Auction at Sierra Leone--Timber Establishments in the River--Tombo,
Bance and Tasso Islands--Explosion of a Vessel at Sea--Liberated
Africans--Black Ostlers--Horses Imported--Slave Vessel--Colonial Steam
Vessel--Road and Street Repairs--Continued Rains--Suggestion for
preserving the Health of European Seamen--General Views of the
Colony--Population--Parishes--Supply of Provisions--Description of
Freetown--Curious Letter from Black Labourers--Original Settlers--
Present Inhabitants--Trade with the Interior--Strange Customs of Native
Merchants--Anecdote of Sailors--Injurious Example of the Royal African
Corps--Vaccination of Natives--Medical Opinion--Departure from Sierra
Leone
_Monday, Sept. 24th_.--Still stronger signs of the breaking up of the
rainy season, more frequent heavy showers, with thunder and lightning
for the last two days. A fine morning, but squally and showery in the
afternoon. There was an auction held to-day of the effects of the late
Tasco Williams, Esq.; one peculiar feature of which is worth noting.
The persons who had assembled were hospitably entertained with bread
and cheese, and abundance of wine and spirits, with a view, no doubt,
to increase the animation and excitement of the scene. Whether the
bidders became extravagant in consequence, I do not know, but I think
it very likely; at all events I suspect that the auctioneer was trying
an experiment on the animal spirits of the company. This custom,
although by no means familiar to Englishmen, is very generally
practised in the north of England. It is probably a relique of ancient
manners.
I left Freetown, about five in the afternoon, with Mr. McCormack to
visit his timber establishment at the island of Tombo, a distance of
twenty miles up the river, which we made, with a slight breeze, in
about three hours. We passed two similar establishments, the one on
Tasso, and the other on Bance Island, of the former of which Messrs.
Babington and Macauley are the proprietors, the latter belonging to Mr.
Williams. The account I received of Mr. McCormack's enterprise was full
of interest.
When that gentleman first visited Tombo, he found the interior covered
with a dense jungle, and the shores choked up with mangroves. There was
only one solitary hut on the island near the beach, which was used as a
resting place for boats trading up the river. At that time there was a
slave factory in full occupation at Bance Island. It would be very
difficult to compute the expense, and almost impossible for persons who
are not practically acquainted with African mangroves and jungle, to
estimate the exertion and perseverance which must have been necessary
to bring this place to its present state of improvement. The wildness
of the surface has given way before the hand of industry, and that
which was some years before a wilderness of underwood, now presents an
aspect of cultivation. The whole of this point is as clear as the
streets of Freetown; and on a fine open situation, where the breeze
plays from almost every point of the compass, an excellent stone house,
with out-offices, has been erected. The site is well chosen and the
building is scarcely inferior to the best houses in Freetown. The upper
part is used as a private dwelling, and the lower part is appropriated
to storage. A good boat-house, a saw-pit, upwards of twenty plastered
huts, for the mechanics and labourers employed on the spot, and a well
cut through the solid rock, from whence excellent water is obtained,
complete the conveniences of the establishment.
Mr. McCormack does not fell any timber in the island; he merely uses
his location here as a depôt for the wood which is brought down the
rivers Rokelle and Porto Logo from the upper countries. For this trade
he contracts with the natives inhabiting the lands lying near the
shores of the rivers, and the wood is floated down on rafts to Tombo,
where ships come to take in their cargoes. The African oak is so heavy
that the natives are obliged to raft it on wood of a much lighter
specific gravity. This trade is of considerable benefit both to our
colonists and the native tribes. It not only promotes a friendly
intercourse between them, but affords constant employment to great
numbers of the latter, by which they are enabled to secure many of the
comforts of civilized life, of which they must otherwise have been
destitute. It has also had the happy effect of releasing them from
vassalage, which formerly prevailed universally, and which was in some
degree necessary as a protection against the arbitrary power of the
different chiefs during the existence of the slave trade.
A statement of the annual export of timber from Tombo, since the
commencement in 1816, will shew with what rapid strides the trade has
increased.
In 1816 716 logs.
1817 7,087 do.
1818 1,341 do.
1819 2,251 do.
1820 6,271 do.
1821 4,454 do.
1822 1,429 do.
1823 4,593 do.
1824 10,093 do.
1825 22,206 do.
1826 24,456 do.
There is a mud bar across the river about one mile and a half below
Tombo; and as the depth here is not more than 14 feet at high water,
vessels ought not to load more than 13 feet before they drop below.
_Tuesday, Sept. 25th_.--Heavy rain in the night, but a fine warm day.
Soon after noon I left Tombo, and visited Bance Island. The only
objects of interest that presented themselves were the remains of an
old slave factory, and a burial ground. The road to the latter place
was by a path through a lime and orange plantation, which grew so
luxuriantly that it quite obstructed our way, and we were compelled to
have a black pioneer, who went before us with a sword to cut down the
thorny branches. In this remote and lonely place I found the following
epitaph on a tombstone, which appeared to me so curious that I caused
it to be transcribed.
Here lies The Residue of The Honourable Sea Captain, GEORGE ANDREW
HIORT, Born in Denmark, the 6th of September, 1746, Married January
8th, 1766, to the virtuous Lady Mary Catherine Schive, who, extremely
sorrowful, with two good-natured Daughters, deplores the too early
Death of this now eternally-blessed Person.
Died on the Coast of Guinea, the 15th October, 1783. His Body reposes
here, waiting for a glorious Resurrection, whilst his Soul is in the
hands of GOD, where no pain can reach.
In this place we discovered a tombstone of the date of 1680, but
unfortunately the inscription was illegible.
We made an excursion to the island of Tasso before dinner, and returned
to Bance Island where we passed the night. On approaching Tasso, we saw
a large alligator, which Mr. McCormack fired at, but apparently without
any effect. It is a well-known fact that the scales of these creatures
will turn a bullet. They abound in the river, and are very fearless
and ravenous. Some of the men belonging to the timber rafts, who
incautiously trusted themselves in the water, have been on several
occasions seized by the alligators and carried off, sometimes escaping
with the loss of a leg or an arm; at other times, when the people on
the rafts happened to sit at the sides, with their feet hanging over,
the alligators have been known to seize them by their legs and drag
them into the water. They have been taken of the enormous length of 18
feet.
_Wednesday, Sept. 26th_.--The night being very fine, we got up at
half-past two, and left Bance Island to return to Sierra Leone, where
we arrived in less than four hours, pulling the whole way, having a
very fine boat belonging to Mr. McCormack, with a crew of able bodied
blacks.
Mr. McCormack related to me the following circumstance which occurred
to him in a vessel trading along the Gold Coast, and by which he was
placed in a situation of great peril. In the middle of the night he
heard a sudden cry of "Fire," and at the same moment a volume of flame
issued from the fore-hatchway; in a few seconds after another burst
forth from the main hatchway; so that before he had time to collect his
thoughts as to what ought to be done, the whole of the middle of the
vessel was in a blaze. The crew were thrown into consternation, and
speedily crowded the deck in a state of confusion, bordering on frenzy.
The despair of their situation was increased by a knowledge of the
fact, that a great quantity of gunpowder, which had been embarked for
the coast trade, was stowed below, while there was but one available
boat to get off the men before the ship should be blown into the air,
which they momently expected. But there was no time for reflection:
each man looked to his own safety, and a rush took place, through the
fire, towards the after-part of the deck, to reach the boat. The poor
fellows who thus risked a passage through the flames, that now curled
up fearfully, and swept the whole surface of the vessel, were
dreadfully burned, and looked more like demons than men. But, at last,
after much difficulty, they succeeded in lowering the boat into the
sea. Those, however, who got in first, seeing that the whole crew must
inevitably perish if they suffered a greater number to crowd the boat
than she could with safety contain, pushed off from the ship as
speedily as they could. If they had yielded to the impulse of their
feelings, every soul must have perished; for, although they might have
escaped from the fire, they must, of necessity, have swamped the boat.
Fortunately, however, the boat got off in safety; but she had made a
very short distance when the vessel blew up. Several poor wretches,
seeing that their fate was not to be averted, had leaped into the sea,
and were drowned; while others, who clung despairingly to the vessel,
were annihilated by the force of the explosion. One poor black boy,
nerved by desperation, flung himself overboard, and swam after the
boat, which, with great exertion, he overtook. Through Mr. McCormack's
interposition he was taken on board. The crew of the boat, so sudden
was their resolution taken, had not time to provide themselves with a
supply of provisions, although they were a considerable distance from
the shore: they snatched up such trifling articles as happened to be at
hand in the hurry of their departure, and trusted themselves to
Providence for the rest. This melancholy accident was occasioned by the
insubordination of some of the sailors, who forced their way through
the bulk-head into the fore-hold, to get at a cask of spirits.
In the evening I accompanied Mr. Macauley in a drive to the village of
Kissey, one of the settlements of liberated Africans. Its population is
nearly a thousand souls, composed of the descendants of natives of Aco,
who were taken from a slave vessel on the river Lagos in the Bight of
Benin. The immediate neighbourhood of this village, which is about five
miles from Freetown, supplies a great part of the grain and vegetables
that are brought to that market. We called on the Doctor of the
village, who was a black man, and we afterwards went to the chapel,
where we heard a liberated African preach to his black brethren.
_Thursday, September 27th_.--I dined with a party at the house of
Colonel Denham, the celebrated African traveller. I would gladly offer
a tribute of admiration and respect to the memory of this distinguished
gentleman, but the language of panegyric is superfluous.
Our party consisted of the Lieutenant-Governor, Captains Owen and
Harrison, of the navy; Dr. Barry, of the medical staff, &c. &c.
_Friday, September 28th_.--Soon after noon I accompanied Captains Owen
and Harrison, Mr. Reffle, the acting Judge, and the Rev. Mr. Davy, all
mounted on good steeds, to visit some of the villages established for
the liberated Africans. The first part of our journey was very hilly.
We passed through Gloucester and Regent Town, on our way to Bathurst,
near which we were overtaken by a thunder storm; but, before the
heaviest part of it reached us, we got into good quarters at Mr. Davy's
residence, where we found Mrs. Davy expecting us, and prepared to
entertain us in a most friendly and hospitable manner. This lady
undertakes to instruct the African females, of all ages, not only in
the mere education of letters, but in all the moral duties of civilized
society. As a proof that her efforts were not altogether unavailing, it
may be observed, that her domestics consisted of some of her pupils,
whom she had selected for the performance of the household duties.
Morality here is at a very low ebb amongst the adult native population,
and infidelity in the married state is a common occurrence. During our
short stay, a poor fellow came to complain to Mr. Davy that his wife
had gone to live with another man, and that when he went to demand her
restoration, the guilty paramour and his friends turned him off with a
sound beating. The circumstance did not seem to excite much surprise,
although Mr. Davy gave every possible attention to the poor fellow's
case, as he never omitted any opportunity of exerting his influence for
the moral benefit of the community.
In the course of the day I had an opportunity of examining a snake
which a Timmanee black carried, as ladies wear boas in England, round
his neck, which is a common practice. It was about a yard long, and six
inches in circumference. The blacks frequently extract the teeth of
these reptiles, even those of the most venomous species, a process
which renders them harmless. In the evening we returned to Freetown.
The black ostler, who is generally a Krooman, performs in this country
a double duty, for he not only attends the horse in the stable, but
accompanies him on his journey, keeping pace with the animal at
whatever rate his master pleases to ride. This would be a very good
punishment for some of our ostlers who are in the habit of cheating the
horses out of their corn. To compel the rogues to share fatigue with
the animal, might teach them to treat them with more humanity. Horses
are sometimes brought to this country from St. Jago, but they do not
live long. A smaller and hardier breed comes from the Gambia, and the
climate seems to agree very well with them. Neither English nor St.
Jago horses live long at Sierra Leone, and the cause assigned for this
is, that the coarse grass, which grows so rapidly in this country, has
too little nutriment in it to support the animal under the exhausting
effects of such a climate; and it is observed that he is continually
though gradually wasting away, notwithstanding his appetite is most
voracious; that at length he partially loses the use of his hind legs,
becomes weak across the loins, and for the want of nervous energy, a
paralysis ensues, and the horse ultimately dies. But if he is given
more stimulating food there is a chance of his doing well; or at any
rate of his living much longer than he otherwise would on such poor
food as he usually gets.
_Saturday, September 29th_.--The Henri Quatre, a beautiful brig,
arrived yesterday afternoon from the Bight of Benin, with 548 slaves on
board, a prize to H.M.S. Sybille. This vessel was afterwards fitted out
as a tender to the Commodore's ship, and well known, as the celebrated
Black Joke, for her success in capturing other slavers. To-day I
accompanied the Rev. Mr. Davy on board. A multitude of slaves crowded
her deck in a state of nudity. The spectacle was humiliating in every
sense, and the immediate effect upon the olfactory nerves was
excessively disagreeable and oppressive. We found the officer who had
charge of the vessel confined to a small space in the after-part of the
deck near the tiller. The pressure of this dense mass of human beings
was suffocating, and the crowd was so great that one poor slave who had
fallen overboard in the night, on the voyage, was never missed until
the following morning.
From the Henri Quatre we went to visit a steam-vessel called the
African, which was to sail this afternoon, with 300 persons on board,
and as much provisions as she could stow. Her immediate destination was
Cape Coast Castle, where she was to wait the arrival of the Eden. She
had formerly been employed in the Colonial service on this coast, but
had lately been laid up for want of repair. Captain Owen, however,
being desirous to forward a number of mechanics and labourers belonging
to the free population of Sierra Leone, to the new settlement at
Fernando Po, thought that this vessel might answer his purpose, and
save Government the expense of chartering a ship expressly for that
service; he therefore applied to the Colonial Government requesting
that he might be allowed the use of her; which, after many preliminary
arrangements, occasioning much delay, was at last granted. One
condition was, that he should send her to England after she had
completed the service required of her. He therefore ordered Lieutenant
Badgeley, with a small party of men, to clear her out and prepare her
for sea, as she was at that time half full of mud and water, and
employed some mechanics to repair her engines, which were completely
out of order.
At five this afternoon I went to the race course, to be present at a
private match between two gentlemen's horses. Besides these private
sports, there are regular annual races at this place.
The roads, which are very much cut up during the rainy season, are
always repaired on its termination, commencing immediately after
Michaelmas. I found that there were gutters, which had been cut by
order of Sir Neil Campbell, (three or four feet deep, and from one to
two wide) in various directions, to carry off the quantity of water
occasioned by the heavy rains. The utility of these gutters in drawing
off the water was sufficiently obvious, but they were found to be very
dangerous both to men and horses in the dark; accidents frequently
occurred, and on one occasion a horse had his legs broken. They were
also dangerous to wheel vehicles, whenever it became necessary to cross
them: indeed, the inconvenience of these drains, without bridges, was
considered to be so much greater than the advantage, that it was
determined they should be filled up, and that the rain should be left
to take its own course over the surface of the ground, as before. The
magistrates, who are elected annually, are obliged to superintend the
repair of the roads, both in the town and its neighbourhood, in
addition to their ordinary duties; and all offenders who are sentenced
to labour on the public works, or to confinement in the house of
correction, are compelled to assist in the necessary repairs. The
expense of keeping the roads in good order is defrayed by a tax of six
days' labour on every inhabitant of the towns and villages in the
colony, which, however, may be commuted to a fine of seven shillings
and sixpence.
After the race, I went to Mr. Barber's to dine. This gentleman has a
small plantation of ginger and arrow-root, which succeeds uncommonly
well; also some plants of the blood orange from Malta, and some young
cinnamon trees; which, I should observe, are by no means uncommon in
this colony.
Mr. K. Macauley has also a small plantation of coffee, which prospers
very well. In fact, all the tropical fruits and plants must succeed
here, if proper attention be paid to them.
_Sunday, September 30th_.--The morning was fine, but the afternoon
showery; rain, indeed, appears to be quite a matter of course, either
in the morning or evening. I had now been upwards of a month in Sierra
Leone, and I found that it rained without fail in some part of the
four-and-twenty hours, and sometimes throughout the whole day and
night; yet, the rainy season had nearly exhausted itself when I
arrived, and some short time before, it had rained for three weeks
without intermission. These alterations of the weather, however, had no
effect whatever on me, for, rain or shine, I went about, at all hours,
as much at my ease as if I had been in England; and instead of
suffering any illness or annoyance from the fluctuations and
uncertainty of the season, I really found my health improved.
The brig Atalanta came down the river this morning, and anchored off
Freetown, having taken in a cargo of timber at Bance Island. There was
not a single vessel left up the river, which was remarked as an
extraordinary circumstance, for since the year 1816, when the contract
for African timber commenced, such an event had not taken place.
From the observations I made while I remained at Freetown, it occurred
to me that a plan might be adopted, with good effect, for improving the
management of the timber trade. I should recommend that an old ship be
moored in the river, a little above Freetown, and housed over for the
purpose of receiving the crews of such vessels as go up the river to
take in their cargoes. The object of this arrangement would be to give
the crews an opportunity of refitting, rigging, and repairing the sails
of their own vessels, or of any others that might require assistance,
while the Kroomen were employed loading the ships under the direction
of the mates, or such other persons as might be appointed to that
duty.[17] By this plan (with a proper check to prevent the sailors from
going on shore too often, every reasonable indulgence being allowed
them on board the hulk) many valuable lives might be saved, and those
delays averted which now occur so often, from the difficulty of
procuring hands for the homeward bound voyage, to supply the place of
those who had been carried off by fever.
_Tuesday, Oct. 2nd_.--On calling at the barracks this morning, to take
leave of the officers of the Royal African Corps, from whom I had
received some very kind attentions, I was sorry to learn that
Lieutenant Green, who had always been one of the most cheerful of the
party, had been taken ill with the fever that morning, and that, from
the great depression of his spirits, serious doubts were entertained of
his recovery.
_Wednesday, 3rd_.--The ship Redmond arrived to-day from England,
bringing letters from thence up to August 23rd. His Majesty's ship
Eden, received on board to-day 60 black soldiers, of the Royal African
Corps, to perform garrison duty at Fernando Po, under the command of
Lieutenant Mends.
A gentleman in charge of the ordnance died this afternoon.
Before I take leave of Sierra Leone, a few general retrospective
glances at the colony may not be without interest. First, of the
population. There are not exceeding 110 Europeans in the colony,
two-thirds of whom are under 30 years of age. This may, probably, in
some degree, account for the great mortality that prevails amongst
them.
In Freetown alone, there are between 5000 and 6000 coloured men, all of
whom are free.
In the village of Kissey, three miles and a quarter from Freetown, are
contained 1,100 souls, all liberated Africans.
In Wellington, six miles and a quarter from Freetown, about 800,
composed principally of liberated Africans, with a few disbanded
soldiers from the 2nd West India regiment.
In Allen town, three miles from Wellington, about 150, all liberated
Africans.
In Hastings, twelve miles from Freetown, 600, composed of liberated
Africans and disbanded soldiers.
In Waterloo, nine miles from Hastings, 900, composed of liberated
Africans and disbanded soldiers.
In Wilberforce, two miles and a half from Freetown, 100, all liberated
Africans.
In York, twenty miles from Freetown, about 600, composed of liberated
Africans and disbanded soldiers.
In Kent, twelve miles from York, about 500, composed of liberated
Africans and disbanded soldiers.
In Gloucester, three miles from Freetown, 700, all liberated Africans.
In Leicester, one mile from Gloucester, 100, all liberated Africans.
In Regent Town, one mile and a half from Gloucester, 1000, all
liberated Africans.
In Bathurst, two miles and a half from Regent Town, 1000, all liberated
Africans.
In Charlotte, three quarters of a mile from Bathurst, 900, all
liberated Africans.
In Bassa town, three miles from Charlotte, 130, all liberated Africans.
In addition to these there are about 400 inhabitants at the island of
the Bananas, 100 at the village of Calmunt, and many others of whom no
correct amount can be given, residing at various little villages along
the coast, perhaps their entire number may be about 200; if so, it will
make the population of the whole colony about 15,000. The names of the
parishes to each town are as follows:
St. George's in Freetown.
St. Patrick Kissey.
St. Arthur Wellington.
St. Francis Hastings.
St. Michael Waterloo.
St. Paul in Wilberforce.
St. Thomas York.
St. Edward Kent.
St. Andrew Gloucester.
St. Charles Regent Town.
St. Peter and James Bathurst.
St. John Charlotte.
Freetown is well supplied with fish every afternoon at sunset, most of
which is brought in by boats that go outside the harbour in the
morning, and return in the evening. Unfortunately, there is an immense
number of sharks generally in the harbour, which sometimes commit great
depredations.
Sierra Leone is about six miles within the cape of that name, and lies
at the entrance of the river. The town is laid out with great
regularity, and the streets are spacious. It is two miles in length
near the water-side, and about one mile in width, gradually ascending
from the beach to the hills at the back of the town. The intervening
space between a short distance beyond the extremity of the town and the
summit of the hills is principally unreclaimed forest land, which was
originally portioned out amongst the first settlers in the colony. From
want of means, however, or some other cause, the colonists never
cleared those grounds, nor did they offer them on sufficiently
reasonable terms to enable others to do so. This is the more
extraordinary, as it is generally supposed that if the wood were
removed, it would greatly improve the salubrity of the air in the town
and neighbourhood, as well as open a new source of profit to the
proprietors, it being already well known that all tropical productions
thrive most successfully in this soil. Coffee, cocoa, arrow-root,
sugar-cane, &c. have been tried with the utmost success. The houses of
the Governor, several of the respectable merchants, and some of the
natives, are built of stone. There is a church also, on a very
magnificent scale; indeed, so ambitious was the design of this
building, that the Colonial Government do not appear to have been able
to afford the expense of furnishing the interior, and have accordingly
run up an ugly brick wall in the centre, for the purpose of
appropriating one half of it to religious duties, and the other to
public offices. The church, as it was built, was evidently too
capacious for the congregation that was likely to attend the service of
the established religion, particularly as a great portion of the
population consists of Dissenters, who have men of their own colour and
way of thinking for preachers. I have heard some of their black
divines, but cannot say that I was much edified by their discourses.
The following extraordinary letter from two master workmen, free
blacks, who were employed on the church, received by a Member of
Council, while I was on a visit to him, will serve as a specimen of the
advancement in education that some of these poor fellows have made. The
letter is given literally from the original.
"_Sierra Leone, Sept. 18th, 1827_.
"Honourable Sir,
"I have the honour of sendin to you this morning with humble manner
I was to the Honour D. Denney yesterday, about the trouble what I
have, I was take work from the church-yard, and I finish it, the
gentlemen I must made petition and I cannot tell who will go to
please to help me from this trouble if I will get the money from the
gentleman. Shew me the way for get the money by your Honour all the
people what I hired I do not know how to do with myself--only you
one I know because I was under your brother if any trouble to much
for me I cry to you with humble manner I am poor black man--
"I remain
Your affectionately and obedient servant,
"JOSEPH RICKETT and GEORGE DUNE,
_Sierra Leone Labourers_.
"_To the Honourable
K. Maccauley, Esq. M.C. &c.
Freetown_."
The original settlers of this colony, we learn from "Murray's
Historical Discoveries," consisted of about four hundred blacks, and
sixty whites, (the latter chiefly women of abandoned character,) who
arrived at Sierra Leone the 9th of May, 1787. These blacks, as is well
known, were part of those that went to Great Britain; having been sent
with the white loyalists, among the Bahama Islands, Nova Scotia, and
England, at the conclusion of the American war: and twelve hundred more
of the same description of American blacks agreed to leave Nova Scotia
for Sierra Leone, on terms proposed to them by the Sierra Leone
Company, where they arrived in March, 1792: and in December, 1793,
Lieut. Beaver arrived at Sierra Leone, with the few survivors that had
abandoned the colony of Bulama.
The present inhabitants arc principally composed of negroes of a
variety of nations; Maroons from Jamaica, negroes who were captured or
had deserted in the American war, some from England, some from Nova
Scotia, some from disbanded West India regiments, and many prize
slaves, that come under the name of liberated Africans, who from their
industry and prudence have saved a little money and settled at Freetown
in various capacities. There are besides a great number of persons
residing here in succession under the denomination of strangers. These
are people from various parts of the interior of Africa, namely,
Timmanees, Foulahs, Mandingoes, &c. &c. There are also a great number
of Kroomen, formerly upwards of a thousand, but a late order in council
reduced them to 600, with the intention of introducing and encouraging
the liberated Africans to come forward as labourers, fishermen,
mechanics, sailors, soldiers, &c. &c.
Sierra Leone has a large market-house, with a market held daily, where
the inhabitants may be well supplied with most of the tropical fruits
and vegetables, and some from Europe. Poultry is abundant and
reasonable. Beef and mutton are in most common use. The animals are
small, a quarter of beef weighing on an average between 50 and 60 lbs.
and a quarter of mutton from 5 to 8 lbs. Pork and lamb are seldom sent
to table, and I never met with veal. The colony is principally supplied
with stock, (viz. bullocks, sheep, and fowls,) by the Foulahs,
Mandingoes, Sousoos, and Timmanees. They carry the fowls on their head
in a large basket, and their necessaries in a sheep-skin bag fastened
on the top of it. Perhaps the reason why veal and lamb are but rarely
seen at table is in consequence of the bullocks and sheep having to
travel a considerable distance, and fresh pork is almost too gross a
food for a hot country.
The trade with the nations of the interior is chiefly confined to the
Foulahs and Mandingoes, who bring small quantities of gold with them,
which they exchange for European articles to carry home. Their mode of
travelling to the colony is not a little curious. They first appoint
one of their number as head man, who is referred to on every occasion,
and who is answerable for the conduct of the whole. They generally come
down in numbers of from six to thirty, and sometimes more. Each man
carries on his head a kind of basket, made of the rattan cane, in which
is contained his shirt, a calabash, some rice, and a bag made of
sheep-skin, which holds the alcoran, some rice, bread, a knife,
scissors, and other useful articles; also a small pouch in which they
carry their gold, averaging about 5l. sterling each person. They secure
the bag by fastening the sides of the basket together, and binding it
round with strong twine which they make from grass. On the top of the
basket they tie their bow and quiver of arrows loosely, so that they
can get at them readily, in case they should be attacked in the woods
by wild animals, or by any of the different tribes whose settlement
they pass through in coming down. They also carry a bamboo cane about
six feet long, and three inches in circumference, with a piece of iron,
about six inches long, and sharp at the point, fixed into the end of
it; this they make use of as a spear. They also carry a long knife or
sword, which is slung over the arm by a belt. They partly live on the
wild fruits of the country, and occasionally get something at the
villages through which they pass; generally walking between the hours
of six and ten in the morning, and two and six in the afternoon each
day. When they arrive at Porto Logo, (which place is the termination of
their land journey) they engage a canoe to take them to Freetown, for
which they used to pay four dollars a head, but it is now reduced to
one, and this charge they are accustomed to levy afterwards upon the
merchant with whom they intend to deal, looking upon it as a bonus
included in the traffic. They also apply to the merchants in Freetown,
for accommodations during their stay, which is from ten days to a
month. They will not trade either on the first or second day, but go
round the town examining the different goods in the shops, and
ascertaining the prices. In this preliminary proceeding they are
assisted by their countrymen, who have been long resident in the colony
and are acquainted with the English language. These interpreters make
their living by cheating in every possible way, both the poor traveller
and the merchant.
When they begin to trade it takes one day for the head man to settle
the investment of the gold in the merchant's hands, which he has
received individually from his companions, giving a separate receipt to
each: after which they all assemble to choose their goods to the amount
of each person's portion. This is an affair of three or four days. They
do not, however, think it necessary to leave the colony so soon as
their business is settled, but remain some time after idling about the
streets. Two or three days before they really intend returning by the
canoe to Porto Logo, the whole party call and say that they are going,
which is intended as a hint to prepare some present for them. They
repeat their visit the next day, and if they do not receive a present
from you, they address you in the following manner. "Friend," (calling
the merchant by his name, and holding out his hands with extended
arms,) "do you see my hands? do you not see that they are empty? When I
go back to my country, my countrymen will ask me if I have seen the
great merchant! they will say they doubt me, asking me, at the same
time, where are your presents? and if I have nothing to shew they will
call me a liar, saying that the great merchant never allowed any one
that went to see him, to go away empty-handed. I came from my country
on purpose to see you. True, I have brought you but little trade this
time, but when I go back to my country, and say I have seen the great
merchant, and shew them the presents I have received, then they will
all want to come, and bring plenty of trade." This of course concludes
with a present to propitiate the grasping spirit of the African petty
dealer.
The goods principally preferred by the Foulahs and Mandingoes, are
powder, muskets, fowling-pieces, flints, swords, spear-pointed knives,
India blue baft, India white baft, India scarlet silk taffety, red
cloth, beads, and tobacco, which they make into snuff, being the only
manner in which they use it.
The following amusing dialogue occurred between two sailors who
happened to be on the military parade when the soldiers were at drill,
going through the evolution of marking time,--a military manoeuvre by
which the feet, as well as the whole body of the person, are kept in
motion, presenting a similar appearance to that which they exhibit when
they are actually marching. One observed the other watching the
movements of the corps very attentively, with his eyes fixed and his
arms akimbo: "What the h-ll are you looking at?" he inquired. "Why,
Jack," replied his companion, "I'm thinking there must be a d--d strong
tide running this morning." "Why?" said he. "Why?" answered the other,
"why, because these poor beggars have been pulling away this half hour,
and have'nt got an inch a head yet!"
The custom of sentencing soldiers to serve in the Royal African Corps,
must naturally be attended with bad consequences, not only to the
soldiers themselves, but to the natives. If we desire to enlighten a
savage race, we could scarcely devise a worse plan than that of sending
amongst them the refuse of a civilized country, who carry into the new
community, the worst vices and crimes of an old country. These soldiers
consider themselves to be exiled for life from their native land, and
as they entertain no hope whatever, under such forlorn circumstances,
of redeeming their character, they abandon themselves to debauchery,
and give a free vent to the most debasing tendencies of their nature.
The influence of this injurious example, which is a thousand fold more
powerful than all the precepts of the preachers, upon the minds of the
Africans, must be obvious. It weakens the effect, even if it does not
altogether obliterate the impressions of that morality which we so
studiously labour to inculcate. The African says, "The white man tells
us not to do those things which are wicked in the sight of God; yet, in
the same breath, he commits the very guilt against which he warns us.
The white man tells us that drunkenness is a crime in the eyes of God,
yet he drinks until his senses become stupified; he tells us not to
curse and blaspheme; yet the most terrible oaths are on his lips. Which
are we to follow? the white man's words or his actions?" If we wish to
command respect, and to impress upon the savage the real advantages of
civilization, we should send out only such persons as would be likely
to secure a complete influence and ascendancy over the uninstructed
people, and so demonstrate to them, by the force of actions, the purity
and stability of the Christian faith, the importance of education, and
the practical benefits of social organization. If it be necessary, as
no doubt it is, to send out Europeans to serve in the African Corps,
they should be sent in the capacity of officers, or non-commissioned
officers: privates of good character might be selected, who would
volunteer to go out on certain conditions, perhaps on some such terms
as these: to serve as corporal for a limited period, after which time,
if their conduct had been unimpeachable, to be advanced to the rank of
serjeant, when, having served in that rank for a prescribed period,
they might be permitted to return home on a pension. Two years might be
assigned as the first period of service, and three as the second,
making altogether a service of five years in Africa, which, considering
the opinion that is popularly entertained respecting the climate, might
be deemed of sufficient duration. I am aware that this suggestion is
liable to one objection arising from the prejudice that is generally
entertained against the climate, namely, the difficulty that would
arise, in the first instance, in obtaining volunteers; nor am I
entirely prepared to say, that the objection is without force. But the
plan might be tried, and the temptation which would be held out, by the
certainty of promotion, might, probably, be considered an adequate
compensation to the risk: and, in case any individual should have
conducted himself throughout the whole period of his service, to the
entire satisfaction of his officers, and should subsequently wish to
remain at the colony, it might be adviseable to offer him a small
government appointment, or, in some cases, the reward might be extended
to a commission in the Colonial Corps. If this could be carried into
effect, it would certainly be attended with considerable advantages; it
would procure respect for the British name, recall the savage from his
life of recklessness, and put a final stop to those disgraceful scenes
of profligacy which are so frequently witnessed in the streets of
Sierra Leone.
Having requested my friend Dr. Barry, who was at the head of the
Medical Staff at Sierra Leone, to procure me what information he could
on the subject of vaccination and small-pox, in Africa, he most
obligingly forwarded me the following document, which, for the sake of
perspicuity, is put in the form of question and answer.
_Replies to Dr. George Gregory's Queries on Vaccination and
Small-pox, Sierra Leone, 24th September, 1827_.
1st. Is vaccination generally practised among the infant negro
population?
2nd. Whence do they derive their stock of lymph?
3rd. What is the degree of confidence placed in it?
Vaccination is not at all practised among the negro population, by
native vaccinators; it is, however, practised among certain branches
of the negro population by European surgeons; the negro population
of Sierra Leone consists of Nova Scotian, and Maroon settlers,
liberated Africans, and several of the aboriginal African tribes,
namely, Timmanees, Mandingoes, Soosoos, Boollams, Sherbros, &c. &c.
&c. The three first mentioned of these branches of the negro
population, having greater intercourse with Europeans, are better
acquainted with European customs, and have, of course, imbibed more
of European notions and prejudices, on such subjects as the one now
under consideration, than the aboriginal inhabitants of this part of
Africa; vaccination, therefore, is, and has been, practised among
them to a considerable extent, the stock of lymph being derived
from, and kept up by, frequent renewals from England. That their
confidence in it, as a measure preventive of small-pox, is great, I
judge from the anxiety which they shew, and the eagerness which they
manifest to have their children vaccinated when the small-pox is
raging around them; while, under ordinary circumstances, and when
their fears have been lulled by the absence of this fatal epidemic,
an absence which they well know is probably but temporary, they
exhibit such an unaccountable apathy regarding vaccination, that a
stranger might well suppose they had no faith in it as a
prophylactic measure; notwithstanding this, I believe they have
great confidence in it, although, from circumstances to which I
shall presently allude, that confidence has declined considerably.
4th. How soon does the arcola arrive at its greatest height in those
countries?
The arcola surrounding the vaccine vesicle is, I think, at its
greatest height about the eleventh or twelfth day after vaccination,
if the lymph used has been genuine.
5th. Does small-pox prevail there?
6th. Does small-pox prevail there after vaccination?
Small-pox prevails occasionally, and there are instances of its
having occurred even in a confluent form after vaccination: one
genuine instance of this kind came under my notice in the year 1824,
in the person of a liberated African girl, of about sixteen years of
age; vaccination had been performed in this case, by the late Dr.
Nicol, Deputy Inspector of Hospitals, and was considered
satisfactory; the case proved confluent; the secondary fever was
accompanied by a severe diarrhoea, which carried off the patient
about the thirteenth day. Another well authenticated instance of the
same fact, occurred in the early part of the present year, in the
family of a respectable Nova Scotian settler; other cases of a
similar nature have been reported by the inhabitants; but I do not
consider that, in these cases, the proofs of a pure previous vaccine
disease have been satisfactorily established; when vaccination has
been carried on for some time, from the same stock of lymph, the
disease is apt to degenerate and become spurious, from which cause
we require a frequent renewal of lymph from England, in order to
keep it in continuous and successful operation; the spurious
disease, on the fifth day, generally shews itself in the form of a
small globated papula; on the eighth day, it presents sometimes an
ash-coloured pustule, containing purulent matter; at other times,
and less frequently, a brown-coloured scale, having a small quantity
of purulent matter under it, capable of producing, by innoculation,
a disease similar to itself; the great prevalence of a disease among
the negro population, called "craw craw," is considered as
materially influencing that change in the properties of the pure
vaccine lymph, which has been just noticed: that apathy and
indolence of which I have already accused the negro population,
leads them to consider the appearance of disease in the arm, after
vaccination, as the test of safety from small-pox, great as the
difficulty sometimes is, in getting them to bring forward their
children for vaccination, it is still greater to procure the
examinations in its progress and maturation; the mere appearance of
disease in the arm, is supposed to carry along with it immunity from
small-pox; and, on the occurrence of the epidemic at an after
period, it may be easily foreseen how wretchedly and how fatally
this confidence in the spurious disease may be misplaced; I,
therefore, do not consider, that, in all the cases spoken of among
the inhabitants, as cases of small-pox occurring after vaccination,
there existed satisfactory proofs of the patient having previously
undergone the genuine vaccine disease; yet, I am sorry to say, that
from such occurrences as these, vaccination has rather lost ground
in the opinion of the negro population.
7th. Is small-pox an increasing malady?
Small-pox is not an increasing malady; it is generally introduced
here from the slave cargoes of vessels detained by the squadron, and
sent here for adjudication; were this source of its renewal removed,
I am persuaded that small-pox would, in the course of a few years,
be almost unknown in this part of Africa.
8th. Can the vaccine virus be retained on points and glasses, so as
to be fit for use?
The vaccine lymph, if taken on points, will not retain its virulence
seven days in this country: this observation is established by
repeated trials; if taken on glasses, I would not be disposed to
depend on its activity when kept longer than fourteen or sixteen
days, though I have known it sometimes to retain its original
properties for four or five weeks; if preserved in glass bulbs,
hermetically sealed, in the manner practised by the National Vaccine
Institution, I have known its properties unimpaired after keeping
for three months; repeated trials have convinced me of the
excellence of this mode of preserving the vaccine lymph, and, I
believe it to be the best and surest that has been yet devised of
transmitting the lymph from England to tropical countries: next to
this method, I believe the crusts have proved the most successful.
9th. Are the young negro population pitted with the small-pox?
The negro population are pitted with the small-pox in the same
manner as Europeans.
10th. Are there periodical vaccinations of large districts? or, is
each child vaccinated soon after its birth? if the latter, how soon?
The practice, in these cases, is, as long as the vaccine lymph
continues to produce a genuine disease, to keep it up by the weekly
vaccination of all comers. Children are rarely vaccinated under four
weeks old; but there is no rule observed on this head.
11th. What sort of scars are usually left in the arms?
The scar bears the shape of the original vesicle, and is slightly
depressed below the surface of the surrounding skin; the surface of
the scar is marked by a number of small depressions of various
shapes, corresponding, I believe, with the cells in the original
vesicle.
12th. Is vaccination, in hot countries, attended with feverish
symptoms? and, if it is, on what day do they begin?
Vaccination is, sometimes, in this country, attended with feverish
symptoms; but, in the most marked cases, so far as I have seen,
these symptoms have been so slight, as almost to escape common
observation. I have not remarked on what day they begin.
13th. Is vaccination ever followed by any eruptions?
I have seen only one case of this: an eruption appeared on the sixth
day after unsuccessful vaccination; it was diffused over the whole
body, and is now in progress.
W. FERGUSON, _Assistant Surgeon, Royal African Corps_.
N.B. The case alluded to, in the last of the above replies, was, in
the first instance, papular eruption; the base of each papula being
surrounded by an inflamed ring; the eruption was thickest on the
thorax, and on the arms; in its progress, the eruption became
pustular, the pustules being in circumference about half the usual
size of the vaccine vesicle; on the twelfth day, the crusts had
dropped from some of the smaller pustules; and, by the seventeenth
day, they had all dropped off, leaving a mark, but not in any manner
pitted; and which, I think, promises to be permanent.