LETTER XLVII.
That admirable man, and sagacious penetrating philosopher, Dr. Franklin, has left us, among innumerable instructions for the conduct of human life, and for remedying many of the grievances of it, directions for going a voyage at sea, and has particularly enforced the folly of quitting ships hastily, and yielding, one’s self up to despair. I am convinced, that nine tenths of the people who perish by shipwreck, perish from the want of presence of mind, and sufficient fortitude to bear them out. The unhappy Purser, who sat deliberately in a chair, and suffered himself, without a struggle, to be carried overboard, is an instance in point. The feeble conduct of the Captain and Crew is another. Had he, instead of tearing his hair, raving, and acting the part of a bedlamite, encouraged his men, and taken vigorous measures in time; and had they, instead of whimpering prayers on their knees, and whipping their images, made all clear, and prepared for the worst; in short, had they, according to the moral of the old fable, put their shoulder to the wheel, instead of calling on Hercules, it is not impossible but the vessel might have been saved.
As for my part, the joy of escaping immediate death made me blind to the other miseries of my situation. Naked, moneyless and friendless, upon an unknown, and probably inhospitable coast, what reasonable cause had I to rejoice? Perhaps the reverse. But that remains to be seen.
How long I continued in the swoon into which I had fallen, it is impossible for me to tell; but, when I recovered, I found myself surrounded by a guard of armed soldiers, sepoys, and pikemen. I knew them immediately to be the troops of Hyder Alli, and almost wished myself back into the waves again. Looking round, I saw that the people and effects that had been saved from the wreck were collected all together along with me.
In this state we remained till it was dark. A Lascar[[3]] belonging to the vessel, perceiving that my nakedness gave me great concern, tore into two a piece of cloth which he had tied round his waist, and gave me one part of it, which afforded a short apron. This simple act of a poor, uninformed black man, whom Christian charity would call an idolater, methought had more of the true and essential spirit of charity in it, than half the ostentatious, parading newspaper public charities of London——the slough of purse-proud vanity, and unwieldy bloated wealth. Of all the acts of beneficence that I ever met with, it struck me the most forcibly: it had kindness, disinterestedness and delicacy for its basis; and I have never since thought of it without wishing that I could meet the man, to reward him for his beneficence with a subsistence for life. The lower order of people of a certain Country, I know, would think a man in such circumstances as I was then in, a fitter object of pleasantry than pity.
[3]. Natives of India, employed sometimes as sailors, sometimes for inferior offices in the army, such as pitching tents, drawing guns, &c.
The vast quantity of salt water I had swallowed, still made me deadly sick in the stomach: however, after some time, I threw it up, and got great relief. I had hardly felt the comfortable effects of this, before I was ordered to march: nine of us, all Lascars except myself, were conveyed to a village at a few miles distance on the sea-side, where we were for the night put into a square place, walled round, open to the inclemency of the weather above and below, and filled with large logs of wood; it blew most violently, and the rain fell in torrents——while not one smooth plank could be found on which to stretch our fatigued and wasted bodies. Thus, naked, sick, exhausted with fatigue and fasting, drenched with wet, and unable to lie down, our misery might be supposed[supposed] to be incapable of increase. But, alas! where are the bounds which we can set to human woe?——Thirst, that most dreadful of pains, occasioned by the drenching with salt water, seized us: we begged, we entreated, we clamoured for water; but the inhuman wretches, deaf to the groans and screeches of their fellow-creatures, (for some grew delirious with the agony of thirst), refused them even the cheap and miserable indulgence of a drop of water!
The influence of the mind upon the body has been much insisted on by philosophers and physicians, and I believe will be admitted by all wise men. I was myself, in this instance, a striking proof of it; for, though I had swallowed and thrown up so much salt water, and though my thirst had exceeded any thing I had ever before felt——yet, finding that water was not to be had or expected, I composed my mind to do without it, diverted my thoughts from it by the contemplation of the many other evils which beset me, and passed the night without that horrible agony experienced by the others.
Indeed, a night of more exquisite horror cannot be imagined. The thoughts of being a prisoner to Hyder Alli, was, of itself, sufficient to render me completely unhappy: but my utter want of clothes almost put me beside myself; and lying exposed to the open air, where I was glad to sit close to the Lascars to receive a little heat from their bodies, and to hold open my mouth in order to catch a drop of the descending rain, was a state that might be considered as the highest refinement upon misery.
About four o’clock in the morning, a little cold rice was brought us to eat, and water was dug out of a hole near the spot for us; but as all things in this life are good or bad merely relatively, this wretched fare was some refreshment to us. I was then removed to the ruins of a toddy-hut,[[4]] separated from the rest, and a guard set over me. Here I had full room for reflection, and could “meditate e’en to madness.” The whole of my situation appeared before me with all its aggravating circumstances of horror; and to any one who considers it, I believe I will appear that it was hardly possible to fill the bitter cup of calamity fuller. Oh! what were my thoughts! My family bereft of him on whose efforts they were in a great measure to depend for support and protection——you, then a little innocent cherub, appeared to my distracted imagination twining round your mother’s neck, and, in infant clamour, calling your father——while he, in a dreadful captivity, compared with which even a cruel death were mercy, lay wasting, naked and forlorn, perishing with the inclemency of the weather, wanting even food fit for his support, and exposed to the scourge of every petty tyrant that barbarous power might employ to guard him!——Such were my reflections: they were in reason well founded; for there was no probability of my being ever released, as my captivity was unlikely to be known to my Country, or by my friends. In this state I was, when, to my utter astonishment, and to my no less joy, the amiable companion of my shipwreck, Mr. Hall, appeared before me. I scarcely knew how to think his appearance reality, as I understood that the Lascars then along with me were all that were saved from the wreck; and he was, at the time I parted from him, so exhausted both in body and mind, that I thought he would be the last who could escape. He, however, shook me by the hand; and, sitting down, told me that he had given me up for lost, and remained with the vessel until the tide, having ebbed, left her almost dry——that, immediately on getting ashore, and being taken prisoner, he made inquiries about me, and heard that I had been saved——that, finding this, his joy was such as to make him almost forget his own misfortunes——and, exerting all his entreaties not to be separated from me, they had been so far indulgent to him, and had brought him to me, that we might be companions in bondage. He added, that out of eleven Europeans and fifty-six Lascars who were on board; only he and I of the former, and fourteen of the latter, were saved from the wreck, the rest having been drowned in the attempt, excepting some who, overcome with terror, anguish and anxiety, and exhausted with fatigue, had bid a formal adieu to their companions, let go their hold, and calmly and voluntarily given themselves up to the deep.
[4]. A small temporary hut, where toddy (a liquor extracted from the cocoa-nut tree) is sold.
I here took occasion to remark to him, what I have already said to you, that thousands lose their lives for want of perseverance, fortitude, and courage, to preserve them——Had the English Purser collected courage enough to hold fast till the tide ebbed, he might have been safe on shore as we were, as he was superior to either of us in bodily strength.
“Ah! my friend!” said he, shaking his head despondingly——“is he worse where he is? I doubt whether death is not far preferable to our present prospects.”
“Come, come,” said I, perceiving he was melancholy, though I myself laboured under all the horrors he expressed——“come, let us not think; all will yet be well: I foresee it will; and you must know I have something of the prophet in my nature——perhaps the second sight.” I then told him my presentiments on leaving Goa, which much astonished him——still more when I acquainted him with the formal acts I had done in consequence thereof, by Mr. Henshaw’s advice, and with his privity.
In fact, our joy at meeting was reciprocally great, and in some respect cheered us for the time under all our miseries in hand, and the dreary prospect of those yet to come.
Perceiving that he stood as much in need of relief as I did when the Lascar relieved me by dividing his cloth, I took mine off, tore it in two, and gave him half of it: you may well conceive our misery from this, if other circumstances were wanting; that such a thing as a rag of linen, not worth six pence, was a very material accommodation to us both.