Saturday 14th November At daylight unmoored. At 10 a.m. came in the Wanderer, a French-built cutter in 7 weeks from London. At noon, being high water, weighed and worked down against the sea breeze…
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Monday 16th November… Put a fresh cargo into the yawl. Left the ship before noon and rowed into shore. Was shown 11 slaves, of whom I picked 5, viz., 4 men, 1 woman. Paid what goods I had in the boat were suitable and I am to send the rest…
Tuesday 17th November… Went on shore directly to look at 4 slaves but they were all old. Rowed up the river and at dusk reached the town. No trade here at present, but they promised to immediately send word of my arrival to Mr Lewis…
Wednesday 18th November… Mr Lewis has promised me 2 dozen of the finest slaves if I will tarry a few more days. To this I agree. I return to discover the Boatswain, Mr Davy, once more very abusive and being blind drunk. I secure him in irons and am determined to deliver him up to the first man-of-war…
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Friday 20th November Between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., the watch upon deck being either asleep or consenting, 2 of the people, viz. Joseph Cropper and Jacob Creed, ran away with the yawl, though chained. At daylight she was perceived lying on shore, and I dispatched Mr Smith to bring her off before the blacks knew she was in their power, otherwise she would have cost me, I suppose, near to 100 bars. My people I do not expect to again encounter…
Saturday 21st November This morning had excessive rain for 2 hours with violent thunder and lightning, but, thank God, no damage ensued. By 3 p.m. Mr Lewis came aboard with the promised slaves, most being remarkably fine and sturdy. I purchased 17, viz., 12 men, 5 women. In future the day must begin with arms and sentinels, there now being above 50 slaves on board…
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Tuesday 8th December… Sent Mr Foster in the yawl with goods for 5 slaves, that is to say close to 500 bars which in earlier times might have purchased 20. He returned at sunset in triumph, though it will not do to continue giving nearly what the slaves will fetch in the Americas, exclusive of freight and commissions, and besides the tediousness of trade and the great risk of mortality…
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Thursday 10th December This morning fired 3 guns for trade, but it would appear that everybody is engaged, and the country hereabouts now full of goods. At 4 p.m. the Fortune, Jackson, snow, of Liverpool anchored nearby. At 7 p.m. I went aboard and dined with the frail veteran of the coast, Captain Jackson. We agreed to go downwards and take our share of trade, and assist and protect each other, for there is much villainy to the south, and it is judged precarious for a single ship in these times. Captain Jackson confesses that he has recently been obliged to part with 130 bars for a prime slave, one of his people having walked 2 days in the woods to look at him and bid. I am resolved to stop short of such extravagance…
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Sunday 20th December An excessive dismal night, populated by a tornado which proved the most violent I have ever suffered. At the height of the squall the yawl broke the best chain on board, but by some miraculous gesture the two remaining ropes managed to hold her secure. We peered on, the night being so close there was no seeing unless in the glare of the lightning, and at regular intervals sought confirmation that our smaller party was still with us…
Monday 21st December… The storm having subsided, we anchored at noon in 13 fathoms of clear water and fired 3 guns. Soon after we saw the Fortune. As she drew nearer she began to fire minute guns, and we perceived her colours at half-mast, which we understood to be a melancholy signal of Captain Jackson’s death. She anchored nearby, and the First Mate came aboard and informed me that in the midst of last night’s terrible flurry the Captain had passed away most peacefully. I went on board with Mr Pierce and tendered him the command. He seemed greatly honoured by the charge. Soon after I returned to the Duke of York and at sunset fired 6 minute guns.
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Wednesday 23rd December This morning Mr Pierce came on board and conveyed to me his desire to complete the loading of his cargo on some other part of the coast, his ship’s crew reasoning that this part of Africa had brought them only ill-luck. To this I readily agreed. If the weather remained fair, the Fortune would, he announced, weigh anchor with the tide…
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Friday 15th January At 8 a.m. set out in the punt to deliver Mr Davy to HMS Humber, man-of-war, at Sierra Leone. Hard rain and a great sea, that I was several times afraid that we might be filled. Got safe round the rock by 3 p.m. and aboard the Humber by 5 p.m. I discharged my Boatswain. On my return I discovered that the Carpenter had finished strengthening the barricado. 1 small girl had been added to the cargo in my absence. Mr Allen, Surgeon, assured me I would regard her a bargain. On a cursory glance I was able to confirm for myself the strength of his judgement. The first part of this night has blown fresh with a short, ugly sea…
[At Sea, 10th January.
My Dearest,
I have, these past few days, been discouraged from writing by the mighty apparatus of the seas. But being unable to hold off and tolerate further delay, I now try my eyes by candlelight and attempt to form characters that, I trust, will not try your own. At present, I cannot imagine writing with pleasure to any on land or sea but your own dear self, my head being full of the petty concerns of this valuable vessel, and the lives of the people who dwell hereabouts, whose fortunes are entrusted to my care. These are, indeed, petty concerns when set against my love for you, for I can declare, with honour, that barely an hour of my past life comes to mind with any pleasure, excepting valuable and precious time I have passed in your company, and for that I think the innumerable miseries and pains of my previous unhappy life, not a dear purchase. My affection for you goes beyond any words I can find or use, and I simply wish that it were possible for you to travel with me, and strengthen my purpose in fatigue and difficulty, without actually suffering them. How trifling they would seem to me! But, I submit, I travel abroad in the comfortable knowledge that my better, precious part is safely at home, and though she understands absence to be painful, she knows it is so for her sake. I am engaged in active business, and have some new scene every day to relieve my mind; besides I have long been used to suffering. On the contrary, you, by marriage to one such as I, have exposed yourself to anxieties to which you were a stranger. I know you have done this willingly, and I love you all the greater for this sacrifice.
My last letter concluded abruptly, for I was ill and disconcerted by an incident in business. I feared it might give rise to bad consequences, and sadly this came to pass. I take a good deal of raillery among the sea-captains, for they know I have not a secure knowledge of life, and I know they have not. They claim I am melancholy; I tell them they have lost their wits. They say I am a slave to a single woman; I claim they are a slave to hundreds, of all qualities. They wonder at my lack of humour, I pity theirs. They declare they can form no idea of my happiness, I counter with knowledge that being pleased with a drunken debauch, or the smile of a prostitute, can never give one such as I pleasure. They pretend, all the while, to appeal to experience against me, but I stand firm. On my own ship such discord recently swelled into near-mutiny, for there is among my officers one in particular who sees me as little more than a gentleman-passenger. I had been warned, prior to our departure, that I might expect trouble in abundance from Mr Davy, the Boatswain, and he recently unleased his drunken invective on myself and others of our company, and then in a flight of madness attempted to seize the ship. But no more of this business, except to say that, indeed, all was very nearly lost, but now we are found. It seems that the disparity between my dear late father’s great reputation, and my own youthful 26 years, fired some hereabouts, under the skilful guidance of Mr Davy, into a frenzy of hostility, the assumption being that I owed everything to my connections, and nothing to my own experience or abilities. But again, I say, no more of this business.