CHAPTER XXI.

Richard Lander leaves Brass Town — The Natives’ idea of an Echo —

Arrival on board an English brig in the river Nun — Reception —

Disappointment of Richard Lander — Conduct of the Commander of the brig

— Anxiety of Richard Lander — Arrival of John Lander on board the brig —

Narrative of John Lander — Proceedings on board the brig — Attempts to

leave the river — Perilous condition of the brig — A vessel of war —

Arrival at Fernando Po — Description of Clarence — Natives of the island

— The Gulf of Guinea — Tornadoes — The Calebar River — Ephraim Town —

Passage to Rio Janeiro — Return to England.

_Wednesday, November 17th._—I had determined that one of our men should

accompany me down the river; and at ten o’clock, having taken leave of

my brother and the rest of our party, we embarked in King Boy’s canoe,

with a light heart and an anxious mind. Although distant about sixty

miles from the mouth of the river, our journey appeared to me already

completed, and all our troubles and difficulties I considered at an end.

Already, in fond anticipation, I was on board of the brig, and had found

a welcome reception from her commander,—had related to him all the

hardships and dangers we had undergone, and had been listened to with

commiseration,—already had I assured myself of his doing all he could to

enable me to fulfil my engagements with these people, and thought

ourselves happy in finding a vessel belonging to our own country in the

river at the time of our arrival. These meditations and a train of

others, about home and friends, to which they naturally led, occupied my

mind, as our canoe passed through the narrow creeks, sometimes winding

under avenues of mangrove-trees, and at others expanding into small

lakes occasioned by the overflowing of the river. The captain of the

canoe, a tall sturdy fellow, was standing up, directing its course,

occasionally hallooing, as we came to a turn in the creek, to the

fetísh, and where an echo was returned, half a glass of rum, and a piece

of yam and fish, were thrown into the water. I had never seen this done

before; and on asking Boy the reason why he was throwing away the

provisions thus, he asked, ‘Did you not hear the fetísh?’ The captain of

the canoe replied, ‘Yes.’ ‘That is for the fetísh,’ said Boy; ‘if we do

not feed him, and do good for him, he will kill us, or make us poor and

sick.’ I could not help smiling at the ignorance of the poor creatures,

but such is their firm belief.

We had pursued our course in this manner, which had been principally to

the west, till about three in the afternoon, when we came to a branch of

the river about two hundred yards wide, and seeing a small village a

short distance before us, we stopped there for the purpose of obtaining

some dried fish. Having supplied our wants and proceeded on, about an

hour afterwards we again stopped, that our people might eat something.

Boy very kindly presented me with a large piece of yam, reserving to

himself all the fish we had got at the village, and after making a

hearty meal off them, he fell asleep: while he was snoring by my side,

the remainder of the fish attracted my notice, and not feeling half

satisfied with the yam he had given me, I felt an irresistible

inclination to taste them. Conscience acquitted me on the score of

hunger, and hinted, that such an opportunity should not be lost; and

accordingly, I very quickly demolished two small ones. Although entirely

raw, they were delicious, and I do not remember to have enjoyed anything

with a better relish in all my life.

There is scarcely a spot of dry land to be seen any where, all is

covered with water and mangrove trees. After remaining about half an

hour here, we again went forward, and at seven in the evening, arrived

in the Second Brass River, which is a large branch of the Quorra. We

kept our course down it about due south, and half an hour afterwards, I

heard the welcome sound of the surf on the beach. We still continued

onwards, and at a quarter before eight in the evening, we made our canoe

fast to a tree for the night, on the west bank of the river.

_Thursday, November 18th._—This morning I found my clothes as thoroughly

wet from the effects of the dew, as if I had been lying in the river all

night instead of the canoe. This was disagreeable enough, but I had gone

through as bad before, and a short time I flattered myself would put an

end to all such trouble. At five in the morning, we let go the rope from

the tree, and took our course in a westerly direction up a creek. At

seven we arrived in the main branch of the Quorra, which is called the

river Nun, or the First Brass River, having entered it opposite to a

large branch, which King Boy informed me runs to Benin. The direction of

the river Nun was here nearly north and south, and we kept on our course

down the stream.

About a quarter of an hour after we had entered the river Nun, we

descried, at a distance before us, two vessels lying at anchor. The

emotions of delight which the sight of them occasioned are quite beyond

my powers of description. The nearest to us was a schooner, a Spanish

slave-vessel, whose captain we had seen at Brass-town. Our canoe was

quickly by her side, and I went on board. The captain received me very

kindly, and invited me to take some spirits and water with him. He

complained sadly of the sickly state of the crew, asserting that the

river was extremely unhealthy, and that he had only been in it six

weeks, in which time he had lost as many men. The remainder of his crew,

consisting of thirty persons, were in such a reduced state, that they

were scarcely able to move, and were lying about his decks more

resembling skeletons than living persons. I could do no good here, so I

took my leave of the captain, and returned into the canoe.

We now directed our course to the English brig, which was lying about

three hundred yards lower down the river. Having reached her, with

feelings of delight mingled with doubt, I went on board. Here I found

everything in as sad a condition as I had in the schooner: four of the

crew had just died of fever; four more, which completed the whole, were

lying sick in their hammocks, and the captain appeared to be in the very

last stage of illness. He had recovered from a severe attack of fever,

and had suffered a relapse in consequence of having exposed himself too

soon, which had nearly been fatal to him. I now stated to him who I was,

explained my situation to him as fully as I could, and had my

instructions read to him by one of his own people, that he might see I

was not imposing on him. I then requested that he would redeem us by

paying what had been demanded by King Boy, and assured him that whatever

he might give to him on our account, would certainly be repaid him by

the British government. To my utter surprise and consternation, he

flatly refused to give a single thing, and ill and weak as he was, made

use of the most offensive and shameful oaths I ever heard. ‘If you

think,’ said he, ‘that you have a —— fool to deal with, you are

mistaken; I’ll not give a b——y flint for your bill, I would not give a

—— for it.’ Petrified with amazement, and horror-struck at such conduct,

I shrunk from him with terror. I could scarcely believe what I had

heard, till my ears were assailed by a repetition of the same.

Disappointed beyond measure by such brutal conduct from one of my own

countrymen, I could not have believed it possible, my feelings totally

overpowered me, and I was ready to sink with grief and shame. I returned

to the canoe, undetermined how to act, or what course to pursue. Never

in my life did I feel such humiliation as at this moment. In our way

through the country we had been treated well; we had been in the habit

of making such presents as had been expected from us; and, above all, we

had maintained our character among the natives, by keeping our promises.

This was now no longer in my power, as my means were all expended; and

when, as a last, and, as I had imagined, a certain resource, I had

promised the price of our ransom should be paid by the first of our

countrymen, that we might meet with, on the best of all securities, to

be thus refused and dishonoured by him, would, I know, degrade us sadly

in the opinion of the natives, if it did not lessen us in our own.

As there were no hopes that the captain of this vessel would pay any

thing for us, I went on board again, and told King Boy that he must take

us to Bonny, as plenty of English ships were there. ‘No, no,’ said he,

‘dis captain no pay, Bonny captain no pay, I won’t take you any

further.’ As this would not do, I again had recourse to the captain, and

implored him to do something for me, telling him that if he would let me

have only ten muskets, Boy might be content with them, when he found

that he could get nothing else. The only reply I received was, ‘I have

told you already I will not let you have even a flint, so bother me no

more.’ ‘But I have a brother and eight people at Brass-town,’ I said to

him; ‘and if you do not intend to pay King Boy, at least persuade him to

bring them here, or else he will poison or starve my brother before I

can get any assistance from a man of war, and sell all my people.’ The

only answer I received was, ‘If you can get them on board, I will take

them away, but as I have told you before, you do not get a flint from

me.’ I then endeavoured to persuade Boy to go back for my people, and

that he should be paid some time or other. ‘Yes,’ said the captain,

‘make haste and bring them.’ Boy very naturally required some of his

goods before he went, and it was with no small difficulty I prevailed on

him afterwards to go without them.

The captain of the brig now inquired what men I had; and on my telling

him that I had two seamen, and three others, who might be useful to him

in working his vessel, his tone and manner towards me softened a little.

He agreed with me that they might be useful in getting the brig out of

the river, as half of his crew were dead, and the other half sick, so I

took courage and asked him for a piece of beef to send to my brother,

and a small quantity of rum, which he readily gave me. I knew that my

brother, as well as myself, much needed a change of linen, but I could

not venture to ask such a thing from the captain with much hopes of

success, so the cook of the brig, appearing to be a respectable sort of

man, I applied to him, and he produced me instantly three white shirts.

King Boy was now ready to depart, not a little discontented, and I sent

my man into his canoe with the few things I had been able to obtain, and

a note for my brother. I desired him to give Antonio an order on any

English captain that he might find at Bonny, for his wages, and also one

for the Damuggoo people, that they might receive the small present I had

promised to their good old chief, who had treated us so well. At two in

the afternoon King Boy left me, promising to return with my brother and

people in three days, but grumbling at not having been paid his goods.

I now endeavoured to make myself as comfortable as I could in the

vessel; and thinking that the captain might change his behaviour towards

me when he got better, I determined to have as little to say to him till

then as possible.

_Friday, November 19th._—This morning Captain Lake seemed to be much

better, and I ventured to ask him for a change of linen, of which I was

in great want. He readily complied with my request, and I enjoyed a

luxury which I had not experienced a long time. In the course of the

morning I conversed with him about our travels in the country, and

related the whole particulars of the manner in which we had been

attacked and plundered at Kirree. I explained to him how King Boy had

saved us from slavery in the Eboe country, and how much we felt indebted

to him for it. I endeavoured to impress this on his mind particularly,

as I still hoped to bring him round to pay Boy what I had promised him.

Having laid all before him, as fully as I was able, and pointed out to

him the bad opinion Boy would have of us, and the injurious tendency

towards Englishmen in general that would result from not keeping our

word with him, which it was in his power to enable us to do, I asked him

to give me ten muskets for my bill on government. He had listened to my

story with attention, but I no sooner advanced my wants, than, with a

furious oath, he repeated his refusal, and finding him as determined as

ever he had been, I mentioned it no more. He moreover told me, in the

most unkind and petulant manner, ‘If your brother and people are not

here in three days, I go without them.’ This I believed he would not do,

as the men would be of service to him, but I had Boy’s promise that they

should be with me at that time.

In the middle of the day, the pilot, who had brought the vessel into the

river, came on board and demanded payment for it, which gave me an

opportunity of seeing more of the disposition of Mr. Lake. The pilot had

no sooner made his business known than Lake flew into a violent rage,

cursing him and abusing him in the most disgusting language he could

use; he refused to pay him anything whatever, and ordered him to go out

of the ship immediately. Whether Lake was right or wrong in this I know

not, but I was shocked at his expressions, and the pilot reluctantly

went away, threatening that he would sink his vessel if he offered to

leave the river without paying him his due. I was rather surprised to

hear such language from the pilot, and doubted his meaning, till I found

that he had a battery of seven brass guns at the town on the eastern

side of the river near its entrance, which, if well managed, might soon

produce that effect. This town, as before observed, is named

Pilot’s-town, being the established residence of those who conduct

vessels over the bar.

_Saturday, November 20th._—Captain Lake continues to recover from his

illness. This morning I asked him if he would take us to Fernando Po

when we left the river. This he refused, saying that the island had been

given up, that there was not a single white man on it, and that we could

get no assistance there; but that if all my people should arrive by the

morning of the 23d, he would land us at _Bimbia_, a small island in the

river Cameroons, whither he was going to complete his cargo, and at this

island he said I should find a white man, who keeps a store for Captain

Smith. I was quite satisfied with this arrangement, feeling assured that

I should get everything I might want from him.

My chief concern was about my brother, and I much feared that the vessel

would sail without him, for there was no dependence on the captain, so

little did he care for us, or the object of our visiting the country. I

took an opportunity of begging him, in the event of my brother and the

men not arriving by the 23d, to wait a little longer for them, asserting

at the same time, that if he went away without them they would be

assuredly starved, or sold as slaves, before I could return to them with

assistance. I might have just as well addressed myself to the wind. ‘I

can’t help it, I shall wait no longer,’ was the only reply he made me,

in a surly, hasty tone, which convinced me that all attempts to reason

with him would be fruitless.

In the afternoon, the chief mate and three Kroomen were sent away by his

direction to sound the bar of the river, in order to know whether there

was sufficient depth of water for the vessel to pass over it. The pilot,

who had been dismissed so peremptorily yesterday, was determined to have

his revenge, and being naturally on the look out, had observed the

movements of the boat. So favourable an opportunity was not to be lost;

and accordingly, watching her, he despatched an armed canoe, and

intercepted her return at the mouth of the river. The mate of the brig

and one of the Kroomen were quickly made prisoners and conveyed to the

Pilot’s-town, and the boat with the remainder sent back with a message

to the captain, that they would not be given up until the pilotage

should be paid. Lake must have felt annoyed at this; but whether he did

or not, he treated it with the greatest indifference, saying that he did

not care, he would go to sea without his mate or the Krooman either, and

that he was determined not to pay the pilotage.

_Sunday, November 21st._—Nothing remarkable occurred to-day. My thoughts

were entirely occupied by my brother, and I felt very anxious for his

return.

_Monday, November 22d._—My anxiety for my brother’s safety made me very

unhappy, and I was on the look out the whole day for him and our men.

Lake, observing the distress I was in, told me not to trouble myself any

more about them; adding, that he was sure he was dead, and that I need

not expect to see him again. ‘If he had been alive,’ said Lake, ‘he

would have been here by this time; to-morrow morning I shall leave the

river.’ Such unfeeling and inhuman conduct from this man only tended to

increase my dislike for him, and without paying him any attention I kept

looking out for my party. Such was my anxiety, that I was on the look

out long after dark, and could not sleep all night.

_Tuesday, November 23d._—This morning, to my great joy and to the

mortification of Lake, the sea breeze was so strong that it raised a

considerable surf on the bar and prevented us from getting out. This was

an anxious time, and the whole of the day my eyes were riveted to the

part of the river where I knew my brother must come, without my seeing

anything of him. The day passed away in tedious watching, and the night

was far spent without my seeing him. About midnight, I saw several large

canoes making their way over to the west bank of the river, in one of

which I imagined that I could distinguish my brother. I observed them

soon after land, and saw, by the fires which they made, that they had

encamped under some mangrove trees. All my fears and apprehensions

vanished in an instant, and I was overjoyed with the thoughts of meeting

my brother in the morning.

The captain of the brig, having observed them, suddenly exclaimed, ‘Now

we shall have a little fighting to-morrow; go you and load seventeen

muskets and put five buck shot into each. I will take care that the

cannon shall be loaded to the muzzle with balls and flints, and if there

is any row, I will give them such a scouring as they never had.’ He then

directed me to place the muskets and cutlasses out of sight, near the

stern of the vessel, and said to me, ‘The instant that your people come

on board, call them aft, and let them stand by the arms. Tell them, if

there is any row, to arm themselves directly, and drive all the Brass

people overboard.’ This was summary work with a vengeance, and

everything betokened that Lake was in earnest. I saw clearly that he was

resolved on adopting severe measures, and he appeared to possess all the

determination necessary to carry them through.

I could not help feeling otherwise than distressed and ashamed of

leaving the Brass people in this manner, but I had no alternative. There

was no one to whom I could apply for assistance in my present situation

except the captain of this vessel, and to him I had applied in vain. My

entreaties were thrown away on him, and even the certainty of an ample

recompense by the British government, which I had held out to him, had

been treated with contempt. I had no hopes, therefore, from this

quarter. Boy had refused to take us to Bonny, asserting that if he could

not be paid here, he should not be there, and to go back to Brass-town

would be deliberately returning to starvation; my last resource,

therefore, was to put the best face on the business that I could, and as

no other plan was left me, to get away by fair means or foul, and let

the blame fall where it was incurred.

_Wednesday, November 24th._—This morning at day break I was on the look

out for my brother, and observed him and the people get into the canoe.

They were no sooner embarked than they all landed again, which I could

account for in no other way, than by supposing that it was the intention

of Boy to keep them on shore until he had received his goods. I was not

long in this state of anxiety, for at about seven o’clock they embarked

and were brought on board.

My brother’s journal, which here follows, contains an account of the

events which fell under his notice at Brass-town, and his proceedings

during the time we were absent from each other.

‘_Wednesday, November 17th._—This morning my brother, attended by one of

our men, quitted this town with King Boy and suite, leaving the

remainder of the party and myself behind, as hostages for the fulfilment

of the conditions which we entered into with him in the Eboe country.

For myself, though greatly chagrined at this unforeseen arrangement, I

could not from my heart altogether condemn the framer of it, for it is

quite natural to suppose that a savage should distrust the promises of

Europeans, when he himself is at all times guilty of breach of faith and

trust, not only in his trading transactions with foreigners, but,

likewise in familiar intercourse with his own people. Forday is the

cause of it, and he displays all the artifice, chicanery, and low

cunning of a crafty and corrupt mind. Therefore, after a moment’s

reflection, I was not much surprised at the step which King Boy has

taken, nor can I be very angry with him; and I am resolved to wait with

composure his return, and, consequently, my release from this miserable

place, though I have begun to consider with seriousness what will become

of us in the event of Lake’s refusal to honour the bill which we have

sent him. Besides I am rather uneasy on our people’s account, for during

these two or three days past they have had scarcely anything to eat, and

we are now left entirely destitute, nor do I know where to obtain

relief. The Damuggoo people are with us likewise, and they are

interested in my brother’s return equally as much as myself. Instead of

being our guides and protectors, these poor creatures have shared in our

calamity; their little all has either been lost or stolen, or else

expended in provisions; and, like us, they are reduced to great distress

and wretchedness. They will remain here in order to receive the few

things which we have promised them and their chief: but, should Lake

object to part with his goods, we shall give them a note to the master

of any English vessel at Bonny, whither they are destined to go,

requesting him to pay the poor strangers their demands.

‘_Thursday, November 18th._—After a good deal of solicitation and

importunity, we received this morning four small yams from the wives of

King Boy, who informed us that the same number of yams will be given us

daily. Our people, having nothing else to eat, make a kind of broth of

this vegetable; at first, it was of course a most insipid mess, but,

with the addition of a little salt, it is rendered more palatable. We

sent to King Forday, in the afternoon, for a few plantains, or anything

that could be eaten; but the gloomy old savage shook his head, folded

his arms, and refused. All our people complaining this evening of

hunger, languor, and indisposition. For myself I am fast recovering.

‘_Friday, November 19th._—The man that accompanied my brother to the

brig in the river, returned this afternoon without him, and gave me the

following letter from my brother, which is dated from

“_Brass River, November 18th_, 1830.

“Dear John,—You will be surprised to learn that I did not arrive here

till this morning; when I came on board, I experienced a very cool

reception from Lake, the master. He is apparently in the last stage of

fever; but though in so alarming a state, he told me with an oath, after

I had made my business known to him, that he would not give a —— flint

for any government bill whatever; as for King Boy, he swore that he

would rather send him to the —— than give him anything. You my guess my

emotion on this intelligence; I knew not what to say or do. I wished to

return to Brass with King Boy, and proposed his taking us to Bonny,

where I told him that I had no doubt we should be more kindly received;

but Boy answered that if Lake, who is in his own river, refuse to pay

him, how could he expect to be paid in a strange country? Therefore he

would not take me from the vessel. In this dilemma I remonstrated

earnestly with Lake, who has at length agreed to tamper with Boy, and

promises to enter into an arrangement with him for the payment of the

debt, as soon as he shall have brought you and the people in safety to

the vessel, but not till then. Poor Boy looked sullen and disconcerted

at this proposal, though he has agreed to act as desired. My dear

brother, I have little news to tell you from England, because the

captain’s manners are uncivil and repulsive, and I do not like to weary

him with superfluous questions in the present irritable state of his

feelings; I can only learn, and I tell you of it with deep sorrow, that

our good King George is dead. I herewith send you a piece of beef and a

bottle of rum, which have cost me much pains to procure, but I knew how

greatly all of you stood in need of something, and therefore I have

sacrificed my feelings to necessity. I am sorry that I cannot fulfil my

promise of sending you wearing apparel; a couple of shirts, which

belonged to a seaman who died lately, is all that I can get. I suppose

you will leave Brass-town to-morrow evening; in that case you will be

with me on Saturday, and it is needless to say I shall wait your arrival

here with impatience. Lake is extremely peevish and ill-tempered, but,

as I have already told you, he is alarmingly ill, and therefore every

allowance is to be made for him of course. His mate and great part of

his crew have died of fever, and the others (except two) are either down

with the same disorder, or slowly recovering from the effects of it.

“I am, &c., &c.—R. Lander.”

‘Nothing could exceed my regret and consternation on the perusal of this

letter; and somehow, I almost dreaded to meet with King Boy. Well

knowing how much it would influence his behaviour towards us, we had

been careful to represent to that individual the thanks and cheering

which he would receive from our countrymen the moment he should take us

on board the English brig; that he would be favoured and caressed beyond

measure, and receive plenty of beef, bread, and rum. His face used to

shine with delight on anticipating so luxurious a treat; and he had

uniformly been in a better humour after listening to these promises of

ours, than anything else could have made him. The contrast between his

actual reception on board the _Thomas_, to that which his own fancy and

our repeated assurances had taught him to expect, was too dreadful to

think on even a moment; and for this reason, as much as any other, I

looked forward with something of apprehension and anxiety to an

interview with this savage; because I knew, that after the cutting

disappointment which he had experienced, he would be under the influence

of strongly excited feelings and stormy passions, over which he

exercises no control. I was convinced, too, that the whole weight of his

resentment, and the fury of his rage, would fall upon me, for I am

completely in his power.

‘The interesting moment at length arrived. We heard King Boy quarrelling

with his women, and afterwards walking through their apartments towards

ours, muttering as he went along. He entered it, and stood still. I was

reposing, as I usually do for the greater part of the day, upon a mat

which is placed on the seat of wet clay; but on perceiving him, I lifted

my head without arising, and reclined it on my hand. He looked fixedly

upon me, and I returned his glance with the same unshrinking

steadfastness. But his dark eye was flashing with anger; whilst his

upturned lip, which exposed his white teeth, quivered with passion. No

face in the world could convey more forcibly to the mind the feeling of

contempt and bitter scorn, than the distorted one before me. It was

dreadfully expressive. Drawing up the left angle of his mouth on a

parallel with his eyes, he broke silence with a sneering, long-drawn

“Eh!” and, almost choked with rage, he cursed me; and in a tone and

manner, which it is infinitely out of my power to describe, he spoke to

the following effect:—“You are thief man; English captain no will! You

assured me, when I took you from the Eboe country, that he would be

overjoyed to see me, and give me plenty of beef and rum; I received from

him neither the one nor the other. Eh! English captain no will. I gave a

quantity of goods to free you from the slavery of Obie; I took you into

my own canoe; you were hungry, and I gave you yam and fish; you were

almost naked; I was sorry to see you so, because you were white men and

strangers; and I gave each of you a red cap and a silk handkerchief. But

you are no good—you are thief man. Eh! English captain no will; he no

will. You also told me that your countrymen would do this, (taking off

his cap and flourishing it in circles over his head,) and cry Hurra,

hurra, on receiving me on board their vessel; you promised my wife a

necklace, and my father four bars. But Eh! English captain no will; he

tell me he no will; yes I will satisfy your hunger with plenty more of

my fish and yams; and your thirst will I quench with rum and palm-wine.

Eh! you thief man, you are no good; English captain no will!” He then

stamped on the ground, and gnashing at me with his teeth like a dog, he

cursed me again and again.

‘It is true, I did not feel perfectly easy at this severe rebuke, and

under such taunting reproaches; but I refrained from giving utterance to

a single thought till after he had concluded his abuse and

anathematizing. Had a spirited person been in my situation, he might

have knocked him down, and might have had his head taken off for his

pains; but as for me, all such kind of spirit is gone out of me

entirely. Besides, we had unintentionally deceived King Boy, and I also

bore in mind the kindness which he had done us in ransoming us from a

state of slavery. Most of what he had asserted was most unquestionably

true; and in some measure, I was deserving his severest reprehension and

displeasure.

‘The fury of Boy having been somewhat appeased by my silence and

submission, as well as by his own extraordinary and violent agitation, I

ventured mildly to assure him, on the strength of my brother’s letter,

that his suspicions were entirely groundless; that Mr. Lake had

certainly a _will_ or inclination to enter into arrangements with him

for the payment of his just demands; and that when he should convey our

people and myself to the Thomas, everything would be settled to his

complete satisfaction. He half believed, half mistrusted my words; and

shortly afterwards quitted the apartment, threatening, however, that we

should not leave Brass till it suited his own pleasure and convenience.

‘It is really a most humiliating reflection, that we are reduced to the

contemptible subterfuges of deceit and falsehood, in order to carry a

point, which might so easily have been gained by straightforward

integrity. But Lake’s conduct has left us no alternative; and whatever

my opinion of that individual may be, he must surely be destitute of all

the manly characteristics of a British seaman, as well as of the more

generous feelings of our common nature, to be guilty, on a sick bed, of

an action which might, for aught he knew or cared, produce the most

serious consequences to his unfortunate countrymen in a savage land, by

exposing them to the wretchedness of want, and the miseries of

slavery;—to mockery, ill-usage, contempt, and scorn; and even to death

itself.

‘_Saturday, November 20th._—King Boy has not visited us to-day, though

we have received the customary allowance of four yams from his women. In

addition to which, Addizetta made us a present of half a dozen this

morning, as an acknowledgment for the benefit she had derived from a

dose of laudanum which I gave her last night for the purpose of removing

pain from the lower regions of the stomach, a complaint by which she

says she is occasionally visited. People are in better spirits this

evening, on account of the increased quantity of yams received.

‘_Sunday, November 21st._—This morning I dismissed the poor Damuggoo

people with a note to the master of either of the English vessels lying

in the Bonny river, requesting him to give the bearers three barrels of

gunpowder, and a few muskets, on the faith of his being paid for the

same by his Majesty’s government. They left Brass in their own canoe,

quite dejected and out of heart; and Antonio, the young man who

volunteered to accompany us from his Majesty’s brig Clinker, at Badágry,

went along with them on his return to his country, from which he has

been absent two or three years. He is brother to the present, and son of

the late king of Bonny.

‘_Monday, November 22nd._—One or two crafty little urchins, who are

slaves to King Boy, have brought us a few plantains to-day as a gift.

They had been engaged in pilfering tobacco-leaves from an adjoining

apartment, to which our people were witnesses; and the juvenile

depredators, fearing the consequences of a disclosure, bribed them to

secrecy in the manner already mentioned. Boy’s women have also been

guilty, during the temporary absence of their lord and master, of

stealing a quantity of rum from the store-room, and distributing it

among their friends and acquaintance; and they have resorted to the same

plan as the boys to prevent the exposure which they dreaded. One of

them, who acts as duenna, is the favourite and confidante of Boy, and

she wears a bunch of keys round her neck in token of her authority. She

has likewise the care of all her master’s effects; and as a further mark

of distinction, she is allowed the privilege of using a walking-stick

with a knob at the end, which is her constant companion. This woman is

exceedingly good-natured, and indulges our men with a glass or two of

rum every day.

‘Last evening King Boy, stripped to the skin, and having his body most

hideously marked, ran about the town like a maniac, with a spear in his

hand, calling loudly on his _Dju Dju_; and uttering a wild, frantic cry

at every corner. It appears, that one of his father’s wives had been

strongly suspected of adulterous intercourse with a free man residing in

the town; and that this strange means was adopted, in pursuance of an

ancient custom, to apprize the inhabitants publicly of the circumstance,

and implore the counsel and assistance of the god at the examination of

the parties. This morning the male aggressor was found dead, having

swallowed poison, it is believed, to avoid a worse kind of death; and

the priest declaring his opinion of the guilt of the surviving party,

she was immediately sentenced to be drowned. Therefore, this afternoon

the ill-fated woman was tied hand and foot, and conveyed in a canoe to

the main body of the river, into which she was thrown without

hesitation, a weight of some kind having been fastened to her feet for

the purpose of sinking her. She met her death with incredible firmness

and resolution. The superstitious people believe, that had the deceased

been innocent of the crime laid to her charge, their god would have

saved her life, even after she had been flung into the river; but

because she perished, her guilt is with them unquestionably attested.

The mother of the deceased is not allowed to display any signs of sorrow

or sadness at the untimely death of her daughter; for were she to do so,

the same dreadful punishment would be inflicted upon her: “for,” say the

Brass people, “if a parent should mourn and weep over the fate of a

child guilty of so heinous a crime, we should pronounce her instantly to

be as criminal as her daughter, and to have tolerated her offence. But

if, on the contrary, she betrays no maternal tenderness, nor bewail her

bereavement in tears and groans, we should then conclude her to be

entirely ignorant of the whole transaction; she would thus give a tacit

acknowledgment to the justice of her sentence, and rejoice to be rid of

an object that would only entail disgrace on her as long as she lived.”

‘Our people are become heartily tired of their situation, and impatient

to be gone. They were regaled with an extra quantity of rum last

evening, by their female friend, the duenna; when their grievances

appearing to them in a more odious light than ever, they had the courage

to go in a body to King Boy, to demand an explanation of his intentions

towards them. They told him indignantly, either to convey them to the

English brig, or sell them for slaves to the Spaniards; for, said they,

we would rather lose our liberty than be kept here to die of hunger. Boy

returned them an equivocating answer, but treated them much less roughly

than I had reason to anticipate. Afterwards, I went myself to the same

individual, and with a similar motive; but for some time I had no

opportunity of conversing with him. It is a kind of holiday here, and

most of the Brass people, with their chiefs, are merry with

intoxication. As well as I can understand, during the earlier part of

the day they were engaged in a solemn, religious observance; and since

then King Forday has publicly abdicated in favour of Boy, who is his

eldest son. I discovered those individuals in a court annexed to the

habitation of the former, surrounded by a great number of individuals

with bottles, glasses, and decanters at their feet; they were all in a

state of drunkenness, more or less; and all had their faces and bodies

chalked over in rude and various characters. Forday, alone, sat in a

chair; Boy was at his side; and the others, amongst whom was our friend

Gun, and a drummer, were sitting around on blocks of wood, and on the

trunk of a fallen tree. The chairman delivered a long oration, but he

was too tipsy, and perhaps too full of days, to speak with grace,

animation, or power; therefore, his eloquence was not very persuasive,

and his nodding hearers, overcome with drowsiness, listened to him with

scarcely any attention. They smiled, however, and laughed occasionally;

but I could not find out why they did so; I don’t think they themselves

could tell. The old chief wore an English superfine beaver hat, and an

old jacket that once belonged to a private soldier; but the latter was

so small, that he was able only to thrust an arm into one of its

sleeves, the other part of the jacket being thrown upon his left

shoulder. These, with the addition of a cotton handkerchief, which was

tied round the waist, were his only apparel. By far the most showy and

conspicuous object in the yard was an immense umbrella, made of figured

cotton of different patterns, with a deep fringe of coloured worsted,

which was stuck into the ground. But even this was tattered and torn,

and dirty withal, having been in Forday’s possession for many years, and

it is used only on public and sacred occasions. I had been sitting

amongst the revellers till the speaker had finished his harangue, when I

embraced the opportunity, as they were about to separate, of entreating

King Boy to hasten our departure for the vessel. He was highly excited

and elated with liquor, and, being in an excellent temper, he promised

to take us to-morrow.

‘_Tuesday, November 23d._—It required little time to take leave of the

few friends we have at Brass, and we quitted the town not only without

regret, but with emotions of peculiar pleasure—King Boy, with three of

his women, and his suite, in a large canoe, and our people and myself in

a smaller one. Addizetta would gladly have accompanied her husband to

the English vessel, for her desire to see it was naturally excessive;

but she was forbidden by old Forday, who expressed some squeamishness

about the matter, or rather he was jealous that on her return to her

father’s house in the Eboe country, she would give too high and

favourable an opinion of it to her friends, which might in the end

produce consequences highly prejudicial to his interests.

‘We stopped awhile at a little fishing village, at no great distance

from Brass, where we procured a few fish, and abundance of young cocoa-

nuts, the milk of which was sweet and refreshing. Continuing our journey

on streams and rivulets, intricately winding through mangroves and

bramble, which have been already spoken of, we entered the main body of

the river in time to see the sun setting behind a glorious sky, directly

before us. We were evidently near the sea, because the water was

perfectly salt, and we scented also the cool and bracing sea-breeze,

with feelings of satisfaction and rapture. However, the wind soon became

too stormy for our fragile canoe; the waves leaped into it over the bow,

and several times we were in danger of being swamped. Our companion was

far before us, and out of sight, so that, for the moment, there was no

possibility of receiving assistance, or of lightening the canoe; but

happily, in a little while, we did not require it, for the violence of

the wind abating with the disappearance of the sun, we were enabled to

continue on our way without apprehension. About nine o’clock in the

evening we overtook the large canoe, and the crews both having partaken

of a slight refreshment of fish and plantain together, we passed the

“_Second Brass River_,” which was to the left of us, in company. Here it

might have been somewhat more than half a mile in breadth; and though it

was dangerously rough for a canoe, with great precaution we reached the

opposite side in safety. From thence we could perceive, in the distance,

the long-wished-for Atlantic, with the moon-beams reposing in peaceful

beauty upon its surface, and could also hear the sea breaking and

roaring over the sandy bar which stretches across the mouth of the

river. The solemn voice of ocean never sounded more melodiously in my

ear than it did at that moment; O! it was enchanting as the harp of

David. Passing along by the left bank, we presently entered the “_First

Brass River_,” which is the “_Nun_” of Europeans, where, at midnight, we

could faintly distinguish the masts and rigging of the English brig in

the dusky light, which appeared like a dark and ragged cloud above the

horizon. To me, however, no sight could be more charming. It was

beautiful as the gates of paradise, and my heart fluttered with

unspeakable delight, as we landed in silence on the beach opposite the

brig, near a few straggling huts, to wait impatiently the dawn of to-

morrow.

‘_Wednesday, November 24th._—This was a happy morning, for it restored

me to the society of my brother, and of my countrymen. The baneful

effects of the climate are strongly impressed upon the countenances of

the latter, who, instead of their natural healthy hue, have a pale,

dejected, and sickly appearance, which is quite distressing to witness.

However, the crew of the Spanish schooner look infinitely more wretched:

they have little else but their original forms remaining; they crawl

about like beings under a curse; they are mere shadows or phantoms of

men looking round for their burying-place. No spectacle can be more

mortifying to man’s pride than this; nothing can give him a more

humiliating sense of his own nothingness. It is very much to be wondered

at why Europeans in general, and Englishmen in particular, persevere in

sending their fellow-creatures to this _Aceldama_ or _Golgotha_, as the

African coast is sometimes not inappropriately called: they might as

well bury them at once at home, and it is pleasanter far to die there;

but interest, and the lust of gain, like Aaron’s rod, seem to swallow up

every other consideration.’

My brother had now joined me, and my station during the time the canoe

was coming from the shore to the vessel had been by the cannon; it was

the only one on board, but it had been loaded as Lake had directed, and

pointed to the gangway of the brig, where the Brass people must come.

The muskets were all ready lying concealed where Lake had directed them

to be placed, and he repeated the same orders that he had given me

yesterday, respecting the part my people were to take in the business.

Lake received my brother civilly, but immediately expressed his

determination to dismiss Boy without giving him a single article, and to

make the best of his way out of the river. A short time after his

arrival, a canoe arrived at the beach with Mr. Spittle, the mate of the

brig, as prisoner, who immediately sent a note off to the captain,

informing him that the price of his liberation was the sum demanded for

the pilotage of the vessel over the bar of the river. He said further,

that he was strictly guarded, but that notwithstanding this he did not

despair of making his escape if Lake could wait a little for him. The

vessel had been brought into the river about three months before, but

Lake would never pay the pilotage, and now all he did was to send Mr.

Spittle a little bread and beef. The amount demanded was about fifty

pounds worth of goods, which it was quite out of the question that Lake

would ever pay.

Meanwhile King Boy, full of gloomy forebodings, had been lingering about

the deck. He had evidently foresight enough to suspect what was to take

place, and he appeared troubled and uneasy, and bewildered in thought.

The poor fellow was quite an altered person; his habitual haughtiness

had entirely forsaken him, and given place to a humble and cringing

demeanour. A plate of meat was presented to him, of which he ate

sparingly, and showed clearly that he was thinking more of his promised

goods than his appetite, and a quantity of rum that was given to him was

drunk carelessly, and without affording any apparent satisfaction.

Knowing how things were likely to terminate, we endeavoured to get Boy

into a good humour, by telling him that he should certainly have his

goods some time or other; but it was all to no purpose; the attempt was

a complete failure; the present was the only time in his mind. We really

pitied him, and were grieved to think that our promises could not be

fulfilled. How gladly would we have made any personal sacrifice rather

than thus break our word; for although we had been half-starved in his

hands, yet we felt ourselves indebted to him for having taken us from

the Eboe people and bringing us to this vessel. I rummaged over the few

things left us from our disaster at Kirree, and found to my surprise

five silver bracelets wrapped up in a piece of flannel. I was not aware

of having these, therefore I immediately offered them to him, along with

a native sword, which being a very great curiosity, we had brought with

us from Yarriba with the intention of taking it to England. Boy accepted

of these, and my brother then offered him his watch, for which he had a

great regard, as it was the gift of one of his earliest and best

friends. This was refused with disdain, for Boy knew not its value; and

calling one of his men to look at what he said we wished to impose on

him in lieu of his bars, both of them, with a significant groan, turned

away from us with scorn and indignation, nor would they speak to us or

even look at us again. Our mortification was now complete; but we were

helpless, and the fault was not with us.

Boy now ventured to approach Captain Lake on the quarter-deck, and, with

an anxious, petitioning countenance, asked for the goods which had been

promised him. Prepared for the desperate game he was about to play, it

was the object of Lake to gain as much time as possible, that he might

get his vessel under way before he came to an open rupture. Therefore he

pretended to be busy in writing, and desired Boy to wait a moment.

Becoming impatient with delay, Boy repeated his demand a second and a

third time, ‘Give me my bars.’—‘I NO WILL!’ said Lake in a voice of

thunder, which one could hardly have expected from so emaciated a frame

as his. ‘I no will, I tell you; I won’t give you a —— flint. Give me my

mate, you black rascal, or I will bring a thousand men of war here in a

day or two; they shall come and burn down your towns and kill every one

of you; bring me my mate!’ Terrified by the demeanour of Lake, and the

threats and oaths he made use of, poor King Boy suddenly retreated, and

seeing men going aloft to loosen the sails, apprehensive of being

carried off to sea, he quickly disappeared from the deck of the brig,

and was soon observed making his way on shore in his canoe, with the

rest of his people; this was the last we saw of him. In a few minutes

from the time Boy had left the vessel the mate Mr. Spittle was sent off

in a canoe, so terrified were the Brass people that a man of war would

come and put Lake’s threats into execution.

At ten in the morning the vessel was got under way, and we dropped down

the river. At noon the breeze died away, and we were obliged to let go

an anchor to prevent our drifting on the western breakers at the mouth

of the river. A few minutes more would have been fatal to us, and the

vessel was fortunately stopped, although the depth of water where she

lay was only five fathoms. The rollers, as the large high waves are

called, which came into the river over the bar, were so high, that they

sometimes passed nearly over the bow of the vessel, and caused her to

ride very uneasily by her anchor. We had been obliged to anchor

immediately abreast of the Pilots’ town, and expected every moment that

we should be fired at from their battery. Time was of the greatest

importance to us; we had made Boy our enemy, and expected, before we

could get out of the river, he would summon his people and make an

attack on us, while our party amounted only to twenty men, two thirds of

whom were Africans. The pilot also, whom Lake had offended so much, is

known to be a bold and treacherous ruffian. He is the same person who

steered the brig Susan among the breakers, by which that vessel narrowly

escaped destruction, with the loss of her windlass and an anchor and

cable. The fellow had done this merely with the hopes of obtaining a

part of the wreck as it drifted on shore. Another vessel, a Liverpool

oil-trader, was actually lost on the bar by the treachery of the same

individual, who, having effected his purpose by placing her in a

situation from which she could not escape, jumped overboard and swam to

his canoe, which was at a short distance. The treatment of the survivors

of this wreck is shocking to relate; they were actually stripped of

their clothes and allowed to die of hunger. It would be an endless task

to enumerate all the misdeeds that are laid to this fellow’s charge,

which have no doubt lost nothing by report; but, after making all

reasonable allowances for exaggeration, his character appears in a most

revolting light, and the fact of his running these vessels on the bar

proves him to be a desperate and consummate villain. This same fellow is

infinitely more artful and intelligent than any of his countrymen, and

is one of the handsomest black men that we have seen.

Not long after we had dropped the anchor we observed the pilot, with the

help of a glass, walking on the beach and watching us occasionally. A

multitude of half-naked suspicious-looking fellows were likewise

straggling along the shore, while others were seen emerging from a grove

of cocoa-trees and the thick bushes near it. These men were all armed,

chiefly with muskets, and they subsequently assembled in detached groups

to the number of several hundreds, and appeared to be consulting about

attacking the vessel. Nothing less than this, and to be fired at from

the battery, was expected by us; and there is no doubt that the strength

and loftiness of the brig only deterred them from so doing. The same

people were hovering on the beach till very late in the evening, when

they dispersed; many of them could be seen even at midnight, so that we

were obliged to keep a good look out till the morning.

_Thursday, November 25th._—The vessel rode very uneasily all night, in

consequence of the long heavy waves which set in from the bar: these are

technically called by sailors _ground-swell_, being different from the

waves which are raised while the wind blows; the latter generally break

at the top, while the former are quite smooth, and roll with great

impetuosity in constant succession, forming a deep furrow between them,

which, with the force of the wave, is very dangerous to vessels at

anchor. Our motions were still closely watched by the natives. About

eleven we got under way, but were obliged to anchor again in the

afternoon, as the water was not deep enough for the vessel to pass over

the bar. The mate sounded the bar again, and placed a buoy as a mark for

the vessel to pass over in the deepest water.

_Friday, November 26th._—The wind favouring us this morning, we made

another attempt at getting out of the river. We had already made some

progress when the wind again died away, and the current setting us

rapidly over to the eastern breakers, we were obliged to let go an

anchor to save us from destruction. We could see nothing of the buoy,

and have no doubt that it was washed away by the current; our anchorage

was in three and a half fathoms water, and the ground-swell, which now

set in, heaved the vessel up and down in such a frightful manner, that

we expected every moment to see the chain-cable break. As soon as we

dropped our anchor, the tide rushed past the vessel at the rate of eight

miles an hour. After the ebb-tide had ceased running, the swell

gradually subsided, and the vessel rode easily.

The mate was again sent to sound the bar, and in about three hours

afterwards returned with the information that two fathoms and three-

quarters was the deepest water he could find. The bar extends across the

mouth of the river in the form of a crescent, leaving a very narrow and

shallow entrance for vessels in the middle, which is generally concealed

by the surf and foam of the adjacent breakers. When the wind is light

and the tide high, and the surface of the water smooth, excepting in a

few places, the bar is then most dangerous. We observed several fires

made by the natives on the beach, which were supposed to be signals for

us to return.

_Saturday, November 27th._—We passed a restless and most unpleasant

night. The captain and the people were much alarmed for the safety of

the brig. The heavy ground-swell which set in increased by the strength

of the tide, caused her to pitch and labour so hard, that a man was

placed to watch the cable, and give notice the moment it complained, a

technical expression which meant the moment it gave signs of breaking.

Daylight had scarcely dawned when the pall of the windlass broke. The

purpose of this is to prevent the windlass from turning round on its

axis against any strain to which it may be subjected, and consequently

it was no sooner broken than the windlass flew round with incredible

velocity, having nothing to resist the strain of the cable which was

passed round it. The chain cable ran out so swiftly, that in half a

minute the windlass was broken to atoms. My brother and I with our

people rendered all the assistance in our power to prevent the ship from

drifting. We succeeded in fastening the cable to ring bolts in the deck,

until we got sufficient of it clear to go round the capstan, which we

had no sooner effected, than the ringbolts were fairly drawn out of the

deck by the strain on the cable.

About eight A.M., a terrific wave, called by sailors a _sea_, struck the

vessel with tremendous force and broke the chain cable. ‘The cable is

gone!’ shouted a voice, and the next instant the captain cried out in a

firm, collected tone, ‘Cut away the kedge!’ which was promptly obeyed,

and the vessel was again stopped from drifting among the breakers. The

man who had been stationed to look out on the cable came running aft on

deck as soon as he had given notice of the danger, calling out that all

was over.—‘Good God!’ was the passionate exclamation of every one, and a

slight confusion ensued. But the captain was prepared for the worst; he

gave his orders with firmness, and behaved with promptness and decision.

We were riding by the kedge, a small anchor, which, however, was the

only one left us, and on which the safety of the brig now depended. The

breakers were close under our stern, and this was not expected to hold

ten minutes,—it was a forlorn hope—every eye was fixed on the raging

surf, and our hearts thrilled with agitation, expecting every moment

that the vessel would be dashed in pieces. A few long and awful minutes

were passed in this state, which have left an indelible impression on

our minds. Never shall I forget the chief mate saying to me, ‘Now, Sir,

every one for himself, a few minutes will be the last with us.’ The

tumultuous sea was raging in mountainous waves close by us, their foam

dashing against the sides of the brig, which was only prevented from

being carried among them by a weak anchor and cable. The natives, from

whom we could expect no favour, were busy on shore making large fires,

and other signals, for us to desert the brig and land at certain places,

expecting, no doubt, every moment to see her a prey to the waves, and

those who escaped their fury to fall into their hands. Wretched

resource! the sea would have been far more merciful than they.

Such was our perilous situation, when a fine sea-breeze set in, which

literally saved us from destruction. The sails were loosened to relieve

the anchor from the strain of the vessel, and she rode out the ebb-tide

without drifting. At ten A.M., the tide had nearly ceased running out,

and the fury of the sea rather abated, but it was quite impossible that

the brig could ride out another ebb-tide where she lay, with the kedge

anchor alone to hold her: the only chance left us, therefore, was to get

to sea, and the captain determined on crossing the bar, although there

appeared to be little chance of success. At half-past ten A.M. he manned

the boat with two of our men, and two kroomen belonging to the brig, and

sent them to tow, while the anchor was got on board. This had no sooner

been done, than the wind fell light, and, instead of drifting over to

the western breakers as yesterday and the day before, the brig was now

set towards those on the eastern side, and again we had a narrow escape.

With the assistance of the boat and good management, we at length passed

clear over the bar on the edge of the breakers, in a depth of quarter-

less three fathoms, and made sail to the eastward. Our troubles were now

at an end; by the protection of a merciful Providence we had escaped

dangers, the very thoughts of which had filled us with horror; and with

a grateful heart and tears of joy for all his mercies, we offered up a

silent prayer of thanks for our deliverance.

The bar extends about four or five miles from the mouth of the river in

a southerly direction, but is by no means known. This river is by far

the best place on the whole coast at which small vessels may procure

oil, as it is the shortest distance from the Eboe country, where the

best palm-oil is to be had in any quantity. The Eboe oil is pronounced

to be superior to that of any other part of the country which is brought

to the coast. The river is not much frequented, owing probably to its

being unknown, and the difficulty of crossing the bar, for not more than

five English vessels have been known to come to it, two of which are

stated to have been lost and a third to have struck on the bar, but

being a new strong vessel, she beat over it into deep water. I would

recommend the master of any vessel going to the river for palm-oil to

provide himself with two good strong six-oared boats for towing, and a

double complement of kroomen. The expense of ten or twelve kroomen would

be trifling, as they only require a few yams and a little palm-oil to

eat, and they are always ready to perform any laborious work which may

be required of them. If masters of vessels coming to the river would

send a boat before to sound, and have two good six-oared boats towing, I

think there would be no danger of any being lost, as has been the case

with some from being weakly-manned. Vessels are got under way with a

fine breeze, and when they arrive in the most dangerous part, it dies

away, and if there are no boats ready for towing, nothing can save them

from destruction.

Vessels going out of the river are usually recommended to keep as near

as possible to the western breakers, but I should think this very

dangerous, unless there is sufficient wind to keep command of them. When

a vessel leaves her anchorage in the river, she will be set by the

current over to the western breakers, and, when half way to the bar,

will be set over to the eastern, as we were. The river in the month of

December and January would, I think, be safest, as the rains in the

interior will then be over, and all the extra water will have been

discharged, which it has received in the extent of country through which

it runs. When no English vessels are in the river, the people of Bonny

come and purchase the palm-oil from the Brass people, probably for the

purpose of supplying the ships in their river, as well as for their own

uses.

_Sunday, November 28th._—This morning we discovered a strange vessel on

our starboard beam, which directly made sail in chase of us. After

firing a gun to make us stop, or bring us to, as the sailors expressed

it, she sent a boat on board of the brig, and we found her to be the

Black Joke, tender to the British commodore’s ship. We reported

ourselves to the Lieutenant commanding her, in the hopes of his taking

us on board of his vessel and landing us at Accra, from whence I thought

it would be easy to find our way by one of his Majesty’s ships to

Ascension or St. Helena, from either of which places an opportunity

would offer for us to get home without delay. His orders, however, were

to run down the coast as far as the Congo, and he recommended us to go

to Fernando Po, where we should find every assistance and a vessel about

to sail soon for England. Having obtained from us the intelligence that

the Spanish slaver was lying in the river Nun ready to sail, he

immediately altered his course for that river for the purpose of

capturing her. Captain Lake agreed to land us in his boat at Fernando

Po, as he passed the island on his way to the river Cameroons, and we

again made sail to the eastward.

_Wednesday, December 1st._—The last two days were employed in making the

passage to Fernando Po, and this morning, to our great satisfaction, we

discovered the island. We were glad to get out of this vessel, for the

unfeeling commander, notwithstanding that our men had rendered him every

assistance in getting his brig out of the river, and had done everything

required of them, afterwards employed every means he could think of, to

annoy us and make us uncomfortable while we were with him. At night,

while the people were sleeping, he would make his men draw water and

throw it over them for mere amusement. There are many commanders as bad

as he is on the coast, who seem to vie with each other in acts of

cruelty and oppression. The captain of the palm-oil brig Elizabeth, now

in the Calebar river, actually whitewashed his crew from head to foot,

while they were sick with fever and unable to protect themselves; his

cook suffered so much in the operation, that the lime totally deprived

him of the sight of one of his eyes, and rendered the other of little

service to him.

In the afternoon we were happily landed at Clarence Cove, in the island

of Fernando Po, where we were most kindly received by Mr. Becroft, the

acting superintendent. This worthy gentleman readily supplied us with

changes of linen, and everything we stood in need of, besides doing all

he possibly could to make us comfortable. The kindness and hospitality

we received from him, and Dr. Crichton in particular, we shall be

grateful for as long as we live.

Accustomed as we had been during the last month to the monotonous

sameness of a low, flat country, the banks of the river covered with

mangroves overhanging the water, and in many parts, in consequence of

its extraordinary height, apparently growing out of it; the lofty summit

of Fernando Po, and the still loftier mountains of the Cameroons on the

distant main land, presented a sublime and magnificent appearance. The

highest mountain of the Cameroons is a striking feature on this part of

the coast, being more than thirteen thousand feet high. The land in its

vicinity is low and flat, which renders the appearance of this mountain

still more imposing, as it towers majestically over the surrounding

country in solitary grandeur. It divides the embouchures of the spacious

rivers old Calebar and Del Rey, on the west, from the equally important

one of the Cameroons on the east. The island of Fernando Po is detached

about twenty miles from the coast, and appeared to us, when we first saw

it, in two lofty peaks connected by a high ridge of land. The northern

peak is higher than the other, which is situated in the southern part of

the island, and rises gradually from the sea to the height of ten

thousand seven hundred feet. In clear weather the island can be seen at

the distance of more than a hundred miles; but this is not always the

case, as the summit is most frequently concealed by clouds and fogs,

which are common at certain seasons of the year.

As we approached the island in fine weather and with a moderate wind, we

had ample time to observe it. The shore is formed mostly of a dark-

coloured rock, and covered with trees which reach down to the water’s

edge. The whole of the lower part of the island is covered with fine

forest trees of various descriptions, extending about three-fourths up

the sides of the mountain, where they become thinly scattered, stinted

in their growth, and interspersed with low bushes and a brown dry grass.

In various parts patches of cultivated ground may be seen along with the

huts of the natives, presenting, with the luxuriant foliage of the

trees, a mass of verdure in the most flourishing condition. Nature has

here done her utmost; the whole appearance of the island is of the most

beautiful description, and fully justifies its title to the name of

_Ilha Formosa_, signifying ‘Beautiful Island,’ which it first received.

As we approached it still nearer, the stupendous precipices and wide

fissures near the summit of the principal mountain became more distinct

by the contrast between their dark recesses and the lights on the

projecting rocks, until, by our proximity to the shore, the whole became

concealed behind the lesser heights next to the sea.

Until the year 1827, the island lay forsaken and neglected in its

primitive condition, neither the Portuguese nor Spaniards having thought

it worth their consideration. At length the attention of the British

government was directed to it, in consequence of its favourable position

for putting a stop to the slave-trade in that quarter of Africa.

Situated within a few hours’ sail of the coast, in the immediate

vicinity of those rivers, commencing with the Cameroons on the east, and

extending along the whole of the Gold Coast, where the principal outlets

of this unlawful traffic are found, Fernando Po presented advantages

which were sufficient to authorize a settlement being formed on it, and

Captain W. Owen sailed from England for this purpose in his Majesty’s

ship Eden, with the appointment of Governor, and with Commander Harrison

under his orders. Captain Owen had been previously employed on an

extensive and difficult survey of the coasts of Africa both in the

Atlantic and Indian oceans, in which the shores of this island were

included; and therefore, having visited it before, he was no stranger

either to its nature and resources, or to the climate in which it is

situated. Previous to the arrival of Captain Owen, the island had been

occasionally visited by some of the ships of war on the African station,

for the purposes of obtaining supplies of vegetables and water; and

perhaps now and then a Liverpool ship would be seen there waiting for

palm-oil, or recovering the health of her crew from fevers obtained in

the rivers on the coast. As the natives reside at some distance in the

interior, the arrival of a ship of war at the island was announced to

them by the discharge of a cannon on board, which was sufficient to

bring them to the sea-side with whatever vegetables, poultry, and other

articles they might wish to sell. The articles most demanded by them in

return were pieces of iron hoop, knives, and nails. At first a piece of

iron hoop about six inches long would purchase a pair of fowls or four

yams, so much value being attached by the natives to iron.

The business of forming a new settlement is a species of service that

requires the exercise of certain qualities of the mind which it is not

the good fortune of every one to possess. In addition to the pernicious

effects of the climate on European constitutions, there were people on

the island who, although they might be unable to offer any serious

impediment to the progress of the settlement, it was necessary to

conciliate rather than to treat with hostility, and for this no one

could have been better calculated than Captain Owen. Whatever may have

induced him to relinquish the appointment of governor, no measures for

gaining the friendship of the natives, and thereby securing their good

will towards the colony, could have been better than those which he

adopted, and the chiefs even now frequently mention his name.

The part selected as the site of the proposed settlement was on the

northern side of the island, on the borders of a small cove formed by a

narrow neck of land projecting out from the shore on the eastern side of

it. This was named ‘Point William;’ and the cove, together with the

whole establishment, was called ‘Clarence,’ after his most gracious

Majesty, who was then Lord High Admiral of Great Britain. Point

Adelaide, with two small islets off it connected by a sand bank, forms

the western boundary of the cove, and is distant about half a mile from

Point William. Goderich Bay lies to the east, and Cockburn Cove to the

west of Clarence Cove. Under the able directions of Captain Owen, the

various buildings were planned, while the operation of clearing the

ground was going forward. A flagstaff, which formerly stood on the

extremity of Point William, has been removed to the governor’s house,

and a large commodious building, with a few solitary palm-trees near it,

is the first which attracts attention. This building is assigned as the

hospital, and is judiciously situated here, as it is the most exposed to

the sea-breeze, and stands completely isolated from the rest of the

settlement, both which precautions are of no small importance in the

climate of Fernando Po. A small round-topped building at a short

distance from the hospital, with a few huts near it, and surrounded by

stakes, was formerly the magazine; and near it is another large building

used as the marine barracks. The officers’ quarters and those of the

African corps are next in succession, and announce their military

character by a piece of artillery mounted close to them, and pointed

towards the cove. The governor’s house, a large, spacious building,

stands eminently conspicuous on the precipice of the shore beneath,

which is the landing-place. From hence a fatiguing walk leads

immediately to it up an ascent of about one hundred feet. A battery of

seven guns were landed for this purpose from his Majesty’s ship Esk,

which are placed in a very commanding situation in front of the

governor’s house. The house of the mixed commission for the adjudication

of captured slave-vessels stands in an unfinished condition at a short

distance from the governor’s; various other buildings occupy Point

William, which are diversified by a few trees, that give it a pleasing

and picturesque appearance from the sea. This remark is generally made

by those who first visit Clarence Cove, and all are pleased on first

seeing it. In addition to the buildings we have enumerated, Mr. Lloyd

has a tolerably good house just finished, and the surgeon of the colony,

who is a naval officer, has one also assigned for his residence. The

Kroomen and free negroes, who amount to about two thousand in number,

have a collection of small neat huts at a short distance from

Government-house, which are constructed of wood and thatched with palm

leaves. They are very careful of them, and have a small garden in the

front as well behind, in which they cultivate Indian corn, bananas, and

peppers. These huts form two small streets, but they are daily receiving

additions from new comers.

The work of clearing the ground is constantly going forward, and is

performed by the free negroes, the African troops, and the Kroomen. The

principal disease among these people, which arises from accidents in

cutting down the trees, is ulcerated legs, and sixteen of them were in

the hospital from this cause alone. The Kroomen are a particular race of

people, differing entirely from the other African tribes. They inhabit a

country called Settra Krou, on the coast near Cape Palmas, their

principal employment being of a maritime nature. Their language, as well

as their general character, is also different from that of their

neighbours. A certain number of these men are always employed on board

of the ships of war on the African coast, for the purpose of performing

those duties where considerable fatigue and exposure to the sun is

experienced. In consequence of their roving employment, they are to be

found on all parts of the coast, and are sufficiently acquainted with it

to serve as pilots. It is customary with them to establish themselves on

various parts of the coast for this purpose, and to leave the elders of

the tribes in their own country, unless their presence should be

required by any war that might take place. They are said to return to

their country after an absence of several years, when they have amassed

by their industry sufficient to maintain themselves, and some among them

are intelligent and active, but they are not always to be trusted,

although they are a very superior class of people in comparison with

other African tribes.

Besides a watering-place at a short distance to the right of the

governor’s house, two small streams, Hay Brook and Horton Brook, run

into Goderich Bay, affording plenty of excellent water, and capable of

admitting boats. The watering-place above-mentioned is generally

frequented, from the convenience with which the water is obtained, being

conducted to the sea-side by a wooden aqueduct, under which boats may

lie and fill their casks very easily without removing them.

Clarence establishment when we arrived consisted of the superintendent,

or acting governor, Mr. Becroft, who was generally known by the title of

Captain; Captain Beattie, the commander of the Portia, colonial

schooner; Mr. Crichton, a naval surgeon; Lieutenant Stockwell, with a

party of five or six marines; a mulatto ensign of the Royal African

corps, with two black troops from Sierra Leone, and some carpenters and

sailmakers, besides a mulatto who filled the office of clerk or

secretary to Mr. Becroft. An English merchant, by the name of Lloyd, in

the employment of Mr. Smith, we also found here, whose residence we have

just mentioned.

No place, in point of convenience, could have been better selected for a

settlement than that on which Clarence is situated. The bay affords safe

anchorage for shipping from the furious tornadoes which are common in

this part of the world, and is sufficiently capacious to shelter as many

vessels as are likely to visit the island: it abounds with fish, and is

free from sunken rocks, and the shore is steep and easy of access to

boats. There is another bay, called George’s Bay, on the western side of

the island, but it has the disadvantage of being open to that quarter,

and consequently affords no safety to shipping. The proximity of

Clarence Cove to the coast of Africa is also another important point in

favour of the object for which the establishment was formed.

The natives of Fernando Po are the filthiest race of people in the whole

world. They are different in their manners and appearance from their

neighbours on the coast, to whom we have been so much accustomed of

late, and possess no single trait of character similar to them, except

that of pilfering. In point of civilization, to which the natives of

Brass Town have not the most distant pretensions, these people have even

still less; their language is totally different, and they have no

resemblance whatever to them. This in itself affords a tolerable proof

of the little intercourse they have had with the world, for while the

other islands of the Gulf are plentifully stocked with the same race of

people as those of the coast, Fernando Po, which is so much nearer to

it, is inhabited by a totally different class. They are, generally

speaking, a stout, athletic, and well made race of people, and

peculiarly harmless and peaceably inclined in their dispositions,

although each individual is generally armed with a spear about eight

feet in length, made of a hard wood and barbed at one end. They appear

also to be a healthy race of people, for although here and there one or

two might be less favoured by nature in their persons, no signs of the

diseases so common among the natives of Africa were to be seen among

them.

We have said that they are a filthy race, but no words can convey an

idea of their disgusting nature. They have long hair, which it is

difficult to distinguish, from being matted together with red clay and

palm-oil. The clay and oil are so profusely laid on, that it forms an

impenetrable shield for the head, and the long tresses, which descend to

their shoulders, are generally in a moist condition. Although this

covering is a complete safeguard to all inconvenience from without, they

still further adorn their heads with a kind of cap made of dried grass,

ornamented round the border with the feathers of fowls or any other

birds, carefully stuck into it apart from each other. Some are so vain

as to fix the horns of a ram in front of this cap, which gives them a

most ludicrous and strange appearance. Finally, the cap with all its

ornaments of feathers, horns, shells, &c., is secured in its place with

a piece of stick, which answers the purpose by being forced through it

on one side and out on the opposite after passing underneath the hair.

Sometimes this elegant pin, as it may be called, is formed of the leg

bone of some small animal, and is pointed at one end for the purpose of

penetrating more easily. The expression of their countenance, scored and

marked as it is, and surmounted by the cap above described, is wild and

barbarous. They smear their faces entirely over with red clay mixed with

palm oil; sometimes a kind of grey dust is used instead of the clay, and

this preparation being equally distributed over their whole persons,

renders their presence scarcely tolerable. It is difficult to find out

the colour of their skin under the filthy covering of oil and clay by

which it is concealed, but we believe it is not so dark as the African

negro, and more resembling a copper colour.

The natives make use of no other dress than the cap which they wear on

their heads; but a few leaves, or a bunch of dried grass, are usually

secured round the middle by the people of both sexes, while the younger,

naturally unconscious of indecency, go entirely naked. The vertebræ of

snakes, the bones of fowls and birds as well as sheep, broken shells,

small beads, and pieces of cocoa-nut shell, are put in requisition by

the natives for the ornament of their persons. A profusion of these

strung together hang round the waist, which it seems to be their

principal care to decorate in this manner, while their necks are

scarcely less favoured with a proportion of these articles. Strings of

them are also fastened round the arms and legs, but not in such

quantities as round the waist. The pieces of hoop they have obtained

from the ships which have visited the island are formed into rude

knives, or polished and worn on the arm in a kind of band made of straw,

and are much valued. In their first intercourse with our people, the

natives were very shy, and displayed much fear, but this gradually wore

off, and they now venture boldly on board, for the purpose of obtaining

knives, hatchets, or anything they can get. They have a few canoes of

small dimensions, capable of containing ten or twelve people, but are

not very expert in the management of them, although they are so far

advanced as to make use of a mast and sail, which latter is constructed

of a sort of mat. They seem to be little addicted to the water, and we

did not see any among them who could swim. In their fishing excursions

the natives are generally very successful, and those who pursue this

mode of obtaining their livelihood are compelled to adhere to it, and

allowed to have nothing to do with cultivating the island. They exchange

their fish for yams, and thus the wants of the fishermen and the

cultivators are both supplied.

In the first visits of ships to the island, very considerable aversion

was shown by the natives to any of their people attempting to go to

their huts, or even to their endeavouring to penetrate into the woods,

although only a short distance from the shore, from a fear perhaps of

their plantations being plundered[2]. Their huts, which are of the

rudest construction imaginable, may be distinctly seen among the trees

in small groups, surrounding a cleared space of ground, in which they

cultivate the yam; and are formed of a few stakes driven firmly into the

ground, thatched over with the palm leaf, the sides being completed with

a sort of wicker work. They are about ten or twelve feet long, and half

that in breadth, and not more than four or five feet in height. Their

only furniture consists of some long, flat pieces of wood, raised a few

inches from the ground, and slightly hollowed out, to answer the purpose

of sleeping in.

Numerous instances have occurred of the thieving propensities of the

natives; and it required, at first, a considerable degree of vigilance

to prevent them from being successful; but it is due to the chiefs to

say, that since the establishment of Clarence, they have invariably

taken an active part in putting a stop to it. Whatever may have been

their habits previous to the formation of the settlement, they seem to

be little improved by their intercourse with the settlers. Their

principal chief has received the formidable appellation of Cut-throat

from Captain Owen, a name by which he will be known as long as he lives.

This fellow is a most determined savage, and seems to have lost none of

his natural propensities by communication with the settlers. He has

received innumerable presents from the English, of clothes, and a

variety of things, which are all thrown away on him, and he goes about,

as usual, wearing his little hat, with feathers stuck in it, and the

long grass about his waist, disdaining such useless coverings as he

imagines them. This is not to be wondered at; for, accustomed as he has

been all his lifetime to the unrestrained freedom of his whole person,

it would be rather a matter of surprise to see him make use of them,

particularly in the climate of Fernando Po, where one almost wishes to

follow the example of the natives, excepting in the use of their clay

and palm oil. No doubt Cut-throat thinks this quite a sufficient

covering.

The natives pay frequent visits to the colony, and however they may deal

out justice among themselves, are by no means backward in seeing it

administered among the free negroes and Kroomen of Clarence. It

frequently happens that, in the scarcity of live stock, some of the

former, unable to restrain their desire for more substantial food, and

tired of their Indian corn, venture to help themselves to what the

natives will not bring them. Parties of these people are accordingly

formed, who find their way to the huts of the natives in the interior,

and steal their yams, goats, and sheep, or whatever they meet with.

These depredations are sure to bring the unfortunate owners to the

colony with complaints of their losses, which are laid before the

governor. The negroes are then mustered before them, and the native who

has been plundered is allowed, if he can do so, to point out the thief.

If he should be successful, which is frequently the case, he is allowed

to witness the punishment which the offender is sure to receive, and

generally gets some recompense for his loss. On the Sunday after our

arrival at Clarence, a party of four Kroomen set off into the interior,

with a full determination of plunder, let the consequence be what it

might. They had not gone far before they met with a goat belonging to a

native, which they immediately shot, and returned with it carefully

concealed, that they might not be discovered. Their precautions,

however, were of little avail, for the owner of the animal, accompanied

by a party of his friends, made his appearance at Clarence the next

morning, and preferred his complaint in strong terms against the

luckless Kroomen, whom it appeared, he perfectly well knew. The Kroomen

were accordingly mustered, and the very four who had gone on this

unfortunate expedition were pointed out with exultation by the natives.

The law took its course; the Kroomen each received one hundred and fifty

lashes from the African drummer usually employed on these occasions,

while the natives stood by to see that the punishment was duly

performed. This they did to admiration, by counting the number of lashes

they each received; and having witnessed the last punished with eyes

sparkling with brutal satisfaction at the tortures of the unfortunate

sufferers, they went away quite satisfied. The place where this

disagreeable operation is performed, is in the barrack-yard on Point

William, between the officers’ house and the hospital. The culprit is

tied up to a kind of strong gallows, erected for the purpose. Two stout

pieces of timber, about seven or eight feet high, are driven

perpendicularly into the ground, about four feet apart from each other;

a piece is secured firmly across them at the top, and another at a short

distance from the ground. The hands of the man who is to be punished are

tied at each end of the upright pieces, and his legs are secured to the

same on each side below, in which position he is exposed to the

merciless scourge of the drummer, which is a common cat-o’-nine-tails.

It is painful even to think of such scenes as these, and when they take

place at the mere whim and caprice of the hardened slave-merchant, such

a picture is revolting in the extreme. Here, however severe as it may

appear, it must be looked on in a different point of view. The

punishment is great; but with a certainty of receiving it if discovered,

the negro will run the risk of incurring it by what may be termed a

breach of the first law of civilized society. In addition to the

tendency it has to keep the free blacks in control, such a proceeding

convinces the natives of the island that their depredations are not

sanctioned by the colony. Were some punishment not instituted to curb

the restless, pilfering propensities of these people, no order could be

maintained; they would return to a worse condition than that from which

they were in at first, and the colony would be no longer secure; for the

natives of the island, finding their homes invaded, and their property

carried off, unable to obtain redress, would soon take the law into

their own hands, and would either murder the colonists or drive them

from the island. Therefore, although a severe one, it is a salutary

measure, and it has no doubt done much towards keeping the natives

themselves honest. What punishment is adopted among the natives we have

been unable to ascertain. The chiefs appear to possess considerable

authority over them, and it is not improbable that the custom of the

settlement is imitated in some shape or other.

The only weapons used by the natives, excepting the knife before-

mentioned, is a spear, of about eight feet in length, made of iron wood,

and barbed at one end. The nature of the wood is so hard, as not to

require the protection of iron at the end, and we did not see any

pointed with it. They are very plentiful among the natives, who do not

appear to attach any particular value to them. We had no opportunity of

witnessing their expertness with them; but they are said to use them for

killing monkeys and other animals.