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_OBSERVATIONS_
ON THE
SLAVE TRADE,
AND A
DESCRIPTION
Of some Part of the
_COAST of GUINEA_,
DURING
A VOYAGE,
Made in 1787, and 1788, in Company with
_Doctor A. SPARRMAN and Captain ARREHENIUS_,
BY
C. B. WADSTROM,
_Chief Director of the Royal Assay and Refining Office; Member of the
Royal Chamber of Commerce, and of the Royal Patriotic Society, for
Improving Agriculture, Manufactures, and Commerce in Sweden._
LONDON:
Printed and Sold by JAMES PHILLIPS, George-Yard, Lombard-Street,
1789.
PREFACE.
In communicating to the publick the result of my observations lately
made in a voyage to the Coast of Guinea, with two of my countrymen, it
is not my intention, without sufficient reason, to add to the number
of publications which have lately enlightened Europe, on a subject so
deserving her attention, and in the impartial investigation of which
she is so zealously employed.
Animated with a desire of defending the cause of suffering humanity,
I have no other end in view, than that of contributing some small
assistance to the well concerted plans of others, by making known what
my own experience has dictated; in a word, to relate what I have seen,
and to shew, without vain pretences, what my ideas are, on a plan so
well calculated to expand every heart that is now cherishing a hope for
its success.
As the subject has been so amply treated, my readers will not expect
to find novelty in every part of this tract; but having been so
fortunately situated, as to be enabled fully to inform myself of the
nature of the slave trade; of the manner in which the negroes are
treated by the Europeans; but more particularly of the possibility of
improving, by cultivation, the fruitful soil of Africa, it shall be my
endeavour to treat these important subjects in a manner interesting and
new.
In the presence of the two most respectable nations of Europe, would I
were endowed with powers to represent in colours sufficiently striking,
the frightful picture I have formed to myself, of the above-mentioned
traffick, and thereby to prove, that these detestable markets for human
flesh, constitute the last stage of all false principles; the greatest
of all abuses; the inversion of all order; and originate solely in
that corrupted system of commerce, which pervades every civilized
nation at this day. In fact, when the principles of commerce had been
once diverted from the noble _end_ of its institution, an institution
which promoted the free circulation of commodities, the increase of
knowledge, and the wealth and prosperity of nations, and when the
spirit of self-interest and monopoly first perverted it from this
universal end, which ought ever to have been kept in view, and confined
it to particular nations, following insensibly the steps of its
degradation, it became the mercenary object of individuals, separate
from the general good; could it then be a matter of surprize, that it
should ultimately become so debased, as to regard man himself as a
merchandise? This detestable abuse may be considered as proceeding from
a degenerate love of _dominion_, and of _possessing_ the property of
others; which, instead of diffusing the genial influence of benevolence
and liberty, produces, in their state of inversion, all the horrors of
tyranny and slavery.
Persuaded that the moment is now arrived, when mankind will begin to
make a real use of their great scientific acquirements, and of the
multiplicity of their discoveries; persuaded that the evil, which
begins to infect mankind, has no other basis than the execrable
traffic, which is at this day so generally carried on at the expence of
human liberty; and convinced at the same time, of the existence of a
Providence, which directs all things according to the universal end it
proposes in its impenetrable decrees, and that we are but instruments,
by whom it executes its great designs; convinced, I say, of all these
important truths, and inflamed with an ardent desire of assisting in
the execution of this great and noble attempt, I am not only ready to
devote my own person in this cause, but also to excite all those in
whose breast there still remains a spark of humanity, to unite with
prudence and activity, to accomplish this grand work, which has for its
end the extermination of every _evil_ and _false_ principle, preparing
the way for the reception of _Goodness_ and _Truth_, in every human
society.
When I reflect on the importance, the extent, and the grandeur of
this subject, it gives me pain in being obliged to treat it in so
hasty and incorrect a manner; but pressed for time, I trust my candid
readers will receive these few hints in good part, allowing for the
necessity of their appearing at this critical moment, when all the
great societies of Europe are so strongly interesting themselves in the
tender cause of humanity, laudably vying with each other in the honour
of pleading at the bar of human sensibility, in favour of the most
oppressed nations in the universe.
It may be expedient here to inform my readers, that I intend to publish
a more circumstantial account of my voyage to the Coast of Guinea,
when opportunity is afforded to prepare it for publick inspection;
wherein I propose to treat more fully on the geographical description
of the country, on the manners, laws, and customs of the different
nations which inhabit those shores; moreover, to treat concerning the
commerce now carried on, but more particularly, on that which may
hereafter be established with very great advantage. I also reserve to
myself the satisfaction then of informing the publick, who was the
august promoter of the enterprise I undertook, in concert with my two
respectable countrymen, and with what humanity France concurred with
him in assisting us to perform the voyage. How providentially I was led
to make observations on a subject (I mean the abolition of the slave
trade) which could only have been undertaken by a nation of such a
character and power as that which I have now the honour to address!
In exposing to the world the atrocious acts committed in that part
of the globe to which I have been eye-witness, it is not improbable,
that both the nations and individuals who have countenanced them, may
consider the writer in the light of a spy, and a divulger of those
things which ought, in honour, to have been buried in silence. But if
they can find no other appellation for the just and pure intentions of
a friend to mankind, who dares to expose crimes and cruelties which
the abusers of human right are guilty of, he then accounts it an honour
in discharging the duty he owes to society, to be esteemed as such. But
let it be well observed, that herein he speaks from a respect due only
to truth, with a view to expose _Wickedness_ and _Falsehood_, but not
_Nations_ or _Individuals_.
CONTENTS.
SECT. I.
_On the Mode of procuring Slaves._
Chap. I. WAR Page 1
Chap. II. PILLAGE 7
Chap. III. Of ROBBERY 17
Chap. IV. TREACHERY or STRATAGEM 22
SECT. II.
_Of the Manner in which the Negroes are treated
by the Europeans._
Chap. I. Negroes considered as TRADERS 26
Chap. II. Negroes considered as SLAVES 28
SECT. III.
_Whether the Negroes are naturally inclined to
Industry._
Chap. I. In FOREIGN COUNTRIES 31
Chap. II. In THEIR OWN COUNTRY 31
SECT. IV.
_Description of the Coast._
Chap. I. CLIMATE 36
Chap. II. Of the SOIL 39
Chap. III. The PRODUCTIONS 40
_Animal_ 40
_Vegetable_ 42
_Mineral_ 45
SECT. V.
_Of the Impediments which will oppose the European
Settlements on the Coast of Guinea._
Chap. I. FALSE OPINIONS 46
Chap. II. Of the DISEASES 50
Chap. III. Of MUSKETOES 51
Chap. IV. Of THORNS and THISTLES 52
SECT. VI.
REFLECTIONS 53
[Illustration: (Decorative banner)]
OBSERVATIONS
ON THE
SLAVE TRADE, &c.
SECT. I.
_On the Mode of procuring Slaves._
CHAP. I.
_WAR._
Among the various sources, from whence the Europeans are supplied with
slaves on the coast of Africa, I shall first reckon that of _War_.
The _Wars_ which the inhabitants of the interior parts of the country,
beyond Senegal, Gambia, and Sierra Leona, carry on with each other,
are chiefly of a predatory nature, and owe their origin to the yearly
number of slaves, which the Mandingoes, or the inland traders suppose
will be wanted by the vessels that will arrive on their coast. Indeed
these predatory incursions depend so much on the demand for slaves,
that if in any one year there be a greater concourse of European ships
than usual, it is observed that a much greater number of captives from
the interior parts of the country is brought to market the next.
The unhappy captives, many of whom are people of distinction, such as
princes, priests, and persons high in office, are conducted by the
Mandingoes in droves of twenty, thirty, or forty, chained together,
either to Fort St. Joseph on the river Senegal, or Niger, in the
country of Gallam, or to places near the river Gambia. But when the
trade with the French on the river Senegal happens to be stopped,
(which was the case in 1787) they bring all their captives to the mouth
of the Gambia, Sierra Leona, and other places down the coast. These
Mandingoes perform the whole journey, except at certain seasons of
the year, when they are met by the traders belonging to the coast,
who receive the slaves from them, and give them the usual articles of
merchandize in exchange.
What I have hitherto said, was taken from the best accounts I could
collect both from the black and white traders, during my residence upon
the coast. It is proper, however, that I should state something on this
head, that has come within my own knowledge.
The Moors, who inhabit the countries on the north of the River Senegal,
are particularly infamous for these predatory _Wars_. They cross the
river, and attacking the negroes, bring many of them off. There are
not a few who subsist by means of these unprovoked excursions. The
French, to encourage them in it, make annual presents to the Moorish
kings. These are given them under certain conditions, first, that their
subjects shall not carry any of their gum to the English at Portendic;
and, secondly, that they shall be ready, on all occasions, to furnish
slaves. To enable them to fulfil this last article, they never fail to
supply them with ammunition, guns, and other instruments of _War_.
To confirm what I have now said, I shall put down the following example:
The king of Almammy had, in the year 1787, very much to his honour,
enacted a law, that no slave whatever should be marched through his
territories. At this time several French vessels lay at anchor in
the Senegal, waiting for slaves. The route of the black traders in
consequence of this edict of the king, was stopped, and the slaves
carried to other parts. The French, unable on this account to complete
their cargoes, remonstrated with the king. He was, however, very
unpropitious to their representations, for he returned the presents
which had been sent him by the Senegal company, of which I myself was
a witness; declaring, at the same time, that all the riches of that
company should not divert him from his design. In this situation of
affairs, the French were obliged to have recourse to their old friends,
the Moors. These, who had before shewn themselves so ready on such
occasions, were no less ready and active on this. They set off in
parties to surprise the unoffending negroes, and to carry among them
all the calamities of _War_. Many unfortunate prisoners were sent,
and for some time continued to be sent in. I was once curious enough
to wish to see some of those that had just arrived. I applied to the
Director of the company, who conducted me to the slave-prisons. I there
saw the unfortunate captives, chained two and two together, by the
foot. The mangled bodies of several of them, whose wounds were still
bleeding, exhibited a most shocking spectacle; and their situation may
be much easier conceived than described. The Director of the company,
however, used his best endeavors to console them.
This is a specifick instance, clearly shewing that _one War at least_
was undertaken for the sole purpose of procuring slaves. I cannot,
however, help observing, that if no such instance as this had come
within my knowledge during my stay in those parts, I should yet have
thought myself justifiable in supposing, that the _Wars_ among the
negroes originated in the slave trade. For in all the observations I
have been able to make (and I went to the coast of Africa, not with any
commercial views, but for the sole purpose of inquiry and observation)
I have ever considered the negroes as a quiet, inoffensive people,
happy in themselves, and in one another, enjoying the comforts of life,
without the intervention of toil and trouble. If, therefore, I had
found _Wars_ among a people of such dispositions, and so situated as
to have no motive for them, I should certainly have set them down, as
having been excited for some diabolical purpose, and for none so likely
as for the prosecution of the slave trade.
CHAP. II.
_PILLAGE._
A second source, from whence the Europeans are supplied with slaves on
the coast of Africa, is _Pillage_, which is of two kinds; publick or
private. It is publick, when practiced by the direction of the kings,
private, when practiced by individuals. I must also make a further
distinction, namely, as it is practiced by the blacks and the whites.
This last I call Robbery, which will be the subject of the next article.
The publick _Pillage_ is, of all others, the most plentiful source,
from which the slave trade derives its continuance and support.
The kings of Africa (I mean in that part of the country which I
have visited) incited by the merchandize shewn them, which consists
principally of strong liquors, give orders to their military to attack
their own villages in the night. Saturday night is particularly fixed
upon for this purpose, being esteemed the most lucky for expeditions
of this kind. However, when slaves are wanted in haste, no night is
deemed so inauspicious as to prevent an attempt.
As I have been myself an eye-witness to several of these nocturnal
expeditions, it will, perhaps, be better to illustrate this kind of
_Pillage_ by some examples.
The French make presents to the negro as well as the Moorish kings. It
happened when I was at Goree, that an ambassador was to be sent from
thence to the king of Barbesin on this errand. I obtained leave with my
fellow-travellers to accompany the embassy. We accordingly set out, and
arrived at Joal, a place where the king resides at particular times of
the year, viz. when the trading vessels arrive there.
It is usual, on the receipt of these presents, to send back a number of
slaves in return. It so happened, however, that the king of Barbesin
had no slaves in his possession at that time. This circumstance it
was, that afforded me an opportunity of seeing the expeditions before
mentioned.
We resided, I believe, about a week at Joal. During our residence
there, the _Pillage_, of which I have been speaking, was attempted
almost every night. The following is a description of the persons
concerned in it, and of their various success.
There were several parties of the military, assembled at six in the
evening, or about dusk. Each party consisted of about ten or twelve.
A large horseman’s musket was rested on each of their saddles, in the
same manner as those of the English heavy cavalry. On their shoulders
were suspended a bow, and a quiver full of arrows. Thus equipped, they
went to different villages belonging to the king, and returned usually
about five in the morning, or a little before day-light.
In some of their attempts they returned without a single slave. In
others they were more successful. At one time in particular they
came back with but one captive. This was a beautiful young negress,
from one of the king’s own villages. She was immediately delivered,
notwithstanding her tears and cries, to the French ambassador, whom we
accompanied, and, by his order, was carried on board.
It was fortunate however for her, that she belonged to one of those
families, which, in consequence of their birth, are exempted by the
laws of the country from slavery. This occasioned a commotion; for
the auction appeared to the minds of the people, to be so unjust
and repugnant to the established laws, that they were nearly on the
point of rebelling. The king, when he came to his senses (for he
had given his orders respecting the seizure of this girl in a state
of intoxication) saw in so lively a manner the consequences of this
rash proceeding, that with the most abject submission, he descended
to prayers and intreaties with the owner, to return the innocent and
unfortunate girl. The Frenchman, though surrounded by more than two
thousand negroes at the time, and though the embassy, including myself
and fellow-travellers, consisted but of five white people, was so madly
obstinate, as for a long time to refuse his request; I say madly,
because in all the adventures of my life, I had never so much reason to
be alarmed for the preservation of it. At length, after much intreaty,
the king promised him two others in exchange, whom he expected to seize
on a future expedition; and thus was the unhappy girl restored to her
disconsolate family.
At another time, the military, who had been sent out to _Pillage_,
returned with several captives. These consisted of men, women, and
children. The men, as they were brought in, exhibited marks of great
dejection. One of them, however, appeared to be quite frantick with
grief. He beseeched his captors, with great fervency, that they would
not tear him from his wife and children. The women, on the other hand,
vented their sorrow in shrieks and lamentations. The children, in a
state of palpitation, clung to their mother’s breasts. Their little
eyes were so swelled with crying, that they could cry no more. During
all this time, the captors, to shew their joy on the occasion, and to
drown the cries of their unfortunate fellow-subjects, were beating
large drums. To this was added, all the noise that could be collected
from the blowing of horns, and the human voice. Taking in the shrieks
and agony of the one, and the shouts and joy of the other, with the
concomitant instruments of noise, I was never before witness to such an
infernal scene.
What I have said of the king of Barbesin’s conduct with respect to
the mode of procuring slaves, is equally applicable to those other
kings of the country, of whom I have any knowledge. King Damel, whose
dominions lie between Portudal and Senegal, wanting a slave to deliver
in exchange for some goods he had bargained for with a Goree trader,
ordered his soldiers to seize on one of his own subjects. Finding a
woman (whose husband was absent) in a hut with her children, they
seized her, bound her, and tore her from her babes, who were rejected,
as not being able to perform the journey down to the shore.
The king of Sallum, though he never tastes any spirituous liquors,
has recourse to the same practice, as if by the common consent of the
kings of Africa, these were the measures to be invariably pursued.
The articles, most in demand with this king, are Spanish dollars, and
Dutch gourds. Both these he causes to be melted down, and then to be
worked into chains, bracelets, and other ornaments for himself and his
favourites. Having fixed an extraordinary value upon these, he will at
any time depopulate a village to obtain them. Such are the effects of
avarice, when it has the power of gratification.
The vessels employed in the trade to Sallum, by the mulattoes of Goree,
are generally sloops. With these they go up the river, and arrive
in about three days. Their stay there is very uncertain. It is in
general from one to four weeks, according as the king is successful or
not in those _Pillages_ which he attempts for the sake of procuring
slaves. When the traders have completed their cargoes, they return to
Goree, where they deliver them, in about eight days. The slaves, so
delivered, are shipped off, by the first opportunity, to the French
colonies.
In speaking of these sloops, I cannot refrain from mentioning an
instance which came under my own eye. A trading mulattoe of Goree,
whose name was Martin, had obtained from the king of Sallum, by means
of the publick _Pillage_ before described, a sloop full of captives.
The greater part of them were women and children. Notwithstanding
this, they had been thrown into the sloop as if they had been articles
of lumber, and devoid of feeling. Obliged, moreover, from too close
a stowage, to lie on the inequalities and protuberances of the bare
planks, without being able to change their position, they had in the
course only of eight days (which I stated to be the time of the passage
from Sallum to Goree) been very materially hurt: for, when I saw them
brought out of the sloop, they had several contusions on various parts
of their bodies, and in others their flesh was severely cut. A poor
child in particular, about two years old, had a very deep wound in his
side, made in the manner above stated. He lay afterwards, upon being
landed, with the wound contiguous to the ground, so that the sand
getting into it, put him to exquisite pain. I mention this instance,
only to give an idea of what are thought to be rooms of accommodation
for slaves, and of that inhumanity, which naturally springs out of the
prosecution of this trade.
Before I close my account of the publick _Pillage_, I must not forget
to mention, that the kings of those parts, (except the king of Sallum)
never openly profess the right, which they thus unjustly usurp over
the lives and liberties of their subjects. For this reason they plan
their expeditions in such a manner, that they must arrive at the place
they intend to _Pillage_, in the dead of the night. It is impossible,
therefore, for their subjects, in such a case, to discover who are the
instruments of those acts of violence; and they may with greater reason
suppose, that they were perpetrated by a roving banditti, than by the
direction of their own kings.
I come now to the private _Pillage_. This is practiced by individuals,
who, tempted by the merchandize brought by the Europeans, lie in wait
for one another. For this purpose they beset the roads, and other
places, so that a travelling negro can hardly ever escape them. To
enumerate the many instances of this private depredation that happen,
would be an endless task. I shall therefore select but one, which, on
account of the circumstances that followed, may strike the reader as
singular.
A Moor had seized a free negro, and, having secured him, he brought
him to Senegal, and sold him to the company. A few days afterwards
this moor was taken by some negroes in the same manner, and brought to
be sold in his turn. The company seldom buy moors: but as they were
obliged, in consequence of their privileges, to supply the colony of
Cayenne with a certain number of slaves, and as several ships then in
the road, in consequence of the king of Almammy’s edict, as before
related, could not complete their cargoes, they made the less scruple
to buy him on this occasion. Chance so directed, that the moor, after
he had been purchased, was carried on board the same ship, in which
the negro lay. They no sooner met, than a quarrel took place between
them, which occasioned, for some days, a great tumult in the vessel.
Such rencounters frequently happen in the slave-ships, and the uproars,
occasioned by them, are seldom or never quieted, till some mischief has
been done.
CHAP. III.
_Of ROBBERY._
I have been hitherto describing the _Pillage_, as it is either publick
or private. I have also considered it as practiced by the blacks upon
one another. I come now to speak of it, as it is practiced upon these
by the whites; and this I call _Robbery_.
It is too well known, at least on some parts of the coast, that the
Europeans have not failed, when opportunity presented itself, to seize
the unsuspicious natives of Africa, and to carry them by force to their
own colonies.
This is usually practiced by the Europeans, where they have no
settlements; so that the fact generally escapes the notice of their
countrymen; I mean principally up the rivers, where they have ventured
to penetrate for the purpose of a more advantageous trade. At such
places, they compel the negroes to deliver them hostages, whom they
keep on board. The truce being concluded, the unsuspicious natives
embark with confidence, and repeatedly visit the vessel without
any kind of suspicion or fear. But, if the wind should be at all
favourable, none of the European monsters, who are engaged in this
trade, scruple to set sail, and to carry away not only the free
negroes, who have come on board to trade, but the hostages also, in
defiance of the law of nations and common honesty.
These transactions are not only iniquitous in themselves, and therefore
derogatory from the character of a civilized nation, but are often so
fatal in their consequences, that those, who perpetrate them, have a
claim to the appellation of devils rather than men. For it may easily
be supposed, that the relations and friends of those, who have been
thus fraudulently carried off, will spare no pains to retaliate. This
is generally the case. The next ship that visits the coast, is perhaps
cut off. Thus, to a villainous action, is superadded the guilt of
becoming instrumental to the murder perhaps of their own countrymen,
and at any rate of occasioning the innocent to undergo the punishment
of the guilty.
When I was at Goree, in the year 1787, accounts came down by some
French merchantmen from the Gambia of the following particulars.
The captain of an English ship, which had been some time in that
river, had enticed several of the natives on board, and, finding a
favourable opportunity, sailed away with them. His vessel however was,
by the direction of Providence, driven back to the coast from whence
it had set sail, and was obliged to cast anchor on the very spot where
this act of treachery had been committed. At this time two other
English vessels were lying in the same river. The natives, ever since
the transaction, had determined to retaliate. They happened, at this
juncture, to be prepared. They accordingly boarded the three vessels,
and, having made themselves masters of them, they killed most of their
crews. The few who escaped to tell the tale, were obliged to take
refuge in a neighbouring French factory. Thus did the innocent suffer
the same punishment as the guilty; for it did not appear that the crews
of the other two vessels had been at all concerned in this villainous
measure.
These particulars, as I observed before, had found their way down to
us at Goree, and, from the channels through which they came, I had
no reason to question their truth. It is remarkable, however, that,
though I wanted no confirmation of them in my own mind, yet, since my
arrival in London, I have heard them fully substantiated: for I dined
lately by accident with a certain underwriter, to whom undesignedly
relating the time, place, and other circumstances of this transaction,
I found that I had only been describing the fate of certain vessels,
which, to his knowledge, had been cut off in the same part of the
world, and at the same season.
CHAP. IV.
_Of TREACHERY or STRATAGEM._
The various other ways in which slaves are obtained, may be included
under the words _Treachery_ or _Stratagem_, being only so many
different modes of the same practice. One or two instances will, I
hope, suffice, as I do not wish to take up the reader’s time more than
is necessary, and as he will be enabled by them to judge of the rest.
Besides, the stratagems which the traders daily practise to get slaves,
are so numerous, that it would take a volume to recount them.
A French merchant of Goree landing at a village, observed an handsome
well-made negro. He immediately made application to the chief of
the village to seize him. On the proposal of the chief, the people
unanimously agreed to grant his request: for it is a law in those
parts, that if all the village consent, any visitor residing among
them may be made a slave. To gain the consent of a whole village on
such an occasion, is by no means difficult. The Africans in general,
like other people in the same unimproved state, are governed by their
passions, and the prince has only to distribute a sufficient quantity
of spirituous liquors among them to produce the effect he wishes for.
Such was the case in the present instance; and the unfortunate negro,
though he was their neighbour and visitor, was taken and sent into
slavery. His wife, having heard of his capture, came down bathed in
tears. She begged to be bought, that she might go with him, and share
his fate. But the dealer who bought him, had probably no goods at the
time, and her intreaties were ineffectual.
The king of Sallum, under pretence of wanting millet, enticed from
a neighbouring village a negress, who had a quantity to dispose
of. Elated with the prospect of selling it to advantage, she did
not consider the imprudence of the step she was about to take. She
accordingly went to the king, who not only immediately deprived her of
her millet, but seized her, and sold her for a slave.
I cannot close my account of the different methods daily practised to
obtain slaves, without giving an instance, that will shew, in a very
glaring light, the bad tendency of the slave trade, and the baneful
effects it produces on the human heart.
One of the Moorish kings had received from the director of the
company of Senegal, the predecessor of him who now occupies that
post, the usual presents, in consequence of which he was bound to
procure slaves. Having been rather dilatory in the performance of his
engagement, he was applied to by the director, who represented to him
the pressing wants of the company. The king, thus urgently pressed,
offered him a certain negro on account. This negro was none other than
his own minister, who had been his confidential friend and faithful
adviser for many years. The director, shocked at the circumstance,
endeavoured to point out to him the impropriety of his conduct, but
his representations were ineffectual. The negro, in whose presence the
offer was made, finding that his unworthy master was obstinately bent
upon his design, ran up to him, drew his dagger, and plunging it into
his own breast, exclaimed, “Thou savage! I shall have the satisfaction
of expiring, before thou canst reap any advantage from thy base
ingratitude to the best of servants.”
I have now finished my section on the mode of procuring slaves, and I
should have been made much happier by my visit to the coast of Africa,
if no such instances had occurred, as I have felt myself obliged to
communicate to the reader.
SECT. II.
_Of the Manner in which the Negroes are treated by the Europeans._
CHAP. I.
_Of the Negroes considered as TRADERS._
Self-interest, the principle of all commerce, appears in the very
basest point of view, when considered, with a reference to the
intercourse subsisting between the white and the black nations. The
fraud and violence which the stronger generally imagine they have a
right in trade to exercise towards the weaker, compel the latter in
their turn to have recourse to practices equally base and cruel. Such
is the true picture of the low cunning and barbarity which the whites
practice towards the negroes, and these last towards their own people.
In such mysteries of iniquity, the Europeans have a decided advantage
over the untutored African nations; and thus practice their villainous
artifices with impunity. The most despicable juggling tricks are used
in measuring or reckoning the commodities bartered with the negroes.
Thus for example, instead of the bottles and barrels shewn and approved
of, others are substituted apparently of the same size, but containing
less perhaps by one half. Advantage is taken of the difficulty with
which the negroes reckon beyond ten, and thus the accounts are
confused, and they are deprived of the greater part of the commodities
bargained for. The wine and spirits, samples of which the negroes had
tasted pure, are afterwards adulterated with water. They are defrauded
in all sorts of weights and measures; and, that the European adepts
in villainy may play off their tricks with success, they previously
take care to intoxicate the unsuspecting negroes, and by this means
fascinate their senses in such a manner, as to multiply or magnify
every article set before them. These ways of trading are esteemed the
most modest that can be practiced, and there is not a single European
who scruples in the least to have recourse to them on all occasions. I
have repeatedly been an eye-witness of such villainy.
CHAP. II.
_Of the Negroes considered as SLAVES._
On the coast of Africa there are two descriptions of slaves, namely,
the immediate descendants of slaves, and those who are reduced to
slavery in the different ways I have described. The former are seldom
sold, except for theft, but the most trivial transgression of this
kind is often made a pretext for selling them. At Goree I was present
at several publick sales of young women,[1] who were sold for acts
of petty larceny, which scarcely deserved the name of crimes. The
treatment these last experience is mild, when compared to that of the
wretches, who are enslaved by force or fraud, and who are treated
exactly like wild beasts. They are confined in prisons or dungeons,
resembling dens, where they lie naked on the sand, crowded together and
loaded with irons. In consequence of this cruel mode of confinement,
they are frequently covered with cutaneous eruptions. Ten or twelve of
them feed together out of a trough, precisely like so many hogs. There
is even less care taken of them than of brutes, while they are confined
in these horrid receptacles, and, till they are stowed away in the
slave vessels, to be sent from the coast; nor are they worse treated on
board, if we may credit some accounts.
I am very sorry that humanity obliges me here to divulge a most
barbarous practice, frequently used by the French traders in the
Middle Passage. I have been assured by several of their merchants and
captains, that when detained by calms, or contrary winds, occasioning a
shortness of provisions and water; or when some fatal disease happens
to break out among the slaves, they never fail to mix corrosive
sublimate, or some other active poison with their visuals, and thus
coolly dispatch the wretches committed to their charge. They affirm
that it would be an act of imprudence to undertake such a voyage
unprovided with poisonous drugs, and they boast of being less cruel
than the Dutch and the English, who in similar circumstances throw the
innocent victims over-board without ceremony.[2]
Of the above cruel practice, my journal furnishes a melancholy
instance, communicated to me by Capt. L. of Havre de Grace. About two
years ago, a slave vessel belonging to Brest, having been becalmed in
the Middle Passage, fell short of provisions and water. The Captain
on this occasion had recourse to poison, by which so great a number
was daily dispatched, that of _five hundred_ slaves, only _twenty-one_
arrived at Cape François.
SECT. III.
_Whether the Negroes are naturally inclined to Industry._
CHAP. I.
_In FOREIGN COUNTRIES._
From several experiments made on different plantations in the
West-Indies, it appears, that negroes, when working, not by the
day, but by task, have given convincing proofs both of ability and
industry.[3]
CHAP. II.
_In THEIR OWN COUNTRY._
As liberty and reason, the two grand springs of all human action, are
not yet developed in these people, who have long remained in a state
of infancy, solely because their faculties have not been cultivated, in
consequence of which their wants have been but few, it may perhaps be
concluded, that these raw nations are incapable of civilization, but
this opinion will soon vanish on reflecting, that the effects produced
must entirely depend on the manner of forming their intellect. New
objects ought to be presented to them, in order to excite new desires,
and to call forth those faculties, which have hitherto lain dormant,
merely for want of exercise. Thus in the progress of their improvement
it will be necessary to introduce among them a proportionable degree of
what we generally call luxury, by which I do not mean the abuse of the
conveniences of life, which enervates mankind, but such moderate use of
those conveniences, as will rouse them to action.
The behaviour of the king of Barbesin convinced me, that this useful
degree of luxury might easily be introduced among the people of the
coast. I gave him a pair of common enamelled slave buttons, with
which, though ignorant of their use, he was infinitely delighted. On
my shewing him for what purpose they were intended, he appeared much
mortified that his shirt had no button-holes; but observed that it
differed in this respect from that of a mulatto from Goree, with whom
he insisted on exchanging shirts in our presence, a demand with which
the man was forced to comply. Transported with his new ornaments, the
king held up his hands to display them to the people. His courtiers
soon surrounded my hut, intreating me to furnish them also with
buttons, which I did with pleasure. This fondness of the natives
for European baubles, proves that an advantageous commerce might be
established among them with very little trouble and expense.
The conduct of the present king (late grand marabou[4]) of Almammy,
is more interesting to humanity, and evinces the firm manly character
of the negroes when enlightened. His understanding having been more
cultivated in his youth than that of the other black princes, he has
rendered himself intirely independent of the whites. He has not only
prohibited the slave trade throughout his dominions, but (in the year
1787) would not suffer the French to march their captives from Gallam,
through his country. He redeems his own subjects when seized by the
Moors, and encourages them to raise cattle, to cultivate the land,
and to practice all kinds of industry. As grand marabou, he abstains
from strong liquor, which, however, is not the general rule among that
order; for some who travel with the whites are not scrupulous in this
respect. His subjects, imitating his example, are much more sober than
their neighbours.
This proves to what degree of civilization these people might be
brought, if with prudence and patience this great and noble enterprize
was once undertaken; but without introducing some degree of what we
generally call Luxury, this cultivation would, in my opinion, be
intirely impracticable. To what purpose would the human understanding
be cultivated, if Luxury, by which I mean nothing more than the
improvement of the conveniences and comforts of life, did not keep pace
with it? The former indeed could not take place without the latter.
Uncivilized nations in general are led merely by animal instinct to
procure their subsistence, but as soon as the understanding begins to
be enlightened, by means of reflection upon what is agreeable to life,
above mere necessaries, Luxury must of course be introduced.[5]
SECT. IV.
_DESCRIPTION of the COAST._
CHAP. I.
_CLIMATE._
The climate of the coast of Guinea, as of other countries, varies with
the nature of the soil, its elevation or depression, the comparative
state of its improvement, and other circumstances, perhaps not yet
sufficiently investigated. The latitude of the place is by no means a
certain criterion of its climate, since even in the midst of the torrid
zone, we meet with all possible gradations of climate. The high lands
of Camaroons in particular, though only between three and four degrees
distant from the line, are covered with everlasting snow.
It is the general opinion, that the most unhealthy climates on the
coast, are those of Senegal and Juda, or, as it is called by the
English, Whidah. The neighbourhood of the banks of the River Gambia,
however, which has lately been much frequented, hath been found to
be as unhealthy as those just mentioned, especially during the great
rains, and immediately after their cessation. In general it may be
concluded, that low and marshy situations are very unfavourable to the
health of the Europeans, who may expect the most fatal consequences
from irregularity, or excess of any kind. But a due regard to
temperance, and such moderate exercise as would not induce too violent
a perspiration, would doubtless be the best means of guarding against
the effects of a sudden change of climate. Thus the body would
gradually accommodate itself to its new situation, as is actually
experienced by every one who duly attends to these precautions; and
this happy effect takes place sooner or later, according to the
weakness or strength of the stranger’s constitution, as well as to the
more or less manly education he may have received, and the habits he
may have formed in the earlier part of his life. The intemperature of
those climates may also be in some degree resisted, by fixing one’s
habitation on an elevated spot during the unhealthy season of the year.
For my own part, although I arrived on the coast during that season,
I escaped all the diseases of the country. This I ascribe entirely to
the cautious temperance I observed. During a mortality which raged at
Senegal while I was there, not a single gentleman or officer on shore
was attacked, but out of eleven sailors belonging to the vessel in
which I returned to Europe, six were taken off in the space of a month.
It must be observed, however, that seamen, by the tyranny or neglect
of the captains, by a bad or scanty diet, and by the other hardships
they undergo, are often exposed to many causes of disease, which do
not affect persons living regularly on shore, and which will ever more
or less attend the service of monopolizing Companies, or individual
merchants, who, _regardless of the lives of men_, make gain the sole
object of their speculations.[6] It is remarked, that Europeans of a
slender habit are generally found to be the most healthy on the coast
of Guinea.
From what I have been able to collect, it appears, that the rainy
seasons follow the passage of the sun from the equator to either
tropic, so as always to prevail in those places where the sun is
vertical. East of Cape Palmas I am told they seldom set in before June,
when the sun returns from the northern tropic; but to the westward of
that Cape, and up the whole country, those seasons generally commence
within the month of May, and continue for three or four months. In the
beginning of this season, the earth being softened with the rain, the
negroes till and sow their ground, and after the return of dry weather,
they gather in their crops, an occupation they seldom abandon, even
though allured by the most advantageous commerce. I have sufficient
reason to believe, that were the coast cultivated to the extent of
which the soil in general is susceptible, the climate would be much
meliorated.
CHAP. II.
_Of the Soil._
The soil all along the coast is very unequal. From Cape Blanco down
the coast, to the River Gambia, it is in general very sandy, but as
the sand consists of broken shells, covered in many places with a rich
black mould, it must be favourable to vegetation. The most barren
places of this part of the country, except just on the sea shore, are
covered with grass and bushes; and where the black mould is found,
the vegetation is luxuriant, and the trees of vast dimensions. I have
remarked, that the mountains are generally composed more or less of
regular basaltes, exhibiting remains of most prodigious volcanoes, the
eruptions of which greatly improve the soil around them. Hence the
mountains and high grounds at Cape Emanuel, Goree, Cape Rouge, and
other places lower down, are commonly very fertile. Where rice thrives
best, the ground in general is low, marshy, and unhealthy.
CHAP. III.
_The Productions._
_Animal._ The cattle on the coast are smaller than those of Europe,
and not so fat as those of England or Holland; yet their flesh is
very nourishing, and they give milk in abundance. Their inferiority
appeared to me to be the effect of the careless and unskillful
management of the negroes. I once saw four oxen sold for eighteen
livres. They must be raised on the coast, as foreign cattle do not
thrive. Even those from the Cape de Verd Islands do not answer on
the coast. The whole coast is abundantly stocked with sheep, hogs,
and all sorts of poultry, which propagate with astonishing rapidity.
Fishing and hunting are most eagerly pursued by the negroes, who have,
however, but a very gross idea of any mechanical means of facilitating
those employments. Of the prodigious shoals of numberless kinds of
fish, I could have formed no idea without having seen them with my own
eyes. Spermaceti whales abound on the coast. In passing from Goree to
the Continent, distant about five miles, I have often rowed through
shoals of them, and have been under no small apprehensions of their
oversetting any canoe. Lower down the coast the English and Portuguese
carry on a considerable fishery of those whales; and ambergris is
found in such quantities on the coast, that I have more than once seen
the negroes pay their canoes with it. Till lately the learned were
at a loss to which of the kingdoms of nature this production was to
be referred, but they are now pretty generally agreed, that it is the
excrement of the spermaceti whales.
_Vegetable._ The grass is thick, and grows to a great height. The
natives are often obliged to burn it, to prevent the wild beasts from
harbouring in the fields, but it soon springs up again. Millet, rice,
potatoes, pulse, and many other excellent vegetables, are cultivated
on the coast with very little trouble, and in a profusion perfectly
astonishing to an European. Such indeed is the plenty which prevails
on the coast, that all the European ships are victualled, without the
smallest inconvenience to the inhabitants. There is also abundance of
the most wholesome and delicious fruit; articles of no less consequence
than those just mentioned. Sugar-canes grow wild in many places, which
with a little cultivation might be rendered extremely valuable and
productive. The same may be said of the tobacco-plant. Several species
of cotton are also spontaneously produced by this excellent soil; one
of them may be spun without being carded, and almost without any
preparation. The negroes spin it into very fine yarn, of which they
make a good but narrow cloth.[7]
Indigo of different kinds also grows wild, and in such quantities,
as to be a very troublesome weed in the rice and millet fields. What
a strange inversion of nature does not man, actuated by the most
extravagant and most ridiculous selfishness, every where labour to
effect? What necessity is there for exiling this plant from the soil
and climate which nature has assigned it, in order to transplant it
into a country, where it is far from thriving so well as in its native
place, and where it fails every third or fourth year? Dyers, who have
tried the African indigo, affirm, that it is better than that which is
produced in Carolina and in the West-Indies. The specimens of cotton
and indigo, which I have brought with me from the coast, have been
carefully examined by people of skill, and found to be of the best
quality.