The Life of Olaudah Equiano: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

Equiano vowed never to return to Georgia, given the way he was treated there. He enjoyed Martinique, and he noticed that the slaves were treated better there. He wanted to go to Montserrat to say goodbye to Mr. King before returning to England with the July fleet, a periodic summer journey from Montserrat to England, but he was delayed because he had lent Phillips some money, which Phillips now refused to pay back. Throughout this area no black man’s testimony was admitted against a white person, so Equiano had no way to recover the money. He continued to argue with Phillips, and their relationship deteriorated.

Finally, that summer, Equiano got his money and he arrived in St. Kitt’s on July 19th. He wanted to take the next ship to Montserrat, but the captain refused to take him until he “advertised” himself, that is, gave notice he was leaving. This was something required of a slave, and it felt enormously degrading to Equiano. At the last minute, Equiano encountered a gentleman he knew from Montserrat, who interceded in his favor with the captain. They set sail and after six months he saw his friends and Mr. King once again. King expressed sorrow that Equiano was leaving for London, and he asked Equiano to stay; in awhile, he said, Equiano could have land and slaves himself. Equiano thanked King but declined, and asked him for a certificate of his behavior in his service, which King was happy to give. After expressing his sincere gratitude, Equiano prepared to leave on the 26th, bidding a happy farewell to Montserrat with its torturous treatment of prisoners, offenses against women, and stormy surf.

After seven weeks they arrived in London, where Equiano was stunned to immediately receive his wages. He went in search of the Miss Guerins, whom he regaled with tales of his travels, including the sorry role of their cousin, Pascal, who had betrayed Equiano and sold him to Doran. For his part, Pascal was taken aback when Equiano encountered him in London. However, Pascal seemed not at all repentant, and when Equiano accused him of treating him wrongly, Pascal turned and walked away. Equiano met Pascal once more at Miss Guerin’s house, where he asked for the prize money: Pascal refused to give it, daring Equiano to bring a lawsuit against him.

The Miss Guerins were curious to know what Equiano wanted to do in life, and he asked if they might know someone who could teach him a trade. They helped place him with a hair dresser in Coventry Court, where he spent close to six months learning how to dress hair. Equiano enjoyed it, and was happy not to be idle. In February 1768 Equiano was hired by Dr. Charles Irving, a kind master who allowed him to attend school in the evenings. But the wages were so small that Equiano decided to go to sea again for a time to make more money. Wanting to see Turkey for the first time, he met a man hiring a ship to go there, which was in need of a man who could dress hair: Equiano got the job.

On a ship called the Delaware, they sailed first to France and Italy, and then to Smyrna, an ancient Turkish city rich in food and with a population generally kind to black people. Equiano was surprised to very rarely see women, and when he did they were covered head to toe with a veil. He also noticed that Greeks were kept in servitude to Turks, like blacks elsewhere were to whites.

After returning from Turkey to England, the group went to Portugal for Carnival, where Equiano saw a number of remarkable sights. They sailed afterwards to the Mediterranean, where Equiano was impressed by Genoa and Naples. In Italy, they happened to see an eruption of Mount Vesuvius—ashes fell on their deck—and they soon left for Smyrna again. In Smyrna, the plague broke out, so they didn’t load any more goods until it had passed. On the way back to England a cook overset the pan and accidentally started a fire, but they managed to put it out without too much trouble.

In 1771 Equiano returned in another ship to the West Indies. There, a white man bought some of his goods but refused to pay him, threatening him instead. Equiano complained to a justice of the peace, but found that, as a black man, he had no recourse. However, this white man was also indebted to three white sailors, so together Equiano and the sailors went to the man’s house and threatened him. The man finally offered a paltry sum, which they accepted.

A month later they returned to England, but Equiano still felt eager to see the world, so he left again for Jamaica, where he found the blacks desperately subjugated. He saw some black men who were employed in flogging others, and he witnessed many cruel punishments. There, too, Equiano struggled to get payment from a white man for his goods. Upon his next return to England, he was sick of the sea so he worked for Dr. Irving, his old master, for at time.

In May 1773, though, Equiano decided to travel again and he was hired as part of an expedition to seek a passage to India through the North Pole. Equiano was given a small room on the ship and one night while writing in his journal his candle lit a thread of tow lying nearby. Equiano was in the midst of flames and he was at the very edge of death when the others managed to put out the fire.

On the ship Equiano began to use an apparatus invented by Dr. Irving to make saltwater fresh. On June 28th they arrived in Greenland, where the sun never set, and the weather grew frigid. Throughout this time they killed bears and other animals, including sea horses. By August, however, Equiano’s ship and its partner were nearly shut in by two huge sheets of ice, and they were in danger of being squeezed to pieces. The sailors sawed into some of the ice around them; at one point Equiano nearly fell in and drowned.

The sailors knew themselves to be constantly in danger of perishing, and Equiano spent a great deal of time thinking about eternity and fearing death. Even former blasphemers now began to call on God for help. Finally, after 11 days of being trapped by the ice, the wind shifted course, the weather grew milder, and the ice began to break on its own. The ship slowly made its way back into the open sea and away from the most desolate area of the world. Their Arctic voyage ended after four months; they had reached further north than any other sailors, but they had also proved the near impossibility of finding a northern passage to India.