Young Man, _said he,_ I would have you banish all Fear; you are not fallen into the Hands of barbarous Christians, whose Practice and Profession are as distant as the Country they came from, is from this Island, which they have usurp'd from the original Natives. Capt. _Cuffey_'s returning the Service you once did him, by saving your Life, which we shall not, after the Example of your Country, take in cold Blood, may give you a Specimen of our Morals. We believe in, and fear a God, and whatever you may conclude from the Slaughter of your Companions, yet we are far from thirsting after the Blood of the Whites; and it's Necessity alone which obliges us to what bears the face of Cruelty. Nothing is so dear to Man as Liberty, and we have no way of avoiding Slavery, of which our Bodies wear the inhuman Marks, but by a War, in which, if we give no Quarter, the _English_ must blame themselves; since even, with a shew of Justice, they put to the most cruel Deaths those among us, who have the Misfortune to fall into their Hands; and make that a Crime in us (the Desire of Liberty, I mean) which they look upon as the distinguishing Mark of a great Soul. Your Wound shall be dress'd; you shall want nothing necessary we have; and we will see you safe to some Plantation the first Opportunity. All the Return we expect, is, that you will not discover to the Whites our Place of Retreat: I don't exact from you an Oath to keep the Secret; for who will violate his Word, will not be bound down, by calling God for a Witness. If you betray us, he will punish you; and the Fear of your being a Villain shall not engage me to put it out of your Power to hurt us, by taking the Life of one to whom any of us has promised Security. Go and repose your self, Captain _Cuffey_ will shew you his House.
I made an Answer full of Acknowledgments, and _Cuffey_ carried me home, where my Hurt, which was a Flesh Wound, was dress'd: He saw me laid on a Matrass, and left me. About Eight, a Negro Wench brought me some Kid very well drest, and leaving me, bid me good Night. Notwithstanding my Hurt, I slept tolerably well, being heartily fatigued with the Day's Walk.
Next Morning, _Cuffey_ saw my Wound drest by a Negro sent for from another Village, who had been Slave to a Surgeon several Years, and was very expert in his Business. The Village where I was contained about Two and Fifty Houses, made of wild Canes and Cabbage Trees; it was the Residence of Captain _Thomas_. Here were all sorts of Handicrafts, as, Joyners, Smiths, Gunsmiths, Taylors, _&c._ for in _Jamaica_ the Whites teach their Slaves the Arts they severally exercise. The Houses were furnished with all Necessaries, which they had plundered from the Plantations; and they had great Quantities of Corn and Dunghill Fowl.