* * * * *
The ship sails again — Capture of a Spanish schooner with Slaves — The
natives of the coast come on board — Vessel anchors at Papoe — Sails
from thence and captures another slave vessel — Arrives at Whydah, where
Mr. Dickson lands — His progress through the country and reported death
— The Brazen comes to an anchor in Badagry Roads — The Gentlemen of the
Mission give a last farewell to the officers on board, and proceed on
shore.
The Brazen sailed from Cape Coast on the 17th, and on the following day
pursued a fine Spanish brigantine, which was waiting to receive a cargo
of slaves from the coast. After a short chase the vessel was captured,
and taken to Accra the same evening. There were only five or six
Europeans at Accra; but the town, as at Cape Coast, is chiefly inhabited
by Fantees, and is very populous. We had an opportunity of seeing the
king of the Fantee nation during our short stay. His majesty, dressed in
a shabby uniform of an English military officer, was supported on the
shoulders of four men, and paraded through the town, preceded and
followed by a number of people, who, by clapping of hands, and beating
on _tom-toms!_ created a loud and most discordant noise, which might
have been heard at a considerable distance from the spot.
On the 20th the Brazen departed with her prize from Accra, and came to
an anchor at Papoe the day after. From that place the brigantine was to
have taken in her cargo, and the slaves selected were confined in the
town. As soon as the officers landed from the ship, they were demanded,
but the king, obstinately refusing at first to deliver them up, was told
that unless they were immediately produced, his town would be
cannonaded, he himself and his son taken prisoners, and the slaves
seized by main force; on which the royal personage seemed to pay a
little more respect to the imperious summons of the Englishmen; and the
unfortunate people were shortly after ordered to be liberated. These
slaves at length made their appearance, and exhibited a long line of
melancholy faces and emaciated frames, wasted by disease and close
confinement, and by having suffered dreadfully from scantiness of food,
and the impure air of their prison-house. They were 231 in number, men,
women, and children, in a complete state of nudity, and heavily
manacled; several of them were lamed by the weight of their irons, and
their skin sadly excoriated from the same cause. All of them appeared in
the deepest misery, and one little boy in particular was greatly
distressed, and cried much and bitterly. He had been seized whilst at
play with his young companions from before the threshhold of his
parents’ hut, and immediately driven to Papoe with his thoughtless
playmates. The poor things evinced the liveliest joy on being made
acquainted with the favorable turn in their affairs, and the gratitude
they displayed to their deliverers was natural and sincere. Arrangements
were speedily made for their accommodation on board the prize; and that
vessel, which was to have borne them to perpetual slavery in a remote
region, was employed to convey them to hundreds of their countrymen at
Sierra Leone.
Papoe lies close to the sea, and consists of an assemblage of
irregularly-built mud huts; a number of lofty cocoa-trees growing in its
immediate vicinity conducing greatly to the apparent freshness and
pleasantness of the place. Slavery is carried on to an alarming extent
by the inhabitants, every one of whom is at all times prepared to
accompany a slave expedition. They are said to be more ferocious in
their manners than most tribes on the coast; and if one may be allowed
to judge from the savage expression of their countenances, the people
are eminently entitled to this character. The aspect of the country
presents the same unvaried uniformity of thick forests and extensive
savannas, intersected with rich plains, that is everywhere observable
from the sea.
The brigantine having been sent to Sierra Leone with the emancipated
slaves, the Brazen sailed from Papoe on the morning of the 23d, and
arrived at Whydah the same evening. Seven sail were at anchor off the
coast fronting the town, the greater part of which were supposed to be
waiting for a favourable opportunity to embark slaves. Captain
Clapperton and Dr. Morrison landed on the following morning, and were
conveyed in hammocks to the town of Whydah, situated about two English
miles from the beach. After making observations, and obtaining the
information they sought, the gentlemen returned the same evening to the
ship.
On the 25th Dr. Dickson landed to proceed into the interior. The parting
interview between Capt. Clapperton and the warm-hearted Doctor was
singularly tender and pathetic. The latter gentleman entertained a
presentiment that they should never meet again, and his endeavours to
suppress or disguise his emotion entirely failed in their effect. “Study
the character of the natives well,” said the Captain to Dr. Dickson, as
he yet lingered on the deck; “respect their institutions, and be kind to
them on all occasions; for ’tis on paying proper respect to these rules,
and these only, that you must ground your hope of being successful in
your progress through the country; and the conduct of the people to you
will be guided solely by your behaviour towards them. Set a guard over
your temper, my dear Dickson, and never let it lead you into error.” “We
meet at Jennah, then,” said the Doctor, with an inquiring eye, and
anxious, half-doubting look: “We meet at Jennah,” answered Captain
Clapperton, solemnly. “Once more adieu, my dear Dickson, and may God
bless and protect you.” The Doctor then tore himself from the deck, and
we saw him no more.
Doctor Dickson was met at Whydah by M. de Souza, a Portuguese, and Mr.
James, an Englishman, who accompanied him to Abomey, the capital of
Dahomy, where he was received both by the king and his subjects with a
hearty welcome, and every mark of kindness and respect. He was attacked
with fever shortly after his arrival in that metropolis; but on his
recovery proceeded in high spirits, with an escort of one hundred men,
furnished as a protection by his Dahoman majesty, to Shar, that
monarch’s authority extending no further in that direction.
On my return from the interior I was told by a person at Jennah, that
Dr. Dickson, having proceeded about two days’ journey into the country
from Shar, (where he had arrived in safety,) for some reason, which was
not correctly explained, had a serious misunderstanding with a party of
the natives, and his life being threatened by its chief, he was so
violently exasperated that he attempted to throttle that individual;
which being observed by his followers, they fell upon the unfortunate
doctor, overcame, and slew him.[1] Thus this gentleman was the first of
the mission that fell a victim to the cause of African research.
On the 26th the ship departed from Whydah, and came to an anchor in
Badagry Roads on the 28th.
The appearance of the coast from Sierra Leone to Badagry is, generally
speaking, singularly beautiful and attractive. The soil differs in
various districts, but consists chiefly of a rich reddish mould,
intermixed with sand, which renders it wonderfully fertile. It yields in
the greatest abundance most, if not all, of the necessaries of life, and
many of its luxuries; and millet, Indian corn, yams, sweet potatoes,
cassada, plantains, the banana, &c. are cultivated to a considerable
extent by the natives. Trees in great number and variety, of magnificent
dimensions and luxuriant foliage, adorn the face of the country, the
apparent beauty of which is infinitely heightened by the number of small
villages, embellished with lovely trees, dotting the borders of the sea;
amongst which the stately palm, both on account of the peculiarity and
elegance of its form, must ever hold a distinguished place. Thick
forests are also spread over the landscape, the gloomy shade of which,
contrasted with the smiling verdure of cultivated plains, pleasantly
studded with clumps of cocoa and other trees, and enlightened by a
brilliant sun, offers a variegated and unrivalled picture of rural
beauty, which the eye feasts upon with peculiar pleasure.
It is melancholy to reflect, however, that a great portion of this
delightful region is peopled with a race of savages and semi-barbarians,
speaking a variety of languages, but all having nearly the same customs,
and engaged in perpetual broils amongst each other. The manners and
ceremonies of the people are indeed the same, essentially, as they were
when the coast was first discovered by the Portuguese in the fifteenth
century; neither time, nor their familiar intercourse with Europeans for
so many ages, having apparently in the slightest degree either
enlightened their minds, or out-rooted their unmeaning superstitions,
which still retain all their original freshness and absurdity. It is
much to be feared that, instead of copying and imbibing the virtues of
their white visitants, they have only adopted their most odious vices.
Intoxication, which in all probability was unknown, or at most but
partially indulged in, by the aboriginal inhabitants, is followed to a
beastly excess at the present time, and is the parent of a thousand
irregularities.
Slavery, by far the most appalling evil that can befal the human race,
is carried on in particular districts to a deplorable extent, and
spreads like a pestilence through the country. It is impossible to
contemplate this striking and peculiar feature in the African habits,
without experiencing the most lively emotions of surprise and sorrow. It
has insinuated itself so deeply into the very life and spirit of the
laws and institutions of the people, that the period seems remote indeed
when it may fairly be presumed it will be wholly eradicated from them.
It has also produced the most baleful effects, causing anarchy,
injustice, and oppression to reign in Africa, and exciting nation to
rise up against nation, and man against man; it has damped all ardour
for improvement, in the absence of every stimulus to industry and
exertion, and infinitely sunk the character of the people in the eyes of
the rest of the world; it has covered the face of the country with
desolation, and filled the minds of its sorrowing inhabitants with
mourning, lamentation, and woe: but above all, it has confirmed them in
the darkest and most shameful ignorance, and rivetted them more closely
than ever in the bonds of a ridiculous and abominable superstition, to
the utter exclusion of a more amiable and rational belief. All these
evils, and many others, has slavery accomplished; in return for which
the Europeans, for whose benefit, and by whose connivance and
encouragement it has flourished so extensively, have given to the
heartless natives but ardent and intoxicating spirits, tawdry silk
dresses, and paltry necklaces of beads!
The day after the arrival of the Brazen at Badagry (the 29th of
November), the gentlemen of the mission, and the officers of the ship,
assembled on the quarter-deck to take a final farewell of each other;
and some of the latter were deeply affected, as with a faltering voice
and agitated manner they breathed their hopes that success might attend
the perilous undertaking to which their enterprising friends had so
willingly devoted themselves. There was something so moving in the
pathetic spectacle of Englishmen parting under a strong persuasion,
almost amounting to a conviction, of meeting no more in _this_ world; in
seeing the manly resolution and stubborn indifference of British
officers combating with the tenderer and more amiable feelings of human
nature, that I myself could with difficulty stifle my emotion; and to
dispel the gloom which hung upon my mind, I bade the officers a hasty
and respectful adieu, and shaking hands with many of the honest seamen
on deck, I sprang into a canoe that lay alongside the Brazen; and as two
of the natives were rowing it towards the shore, I took the opportunity
of playing “_Over the hills and far away_,” on a small bugle horn which
I had brought with me. This elicited the admiration of the sailors of
the ship, and I landed amidst the hearty cheers and acclamations of them
all.
Shortly afterwards Captains Clapperton and Pearce, and Dr. Morrison,
with Pasko and Dawson,[2] also landed; but Columbus the mulatto, who had
been ill almost from the period of his leaving England, was too weak to
accompany them.
The landing was rendered extremely dangerous by reason of a tremendous
surf, which rolled violently, and to a great height, for many miles
along the coast, and the canoe in which Mr. Houtson (an English
merchant, who was taken on board at Whydah, for the purpose of
accompanying the mission,) was conveyed from the Brazen, with
astronomical instruments, &c. was swamped when at some distance from the
beach. This accident had nearly cost that gentleman his life; for after
being tossed about on the foam and waves for a few minutes, his strength
utterly forsook him, and he ceased to struggle with the waters. In this
perilous state he was observed by two of the blacks who had been with
him in the ill-fated canoe; and, at the imminent risk of their own
lives, the men succeeded in conveying Mr. Houtson, although totally
insensible, to the shore, where proper remedies having been
administered, he shortly afterwards recovered. The natives subsequently
dived after the instruments, &c. and were fortunate enough to regain the
whole, although being seriously damaged by the water, many of them were
of little, if any, use afterwards.
Neither an English boat, nor a canoe of the ordinary form, can possibly
live, even a single minute, in this dreadful surf; and the natives have
canoes of singular construction, and exceedingly strong, made purposely
to brave its violence; yet, as the preceding casualty clearly shows,
even these are insufficient to preserve the passenger from the danger
apprehended. The canoes here spoken are of immense size and thickness,
and manned by nineteen naked men, who are well skilled in the art of
rowing. On every occasion a Fetish-man, covered from head to foot with
_gris-gris_, stands in the bow invoking the “Spirit of the Waters” to be
propitious, and quell the raging of the sea. He continues alternately
watching the motion of the billows and praying in a low mournful tone
till the boat reaches the shore or the vessel, when thanks are
immediately returned to the water-divinity. When he fancies his petition
has been heard, the Fetish-man, catching a favourable opportunity,
suddenly claps his hands in a transport, and exclaims, with violent
gesticulation and wildness of manner, “i yaw, i yaw!” (now is the time,
now is the time,) which inspires his countrymen in the canoe with fresh
energy, and dashing their paddles into the water, they propel their
enormous bark through the foamy waves with the swiftness of lightning.
I must own, I was by no means sorry that Columbus did not proceed with
us; he was a man of strong and easily excited passions, and was besides
malicious and revengeful. He used to take offence at the most trifling
accident in the world, and with oaths and bitter imprecations, curse the
individual whom he conceived had been the author of it, vowing at the
same time to be revenged. He frequently declared, during the voyage,
that he himself would be the solitary survivor of the party: all the
others, he affirmed, would die before they had been in the country many
weeks, and he should have the _pleasure_ of returning alone;
nevertheless he was himself the very first victim to the effects of that
climate which he had proudly boasted could not be prejudicial to
him,—for being subsequently landed at Whydah, and overtaking Dr. Dickson
at Abomey, he proceeded with that gentleman on the road to Shar, but
being attacked with fever, expired, I have been informed, before they
had reached that place.
A day or two previously to our leaving the ship, I had by some means or
other unintentionally offended Columbus; the next time he saw me, he
exclaimed, grinning horribly, in a tone and gesture which could not be
mistaken, and which I shall not easily forget, “I shall one day have the
pleasure of seeing you parching with thirst on the back of a camel; and
rather than give you one drop of water by —— you shall perish there;
_that_ will be my revenge!”