are celebrated in the night-time. Several nights previous to his
arrival, a great noise is heard in the adjoining woods. The men go
out to meet him, and find him with a stick in his hand, decorated in
a hideous and fantastic manner with the bark of trees. Preceded by a
band of music, he approaches the village, where the women ranged in a
circle fearfully await his arrival. Songs accompany the instruments,
and Mumbo Jumbo himself sings an air peculiar to the occasion. The most
profound silence follows. After a pause, Mumbo Jumbo points out those
women who have behaved improperly during the year. They are immediately
seized, tied to a post, and whipped by the mysterious visiter, with
more or less severity, according to the nature of their offence. All
the assembly join in shouts of derision, and the women are quite as
ready to take part against their sisters in disgrace as they are
accused of being in more civilized countries. When African wives are
refractory, it is a common threat to remind them of the annual visit of
Mumbo Jumbo, who will assuredly find out their faults and punish them
accordingly. The dress in which he usually appears is often kept hung
upon the trees, by way of admonition. This dreaded personage no doubt
receives his information from the husband or father of the culprit; but
the secret of the institution is so carefully preserved, that a king,
whose young wife had coaxed him to tell it, was afterward persuaded to
put all his wives to death to prevent discovery.
The following is the air sung by Mumbo Jumbo, as he enters a village:
[Music: MANDINGO
Air of Mumbo Jumbo
_Alle’tto._
_Fan na boo la o fa na ma o
ton sa boo la le fe no bi na ni a o_]
The Africans have a most terrific idea of the sea, which they always
call the big salt water. Some of the priests describe it as a malignant
deity, and forbid people to approach it. Beyond this big water they
suppose there is a land full of _white sea-monsters_, cannibals, and
sorcerers, who send to Africa and carry off great numbers of men,
women, and children, on purpose to devour them.
Poor Gustavus Vasa, who, with his little sister, was stolen while they
were at play, was exceedingly terrified at the sight of Europeans in a
vessel. “Where do these white monsters come from?” said he: “Do they
always live in these immense dens upon the water? How can they move
that great house, except by magic?”
The Africans consider our color quite as great a deformity as we regard
theirs. When Andanson entered a village at a little distance from the
coast, the children ran away screaming with terror; and it required
a great effort to persuade them to approach the white man, and touch
his long straight hair. Many of them suppose that the pale color of
Europeans is owing to a leprous disease. When Mungo Park was detained
at Benown, the king’s wives made him unbutton his waistcoat to show
his white skin; and even after they had counted his fingers and toes,
to ascertain that he was a human being, they could not refrain from
a shudder whenever they approached him. The king’s sons seriously
proposed to put out his eyes because they so much resembled a cat. The
wives of the Foulah king were more civil to the traveller, but they
found his features and color equally disagreeable. Mr. Park says: “As
soon as I entered, the whole seraglio surrounded me, some begging for
physic, others for amber, and all of them desirous of trying that great
African specific, blood-letting. They were ten or twelve in number,
most of them young and handsome. They rallied me with a good deal of
gayety on different subjects, particularly on the whiteness of my skin
and the prominence of my nose. They insisted that both were artificial.
The first they said was produced when I was an infant, by dipping me
in milk; and they insisted that my nose had been pinched every day
till it had acquired its present unsightly and unnatural conformation.
Without disputing my own deformity, I paid them many compliments on
African beauty. I praised the glossy jet of their skins, and the
lovely depression of their noses; but they told me that _honey-mouth_
was not esteemed in Bondu. In return, however, for my company, or my
compliments, to which they seemed not to be so insensible as they
affected to be, they presented me with a jar of honey and some fish,
which were sent to my lodging.”
The prejudice with regard to a white skin is not to be wondered at,
when we consider that nearly all the intercourse between Europe and
Africa has been for the purpose of obtaining slaves; and to this
circumstance must be added the natural tendency we all have to admire
what we are most accustomed to in our own friends.
Mungo Park feelingly describes the sufferings of some poor slaves
that belonged to a caravan with which he travelled. He says: “One of
the female slaves, named Nealee, began to lag behind, and complain
dreadfully of pains in her limbs. Her load was taken from her, and she
was ordered to keep in front of the caravan. About eleven o’clock, as
the party was resting by a small rivulet, a hive of bees, which had
been disturbed in a hollow tree, attacked the people and made them
fly in all directions. When the enemy had desisted from pursuit, and
all were employed in picking out the stings, it was discovered that
Nealee had not come up. She was found, very much exhausted, lying by
the rivulet, to which she had crept in hopes of defending herself from
the bees, by throwing water over her body; but she was stung in the
most dreadful manner. When the _slatees_[9] had picked out the stings
as well as they could, she was washed with water and then rubbed with
bruised leaves; but the wretched woman obstinately refused to proceed
any farther, declaring that she would rather die than walk another
step. As entreaties and threats were used in vain, the whip was at
length applied. After bearing patiently a few strokes, she started up,
and walked with tolerable expedition for four or five hours longer,
when she made an attempt to run away from the _coffle_, but was so
very weak that she soon fell down in the grass. Though she was unable
to rise, the whip was a second time employed, but without effect. They
tried to place her upon the ass which carried the provisions; but she
could not sit erect; and the animal being very refractory, it was found
impossible to carry her forward in that manner. The day’s journey was
nearly ended, and being unwilling to abandon her, they made a litter
of bamboo canes, and tied her on it with slips of bark. This litter
was carried on the heads of two slaves, followed by two more, who
relieved them occasionally. In this manner she was carried till the
caravan reached a stream of water, where they stopped for the night. At
daybreak poor Nealee was awakened; but her limbs were now so stiff and
painful that she could neither walk nor stand. She was therefore lifted
like a corpse upon the back of an ass; her hands fastened together
under the animal’s neck, and her feet under his belly, with long strips
of bark. But the ass was so very unruly, that no sort of treatment
could make him proceed with his load; and as Nealee made no exertion
to prevent herself from falling, she was quickly thrown off, and had
her limbs much bruised. The general cry of the coffle now was, ‘Cut her
throat--Cut her throat.’”
Mr. Park, not wishing to see this put in execution, hurried onward.
When he had walked about a mile, one of Karfa’s domestic slaves came
up with poor Nealee’s garment on the end of his bow, and exclaimed,
“Nealee is lost.” Mr. Park asked if the garment had been given him for
cutting her throat. He replied that Karfa would not consent to that
measure, and they had left her on the road. The helpless creature was
no doubt soon devoured by wild beasts.
Mr. Clapperton tells another painful story of a wretched slave mother,
who saw her child dashed on the ground, while she herself was compelled
by the lash to drag along her exhausted frame.
African mothers have an unbounded affection for their children. When
Mr. Park was at Wawra, and known to be on his way to Sego, several
women came and begged him to ask the king about their sons, who had
been taken away to the army. One declared that she had neither seen nor
heard of hers for several years; that he was no heathen, but said his
prayers daily; and that he was often the subject of her dreams.
At Jumbo the same traveller witnessed an affecting interview between
an African who had been long absent from home, and his relations. His
aged and blind mother, leaning on a staff, was led forth to meet him.
She stretched out her hands to welcome him, fondly stroked his hands,
arms, and face, and seemed delighted to hear once more the music of his
voice. Instances are likewise on record of mothers that have fallen
down dead on the sands, when they saw their children forced away in
slave ships.
When suffering the extremity of famine, mothers in the interior
sometimes sell their children to a wealthier neighbor, for the sake of
procuring food. But the domestic slavery of the Africans is altogether
of a milder character, and more resembles Hebrew servitude, than the
slavery existing among white men. Even the richest African lives in a
manner so simple and pastoral, that little toil is requisite to supply
his wants, and being a stranger to the love of accumulating wealth, he
has no temptation to work his laborers beyond their strength. The slave
and his master eat, drink, and work together in all the freedom of
uncivilized life; and the master can neither put a slave to death for
crime, or sell him to a stranger, without calling a public palaver, or
discussion, of the elders of the tribe.
The affection of parents is warmly reciprocated by their children.
An African will forgive any personal injury much more readily than a
disrespectful epithet applied to his parents. “Strike me, but do not
curse my mother!” is a common expression among them. Filial attachment
is less strong toward fathers than toward mothers; because paternal
love is weakened by being divided among the offspring of several
different wives.
In general, the fondness of African mothers is confined to the bodily
comfort of their children; but the Mandingoes extend their care to
the formation of moral character. A Mandingo woman whose son had
been mortally wounded by a Moor, wrung her hands in frantic grief,
continually repeating, “He never told a lie; no, never.”
The women of Madagascar probably love their children as tenderly as
other mothers, but with them superstition conquers nature, as it does
among the Hindoos. If a magician decides that the day of a child’s
birth is an unlucky one, parents endeavor to avert the supposed evil
destiny that awaits the infant, by putting a violent end to its
existence. Sometimes the innocent little creatures are left in a narrow
path, through which large herds of cattle are driven; and if it escape
without being trampled to death, it is supposed that the malignant
influence is removed. Sometimes a wooden vessel is filled with water,
and the babe’s face forcibly held in it, till it ceases to breathe;
sometimes it is laid face downward in a pit dug for its reception; and
sometimes a cloth is stuffed into its mouth until suffocation ensues.
Parents themselves generally perform the horrid office, strengthened by
the mistaken idea that there is no other way of saving the child from
the misery predicted for its future years.
The hospitality which generally characterizes a pastoral people
prevails in Africa. The blind are the only beggars ever seen. They
assemble in greater or less numbers and take their rounds in the
villages, singing verses from the Koran; and every one is ready to put
grain and other provisions into the bags which they carry slung at
their backs. The Seracolots are very remarkable for their hospitality.
When a vessel anchors near one of their villages, the whole crew are
abundantly and gratuitously furnished with every necessary; and when
a stranger enters one of their dwellings, the owner goes out of it,
saying, “White man, my house, my wife, my children, belong to thee.”
This is no unmeaning compliment; from that moment the guest does in
fact enjoy all the prerogatives of the master.
In cases where suspicion or fear led the men to treat Mungo Park with
neglect or rudeness, he always found women compassionate and kind.
When the chief of a Foulah village shut the door in his face, a poor
woman, who was spinning cotton in front of her hut, invited him in, and
gave him a plentiful dish of kouskous; and at another time when he sat
pensive and hungry by the road-side, unable to procure any food, an
old female slave stopped to ask whether he had any dinner; and being
informed that he had been robbed of every thing, she took the basket
of ground-nuts from her head, and with a benevolent look gave him a
few handfuls. The weary traveller was about to thank her for this
seasonable relief, but she walked away before he had time.
One tempestuous night the same daring adventurer, hungry, destitute,
and disheartened, took shelter for the night under a tree. A Bambarra
woman, returning from the labors of the field, inquired why he looked
so sad; and when she learned his situation she took up his saddle and
bridle, and bade him follow her. She conducted him to her hut, lighted
a lamp, spread a mat for him to sit upon, broiled a fish for his
supper, and gave him to understand that he might lie down and sleep
without interruption. While he rested, the women in the hut resumed
their spinning, an employment which had been for a while interrupted
by their surprise at seeing a white man. As they worked, they sung an
extempore song, of which the traveller was the subject.
The winds roared, and the rains fell;
The poor white man, faint and weary,
Came and sat under our tree.
He has no mother to bring him milk,
No wife to grind his corn.
CHORUS.
Let us pity the white man;
No mother has he to bring him milk,
No wife to grind his corn.
The air was sweet and plaintive, and the kind sentiments it conveyed
affected Mr. Park so deeply that he could not sleep. In the morning, he
gave his landlady two of the four brass buttons that remained on his
waistcoat; these were all he had to offer to signify his gratitude.
“In all my wanderings and wretchedness,” says this enlightened
traveller, “I found women uniformly kind and compassionate; and I
can truly say, as my predecessor, Mr. Ledyard, has said before me:
‘To a woman I never addressed myself in the language of decency and
friendship without receiving a decent and friendly answer. If I was
hungry or thirsty, wet, or sick, they did not hesitate, like the men,
to perform a generous action. In so free and so kind a manner did
they contribute to my relief, that if I was dry, I drank the sweetest
draught, and if hungry, I ate the coarsest morsel, with a double
relish.’”
An Arab widow at Houssa became very much enamored with captain
Clapperton, and he found some difficulty in ridding himself of her
suit. According to Moorish custom, her eyebrows were dyed black, her
hair blue, her hands and feet red, and her huge person was loaded with
necklaces, girdles, and bracelets. In order still farther to tempt
the European, she displayed to him an additional store of finery, and
carried him through several rooms, one of which was ornamented with
pewter dishes and bright brass pans. After these preliminaries, she
proposed to send forthwith for a priest to unite their destinies. The
captain stammered out the best apology he could, and hurried away. She
followed him to a neighboring village, sitting astride on a very fine
horse, with scarlet housings trimmed with lace. She wore a red silk
mantle and morocco boots, and a multitude of spells sewed in various
colored leather were hung around her. Her drummer was decorated in
ostrich feathers, and a train of armed attendants followed her. It was
rumored that she intended to make herself queen, and invite captain
Clapperton to share the throne of Wawa. Her wealth and the influence
she might enable him to obtain, for a moment tempted him; and as the
widow had induced his servant Pascoe to take a wife from among her
slaves, she had, according to African ideas, acquired some right to
himself; but he soon directed Pascoe to return his wife, and thus
destroy her remaining hopes. “It would indeed have been a fine end of
my journey,” says he, “if I had deposed old Mohammed, and set up for
myself, with this walking tun butt for a queen.”
One of Bonaparte’s officers, named Duranton, expatriated himself at the
time France was conquered by foreign arms, and entered into commercial
relations in Africa. He finally went as far into the interior as Kasso,
where he adopted the language and habits of the natives. By his bravery
and knowledge he soon gained unbounded influence. The king had an
only daughter, about sixteen, whom her countrymen esteemed beautiful.
Duranton, notwithstanding the prejudice against his complexion, was
pleasing to the young damsel. He married her, and was soon after
elected king of Kasso. He has extended the commerce of the tribe, but
attempted no innovation upon their ancient customs. He eats, dresses,
and sits after the manner of the natives, and observes precisely the
same sort of etiquette that was maintained by his father-in-law.
On the coasts of Africa, where the natives have frequent intercourse
with European sailors, they are exceedingly licentious and depraved.
According to Bruce’s description, the Abyssinian women are grossly
familiar in their manners; at a village on the banks of the Gambia, the
women were likewise guilty of very rude freedoms. They troubled Mr.
Park exceedingly, begging for amber, beads, &c., and boldly proceeding
to tear his clothes, in order to secure the buttons. He mounted his
horse and rode off; but they followed him for more than a mile, trying
to renew their outrages.
The women of Loggun are described by major Denham as intelligent,
handsome, and lively; but their freedoms were not of the most delicate
character, and they tried to pilfer every thing they could lay hands
on. When detected they laughed, and called out to each other how sharp
the traveller was in finding out their tricks.
Captain Clapperton makes great complaints of the loquacity of the
women. He says they convinced him that no power, not even African
despotism, can silence a woman’s tongue. According to his own
testimony, however, their love of talk originated in mere childish
curiosity, and was indulged with the kindest intentions.
In Walo, the crown is hereditary, but always descends to the eldest son
of the king’s sister; and among several other tribes a man’s property
is always inherited by the offspring of his sister, according to the
custom of the Nairs of Hindostan. This circumstance does not indicate
any great confidence in the character of women.
It has been said that the Africans are generally indolent; and when
compared with the busy, restless sons of ambition and avarice, this
is no doubt true. The soil is prolific and easy of cultivation; their
wants are very few and simple; and they have not the slightest desire
for the accumulation of wealth. During the few months which it is
necessary to devote to agricultural pursuits, they are so busy that
they scarcely allow themselves time for sleep; and the rest of the year
they give up to child-like merriment.
The African race, as distinguished from the Arabs or Moors, are
faithful, affectionate, sensitive in their feelings, and liable to
almost instantaneous changes from gloom to gayety, according to the
circumstances in which they are placed. When in the greatest misery, a
kind look or word will animate them, as it does the heart of a little
child; but when their cup of suffering is full, the “drop too much”
which tyranny seeks to add to the bitter measure, often arouses them
to fierce and desperate fury. In a state of freedom they are almost
universally gentle, inquisitive, credulous, and fond of flattery.
Barrow speaks thus of the Kaffers: “A party of women were the first
who advanced to salute us, laughing and dancing round the wagons, and
putting on all the coaxing manners they could invent, in order to
procure from us tobacco and brass buttons. Good temper, animation,
and a cheerful turn of mind, beamed in all their countenances. We
found them to be modest without reserve; extremely curious without
being troublesome; lively but not impudent; and sportive without the
least shadow of being lascivious. The most striking feature in their
character was a degree of sprightliness, activity, and vivacity, that
distinguished them from the women of most uncivilized nations, who are
generally reserved toward strangers.”
The African laws are simple and rude, like their habits; but it appears
from the accounts of travellers that widows retain peaceable possession
of their property, and are able to transact business with perfect
security. This implies a degree of good order in society, which one
would not expect to find in uncivilized states.
In most of the tribes on the southern and western coast of Africa,
women do not inherit the property of their fathers, either real or
personal.
Among the Wolofs when a young man wishes to marry, he signifies it
to the parents of the girl, who meet him at some public place in the
village. When the young couple are surrounded by a circle of relatives,
the man offers as much gold or merchandise, oxen or slaves, as he can
afford to pay. The girl’s consent is not necessary for the completion
of the bargain; but if she refuses to fulfil the promise of her
parents, she can never marry another; should she attempt to do so, the
first lover can claim her as his slave. As soon as the parties have
agreed upon the price, the young man pays the required sum; and the
same evening the bride is conveyed to the bridegroom’s hut, by a troop
of relations and friends. On these occasions she always wears a white
veil of her own weaving. The rejoicings continue for eight days, during
which the guests are abundantly supplied with palm wine and other
liquors.
Among the Sereres, when a lover has formally obtained the consent
of relations, he summons his friends to assist him in carrying off
the object of his choice. The bride shuts herself up in a hut with
her companions, where they maintain an obstinate siege before they
surrender to the assailants.
In Bambuk, the bride is escorted to the hut of her future husband. When
she arrives at the door, she takes off her sandals, and a calabash of
water is placed in her hand. She knocks, and the door is opened by the
relations of the bridegroom, who remains seated in the midst of the
hut. The bride kneels before him, pours the water over his feet, and
wipes them with her mantle, in token of submission.
Mr. Park speaks of seeing a betrothed girl at Baniseribe, who knelt
before her lover, and presenting a calabash of water, desired him to
wash his hands; when he had done so, she drank the water, apparently
with delight; this being considered a great proof of fidelity and love.
In Madagascar, wives salute their husbands just returned from war, by
passing the tongue over his feet, in the most respectful manner.
Among the Mandingoes, when the lover has settled the bargain with the
girl’s parents, she is covered with the bridal veil of white cotton,
and seated on a mat, with all the elderly women of the neighborhood
ranged in a circle round her. They give her sage instructions
concerning the performance of her duties and the propriety of her
deportment as a matron. A band of female _guiriots_ come in and disturb
their serious lessons with music, singing, and dancing. The bridegroom
in the mean time entertains his friends without doors. A plentiful
supper is provided, and the evening is devoted to mirth. Before
midnight the bride is privately conducted by her female relatives to
the hut which is to be her future residence. The bridal party generally
continue dancing and singing until broad daylight.
At the island of St. Louis, the native women often contract a sort
of limited marriage with Europeans, and their vows are said to be
generally observed with exemplary fidelity. They take the Portuguese
title of Signora, and the children receive the name of their father.
The bridal ceremonies are similar to the Wolofs. When the European
husband leaves the country, he provides for his family according to his
wealth, and the generosity of his character; and his wife is at liberty
to marry again when she pleases.