DEPENDENCIES IN AFRICA.
THE GAMBIA SETTLEMENTS.--SIERRA LEONE.--THE GOLD COAST.--THE
CAPE.--THE MAURITIUS.--THE NEGROES OF AMERICA.
_The Gambia._--All our settlements on the Gambia are in the Mandingo
country.
Of all the true and unequivocal Negroes, the Mandingos are the most
civilized; the basis of their civilization being Arab, and their
religion that of the Koran. Hence, they have priests, or Marabouts, the
use of the Arabic alphabet, and a monotheistic creed.
Of all the Negroes, too, the Mandingos are the most commercial, not as
mere slave-dealers, but as truly industrial merchants.
Of all the families of the African stock, with the exception of the
Kaffres, the Mandingo is the most widely spread. It also falls into
numerous divisions and subdivisions. Hence the term has a twofold power.
Sometimes it is a generic name for a large group; sometimes the
designation of a particular section of that group. The Mandingos of the
Lower Gambia are Mandingos in the restricted meaning of the word.
For the Mandingo tribes, when we use the term in a general sense, the
most convenient classification is into the _Mahometan_ and the _Pagan_.
That this division should exist is natural; since, with the exception of
the Wolofs, the Mandingos are the most northern of all the western
Negroes, and, consequently, those who are most in contact with the
Mahometan Arabs, and the equally Mahometan Kabyles of Barbary and the
Great Desert,--a fact sufficient to account for the monotheistic creeds
of the northern tribes.
As for the Paganism of the others, we must remember how far southwards
and inland the same great stock extends--indefinitely towards the
interior, and as far as the back of the Ashanti country, in the
direction of the equator.
This prepares us for finding Mandingos at our next settlement.
_Sierra Leone._--The native populations which encircle this settlement
are two--the _Timmani_ towards the north, and _Bullom_ towards the
south.
Both are Negroes of the most typical kind, in respect to their physical
conformation.
Both are Pagans.
Both speak what seem to be mutually unintelligible languages, but which
have an undoubted relationship to each other, and to the numerous
Mandingo dialects as well. It is this which induces me to place them in
the same section with the more civilized Africans of the Gambia.
It is safe to say that they are amongst the rudest members of the stock;
indeed it is only in the eyes of the etymologist that they are Mandingo
at all. Practically, they, and several tribes like them, are Mandingo,
in the way that a wolf is a dog, or a goat a sheep.
The Bullom and Timmani are the frontagers to Sierra Leone; and it was
with Bullom and Timmani potentates that the land of the settlement was
bargained for. The settlers themselves are of different origin. Mixed
beyond all other populations of Africa, the occupants of Free Town are
in the same category with the Negroes of Jamaica and St. Domingo;
concerning whom we can only predicate that they have dark skins, and
that they come from Africa. The analysis of their several origins, and
their distribution amongst the separate branches of the African family,
would be one of the most difficult feats in minute ethnology; and this
would be but a fraction of the investigation. When the several countries
which supplied the several victims of the slave-trade had been
ascertained, the complicated question of _intermixture_ would stand
over; and there we should find lineages of every degree of
hybridism--children, whose ancestors originated on different sides of
Africa, themselves the parents of a lighter-coloured offspring, the
effect of European intercourse.
At present it is sufficient to state that the nucleus of the Free Town
population consists of what is called the _Maroon_ Negroes. These were
slaves of Jamaica, who, having recovered their freedom during the
Spanish dominion in the island, were removed, by the English, in the
first instance to Nova Scotia, and afterwards to their present locality.
Round this has collected an equally miscellaneous population of rescued
slaves; and, besides these, there are immigrants, labourers, and
barterers from all the neighbouring parts of the Continent--Krumen more
especially.
A writer who, when we come to the Negroes of the Gold Coast, will be
freely quoted, calls the Krumen the _Scotchmen_ of Africa, since, with
unusual industry, enterprise, and perseverance, they leave, without
reluctance, their own country to push their fortunes wherever they can
find a wider field. They are ready for any employment which may enable
them to increase their means, and ensure a return to their own country
in a state of improved prosperity. There the Kruman's ambition is to
purchase one or two head of cattle, and one or two head of wives, to
enjoy the luxuries of rum and tobacco, and pass the remainder of his
days as
"A gentleman of Africa who sits at home at ease."
Half the Africans that we see in Liverpool are Krumen, who have left
their own country when young, and taken employment on board a ship,
where they exhibit a natural aptitude for the sea. Without being nice as
to the destination of the vessel in which they engage, they return home
as soon as they can; and rarely or never contract matrimony before their
return. In Cape Coast Town, as well as in Sierra Leone, they form a
bachelor community--quiet and orderly; and in that respect stand in
strong contrast to the other tribes around them. Besides which, with all
their blackness, and all their typical Negro character, they are
distinguishable from most other western Africans; having the advantage
of them in make, features, and industry.
A Kruman is pre-eminently the _free labourer_ of Africa. In the slave
trade he has engaged less than any of his neighbours, attaches himself
readily to the whites, and, in his native country, as well as in Sierra
Leone, Coast Town, and other places of his temporary denizenship, is
quick of perception and amenable to instruction. His language is the
_Grebo_ tongue, and it has been reduced to writing by the American
missionaries of Cape Palmas. It has decided affinities with those of
the Mandingo tongues to the north, the Fanti dialects of the Gold Coast,
and, in all probability, still closer ones with those of the Ivory
coast. These last, however, are but imperfectly known; indeed, a single
vocabulary of the _Avekvom_ language, in the "American Oriental
Journal," furnishes nine-tenths of our philological data for the parts
between Cape Palmas and Cape Apollonia.
The best measure of the heterogeneousness of the Sierra Leone population
is to be found in Mrs. Kilham's vocabularies. That lady collected, at
Free Town, specimens of thirty-one African tongues, from Negroes then
and there resident. Of these--
A. Eight belonged to the Mandingo group, _viz._, Mandingo Proper, Susu,
Bambara, Kossa, Pessa, Kissi, Bullom, and Timmani.
B. Two were dialects of the Grebo (Kru): the Kru, and the Bassa.
C. Two were Fanti: the Fanti and the Ashanti, closely allied dialects.
D. Two were Dahoman: the Fot, and the Popo.
E. Two Benin: the Benin Proper, and the Moko, languages of a tract but
little known.
F. One Wolof, from the Senegal.
G. Eight from the parts between the rivers Formosa and Loango, _viz._,
the Bongo, the Ako, the Ibu, the Rungo, the Akuonga, the Karaba, the
Uobo, the Kouri.
H. One from the river Kongo, _i.e._, the Kongo properly so-called.
I. Two from the Lower Niger, but, still separated from the coast--the
Tapua (Nufi) and Appa.
K. Three from the widely-spread nations of the interior--the Fulah, the
Haussa, and the Bornu.
I do not say that all Mrs. Kilham's specimens represent mutually
unintelligible tongues; probably they do not. At the same time, as
several decidedly different languages are omitted, the list understates,
rather than exaggerates, the number of the divisions and subdivisions of
the western African populations, as inferred from the divisions and
subdivisions of the language.
Thus, no samples are given of the--
1. _Sereres._--Pastoral tribes about Cape Verde.
2. _Serawolli._--On the Middle Senegal, different, in many respects,
from the Sereres, the Wolofs, and the Fulahs; nations with which they
are in geographical contact.
3. _The Feloops._--Between the Gambia and Cacheo, along the coast.
4. _The Papels._--South of the Cacheo; and also coastmen.
5. _The Balantes._--Coast-men to the south of the Papels.
6. _The Bagnon._--Conterminous with the Feloops of the river Cacheo.
7. _The Bissago._--Fierce occupants of the islands so-called.
8. _The Naloos._--On the Nun and river Grande.
9. _The Sapi._--Conterminous with the Naloo, and like all the preceding
tribes, from the Feloops downwards, pre-eminently rude, fierce,
intractable, and imperfectly known.
Southward, the unrepresented languages are equally numerous--especially
for the Ivory Coast, and for the Delta of the Niger. Of these I shall
only notice one--the Vey.
The settlement with which the tribes speaking the Vey language is in
contact is one of which the tongue is English, but not the political
relations. It is the American free Negro settlement of Liberia.
In the Vey language, it had been known for some time to the American
missionaries, that there were _written books_, a fact not likely to be
undervalued by those who felt warmly on the social and civilizational
prospects of the coloured divisions of our species. One of these books
was discovered by Lieutenant Forbes, of H.M.S. the Bonetta; local
inquiry was further made by the Rev. W. S. Koelle; and the MS. was
critically analyzed by Mr. Norris, of the Asiatic Society.[12]
The phenomenon, if properly measured, is by no means a very significant
one; since, although the Vey alphabet, the invention of a man now
living, so far differs from the Mandingo, as to be spelt by the
_syllable_ rather than the _letter_, it is anything but an independent
creation of the Negro brain. Doala Bukara, its composer, an imperfect
Mahometan, had seen Mahometan books, and, although he was no Christian,
had seen an English Bible also. He knew, then, what spelling or writing
was. He knew, too, the phonetic analysis of the Mandingo, a tongue
closely allied to his own. And this is nine parts out of ten in the
so-called invention of alphabets.
The true claims of Doala, in this way, are those of the phonetic
reformers in England, as compared with those of Toth or Cadmus--real but
moderate. His own account of the matter, as he gave it to Mr. Koelle,
was, that the fact of sounds being _written_, haunted him in a dream,
wherein he was shown a series of signs adapted to his native tongue.
These he forgot in the morning; but remembered the impression. So he
consulted his friends; and they and he, laying their heads together,
coined new ones. The king of the country made its introduction a matter
of state, and built a large house in Dshondu, as a day-school. But a
war with the Guru people disturbed both the learners and teachers, so
that the latter removed to Bandakoro, where all grown-up people, of both
sexes, can now read and write.
This alphabet is a _syllabarium_.
The books written in it are essentially Mahometan; the Koran appearing
in them much in the same way as the Bible appears in the more degenerate
legends of the middle ages.
How far the Vey alphabet will be an instrument of civilization, is a
difficult question. For my own part, I half regret its evolution; since
the Arabic that served for the Mandingo, would have served for the Vey
as well--or if not the Arabic, the English.
As a measure of African capacity it is of some value; and in this
respect, it speaks for the Negro just as the Cherokee alphabet speaks
for the American Indian. This latter was invented by a native named
Sequoyah. Like Doala, he knew what reading was. Like Doala, too, he had
a language adapted to a _syllabarium_. Hence, both the Vey and the
Cherokee, the two latest coinages in the way of alphabets, are both
syllabic.
We now move southwards to the--
_Gold Coast Settlements._--The climate of Western Africa requires
notice. It suits the native, but destroys the European. Of the two
settlements, already mentioned, the Gambia is the most deadly; though
Sierra Leone has the worst name. _Both_ are on the coast; both,
consequently, on the lower courses of the rivers, and both on low
levels. The import of these remarks applies to the Negroes of America.
At present, it ushers in a brief notice of the climate of the Gold
Coast; this district being chosen for the purpose of description because
it makes the nearest approach to the equator of any English settlement
in Africa. Consequently, it may serve as a typical sample of the
malarious parts of the coast in question.
From April till August is the rainy season, which gradually passes into
the dry; heavy fogs forming during the transition. These last till the
end of September. Occasional showers, too, continue till November. Then
the weather becomes really clear and dry, until, towards the end of
January, the dry parching wind, called the Harmattan, sets in, with its
over-stimulant action upon the human system, and clouds of penetrating
impalpable sand. If this is not blowing, the atmosphere is loaded with
moisture; and this it is, combined with the heat of an intertropical
sun, and the effluvia engendered by the decay of an over-luxuriant
vegetation, which makes Western Africa the white man's grave. Not that
the soil, even on the coast, is always swampy and alluvial. About Cape
Coast it is rocky and undulating. Still, it is inordinately wooded, as
well as full of spots where water accumulates and exhalations multiply.
Yet the thermometer ranges between 78° and 86° Fahrenheit--a low
_maximum_ for the neighbourhood of the equator; a high one, however, to
feel cold in. Nevertheless, such is the case. "From this peculiarity of
the atmosphere, the sensations of an individual almost invariably
indicate a degree of _cold_, especially when sitting in a room, or not
taking bodily exercise; so that, to ensure a feeling of comfortable
warmth, it becomes necessary to dress in a thicker material than what is
usually considered best adapted for tropical wear, and to have a fire
lighted in one's bedroom for some time before one retires to rest."[13]
The chief Africans of these parts--and we now approach the great
_officina servorum_--alone tolerant of the heats, and droughts, and
rains, and exhalations are--
1. The Fantis.
2. The Ghans.
3. The Avekvom (?)
A. _The Fantis._--Of the true natives of the country these are the
chief.
The term _Fanti_, like the term _Mandingo_, has a double sense--a
general and a specific signification.
The particular population of the parts about Cape Coast is Fanti in the
limited sense of the term.
The great section of the Negro family, which comprises, besides the
Fantis Proper, the Ashanti, Boroom, and several other populations, is
_Fanti_ in the wide sense of the term.
The Fanti, Ashanti, and Boroom forms of speech are merely dialects of
one and the same language.
A great proportion of the vocabularies of "Bowdich's Ashanti" are the
same.
So are the Fetu, Affotoo, and other vocabularies of the "Mithridates."
The inhabitants of the Native Town of Cape Coast, a mixed population of
Krumen, Fantis, and Mulattoes, amounting to as many as 10,000, are no
true specimens of the African of the Gold Coast. European influences
have too long been at work on them. Before the town was English it was
Dutch; and it was English as early as 1661.
More than this. It is not certain that their fathers' fathers were the
_exact_ aborigines; in other words, a tribe akin to, but slightly
different from them, seems to have been the earlier possessors. These
were the Fetu--the remains of which can doubtless be met with among the
populations of the neighbourhood; since we find in the "Mithridates" a
_Fetu_ vocabulary and an _Affotoo_ one as well.
Now the Fantis that thus displaced the Fetu, were themselves fugitives
from the conquering Ashantis; all, however, being the members of one
stock, and the pressure being from the highlands of the interior towards
the lowlands of the coast.
All three are truly Negro in conformation, and miserably Pagan in creed,
the best measure of their political capacity being the organized kingdom
of the Ashantis; and the lowest form of it, the system of clanships,
chieftainships, or captainships of the proper Fantis of the coast. The
details of these are of importance.
I cannot ascertain upon what principle those different divisions which
are sometimes called _tribes_, sometimes _clans_, are formed; since it
is by no means safe to assume that they necessarily consist of
descendants from one common ancestor. The investigations concerning the
_tribes_ of ancient Rome show this.
It is easier to enumerate their external characteristics, and material
elements of their union. In the Native Town there are four quarters,
each occupied by a separate section of the population. This section has
its own proper head, its own proper standards, and its own proper band
of music.
What follows seems to apply to the rude state of society in the country
around. Each division has its badge or device; so that we have the
tribe, or clan, of the leopard, the cat, the dog, the hawk, the parrot,
&c. On certain days there are certain festivals and processions, when
the chief is carried in a long basket on the heads of two men, with
umbrellas above him, and attendants around proportionate to his rank.
When in distress, the Fanti has a claim upon the good offices of his
tribe.
When a Fanti government becomes extensive enough to require
organization, we find absolute monarchs with satraps (caboceers) under
them; under these the heads of the different villages or towns, and
under these captains of hundreds, fifties, and tens--an organization
which is, perhaps, of military rather than social origin. The Ashanti
kingdom gives us the best measure of extent to which a branch of the
Fanti stock has developed itself into a political influence. As for the
_Constitution_, it is a simple and unmitigated despotism; of which the
most remarkable point is the law of succession. This follows the female
lines, so that the heir-apparent is the eldest son of the reigning
king's eldest sister. The same applies to the caboceers; except that, in
cases of mental or physical incapacity, the rightful heir is set aside,
and a path opened to the ambition of private adventurers.
Slavery is what we expect; and on the coast of Guinea it meets us at
every turn, though not in the worst forms of the _Trade_. This
flourishes in Dahomey, and along the whole of the Bight of Benin. In the
Fanti countries, however, the milder form of _domestic_ servitude
preponderates; and along with it a chronic state of warfare. These two
evils are connected with one another, as cause and effect. The conquest
supplies the slaves; the slaves provoke the conquest.
Besides this there is a sort of temporary servitude, which reminds us of
the _Nexi_ of the Romans. This occurs when "a person, in order to raise
a particular sum of money, voluntarily sells himself for a certain
period, or until such time as he is enabled to pay the amount so
borrowed, together with whatever interest may have been agreed upon.
This is called the system of pawning, and the people so sold, pawns.
Thus a native, in order to make a great display on any particular
occasion, as on his marriage, or to have a grand 'custom' for a deceased
relative, will forfeit his labour for a definite time, or give one of
his slaves for a period agreed upon. Neither these pawns, however, nor
the domestic slaves, entertain any feeling of disgrace, but on the
contrary are happy and contented."[14]
Everything connected with the administration of justice is rude and
savage; the severity of the punishment upon detection being the chief
preventive. The awards, of course, depend much upon the individual
character of the chiefs; and there are but few who have not exhibited
horrible proofs of cruelty. These, however, are no measures of the
temper of the people at large. The legitimate, normal, established, and
familiar forms of torture give us this. It may just be a shade or two
better than that of the autocrats--though bad at best. I still draw upon
the writer already quoted. "The most common mode of torture is what is
termed tying Guinea-fashion. In this the arms are closely drawn together
behind the back, by means of a cord tied tightly round them, about
midway between the elbows and shoulders. A piece of wood to act as a
rack, having been previously introduced, is then used so as to tighten
the cord, and so intense is the agony that one application is generally
sufficient to occasion the wretch so tortured to confess to anything
that is required of him. There are various other modes of torture in
common use among the natives of Guinea. One is tying the head, feet, and
hands, in such a way that by turning the body backwards, they may be
drawn together by the cords employed. Another is securing a wrist or
ankle to a block of wood by an iron staple. By means of a hammer any
degree of pressure may thus be applied, while the suffering so produced
is continuous, only being relieved by the wood being split, and the
staples removed, but this may not be done until a crime has been
confessed by a person who never committed it, and even then his limb has
generally been destroyed. It would not be interesting to here enumerate
the various tortures employed by a barbarous people, but when we
recollect the refinement of the art of torture in our own country in the
days of the maiden, the boot, and thumb-screws, we will cease to wonder
that substitutes for these should be used in a country where
civilization has not yet begun to elevate a people who are generally
allowed to be the lowest of the human race.
"There are some superstitious rites employed by Fetish-men for the
detection of crime; and whether it is that these people really possess
such powerful influence over their wretched dupes, as to frighten into
confession of his guilt the perpetrator of crime, or whether it is that
they manage by their numerous spies to obtain a clue sufficient in most
cases to lead to the detection of the person, is more than I can venture
to assert; but, be the means employed what they may, a Fetish-man will
assuredly very often bring a crime home to the right person, even after
the most patient investigation in the ordinary way has failed to elicit
the slightest clue.
"There is also what is called Trial by Dhoom. This consists in whoever
are suspected of having committed a crime being made to swallow a
decoction of _dhoom_ wood of the country, and it is believed that
whoever is innocent will immediately eject the deleterious draught, but
the guilty person will die. This, however, is not much to be depended
upon; for while it causes death in one instance, it may do so in all who
partake of it; or on the other hand, from some accident in its
preparation, it may be productive of no effect either upon the guilty or
the innocent.
"The Rice test, although practised in this part of Africa, is, I
believe, not peculiar to it, being also employed in the West Indies, and
South America. Although no doubt originally introduced by a people in a
low state of civilization, it is interesting in so far that it
exemplifies the powerful influence which the mind possesses over the
corporeal functions, and as it appears to have been in use among the
blacks for centuries, we may give them the credit of having been
practically aware that 'conscience doth make cowards of us all,' long
before the Bard of Avon chronicled the fact. In the employment of this
test in Guinea, those who are suspected of having committed a crime are
assembled, and to each a small portion of rice is given, which they are
required to masticate, and afterwards produce on the hand; and it is
invariably the case that while all but the real culprit will produce
their rice in a soft pulpy mass, his will be as dry as if ground in a
mill, the salivary glands having, under the influence exerted upon the
nervous system by fear, refused to perform their ordinary functions."
Something like this is common in many savage countries. In the shape of
the _dhoom_ test, it re-appears in Old Calabar, and, probably,
elsewhere. There, the "king and chief inhabitants ordinarily constitute
a court of justice, in which all country disputes are adjusted, and to
which every prisoner suspected of capital offences is brought, to
undergo examination and judgment. If found guilty, they are usually
forced to swallow a deadly potion made from the poisonous seeds of an
aquatic leguminous plant, which rapidly destroys life. This poison is
obtained by pounding the seeds, and macerating them in water, which
acquires a white milky colour. The condemned person, after swallowing a
certain portion of the liquid, is ordered to walk about, until its
effects become palpable. If, however, after the lapse of a definite
period, the accused should be so fortunate as to throw the poison from
off his stomach, he is considered as innocent, and allowed to depart
unmolested. In native _parlance_ this ordeal is designated as 'chopping
nut.'"[15]
The hardest workers amongst the Fantis are the fishers, who use a canoe
of wood of the bombax, from ten to twelve feet in length, and
strengthened by cross timbers. The net--a casting net--is made from the
fibres of the aloe or the pine-apple, and is about twenty feet in
diameter (?).
Next to these come the farmers, whose rough agriculture consists in the
cultivation of maize, bananas, yams, and pumpkins; and lastly, the
gold-seekers. Of this there is abundance; and where the European coin of
the coast ceases, the native currency of gold-dust begins. Sums of so
small a value as three half-pence are thus paid; smaller ones being
represented by cowries.
The highest of their arts is that of manufacturing gold ornaments, and
this is the hereditary craft of certain families. These transmit the
secret of their skill from father to son, and keep the corporation to
which they belong up to a due degree of closeness, by avoiding
intermarriage with any of the more unskilled labourers. A little
weaving, and a little potting, constitute the remaining arts of the
Fanti--as far, at least, as they are either _fine_ or _useful_.
The craft of the _Fetish-man_ comes under none of the preceding
categories. He is the priest, sorcerer, or medicine man; the
representative of "Paganism, in its lowest and most hideous form, the
objects of their worship being the most repulsive reptiles, and their
ceremonies the most degrading. They certainly have some idea of the
existence of a First Cause, and believe themselves to be in the power of
the _Great Fetish_, their protection or destruction being dependent upon
the will of this power, of whose attributes they know nothing further.
They also believe in the existence of a spirit of evil, and on some
parts of the coast consider his power over them so great, that they
address their supplications, and erect, for his especial service, small
mud huts, usually of a conical shape, built under the shade of some
stately palm or wild fig-tree, in one of the most inviting spots to be
found. These huts bear the unattractive name among Europeans of 'devil's
temples.' It will be seen thus, that this belief in the existence of the
Great Fetish professed by the Fantees, is a faint glimmering of that
natural religion which all nations possess. Of the creation of our
species, they do not appear to entertain very correct ideas, unless it
be that they owe their being to this Fetish, who, they say, in the
beginning made two people, one of whom was black, the other white, and
that both originally occupied the Fantee country. It would seem,
however, from their account, that, after these two men were brought into
existence, the Fetish was at a loss to know how to dispose of them, and
in order to prevent any jealousy arising between them, had recourse to a
sort of lottery, where there were all prizes and no blanks. Two packets
were accordingly placed before them, and the black man drew first; nor
was he disappointed with his prize, for it consisted of such a quantity
of gold-dust, that it has not been taken out of the country yet. The
remaining packet was of course the lawful property of the white man, and
in the long run he had no cause to complain--for, on being opened, it
was found to contain a book which taught him everything; and so do the
poor wretches account for the superior intellect of whites, and the
inexhaustible treasures of their own country.
"In the neighbourhood of Cape Coast, the natives seem to believe that
this Fetish occupies more especially particular localities, and exists
in the form of a particular animal, so that an isolated portion of rock
is frequently called a Fetish-stone, and snakes even of the most
poisonous description, in a certain locality, are preserved and allowed
to propagate, undisturbed, their venomous species. In some places on
the coast, temples dedicated to snake-worship are built, and the Fetish
men, or priests, connected with them are frequently esteemed
particularly holy, no doubt from the familiar terms upon which they, in
course of time, become with the horrid reptiles, upon which the people
look as the personification of their Fetish. The offerings made at these
temples are often very valuable, the cupidity of the deities within not
being easily satisfied. Gold-dust and clothes are the most acceptable
offerings; but when these are not to be obtained, it is perfectly
wonderful how large a quantity of rum and tobacco the _snakes_ will
consume before they vouchsafe their good offices for the removal of a
disease from a cow, a wife, a child, or the detection of a thief, who,
not unlikely, has been employed by themselves.
"These Fetish men and women, too, for there are Fetish women, and,
consequently Fetish children, have spies in different directions,
forming as many links of communication between the priesthood in various
parts of the country, so that very few occurrences take place of which
they have not the means of making themselves acquainted."[16]
The same writer continues, "Religious observances, properly so called,
the Fantees have none, but each particular class has a certain day of
the week upon which they cease from following their ordinary
avocations--thus, a fisherman will not go to sea on a Tuesday; nor will
a bushman enter the forest on a Friday--these days being dedicated to
the Fetish, and thus, in some degree, representing the Sabbath of
Christian nations. There are, in addition, several days throughout the
year--apparently occurring at the desire of the Fetish men--in which the
Fantees abstain from work, and during a period of war, it often happens
that the movements of the opposing armies are much interfered with by
the numerous occasions upon which it becomes necessary to propitiate the
Fetish. One of these especial Fetish days may be here noticed, it being,
apparently, the most important of those that occur during the whole
year, and its object no less important than driving the devil out of the
village. The period when this desirable object is effected, occurs
during the month of December, the night-time being chosen as the most
fitting for the ceremony. As soon as darkness has closed in, the
inhabitants of a village collect at an appointed rendezvous, with sticks
and staves, and under the directions of a leader, sally out, entering
every house in their way, through the various apartments of which they
knock about, and yell and howl with such violence that they would
actually scare any devil but a most impertinent one. Having, as they
think, completely rid the town of him, they pursue the retreating enemy
for some distance into the bush, after which they return and spend the
remainder of the night in carousals.
"There is another festival, which, as it partakes somewhat of a
religious nature, may also be noticed here, _viz._, the yam-custom,
which is held in September, to celebrate the goodness of the Fetish, in
having granted an abundant harvest. On this occasion, the king of the
village and the staff of Fetish men connected with it, take part. All
the people who can by any possibility attend, assemble, a procession is
formed, and then the most extraordinary mixture of costumes, the noises
produced by numerous tom-toms, horns made from elephants' tusks, and the
still ruder, if possible, rattle of two pieces of wood, or common metal,
which the women beat together to a tune similar to what in Ireland is
known as the Kentish fire. The constant firing of musketry, and the
obscene dances performed by the two sexes form one of the most debasing
and savage exhibitions it is possible to see. In this way does the
procession parade the principal streets, the king seated in his basket
carried by his slaves, and protected by the umbrellas, according to his
rank--the Fetish-men dressed in white robes, also in their baskets. On
arriving at the king's house sacrifices are usually offered--some fowls
or eggs being now substituted in the vicinity of our settlements for a
human being, but we have still too good reasons to believe, that even as
near as the capital of Ashantee many human lives are sacrificed on this
particular occasion, as well as in other festivals of various
descriptions. The offerings being made, the Fetish-man partakes of the
yam; the king then eats of the valued root; and after these two have
pronounced them ripe and fit for food, the people consider themselves at
liberty to commence digging.
"A being named _Tahbil_ resides in the substance of the rock, upon which
Cape Coast is built, and watches the town. Every morning, offerings of
food or flowers are left for him on the rock. Most villages have a
corresponding deity; and in earlier times, there is good reason for
believing that human beings were sacrificed to him."
Likely enough--as may be seen from the practices at Fanti funerals, and
as may be inferred from the analogy of the other parts of Western
Africa.
If the survivors of a deceased Fanti be poor, the corpse is quietly
interred in one of the denser spots of the jungles; and if rich, the
funeral is at once costly and bloody; since gold and jewels are buried
along with the dead body, and human victims as well. The ceremonial is
as follows. The coffin is carried to the grave by slaves, when the
retainers and friends press forwards, fix the number required (in
general four), stun the selected individuals by a sudden blow on the
head, throw the still breathing bodies into the grave of their master,
and, whilst life yet remains, cover in the earth.
This horrible custom is truly West-African. How near we must approach
the Mandingo frontier, before we get rid of it on the north, or how far
south it extends, I am not exactly able to say. In Dahomey, where it
attains its _maximum_ development, it is worse than amongst the
Ashantis, and amongst the Ashantis worse than in the proper Fanti
districts. It certainly reaches as far southwards as Old Calabar, where,
upon the death of Ephraim, a well-known Caboceer, "some hundreds of men,
women, and children were immolated to his manes,--decapitation, burning
alive, and the administration of the poison-nut, being the methods
resorted to for terminating their existence. When King Eyeo, father of
the present Chief of Creek Town, died, an eye-witness, who had only
arrived just after the completion of the funeral rites, informed me that
a large pit had been dug, in which several of the deceased's wives were
bound and thrown in, until a certain number had been procured; the earth
was then thrown over them, and so great was the agony of these victims,
that the ground for several minutes was agitated with their convulsive
throes. So fearful, in former times, was the observance of this
barbarous custom, that many towns narrowly escaped depopulation. The
graves of the kings are invariably concealed, so as, it is stated, to
prevent an enemy from obtaining their skulls as trophies, which is not
the case with those of the common people."[17]
I have said that it is in Dahomey, where the immolation of human beings
is the bloodiest; and I now add that it is in Dahomey where those who
look for the more characteristic peculiarities of the Negro stock, must
search. But it is the bad side which will preponderate; it is the
darkest practices which will develop themselves most typically. What we
find in germs and remnants elsewhere, grow, in Dahomey, to inordinate
and incredible proportions.
The sacro-sanctitude of the snake is doubled in Dahomey.
Slavery, bad along the whole Bight of Benin, is worse, still, in
Dahomey.
In Akkim we find a _female_ colonel. In Dahomey there is an army of
Amazons, as indicated by Mr. Duncan, and as described in detail by
Captain Forbes.
_The Gha._--Accra, and the forts lately purchased from the
Danes--Christiansborg and others,--are the localities of the _Gha_
nation. I say _Gha_ (or _Ghan_) because the author of a paper soon about
to be noticed states, that this is the indigenous name of the people
which we call _Acra_, _Akra_, _Accrah_, or _Inkra_--and it is always
best to give the native name if we can.
Adelung, on the authority of Romer and Isert, gives the following
account of the Negroes speaking the Gha language. He calls it Akra.
They began with conquering and reducing to a state of servitude the
_Adampi_, or _Tambi_, Negroes of the hill country; these being a portion
of their own stock, and speaking a mutually intelligible language.
But, in time, they were themselves conquered by the _Akvambu_, and broke
up into two parts. One of these remained _in situ_, and is represented
by the present Gha of Christiansborg. The other fled to the Little Popo,
an island off the coast of Dahomey, and there settled.
What remained then on the Gold Coast were the Gha and Akvambu; and these
were afterwards conquered by the Akkim Fantis, themselves eventually
reduced by the Ashantis.
In no more than nine or ten villages, lying within nine or ten miles of
Fort St. James and Christiansborg, was the Akra language spoken in the
time of Protten (A.D. 1794), and of the Ghas thus speaking it each
understood the Fanti.
This makes the Gha a decreasing, and, for practical purposes, an
unimportant population. At the same time I should be glad to direct the
attention of some investigator to their ethnology. Their exact relations
to the Akvambu are uncertain. The only work known to me where specimens
of the latter language are to be found is out of reach.[18]
Then as to the _Adampi_. Bowdich states that it radically differs from
the Gha; the numerals, which agree, being borrowed from the one tongue
into the other. But his collation rests on only seven words.
Again,--_Adampi_, _Tembi_, and _Tambu_ are words so much alike as to
pass for the same. Yet a _Tembu_ vocabulary in the "Mithridates" differs
from a _Tambu_ one in the same work--
ENGLISH. TEMBU. TAMBU.
_Sky_ so giom.
_Sun_ wis pum.
_Moon_ igodi horamb.
_Man_ naa nyummu.
... ibalu numero.
_Woman_ alo in.
_Head_ knynoo ii.
_Foot_ navorree nandi.
_One_ kuddum kaki.
_Two_ noalee ennu.
_Three_ nodoso ettee.
Again--the _Tembu_ is related to the vocabulary of a language called
_Kouri_, which the _Tambu_ is _not_.
ENGLISH. TEMBU. KOURI.
_Sun_ wis nosi.
_Man_ ibalu abalu.
_Woman_ alo alu.
_One_ kuddum kotum.
_Two_ noalee nalee.
_Three_ nodoso natisu.
Thirdly, the _Tjemba_ of Balbi's "Atlas Ethnologique" is called
_Kassenti_.
Lastly, the _Gha_, as far as very short comparison goes, is neither
_Tambu_ nor _Tembu_: nor yet _Kouri_--though it has a few resemblances
to all.
The author of the paper alluded to above is the Rev. Mr. Hanson--himself
a Gha by birth. It was laid before the British Association in 1849. Two
points characterize the theory that it exhibits; but as the publication
of the paper _in extenso_, is contemplated, I merely state what they
are.
1. A remarkable number of customs common to the _Jews_ and the _Gha_.
2. The probable origin of the latter population in some part of the
interior of Africa, north of their present locality, and, perhaps, in
the parts about Timbuktu.
_The Quaquas._--I am not sure that this name is the best that can be
given to the class in question. Hence, it is merely provisional. The
language that is spoken by them is called the _Avekvom_. They constitute
the chief population of the _Ivory_--just as the Krumen do that of the
_Grain_ and the Fantis that of the _Gold_--Coast. _Apollonia_ is the
English dependency where we find members of the _Quaqua_ stock.
The Avekvom dialects of the Quaqua tribes seem to belong to a different
tongue from that of the Krumen and Fantis; and I imagine that the three
are mutually unintelligible. Still, it is difficult to predicate this
from the mere inspection of vocabularies; the more so, as no language of
the western coast of Africa is less known than the Avekvom--the only
specimen of any length being one in the last number of the "Journal of
the American Oriental Society." With numerous miscellaneous affinities,
it is more Fanti and Grebo than aught else; and, perhaps, is
transitional in character to those two languages.
At any rate it is no isolated tongue, as may be seen from the following
table, where _Yebu_ means the language of the Yarriba country, at the
back of Dahomey, and _Efik_ that of Old Calabar:--
ENGLISH. AVEKVOM. OTHER IBO-ASHANTI LANGUAGES.
_Arm_ ebo ubok, _Efik_.
_Blood_ evie eyip, _Efik_; eye, _Yebu_.
_Bone_ ewi beu, _Fanti_.
_Box_ ebru brânh, _Grebo_.
_Canoe_ edie tonh, _Grebo_.
_Chair_ fata bada, _Grebo_.
_Dark_ eshim esum, _Fanti_; ekim, _Efik_.
_Dog_ etye aja, ayga, _Yebu_.
_Door_ eshinavi usuny, _Efik_.
_Ear_ eshibe esoa, _Fanti_.
_Fire_ eya ija, _Fanti_.
_Fish_ etsi eja, eya, _Fanti_.
_Fowl_ esu suseo, _Mandingo_; edia, _Yebu_.
_Ground-nut_ ngeti nkatye, _Fanti_.
_Hair_ emu ihwi, _Fanti_.
_Honey_ ajo ewo, _Fanti_; oyi, _Yebu_.
_House_ eva ifi, _Fanti_; ufog, _Efik_.
_Moon_ efe hâbo, _Grebo_; ofiong, _Efik_.
_Mosquito_ efo obong, _Fanti_.
_Oil_ inyu ingo, _Fanti_.
_Rain_ efuzumo-sohn sanjio, _Mandingo_.
_Rainy season_ eshi ojo, _rain_, _Yebu_.
_Salt_ etsa ta, _Grebo_.
_Sand_ esian-na utan, _Efik_.
_Sea_ etyu idu, _Grebo_.
_Stone_ desi sia, shia, _Grebo_.
_Thread_ jesi gise, _Grebo_.
_Tooth_ enena nyeng, _Mandingo_; gne, _Grebo_.
_Water_ esonh nsu, _Fanti_.
_Wife_ emise muso, _Mandingo_; mbesia, _Fanti_.
_Cry_ yaru isu, _Fanti_.
_Give_ nae nye, _Grebo_; no, _Efik_.
_Go_ le olo, _Yebu_.
_Kill_ bai fa, _Mandingo_; pa, _Yebu_.
There has been war and displacement here as well as in the Gha country.
In the seventeenth century the parts about Cape Apollonia were contended
for by two tribes called the Issini (or Oshin) and the Ghiomo. The
former gave way to the latter, and having retreated to the country of
the Veteres, were joined by that tribe against the Esiep.
A Quaqua prayer is given in the "Mithridates." It is uttered every
morning by the tribes on the Issini, after a previous ablution in that
river--_Anghiume mame maro, mame orie, mame shikke e okkori, mame akaka,
mame frembi, mame anguan e awnsan_--_O Anghiume! give rice, give yams,
give gold, give aigris, give slaves, give riches, give (to be) strong
and swift._
What is here written about the ethnology of Apollonia is written
doubtfully; since here, as at Acra, the simple ethnology of the pure and
proper Fantis becomes complicated.
_The Cape of Good Hope._--The aboriginal population of the Cape is
divided between two great families:--
1. The Hottentot.
2. The Kaffre.
1. _The Hottentots._--Of the two families this is the most western; it
is the one which the colonists came first in contact with, and it is the
one which has been most displaced by Europeans. The names of fourteen
extinct tribes of Hottentots are known; of which it is only necessary to
mention the Gunyeman and Sussaqua the nearest the Cape, and the Heykom,
so far eastwards and northwards as Port Natal. The displacement of these
last has not been effected by Europeans. African subdued African; and it
was the Kaffres who did the work of conquest here.
Of the extant Hottentots, within the limits of the colony of the Cape,
the most remote are the _Gonaqua_, on the head-waters of the Great Fish
River; or rather on the water-shed between it and the Orange River. They
are fast becoming either extinct, or amalgamated with the Kaffres;
inasmuch as they are the Hottentots of the Amakosa frontier, and suffer,
at least, as much from the Kaffres as from their white neighbours.
The _Namaquas_ occupy the _lower_ part of the Orange River, the Great
and Little Namaqualand.
_The Koranas._--This branch of the Hottentots has its locality on the
middle part of the Gariep, with the Griquas to the north, the Bechuana
Kaffres to the east, and the Saabs in the middle of them. Their number
is, perhaps, 10,000. Their exact relation to the other Hottentots is
uncertain. They are a better formed people than the Gonaqua and Namaqua,
but whether they be the best samples of the Hottentot stock altogether
is uncertain. Probably a tribe far up in the north-western parts of
South Africa, and beyond Namaqualand, may dispute the honour with them.
These are the Dammaras--themselves disputed Hottentots. Their country
lies beyond the British colony, but it must be noticed for the sake of
taking in all the branches of the stock in question. It is the tract
between Benguela and Namaqualand, marked in the maps as _sterile
country_; in the northern parts of which we sometimes find notices of a
fierce nation called _Jagas_. Walvisch Bay lies in the middle of it. Now
some writers make the Dammaras of this country Hottentot; others Kaffre;
and that both rightly and wrongly. They are both--partly one, partly the
other; since Dammara is a geographical term, and some of the tribes to
which it applies are Kaffre, some Hottentot. The Dammaras of the plains,
or the Cattle Dammaras are the former; the Dammaras[19] of the hills,
the latter. Between the Dammara and the Korana a much nearer approach
to Kaffre type is made than is usually supposed.
A branch of the Koranas--those of the valley of the Hartebeest
River--deserves particular attention. They caution us against
overvaluing differences; and Dr. Prichard has quoted the evidence of Mr.
Thompson with this especial object. They are Koranas who have suffered
in war, lost their cattle, and been partially expatriated by the more
powerful sections of their stock. Hence, want and poverty have acted
upon them; and the effect has been that they have become hunters instead
of shepherds, have been reduced to a precarious subsistence, and as the
consequence of altered circumstances, have receded from the level of the
other Koranas, and approached that of the--
_Saabs or Bushmen._--These belong to the parts between the Roggeveld and
Orange River; parts which rival the _sterile country_ of the map in
barrenness. As is the country so are the inhabitants; starved, miserable
hunters--hunters rather than shepherds or herdsmen.
The Lap is not more strongly contrasted with the Finlander, than the
Korana with the Saab; and the deadly enmity between these two
populations is as marked as the differences in their physical
appearances. I think, however, that undue inferences have been drawn
from the difference; in other words, that the distance between the
Korana and the Saab has been exaggerated. The languages are
unequivocally allied.
I think, too, that a similarly undue inference has been drawn from the
extent to which the Kaffre and the Korana are _alike_; inasmuch as an
infusion of Kaffre has been assumed for the sake of accounting for it.
Of this, however, no proof exists.
The Saabs are described as having constitutions "so much enfeebled by
the dissolute life they lead, and the constant smoking of _dacha_, that
nearly all, including the young people, look old and wrinkled;
nevertheless, they are remarkable for vanity, and decorate their ears,
legs, and arms with beads, and iron, copper, or brass rings. The women
likewise stain their faces red, or paint them, either wholly or in part.
Their clothing consists of a few sheepskins, which hang about their
bodies, and thus form the mantle or covering, commonly called a
_kaross_. This is their only clothing by day or night. The men wear old
hats, which they obtain from the farmers, or else caps of their own
manufacture. The women wear caps of skins, which they stiffen and finish
with a high peak, and adorn with beads and metal rings. The dwelling of
the Bushman is either a low wretched hut, or a circular cavity, on the
open plain, into which, at night, he creeps with his wife and children,
and which, though it shelters him from the wind, leaves him exposed to
the rain. In this neighbourhood, in which rocks abound, they had
formerly their habitations in them, as is proved by the many rude
figures of oxen, horses, serpents, &c. still existing. It is not a
little interesting to see these poor degraded people, who formerly were
considered and treated as little better than wild beasts in their rocky
retreats. Many of those who have forsaken us live in such cavities not
far from our settlement, and we have thus an opportunity of observing
them in their natural condition. Several who, when they came to us from
the farmers, were decently clothed and possessed a flock of sheep, which
they had earned, in a short time returned to their fastnesses in a state
of nakedness and indigence, rejoicing that they had got free from the
farmers, and could live as they pleased in the indulgence of their
sensual appetites. Such fugitives from civilised life, I have never seen
otherwise occupied than with their bows and arrows. The bows are small,
but made of good elastic wood; the arrows are formed of small reeds, the
points furnished with a well-wrought piece of bone, and a double barb,
which is steeped in a potent poison of a resiny appearance. This poison
is distilled from the leaves of an indigenous tree. Many prefer these
arrows to fire-arms, under the idea that they can kill more game by
means of a weapon that makes no report. On their return from the chase,
they feast till they are tired and drowsy, and hunger alone rouses them
to renewed exertion. In seasons of scarcity they devour all kinds of
wild roots, ants, ants' eggs, locusts, snakes, and even roasted skins.
Three women of this singular tribe were not long since met with, several
days' journey from this place, who had forsaken their husbands, and
lived very contentedly on wild honey and locusts. As enemies, the
Bushmen are not to be despised. They are adepts in stealing cattle and
sheep; and the wounds they inflict when pursued, are ordinarily fatal if
the wounded part is not immediately cut out. The animals they are unable
to carry off, they kill or mutilate.
"To our great comfort, even some of these poor outcasts have shown
eagerness to become acquainted with the way of salvation. The children
of such as are inhabitants of the settlement, attend the school
diligently, and of them we have the best hopes.
"The language of the Bushman has not one pleasing feature; it seems to
consist of a collection of snapping, hissing, grunting, sounds; all more
or less nasal. Of their religious creed it is difficult to obtain any
information; as far as I have been able to learn, they have a name for
the Supreme Being; and the Kaffre word _tixo_ is derived from the
_tixme_ of the Bushmen. Sorcerers exist among them. One of the Bushmen
residing here being sick, a sorceress was sent for before we were aware
of it, who pretended, by the virtue of mystic dance, to extract an
antelope horn from the head of the patient."[20]
_The Griquas._--The Griquas, called also Baastaards, are a pastoral
population, upwards of 15,000 in number, on the north side of the great
bend of the Orange River. They are the descendants of Dutch fathers and
Hottentot mothers.
A mixture of Griquas and Hottentots occurs also on the Kat River, a
feeder of the Great Fish River, in the district of Somerset, and on the
Kaffre frontier. Here they are distributed in a series of district
locations, amid the dales and fastnesses of the eastern frontier. A
great proportion of them are discharged soldiers--so that in reality,
like the borderers of old, they form a sort of military colony.
2. _The Kaffres._--The British districts in contact with the Kaffre
populations are the eastern, and of these Albany and Somerset most
especially. The Kaffre nation in most immediate contact with Albany and
Somerset is--
_The Amakosa._--This is the population which constituted the authority
of Hintza, and to which Pato, Gaika, and the other chiefs of the last
war belonged. To this, too, belong the troublesome chiefs of the
present. Next to the Amakosa, and in alliance with them, come--
_The Amatembu_, or _Tambuki_ (_Tambookies_), occupants of the upper part
of the river Kei, as the Amakosa are of the lower Keiskamma.
Between the Amatembu and Port Natal lie _the Amaponda_, or _Mambuki_
(_Mambookies_), the northern extremity of which reaches the country of--
_The Amazulu_, or _Zulu_ (_Zooloos_), the chief frontagers (conjointly
with the _Mambuki_) of Port Natal.
The last division of the Kaffres of the coast is that of--
_The Fingos._--In 1835, a numerous population, called Fingos, was found
by Sir B. D'Urban in the Kaffre chief Hintza's country, and in a state
of abject servitude to the Amakosas. They were from different tribes;
darker and shorter than the Amakosas--but still true Kaffres. They were
offered land between the lower Keiskamma and the Great Fish River, and
were emancipated and brought safe into the colony to the amount of
17,000.[21] Since then, they have served as a sort of military police on
the Kaffre frontier; and as shepherds in Australia--whither they have
been advantageously introduced.
But, besides the Kaffres of the coast there are those of the interior.
These speak a modified form of the Kosa (or Amakosa), called
Si-_chuana_, the name of the people being Bi-_chuana_. They lie due
north of the Koranas; beyond the boundaries of the colony; but not
beyond the influence of its missionaries, or the range of its explorers.
Litaku, Kurrichani, and other similar _towns_ are _Sichuana_; the Kaffre
civilization being said to attain its _maximum_ hereabouts.
There are plenty of points of contrast between the Kaffre and the
typical Negro; so many indeed as to have suggested the doctrine that the
former class belongs to some division of the human species other than
the African. And these points of contrast are widely distributed,
_i.e._, they appear and re-appear, whatever may be the view taken of the
Kaffre stock. They appear in the descriptions of their skin and
skeletons; they appear in the notice of their language; and they appear
in the history of the Kaffre wars of the Cape frontier--wars more
obstinate and troublesome than any which have been conducted by the true
Negro; and which approach the character of the Kabyle struggle for
independence in Algeria. In investigating these differences we must
guard against the exaggeration of their import.
Physically, the Kaffre has the advantage of the Negro in the
conformation of the face and skull. His forehead betokens greater
capacity; being more prominent, more vaulted, and with a greater facial
angle. His teeth, too, are more vertically inserted, and the nasal bones
less depressed. I have not heard of aquiline noses in Kaffraria; but
should not be surprised if I did.
The cheek-bones of the Kaffre project outwards; and where the
cheek-bones so project beyond a certain limit, the chin appears to taper
downwards, and the vertex upwards. When this becomes exaggerated we hear
of _lozenge-shaped_ crania; the Malay skulls being currently quoted as
instances thereof. Be this as it may, the breadth in the malar portion
of the face is a remarkable feature in the Kaffre physiognomy. This he
has in common with the Hottentot. His hair is also tufted like the
Hottentot's: while his lips are thick like the Negro's. Tall in stature,
wiry and elastic in his muscles, the Kaffre varies in colour, through
all the shades of black and brown; being, in some portions of his area
nearly as dark as the Negro, in others simply brown like the Arab. The
eye is sometimes oblique; the opening generally narrow.
An opinion often gives a better picture than a description. Kaffres,
that have receded in the greatest degree from the Negro type, have been
so likened to the more southern Arabs as to have engendered the
hypothesis of an infusion of Arab blood.
The manners of the Kaffres of the Cape are those of pastoral tribes
under chieftains; tribes which, from their habits and social relations,
are naturally active, locomotive, warlike, and jealous of encroachment.
Next to marauding on the hunting-grounds of an American Indian,
interference with the pasture of a shepherd population is the surest way
to warfare.
It would be strange indeed if the Kaffre life and Kaffre physiognomy had
no peculiarities. However little in the way of physical influence we may
attribute to the geography of a country, no man ignores them altogether.
Now Kaffreland has very nearly a latitude of its own; inhabited lands
similarly related to the southern tropic being found in South America
and Australia only. And it has a soil still more exclusively
South-African. We connect the idea of the _desert_ with that of sand;
whilst _steppe_ is a term which is limited to the vast tracts of central
Asia. Now the Kaffre, and still more the Hottentot, area, dry like the
desert, and elevated like the steppe, is partially a _karro_. Its soil
is often a hard, cracked, and parched clay rather than a waste of sand,
and it constitutes an argillaceous table-land. Its vegetation has
strongly marked characters. Its Fauna has the same.
The language is peculiar. If English were spoken on Kosa or Sichuana
principles we should say
_b_un beam instead of _s_un beam.
_l_oon light ... _m_oon light.
_s_rand-son ... _g_rand-son, &c.,
since, in the Kaffre languages throughout, subordinate words in certain
syntactic combinations, accommodate their initial letter to that of the
leading word of the term.
Their polity and manners, too, are peculiar. The head man of the village
settles disputes; his tribunal being in the open air. From him an appeal
lies to a chief of higher power; and from him to some superior, higher
still. In this way there is a long chain of feudal or semi-feudal
dependency.
But the power of the chief is checked by that of the priest. A supposed
skill in medicine, imaginary arts of divination, and an accredited power
over the elements are the prerogatives of certain witches and wizards.
Thus, when a murrain among the cattle, or the death of an important
individual has taken place, the blame is laid upon some unfortunate
victim whom the witch or wizard points out. And the ordeal to which he
must submit, is equal in cruelty to those of the Gold Coast. He is
beaten with sticks, and then pegged down to the ground. Whilst thus
helpless, a nest of venomous bush-ants is broken over his racked and
quivering body. If this fail to extort a confession, he is singed to
death with red-hot stones.
This tells us what is meant by Kaffre chiefs and Kaffre wizards.
The wife is the slave to the husband; and he _buys_ her in order that
she should be so. The purchase implies a seller. This is always a member
of another tribe. Hence the wish of a Kaffre is to see his wife the
mother of many children, girls being more valuable than boys.
Why a man should not sell his offspring to the members of his own tribe
is uncertain. It is clear, however, that the practice of doing so makes
marriage between even distant relations next to impossible. To guard
against the chances of this, a rigid and suspicious system of restraint
has been developed in cases of consanguinity; and relations must do all
they can to avoid meeting. To sit in the same room, to meet on the same
road, is undesirable. To converse is but just allowable, and then all
who choose must hear what is said. So thorough, however, has been the
isolation in many cases, that persons of different sexes have lived as
near neighbours for many years without having conversed with each other;
and such communication as there has been, has taken place through the
medium of a third person. No gift will induce a Kaffre female to violate
this law.
Is the immolation of human beings at the death of chieftains a Kaffre
custom, as it was one of western Africa? The following extract gives an
answer in the affirmative, the only difference being the _pretext_ of
the murders. On the "death of the mother of Chaka, the great Zulu chief,
a public mourning was held, which lasted for the space of two days, the
people being assembled at the kraal of the chief to the number of sixty
or eighty thousand souls. Mr. Fynn, who was present, describes the scene
as the most terrific which it is possible for the human mind to
conceive. The immense multitude were all engaged in rending the air with
the most doleful shrieks, and discordant cries and lamentations; whilst,
in the event of their ceasing to utter them, they were instantly
butchered as guilty of a crime against the reigning tyrant. It is said
that no less than six or seven thousand persons were destroyed on this
occasion, charged with no other offence than exhausted nature in the
performance of this horrid rite, their brains being mercilessly dashed
out amidst the surrounding throng. As a suitable _finale_ to this
dreadful tragedy, it is said that ten females were actually buried alive
with the royal corpse; whilst all who witnessed the funeral were
obliged to remain on the spot for a whole year."
Details of Kaffre manners may be multiplied almost _ad infinitum_; and
as their history and habits are likely to fill a Blue Book, a short
treatise can only notice their more prominent peculiarities.
However, lest an undue inference be drawn from their contrast to the
Hottentot, we must remember that the former has encroached upon the
latter, and that such transitional populations as existed have been
swept away.
Now comes a coloured population--not indigenous, but the descendants of
the _slaves_ of the colony. This consists of--
1. Negroes.
2. Malays from the Indian Archipelago.
3. Malagasi from Madagascar.
To which we must add, as of mixed blood, the offspring of--
1. Negroes and Dutch, English, &c.
2. Malays and Dutch, English, &c.
3. Malagasi and Dutch, English, &c.
This seems to be the limit of the intermixture; since, between the
Malays and Negroes, &c., there is but little intermarriage. The
_possible_ elements, however, of hybridity are numerous, _e.g._, Griquas
and Negroes, Griquas and Malays, Malays and Kaffres, &c.
_The so-called yellow men._--On the 4th of August, 1782, the
"Grosvenor" Indiaman was wrecked on the coast of Natal. Of the crew who
escaped, some reached the Cape and others remained amongst the natives.
In 1790, an expedition was undertaken in search of them.
In this expedition, Mr. Van Reenens, considered that he had discovered a
village where the people were descended from the whites, and in which
there were three old women who had been wrecked when very young. They
could not tell to what country they belonged; were treated as superior
beings; and, when offered a safe convoy to the Cape, were at first
pleased with the prospect, but eventually refused to leave their
children and grandchildren. Now, whatever these old women were, they
were not of the crew of the "Grosvenor," and I doubt whether they were
Europeans at all.
Again--Mr. Thomson, when at Litaku, heard of yellow _cannibals_, with
long hair, whose invasions were the dread of the country; a statement
which merely means that some tribes of South Africa, are lighter
coloured, and more savage in their appetite than others.
Lastly, Lieutenant Farewell saw one of these yellow men at Natal, who
was described as a cannibal, and _who shrunk abashed from the
lieutenant_.
Be it so. The evidence that "there are descendants of Europeans and
Africans now widely diffusing their offspring throughout the country;
whose services might be turned to good account in civilizing the native
tribes," is still incomplete.
_Mauritius._--The coloured population, which is far greater than that of
the white, consists in the Mauritius of--
1. True Africans--chiefly from the east coast, and, consequently, of the
Kaffre stock; the word being used in its most general sense. Darker than
the Kaffres of the Cape, they, nevertheless, recede from the Negro type
in the shape of the jaw, lips, and forehead. The hair also is less
woolly. They are strong and powerful individuals.
2. Malagasi, or natives of Madagascar.--These are _not_ Africans to the
same extent as the Kaffres of the coast. As far back as the time of
Reland it was known that the affinities of the Malagasi language were
with the Malay and Polynesian tongues of Asia; but it was also known
that the similarity in physiognomy was less than that of language. Hence
came a conflict of difficulties. The speech indicated one origin, the
colour another--whilst the fact of an island so near to Africa, and so
far from Malacca, as Madagascar, being other than what its geographical
position indicated, is, and has been, a mystery. Some writers have
assumed an intermixture of blood; others have limited the Malay element
to the dominant population. Lastly, Mr. Crawfurd has denied the
inferences from the similarity of language _in toto_; considering that
there is "nothing in common between the two races, and nothing in common
between the character of their languages." The comparative philologist
is slow to admit this--indeed, he denies it.
The blacks form the great majority of the coloured population. Besides
these, however, there are--
3. Arabs.
4. Chinese.
5. Hindús, from the continent of India; convicts being transported to
the Mauritius for life, and worked on the roads of the colony.
6. Cingalese from Ceylon--the Kandian chiefs whose presence in their
native country was thought likely to endanger the tranquillity of the
island, were sent hither.
The whites of the Mauritius are chiefly French; though not wholly of
pure blood. The first settlers took their wives from Madagascar. The
English form the smallest part of the population.
_Rodrigues_--occupied by a few French colonists from the Mauritius.
_The Seychelles_--The same; the coloured population outnumbering the
white in the proportion of ten to one. Here there is a Portuguese
admixture. From Maha, the chief town of the Seychelles, to Madagascar,
is five hundred and seventy-six miles--a fact to be borne in mind when
we speculate upon the origin of the population of that island.
* * * * *
_The Africans of British America.--Honduras, Belize, the West India
Islands, and Demerara._--The usual distribution of the population of
these parts is--
WHITE.
1. European whites, born in Europe.
2. Creoles, or whites born in the island.
COLOURED.
_a. Pure Blood._
1. Mandingos, from the river-systems of the Senegal and Gambia.
2. Coromantines--from the Ivory and Gold Coast.
3. Whydahs--from Dahomey.
4. Ibos--from the Lower Niger.
5. Congos--from Portuguese Africa.
_b. Mixed Blood._
1. Sambos, intermixture of the Negro and Mulatto.
2. Mulattoes--Negro and white.
3. Quadroons--Mulatto and white.
4. Mestis--Quadroon and white.
Such is what I find in Mr. Martin's valuable work on the Colonies, and
it is, undoubtedly, a convenient and practical classification. Yet for
the purposes of ethnology, it is deficient in detail. Without even
guessing at the proportion of American slaves which the different parts
of the western coast of Africa may have supplied, I subjoin a brief
notice of tract between the Senegal and Benguela.
1. First come the _Wolof_, between the Senegal and Cape Verde. To the
back of these lie--
2. The _Serawolli_--and around Cape Verde--
3. The _Sereres_--none of these are truly Mandingo; nor is it certain
that many slaves have come from them; such as do, however, are probably
Mandingos in the current classification.
4. The Fulahs of Fouta-Torro and Fouta-Jallo possess the higher part of
the Senegambian system. Imperfect Mahometans, they are lighter-coloured
than either the Wolof or the Mandingo. Notwithstanding the great Fulah
conquests--for under a leader named Danfodio this has been one of the
encroaching and subjugating families of Africa--there are still American
slaves of Fulah blood--though, perhaps, but few. Mr. Hodgson procured
his vocabulary from a Fulah slave of Virginia; and what we find in the
United States, we may find in the British possessions also.
5. The Mandingos Proper are the Negroes of the Gambia; but the following
Africans, all within the range of the old slave trade, belong to the
same class.
_a._ The Susu; whose language is spoken from the River Pongos to Sierra
Leone.
_b._ The Timmani.
_c._ The Bullom--each in contact with that settlement.
_d._ The Vey--the written language already noticed.
_e._ The Mendi--conterminous with the Vey.
_f._ The Kissi--like the last two, spoken in the country behind Cape
Mount, and on the boundaries of Liberia.
South of the Gambia and north of the Pongos, the Mandingo tongues,
though spoken in the interior, do not reach the coast. On the contrary,
they encircle the populations on the mouths of the Cacheo, Rio Grande,
and Nun--and truly barbarous populations these are. Of these the most
northern are--
6. _The Felúp_ (Feloops)--between the Gambia and Cacheo.
7. _The Papel_--south of the Cacheo.
8. _The Balantes_--south of the Papel.
9. _The Bagnon_--on the Lower Cacheo.
10. _The Bissago_--islanders off the Cacheo.
11. _Nalú_ (_Naloos_)--on the Lower Nun.
12. _Sapi_--_ibid_.
After these come the Susu, &c.; down to the tribes about Cape Mount and
Cape Mesurado.
Between Cape Mesurado and Cape Palmas come--
13. _The Krumen._ Next to them--
14. _The Quaquas_, of the Ivory Coast; speaking different Avekvom
dialects.
Somewhere hereabouts come the--
15, 16, 17. Kanga, Mangree, and Gien; three undetermined vocabularies of
the "Mithridates." Then--
18, 19, 20. The Fanti, Gha, and Adampi (?) of the Gold Coast. We now
approach the great marts--
21, 22. Benin and Dahomey; and--almost equal in infamous notoriety--the
countries of the Delta, of the Niger, or of the--
23, 24, 25. Ibu, Bonny, and Efik (Old Calabar) Africans; at the back of
which lie--
26, 27. Yarriba, and the Nufi country. In Fernando Po the population
is--
28. Ediya. About the Bimbia river and mountain--
29. Isubu.
30, 31, 32. The _Banaka_ (or _Batanga_), the _Panwi_, and the _Mpoongwe_
take us from the Gaboon to Loango; forming a transition from the true
Negroes to the Kaffres.
33, 34, 35, 36. _Loango_, _Congo_, _Angola_, and _Benguela_--the Kaffre
type, both in form and language, is now more closely approached. Below
Benguela there has been little or no exportation.
FOOTNOTES:
[12] "Journal of the Geographical Society," 1850.
[13] "United Service Magazine," Dec., 1850.
[14] "United Service Journal," Nov., 1850.
[15] Daniell in "Transactions of the Ethnological Society."
[16] "United Service Journal," Nov., 1850.
[17] Dr. Daniell on the Natives of Old Calabar, "Transactions of the
Ethnological Society."
[18] Rask.--_Vejledning tel Acra-sproget, paa Kysten Ginea, med et
Tillaeg om Akvambuisk._--Copenhagen, 1828. _Introduction to the Acra
Language, on the Coast of Guinea, with an Appendix on the Akvambu._
[19] "Journal of the American Oriental Society," vol. i. no. 4.
[20] "British Colonies." By M. Martin.
[21] "Journal of the Geographical Society," vol. v. p. 319.