CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 183 



tobacco plantation and a creek of the sea*. Here I spent my 

 youthful days among my relations with much satisfaction, and 

 saw around me many venerable kinsmen, who had attained to 

 great ages without any interruption from, distempers. Lon- 

 gevity is so general among our species that a funeral is quite 

 a strange occurrence. I can just remember the death of my 

 great-great-grandfather, who departed this life in the 160 th 

 year of his age. Happy should I have been in the enjoyment 

 of my native climate and the society of my friends had not 

 a sea-boy, who was wandering about to see what he could 

 pick up, surprized me as I was sunning myself under a bush; 

 and whipping -me into his wallet, carryed me aboard his ship. 

 The circumstances of our voyage are not worthy a recital ; I 

 only remember that the rippling of the water against the sides 

 of our vessel as we sailed along was a very lulling and com- 

 posing sound, which served to sooth my slumbers as I lay in 

 the hold. We had a short voyage, and came to anchor on the 

 coast of England in the harbour of Chichester. In that city 

 my kidnapper sold me for half-a-crown to a country gentle- 

 man, who came up to attend an election. I was immediately 

 packed in an hand-basket, and carryed, slung by the servant's 

 side, to their place of abode. As they rode very hard for 

 forty miles, and I had never been on horseback before, I found 

 myself somewhat giddy from my airy jaunt. My purchaser, 

 who was a great humorist, after shewing me to some of his 

 neighbours and giving me the name of TIMOTHY, took little 

 further notice of me ; so I fell under the care of his lady, a 

 benevolent woman, whose humane attention extended to the 

 meanest of her retainers. With this gentlewoman I remained 

 almost 40 years, living in a little walled-in court in the front 

 of her house, and enjoying much quiet and as much satisfac- 

 tion as I could expect without society. At last this good old 

 lady dyed in a very advanced age, such as a tortoise would 

 call a good old age ; and I then became the property of her 



* [I have already stated that Timothy belonged to a North-African 

 species ; and I now add that there is only one species of the genus Testudo 

 inhabiting the United States, T. polyphemus, which is very different from 

 Timothy in appearance and zoological character. T. B.] 



