happy--active

my life on the slave ship story

In the spring of 1750, the tulips were nodding in breeze. I swung the shiny tin pail and skipped down to the path to creek. Today was my 18th birthday. It would be my “ first birthday ” on my new life. I would never forget that day as it changed my life from bad to worse. My name is Rita. I lived with my parents and a young brother in a village in Senegmbia. The wonderful land beyond the Rocky Mountains through across a clear river. Generally when the grown people in the neighborhood were gone far in the fields to labor, children assembled together in some of the neighbor’s premises to play. Our land is uncommonly rich and fruitful, and produces all kinds of vegetables in great abundance. When sun raising in the early morning, my mom got up and prepared breakfast for our family. While my dad went to farm to work, my mom worked closer to home, gathering wild plants. My little brother Ham was a good friend with me. So I usually took my little brother go out playing with our friends. When the sun was high overhead, I had to go home and help my mom finish picking. We always have supper when my dad came home. At night, I liked to sit in the front of the door, looked upward watch the sky. The moon was shining on the meadow; on the silvery, silent rivers, on the mountains far and high. Sometimes my parents would take us go for a walk in the woods. We were bushed in slumber in the fragrant flowers and trees, the elm-leaves whispered peaceful, pleasant melodies, like the distant murmured music of unquiet, lovely rivers.

“ The spring is in the air, the love is in world “ I was content with my present situation. I felt the earth was around me. There wouldn’t be presents and a party, as I used to have back home. But ma had promised to bake a birthday pie. So I and my brother Ham had to do were pick the blackberries. “Wait up, Rita!” Ham called. I slow down to let my little brother catch up. “ Are we almost there? ” he asked. I nodded. The berries were right down by creek. We set to work filling bucket. “ One for the bucket, one for me,” sang Ham. Soon our lips were purple with berry juice. Our arms were covered with scratches. I put a last handful in the bucket. Enough for a pie and then some, I thought. “ Let’s go, Ham,” I said to my brother. He didn’t answer. I froze when I turned to look for him. There was a crowd of stranger with white face, they wanted kidnap. I didn’t stop to think. I threw the pail of berries right at their faces. I dragged Ham and pushed him toward another way and shouted him ran to home quickly. He stood a second, his eyes filled with tears and run away. The whites have my arms wrenched behind my back. They spoke another language with a different accent I didn’t know. They grabbed me and forced me go a long walking. I followed behind them and come to a Cape Coast. And then I was being put into coffle with other women like my age.

The first object, which saluted my eyes when I arrived on the coast, was the sea, and a slave ship, which was then riding at anchor, and waiting for its cargo. The ship was named “ Royal Charlotte Ship”. One the slave ship, people was stuffed between decks in spaces too low for standing. When I was put down under the decks, I saw several black merchants coming on board, but I was drove into the dark hold. I was as poor as rat. And there I received such a greeting in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life; so that, with the loathsomeness of the stretch, and crying together. I was fed once a day and drunk water twice a day and bathing with my tears. Several weeks passed by, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat, nor had I the lease desire to taste anything. In addition, the heat was often hard to breath, an air nearly unbreathable. I thought the reason of heavy air because the place was the bowels of the ship. Men were often chained in pairs, shackled wrist to wrist or ankle to ankle.
On the slave ship, the Whites couldn’t speak to us in same language. In order to show us that we need to obey their doers. They took two slaves “ execute one as a warming to a hundred. The Whites bit us keep working without given us break. For the entire journey, we couldn’t move out of that small area, not to go up on deck, not to stretch, not even to go to the bathroom. When I held my knees high, the shackles would not pain me. And for this I was happy my little brother not being capture. I thought of my parents and my little brother. I wondered to know if they everything well or not. I missed them so much.

The ship arrived on America Coast. All of coffle was being check bodies and make sure we were healthy. The whites determine to sell us to make money. I auctioned $ 1,800 by a gentleman. The master was a kind man. He treated me friendly. Unfortunate, I never saw my parents and my little brother again since the day, which was my 18th birthday.

posted by happy--active @ 2:18 PM