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OF THE BISSAUX ISLAND, ITS DISCOVERY, ESTABLISHMENTS, PRODUCTIONS,
&c. — RELIGION, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE INHABITANTS. — OF
THE PEOPLE OF THE BISSAGOS. — THEIR TREACHERY TOWARDS EUROPEANS
WHO TRADE WITH THEM; AND CAUTIONS TO NAVIGATORS, WHO ATTEMPT ANY
INTERCOURSE WITH THEM. — FERTILITY OF THE BISSAUX. — PRIVILEGES
OF THE KING OF THAT ISLAND. — HIS CURIOUS METHOD OF PUBLISHING
HIS ORDERS. — MANNER OF TAKING CAPTIVES. — CEREMONY AT THE
DEATH OF THE SOVEREIGN.
THE isle of the Bissaux, which is situated E. and W. of cape Rouge,
between 17 deg. 28 min. long., and 11 deg. 16 min. lat. at its south
point, was discovered by the Normans in their early expeditions,
who establish themselves upon it and traded with the natives. The
decline of their affairs at length obliged them to abandon this
establishment, and the Portuguese took possession of it; they derived
great advantages from this island, though they had but a few ships
which traded with it, and these only came at long intervals. But
the advantageous position of this establishment in the centre
of the great number of fertile and populous islands, containing
large navigable rivers, which were capable of affording an easy
communication with the interior parts of them, and a knowledge
of what it had formerly produced, and which was annually at least
four hundred negroes, five hundred quintals of wax, and three or
four hundred quintals of ivory, induced M. Brue, who in 1697 was
governor-general at Senegal, to re-establish the French factory.
M. Castaing, who was employed under him, was selected to execute
this project: he repaired to the island with a good assortment
of merchandise, and was well received by the king of the country,
who granted him some huts in which he took up his residence with
his escort. He succeeded to great advantage in the trade which
he carried on; but having lost many of his people, and those who
remained with him being dangerously ill, he returned to Senegal
in 1699, and complained to the governor, that the Portuguese, who
remained in the island, had compelled him to pay them ten per cent
on his articles of trade.
M. Brue in consequence resolved to go himself to the island with
forces capable of overawing both the Portuguese and the negroes;
and in March 1700, he came to anchor before the Portuguese fort,
at the point of Bernafel with seven ships of war. The Portuguese
governor wished to prevent the French from landing; but the menacing
attitudes of the French vessels, soon induced him to come to an
understanding with them; and M. Brue demanded an audience of the
king of the island, which was granted him. The king received him in
the most humble manner, and sacrificed an ox to him, dipping his
fingers in the blood, and touching with them the hand of M. Brue,
a ceremony, which amongst these people is considered as a mark
of eternal alliance. The result was, that he gave him leave to
establish a factory or houses in any part of his dominions, and
even offered to accommodate him with his own places of residence
till the French establishments should be built.
Thus the French regained their footing upon the Bissaux; and M. Brue,
after leaving a guard, a factor, and other officers on the island,
returned to Goree and Senegal in April 1700.
The isle of the Bissaux is from thirty-five to forty leagues in
circumference: its appearance is agreeable, and its soil rises
insensibly as far as the centre, where summits of mountains are found
which are level, and from which issue several springs that fertilize
the country. The ground is throughout planted with trees which form
the most delightful and refreshing arbours; and we everywhere meet
with orange-trees of a size and height, which are truly astonishing,
as well as lemon-trees, cheese-trees, and banians. The soil is deep,
fat, and extremely fertile; it produces abundance of rice, and two
kinds of millet, the straw of which receives so much nutriment, that
it resembles young trees. They also have good harvests of a small
grain similar to the millet, which is uncommonly white, and with
the flower of which they make a thick soup or porridge, which the
negroes eat, after dissolving in it a quantity of butter or fat. The
Portuguese have planted manioc in these parts, which grows well and
affords excellent flour. The Negroes, who are naturally idle, eat
it after roasting it on their embers. Palm-wine is the general drink
in this country. Oxen here are of an uncommonly large size, and the
cows as well as short-legged goats are very fat, and give abundance
of milk. There are, however, neither sheep, hogs, nor horses: the
labours of the last mentioned animals are performed by the cows,
who carry easily, and naturally go at a jog-trot. A hole is made in
the cartilage of the nostrils, through which a cord is passed, and
this serves for a bridle, by which they are governed without trouble.
With the exception of the European establishments, we nowhere see
a collection of houses so considerable as to deserve the name of a
town, burgh or village, though the last appellation might be given
to the palace of the king, which M. Brue saw when he visited that
prince, and which was about three quarters of a league from the
Portuguese fort.
This palace is formed within a wall made of straw so compact, that
it appears at a distance like an enclosure of stone; at the door is
a guard of twenty-five or thirty soldiers armed with sabres, bows
and arrows. On entering, you first observe a kind of labyrinth of
banian-trees with tolerably neat huts, which form the residence of
the king’s women, children, domestics and slaves. In the centre
is a large court entirely shaded by a single orange-tree, which is
so thick, and its foliage so compact and extensive, that it forms
a sort of roof-work. The huts which belong exclusively to the king
surround this court, and their number, together with those which
are in the parts already mentioned, and the extent of the ground on
which they are built, present the appearance of a village enclosed
within a wall.
When this king has an interview with Europeans, he is generally
clothed in the dresses which he has obtained from them; but on
other occasions he, as well as his subjects, appears in no other
dress than a piece of cotton which goes round his loins and hangs
down to his knees. The costume of the women consists of a simple
piece of cotton which covers them from the waist downwards, and
they wear ornaments, such as collars and bracelets of beads and
coral. The girls go entirely naked, and several of them have their
bodies tattoed with flowers and different figures; but as soon as
they are married they take to the cotton. The king’s daughters
appear in the same manner as those of his subjects.
The king of the Bissaux and all his people are idolators; but so
extravagant is their religion, that it is impossible to give an idea
of it. Their principal idol is a small figure, which they call Chine;
but it is difficult to know who he is, whence he comes, or what he
is good for? This deity however is not exclusively adored: for every
individual adopts for his god whatever his imagination presents
to him. They have consecrated trees to which they make sacrifices,
and which they consider either as gods of, or as the residence of
divinities: the animals sacrificed are dogs, cocks, and oxen, which
they take great care in fattening. After these sacrifices, they cut
the victim to pieces, and the king with his attendants, as well as
others who are present, take a portion and eat it, leaving the gods
nothing but the horns, which are hung on the branches of the trees,
and left there till they drop by corruption or decay. They never
undertake any important affair without consulting these deities.
The isle of the Bissaux is divided into nine provinces, eight of
which are governed by officers who are appointed by the king, and
who themselves afterwards take this title in order to give that
of emperor to their sovereign. This prince when he issues orders
or makes known his will, uses a wooden instrument which is called
_bombalon_, and which is much like a ship’s trumpet, only longer
and bigger: by striking it outside with a mallet of hard wood,
it produces a sound which is heard at a tolerable distance; and
men being stationed with similar instruments, at intervals repeat
the number of strokes as fast as the sounds are conveyed to them,
and thus transmit the orders of their sovereign; for every one
knows what is meant by any number of strokes and the comparative
force with which they are given.
By means of this instrument, which may be considered similar to our
telegraph, the will of the prince is made known and promptly executed
throughout the island; and those who refuse to obey the orders which
they receive, are immediately made slaves. This political punishment
serves to keep the subjects to their duty, and to form a part of
the revenues of the king, who sells the slaves for his own emolument.
This prince has a singular method of acquiring property; it is only
necessary for him to accept the gift which any individual may make
him of his neighbour’s house, though the donor may have no right to
it whatever; and though the king knows this, he nevertheless takes
possession of the tenement, while the owner is obliged either to
repurchase it or build another. It must, however, be admitted, that
the sufferer has immediate means of retaliation, as he can at the
same instant give the king the house of the person who has deprived
him of his own; and then both are ruined, as two houses are disposed
of, and the king is the only gainer. This custom is not indeed so
dangerous in a country where every one is his own landlord, so that
the donor always fear thars that his own property may be given away;
a circumstance which causes such presents very rarely to be made.
This king contrives to preserve peace within his own states; but
though he has no intestine war, he is continually in hostilities
with his neighbours: for when he wants slaves, he makes an irruption
amongst the Biafares, the Bissagots, the Balantes, and the Nalons,
who live contiguous to his territories, either on the main land,
or in the numerous isles, which form the archipelago of the Bissagos.
On such occasions the preparations and the expedition itself do not
occupy more than five or six days. The bombalon announces that the
king wishes to make war, and points out the place of rendezvous; on
which the great men with the officers and armed soldiery never fail
to repair thither, and are embarked in the canoes of the prince,
which are twenty or thirty in number. Each canoe holds about
twenty men, for whom the commandant is responsible to the king;
and they are obliged to row under pain of death or slavery. The king
seldom goes upon these kinds of expeditions, but employs himself in
consulting the gods, who always gave an opinion favourable to his
undertakings. On such an occasion he makes them a great sacrifice,
and himself with the warriors and priests are the only persons who
eat the flesh of the animals that are killed. The embarkation then
takes place, and every one is inspired with the greatest hopes:
they always contrive to land on the enemy’s shore in the night,
and come by surprise upon a few scattered and defenceless huts,
the inhabitants of which they carry off together with whatever they
possess. Oftentimes these warriors lie in ambush in the bye-paths
which lead to the rivers and springs, and endeavour to seize those
who pass, or come for water. When they make a capture they return
to their canoes singing, as if they had gained a glorious victory.
The king, as his right of sovereignty, possesses one half of the
slaves who are taken, and the rest are divided amongst the men
who have so bravely exposed their lives. These slaves are sold to
the Europeans, excepting those who are princes, or persons of some
distinction, whom their friends ransom by giving for each of them
two slaves, or five or six oxen.
When the conquering warriors return to their island, they
are received with praise and congratulation; but woe be to the
prisoners if the expeditions have not been completely successful;
if a warrior have been taken or killed, they run the risk of being
murdered, particularly if the person who has been killed be a man
of distinction, or if his relatives be rich.
These warlike people are, however, often attacked in their turn by
their neighbours. The Balantes and Biafares make frequent incursions
in the Bissaux isle, and wage war with the greatest cruelty: for
though they set apart a certain number of their prisoners to be sold
to the whites, they reserve the rest to be sacrificed to their god,
in honour of their victory.
They celebrate the obsequies of their dead by rude songs and dances
to the sound of the drum, in which their motions and postures
exhibit in a frightful manner the passions of rage, melancholy,
and despair. The women are the principal actresses in this scene:
they appear with their heads loaded with mire and blood, the latter
of which they have drawn from themselves by scratching; and they
continue to howl like persons deranged till the body is put in
the ground.
The same ceremonies are observed at the death of the king; and
on this occasion the women of whom he has been most fond, and the
slaves for whom he had occasion either to serve or divert him, are
murdered and buried in his grave. It is, however, asserted, that
this custom is now almost abolished, that is, that a smaller number
of those miserable people are buried with the body of their king.
The order of succession to the throne is regulated in a manner
truly extraordinary. Four of the strongest noblemen carry the body
of the deceased king as far as the sepulchre; on reaching which
they toss the bier up in the air and keep it from falling to the
ground. After giving the corpse several propulsions of this kind,
they let it fall upon the grandees who have prostrated themselves
around the grave; and the person on whom the royal body rests,
is immediately proclaimed king.
Hence royalty is elective in the Bissaux island; though from the
arrangements that are made, the election cannot _fall_ upon any but
a prince of the royal family, namely the sons, brothers, or nephews
of the deceased. It may easily be supposed that those who aspire to
the throne, neglect no means to gain the favour of the electors;
and happy is he who is rich enough to acquire their good opinion,
and obtain their royal burden: such an one on being proclaimed king,
has the diadem encircled on his head, that is, they twist round
his cap two folds of rope, which is the mark of his sovereign power.
I shall terminate this chapter by mentioning a phenomenon observed
by M. Brue. He declares, that he saw on this island a white woman
who had a black father and mother: she was married to a black man,
and all their children were of his colour. Several travellers have
mentioned similar occurrences; but none of them attempt to point
out the cause.
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