OROONOKO OR THE Royal Slave A TRUE HISTORY By Mrs. A. BEHN LONDON Printed for Will. Canning at his Shop in the Temple-Cloysters 1688. TO THE Right Honourable THE Lord MAITLAND My Lord SInce the World is grown so Nice and Critical upon Dedications and will Needs be Judging the Book by the Wit of the Patron we ought with a great deal of Circumspection to chuse a Person against whom there can be no Exception and whose Wit and Worth truly Merits all that one is capable of saying upon that Occasion The most part of Dedications are charg'd with Flattery and if the World knows a Man has some Vices they will not allow one to speak of his Virtues This my Lord is for want of thinking Rightly if Men wou'd consider with Reason they wou'd have another sort of Opinion and Esteem of Dedications and wou'd believe almost every Great Man has enough to make him Worthy of all that can be said of him there My Lord a Picture-drawer when he intends to make a good Picture essays the Face many Ways and in many Lights before he begins that he may chuse from the several turns of it which is most Agreeable and gives it the best Grace and if there be a Scar an ungrateful Mole or any little Defect they leave it out and yet make the Picture extreamly like But he who has the good Fortune to draw a Face that is exactly Charming in all its Parts and Features what Colours or Agreements can be added to make it Finer All that he can give is but its due and Glories in a Piece whose Original alone gives it its Perfection An ill Hand may diminish but a good Hand cannot augment its Beauty A Poet is a Painter in his way he draws to the Life but in another kind we draw the Nobler part the Soul and Mind the Pictures of the Pen shall out-last those of the Pencil and even Worlds themselves 'T is a short Chronicle of those Lives that possibly wou'd be forgotten by other Historians or lye neglected there however deserving an immortal Fame for Men of eminent Parts are as Exemplary as even Monarchs themselves and Virtue is a noble Lesson to be learn'd and 't is by Comparison we can Judge and Chuse 'T is by such illustrious Presidents as your Lordship the World can be Better'd and Refin'd when a great part of the lazy Nobility shall with Shame behold the admirable Accomplishments of a Man so Great and so Young. Your Lordship has Read innumerable Volumes of Men and Books not Vainly for the gust of Novelty but Knowledge excellent Knowledge Like the industrious Bee from every Flower you return Laden with the precious Dew which you are sure to turn to the Publick Good. You hoard no one Perfection but lay it all out in the Glorious Service of your Religion and Country to both which you are a useful and necessary Honour They both want such Supporters and 't is only Men of so elevated Parts and fine Knowledge such noble Principles of Loyalty and Religion this Nation Sighs for Where shall we find a Man so Young like St. Augustine in the midst of all his Youth and Gaiety Teaching the World divine Precepts true Notions of Faith and Excellent Morality and at the same time be also a perfect Pattern of all that accomplish a Great Man You have my Lord all that refin'd Wit that Charms and the Affability that Obliges a Generosity that gives a Lustre to your Nobility that Hospitality and Greatness of Mind that ingages the World and that admirable Conduct that so well Instructs it Our Nation ought to regret and bemoan their Misfortunes for not being able to claim the Honour of the Birth of a Man who is so fit to serve his Majesty and his Kingdoms in all Great and Publick Affairs And to the Glory of your Nation be it spoken it produces more considerable Men for all fine Sence Wit Wisdom Breeding and Generosity for the generality of the Nobility than all other Nations can Boast and the Fruitfulness of your Virtues sufficiently make amends for the Barrenness of your Soil Which however cannot be incommode to your Lordship since your Quality and the Veneration that the Commonalty naturally pay their Lords creates a flowing Plenty there that makes you Happy And to compleat your Happiness my Lord Heaven has blest you with a Lady to whom it has given all the Graces Beauties and Virtues of her Sex all the Youth Sweetness of Nature of a most illustrious Family and who is a most rare Example to all Wives of Quality for her eminent Piety Easiness and Condescention and as absolutely merits Respect from all the World as she does that Passion and Resignation she receives from your Lordship and which is on her part with so much Tenderness return'd Methinks your tranquil Lives are an Image of the new Made and Beautiful Pair in Paradise And 't is the Prayers and Wishes of all who have the Honour to know you that it may Eternally so continue with Additions of all the Blessings this World can give you My Lord the Obligations I have to some of the Great Men of your Nation particularly to your Lordship gives me an Ambition of making my Acknowledgments by all the Opportunities I can and such humble Fruits as my Industry produces I lay at your Lordships Feet This is a true Story of a Man Gallant enough to merit your Protection and had he always been so Fortunate he had not made so Inglorious an end The Royal Slave I had the Honour to know in my Travels to the other World and though I had none above me in that Country yet I wanted power to preserve this Great Man. If there be any thing that seems Romantick I beseech your Lordship to consider these Countries do in all things so far differ from ours that they produce unconceivable Wonders at least they appear so to us because New and Strange VVhat I have mention'd I have taken-care shou'd be Truth let the Critical Reader judge as he pleases 'T will be no Commendation to the Book to assure your Lordship I writ it in a few Hours though it may serve to Excuse some of its Faults of Connexion for I never rested my Pen a Moment for Thought 'T is purely the Merit of my Slave that must render it worthy of the Honour it begs and the Author of that of Subscribing herself My Lord Your Lordship 's most oblig'd and obedient Servant A. BEHN THE HISTORY OF THE Royal Slave I Do not pretend in giving you the History of this Royal Slave to entertain my Reader with the Adventures of a feign'd Hero whose Life and Fortunes Fancy may manage at the Poets Pleasure nor in relating the Truth design to adorn it with any Accidents but such as arriv'd in earnest to him And it shall come simply into the World recommended by its own proper Merits and natural Intrigues there being enough of Reality to support it
and his Friends a-shore on the next Land they shou'd touch at and of this the Messenger gave him his Oath provided he wou'd resolve to live And Oroonoko whose Honour was such as he never had violated a Word in his Life himself much less a solemn Asseveration believ'd in an instant what this Man said but reply'd He expected for a Confirmation of this to have his shameful Fetters dismiss'd This Demand was carried to the Captain who return'd him answer That the Offence had been so great which he had put upon the Prince that he durst not trust him with Liberty while he remained in the Ship for fear lest by a Valour natural to him and a Revenge that would animate that Valour he might commit some Outrage fatal to himself and the King his Master to whom his Vessel did belong To this Oroonoko replied he would engage his Honour to behave himself in all friendly Order and Manner and obey the Command of the Captain as he was Lord of the King's Vessel and General of those Men under his Command This was deliver'd to the still doubting Captain who could not resolve to trust a Heathen he said upon his Parole a Man that had no sence or notion of the God that he Worshipp'd Oroonoko then replied He was very sorry to hear that the Captain pretended to the Knowledge and Worship of any Gods who had taught him no better Principles than not to Credit as he would be Credited but they told him the Difference of their Faith occasion'd that Distrust For the Captain had protested to him upon the Word of a Christian and sworn in the Name of a Great GOD which if he shou'd violate he would expect eternal Torment in the World to come Is that all the Obligation he has to be Just to his Oath replied Oroonoko Let him know I Swear by my Honour which to violate wou'd not only render me contemptible and despised by all brave and honest Men and so give my self perpetual pain but it wou'd be eternally offending and diseasing all Mankind harming betraying circumventing and outraging all Men but Punishments hereafter are suffer'd by ones self and the World takes no cognizances whether this God have revenged em or not t is done so secretly and deferr'd so long While the Man of no Honour suffers every moment the scorn and contempt of the honester World and dies every day ignominiously in his Fame which is more valuable than Life I speak not this to move Belief but to shew you how you mistake when you imagine That he who will violate his Honour will keep his Word with his Gods. So turning from him with a disdainful smile he refused to answer him when he urg'd him to know what Answer he shou'd carry back to his Captain so that he departed without saying any more The Captain pondering and consulting what to do it was concluded that nothing but Oroonoko's Liberty wou'd encourage any of the rest to eat except the French-man whom the Captain cou'd not pretend to keep Prisoner but only told him he was secured because he might act something in favour of the Prince but that he shou'd be freed as soon as they came to Land. So that they concluded it wholly necessary to free the Prince from his Irons that he might show himself to the rest that they might have an Eye upon him and that they cou'd not fear a single Man. This being resolv'd to make the Obligation the greater the Captain himself went to Oroonoko where after many Complements and Assurances of what he had already promis'd he receiving from the Prince his Parole and his Hand for his good Behaviour dismiss'd his Irons and brought him to his own Cabin where after having treated and repos'd him a while for he had neither eat nor slept in four Days before he besought him to visit those obstinate People in Chains who refus'd all manner of Sustenance and intreated him to oblige 'em to eat and assure 'em of their Liberty the first Opportunity Oroonoko who was too generous not to give Credit to his Words shew'd himself to his People who were transported with Excess of Joy at the sight of their Darling Prince falling at his Feet and kissing and embracing 'em believing as some Divine Oracle all he assur'd ' em But he besought 'em to bear their Chains with that Bravery that became those whom he had seen act so nobly in Arms and that they cou'd not give him greater Proofs of their Love and Friendship since 't was all the Security the Captain his Friend cou'd have against the Revenge he said they might possibly justly take for the Injuries sustain'd by him And they all with one Accord assur'd him they cou'd not suffer enough when it was for his Repose and Safety After this they no longer refus'd to eat but took what was brought 'em and were pleas'd with their Captivity since by it they hop'd to redeem the Prince who all the rest of the Voyage was treated with all the Respect due to his Birth though nothing cou'd divert his Melancholy and he wou'd often sigh for Imoinda and think this a Punishment due to his Misfortune in having left that noble Maid behind him that fatal Night in the Otan when he fled to the Camp. Possess'd with a thousand Thoughts of pâ—st Joys with this fair young Person and a thousand Griefs for her eternal Loss he endur'd a tedious Voyage and at last arriv'd at the Mouth of the River of Surinam a Colony belonging to the King of England and where they were to deliver some part of their Slaves There the Merchants and Gentlemen of the Country going on Board to demand those Lots of Slaves they had already agreed on and amongst those the Over-seers of those Plantations where I then chanc'd to be the Captain who had given the Word order'd his Men to bring up those noble Slaves in Fetters whom I have spoken of and having put 'em some in one and some in other Lots with Women and Children which they call Pickaninies they sold 'em off as Slaves to several Merchants and Gentlemen not putting any two in one Lot because they wou'd separate 'em far from each other not daring to trust 'em together lest Rage and Courage shou'd put 'em upon contriving some great Action to the Ruin of the Colony Oroonoko was first seiz'd on and sold to our Over-seer who had the first Lot with seventeen more of all sorts and sizes but not one of Quality with him When he saw this he found what they meant for as I said he understood English pretty well and being wholly unarm'd and defenceless so as it was in vain to make any Resistance he only beheld the Captain with a Look all fierce and disdainful upbraiding him with Eyes that forc'd Blushes on his guilty Cheeks he only cry'd in passing over the Side of the Ship Farewel Sir 'T is worth my Suffering to gain so true a Knowledge both of you
though all endeavors were us'd to exercise himself in such Actions and Sports as this World afforded as Running Wrastling Pitching the Bar Hunting and Fishing Chasing and Killing Tigers of a monstrous Size which this Continent affords in abundance and wonderful Snakes such as Alexander is reported to have incounter'd at the River of Amozons and which Caesar took great Delight to overcome yet these were not Actions great enough for his large Soul which was still panting after more renown'd Action Before I parted that Day with him I got with much ado a Promise from him to rest yet a little longer with Patience and wait the coming of the Lord Governor who was every Day expected on our Shore he assur'd me he wou'd and this Promise he desired me to know was given perfectly in Complaisance to me in whom he had an intire Confidence After this I neither thought it convenient to trust him much out of our View nor did the Country who fear'd him but with one accord it was advis'd to treat him Fairly and oblige him to remain within such a compass and that he shou'd be permitted as seldom as cou'd be to go up to the Plantations of the Negroes or if he did to be accompany'd by some that shou'd be rather in appearance Attendants than Spys This Care was for some time taken and Caesar look'd upon it as a Mark of extraordinary Respect and was glad his discontent had oblig'd 'em to be more observant to him he received new assurance from the Overseer which was confirmed to him by the Opinion of all the Gentlemen of the Country who made their court to him During this time that we had his Company more frequently than hitherto we had had it may not be unpleasant to relate to you the Diversions we entertain'd him with or rather he us My stay was to be short in that Country because my Father dy'd at Sea and never arriv'd to possess the Honour was design'd him which was Lieutenant-General of Six and thirty Islands besides the Continent of Surinam nor the advantages he hop'd to reap by them so that though we were oblig'd to continue on our Voyage we did not intend to stay upon the Place Though in a Word I must say thus much of it That certainly had his late Majesty of sacred Memory but seen and known what a vast and charming World he had been Master off in that Continent he would never have parted so Easily with it to the Dutch. 'T is a Continent whose vast Extent was never yet known and may contain more Noble Earth than all the Universe besides for they say it reaches from East to West one Way as far as China and another to Peru It affords all things both for Beauty and Use 't is there Eternal Spring always the very Months of April May and June the Shades are perpetual the Trees bearing at once all degrees of Leaves and Fruit from blooming Buds to ripe Autumn Groves of Oranges Limons Citrons Figs Nutmegs and noble Aromaticks continually bearing their Fragrancies The Trees appearing all like Nosegays adorn'd with Flowers of different kind some are all White some Purple some Scarlet some Blew some Yellow bearing at the same time Ripe Fruit and Blooming Young or producing every Day new The very Wood of all these Trees have an intrinsick Value above common Timber for they are when cut of different Colours glorious to behold and bear a Price considerable to inlay withal Besides this they yield rich Balm and Gums so that we make our Candles of such an Aromatick Substance as does not only give a sufficient Light but as they Burn they cast their Perfumes all about Cedar is the common Firing and all the Houses are built with it The very Meat we eat when set on the Table if it be Native I mean of the Country perfumes the whole Room especially a little Beast call'd an Armadilly a thing which I can liken to nothing so well as a Rhinoceros 't is all in white Armor so joynted that it moves as well in it as if it had nothing on this Beast is about the bigness of a Pig of Six Weeks old But it were endless to give an Account of all the divers Wonderfull and Strange things that Country affords and which we took a very great Delight to go in search of though those adventures are oftentimes Fatal and at least Dangerous But while we had Caesar in our Company on these Designs we fear'd no harm nor suffer'd any As soon as I came into the Country the best House in it was presented me call'd St. John's Hill. It stood on a vast Rock of white Marble at the Foot of which the River ran a vast depth down and not to be descended on that side the little Waves still dashing and washing the foot of this Rock made the softest Murmurs and Purlings in the World and the Oposite Bank was adorn'd with such vast quantities of different Flowers eternally Blowing and every Day and Hour new fenc'd behind 'em with lofty Trees of a Thousand rare Forms and Colours that the Prospect was the most raving that Sands can create On the Edge of this white Rock towards the River was a Walk or Grove of Orange and Limon Trees about half the length of the Marl hear whose Flowery and Fruity bear Branches meet at the top and hinder'd the Sun whose Rays are very fierce there from entering a Beam into the Grove and the cool Air that came from the River made it not only fit to entertain People in at all the hottest Hours of the Day but refresh'd the sweet Blossoms and made it always Sweet and harming and sure the whole Globe of the World cannot show so delightful a Place as this Grove was Not all the Gardens of boasted Italy cen produce a Shade to out-vie this which Nature had joyn'd with Art to render so exceeding Fine and 't is a marvel to see how such vast Trees as big as English Oaks cou'd take footing on so solid a Rock and in so little Earth as cover'd that Rock but all things by Nature there are Rare Delightful and Wonderful But to our Sports Sometimes we wou'd go surprizing and in search of young Tigers in their Dens watching when the old Ones went forth to forage for Prey and oftentimes we have been in great Danger and have fled apace for our Lives when surpriz'd by the Dams But once above all other times we went on this Design and Caesar was with us who had no sooner stol'n a young Tiger from her Nest but going off we incounter'd the Dam bearing a Buttock of a Cow which he had torn off with his mighty Paw and going with it towards his Den we had only four Women Caesar and an English Gentleman Brother to Harry Martin the great Oliverian we found there was no escaping this inrag'd and ravenous Beast However we Women fled as fast as we cou'd from it but our Heels had not sav'd our Lives
Masters off Caesar having singl'd out these Men from the Women and Children made an Harangue to 'em of the Miseries and Ignominies of Slavery counting up all their Toyls and Sufferings under such Loads Burdens and Drudgeries as were fitter for Beasts than Men Senseless Brutes than Humane Souls He told 'em it was not for Days Months or Years but for Eternity there was no end to be of their Misfortunes They suffer'd not like Men who might find a Glory and Fortitude in Oppression but like Dogs that lov'd the Whip and Bell and fawn'd the more they were beaten That they had lost the Divine Quality of Men and were become insensible Asses fit only to bear nay worse an Ass or Dog or Horse having done his Duty cou'd lye down in Retreat and rise to Work again and while he did his Duty indur'd no Stripes but Men Villanous Senseless Men such as they Toyl'd on all the tedious Week till Black Friday and then whether they Work'd or not whether they were Faulty or Meriting they promiscuously the Innocent with the Guilty suffer'd the infamous Whip the sordid Stripes from their Fellow Slaves till their Blood trickled from all Parts of their Body Blood whose every drop ought to be Reveng'd with a Life of some of those Tyrants that impose it And why said he my dear Friends and Fellow-sufferers shou'd we be Slaves to an unknown People Have they Vanquish'd us Nobly in Fight Have they Wone us in Honourable Battel And are we by the chance of War become their Slaves This wou'd not anger a Noble Heart this wou'd not animate a Souldiers Soul no but we are Bought and Sold like Apes or Monkeys to be the Sport of Women Fools and Cowards and the Support of Rogues Runagades that have abandon'd their own Countries for Rapin Murders Thefts and Villanies Do you not hear every Day how they upbraid each other with infamy of Life below the Wildest Salvages and shall we render Obedience to such a degenerate Race who have no one Humane Vertue left to distinguish 'em from the vilest Creatures Will you I say suffer the Lash from such Hands They all Reply'd with one accord No no no Caesar has spoke like a Great Captain like a Great King. After this he wou'd have proceeded but was interrupted by a tall Negro of some more Quality than the rest his Name was Tuscan who Bowing at the Feet of Caesar cry'd My Lord we have listen'd with Joy and Attention to what you have said and were we only Men wou'd follow so great a Leader through the World But oh consider we are Husbands and Parents too and have things more dear to us than Life our Wives and Children unfit for Travel in these unpassable Woods Mountains and Bogs we have not only difficult Lands to overcome but Rivers to Wade and Monsters to Incounter Ravenous Beasts of Prey To this Caesar Reply'd That Honour was the First Principle in Nature that was to be Obey'd but as no Man wou'd pretend to that without all the Acts of Vertue Compassion Charity Love Justice and Reason he found it not inconsistent with that to take an equal Care of their Wives and Children as they wou'd of themselves and that he did not Design when he led them to Freedom and Glorious Liberty that they shou'd leave that better part of themselves to Perish by the Hand of the Tyrant's Whip But if there were a Woman among them so degenerate from Love and Vertue to chuse Slavery before the pursuit of her Husband and with the hazard of her Life to share with him in his Fortunes that such an one ought to be Abandon'd and left as a Prey to the common Enemy To which they all Agreed and Bowed After this he spoke of the Impassable Woods and Rivers and convinc'd 'em the more Danger the more Glory He told them that he had heard of one Hannibal a great Captain had Cut his Way through Mountains of solid Rocks and shou'd a few Shrubs oppose them which they cou'd Fire before ' em No 't was a trifling Excuse to Men resolv'd to die or overcome As for Bogs they are with a little Labour fill'd and harden'd and the Rivers cou'd be no Obstacle since they Swam by Nature at least by Custom from their First Hour of their Birth That when the Children were Weary they must carry them by turns and the Woods and their own Industry wou'd afford them Food To this they all assented with Joy. Tuscan then demanded What he wou'd do He said they wou'd Travel towards the Sea Plant a New Colony and Defend it by their Valour and when they cou'd find a Ship either driven by stress of Weather or guided by Providence that way they wou'd Sieze it and make it a Prize till it had Transported them to their own Countries at least they shou'd be made Free in his Kingdom and be Esteem'd as his Fellow-sufferers and Men that had the Courage and the Bravery to attempt at least for Liberty and if they Dy'd in the attempt it wou'd be more brave than to Live in perpetual Slavery They bow'd and kiss'd his Feet at this Resolution and with one accord Vow'd to follow him to Death And that Night was appointed to begin their March they made it known to their Wives and directed them to tie their Hamaca about their Shoulder and under their Arm like a Scarf and to lead their Children that cou'd go and carry those that cou'd not The Wives who pay an intire Obedience to their Husbands obey'd and stay'd for 'em where they were appointed The Men stay'd but to furnish themselves with what defensive Arms they cou'd get and All met at the Rendezvous where Caesar made a new incouraging Speech to 'em and led 'em out But as they cou'd not march far that Night on Monday early when the Overseers went to call 'em all together to go to Work they were extreamly surpris'd to find not one upon the Place but all fled with what Baggage they had You may imagine this News was not only suddenly spread all over the Plantation but soon reach'd the Neighbouring ones and we had by Noon about Six hundred Men they call the Militia of the County that came to assist us in the persute of the Fugitives But never did one see so comical an Army march forth to War. The Men of any fashion wou'd not concern themselves though it were almost the common Cause for such Revoltings are very ill Examples and have very fatal Consequences oftentimes in many Colonies But they had a Respect for Caesar and all hands were against the Parhamites as they call'd those of Parham Plantation because they did not in the first place love the Lord Governor and secondly they wou'd have it that Caesar was Ill us'd and Baffl'd with and 't is not impossible but some of the best in the Country was of his Council in this Flight and depriving us of all the Slaves so that they of the