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 Testndo 

 inhabiting the United States, T. pok/phemus, which is very different from 

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



