tion, however, of learning, just
before his death, of the ransom of his son, and of the favor which he
had received in England. One of the wives of Job had married again in
his absence; and the second husband had fled on being informed of the
arrival of the first. During the last three years, the war had made
such ravages in the country of Bunda, that no cattle remained there.
Job was deeply affected with the death of his father, the misfortunes
of his country, and the situation of his family. He protested,
however, that he pardoned his wife, and the man who had espoused her.
"They had reason," he said, "to suppose me lost to them forever,
because I had gone to a country from which no Foulah had ever
returned."
When Moore, from whose narrative these particulars are extracted, left
Africa, he was charged with letters from Job, who remained at Joar, to
Oglethorpe, Bluet, the Duke of Montague, his principal benefactors,
and to the Royal African Company.[1]
[Footnote 1: _Travels into the inland parts of Africa; containing a
description of several nations for the space of 600 miles upon the
river Gambia; with a particular account of_ JOB BEN SOLOMON, _a
Pholey, who was in England in 1733, and known by the name of "the
African Prince." By_ FRANCIS MOORE. London, 1738.]
"On Thursday, November 4th, 1737, Sir Hans Sloane communicated to the
Royal Society a letter which a gentleman had received from Job, the
African, _whom_ MR. OGLETHORPE _released from slavery_, and the
African Company sent home to his own country, in one of their
ships, about twelve months ago. In this letter he very gratefully
acknowledges the favor he received in England; and, in answer to some
things desired of him when here, says that he has been in the country
where the tree producing the _gum-Arabic_ grows, and can assist the
English in that trade. He further says, that he has been up in the
country, as far as the mountains from whence the _gold-dust_ is wafted
down; and that if the English would build flat-bottomed boats to go up
the river, and send persons well skilled in separating the gold from
the ore, they might gain vastly more than at present they do by the
dust trade; and that he should be always ready and willing to use the
utmost of his power, (which is very considerable in that country,) to
encourage and support them therein."[1]
[Footnote 1: _Political State of Great Britain_, Vol. LIII. p. 18.]
Mr. Nichols, who has inserted his
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