to walk up to the captain's
office and settle it. Some of my Irish friends had not yet settled,
and I asked one of them if he would be good enough to take my money
and get me a ticket when he was getting one for himself, and he
quickly replied "yes sir, I will get you a tacket." So he relieved me
of my greatest trouble. When they came round to gather the tickets
before we got to St. Louis, my ticket was taken with the rest, and no
questions were asked me.

The next day the boat arrived at St. Louis; my object was to take
passage on board of the first boat which was destined for Cincinnati,
Ohio; and as there was a boat going out that day for Pittsburgh, I
went on board to make some inquiry about the fare &c, and found the
steward to be a colored man with whom I was acquainted. He lived in
Cincinnati, and had rendered me some assistance in making my escape to
Canada, in the summer of 1838, and he also very kindly aided me then
in getting back into a land of freedom. The swift running steamer
started that afternoon on her voyage, which soon wafted my body beyond
the tyrannical limits of chattel slavery. When the boat struck the
mouth of the river Ohio, and I had once more the pleasure of looking
on that lovely stream, my heart leaped up for joy at the glorious
prospect that I should again be free. Every revolution of the mighty
steam-engine seemed to bring me nearer and nearer the "promised land."
Only a few days had elapsed, before I was permitted by the smiles of a
good providence, once more to gaze on the green hill-tops and valleys
of old Kentucky, the State of my nativity. And notwithstanding I was
deeply interested while standing on the deck of the steamer looking at
the beauties of nature on either side of the river, as she pressed her
way up the stream, my very soul was pained to look upon the slaves in
the fields of Kentucky, still toiling under their task-masters without
pay. It was on this soil I first breathed, the free air of Heaven, and
felt the bitter pangs of slavery--it was here that I first learned to
abhor it. It was here I received the first impulse of human rights--it
was here that I first entered my protest against the bloody
institution of slavery, by running away from it, and declared that I
would no longer work for any man as I had done, without wages.

When the steamboat arrived at Portsmouth, Ohio, I took off my trunk
with the intention of going to Canada. But my funds were almost
exhausted, s