In 1796 a young, enslaved man was offered a deal he couldn’t refuse. If he agreed to serve aboard the sealing the ship Neptune out of New Haven for a round-the-world voyage, and if he served “faithfully” and engaged in “no base, wicked & evil conduct,” then he would be granted his freedom. The architect of the offer was Daniel Greene, who would captain the Neptune on its enormously profitable three-year voyage. The man who signed on was Dick Bristol, who knew the work was dangerous and the travel arduous, but he apparently thought the risk was worth it. In the end, several sailors died, but the ship returned with a cargo filled with spoils from Asia and fortunes were made. Dick Bristol, however, did not return. He was not listed among those who died, but nor did he remain aboard the ship. It is not clear what happened to him, though at the time sailors would occasionally disappear at a port and board another ship. On November 15, 1797, Elijah Davis wrote a small notation in his shipboard journal: “N.B. Dick is gone.”