which he next hums or whistles, and then all the others repeat the same in chorus ; another sentence is then spoken, and the chorus is a second time renewed.

That these people are neither divested of a good ear nor poetical genius, has been frequently proved, when they have had the advantages of a good education. Amongst others, Phillis Wheatly, who was a slave at Boston in New England, learned the Latin language, and wrote thirty-eight elegant pieces of poetry on dif ferent subjects, which were published in 1773. As a specimen, I cannot refrain here inserting the following extract from that entitled, "Thoughts on Imagination.'

"Now here, now there, the roving fancy flies,

"Till some lov'd object strikes her wand'ring eyes,
"Whose silken fetters all the senses bind,
"And soft captivity invades the mind
"Imagination! who can sing thy foree?

"Or where describe the swiftness of thy course?
"Soaring through air to find the bright abode,
"Th' imperial palace of the thundering God.

"We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,
"And leave the rolling universe behind.
"From star to star the mental optics rove,
"Measure the skies, and range the realms above;
"There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,,
"Or with new worlds amaze th' unbounded soul"
What can be more beautiful and sublime ?

Ignatius Sancho, a negro, many years servant to the duke of Montague, whose sentimental letters, so generally known, would not disgrace the pen of an European, may also be mentioned on this occasion; and with regard to their powers of memory and calculation, I shall only notice Thomas Fuller, a negro, the property of a Mrs. Cox in Maryland, North America; and quote one singular anecdote, as it is related by Dr. Rush of Philadelphia, in a letter to a gentleman at Manchester.

"Being travelling," says the Doctor, "with some other gentleman of this city, through Maryland, and having heard of the astonishing powers of memory in arithmetical calculation possessed by Thomas Fuller,

a negro, we sent for him; when one of the gentlemen in company asked him, how many seconds a man of seventy years, some odd months, weeks and days, had lived? He told the exact number in a minute and a half. When the gentleman who had asked the question took his pen, and having calculated the same by figures, told the negro he must be mistaken, as the number he had mentioned was certainly too great."Top Massera," said the negro, "you have omitted the leap years;" when having calculated the seconds contained in the number of leap years, and added them, the number was found exactly the same as that calcu lated by the negro. This same man multipled nine figures by nine, by memory, before another company." Another lately repeated the Alcoran from recollection only. What amazing mental faculties in African negroes, who could neither read nor write! Yet that such things are, is well authenticated..

If savage nations be commonly generous and faithful, they are not, however, without their dark shades ; and among these, the most conspicuous is a proneness to anger and revenge.* I never knew a negro indeed forgive those who had wilfully offended him. The strength of this passion can only be equalled by their gratitude; for, amongst them, it may be truly said, that

"A generous friendship no cold medium knows,
"But with one love, with one resentment glows."

It is a well-known fact, that a negro, having been ill-treated by the family in which he lived as a servant, one day took the following desperate revenge :-The master and mistress being from home, he, having locked all the doors, at their return presented himself with their three fine children on the platform on the top of the house. When asked why he did not give admittance, he only answered by throwing an infant baby to the ground: they threatened-he tossed down the brother-they intreated-but to no purpose, the third sharing the same fate, who all lay dead at their parents' feet-then calling out to them that he was now fully revenged, leaped down himself, and dashed cut his own brains amongst the amazed spectators.-Another stabbed the inoffensive husband to be revenged on the guilty wife; declaring, that to kill herself was only temporary, but to lose all that was dear to her must be eternal bitterness, while to himself it was the sweetest satisfaction.

The conduct of the negroes, in the most trying situations, approaches even to heroism; no negro sighs, groans, or complains, though expiring in the midst of surrounding flames. Nor do I remember, upon any occasion whatever, to have seen an African shed a tear, though they beg for mercy with the greatest earnestness when ordered to be flogged for offences which they are conscious deserve to be punished; but if they think their punishment unmerited, immediate suicide is too often the fatal consequence, especially amongst the Coromantyn negroes, who frequently, during the act of flagellation, throw back their heads in the neck, and swallow their tongue, which chokes them upon the spot, when they drop dead in the presence of their masters. But when negroes are sensible of having deserved correction, no people can be more humble, or bear their unhappy fate with greater resignation. The swallowing of the tongue, which they only practice during the moments of severe discipline, has of late been prevented in Surinam by the humane method of holding a fire-brand to the victim's mouth, which answers a double purpose, of burning his face, and diverting his attention from the execution of his fatal determination.

I have seen some instances of newly imported negroes refusing to work, nor could promises, threats, rewards, nor even blows prevail; but these had been princes or people of the first rank in their native country, who by the casualties of war had the misfortune to become slaves, and whose heroic sentiments still preferred instant death to the baseness and miseries of servitude. Upon these occasions I have seen the other slaves fall upon their knees, and intreat the master to permit them to do the work required, in addition to their own tasks; which being sometimes granted, they continued to show the same respect for the captive prince that he had been accustomed to receive in his own country. I remember once to have had a remarkable good-looking new negro to attend me, whose ankles and wrists being much galled by chains, I enquir

ed the cause. "My father," said he, "was a king, and treacherously murdered by the sons of a neighbouring prince. To revenge his death, I daily went a hunting with some men, in hopes of retaliating upon his assassins; but I had the misfortune to be surpris ed, taken, and bound; hence these ignoble scars. 1 was afterwards sold to your European countrymen on the coast of Guinea-a punishment which was deemed greater than instant death."

The history of Quaco, my black boy, was still more extraordinary:-"My parents," said he, "lived by hunting and fishing: I was stolen from them very young, whilst playing on the sands with two little brothers; I was put into a sack, and carried for seve ral miles. I afterwards became the slave of a king on the coast of Guinea, with several hundreds more. When our master died, the principal part of his slaves were beheaded and buried along with him; I, with some other children of my age, were bestowed as presents to the different captains of his army; and the master of a Dutch ship afterwards had me, in exchange for a musket and some gun-powder."-Each loves his country best, if mild its laws, or rigid:

"The naked negro, panting at the line,

"Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine;
"Basks in the glare, or stems the tepid wave,
"And thanks his God for all the good they gave :-
"Such is the patriot's boast where'er he roam,
"His first best country ever is at home"

No sooner do these wretched strangers begin to flag at their labour, than whips, cow-skins, bamboos, ropes, fetters, and chains are introduced, until they are ready to sink under accumulated oppression. With some masters their tasks can never be performed, as they must toil on, day and night, even Sundays not excepted. I recollect a strong young negro, called Marquis, who had a wife he loved, with two fine children; he laboured hard, and generally finished his task of digging a trench of five hundred feet by four o'clock in the afternoon, that he might have some time to culti

vate his little garden, and go to fish or fowl to support his beloved family: hard did Marquis strive to earn this additional pittance, when his humane master, apprized of his industry, for his encouragement informed him, that if he could delve five hundred feet by four o'clock, he could certainly finish six hundred before sun-set; and this task the unfortunate young man was condemned from that day ever since to perform.

In Surinam, the slaves are kept nearly naked, and their daily food consists of little more than a few yams and plantains; perhaps twice a year they may receive a scanty allowance of salt-fish, with a few leaves of tobacco, which they call sweety-muffo, and this is all but what is peculiarly provoking to them, is, that if a negro and his wife have ever so great an attachment for each other, the woman, if handsome, must yield to the loathsome embrace of an adulterous and licentious manager, or see her husband cut to pieces for endeavouring to prevent it. This, in frequent instances, has driven them to distraction, and been the cause of many murders.

STEDMAN'S SURINAM.

SECT. CXL.

MR. BRUCE AT THE SOURCE OF THE NILE.

AT last I arrived at the island of Green Turf, which was in the form of an altar, apparently the work of art, and stood in rapture over the principal fountain of the Nile, which rises in the middle of it. It is easier to guess than describe the situation of my mind at that moment-standing on that spot which had baffled the genius, industry, and inquiry of both antients and moderns, for the course of near three thousand years. Kings had attempted this discovery at the head of armies, and each expedition was distinguished from the last, only by the difference of the numbers which had perished, and agreed alone in the disappointment which had uniformly, and without exception, followed