LANGUAGE AND RELIGION OF THE NATIVES.
THE natives of the countries bordering on the Gambia, though distributed
into a great many distinct governments, may, I think, be divided into
four great classes—the Feloops, the Jaloffs, the Foulahs, and the
Mandingoes. Among all these nations, the religion of Mohammed has made,
and continues to make, considerable progress; but in most of them the
body of the people, both free and enslaved, persevere in maintaining the
blind but harmless superstitions of their ancestors, and are called by
the Mohammedans _kafirs_, or infidels.
Of the Feloops, I have little to add to what has been observed concerning
them in the former chapter. They are of a gloomy disposition, and are
supposed never to forgive an injury. They are even said to transmit
their quarrels as deadly feuds to their posterity, insomuch that a son
considers it as incumbent on him, from a just sense of filial obligation,
to become the avenger of his deceased father’s wrongs. If a man loses
his life in one of those sudden quarrels which perpetually occur at their
feasts, when the whole party is intoxicated with mead, his son, or the
eldest of his sons (if he has more than one), endeavours to procure his
father’s sandals, which he wears _once a year_, on the anniversary of his
father’s death, until a fit opportunity offers of revenging his fate,
when the object of his resentment seldom escapes his pursuit. This
fierce and unrelenting disposition is, however, counterbalanced by many
good qualities: they display the utmost gratitude and affection towards
their benefactors, and the fidelity with which they preserve whatever is
entrusted to them is remarkable. During the present war, they have more
than once taken up arms to defend our merchant vessels from French
privateers; and English property of considerable value has frequently
been left at Vintain for a long time entirely under the care of the
Feloops, who have uniformly manifested on such occasions the strictest
honesty and punctuality. How greatly is it to be wished that the minds
of a people so determined and faithful could be softened and civilised by
the mild and benevolent spirit of Christianity!
The Jaloffs (or Yaloffs) are an active, powerful, and warlike race,
inhabiting great part of that tract which lies between the river Senegal
and the Mandingo states on the Gambia; yet they differ from the
Mandingoes not only in language, but likewise in complexion and features.
The noses of the Jaloffs are not so much depressed, nor the lips so
protuberant, as among the generality of Africans; and although their skin
is of the deepest black, they are considered by the white traders as the
most sightly negroes on this part of the continent.
Their language is said to be copious and significant, and is often learnt
by Europeans trading to Senegal.
The Foulahs (or Pholeys), such of them at least as reside near the
Gambia, are chiefly of a tawny complexion, with soft silky hair, and
pleasing features. They are much attached to a pastoral life, and have
introduced themselves into all the kingdoms on the windward coast as
herdsmen and husbandmen, paying a tribute to the sovereign of the country
for the lands which they hold. Not having many opportunities, however,
during my residence at Pisania, of improving my acquaintance with these
people, I defer entering at large into their character until a fitter
occasion occurs, which will present itself when I come to Bondou.
The Mandingoes, of whom it remains to speak, constitute, in truth, the
bulk of the inhabitants in all those districts of Africa which I visited;
and their language, with a few exceptions, is universally understood and
very generally spoken in that part of the continent.
They are called Mandingoes, I conceive, as having originally migrated
from the interior state of Manding, of which some account will hereafter
be given.
In every considerable town there is a chief magistrate, called the
_alkaid_, whose office is hereditary, and whose business it is to
preserve order, to levy duties on travellers, and to preside at all
conferences in the exercise of local jurisdiction and the administration
of justice. These courts are composed of the elders of the town (of free
condition), and are termed _palavers_; and their proceedings are
conducted in the open air with sufficient solemnity. Both sides of a
question are freely canvassed, witnesses are publicly examined, and the
decisions which follow generally meet with the approbation of the
surrounding audience.
As the negroes have no written language of their own, the general rule of
decision is an appeal to _ancient custom_; but since the system of
Mohammed has made so great progress among them, the converts to that
faith have gradually introduced, with the religious tenets, many of the
civil institutions of the prophet; and where the Koran is not found
sufficiently explicit, recourse is had to a commentary called _Al
Sharra_, containing, as I was told, a complete exposition or digest of
the Mohammedan laws, both civil and criminal, properly arranged and
illustrated.
This frequency of appeal to written laws, with which the pagan natives
are necessarily unacquainted, has given rise in their palavers to (what I
little expected to find in Africa) professional advocates, or expounders
of the law, who are allowed to appear and to plead for plaintiff or
defendant, much in the same manner as counsel in the law-courts of Great
Britain. They are Mohammedan negroes, who have made, or affect to have
made, the laws of the prophet their peculiar study; and if I may judge
from their harangues, which I frequently attended, I believe, that in the
forensic qualifications of procrastination and cavil, and the arts of
confounding and perplexing a cause, they are not always surpassed by the
ablest pleaders in Europe. While I was at Pisania, a cause was heard
which furnished the Mohammedan lawyers with an admirable opportunity of
displaying their professional dexterity. The case was this:—An ass
belonging to a Serawoolli negro (a native of an interior country near the
river Senegal) had broke into a field of corn belonging to one of the
Mandingo inhabitants, and destroyed great part of it. The Mandingo
having caught the animal in his field, immediately drew his knife and cut
his throat. The Serawoolli thereupon called a _palaver_ (or in European
terms, _brought an action_) to recover damages for the loss of his beast,
on which he set a high value. The defendant confessed he had killed the
ass, but pleaded a _set-off_, insisting that the loss he had sustained by
the ravage in his corn was equal to the sum demanded for the animal. To
ascertain this fact was the point at issue, and the learned advocates
contrived to puzzle the cause in such a manner that, after a hearing of
three days, the court broke up without coming to any determination upon
it; and a second palaver was, I suppose, thought necessary.
The Mandingoes, generally speaking, are of a mild, sociable, and obliging
disposition. The men are commonly above the middle size, well-shaped,
strong, and capable of enduring great labour. The women are
good-natured, sprightly, and agreeable. The dress of both sexes is
composed of cotton cloth of their own manufacture: that of the men is a
loose frock, not unlike a surplice, with drawers which reach half-way
down the leg; and they wear sandals on their feet, and white cotton caps
on their heads. The women’s dress consists of two pieces of cloth, each
of which is about six feet long and three broad. One of these they wrap
round their waist, which, hanging down to the ankles, answers the purpose
of a petticoat; the other is thrown negligently over the bosom and
shoulders.
This account of their clothing is indeed nearly applicable to the natives
of all the different countries in this part of Africa; a peculiar
national mode is observable only in the head-dresses of the women.
Thus, in the countries of the Gambia, the females wear a sort of bandage,
which they call _jalla_. It is a narrow strip of cotton cloth wrapped
many times round, immediately over the forehead. In Bondou, the head is
encircled with strings of white beads, and a small plate of gold is worn
in the middle of the forehead. In Kasson the ladies decorate their heads
in a very tasteful and elegant manner with white seashells. In Kaarta
and Ludamar, the women raise their hair to a great height by the addition
of a pad (as the ladies did formerly in Great Britain), which they
decorate with a species of coral brought from the Red Sea by pilgrims
returning from Mecca, and sold at a great price.
In the construction of their dwelling-houses the Mandingoes also conform
to the general practice of the African nations in this part of the
continent, contenting themselves with small and incommodious hovels. A
circular mud wall, about four feet high, upon which is placed a conical
roof, composed of the bamboo cane, and thatched with grass, forms alike
the palace of the king and the hovel of the slave. Their household
furniture is equally simple. A hurdle of canes placed upon upright
sticks, about two feet from the ground, upon which is spread a mat or
bullock’s hide, answers the purpose of a bed; a water jar, some earthen
pots for dressing their food; a few wooden bowls and calabashes, and one
or two low stools, compose the rest.
As every man of free condition has a plurality of wives, it is found
necessary (to prevent, I suppose, matrimonial disputes) that each of the
ladies should be accommodated with a hut to herself; and all the huts
belonging to the same family are surrounded by a fence constructed of
bamboo canes, split and formed into a sort of wicker-work. The whole
enclosure is called a _sirk_, or _surk_. A number of these enclosures,
with narrow passages between them, form what is called a town; but the
huts are generally placed without any regularity, according to the
caprice of the owner. The only rule that seems to be attended to is
placing the door towards the south-west, in order to admit the
sea-breeze.
In each town is a large stage called the _bentang_, which answers the
purpose of a public hall or town house. It is composed of interwoven
canes, and is generally sheltered from the sun by being erected in the
shade of some large tree. It is here that all public affairs are
transacted and trials conducted; and here the lazy and indolent meet to
smoke their pipes, and hear the news of the day. In most of the towns
the Mohammedans have also a _missura_, or mosque, in which they assemble
and offer up their daily prayers, according to the rules of the Koran.
In the account which I have thus given of the natives, the reader must
bear in mind that my observations apply chiefly to persons of _free
condition_, who constitute, I suppose, not more than one-fourth part of
the inhabitants at large. The other three-fourths are in a state of
hopeless and hereditary slavery, and are employed in cultivating the
land, in the care of cattle, and in servile offices of all kinds, much in
the same manner as the slaves in the West Indies. I was told, however,
that the Mandingo master can neither deprive his slave of life, nor sell
him to a stranger, without first calling a palaver on his conduct, or in
other words, bringing him to a public trial. But this degree of
protection is extended only to the native or domestic slave. Captives
taken in war, and those unfortunate victims who are condemned to slavery
for crimes or insolvency—and, in short, all those unhappy people who are
brought down from the interior countries for sale—have no security
whatever, but may be treated and disposed of in all respects as the owner
thinks proper. It sometimes happens, indeed, when no ships are on the
coast, that a humane and considerate master incorporates his purchased
slaves among his domestics; and their offspring at least, if not the
parents, become entitled to all the privileges of the native class.
The earliest European establishment on this celebrated river was a
factory of the Portuguese, and to this must be ascribed the introduction
of the numerous words of that language which are still in use among the
negroes. The Dutch, French, and English afterwards successively
possessed themselves of settlements on the coast; but the trade of the
Gambia became, and continued for many years, a sort of monopoly in the
hands of the English. In the travels of Francis Moore is preserved an
account of the Royal African Company’s establishments in this river in
the year 1730; at which time James’s factory alone consisted of a
governor, deputy-governor, and two other principal officers; eight
factors, thirteen writers, twenty inferior attendants and tradesmen; a
company of soldiers, and thirty-two negro servants; besides sloops,
shallops, and boats, with their crews; and there were no less than eight
subordinate factories in other parts of the river.
The trade with Europe, by being afterwards laid open, was almost
annihilated. The share which the subjects of England at this time hold
in it supports not more than two or three annual ships; and I am informed
that the gross value of British exports is under £20,000. The French and
Danes still maintain a small share, and the Americans have lately sent a
few vessels to the Gambia by way of experiment.
The commodities exported to the Gambia from Europe consist chiefly of
firearms and ammunition, iron-ware, spirituous liquors, tobacco, cotton
caps, a small quantity of broadcloth, and a few articles of the
manufacture of Manchester; a small assortment of India goods, with some
glass beads, amber, and other trifles, for which are taken in exchange
slaves, gold dust, ivory, beeswax, and hides. Slaves are the chief
article, but the whole number which at this time are annually exported
from the Gambia by all nations is supposed to be under one thousand.
Most of these unfortunate victims are brought to the coast in periodical
caravans; many of them from very remote inland countries, for the
language which they speak is not understood by the inhabitants of the
maritime districts. In a subsequent part of my work I shall give the
best information I have been able to collect concerning the manner in
which they are obtained. On their arrival at the coast, if no immediate
opportunity offers of selling them to advantage, they are distributed
among the neighbouring villages, until a slave ship arrives, or until
they can be sold to black traders, who sometimes purchase on speculation.
In the meanwhile, the poor wretches are kept constantly fettered, two and
two of them being chained together, and employed in the labours of the
field, and, I am sorry to add, are very scantily fed, as well as harshly
treated. The price of a slave varies according to the number of
purchasers from Europe, and the arrival of caravans from the interior;
but in general I reckon that a young and healthy male, from sixteen to
twenty-five years of age, may be estimated on the spot from £18 to £20
sterling.
The negro slave-merchants, as I have observed in the former chapter, are
called slatees, who, besides slaves, and the merchandise which they bring
for sale to the whites, supply the inhabitants of the maritime districts
with native iron, sweet-smelling gums and frankincense, and a commodity
called _shea-toulou_, which, literally translated, signifies
_tree-butter_.
In payment of these articles, the maritime states supply the interior
countries with salt, a scarce and valuable commodity, as I frequently and
painfully experienced in the course of my journey. Considerable
quantities of this article, however, are also supplied to the inland
natives by the Moors, who obtain it from the salt pits in the Great
Desert, and receive in return corn, cotton cloth, and slaves.
In their early intercourse with Europeans the article that attracted most
notice was iron. Its utility, in forming the instruments of war and
husbandry, make it preferable to all others, and iron soon became the
measure by which the value of all other commodities was ascertained.
Thus, a certain quantity of goods, of whatever denomination, appearing to
be equal in value to a bar of iron, constituted, in the traders’
phraseology, a bar of that particular merchandise. Twenty leaves of
tobacco, for instance, were considered as a bar of tobacco; and a gallon
of spirits (or rather half spirits and half water) as a bar of rum, a bar
of one commodity being reckoned equal in value to a bar of another
commodity.
As, however, it must unavoidably happen that, according to the plenty or
scarcity of goods at market in proportion to the demand, the relative
value would be subject to continual fluctuation, greater precision has
been found necessary; and at this time the current value of a single bar
of any kind is fixed by the whites at two shillings sterling. Thus, a
slave whose price is £15, is said to be worth 150 bars.
In transactions of this nature it is obvious that the white trader has
infinitely the advantage over the African, whom, therefore, it is
difficult to satisfy, for conscious of his own ignorance, he naturally
becomes exceedingly suspicious and wavering; and, indeed, so very
unsettled and jealous are the negroes in their dealings with the whites,
that a bargain is never considered by the European as concluded until the
purchase money is paid and the party has taken leave.
Having now brought together such general observations on the country and
its inhabitants as occurred to me during my residence in the vicinity of
the Gambia, I shall detain the reader no longer with introductory matter,
but proceed, in the next chapter, to a regular detail of the incidents
which happened, and the reflections which arose in my mind, in the course
of my painful and perilous journey, from its commencement until my return
to the Gambia.