to Kobe N.W.
Kobe (1st group). 20 53 14 24 52 0 Feb. 18, 19
Kama Kama, from whence 19 52 31 . . . Mar. 2
traveled in magnetic
meridian (1st group).
Fever Ponds (1st group). 19 15 53 24 55 0 Mar. 11, 28
Ten miles S. of hill N'gwa 18 38 0 24 26 0 Apr.
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