Mr Penrose, page 39
Quammino having finish’d he [his] odd Story, I asked him how long he thought he had live at that Place. “Moons enough,” he said. Now as he had not kept any kind of Reckoning of his time I could form no other way to Estimate it but by the age he was at the time of his flight, Which by his account I supposed to be about forty-five or Not much over or under; and at the time Messmate first Discovered him he thinks him to be about 70 odd perhaps. Yet notwithstanding his age the old fellow seems active Enough at fishing matters and very strong except his stooping.
I have since asked him how he lived and provided for him Self. His answer was by Catching fish and Eating Yams and Other Roots and fruits. I asked him how he obtain’d them At that Barren place where he lived. From whath [what] he first brought in his boat, he told me, for that there was Good ground enough back of the Clift; and as to his way of Sleeping and other things he would shew me if I would Goe some day thither with him. Upon this I asked him If he had a desire to return again. Just as I pleased, he said—it was all one to him. What was an Old man good for when he was past labour? “But could you willingly Go and leave company to remain there alone again?” He said he would rather that I should please my self As to that. “Then,” said I, “here are young ones enough to Feed you, old man. You shall do no more than what your fancy leads you to at any time.”
I had lived there almost Twenty two years when I fell Ill of a Violent Sun headach, as Messmate Norman calls it, and I would not wish my greatest Enemy to be worse afflicted than I have been for some time past. The nature of this disorder is Such that the pain comes on as the Sun rises, so that the time of Meridian drives the person quite lighheaded and so great is the throbbings that the stomach becomes quite sick and casts. Messmate Norman had a remedy of a kind of large leaves Bound round the head, which has wrought a cure.
1. This area is inland in what is now Angola, at about II° S. and 14.40° E., lying to the South of the Congo. “Ginny” is Williams’ spelling for Guinea.
2. A thrumb mop (used on shipboard) is made of bits or ends of rope yarn.
Chapter 36: Twenty Third Year
Some few months after my head Ach had left me I took a fancy of visiting the old mans former dwelling place, and he seem’d much pleased with my proposal; and accordingly I told Messmate Norman of my Intention. I proposed that My Son should bear us Company as he longed so much for a ramble. Accordingly In a few days off we went, the Old man, Owen and my self. I need not be particular as to our voyage except that we found a fine piece of Ambergrease directly of Towers Field on the strand. When we came in to the Lagoon the poor Old man hove a heavy sigh and said, “There is my hole, Master. Trouble never touched me at that place untill I Saw A White mans face again. Then trouble came back to me, for I thought no less but that I should be forced away Against my will, and that made me so cross to Mr. Bell. For I could not think there were such White men as I have found you to be in the World.”
“Now,” said I, “yonder Is the spot where I first saw you, Old man, when I was here.”
“Ay, but that was not the place where I used to sleep,” said he. “Now if you pleas we will get the boat up to the head of the bay and I will show you my Cannoa where she lays. I believe you would hardly find her out,” said he, “unless You were directed how to find her.”
When we got thither there opened another inlet which I had not seen before, it being intirely land locked from my sight; and on our Enterance we came up to some of the fallen Clift stones. And in a place formed by the fall of the Stones into a kind of sharp Archway overgrown with poppanack bush there lay his Cannoa quite hid from the rays of ye Sun. This boat Quammino told me he had made himself, and I gave him credit for what he told me. Nor was she of the Worst shape I had ever seen; she was small, about nine foot Long and suited his purpose well enough. This put me on asking Him what became of the boat he arrived in at that place. “Oh,” sd. he, “she lays sunk a little way out yonder, quite rotten now. Now we will go to my old lodging,” said he, and away wee went Over divers rocks and broken paths untill a large grove of Small trees appear’d before us. “That is the place,” said he. “I Set all that to grow my self.”
When we got there, “Now,” said he, “Please to follow me,” and we entered among the trees when we Soon began to desend among Rocks to a considerable depth Untill we came to a kind of level wall’d up on each side by the Accidental fall of the Clift. This place may be about the Size of a large Cabbin. This he had covered over with limbs of Small trees and thatch and made a very good place of.
After we had seen his bed he asked us to walk and see his cook Room. This was not above twenty yards from his bed chamber And consisted of only a large shelving place among the rocks. From that we marched to his storeroom. This indeed was much More furnished than the other. Here was to be seen Several articles Such as Fishing nets, old darts, paddles and A Number of other things and some remains of his old sail. I observed several kinds of old Spanish tools but quite Worn out with frequent use. “I have one place more to shew you,” said he, “but I did not make it my place to live by because I could not look out from it.” So after we had been to dinner He lead us round the south side of the hill and shewed us A Very large opening in the Clift. “Here,” said he, “Men have lived in old times, I believe, or used to come to it At times, for there is marks that fires have been made many times and there is a pond of fresh water below In the Vally, where I found an old path and burnt Sticks in abundance with several things cut with knives And marked.”
I told him I did not doubt but that it was Well known to the Pirates formerly, as well as my place. After this he shewed us where his Yamms and plantains Grew and where his usual fishing ground was. These he said he generally struck with small darts or caught and killed by night with an Old Cutless and torch wood, and that he never had tasted hardly of any kind of Flesh meat from his first arrival at that place.
Soon after this Quammino lead me into the Clift pass, and I did not just then take notice that Owen did not follow us. As such places in many respects had a resemblance to our own home it was not a curiosity to him, but he had clambered up the Rocks to get an eminence to explore the country more at large. Soon after we were in I heard a Voice as from my son just As we came under an opening above our heads. This caused to me some wonder at first, when looking up to my surprize I Beheld my Owen standing on an high prece-piece over our heads And saying he saw a sail in the Offing. “Bon voyage,” said old Quammino. “Let them go their way. We are content without their company.”
This put me on asking him if he had not seen vessels now and then. Yes, he said, he had seen them several times; that once in the night he had seen one on fire, as he thought. “Ay,” said I, “that is a long time now Since we had the same sight, daddy, at our place. You must have Been a great length of time here,” said I. He told me he knew not how long, but that he judged he had been by himself almost As long as he had lived among people, and I doubted it not. Or not many years short of it.
There being a large Stone on the ground behind us, “Come,” said I, “Quam, let us sit down and take a pipe togather, for never was I in this place before, nor did you ever expect to see me here, much less to conduct me hither.” Then filling, I took out my tackle to strike a light. As I was doing this I said, “Daddy, what a Great pitty it is that you have never been made a Christian Of, as you seem to me to Shew sufficient judgment and can Reason on things very well.”
“What good would that have done to me?” said he. “Would it have made White men love me the better? No! No! Dont they Curse and Dam each other, fight, cheat And kill one the other? Black men cannot do any thing Worse than what White men do. They go to Churches and Tell God they will never do any harm to any people, and the same day come out and Kill, Cheat and say lies again. They say Black men should be whiped to make them Good slaves. How can they expect Blacks to be good and No Christians when they who say they are Christians Are worse than we who know not the books of Gods as they do? Young men learn to be wicked in our Country As well as any where els, and when they are brought among the Whites they learn to do their Wickedness also.”—That the Whites did not care for the Blacks more than For the use they were of to rid them of hard labour; otherwise they Might all go to the Devil who was their father, as they said.
Then he asked me if I could tell who was Cain Devil for that the Whites said the Negroes were all his Children, and how could they pretend to know who was their father beter than themselves. That for his opinion he thought the same God made them all, Black and White. Did I not see many other kind of things Differ in colour on the outside, but the same within? “Mind,” said he, “if you look at the inside where the heart is you can find no difference between the White and Black. I can Remember on a time my master had a White Horse died in Jamaica and the Negros skin’d him; and when I lived With my Master at St. Jago he had a black horse died and When he was skinned the colour was the same as the white one. But the White men when they go about to do good always Keep it from the Blacks for fear they should learn if ever they do any. But I cant think they do much, because they Go to confess often and remain still as wicked as before. They often say, ‘Curse your colour’ to poor Blackmen When they have been about blacker works themselves.”
All this time I sat silently puffing, for indeed I had Little to answer in behalf of my own colour, but told him that I believed him a much better man than many Thousands who call’d themselves Christians.
After Owen joyn’d us we arose and return’d to the old mans Bed chamber, as I may call it, and there made our supper After the best sort we could, and lay down on his palmetto bed place all three togather for that night. In the morning I asked Quam if he did not find it very doleful to be So much alone at first. He said yes, but that he soon became used to it as it was his chief desire so to be; but That there was one affair surprized him much especially At the first when he had been there about a year, as he took it—(Viz) a loud noise as it were a body of men Giving a great Huzza, and that he heard it above Twenty times in the course of his being there but never Above one Huzza at a time, that it sounded sometimes from one quarter and then another. I told him that It [I] judged it to proceed from the Wind in that large Cave.
In the morning we prepared for our return to my old Habitation, but just as we had proceeded about halfway out A Musket was discharged to seaward of us. This gave us all three the alarm. But as I had braved so many dangers I could Not give way to terror in the least nor was Old Quam much Disturbed at the novelty. So we concluded to push out without the least fear or dread, but it was not so with Owen. He was really frighted as being so seldom used to strange faces. When we got out I observed a Vessel at an anchor about halfe a mile to the north of us. Presently Owen pointed To three men sitting on the beach not far from us. “Shall I hail them?” said I, “Or shall we take no heed of them?”
“Do what you please,” he replied. Upon this I determined to Speak them and put to shore. Then I jumped out and Walked on the beach untill I got within about 40 Yards When I hail’d in Spanish. They all got on their legs and Returned an answer, on which I advanced up to them. They Were all three Elderly men and Spaniards who belonged to that Schooner, they said, and had been looking for a Watering place. I told them I would shew them a good place for their purpose if that they were bound down the coast. They told me they were. I then enquired from whence they Came. Campechy,1 they said, and their Skippers name Was Joachim Valdes. They asked me to go on board with them when their boat came on shore. I thanked them And made a signal for my companions to come up to us, which in a short time they did.
Now when they Observed the different complexions of my comrades One of the men asked me of what country I was, as he knew by my speach that I was neither Spanish or Portugues. I candidly acknowledged myself to be An English Man at once, as I judged it most proper At that time rather than to be found in any falshood scituated as we then were. Poor Owen Stood motionless before them and Old Quammino kept his silence, fearing perhaps they were from St. Jago de Cuba and might recollect him. But to put him out of fear I told him they were of Campeachy.
Now while we were sitting all togather on the Sand, All at once one of the Spaniards as I took him to be, the same person who had discovered to me that he Knew me to be no Spaniard, Said to old Quammino, “Faith and Soul, Old Trojan! Sure you wont say you Are A Spaniard to, will you? For by H-ns [heavens] you look As tho you were born in the days of Fin MacCoul.”2 I was greatly struck at hearing this Man speak to him thus in English, and he as much when the Old man Answered him in English again. “Oh, Booba, Booba, boo!” Cry’d he, “We are All English togather I find now. And pray what is your name, my honny? Are you any Thing of a Seaman,” said he, “and what brought you here, Joy, among this spotted clan?”
I told him my Story was Rather to long for the present but that my name it was Penrose if that was of any signification. “Sure,” said he, “may it be Welly then was your name? Ever Welly Penrose, atall?”
“Who can you be,” cried I, “that ever knew Lewellin Penrose who has been so many years lost from his Country?—unless you mean Another of my name.”
“How never,” said he, “did you or Did you not once belong to the Flying Oxford?”3 Certain, I told him I had. “And don’t you remember me, then, now—the man that was washed Overboard and washed in Board again in a gale of Wind off the Bay of Biscay ?”
I said I well remembered the circumstance but had forgot the persons name except it was Tady. “Oh, Thats right, child! Tady Lort, thats my name, joy. But what keeps you among these Dung coloured like Thieves?”
“Old shipmate,” said I, “as I find you have once been, many changes have I gone through since that Day; and to make short of the matter now as I see Your boat is coming on shore, you are to know That Lad is my Son and never knew what a Thief means.”
“Oh, Blood! Welly, I ask your pardon, Young Lad. My good fellow, gives us your daddle,” said he, and shook Owen so heartily by the hand that he made him stare again. “Ah, Messmate Welly,” said he, “I knew you were no Spaniard by the true English brogue on your Tongue. Agrah, my dear!”
The Spanish boat being now arrived, they asked me on board with them, and I told Owen to come alongside the Schooner with our boat also, so off we went to her. When we got on board Messmate Tady took me Aft to the Captain and told him he had found a Countryman on shoar who would shew them a watering place. Capt. Valdes recieved me kindly and asked me many odd Questions concerning my manner of aboad and living. After I had informed him of the circumstances of my life he was pleased to Say it became every man to treat me with all Civillity as perhaps God had place me there to administer relief to distress’d Seamen, and that he was glad to hear I was so well resigned to my uncommon way of life. Sent a boy down for a flask of Augua dienta and Drank to me. I told him as it was what I was seldom Accustomed to I would rather decline it. Upon this he Laughed heartily and observed to me that English and Dutch men never flinched the glass, he thought, and I must not plead any excuse. Upon that I drank It off.
He then gave order for them to run up the Cable and we stood down along the shore, keeping a good Offing as I told him there were many Shoals on the Coast. But as the wind fail’d us in the afternoon we Let go the anchor of the Whale Point and there remain’d for the night as I did not care to charge my self with the Risk of the Schooner by any means. I now thought I would send off Owen and the old man to inform them At home what had fell out in our abscence.
Erly on the morrow, the wind coming up at East, we Streatched off and in a short time came abrest the Point of Long Key where we came too again, when I went on shore with them and shewed them the place. Then I asked the Captain to come on shore with me And see my family and place of residence, as I Expected my friend off with our boat shortly. About noon Mr. Bell and Owen came off to us from our place and saluted the Captain.
Captain Valdes did us the favour to go on shore With us in the evening. When we got into our own Lagoon Owen took up the Conk shell and blew a blast. Harry answered it directly from the shore. The Capt. observing it asked the reason. I told him it was Our stated custom, that we all had our particular ways of Sounding so that when a strange Indian sounded we Were always ready to recieve him or them when they Came to visit us. When we came to land all our whole Congregation flockt down to view the stranger. Signior Valdes on seing so many courtsies and bows from my brown crew stood amazed, And turning to me Asked which was my Wife. I shewed him my Lady and our Children and introduced Mr. Harry as my Brother in law. Mr. Bell entertain’d the Captain the Best way he could for he was obliged to take the Office on himself as speaking Spanish flewently.
In the Mean time Harry and Rory went off after some Crayfish and the Women provided Yams and other Matters as I directed them. While this was doing, the Capt., Bell and my self walked all round our Habitation, shewed him our burying ground and that of Old Nunez, his countryman, also. But Owen Out of his Simple honest good nature asked me to Shew the Captain the place where we had found All our treasure. Now as he asked me in English It was happily lost on the Captain, and by Bells Giving him a check it soon stopt his gabb.
After Supper the Captain asked us if we had not A desire to revisit our country again. I made him the following answer, that as for myself I was well Content to End my days where I was in peace and Quiet as I had been on the Spot for so great a length of time. And Messmate Norman said the Same, observing that he should prefer my company before that of all Men, as he had thoroughly proved me and knew my ways, saying we had all we wanted. Kings could have no more in human life.
