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does not expressly compare his miraculous recovery to the loss of the blasphemous sailor, it is relatively impossible for the reader not to draw such a conclusion given that the two events immediately follow one another. As Equiano gains more knowledge of and familiarity with seafaring and its vessels, not to mention its naval officers’ rank and reputations, he takes on yet another cultural structure that affords him a modicum of authority. Having left the sea and lived in England for roughly two or three years, Equiano describes himself as being “happily situated; for my master treated me always extremely well; and my attachment and gratitude to him were very great” (131). He credits his time aboard ship, where he experienced warfare and witnessed some of the wonders of the open water, for his self-identification as “almost an Englishman” (132). This declaration is followed, not surprisingly, with a statement of his proficiency with the English language, his desire for literacy, and his “anxiety” to be baptized, as he was in February 1759 at St. Margaret’s Church in Westminster (132). Soon after, Equiano and his master returned to the sea aboard the Namur, destined for the Mediterranean (137). While at Gibraltar, he learns of the death of his beloved companion, Dick, and he makes a failed attempt to reunite with his long-lost sister. Equiano remarks that the young woman resembled his sister on fi rst glance but then was revealed to have been born in another nation by her speech and manners (138). Additional battles at sea, all waged against the French, result in further recognition and promotion for both Equiano and his master. Both men hazard their lives for the British Crown, and both receive commendation. The master is appointed captain of a new ship, the Aetna, and Equiano is named the captain’s steward (151). As another tale of divine Providence, and further solidifying Equiano’s ties with Christianity, he recounts the bizarre story of Mr. Mondle, “a man of very indifferent morals” (154). Waking from a horrific nightmare in which St. Peter warns him to repent his ways because his time is short, John Mondle gives away his liquor, begins reading the Scriptures, but can-
not relieve his mind’s “state of agony” (156). On hearing people cry out for God’s mercy, Equiano and others hurry on deck, only to see a 40-gun ship named the Lynne strike their own ship “with her cutwater right in the middle of [Mondle’s] bed and cabin . . . in a minute there was not a bit of wood to be seen where Mr. Mondle’s cabin stood” (157). Equiano considers this bizarre accident “as a singular act of providence” and takes leave with his reader to relate “another instance or two which strongly raised my belief of the particular interposition of heaven” (159). One tale is of a mother and her child, who miraculously survive a fall from the ship’s upper deck down to the hold, and another is Equiano’s own survival of a headlong fall from the same location, the upper deck, to the afterhold without receiving “the least injury” (160). These three singular events strengthen Equiano’s faith in God and transfer his fear from fellow humans to God alone (160). Their return to Portsmouth is soon followed by “great talk about peace,” which is mirrored by Equiano’s own opportunity for peace as a freed slave. “I too was not without my share of the general joy on this occasion. I thought now of nothing but being freed, and working for myself, and thereby getting money to enable me to get a good education” (171). Equiano’s forays into literacy, arithmetic, and the Scriptures are all assisted, while he is aboard the Aetna, by a well-educated 40-year-old named Daniel Queen. A father figure to Equiano, the latter would use whatever money he received to purchase sugar or tobacco for this kind man who promised to apprentice Equiano in his own business once the two departed from the Aetna and Equiano obtained his freedom (173). Similar to the kindness that Queen showed Equiano, his master’s treatment of him and concern for his moral character are linked in Equiano’s mind to his inevitable emancipation. “From all this tenderness, I had never once supposed, in all my dreams of freedom, that he would think of detaining me any longer than I wished” (174). Equiano’s hopes for freedom are soon dashed when his master attempts to place him on another