The king of Coromantien was a hundred years of age. All his sons had
fallen in battle, and only one of them had left behind him an heir.
Oroonoko, as the young prince was called, was a very intelligent and
handsome negro, and as his grandfather engaged a Frenchman of wit and
learning to teach him, he received an education better than that of many
European princes. This I can speak of from my own knowledge, as I have
often conversed with him. He had a great admiration for the ancient
Romans; and in everything but the colour of his skin he reminded me of
those heroes of antiquity.

His nose was finely curved, and his lips, too, were well shaped, instead
of being thick as those of most Africans are. As the king of
Coromantien, by reason of his great age, was unable to bear arms, he
entrusted his chief headman with the duty of training Oroonoko in the
arts of war. For two years, the young prince was away fighting with a
powerful inland nation; the chief headman was killed in a fierce battle,
and Oroonoko succeeded him in the command of the army. He was then only
seventeen years of age, but he quickly brought the long war to a
successful conclusion, and returned home with a multitude of captives.
The greater part of these he gave to his grandfather, and the rest he
took to Imoinda, the daughter and only child of the chief headman, as
trophies of her father's victories.

Imoinda was a marvellously beautiful girl; her features, like those of
Oroonoko, were regular and noble, and more European than African. It was
a case of love at first sight on both sides, and the young prince
presented the lovely maiden with a hundred and fifty slaves, and
returned home in a fever of passion. It was necessary for him to obtain
his grandfather's consent to his marriage, but for some days he was so
perplexed by the flood of strange, new feelings surging in his young