The fame of Oroonoko precedes their journey upriver to the plantation. In time he informs Trefry of his background, and Trefry promises upon his word of honor that he will find a way to return Oroonoko to his own country and that he will find out what happened to Oroonoko's enslaved friends. The men become such good friends that Trefry "ever after loved him as his dearest brother and showed him all the civilities due so great a man." Oroonoko has had good fortune: "he had a man of so excellent parts and wit for a master" (38). Although Oroonoko attempts to be humble, in time Trefry realizes he has a great mind and a superior education. Trefry, the overseer of Lord Governor Willoughby's plantation, is enormously surprised by the superior physical appearance of the new slave who, he happily finds, can speak English.
He jumps into the boat and sets off with his new master, Trefry, "a man of great wit and fine learning," for the three-day journey to his new home at the Parham-hill plantation. His look of hatred directed at the captain causes the slave trader to blush: "farewell sir, it is worth my sufferings to gain so true knowledge both of you and of your gods to whom you swear" (37). Despite the captain's promise to free him, Oroonoko is also seized and sold to the overseer of the plantation, whom the narrator happens to be visiting.
When the ship arrives in Surinam, the captain orders the slaves to be put into groups or lots for the merchants and gentlemen who had purchased them, taking care to separate families and acquaintances in case "rage and courage should put them upon contriving some great action, to the ruin of the colony" (37).
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