in carrying her on deck. There were many in as deplorable
a condition as this poor woman, and I scarcely know why it was I felt so
anxious to assist her, except on account of her son; there was something
in his face which had so interested me. When we got her on deck, she
sat up but she could not reply to her son, who, with tears in his eyes,
spoke to her, imploring her, it seemed, to answer him. The surgeon and
assistant-surgeons had by this time come on board. I begged the first
to come and look at the poor woman before he went below. When I
returned, she had sunk back in her son's arms. Our kind doctor took her
hand--"It's all over with her; I can do nothing. The poor lad will find
it out," he observed, and then he had to hurry below. It was some time
before the poor lad could believe that his mother was dead, and then he
burst into such a fit of tears that I thought he would have died
himself. It convinced me that negroes have got hearts just like ours,
though Dickey Snookes always declares they have not, and that they once
had tails, which is all nonsense. We had now a strong body of seamen on
board, and they kept bringing up the negroes from below--men, women, and
children. Several were dead, and two or three had been dead for a
couple of days or more. One poor woman had kept the dead body of her
child, pretending that it was alive, nor bearing to part with it, till
she herself fell sick. At length it was taken from her, but she died as
soon as she was brought on deck. In spite of all the doctors could do,
many others died also. It was daylight before we got the slave hold in
anything like order. As soon as the sun rose, up went the glorious flag
of old England, and from that moment every negro on board was free. It
is a proud thing to feel that not for a moment can a man remain a slave
who rests under the shadow of that time-honoured banner. The instant
the slave, whatever his country, sets foot on British soil, he is free,
or placed under the protection of the British flag. It is a thing to be
proud of. Of that I am certain. Not for a long time, however, could we
persuade the poor slaves that we meant them well, and were doing all we
could for their benefit. When they once were convinced of this, they
gave us their unlimited confidence. We were then able to trust about a
third at a time on deck, to enable us to clean out the hold. It was not
so much that we had reason to be on our guard aga