Sir T. D. Acland.
Mr. Aldam.
Captain Fitzroy.
Mr. Forster.
Mr. W. Hamilton.
Mr. Milnes.
VISCOUNT SANDON in the chair.
Captain the Honourable _Joseph Denman_, R. N., called in; and further
examined.
6962. _Chairman._] Can you give the Committee any information with
regard to the Kroo Coast; first as to the extent of the Kroo Coast?--The
Kroo Coast, I conceive, begins at the river Cestros, the place known as
St. George’s, where Mr. Spence had established a factory several years
ago, which has been recently abandoned. The Kroomen occupy only five
towns upon the coast at different places between the river Cestros and
the Grand Cestros; to the northward of that the Bassa people lie
intermixed with the Fishmen, and, occupying all the coast to the
southward of the Grand Cestros, are the Fishmen, a different people from
the Kroomen; they are often confounded with them, but there is a broad
distinction between them. Intermixed with the five Kroo towns are many
Fish places. The Kroomen occupy the interior of the country more than
the Fishmen; the Fishmen are entirely upon the coast. Below Grand
Cestros they are all Fish towns. The Fish people are much more numerous
than the Kroomen. At a place called by the Fishmen Saucy Town, the
natives from the interior fought their way down to the beach.
6963. What were they?--We have no means of knowing; they are quite
different from any other races that we know of; at this the Fishmen are
exceedingly angry, as they consider that they have a title to all the
trade upon the coast. They have prohibited all trade with this place,
and have committed many outrages against British vessels and others who
have traded there in spite of their prohibition. The Fishmen are perfect
pests to the trade upon the coast; they require keeping in order very
much.
6964. Are they principally Kroomen or Fishmen who enter on board Her
Majesty’s ships?--More Fishmen than Kroomen; we cannot employ them
together.
6965. Is it the same with reference to mercantile vessels?--I am not
aware, but I think the Fishmen are generally preferred, as they are more
at home with boats and more accustomed to live on the water than the
Kroomen.
6966. Do you call those principally Kroomen or Fishmen that live at
Sierra Leone?--Both classes exist there, but I am not aware in what
proportions; the Kroomen are preferred for domestic purposes; they are
much more capable of attachment to white people.
6967. Have you any idea what the population is, whether of Fishmen or of
Kroomen?--The population of the coast of Fishmen is much greater than
that of Kroomen, but I always understood that the Kroomen ran a long way
into the interior, and were an agricultural race; indeed if it was not
so, I do not see how they could possibly exist against the hostility of
the Fishmen, as their numbers on the sea-coast are very inferior; they
are almost always at war.
6968. Are both Fishmen and Kroomen exempt from becoming slaves?--They
are exempt from becoming slaves; at the only slave factories upon the
coast, between Sierra Leone and Cape Palmas, Gallinas, and New Cestos,
the work was entirely carried on by Fishmen, but they have a great
objection to being slaves themselves; they are in the habit of
sacrificing their enemies taken in war to the Fetish tree.
6969. Are you speaking of Fishmen or of Kroomen now?--Both; I have had
opportunities of knowing that that is the fact.
6970. Do those parties bring slaves from distant parts in the interior,
or is it upon neighbouring tribes that they make inroads in order to
procure slaves?--I do not think the Fishmen or Kroomen are in the habit
of collecting slaves at all; but they are very willing to lend
themselves out to slave factories, to assist them in carrying on the
traffic in every way.
6971. And to allow their territory to be made a place of embarkation
for slaves?--I believe not; indeed there is no embarkation of slaves in
their territory; nor nearer than Young Cestos.
6972. Sir _T. D. Acland_.] Their willingness to hire themselves out to
slavers is merely as a means of active employment?--Exactly so.
6973. Not from any preference to that employment?--They prefer it, I
believe, because they are better paid for that than any thing else.
6974. _Chairman._] Have you had any opportunity of knowing the domestic
condition of the Kroomen or the Fishmen; whether they are under the
obligations of slavery to any parties?--No, there is no slavery in the
Kroo or Fish country, although the system of every headman having his
boys under him approaches something to it. The headman receives all the
wages of all the boys under him; whether that is from family connexion,
or from political institution, I do not know, but the headman receives
all the pay of all the boys. A headman on board a man-of-war, for
instance, will have 20 men under him, and he receives the whole of their
wages.
6975. Do you always take on board a headman, for every number of Kroomen
or Fishmen that you engage?--It is absolutely necessary to have a
headman to keep them in order; he generally chooses all the people, we
leave it to him to choose them. If Fishmen and Kroomen happen to be
mixed up in the same party there are always quarrels and disturbances,
indeed there is no getting on with them, so strong is the antipathy.
6976. Sir _T. D. Acland_.] Do you think, from what you know of those
people, that they would be disposed to engage themselves as labourers in
the West Indies, if proper means were taken to acquaint them with the
nature of the service?--If proper means were taken, I have not the least
doubt they might get thousands of them; the thing necessary is to
produce confidence in their minds, and that would best be done by some
man-of-war upon the coast taking over some of the headmen, upon a
promise that they should be returned by the same ship.
6977. _Chairman._] You believe that they have confidence in a
man-of-war?--I believe they have the greatest confidence in a
man-of-war, and also in the English people; but they might fancy that
abuses might take place, and that they might be made slaves of, unless
they had the evidence of some of their own people.
6978. Sir _T. D. Acland_.] Do you think it would be possible for a
man-of-war to discharge the duty of securing against any possible abuse
in their embarkation?--I do not think it would be at all necessary to
have a man-of-war for that purpose. I think you might safely leave them
to take care of themselves. The only purpose for which a man-of-war need
interfere, would be to give them a feeling of confidence in the first
instance. They might object to go over in any thing but a man-of-war. I
think the first impression is all that a man-of-war would be required
for.
6979. Do you think these people might not take others with them against
their will?--I think not; I do not think they hold slaves in any way;
the mark of the race is so very distinct, that other races could not be
mixed with them as emigrants without detection.
6980. _Chairman._] You think that the connexion between the chiefs and
those companies of boys is rather a voluntary connexion, for the purpose
of protection, than one of compulsion?--It is a voluntary connexion,
because it exists equally strongly at Sierra Leone as any where else.
6981. Sir _T. D. Acland_.] Have you any doubt that the commanders of one
of Her Majesty’s ships could effectually prevent any embarkation of the
natives against their will?--I do not think there would be the smallest
necessity for a man-of-war to superintend the coast, except at first.
6982. Supposing no landing were allowed in the West Indies without a
certificate of one of Her Majesty’s officers, would it be easy for the
officer, before he gave such a certificate, to take effectual security
against being imposed upon by the delivery of a person without his full
consent?--It would be very easy to ascertain the fact; but the Kroo and
Fish race are so distinct from all others, that I do not think there is
the smallest apprehension of its taking the form of slavery.
6983. You mean so far as regards any embarkation from that part of the
coast?--Yes, in British ships.
6984. Would it be equally safe on other parts of the coast?--It would be
impossible in other parts, without perpetuating the slave trade, in my
opinion.
6985. _Chairman._] What would be the difference between the two
cases?--There are no other races upon the coast who leave their country
voluntarily to labour. The only way in which it could possibly be
expected that the natives would be obtained from any other part of the
coast would be upon compulsion and upon sale, upon positive sale and
nominal manumission afterwards, before embarkation; but that would hold
out the same inducements to internal slave trade in Africa as the slave
trade to Brazils or Cuba.
6986. Sir _T. D. Acland_.] You think it would be impossible to guard
against fraud in that case?--It would be impossible to establish such a
plan without perpetuating the slave trade.
6987. _Chairman._] On the Fish Coast, and on the Kroo Coast, you would
not apprehend that the advantage given by any little presents to the
chiefs on the departure of any of their people for the West Indies,
might induce them to bring negroes from other parts of the country for
the purpose of emigration?--I think negroes from other parts of the
country would be immediately distinguished from the Kroomen.
6988. The security, then, you think would consist in the external marks
of the Kroo and Fish people?--Yes. Moreover, the Kroomen and the
Fishmen, on landing in the West Indies, would be always able to tell
their own story; to speak English enough to make their case known.
6989. You do not mean that the Kroomen living inland speak English?--I
suppose not; but all that I have ever seen have managed to make
themselves understood; indeed I think it is possible they might have
some idea of the English language inland, it is so universal amongst all
that I have seen. It would be very easy to follow the plan supposed, to
have a man-of-war stationed in that quarter, and known to be at a
certain place; it would be very easy to require every emigrant ship to
visit her, and receive a certificate from the captain before she sailed
for the West Indies.
6990. Would you feel any difficulty in ascertaining certainly, against
possibility of fraud, that those people were _bonâ fide_
volunteers?--There would not be the smallest difficulty.
6991. _Chairman._] You would call up the men and be able to ask them,
either directly in English, or through interpreters, the circumstances
under which they embarked?--Yes.
6992. And ascertain their knowledge of the object of the
embarkation?--Yes; nothing would be more easy or more certain.
6993. Sir _T. D. Acland_.] Supposing any man embarked were to say that
he did not wish to go, what would you do with him?--He must give his
presents back that he has received and go back himself.
6994. If he had been sent on board by compulsion, would he not run some
risk on his landing?--I think it altogether repugnant to the customs of
the country to force people on board; I do not think it is a thing at
all to be apprehended.
6995. Mr. _Aldam_.] You think there would be no more difficulty in
emigration from the Kroo Coast to the West Indies than in emigration
from England to Canada?--There would be scarcely more difficulty; I
should feel quite confident, that with the commonest care upon the part
of the Governments in the West India islands, such a thing could not be
abused.
6996. You think the one is as liable to abuse as the other?--Yes: I
think the emigration from the coast of Africa would require a little
more looking after.
6997. But the captain of a man-of-war might perform every duty that the
emigration agent now performs in an English port?--Yes; I think a
man-of-war stationed in the neighbourhood might do so.
6998. Sir _T. D. Acland_.] Do you think the Kroomen would be willing to
leave their families?--I think they would be perfectly willing to remove
without their families; you could not get them to take their families.
6999. For what length of time?--For three or four years; they have the
greatest objection to remove their women; indeed it is impossible for
any race to be more obstinately attached to their own habits and
prejudices than the Kroo and the Fish races.
7000. Therefore their engagement would be of a temporary nature?--There
is scarcely such a thing known as a Krooman to be absent from his
country more than seven years.
7001. Mr. _Aldam_.] Would their absence in the West Indies, and the
habits they would be likely to acquire there, tend to improve the
manners of the people at home, upon their return?--I think it would have
that effect to some small extent.
7002. And to introduce civilization?--To a very small extent; I do not
think that much could be expected without other means.
7003. Sir _T. D. Acland_.] Have they any means of education?--None
whatever.
7004. _Chairman._] They have no contact with any white men, except some
that come for the purpose of trading upon the coast?--And at the
settlements of Sierra Leone and Liberia.
7005. Sir _T. D. Acland_.] Do they take opportunities of acquiring
instruction on board ships?--No, I think not, except what they must
learn to do their duties.
7006. Do they show any disposition to learn to read and write?--Not at
all.
7007. Do you think that having learned the cultivation of sugar in the
West Indies, they would be likely to introduce the same cultivation in
their own country?--I think that at present they are not sufficiently
enlightened to make it very probable.
7008. _Chairman._] Would the effect of considerable emigration from the
Kroo Coast be to raise the rate of wages of the Kroomen employed in the
navy, and on board merchant ships?--I should think very probably it
might have that effect, but the wages now paid on board ships of war are
much higher than are paid anywhere else.
7056. _Chairman._] Have you considered the subject of the removal of the
Mixed Commission Court from Sierra Leone?--I have. I have heard that the
places named as preferable are Fernando Po, Accra, and Ascension. The
first is a foreign possession, and not to be purchased, therefore
utterly out of the question. The second has dangerous anchorage; no
harbour or place for breaking up ships, no territory for location, no
market for goods, and no community of which liberated Africans could
become a part. The third is a desert, the 150 persons now living there
being victualled, as at sea, on salt provisions. Since 1839, at the
latter end of which we were for the first time enabled really to attack
the slave trade, the number of Africans liberated by the Mixed
Commission Court has been extremely small; and this diminution may be
regarded as a test of success, the grand object being to guard the coast
and prevent the embarkation of slaves. In 1840 the number emancipated at
Sierra Leone amounted to but 732, and in the first half of 1841 to but
291, and of these not one-sixth died between capture and emancipation.
Sierra Leone is far preferable to any other place for the location of
liberated Africans, there being already a large and prosperous
community, comprising natives of every African race, who receive among
them their newly-emancipated countrymen, and regard them with the utmost
sympathy, assisting them in every way, and instructing them in the
language and customs of the colony. It frequently happens that near
relations are again united, and the transports of joy on such occasions
well vindicate the African from the charge so often repeated. The marked
inferiority of the liberated Africans who have been sent to the Gambia
is owing to their small numbers, in a community having no sympathies
with them, and from whom they are as much separated as from the white
inhabitants; and I would ask whether intercourse with the Fantees of the
Gold Coast would civilize or improve them to a greater extent?
7057. What is your opinion as to the advantage of transporting the
slaves as soon as they are emancipated, from Sierra Leone to the West
Indies?--The treaties embodied in the Act of the 5th of Geo. 4, provide
that slaves shall be located in the territory of the nation of the
capturing cruizer. This provision is fulfilled, when slaves captured by
a British cruizer are emancipated at Sierra Leone. When slaves so
captured are emancipated at Havannah, they should be removed to
whichever of the British West India islands it is honestly believed they
will be best placed for their own welfare and happiness. I utterly deny
the right to consult the interests of any other parties whatever in
their location. It has been argued that it would be beneficial to Sierra
Leone to send negroes after emancipation in the West Indies, and that
the Act in question authorises the Government to compel slaves
emancipated under its provisions to serve in the Army or Navy, or to
send them where it pleases. But to carry this provision out to its full
extent would be but to perpetuate their slavery, contrary to the whole
spirit of the Act; nor could the forcible removal of these poor
creatures from an asylum containing thousands of their countrymen, and
possibly many of their near kindred, be rendered justifiable by any
consideration whatever. I have seen a cargo of slaves, after the
completion of one voyage across the Atlantic, condemned to another for
their own supposed benefit; and I can bear witness to the horror of the
victims, when they found themselves once more on the “middle passage.”
7058. What circumstance do you allude to?--The vessel which I stated
before, that I took from Rio Janeiro to Sierra Leone, a slave ship, with
a cargo of slaves which had arrived there, and had been there seized.
Further I would say, let the subject be considered with regard to
foreign governments. The Dutch government not long ago purchased slaves
at Elmina, who, after nominal enfranchisement, were forcibly transported
to the island of Java. It is undoubted, that a vessel employed in
carrying them would be subject to capture by a British cruizer, and
condemnation at Sierra Leone. Had such a case occurred, and the negroes
after emancipation been immediately transported to Trinidad, or to
Demerara without their own consent, how could such a transaction be
vindicated in the eyes of Europe? Voluntary emigration from Sierra Leone
may very properly be encouraged by all fair means. The number of
emigrants cannot, however, amount to any considerable extent, compared
with the wants of the West Indies.
7059. Mr. _Forster_.] Are you well acquainted with the land in the
neighbourhood of Accra?--No; I have not been to Accra. I only know that
the British settlement is confined to the walls of the fort.
7060. Are you aware of any difficulty that would arise in acquiring
territory in the neighbourhood of Accra?--I believe there would be no
difficulty; but it is the fact that we have no territory now.
7061. But if it were deemed advisable to establish the Mixed Commission
Court there, are you aware of any difficulty in acquiring territory for
the purpose of locating the liberated Africans?--No; I believe that
territory might be obtained if it were desirable in other respects. But
I believe it is not desirable in other respects.
7062. Captain _Fitzroy_.] Have any liberated Africans been employed at
Ascension; and if so, how have they conducted themselves?--I have a
letter from a gentleman who was adjutant in the Island of Ascension,
under whom those Africans were employed, Lieutenant Wade. I beg leave to
state that in this letter, as regards the first party to which he
alludes, from my own knowledge I can say that he has very much
understated the difficulty that existed with them. They were very
troublesome in every way. He expressed to me verbally, in the strongest
terms, the contrast between the people who had not received the benefit
of residence at Sierra Leone, and those who had.
[_The letter was delivered in, and read as follows_:]
Sir,
London, 23 June, 1842.
I have the honour to address to you the following facts relative to
the liberated Africans employed by Government on the Island of
Ascension, and which you may be pleased to lay before the African
Committee for their information.
The liberated Africans attached to the establishment are 33 in number,
and are relieved every three years if they wish it; they are paid in
three classes. The first class receive 6_d._ and the lowest 4_d._,
according to their merits; they receive a full ration of provisions,
but no spirits, except the head man, who is paid and victualled as the
marines.
I was three years on the island, the last two as adjutant, and as such
these people were more immediately under my control; and therefore I
am enabled to speak confidently as to their general conduct.
I found them easily managed, especially the last party which arrived
in December 1840, who being residents at Sierra Leone for many years,
were most useful and intelligent men; most of them had learned to read
and write, and several had been brought up to trades and were
industrious; whereas the former party, who were sent direct from the
slave-yard (as it is commonly termed), were difficult to instruct,
owing to their ignorance of the English language.
Each man is permitted to bring his wife.