Water, as I said before, to moisten our mouths, was now our greatest hardship, for every man had so often drank his own, that we voided scarce anything but blood, and that but a few drops at a time; our mouths and tongues were quite flayed with drought, and our teeth just fallen from our jaws; for though we had tried, by placing all the dead men's jackets and shirts one over another, to strain some of the sea-water through them by small quantities, yet that would not deprive it of its pernicious qualities; and though it refreshed a little in going down, we were so sick, and strained ourselves so much after it, that it came up again, and made us more miserable than before. Our corpse now stunk so, what was left of it, that we could no longer bear it on board, and every man began to look with an evil eye on his fellow, to think whose turn it would be next; for the carpenter had started the question, and preached us into the necessity of it; and we had agreed, the next morning, to put it to the lot who should be the sacrifice. In this distress of thought it was so ordered by good Providence, that on the twenty-first day we thought we spied a sail coming from the north-west, which caused us to delay our lots till we should see whether it would discover us or not: we hung up some jackets upon our oars, to be seen as far off as we could, but had so little strength left we could make no way towards it; however, it happened to direct its course so much to our relief, that an hour before sunset it was within a league of us, but seemed to bear away more eastward, and our fear was that they should not know our distress, for we were not able to make any noise from our throats that might be heard fifty yards; but the carpenter, who was still the best man amongst us, with much ado getting one of the guns to go off, in less than half-an-hour she came up with us, and seeing our deplorable condition, took us all on board, to the number of eleven. Though no methods were un-essayed for our recovery, four more of us died in as many days. When the remaining seven of us came a little to ourselves, we found our deliverers were Portuguese, bound for Saint Salvadore. We told the captain we begged he would let us work our passage with him, be it where it would, to shore; and then, if we could be of no further service to him, we did not doubt getting into Europe again: but in the voyage, as we did him all the service in our power, we pleased him so well that he engaged us to stay with him to work the ship home again, he having lost some hands by fever soon after his setting sail.
We arrived safe in port; and in a few days the captain, who had a secret enterprise to take in hand, hired a country coasting vessel, and sent her seventeen leagues farther on the coast for orders from some factory or settlement there. I was one of the nine men who were destined to conduct her; but not understanding Portuguese, I knew little of the business we went upon. We were to coast it all the way; but on the tenth day, just at sunrise, we fell in with a fleet of boats which had waylaid us, and were taken prisoners. Being carried ashore, we were conducted a long way up the country, where we were imprisoned, and almost starved, though I never knew the meaning of it; nor did any of us, unless the mate, who, we heard, was carried up the country much farther, to Angola; but we never heard more of him, though we were told he would be sent back to us.
Here we remained under confinement almost three months, at the end of which time our keeper told us we were to be removed; and coupling us two and two together, sent a guard with us to Angola; when, crossing a large river, we were set to work in removing the rubbish and stones of a castle or fortress, which had been lately demolished by an earthquake and lightning. Here we continued about five months, being very sparingly dieted, and locked up every night.
This place, however, I thought a paradise to our former dungeon; and as we were not overworked, we made our lives comfortable enough, having the air all day to refresh us from the heat, and not wanting for company; for there were at least three hundred of us about the whole work; and I often fancied myself at the tower of Babel, each labourer almost speaking in a language of his own.
Towards the latter end of our work our keepers grew more and more remiss in their care of us. At my first coming thither, I had contracted a familiarity with one of the natives, but of a different kingdom, who was then a slave with me; and he and I being able tolerably to understand each other, he hinted to me, one day, the desire he had of seeing his own country and family, who neither knew whether he was dead or alive, or where he was, since he had left them, seven years before, to make war in this kingdom; and insinuated that as he had taken a great liking to me, if I would endeavour to escape with him, and we succeeded, he would provide for me. "For," says he, "you see, now our work is almost over, we are but slightly guarded; and if we stay till this job is once finished, we may be commanded to some new works at the other end of the kingdom, for aught we know, so that our labours will only cease with our lives: and for my part, immediate death in the attempt of liberty is to me preferable to a lingering life of slavery."
These, and such-like arguments, prevailed on me to accompany him, as he had told me he had travelled most of the country before in the wars of the different nations; so having taken our resolution, the following evening, soon after our day's work, and before the time came for locking up, we withdrew from the rest, but within hearing, thinking if we should then be missed and called, we would appear and make some excuse for our absence, but if not, we should have the whole night before us.
When we were first put upon this work, we were called over singly, by name, morning and evening, to be let out and in, and were very narrowly observed in our motions; but not one of us having been ever absent, our actions were at length much less minded than before, and the ceremony of calling us over was frequently omitted; so that we concluded if we got away unobserved the first night, we should be out of the reach of pursuers by the next; which was the soonest it was possible for them to overtake us, as we proposed to travel the first part of our journey with the utmost despatch.
CHAPTER VII.
The author escapes with Glanlepze a native—Their hardships in travel—Plunder of a cottage—His fears—Adventure with a crocodile—Passage of a river—Adventure with a lioness and whelps—Arrive at Glanlepzis house—The trial of Glanlepze's wife's constancy—The tender meeting of her and her husband—The author's reflections thereupon.