Departure from Eboe — Addizetta — Superstitious Ceremonies — Passengers
of the Canoe — Banks of the River — The Tide observed — The Travellers
met by the Chief of Brass Town — Description of King Forday — Fetísh
Ceremonies — Procession of Canoes to Brass Town — Arrival — Description
of Brass Town — Its Productions — The King’s House — The Travellers
neglected — Interview with King Forday — Preparation for leaving Brass
Town.
_Friday, November 12th._—A great tumult arose last night between the
natives and the men of Brass, which might have had a serious and fatal
termination, if the latter had not taken timely precaution to convey
their canoe from the beach into the middle of the stream, whither the
natives could not follow them. The natives had flocked down to the
water’s edge in considerable numbers, armed with muskets, spears, and
other offensive weapons, and kept up a dreadful noise, like the howling
of wolves, till long after midnight, when the uproar died away. During
the night my brother experienced a smart paroxysm of fever, which left
him towards morning very languid and heartless. He was prevented from
taking medicine, not only from our exposed situation, but likewise from
its awkwardness and unpleasantness, originating from the number of
people amongst whom we were literally jammed. King Boy slept on shore
with his wife _Addizetta_, who is Obie’s favourite daughter, and on her
account we waited till between seven and eight o’clock in the morning,
when she made her appearance with her husband,—who we understand has
embraced the present opportunity of making an excursion with her to his
native country, to vary her life a little by a change of air and scene,
and to introduce her to his other wives and relatives residing at Brass.
She has besides expressed a desire to see white men’s ships, and it is
partly to gratify her curiosity in this particular that she is going
with us. On stepping into the canoe, with a spirit of gallantry, Boy
handed her to the best seat, which was a box, close to which he himself
sat, and which we had relinquished in her favour from motives of
delicacy. Her face was towards the bow, while my brother and I sat
directly _vis à vis_ on a heap of yams; but we were so close to the
opposite party, that our legs came continually in contact, which
threatened to produce much inconvenience and some confusion. We were
still further detained by removing various heavy articles into another
canoe which was lying alongside, because ours was pronounced too deeply
laden to be safe; but after all she did not appear to be lightened very
considerably. This being done, at half past seven we pushed off the Eboe
shore, and for a little while, with forty paddles dashing up the silvery
foam at the same moment, we glided through the water with the speed of a
dolphin. To us it afforded no small gratification.
The eyes of man are so placed in his head, that it has been frequently
observed, whether sitting or standing, he can behold earth and sky at
the same moment without inconvenience, which is an advantage, I believe,
that no other animal possesses in an equal degree, if he does at all. As
I was reflecting on this circumstance, I happened to cast my eyes
towards the horizon, to convince myself of its reality, when I found the
tall, masculine figure of Obie’s favourite daughter intercepted it
entirely from my view. Being thus baulked for the moment in my
intentions, I was instantly diverted from them, and I thought the
opportunity favourable for studying the physiognomy and person of King
Boy’s ‘Ladye-love.’ Addizetta may be between twenty and thirty years of
age, or perhaps younger, for she takes snuff, and females arrive at
womanhood in warm countries much sooner than in cold ones. Her person is
tall, stout, and well proportioned, though it has not dignity sufficient
to be commanding; her countenance is round and open, but dull, and
almost inexpressive; mildness of manners, evenness of temper, and
inactivity of body also, might notwithstanding, I think, be clearly
defined in it; on the whole she had a perfect virginity of face, which
betrays not the smallest symptom of feeling. Her forehead is smooth and
shining as polished ebony, but it is rather too low to be noble; her
eyes full, large, and beautiful, though languid; her cheeks of a Dutch-
like breadth and fulness; her nose finely compressed, but not quite so
distinguished a feature as the negro nose in general; there is a degree
of prettiness about her mouth, the lips not being disagreeably large,
which is further embellished by a set of elegant teeth, perfectly even
and regular, and white as the teeth of a grey-hound; her chin—but I am
unable to describe a chin; I only know that it agrees very well with the
other features of her face.
Addizetta seldom laughs, but smiles or simpers most engagingly whenever
she is more than ordinarily pleased; and she seems not to be unconscious
of the powerful influence which these smiles have over the mind of her
husband. Her dress and personal ornaments may be described in few words;
the former consisting simply of a piece of figured silk, encircling the
waist, and extending as far as the knees; her woolly hair, which is
tastefully braided, is enclosed in a net, and ends in a peak at the top;
the net is adorned, but not profusely, with coral beads, strings of
which hang from the crown to the forehead. She wears necklaces of the
same costly bead, copper rings encircle her fingers and great toes,
bracelets of ivory her wrists, and enormous rings, also of elephant’s
tusks, decorate her legs, near the ancle, by which she is almost
disabled from walking, on account of their ponderous weight and immense
size. I had almost finished the scrutiny of her person, when Addizetta,
observing me regarding her with more than common attention, at length
caught my eye, and turned away her head with a triumphant kind of smile,
as much as to say, ‘Aye, white man, you may well admire and adore my
person; I perceive you are struck with my beauty, and no wonder
neither;’ yet I immediately checked the ill-natured construction which I
had put on her looks, and accused myself of injustice. For though, said
I to myself, Addizetta, poor simple savage, may be as fond of admiration
as her white sisters in more civilized lands; yet her thoughts, for
aught I know, might have been very remote from vanity and self-love.
However, that she smiled I am quite certain, and very prettily too, for
I saw a circling dimple radiating upon her full, round cheek, which
terminated in a momentary gleam of animation, and illuminated her dark
languishing eye like a flash of light—and what could all this mean? I
had forgotten to say that the person of Obie’s daughter is tattooed in
various parts; but the incisions, or rather lacerations, are irregular
and unseemly. Her bosom, in particular, bears evident marks of the
cutting and gashing which it had received when Addizetta was a child;
for the wounds having badly healed, the skin over them is risen a full
half inch above the natural surface. By the side of each eye, near the
temple vein, a representation of the point of an arrow is alone formed
with tolerable accuracy. They look as though indigo had been inserted
into the flesh with a needle; and by this peculiarity, with which every
female’s face is impressed, the Eboe women are distinguished from their
neighbours and surrounding tribes.
Before breakfast, Addizetta was employed above an hour in cleaning and
polishing her teeth, by rubbing them with the fibrous roots of a certain
shrub or tree, which are much esteemed and generally used for the
purpose in her own country, as well as in the more interior parts. Great
part of the day is consumed by many thousands of individuals in this
amusing occupation, and to this cause the brilliant whiteness of their
teeth, for which Africans, generally speaking, are remarkable, may be
attributed.
About ten in the morning a mess of fish, boiled with yams and plantains,
was produced for breakfast. As King Boy was fearful that our presence
might incommode his lady, we were desired to move farther back, that she
might eat with additional confidence and comfort, for, alas! we are not
placed on an equality with Addizetta and her kingly spouse. When they
had breakfasted, and swallowed a calabash of water from the stream, we
ourselves were served with a plateful, and afterwards the boat’s crew
and the slaves were likewise regaled with yams and water. In the evening
another refreshment, similar to this, was served round to all; and these
are the only meals which the men of Brass have during the twenty-four
hours. Before eating himself, Boy makes it a practice of offering a
small portion of his food to ‘the spirits of the river,’ that his voyage
may be rendered propitious by conciliating their good-will. Previous
also to his drinking a glass of rum or spirits, he pours a few drops of
it into the water, invoking the protection of these fanciful beings, by
muttering several expressions between his teeth, the tenor of which, of
course, we do not understand. This religious observance, we are told, is
invariably performed whenever the Brass people have occasion to leave
their country by water, or return to it by the same means; it is called
a meat and drink offering, and is celebrated at every meal. A custom
very similar to this prevails in Yarriba, at Badágry, Cape Coast Castle,
and along the western coast generally;—the natives of those places never
take a glass of spirits without spilling a quantity of it on the ground,
as a ‘fetísh.’ In the morning we observed a branch of the river running
off in a westerly direction, the course of the main body being south-
west.
We stopped awhile at various little villages during the day, to purchase
yams, bananas, and cocoa-nuts; and the curiosity of their poor
inhabitants at our appearance was intense. They are chiefly fishermen or
husbandmen, and, notwithstanding our uncouth and remarkable dress, they
behaved to us without rudeness, and even with civility, so that their
inquisitiveness was not disagreeable. Speaking-trumpets, we should
imagine, are quite a novelty with the men of Brass, by the extraordinary
rapture which they display for their music, which certainly is anything
but melodious. Two of these instruments, as we said yesterday, are in
the canoe, for the convenience of issuing orders, and they have not been
from the mouths of the officers for ten minutes together during the
whole day, so great has been the desire of all to breathe through them,
and add to the deafening noises made by their constant quarrelling with
each other. This is a great annoyance, but we are constrained to submit
to it in silence; besides, it is entirely superfluous, for the voices of
the people are of themselves loud and powerful enough for all the common
purposes of life; and when they have a mind to strain their _brazen_
lungs, no speaking-trumpet that has ever been made, be it ever so large,
could match the quantity of horrid sound which they make—it would drown
the roaring of the sea. In addition to the officers and attendants in
the canoe that we mentioned yesterday, we have one drummer, the king’s
steward, and his lady’s maid, and two persons to bale out water, besides
three captains, to give the necessary directions for the safety of the
canoe. The noise made by these fellows as we started, in bawling to
their fetísh through the trumpet, was beyond all description. Their
object was to secure us a safe journey, and most certainly, if noise
could do so, we were pretty certain of it. The villages that we passed
in the course of the day were very numerous, and distant not more than
two or three miles from each other on the banks of the river. They were
surrounded by more cultivated land than we have seen this last
fortnight; the crops consisting of yams, bananas, plantains, Indian
corn, &c., &c., and we have not seen so much since leaving Kacunda. The
banks here seem to be well calculated for the growth of rice, and every
other grain that we have seen in the interior. The villages had a
pleasing appearance from the river. The houses seem to be built of a
light-coloured clay, and being thatched with palm branches, they very
much resemble our own cottages. They are of a square form, with two
windows on each side of the door, but have no upper rooms.
The villagers seem to be equally as distrustful as those above Eboe
town, in trading with our people, for the men only came down with their
yams and fish, and were armed with guns and swords. The fish they
brought us consisted of cat-fish and shrimps, which had been smoked over
a wood-fire, and when boiled were very palatable. The villagers had no
tattoo marks; they wear the grass cloth fastened round their waists, and
the better sort wore printed cottons. We engaged two small canoes to
carry the yams we had purchased.
In many places we observed that the river had overflowed its banks, and
was running between the trees and thick underwood. In the widest part it
did not seem to be more than a mile and a half across. The course of the
river has been to-day nearly south-west: its width is sensibly
diminishing, indeed it is fast dwindling away into an ordinary stream.
_Saturday, November 13th._—Perhaps there cannot be a greater comfort
under the sun than sound and invigorating sleep to the weary; nor, in
our opinion, a greater grievance than the loss of it; because
wakefulness, at those hours which nature has destined for repose, is, in
nine cases out of ten, sure to be the harbinger of peevishness,
discontent, and ill-humour, and not unfrequently induces languor,
lassitude, and disease. No two individuals in the world have greater
reason to complain of disturbed slumbers or nightly watching than
ourselves. Heretofore this has been occasioned chiefly by exposure to
damps, rains, and dews, mosquito attacks, frightful and piercing noises,
and over-fatigue, or apprehension and anxiety of mind. But now, in the
absence of most of these causes, we are cramped, painfully cramped, for
want of room, insomuch that, when we feel drowsy, we find it impossible
to place ourselves in a recumbent posture, without having the heavy legs
of Mr. and Mrs. Boy, with their prodigious ornaments of ivory, placed
either on our faces or on our breasts. From such a situation it requires
almost the strength of a rhinoceros to be freed: it is excessively
teasing. Last night we were particularly unfortunate in this respect;
and a second attack of fever, which came on me in the evening, rendered
my condition lamentable indeed, and truly piteous. It would be
ridiculous to suppose that one can enjoy the refreshment of sleep, how
much soever it may be required, when two or more uncovered legs and
feet, huge, black, and rough, are traversing one’s face and body,
stopping up the passages of respiration, and pressing so heavily upon
them at times, as to threaten suffocation. I could not long endure so
serious an inconvenience, but preferred last night sitting up in the
canoe. My brother was indisposed, and, in fact, unable to follow my
example, and, therefore, I endeavoured, if possible, to render his
situation more tolerable. With this object in view, I pinched the feet
of our snoring companions (Mr. and Mrs. Boy) repeatedly, till the pain
caused them to awake, and remove them from his face, and this enabled
him to draw backwards a few inches, and place his head into a narrow
recess which is formed by two boxes. However, this did not allow him
liberty to turn it either way, and thus jammed, with no command whatever
over his suffering limbs, he passed the hours without sleep, and arose
this morning with bruised bones and sore limbs, complaining bitterly of
the wretched moments which the legs of Mr. and Mrs. Boy had caused him,
with their ivory rings and heaps of yams.
It was not till two o’clock this morning that we arrived at a convenient
place for stopping a while, to give the canoemen rest from their labour;
and at day-break we launched out again into the river, and paddled down
the stream. At seven in the morning Boy and his wife having landed to
trade, I took their place, and slept soundly an hour and a half, which
quite refreshed me. Without encountering anything remarkable, we passed
the day in much the same manner as yesterday, stopping occasionally at
certain villages, which are scattered along the banks, for the purpose
of bartering with their inhabitants. Plantains, bananas, and yams, are
cultivated by them to an extraordinary and almost incredible extent, and
for the space of nearly twenty miles scarcely anything else but
plantations of these shrubs and vegetables are to be seen. This
circumstance has led us to infer that the country is infinitely more
populous than its general appearance would seem to indicate. It is flat,
open, varied, and beautiful in many places, and its soil is a rich dark
mould or loam. But notwithstanding this extensive cultivated tract, and
other large and verdant patches, the useless mangrove tree (_rhizophera
mangle_), with its pendent branches and impenetrable roots, is fast
encroaching on every moist situation, the nearer we approach the sea.
We continued our course down the river until two hours after midnight,
when we stopped near a small village on the east side of the river. We
made fast to the shore, and the people settled themselves in the canoe
to sleep. Having sat up the whole of last night, for the best of all
reasons, because I could find no room to lie down, in consequence of the
crowded state of our canoe, and feeling myself quite unequal to do the
same again, I took my mat and went on shore, determined, if possible, to
sleep on the ground. Overcome by fatigue, the fear of being attacked by
alligators, or anything else, and I selected a dry place, and laid
myself down on my mat. I had nearly dropped asleep, when I was roused by
several severe stings, and found myself covered with black ants. They
had got up my trousers, and were tormenting me dreadfully. At first, I
knew not which way to get rid of them, and ran about as fast as I could,
with the idea of shaking them off me; but with all my endeavours it was
long before I could get rid of them. Our men, Paskoe, Sam, and Jowdie,
seeing the condition I was in, landed from the canoe, and made large
fires in the form of a ring, and I laid down in the midst of them, and
slept till daylight. The sting of a black ant is quite as painful as
that of a wasp.
_Sunday, November 14th._—This morning at daylight, when the natives
brought their fish and yams to our people for sale, they did not appear
to be at all surprised at seeing our white faces, from which I am led to
believe that they have seen white men at the sea-side. At five in the
morning we again resumed our course down the river. At 10 A.M. we passed
a small branch of the river running off east-south-east.
In the course of the day we passed several sand-banks in the middle of
the river, and our people ran the canoe aground on them purposely, to
get into the water and to have a wash. The sun was exceedingly powerful,
and they appeared to enjoy the water very much. The channels of the
river on each side of the banks appear to be very deep, and the depth on
the banks I concluded to be about three feet. After our people had taken
a good wash, we again proceeded onwards.
At seven in the evening we departed from the main river, and took our
course up a small branch towards Brass Town, running in a direction
about south-east by east from that which we had left. The course of the
river has been about south, and continued in the same direction when we
left it. It has overflowed its banks in many places that we passed to-
day, and is considerably diminished in its breadth. The widest part was
not more than a mile and a half across, and the narrowest about three
hundred yards. We have seen many villages in the course of the day, and
where the banks were not overflown, there was much cultivated land.
At half-past eight in the evening, to our great satisfaction, we found
ourselves influenced by the tide. We had previously observed an
appearance of foam on the water, which might have been carried up by the
flood-tide from the mouth of the river; but we now felt certain of being
within its influence. We were constantly annoyed by the canoe running
aground on a bank, or sticking fast in the underwood, which delayed our
progress considerably, and the men were obliged to get out to lighten
and lift the canoe off them. Our track was through a narrow creek arched
over by mangroves, so as to form a complete avenue, which in many places
was so thick as to be totally impenetrable by the light above. At 10
P.M., a heavy shower of rain wetted us thoroughly; and after this was
over, the dripping from the trees which overhung the canoe, kept us in
constant rain nearly all night. The smell from decayed vegetable
substances was sickly and exceedingly disagreeable.
_Monday, November 15th._—Through these gloomy and dismal passages we
travelled during the whole of last night, without stopping, unless for a
few minutes at a time, to disengage ourselves from the pendent shoots of
the mangrove and spreading brambles, in which we occasionally became
entangled. These luxuriant natives of the soil are so intricately woven,
that it would be next to impossible to eradicate them. Their roots and
branches are the receptacles of ooze, mud, and filth of all kinds,
exhaling a peculiarly offensive odour, which no doubt possesses highly
deleterious qualities. The reason adduced for not resting during the
night, was the apprehension entertained by King Boy of being unable to
overtake his father and brothers this morning, they having left the Eboe
country the day before us. A certain spot had previously been fixed on
by the parties for the meeting, and we arrived there about nine o’clock
A.M., and found those individuals in three large canoes, with their
attendants, waiting our arrival. Here we stopped, and made our canoes
fast to the trees, to take refreshment, such as it was, and half an
hour’s rest; and here we were introduced to the renowned King Forday,
who, according to his own account, is monarch of the whole country. In
one of the canoes sat old King Forday, in company with several fetísh
priests; the second canoe belonged to King Boy, and the third was Mr.
Gun’s. These canoes had come thus far for the purpose of escorting us
into their country.
King Forday is a complacent venerable-looking old man, but was rather
shabbily dressed, partly in the European, and partly in the native
style. Like most savages, his fondness for spirituous liquors is
extreme, and he drank large potations of rum in our presence, though it
produced no visible effect either upon his manners or conversation. In
the jollity of the moment he attempted to sing, but his weak piping
voice did not seem to second his inclination, and the sound died away
from very feebleness. His subjects, however, amounting to nearly two
hundred individuals, testified their approbation of the effort by a
tremendous ‘Yah!’ shouted simultaneously by every voice, which sounded
like the roar of a lion.
During the time we had been at breakfast the tide ebbed and left our
canoes lying on the mud. Breakfast being over, the fetísh priests
commenced their avocations by marking the person of King Boy from head
to foot with chalk, in lines, circles, and a variety of fantastic
figures, which so completely metamorphosed him as to render his identity
rather questionable, at the distance of only a few yards. His usual
dress had been thrown aside, and he was allowed to wear nothing but a
narrow silk handkerchief tied round his waist; on his head a little
close cap was placed, made of grass and ornamented with large feathers.
These we found were the wing feathers of a black and white buzzard,
which is the fetísh bird of Brass-town. Two huge spears were also
chalked and put into his hands, and thus equipped his appearance was
wild and grotesque in the extreme. The same operation was performed on
the rest of the party, and the fetísh priests were chalked in the same
manner. Our own people were merely marked in the forehead, and
ourselves, perhaps from being already white, although our faces were not
a little tanned, were exempted from the ceremony.
At eleven A.M., we were ordered into King Forday’s canoe to sit down
with him. The old man asked us immediately in tolerably good English to
take a glass of rum with him, and having seen us wondering at the
strange appearance of King Boy and the rest of the party, gave us to
understand that in consequence of no man having come down the river as
we had, it was done to prevent anything bad happening to them. We also
understood from him that a certain rite would be performed to Dju-Dju,
the fetísh or domestic god of Brass-town, in honour of our coming. The
tide was now fast returning, and preparations were made for proceeding
to Brass-town. For this purpose the canoes were all arranged in a line,
that of King Boy taking the lead, ourselves and King Forday in the next,
followed by King Boy’s brother, Mr. Gun and the Damuggoo people in
others, and in this order we proceeded up the river. Gun is styled the
_little military king_ of Brass-town, from being entrusted with the care
of all the arms and ammunition, and on this occasion he gave us frequent
opportunities of witnessing his importance and activity, by suddenly
passing a short distance before the rest of the canoes and firing off
the cannon in the bow of his own, and then dropping behind again.
The whole procession formed one of the most extraordinary sights that
can be imagined. The canoes were following each other up the river in
tolerable order, each of them displaying three flags. In the first was
King Boy, standing erect and conspicuous, his head-dress of feathers
waving with the movements of his body, which had been chalked in various
fantastic figures, rendered more distinct by its natural colour; his
hands were resting on the barbs of two immense spears, which at
intervals he darted violently into the bottom of the canoe, as if he
were in the act of killing some formidable wild animal under his feet.
In the bows of all the other canoes fetish priests were dancing and
performing various extraordinary antics, their persons, as well as those
of the people in them, being chalked over in the same manner as that of
King Boy; and to crown the whole, Mr. Gun, the little military
gentleman, was most actively employed, his canoe now darting before and
now dropping behind the rest, adding not a little to the imposing effect
of the whole scene by the repeated discharges of his cannon.
In this manner we continued on till about noon, when we entered a little
bay, and saw before us, on the south side of it, two distinct groups of
buildings, one of which is King Forday’s town, and the other King
Jacket’s town. The cannons in all the canoes were now fired off, and the
whole of the people were quickly on the look out to witness our
approach. The firing having ceased, the greatest stillness prevailed,
and the canoes moved forward very slowly between the two towns to a
small island a little to the east of Jacket’s town. This island is the
abode of the Dju-Dju, or grand fetish priest, and his wives, no one else
being permitted to reside there. As we passed Forday’s town, a salute of
seven guns was fired off at a small battery near the water. The canoes
stopped near the fetísh hut on the island, which is a low insignificant
building of clay. The priest, who was chalked over nearly in the same
manner as Boy, drew near to the water’s edge, and with a peculiar air
asked some questions, which appeared to be answered to his satisfaction.
Boy then landed, and, preceded by the tall figure of the priest, entered
the religious hut. Soon after this the priest came to the water-side,
and, looking on us with much earnestness, broke an egg, and poured some
liquid into the water, after which he again returned to the hut. The
Brass men then rushed on a sudden into the water and returned in the
same hasty manner, which to us appeared equally as mysterious as the
rest of the ceremony.
After remaining at the island about an hour, during which time Boy was
in the hut with the priest, he rejoined us, and we proceeded to Forday’s
town and took up our residence at Boy’s house. In the extraordinary
ceremony which we had just witnessed, it was evident that we were the
persons principally concerned; but whether it terminated in our favour
or against us—whether the answers of the Dju-Dju were propitious or
otherwise, we shall be able to ascertain only by the future behaviour of
the Brass people towards us.
We saw with emotions of joy a white man on shore whilst we were in the
canoe, waiting the conclusion of the ceremony. It was a cheering and
goodly sight to recognise the features of an European in the midst of a
crowd of savages. This individual paid us a visit in the evening; his
behaviour was perfectly affable, courteous, and obliging, and in the
course of a conversation which we had with him, he informed us that he
is master of the Spanish schooner which is at present lying in the Brass
river for slaves. Six of her crew, who have been ill of fever, and are
still indisposed, likewise reside in the town.
_Tuesday, November 16th._—Of all the wretched, filthy, and contemptible
places in this world of ours, none can present to the eye of a stranger
so miserable an appearance, or can offer such disgusting and loathsome
sights, as this abominable Brass town. Dogs, goats, and other animals,
run about the dirty streets, half-starved, whose hungry looks can only
be exceeded by the famishing appearance of the men, women, and children,
which bespeaks the penury and wretchedness to which they are reduced;
whilst the persons of many of them are covered with odious boils, and
their huts are falling to the ground from neglect and decay.
Brass, properly speaking, consists of two towns, of nearly equal size,
containing about a thousand inhabitants each, and built on the borders
of a kind of basin, which is formed by a number of rivulets, entering it
from the Niger through forests of mangrove bushes. One of them is under
the domination of a noted scoundrel called _King Jacket_, who has
already been spoken of; and the other is governed by a rival chief,
named _King Forday_. These towns are situated directly opposite each
other, and within the distance of eighty yards; and are built on a
marshy ground which occasions the huts to be always wet. Another place,
called ‘Pilot’s town’ by Europeans, from the number of pilots that
reside in it, is situated nearly at the mouth of the First Brass River,
(which we understand is the ‘_Nun_’ river of Europeans,) and at the
distance of sixty or seventy miles from hence. This town acknowledges
the authority of both kings, having been originally peopled by settlers
from each of their towns. At the ebb of the tide, the basin is left
perfectly dry, with the exception of small gutters, and presents a
smooth, and almost unvaried surface of black mud, which emits an
intolerable odour, owing to the decomposition of vegetable substances,
and the quantity of filth and nastiness which is thrown into the basin
by the inhabitants of both towns. Notwithstanding this nuisance, both
children and grown-up persons may be seen sporting in the mud, whenever
the tide goes out, all naked, and amusing themselves in the same manner
as if they were on shore.
The Brass people grow neither yams nor bananas, nor grain of any kind,
cultivating only the plantain as an article of food, which, with the
addition of a little fish, forms their principal article of diet. Yams,
however, are freely imported from Eboe and other countries by the chief
people, who re-sell great quantities of them to the shipping that may
happen to be in the river. They are enabled to do this by the very
considerable profits which accrue to them from their trading
transactions with people residing further inland, and from the palm oil
which they themselves manufacture, and which they dispose of to the
Liverpool traders. The soil in the vicinity of Brass is for the most
part poor and marshy, though it is covered with a rank, luxuriant, and
impenetrable vegetation: even in the hands of an active, industrious
race, it would offer almost insuperable obstacles to general
cultivation; but with its present possessors the mangrove itself can
never be extirpated, and the country will, it is likely enough, maintain
its present appearance till the end of time.
The dwelling in which we reside belongs to King Boy; it stands on the
extreme edge of the basin, and was constructed not long since by a
carpenter, who came up the river for the purpose from Calebar, of which
place he is a native; he received seven slaves for his labour. The man
must have seen European dwellings, as this is evidently an attempt to
imitate them. Its form is oblong, and it contains four apartments, which
are all on the ground floor, lined with wood, and furnished with
tolerably made doors and cupboards. This wood bears decided marks of its
having once formed part of a vessel, and is most likely the remains of
one which was wrecked, we hear, not long ago, on the bar of the river.
The house has recently been converted into a kind of seraglio by King
Boy, because he has, to use his own expression, ‘plenty of wives,’ who
require looking after. It also answers the purpose of a storehouse for
European goods, tobacco, and spirituous liquors. Its rafters are of
bamboo and its thatch of palm-leaves. The apartment which we occupy has
a window overlooking the basin, outside which is a veranda, at present
occupied by Paskoe and his wives. The whole of its furniture consists of
an old oaken table; but it is supplied with seats, made of clay, which
are raised about three feet from the ground. These, together with the
floor, which is of mud, are so soft and wet, as to enable a person to
thrust his hand into any part of them, without any difficulty whatever.
In one corner communicating with the other apartments, is a door which
is destitute of a lock, and kept always ajar, except at night, when it
is closed. One of the sides of the room is decorated with an old French
print representing the Virgin Mary, with a great number of chubby-faced
angels ministering to her, at whose feet is a prayer on ‘Our Lady’s good
deliverance.’ The whole group is designed and executed in very bad
taste.
When the tide is in, the water flows up to the doors and windows of our
house, which may perhaps account for its dampness; it is held in very
high estimation by its owner, and called an English house. The houses in
general are built of a sort of yellow clay, and the windows are all
furnished with shutters. There are several huts opposite the town where
the people make salt, after the rains are over: the water at present is
brackish, from the effect of the rains; but in the course of two months,
Boy tells us, that it will be quite salt, when they will again commence
making it. It is an article of trade, and appears to be taken in large
quantities to the Eboe market, where it is exchanged for yams, the
cowrie shell not being circulated lower down the river than Bocquâ. The
principal employment of the people consists in making salt, fishing,
boiling oil, and trading to the Eboe country, for not a particle of
cultivated land is to be seen. They live exclusively on yams and palm-
oil, with sometimes a small quantity of fish. They bring poultry from
the Eboe country, but rear very little themselves, and what they have
are carefully preserved and sold to the ships that frequent the river.
A little palm-oil would be a great luxury to us, but King Boy will not
give us any. Our allowance consists of half of a small yam each day; but
this evening, King Boy being out of the way, two of his wives brought us
half a glass of rum each, and four yams: this was a great treat to us,
but a considerable risk to them, for had Boy discovered the theft, it is
more than likely he would have had them flogged and sold.
Wet and uncomfortable as is our dwelling, yet it is infinitely more
desirable and convenient than our confined quarters in the canoe, for
here we have the pleasure of reposing at full length, which is a luxury
we could not have purchased on the water at any price. The Spanish
captain visited us again this morning, and left the town in the
afternoon on his return to his vessel: slaves, he tells us, are very
scarce, and obtained with difficulty and expense.
To-day I was requested to visit King Forday, and I accordingly complied
with the summons. His house is about a hundred yards distant from that
of King Boy, and on entering it I found him sitting half drunk, with
about a dozen of his wives and a number of dogs, in a small filthy room.
I was desired to sit down by his side, and to drink a glass of rum. He
then gave me to understand, as well as he could, that it was customary
for every white man who came to the river, to pay him four bars. I
expressed my ignorance and surprise at this, but was soon silenced by
his saying, ‘that is my demand, and I shall not allow you to leave this
town, until you give me a _book_ for that amount.’ Seeing that I had
nothing to do but to comply with his demand, I gave him a bill on Lake,
the commander of the English vessel, after which he said, ‘To-morrow you
may go to the brig, take one servant with you; but your mate (meaning my
brother) must remain here with your seven people, until my son, King
Boy, shall bring the goods for himself and me; after this they shall be
sent on board without delay.’ Much as I regretted the necessity of
parting with my brother, I was obliged to agree to this arrangement, and
with the hopes of profiting by it, I told King Forday that we were all
very hungry, and begged him to send us a fowl or two, which he promised
to do.
In order that I might make a decent appearance before my countrymen to-
morrow, I have been obliged to sit all the afternoon with an old cloth
wrapped round me, until my clothes were washed and dried. It is now six
in the evening, and the mean old king has sent us neither fowls nor
yams. This is the most starving place that I have yet seen. Mr. Gun has
given us two meals since our arrival here, consisting of a little
pounded yam, and fish stewed in palm oil, and for this he has the
impudence to demand two muskets in payment. These fellows, like the rest
on the coast, are a set of imposing rascals, little better than
downright savages. We are told that they have absolutely starved three
white men to death lately, who were wrecked in a slaving vessel, when
crossing the bar.