A Man Whom We Afterwards Fell In With,
Who Had Been A Shipmate Of George's A Few Years Before, Said
That
he heard at the boarding-house from which they shipped, that George
had been at college, (probably a naval
One, as he knew no Latin
or Greek,) where he learned French and mathematics. He was by
no means the man by nature that Harris was. Harris had made
everything of his mind and character in spite of obstacles;
while this man had evidently been born in a different rank,
and educated early in life accordingly, but had been a vagabond,
and done nothing for himself since. What had been given to him
by others, was all that made him to differ from those about him;
while Harris had made himself what he was. Neither had George
the character, strength of mind, acuteness, or memory of Harris;
yet there was about him the remains of a pretty good education,
which enabled him to talk perhaps beyond his brains, and a high
spirit and sense of honor, which years of a dog's life had not
broken. After he had been a little while on board, we learned
from him his remarkable history, for the last two years, which we
afterwards heard confirmed in such a manner, as put the truth of
it beyond a doubt.
He sailed from New York in the year 1833, if I mistake not, before
the mast, in the brig Lascar, for Canton. She was sold in the East
Indies, and he shipped at Manilla, in a small schooner, bound on
a trading voyage among the Ladrone and Pelew Islands. On one of
the latter islands, their schooner was wrecked on a reef, and they
were attacked by the natives, and, after a desperate resistance,
in which all their number except the captain, George, and a boy,
were killed or drowned, they surrendered, and were carried bound,
in a canoe, to a neighboring island. In about a month after this,
an opportunity occurred by which one of their number might get
away. I have forgotten the circumstances, but only one could go,
and they yielded to the captain, upon his promising to send them
aid if he escaped. He was successful in his attempt; got on board
an American vessel, went back to Manilla, and thence to America,
without making any effort for their rescue, or indeed, as George
afterwards discovered, without even mentioning their case to any
one in Manilla. The boy that was with George died, and he being
alone, and there being no chance for his escape, the natives
soon treated him with kindness, and even with attention. They
painted him, tattooed his body, (for he would never consent to
be marked in the face or hands,) gave him two or three wives;
and, in fact, made quite a pet of him. In this way, he lived
for thirteen months, in a fine climate, with a plenty to eat,
half naked, and nothing to do.
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