Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1874-06-17

arice, and corrupted to the very core by
sensual indulgences, he seemed to me a
far more loathsome object than the brutal
ruffian of Negro chief, or king as he
called himself who supplied him with his
living chattels. And yet shuddered as 1
recalled my only interview with this lat
ter parsonage, whose habitatiOn was in
deed one of cruelty, and whose kingdom
one of the darkest of the clark places of
the earth'
Our vessel had come to this spot on the
rumor that a legitimate trade might now
be done there. Hitherto only slaves had
been exported; but our cruisers had of
late been very active and successful in
their captures. Taking me with him, the
captain visited the chief, whom we found
surrounded by his attendants, celebrating
some barbarous feast; and, as it was evi-
dent thai he was partially intoxicated, the
captain wished to retire, and not to talk
upon business till next day. The king in
sisten upon our remaining, and, 10 avoid
giving offence, we did SO; and presently
the talk turned upon the squadron and its
doings. 1t was a sore subject, and the
Negro worked himself into a furious pas
sion. heaping insults and execrations upon
the English nation for interfering in what
did not concern them. His barracoon, he
said, was full of prime slaves, and Dom
Jose was ready to buy them, but dared
not because there was an English man o.
war outside watching. And all the time
he, the king. had to feed these slaves at
great cost. While thus speaking, one of
them, Il young man, who was pouring out
and handing drink to the company, unfor-
tunatev stumbled, fell, and broke some
glasses. To our horror, and .in spite of
all our protests and entreaties, the misera-
BILE man was taken outside, killed then and
there, and his body thrown into the river
to the sharks and alligators.
Can it be wondered at that, with such
recollections Of this place, | felt no very
great desire to revisit it? When l reached
the deck, and looked round, l noticed that
several external changes had taken place.
The forests had been cleared in places, as
also were the islands in the river, the lat
ter being under cultivation. The Negro
town had been shifted to the other side of
the stream; and when the Scotchman
came to tell me that the captain was going
on shore, and went with him toward the
point, I noticed other changes. Although
the filthy huts were gone, other buildings
had taken their place; and it was evident
that the Portuguese, several of whom were
notoriously wealthy men, had become
ashamed of living in their former misera-
BILE condition, and had at last begun to sur
round themselves with the appliances and
comforts of civilized life Neat gardens.
and more buildings, opened out as we
pulled along, one of them being large
one Even slavedealers are susceptible
of improvement" thought, as | noticed
this They have built a new and better
baraccoon for the poor creatures than they
had before Altogether the change l OBJ
served was such that | at last turned to
ask the captain if any other Europeans be-
sides Portuguese (whose Incidence well
knew had settled there, but remembered
in time, that he could not speak English.
Presently we landed and were quickly
surrounded bv n number of Negro boys,
some of whom spoke English tolerably
well; and lust then the sound of Il bell
reached me. The coincidence was singu-
lar for the day happened to be the Sab
bath: but hearing it in that place, of all
others, was so unexpected that 1t sent IL
strange thrill through me; and rs the
sweet tenes rose and fell, sounding far and
wide over those African forests and waters
Thoughts of dear old England and its
churches and chapels, to which SO many
throngs OF worshippers were that day
vending their way, rose to my mind and
drew tears to my eyes.
What bell is that?n | asked one of the
BOYS who had followed me.
dat massa? Dat bell belongln' to Mis-
sion Chapel"
Chapel mission what you
got mission established here?'
Yes, massa. ebber so long-ebber since
| was A little piccaninny.
1t was even so. On the very spot where
the barracoon, with its unutterable misery
and despair, was placed, now stood the
chapel and schoolhouse. The hut of the
Negro chief had gone, and a garden was
blooming where it had been, and attached
to this was the modest dwelling of the
missionary stationed there. | stood at his
gate. and as | recalled the scene of blood
and horror | had witnessed there fifteen
wears before, heard the voices of prayer
and praise ascend to heaven, and saw
marks of civilization all around me. L
/ thought of the self-sacriticing zeal and love
| for souls which had brought this change
about; | thought of all who had any share
/ in the work-from the subscribers in the
churches to the earnest and devoted men
and women who dared the deadly climate
to carry the blessed gospel of love and
truth to the benighted and superstitious
/ heather of Afric;l-and | could not help
exclaiming. =" Great will be their reward
in heaven n'-Eng. Mag.