I returned to Cape Mount from the colony with several American
mechanics and a fresh assortment of merchandise for traffic with the
natives. During my absence, the agent I left in charge had contrived,
with great labor, to clear a large space in the forest for my
projected establishment, so that with the aid of my Americans, I was
soon enabled to give the finishing touch to New Florence. While the
buildings were erecting, I induced a number of natives, by force of
double pay and the authority of their chiefs, to form and cultivate a
garden, comprising the luxuries of Europe and America as well as of
the tropics, which, in after days, secured the admiration of many a
naval commander.
As soon as my dwelling was nicely completed, I removed my furniture
from the colony; and, still continuing to drum through the country for
business with the Africans, I despatched my Kroomen and pilots on
board of every cruiser that appeared in the offing, to supply them
with provisions and refreshments.
An event took place about this time which may illustrate the manner in
which a branch of the slave-trade is carried on along the coast. Her
Britannic Majesty's sloop of war L---- was in the neighborhood, and
landed three of her officers at my quarters to spend a day or two in
hunting the wild boars with which the adjacent country was stocked.
But the rain poured down in such torrents, that, instead of a hunt, I
proposed a dinner to my jovial visitors. Soon after our soup had been
despatched on the piazza, there was a rush of natives into the yard,
and I was informed that one of our Bush chiefs had brought in a noted
gambler, whom he threatened either to sell or kill.
It struck me instantly that this would be a good opportunity to give
my British friends a sight of native character, at the same time that
they might be enabled, if so disposed, to do a generous action.
Accordingly, I directed my servant to bring the Bushman and gambler
before us; and as the naked victim, with a rope round his neck, was
dragged by the savage to our table, I perceived that it was Soma, who
had formerly been in my service on the coast. The vagabond was an
excellent interpreter and connected with the king, but I had been
obliged to discharge him in consequence of his dissipated habits, and
especially for having gambled away his youngest sister, whose release
from Gallinas I had been instrumental in securing.
"I have brought Soma to your store-keeper," said the Bushman, "and I
want him to buy the varlet. Soma has been half the day gambling with
me. First of all he lost his gun, then his cap, then his cloth, then
his right leg, then his left, then his arms, and, last of all, his
head. I have given his friends a chance to redeem the dog, but as they
had bought him half a dozen times already, there's not a man in the
town that will touch him. Soma _never_ pays his debts; and now, Don
Teodore, I have brought him here, and if _you_ don't buy him, I'll
take him to the water-side and _cut his throat_!"
There,--with an imploring countenance, bare as he came into the world,
a choking cord round his throat, and with pinioned arms,--stood the
trembling gambler, as I glanced in vain from the Bushman to the
officers, in expectation of his release by those philanthropists! As
Soma spoke English, I told him in our language, that I had no pity for
his fate, and that he must take the chances he had invoked. Twenty
dollars would have saved his life, and yet the British did not melt!
"Take him off," said I sternly, to the Bushman, "and use him as you
choose!"--but at the same moment, a wink to my interpreter sufficed,
and the Bushman returned to the forest with tobacco and rum, while
Soma was saved from slaughter. It is by no means improbable that the
gambler is now playing _monte_ on some plantation in Cuba.
* * * * *
I continued my labors at New Florence without intermission for several
months, but when I cast up my account, I found the wages and cost of
building so enormous, that my finances would soon be exhausted.
Accordingly, by the advice of my friend Seagram, as well as of Captain
Tucker, who commanded on the station, I petitioned Lord Stanley to
grant me one hundred recaptured Africans to till my grounds and learn
the rudiments of agricultural industry. Some time elapsed before an
answer was sent, but when it came, my prospects were dashed to the
earth.
"GOVERNMENT HOUSE, SIERRA LEONE,
"_28th October, 1843_.
"SIR:
"I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated August last,
inclosing the copy of a petition, the original of which you had
transmitted to the acting Lieutenant Governor Ferguson, for the
purpose of having it forwarded to her Majesty's Government.
"In reply, I have to acquaint you, that by the receipt of a despatch
from the Rt. Hon. Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for the Colonies,
bearing date 8th April 1842, his Lordship states that he cannot
sanction a compliance with your request to have a number of liberated
Africans, as apprentices, in tilling your grounds; and further, that
he could not recognize the purchase of Cape Mount, as placing that
district under the protection and sovereignty of the British crown.
"I beg to add, that I am glad to be informed by Captain Oake that the
vessel, alluded to in your letter, which you had been unable to
despatch for want of a license, had obtained one for that purpose from
the governor of Monrovia.
"I am, sir, your obedient servant,
"G. MAC DONALD,
"_Governor_.
"_To_ MR. THEODORE CANOT."
The picture that had been painted by my imagination with so many
bright scenes and philanthropic hopes, fell as I finished this
epistle. It not only clouded my future prospects of lawful commerce,
but broke off, at once, the correspondence with my generous friend
Redman in London. As I dropped the missive on the table, I ordered the
palm-tree on which I had first unfurled the British flag to be cut
down; and next day, on a tall pole, in full view of the harbor, I
hoisted a tri-colored banner, adorned by a central star, which I
caused to be baptized, in presence of Fana-Toro, with a salvo of
twenty guns.
I am not naturally of a mischievous or revengeful temper, but I can
scarcely find language to express the mortification I experienced when
Lord Stanley thwarted my honest intentions, by his refusal to protect
the purchase whereon I had firmly resolved to be an ally and friend,
in concentrating a lawful commerce. I was especially disgusted by this
mistrust, or mistake, after the flattering assurances with which my
design had, from the first, been cherished by the British officers on
the station. I may confess that, for a moment, I almost repented the
confidence I had reposed in the British lion, and was at a loss
whether to abandon Cape Mount and return to my former traffic, or to
till the ground and play waterman to the fleet.
After proper deliberation, however, I resolved to take the plough for
my device; and before Christmas, I had already ordered from England a
large supply of agricultural implements and of every thing requisite
for elaborate husbandry. After this, I purchased forty youths to be
employed on a coffee plantation, and to drag my ploughs till I
obtained animals to replace them. In a short time I had abundance of
land cleared, and an over-seer's house erected for an old
barracoonier, who, I am grieved to say, turned out but a sorry
farmer. He had no idea of systematic labor or discipline save by the
lash, so that in a month, four of his gang were on the sick list, and
five had deserted. I replaced the Spaniard by an American colored man,
who, in turn, made too free with my people and neglected the
plantations. My own knowledge of agriculture was so limited, that
unless I fortified every enterprise by constant reference to books, I
was unable to direct my hands with skill; and, accordingly, with all
these mishaps to my commerce and tillage, I became satisfied that it
was easier to plough the ocean than the land.
Still I was not disheartened. My trade, on a large scale, with the
interior, and my agriculture had both failed; yet I resolved to try
the effect of traffic in a humble way, combined with such _mechanical_
pursuits as would be profitable on the coast. Accordingly, I divided a
gang of forty well-drilled negroes into two sections, retaining the
least intelligent on the farm, while the brighter youths were brought
to the landing. Here I laid out a ship-yard, blacksmith's shop, and
sawpit, placing at the head of each, a Monrovian colonist to instruct
my slaves. In the mean time the neighboring natives, as well as the
people some distance in the interior, were apprised by my runners of
the new factory I was forming at Cape Mount.
By the return of the dry season our establishment gave signs of
renewed vitality. Within the fences of New Florence there were already
twenty-five buildings and a population of one hundred, and nothing was
wanting but a stock of cattle, which I soon procured from the Kroo
country.
Thus, for a long time all things went on satisfactorily, not only with
the natives, but with foreign traders and cruisers, till a native war
embarrassed my enterprise, and brought me in contact with the enemies
of King Fana-Toro, of whose realm and deportment I must give some
account.