* * * * *
OF THE ISLES OF LOS OR IDOLES. — ACCOUNTS OF CERTAIN ANIMALS. —
THE CROCODILE OR CAYMAN. — THE ELEPHANT. — THE RIVER-HORSE. —
TAMED CROCODILES. — SINGULAR ANECDOTE OF AN ELEPHANT. — A
PARTICULAR ACCOUNT OF THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.
ABOUT forty leagues to the south of Bissagos, in lat. 9° 27′
long. 15° 40′ you arrive at the islands of De Los or Idoles: they
are seven in number, but only three of them are inhabited. The four
others are properly nothing but rocks. On the easternmost of these
isles is an English factory. Their isolation from the continent,
and the elevation of their soil, render them as healthy as they are
agreeable; the natives call them _Sarotima_, that is, the “land
of the white man:” we knew them formerly under the name of Tamara.
About sixty years ago these islands were only inhabited by a single
family, called Bagos; at present they are overloaded with a mixture
of Bagos, and the fugitive slaves of the Suzees and the Mandingos.
The three isles which are inhabited, are called Tamara, Los,
and Crafford. Tamara, the greatest and most westerly, is almost
semicircular; its shore rises in an amphitheatrical form to such a
height, as to be seen twelve leagues at sea. It produces fine trees,
which are fit for building: its surface is not properly known, and
ships prefer anchoring at the isle of Los. The chief of this isle is
called William; he has his village on the low point, which forms a
plain about a quarter of a league long, by half a quarter wide. He
has always wished for the French to establish themselves there;
but the anchorage is not sufficiently convenient, as all goods,
&c. are obliged to be landed in canoes or by similar means.
Los is the most eastern island: it is a league long, and it is
necessary to pass the south end in order to anchor off it. All
dangers can be foreseen in this part; which is not the case at the
north-east point, as it runs under water to the extent of a quarter
of a league.
Crafford is exactly between the two great isles, and stands amidst
two large rocks, about a league in circumference. The surf and
breakers reach a league from its northern point: they are occasioned
by a large sand-bank below high-water-mark; but this danger is of
little consequence, as ships always pass to the south of the isles.
From April to September the storms are frequent, and the winds
impetuous; but all accidents may be prevented by coming to an anchor
about half a league from the English factory. In case of the breaking
of cables, the ships are ready to set sail and make for the offing.
The English establishment prospers, and carries on its trade in a
peaceable manner; it always keeps in the road four or five large
ships, six coasters, and several shaloops for navigating the river.
The French may be found on these islands, as well as on every part
of the coast. About twenty years ago, a sailor from Havre, whose
name I regret I do not know, had the courage to establish himself
on his own account at the isle of Los; his enterprize was attended
with the best success, and afforded a great resource to the French
ships which frequented those roads. I do not know whether this
establishment still exists, but it would be of great advantage
either to support or renew it.
From the isle of Los may be seen Cape Tagrin. The mountains of the
interior are very high, and appear to be three or four leagues
from the sea-shore. Cape Tagrin is low and covered with trees,
as are all the points of the coast.
In this part of Africa may be found, in greater numbers than
elsewhere, crocodiles or caymans, elephants, and sea-horses. The
first are too well known to need any description; but in these
countries they have certain customs which are worth mentioning.
At the lower end of the river of St. Domingo, and at the mouth of
that of Gesves, is a village which, as I have already said, is called
the Boat, and I have been assured that the inhabitants of this place
have succeeded in training crocodiles. These carnivorous animals,
which are dreaded in every other part of the world, walk about in
the village just mentioned, without doing the least injury to any
one. The natives indeed give them food, which renders them mild and
tractable; and children may be seen riding on their backs, and even
beating them, without any resentment being visible on the part of the
crocodiles. This is doubtless, a great proof of what may be effected
by patience and benevolence: for in other parts these creatures
pursue and destroy men and beasts without distinction. There are
nevertheless Negroes rash enough to attack them with poniards, and
who generally kill them. At Senegal there was a servant who took
pleasure in going to fight them; but he often returned severely
bitten and lacerated. He was once on the point of falling a prey
to an animal of this description, which had rendered him _hors de
combat_; but he was assisted just in time by his comrades.
The elephants are less dangerous towards man, but do equal injury
to his property. When they lie down in the mud to cool themselves,
they pay no attention to people who pass near them; and it is
rare that they seek a quarrel: but when they are fired on and
wounded, they begin to be enraged, and it is difficult to escape
them. Excepting in this case, and when people wish to frighten them,
they retire gravely as soon as they think proper. They look for a
long time at those who disturb them; then give two or three roars,
and go away. When injured they are very ingenious in their means of
vengeance, and uncommonly clever in executing them. It is asserted
that the crew of a French vessel, which had arrived in the river
of St. Domingo, observed an elephant sticking in the mud in such a
manner that he could not disengage himself: the sailors thought that
it would be easy to take him, and accordingly fired muskets at him,
which did not kill him, but put him in a rage. They could not get
near enough to spear him; and being little accustomed to this kind
of hunting, they did not know the parts at which he might be wounded
with the greatest effect. The elephant could neither run away from,
nor get towards his assailants; he therefore in despair took up the
mud with his trunk, and threw it in such quantities into the ship,
that it was ready to sink, and the sailors were obliged to tow
it off. As the tide set in, they observed the elephant disengage
himself and swim to shore.
The sea-horses or hippopotami which are found in all the waters of
Africa, abound more particularly in the rivers which I have just
mentioned: they are easier dispersed than elephants. On seeing men
or hearing a noise, they quickly retire to the river from which
they issued, and plunge in head-foremost; the next minute they
re-appear at the surface, and neigh two or three times so loudly
that they may be heard at a very great distance.
This animal, which the ancients called hippopotamus, and of which
they have transmitted to us several inaccurate descriptions, is not
to be found in any other part of the world. I shall therefore give
a complete description of it. It resembles in several respects
both the ox and the horse; and its tail is like that of a hog,
except that it has no hair at the end. When it has attained its
full size, it is higher, longer, and bigger, by about one third,
than the largest of the French oxen; and it is not uncommon to
find hippopotami which weigh from 12 to 15 cwt: its body is thick,
compact, and closely covered with short brown hair, which grows
grey, and, as the animal gets old, resembles that of a mouse. When
in the water, this hair always shines: the head is large and stout,
but it appears short or diminutive in proportion to the rest of
the body, and it is quite flat. The neck is thick and short, and
bears no hair till the animal gets old. This part possesses great
strength, as do also the loins. The ears, though large, are small
with respect to the size of the head: they are pointed, and the
animal can erect or backen them like the common horse. It has a
fine sense of hearing, and a penetrating sight. Its eyes are large
and particularly projecting; and when it is ever so little enraged,
they become red, and glare in a terrible manner. The nose is thick
and turned up, and the nostrils are wide. Besides the incisors and
grinders, which are very large and rather hollow in the center,
the animal has four very large teeth, which serve it for weapons
of defence; two being on each side like those of the boar; they
are about seven or eight inches long, and nearly five inches in
circumference at the root: those of the lower jaw are rather more
bent than the others, and the substance of which they are composed,
is whiter and infinitely harder than ivory. When the animal is
enraged and gnashes its teeth, which emit sparks: this circumstance
doubtless gave rise to the opinion amongst the ancients that the
sea-horse vomited fire. It is certain that these teeth when struck
against a bit of steel, produce sparks, as readily as a flint.
The hippopotamus has no horns, its feet and teeth being the only
weapons with which nature has provided it; its legs are thick,
fleshy, and of a tolerable size; the foot is cleft like that of
oxen; but the pasterns or knees are too weak to support the weight
of the body: nature, however, has provided against this defect by
supplying the fetlock with two little horny substances, which tend
to support the animal while walking; it thus leaves upon the ground,
at every step, the impression of the four horns, which must have
made the ancients think that its claws were similar to those of
the crocodile, as they have depicted it to us. The hippopotamus
walks tolerably quick when it is pressed, and if it find a level
and rather hard soil; but it can never overtake a horse, nor even
a light-made man, as are all the Negroes who hunt it for amusement.
The skin of the river-horse is uncommonly hard, particularly that
which covers the neck, the back, the hind part of the thighs, and the
rump, insomuch that balls only slip along it, and arrows recoil. It
is, however, much thinner, and consequently more easy to perforate,
under the belly and between the thighs; in these parts, therefore,
the hunters attempt to wound it.
The river-horse is amphibious: it is frequently seen in the sea; but
we know that it does not proceed far from the coast or fresh water,
as it requires for its existence to be near meadows and cultivated
lands. It has been observed to walk much faster in the water than
on land, as the former supports it, and assists the progress of its
heavy body; nevertheless, it cannot stay in the fluid for a length
of time, or as long as it can remain on land. The time which it
has been ascertained to keep under water, is about half or three
quarters of an hour; after which it is obliged to come to land for
the purpose of free respiration.
It sleeps ashore amongst the rushes and thickets with which the
banks of the river are covered; and in such parts the females drop
their young, and give them suck. As soon as they see any object or
hear the least noise, they throw themselves into the water, and the
young ones follow the dam. The female generally bears four at a time,
and breeds once a year; so that the number of these animals in the
Bissagos and the neighbouring rivers, is not astonishing.
The hippopotamus feeds both on fish and on such land animals as
it can take by surprise; because the weight of its body does not
enable it to run them down. It has been asserted that it eats human
flesh; but all the accounts which I have received, tend to refute
this opinion. Besides animals and fish, we know that it eats the
grass of the fields, and particularly rice, millet, peas, melons,
and other vegetables, as its voracity is not easily satiated. The
Negroes keep it away from their grounds by the means of noises and
fires: for it makes more devastation with its feet in a piece of
cultivated ground than by what it eats; and if it take a fancy to
sleep in such a spot, the harvest is thereby entirely destroyed.
It is while the animal thus reposes that the natives most easily
destroy it by approaching in a gentle manner; and it betrays itself
by its loud snoring. The Negroes take a pleasure in attacking it,
on account of their agility; but they take care not to hunt it,
except it be at a distance from a river to which they can prevent
its return; but if it be wounded and cannot reach the water, which
it searches for with more eagerness than it defends itself against
the hunters, it becomes furious, and then it would be imprudent
to approach it. It is very tenacious of life, and never yields it
without much struggle. The hunters endeavour to break its legs with
musket-balls; and if they once cause it to fall, they kill it with
ease. If, however, on such an occasion, it succeed in gaining a
river, it plunges headlong in; and after remaining for an instant
at the bottom, it appears again at the surface, pricks up its ears,
and looks about in every direction, as if in search of those who
had forced it to quit the pasture; it then neighs, and plunges
again to the bottom, which it reaches, whatever may be its depth,
where it doubtless remains more safe, and perhaps more at its ease
than it would be between two bodies of water. There is some danger
in attacking it on the rivers: for if the hunters miss their aim,
it tries to avenge itself, and often does great injury to the boats
which are in pursuit of it.
This animal indeed does not want a certain degree of instinct: for
example, it evacuates much blood, and it is asserted that it often
bleeds itself; for this purpose it looks out for a sharp point of
rock, which is not rare on the banks of rivers, and against this it
rubs itself quickly till the friction produces an aperture capable
of admitting the passage of the blood; and it is said to observe the
discharge with attention and pleasure, and even to agitate itself
when the stream is not sufficiently copious; but when it thinks
that enough has been emitted, it goes to lie down in the mud,
and thus closes up the wound.
The Negroes of Angola, Congo, and the eastern coasts of Africa,
consider the river-horse, which they call _Fetiso_, as a diminutive
of some divinity, notwithstanding which they eat it. The other
Negroes also think the flesh excellent. The Portuguese, who are
rigid observers of Lent and fast days, pretend that it is a fish,
and as such they eat it. They are doubtless in the right, as they
find it very palatable. Europeans, on the contrary, have much
difficulty in accommodating themselves to such a repast, as they
find it to possess a gross taste and strong smell.
The skin and teeth of the river-horse are objects of commerce: of the
former, when dried and stretched, they make shields and bucklers,
which are proof against arrows and bullets; while the teeth fetch
a greater price than those of elephants. The dentists buy them up
with avidity, as they have found that teeth made of this substance
do not turn yellow like those of ivory; besides which they are much
harder. It is also asserted that little plates made of these bones,
and fixed by a riband round such parts of the limbs as are attacked
by cramp and sciatica, prevent the exacerbation of those disorders,
as long as they remain on the skin. This is a recipe which I do
not guarantee; but it may be easily tried.