The Theatre--Tribute to Governor Buchanan--Arrival at Settra Kroo--Jack
Purser--The Mission-School--Cleanliness of the Natives--Uses of the
Palm-Tree--Native Money--Mrs. Sawyer--Influence of her Character on the
Natives--Characteristics of English Merchant-Captains--Trade of England
with the African Coast.
_March_ 21.--The scenery of the theatre having been damaged by the rain,
the other night, it is spread out to dry, and will be re-painted. Much
interest is felt in the Drama, and the exertions of the performers are
rewarded with full houses nightly. Some of the actors have evidently
trodden other boards than these. Among two hundred men, many of whom have
led wild and dissipated lives on shore, it is easy to suppose that enough
are familiar with the theatre in front of the curtain, and a few behind
it. Thus a tolerable company has been collected, needing only a few female
recruits to render it perfect. The dresses and scenery were procured by
general subscription, and are showy as well as appropriate; and many a
manager might deem himself fortunate to engage the whole corps, with
wardrobe and decorations included, for a summer campaign. On board ship,
our buskined heroes are of more importance than Booth, Forrest, or
Macready ashore, as affording amusement to a set of fellows who would have
precious little of it, without this resource.
22.--At 3 P.M. up anchor for the leeward, and stand off with a good
breeze.
23.--We have passed Bassa Cove, merely sending in some letters by a
Kroo-canoe, which boarded us. A considerable settlement of colonists is
established here. Many of their houses are visible along the shore, while
two smaller villages, in the immediate vicinity, are concealed by the
woods. The bar at this place has a bad reputation; several boats having
been swamped in passing it. In 1836, ten persons, including a midshipman
and purser's clerk, were drowned here, by the capsizing of a boat
belonging to the frigate Potomac.
At Bassa Cove, in 1842, died Thomas Buchanan, Governor of Liberia; a man
who has identified his name with the existence of the colony, by his
successful exertions to promote its strength and respectability. No other
person had done so much to impress the natives with awe and respect for
the colonists, and to give Liberia an independent position in the eyes of
foreigners. A year before his death, it was my good fortune to be a
shipmate of this great and excellent man; for great and excellent I do not
hesitate to call him, although the remoteness of his sphere of action has
left his name comparatively obscure. Like all who came in contact with
him, I was deeply impressed with his pure, high, determined, and chivalric
character. In a grove, near the village, he selected a spot for his
burial; and there rest the remains of a finished gentleman, an
accomplished scholar, a fearless soldier, a wise legislator, an ardent
philanthropist, and a sincere Christian. So long as Liberia shall have a
history, Governor Buchanan will be remembered in it. Honor to his ashes!
24.--Sunday. No service to-day, in consequence of a heavy rain, which
commenced at nine in the morning, and continued till one in the afternoon.
In the evening, four or five miles from land, we were boarded by the mate
of an English brig, at anchor off Grand Botton. He seemed a well-disposed,
off-hand man, telling us, among other things, that he had run away from
the U.S. schooner Enterprise, in the Pacific ocean, four years ago. This
was rather a hazardous communication to make, on the deck of a national
vessel; and it so happened that one of our lieutenants was in the
Enterprise, at the time referred to, and remembered the circumstance and
the man. However, as he had put confidence in us, we did not molest him.
25.--Anchored at Settra Kroo.
26.--Ashore, and dined upon roasted oysters, in a native hut. A large,
shrewd Krooman, Jack Purser by name, seems to be the most important
private individual here. He is the great tradesman of the place, and very
accommodating in his mode of transacting business. We saw a specimen of
his dealings with the natives. Being told that we wanted wood, he sent
intelligence through the town; and, directly, many women and girls flocked
to his house, each with a bundle of wood upon her head, which she
deposited near the door. After twenty or thirty loads had been brought,
Jack Purser came forth with a bundle of tobacco under his arm, and threw
the price of each load upon the wood, one, two, or three leaves of
tobacco, according to its size. There was no haggling, as is invariably
the case when a white man is the customer, but all assented to the
decision of the trademan. Jack Purser is a man of fortune, if the number
of his wives, twenty-nine, be a criterion.
I saw a native doctor making his "greegree," or charm, for rain. There
were two large mortars, with leaves, bark, and roots, in each, and a long
vine extending from one to the other. Into these mortars he poured water,
until it ran over.
27.--Dined on shore, at Mrs. Sawyer's. The repast consisted of bits of
mutton in palm-butter, mutton roasted, rice, palm-cabbage, chicken, and
papaw, with coffee, but no wine. There are thirty children in the
Mission-school, mostly boys, who show considerable aptitude for learning.
It is an obstacle in the way of educating girls, that many of them are
betrothed before entering school, and, just when their progress begins to
be satisfactory, their husbands claim them and take them away. Mr. Wilson
adopted the plan of taking the pair of betrothed ones; and, after pursuing
their studies in unison (doubtless including the conjugation of the verb,
to love), they left the school together.
One of the scholars, a little fellow called Robert Soutter, took a strange
fancy to me, and followed everywhere at my heels, expressing a strong wish
to accompany me to Big America. When we returned to the ship, he actually
jumped into the boat, without saying a word, and came off, ready for the
voyage. To be sure, there were few preparations requisite to rig him out.
A handkerchief about his loins comprised all the earthly goods of Robert
Soutter.
The houses at Settra Kroo are often two stories high, with piazzas round
the whole. The entrance to the upper story is by a ladder from without.
Like other native houses, they are built with bamboo, and thatched. There
being a war with other portions of the Kroo-people, the Beachmen have been
obliged to plant cassada in the town itself, instead of the neighboring
fields. Hence high fences are necessary to keep out the cattle; and these,
being irregular, make it a kind of labyrinth for a stranger. The place is
one of the best on the coast for watering ships, in the dry season. A
large stream of sweet and clear water runs through a grove of palm-trees,
to the sea. Hither come all the women of the village, in the old
scriptural fashion, with the water-jar, holding three or four gallons, on
the head. The consumption of water by the natives is very great. Whether
it be part of their religious ritual, I know not--although cleanliness is
in itself a religion--but the whole population wash themselves from head
to foot, at least twice a day, in fresh water, when to be procured. These
naked people, however, are as much averse as ourselves to being wet by the
rain; and every man of consequence has his umbrella, to protect him both
from sun and shower.
Palm-trees are more abundant here, than in any place which I have visited
on the coast. No tree, as has been said a thousand times, is so useful as
the palm. It gives a good shade, and is pleasing as an ornamental tree.
The palm-nut is very palatable and nutritious for food, and likewise
affords oil, the kernel as well as the pulpy substance being available for
that purpose. Palm-wine is the sap of the tree; and its top furnishes a
most delicious dish, called palm-cabbage. The trunk supplies fire-wood,
and timber for building fences. From the fibres of the wood is
manufactured a strong cordage, and a kind of native cloth; and the leaves,
besides being used for thatching houses, are converted into hats. If
nature had given the inhabitants of Africa nothing else, this one gift of
the palm-tree would have included food, drink, clothing, and habitation,
and the gratuitous boon of beauty, into the bargain.
I have procured some of the country-money. It is more curious than
convenient. The "Manilly," worth a dollar and a half, would be a fearful
currency to make large payments in, being composed of old brass kettles,
melted up, and cast in a sand-mould. The weight is from two to four
pounds; so that the circulation of this country may be said to rest upon a
pretty solid metallic basis. The "Buyapart," valued at twenty-five cents,
is a piece of cloth four inches square, covered thickly over with the
small shells called cowries, sewed on. The other currency consists
principally in such goods as have an established value. Brass kettles,
cotton handkerchiefs, tobacco, guns, and kegs of powder, are legal tender.
[Footnote: Specimens of the native money have been presented by the author
to the National Institute at Washington.]
29.--Mrs. Sawyer was on board yesterday. It is not without regret that we
part with this interesting, energetic, and truly Christian woman. She is
the only white person here, and lives alone among a tribe of savages, as
safe, and perhaps more so, than in a civilized city. The occasional visits
of vessels of war prevent any evil-minded person from molesting her; but
she has little need of guardianship of this nature; for her own kind acts,
and purity of character, will always ensure her the respect of the
natives. Mrs. S. told us, that, before her husband died, the war-king of
the Settra Kroos had quarrelled with him, and was his enemy at the time of
his death. Not long afterwards, this war-king came to Mrs. Sawyer, and
assured her of his protection and assistance to the utmost of his power,
which is very great, as he commands all the fighting-men of the tribe. I
know not that the power of feminine excellence has ever been more
strikingly acknowledged, than by this act of an incensed and barbarous
warrior. Somewhat of her influence, as well as that of the missionaries
generally, is probably owing to her color. Many of the natives look with
contempt on the colonists, and do not hesitate to tell them that they are
merely liberated slaves. On the other hand, the colonists will never
recognize the natives otherwise than as heathen. Amalgamation is scarcely
more difficult between the white and colored races in America, than it is
in Africa, between the "black-white" colonist and the unadulterated
native.
On our arrival here, we found an English brig, whose commander has been
once on board of us. He has a large assortment of trade-goods of all
sorts, and his vessel is fitted up with a view to comfort in living, as
well as the convenience of trade.
A native colored woman has her residence on board, as his washerwoman and
stewardess, and likewise, if the captain be not belied, in a more intimate
relation. To-day, also, came in another English brig, the master of which
has a female companion, filling the same variety of offices as the former.
Many of the English trading vessels retain such persons on board, during
the whole time they are on the coast. The masters, so far as we have had
opportunity to observe, have generally been hard-drinking unscrupulous
men. Few of them hesitate to avow their readiness to furnish slavers with
goods, equally with any other purchasers, if they can make their profit,
and get their pay. There is great jealousy among the traders, and much
underhand work to get the business from each other. They have native
trade-men in their interest, all along the coast, watching their rivals,
and preparing to take any advantage that may offer. Profound secrecy is
observed as to their movements and intentions. The crews of some vessels
are seldom allowed to visit the shore, lest they should give information
about the affairs of the master.
Not a few of the reports about American slavers spring from this jealousy
of trade. The masters of English merchant-vessels, jealous of the
Americans, and desirous to engross the trade to themselves, report them to
the British cruisers as suspicious vessels. The cruiser, if he give too
ready credence to the calumny, will probably overhaul the American, and
perhaps break up his voyage; he being, nevertheless, as honest as any
trader on the coast. But the ends of the Englishman are answered; he sells
his cargo, and cares little about the diplomatic correspondence that may
ensue, and the possible embroilment of the two nations.
English vessels far outnumber all others on the coast. Dr. Madden, the
commissioner to examine the condition of the British colonial settlements,
reports the total imports into England from the West Coast of Africa, in
1836, at £800,000. In 1840, the exports of British products to Africa
amounted to £492,128, in the transportation of which, 72,000 tons of
shipping were employed. The government and people of England are giving
great attention to this coast, as an important theatre of trade.
A committee of the House of Commons, in 1842, made extensive and minute
inquiries into the subject, and published a great mass of interesting
information. They recommended, that the Crown should resume the
jurisdiction of several forts, on the Gold Coast, which have been given up
to a committee of merchants; and that there be new settlements
established, and block-houses erected at various points.
The English have lost the gum-trade, by the French subsidizing the King of
the Trazars, who holds the key to the gum-country; and the mahogany-trade
has been destroyed by that of Honduras, the wood from which is of a better
quality. The experiment on the part of the English, of carrying African
rice to compete with that of America, has likewise failed.
The subject of American Trade with the west of Africa is so important,
that it may be well to devote a separate chapter to some account of its
nature, and the methods of carrying it on.