WEST COAST ADVENTURES.
Cruise along West African coast—Dine with Danish consul at Cape
Coast Castle—Ordered to Sierra Leone—A trip inland—We proceed to
the Los Islands—A trip up the River Pongo—Quell disturbance on a
slaver—A dinner with a native prince—His presents.
After remaining a few days, during which time nothing transpired that
required our presence, we again weighed and sailed along the coast towards
the Bight of Benin. We experienced frequent calms with much squally
weather, attended with vivid lightning and heavy rain. Finding a current
setting round the bight to the eastward, we were obliged to carry a press
of sail to act against it, and were nearly three weeks working up from
Cape St. Paul’s to Dix Cove, where we anchored. On this part of the coast,
particularly Dix Cove, you may land without the assistance of a canoe, as
the surf is not so rolling or so high. There is a small English settlement
here, which I visited, and dined with the principal settler. The town is
small and not worth a description. We procured a quantity of oranges and
cocoanuts, and I had the opportunity of witnessing the native dancing. A
tom-tom, or rough kind of long drum, is beaten by two men, to the noise of
which (for it was anything but music) they keep time. The dancers,
particularly the women, appeared by their gestures and movements to be in
a state of delirium; they certainly were much excited, and kept up such a
continued howl that I soon took my departure.
As I turned round I came in contact with a most pitiable object—a sickly,
dead-white coloured native. I had heard of such beings, but had never seen
one. He was about five feet five inches high, and very thin; his features
were rather more prominent than those of a negro, his eyes were very
small, very weak, and of a reddish hue. He appeared by his manner to be an
idiot. He held out his hands to me in a supplicating manner. I gave him a
small piece of money; he looked earnestly in my face, and mixed with the
crowd. On returning to the town I passed three females with different
coloured ochres smeared over their bodies. On inquiry, I found they were
subject to fever and ague, and the application of different earths was
their best mode of treating this complaint. Three weeks afterwards we
again visited Cape Coast Roads, where we found the frigate, who had lost
the marine officer and several of the seamen. Whenever the surgeon
reported five men on the sick list in harbour I immediately put to sea,
and to amuse the crew we got up some pantomimes. They were ridiculous
enough, but they answered the purpose and kept all hands in good humour.
The consequence was that we did not lose one man during the four months we
were on the coast.
I received orders from the captain of the frigate to repair to Sierra
Leone and proceed to the West Indies with the slave ships as soon as they
were ready. We had now been more than two months on this station without
capturing anything, and we were much pleased with the order to change. On
taking leave of the Governor, he told me he had had a palaver with the
King of the Ashantees, whom he described as a fine, high-spirited young
man. “I have been trying,” said he, “to prevail on him to make peace with
the Fantees. The King’s answer to my request was brief and positive.
‘What,’ asked he, ‘is your most sacred oath?’ ‘We swear by our God,’ I
replied. ‘Then,’ said the king of the savages, ‘I swear by an Englishman’s
God that instead of making peace with the Fantee nation I will exterminate
the whole race.’ ‘Not those under the protection of the British flag?’
said I. ‘Yes,’ returned he, ‘all, and without exception.’ ‘Then if you do
persist in so fatal a purpose, you must take the consequences, for I also
swear that if you or any of your people come in a hostile manner within
reach of our guns, I will shoot every one of you.’ He gave me a look of
fierce defiance, and informed me by the interpreter that the palaver was
over. On which I took my leave, not highly pleased. You are going to leave
us, I understand,” said he. “I much regret it, for we have just made your
acquaintance, and I should like to have continued it.” I acknowledged the
compliment, which I believe was sincere. “To-morrow,” continued he, “I am
invited to dine at the Danish settlement. The Governor is a very good kind
of man, well-informed, and hospitable. Would you like to accompany me? He
speaks English, and I am sure would feel flattered by your visit.”
I consented, and at four o’clock in the afternoon on the following day I
was at the Castle, where eight stout black men, with palanquins, were
ready to carry us. I found this mode of travelling very easy and
agreeable. The hammock in which I reclined was made of a long grass,
stained with several colours; two of the bearers carried it on their
shoulders by a pole, the other two sang songs, kept off the mosquitoes and
sunflies by whisking about a branch of a cocoanut tree over the hammock,
and occasionally relieved the others. On our journey we paid a short visit
and took Schnapps with the Governor of a Dutch settlement, who saluted us
with his four guns (all he had), and in so doing knocked down some of the
parapet of his fort, which dismounted half of them. My bearers were so
frightened by the report that they let me fall. As their fears soon
subsided, and I was not hurt, we continued our journey. About
three-quarters of an hour brought us within sight of Cronenburg Castle,
the Danish settlement, when we were met by a set of wild black men, who
called themselves men of war. They had a leathern case containing a musket
cartridge hanging from the cartilage of their noses. This gave them the
appearance of having large moustachios, and if they did not look very
warlike, they looked ridiculously savage. They kept constantly charging
and firing muskets, without any order, in honour of our visit.
We at length entered the great gate, and were ushered, by two black
lacqueys in livery, into a large hall, which, for Africa, was tolerably
furnished. The Danish Governor, who was dressed in a blue embroidered
coat, soon made his appearance. He was a portly person, with much good
humour in his countenance. At six we sat down to dinner, which was
abundant, and, for the first time, I eat some kous-kous, or palm nut soup.
I thought it excellent, and the pepper pot was magnificent—so a Frenchman
would have said had he been one of the party. My old acquaintance, goat’s
flesh, did not make its appearance, but instead we had not badly-flavoured
mutton—which, to tell you a secret, was not very tender. We remained until
half-past nine o’clock, when we took our departure. The men of war with
their cartridge moustachios saluted us by firing their muskets, the
wadding of which struck me and my palanquin, for which I did not thank
them, as a bit of the wadding burnt my cheek.
On reaching the Castle at Cape Coast I was so wearied that I was almost
too lazy to undress. I slept soundly, and ate a late breakfast, took a
final leave of the good General (who made me a present of a fine pointer),
repaired on board the frigate, whose captain was tormented with the blue
devils; he requested me to remain until the following day, when, as he had
chased them away by a few glasses of his favourite beverage—good stiff
grog—and there was no further hope of posting myself into the frigate, I
ordered the anchor to be tripped, and we soon made the sparkling,
transparent wave curl like an old maid’s wig before us.
We were three tedious weeks before we reached Sierra Leone, owing to what
sailors term “Irish hurricanes”—when the wind is perpendicular, or, in
plain English, no wind at all. On landing, I met the Governor, Mr. Ludlow,
who had kindly come to welcome me, and begged that I would consider the
Fort my home. I made suitable acknowledgments, and accompanied him to his
house, which was convenient, tolerably cool, and comfortable. He showed me
a clean, cool room, which he was pleased to call my sleeping room. I found
him an amiable and good person, and was happy and proud of his
acquaintance. He told me he intended to make an excursion into the
interior, in order to discover the source of a water-fall, and invited me
to be one of the party, to which, as I was naturally fond of voyages of
discovery, I willingly consented.
The day after, at daybreak, we started, the Governor and myself in
palanquins with awnings and mosquito nets. We were thirty-five in party,
including twenty-four black pioneers, the captain of whom was an
intelligent white man. We cut a path through an immense large forest,
which boasted some noble-looking cotton, manchineel and iron trees, and a
red tree something resembling the bastard mahogany. Although we had
penetrated and ascended more than half-way up one of the Mountains of
Lions, we discovered nothing living but a variety of beautifully-plumaged
birds, which, unused to the intrusion of other bipeds, uttered most
discordant screams. After a fatiguing march, in which we were directed by
a pocket compass, we descried a small rivulet. We followed its course for
some time, and at length arrived at the base of a stupendous rock from
which it issued. We, by calculation, were distant at this time from the
town nineteen miles, nearly seven of which we had cut through the forest.
We all took refreshment and drank His Majesty’s health, first in wine and
then in a crystal draught from the spring. In returning we kept on the
bank of the rivulet until it swelled into a small river. The ground then
became thickly beset with jungle and swampy.
By five o’clock in the afternoon we arrived at the fall, which, by
measurement, was one hundred and seven feet perpendicular, and about
forty-two wide without a break—it was a beautiful sight. We dined on a
large rock about a quarter of a mile from its base, and even at that
distance our clothes were damp from its spray. We discovered a large rock
of granite from which issued a small stream of water that became tributary
to that of the fall. We also saw two brown monkeys, one of which was shot.
Some of the blacks brought it with them; it was of the small kind, and
they told me it was good eating.
We arrived at the Fort at three o’clock the next morning, when I was
suddenly attacked with a severe headache and a violent fit of the bile. As
this was nothing new to me, I kept myself quiet, and Nature was my best
physician. The slave convoy for the West Indies, I found, consisted of
three ships and a brig, with about eleven hundred slaves. As the rice
season was backward, I was petitioned by the merchants to postpone the
convoy a fortnight, to which I consented, and made a short cruise off the
Los Islands, where I anchored and made an excursion up the Rio Pongo. I
passed a small English settlement near its mouth, not fortified, at which
I landed, and was informed that a slave ship belonging to Bristol was in a
state of mutiny, and that her surgeon was confined in irons. As she was
lying about twenty miles farther up the river, and we had to pull that
distance under a burning sun, I thought it no joke. However, as there was
no alternative, we made up our minds to bear it, and reached her after a
fatiguing four hours’ pull. I found her a rakish-looking vessel with her
boarding netting triced up. On gaining her deck I inquired for her
captain. “He is on shore,” was the answer. “Who are you?” said I to the
spokesman. “The chief mate,” returned he. “Turn your hands up and let me
see what sort of stuff you are made of. You look very privateerish
outside.” Nine men made their appearance, some of whom looked sickly.
“These are not all your crew; where are the remainder?” “On shore, sir?”
“Where is the surgeon?” “On shore also.” “Show me the ship’s papers.” “The
captain has them.” “Now,” said I, “I tell you what, Master Mate, I am
going on shore to have some conversation with the African Prince Lawrence,
and if your captain and surgeon are not with me at the chieftain’s house
in half an hour after I land, I will put an officer and men on board your
ship, and if everything I have heard against his conduct is not cleared up
to my satisfaction, I will carry her to Jamaica.”
The river at this beautiful place, for the country appeared green and
fresh and ornamented with a profusion of lofty palm and cocoanut trees,
was much wider than at its mouth. On landing, a number of the natives had
assembled on the shore to view us as sea-monsters or curiosities, as they
had never seen two men-of-war’s boats at their settlement before. The
prince’s son, who was among them, came up to me. He was dressed in a white
linen jacket and trousers, with a white English hat. He spoke tolerable
English. He requested me to go to his father’s house, which was a long,
low, whitewashed building, with a four-pounder sticking out of a kind of
window at one end of it, and before it was a mud battery of four more
four-pounders in bad repair. On being introduced to him I found he also
spoke English. He asked me the occasion of my visit. I acquainted him,
when he, without ceremony, summoned one of the cabaceers, or principal
men, and desired him to find the captain of the slave-ship and bring him
with him. “I dine at three o’clock,” said he; “I hope you will favour me
with your company.” I accepted the invitation. This prince’s appearance
was like that of an European, his features were regular and pleasing. He
informed me his father was an Arabian chief, but that he was born on the
spot where he now resided, and that he had married one of the native
king’s daughters. He had two sons; the eldest was with him, and the other
in England for his education. “I am very partial to the English,” added
he, “and should like to go to England, but that is impossible.” Our
conversation was interrupted by the entrance of the native magistrate with
the master of the slave-ship, a sharp-looking, rather slight man. He
pulled off his hat. “I understand, sir, that you wish to speak with me.”
“I most assuredly do,” answered I. “Have you brought the ship’s papers and
the surgeon with you?” “I have the first about me,” saying this he took
them from his coat-pocket and gave them to me. “As for the surgeon,” said
he, “he has behaved infamously and ungratefully. I paid his lodgings at
Bristol, and if he had not come with me he must have starved or have been
put in prison.” “This,” answered I, “is your concern and not mine. I want
to know where he is.” “He is in a house about a quarter of a mile off,
where I intend keeping him until I am ready for sea, for he has also made
a mutiny in the ship and the greater part of the men have gone on shore
without leave.” “I have only one order to give,” said I, “and that is that
you show my lieutenant and two marines, whom I will send with you, where
you have confined the surgeon.” He reluctantly consented, and in about an
hour the lieutenant and his party returned with an emaciated, tall young
man. He had been confined in irons and fed on bread and water, with
sometimes a few vegetables.
As it was too long a story for me to investigate, I left it to be
discussed by the proper authorities on the ship’s arrival at Jamaica. I
had the men who had left the ship brought before me. They refused to join
her again until I told them that if they did not I would impress the whole
of them. Five of the best of them immediately stepped forward and begged
to enter. As there were fourteen others I accepted them. The others
returned to the ship on the captain promising to use them well and to
overlook all past grievances. The papers were regular, which I returned,
admonishing him at the same time to be more considerate in his conduct to
his men. A dinner was sent to the boats’ crews by the prince, and I
desired the midshipmen to entertain the surgeon, who had expressed a wish
to join our ship.
After all this much ado about something, I was ready for my dinner, and in
a quarter of an hour it was announced by the blowing of a conch. In
passing through a large hall I found myself surrounded by coal-coloured
gentlemen of all grades, one of whom wished to look at my dirk. He
examined it very closely; it appeared to take his fancy as it was silver
gilt, but as I did not take the hint, and was very hungry, I took it from
him and hastened into the dining-room. The dinner was laid out on a large
table on trestles; all the dishes were covered with cones made of cane and
stained different colours. The table was also covered with light cane
mats; altogether it had a very pretty effect. The eatables consisted of
fowls stewed to death, ducks and buffalo, and an abundance of rice, which
was served up with every dish. My favourite dish, pepper-pot, was much in
request, and I could, by a sly peep, see some of the Massa Blackies use
their fingers instead of their spoons. Roasted plantain was eaten instead
of bread; palm-wine and grog were the principal beverages, although the
prince, the lieutenant and myself drank two bottles of madeira which I had
brought in the boat. The princess was amiability itself; she was very
black, very fat and very good-natured. After dinner we walked round the
mansion. In one of the yards the young prince showed us a black ostrich,
which was considered a rarity. It stood with its neck erect, and was about
eleven feet high to the crown of its head. Its eyes were fierce and
resembled rubies.
At six o’clock I took my leave of the chieftain and his wife. On entering
the boat, I found a milch cow and calf, two dozen ducks, and a dozen
fowls, besides bows and quivers filled with arrows, a variety of fruits,
and some tiger skins. He had also, at parting, presented me with a gold
ring weighing four ounces. I was overpowered with his disinterested
kindness, and sent him some rum and gunpowder. Before I left the place I
obtained from the master of the slave-ship an order, payable at Jamaica,
for the surgeon’s salary and wages of the seamen who had entered. We got
on board the same evening. The next morning I visited the largest of the
Los or Loes Islands, which, I presume, in days of yore had been created by
a volcanic eruption. I struck off some of the rock which contained iron,
and had a ringing sound, and on rubbing it together it smelt of sulphur.
There were a few small houses on the island inhabited by fishermen, who
appeared as poor as Job’s stable-boy.