The Fame Which
He Had Earned In Other Quarters By His Daring Heroism, Must Have Been
Poor In Value, Compared
With the, admiration and interest with which his
tales were listened to beneath the domestic roof; and the expressions of
Wonder which his adventures had extorted from strangers, must to his mind
have seemed tame and heartless, when he beheld the astonishment and
breathless interest depicted on the countenances, and glistening in the
eyes of the family circle. All this time he was employed upon his
travels, busying himself with his manuscripts almost the whole day, and
only indulging himself in the evenings with a solitary walk. The work was
difficult, and untried authorship he found almost as arduous as his
journeyings. He was unaccustomed to writing; his notes were imperfect and
scanty, so that he had frequently to draw upon memory; care, and
correction, and retrenchment were necessary to render his work worthy of
the interest which his adventures had excited; and he knew that it would
be carefully sifted by each of the two contending parties, who were on
the watch for information concerning the great controverted question of
the slave-trade, so that the utmost nicety and exactness were requisite
in stating the facts respecting it, which had fallen under his notice.
The long-expected work at length appeared in April 1799, in quarto, and
met with the greatest popularity. It was sought after with avidity, both
on account of the novelty and importance of the information comprised in
it, and the interesting manner in which the narrative was conducted.
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