They do not possess a single manufacture, depending for all their comforts and conveniences on the superior ingenuity of their inland neighbours, and the supplies of shipping. They plant but handfuls of corn, and rear a few goats and fowls. Cotton grows spontaneously. They make a good black dye from the mangrove and ebony shavings. They reduce the red wood to a very soft powder, by breaking a soft species of stone, and sprinkling the finest particles of it on a flat piece of red wood, which they rub violently against another flat piece; the mixed powders are then thrown into water, and that of the wood floating on the surface is strained and dried. They rub children with this powder for cutaneous eruptions.
The African Ourang-outan (Pithecus Troglodites) is found here, the one I saw was two feet and a half high, but said to be growing. I offered a fair price for it, considering they are not rare there, and would not give more when I heard of one being already in England. The native name is Inchego: it had the cry, visage, and action of a very old man, and was obedient to the voice of its master; its agony on espying the panther on board was inconceivable.[135] There is a curious variety of monkeys. The favourite and most extraordinary subject of our conversations on natural history, (which I introduce merely to excite enquiry) was the Ingēna, compared with an Ourang-outan, but much exceeding it in size, being generally five feet high, and four across the shoulders; its paw was said to be even more disproportionate than its breadth, and one blow of it to be fatal; it is seen commonly by those who travel to Kaylee, lurking in the bush to destroy passengers, and feeding principally on the wild honey, which abounds. Their death is frequently accelerated by the silliness which characterizes most of their actions: observing men carry heavy burthens through the forest, they tear off the largest branches from the trees, and accumulating a weight (sometimes of elephants teeth,) disproportionate even to their superior strength, emulously hurry with it from one part of the woods to another, with little or no cessation, until the fatigue, and the want of rest and nourishment, exhausts them. Amongst other of their actions, reported without variation by the men, women, and children of Empoöngwa and Sheekan, is that of building a house in rude imitation of the natives, and sleeping outside or on the roof of it; and also of carrying about their infant dead, closely pressed to them, until they drop away in putrefaction.[136] The larger birds in the creeks were uncommon, if not unknown. Pelicans abounded.
Chamelions were plentifully caught, but none lived more than a month on board the vessel, whether fed with flies, or not at all. The changes of those I watched seemed confined to the shades between a very dark, dusky green, and a bright yellow; when placed on any black substance they became the former, and when any thing light approached them, they changed to a bright green, which hue, if the substance was yellow, was interspersed with the most brilliant spots of that colour. I could not discern that they ever acquired a tinge of blue or red; when at rest in their cage, their color was dark green, mottled with still darker spots.
In my rambles about the environs of Naängo, I formed some idea of the general face of vegetation in Empoöngwa. Being the rainy season, of course it did not possess its usual beauty. The red wood trees abounded, with many which were new to me. The Mangroves clothed the banks of the creeks and river, even growing some yards from the banks in the water, and their lower branches frequently covered with oysters. The palm wine tree was plentiful. Like most parts of Western Africa, the woods were so covered beneath with shrubs and plants, that they seemed impenetrable. Immense runners, twisting together, dropped from the branches like large cables, generally covered with parasites; sometimes adhering to the parent stem, they became themselves a tree, and at others, shooting across to the branches of neighbouring trees, seemed to connect the forest in a general link. The climbing plants contributed to this entanglement, for, interlacing their tendrils amongst the trees, they enwreathed them in the most beautiful flowers, or dropping in festoons, formed a splendid drapery to the sober green of the canopy: amongst these the convolvolus cairicus was conspicuous, from its extreme variety, the flowers being not only of that beautiful lilac, so much esteemed in England, but of the brightest blue, dark brown, pale yellow, white, pink, buff with a purple eye, and all the shades which an opening flower presents from budding to decay.[137] I gathered a few specimens of the plants as I walked along, which may be acceptable to botanists. I can only lament that so many circumstances conspired to render my account of them imperfect; the rainy season, my slight knowledge of botany, and the absence of all instruments which might have enabled me to examine the very minute flowers which frequently presented themselves; but I am convinced many new species might be discovered. I will submit a few which were remarkable for their different virtues, and of which drawings or specimens are preserved.
The Cosa Cosa grew upon a tree about ten feet high, the flowers in clusters, but rarely two fully blown at the same moment, the corolla white, tube shaped, but cleft to the bottom, tinged at the top with crimson and yellow; a slightly tinged glutinous petal was fixed within the corolla, and adhered firmly to it; when separated, I found the two anthera fastened to it, without filaments, and between them laid the style, the stigma having a small hook at the back to fasten it between the two anthera. The juice is used for curing inflammations of the eyes.
The Endaägoo (Cyperas articulatus. Linn.) had the appearance of a grass, the bulbous root was used as a worm medicine.
The Owallifa was not in blossom, the prickly leaf was applied to swellings when they wished to reduce them by bleeding; flogging the part affected, as boys frequently do their chilblains with holly.
The Edjamba (a species of Urtica) bears a multitude of minute green flowers, the leaves wear the appearance of nettles, and when laid on the skin produce blisters.
The Eninda Aboönee (Leea sambucina) is an umbelliferous plant, the infusion of which is said to correct nausea.
The Oonkoolankolee (Aneilema bracteolata. Br.) bears a very delicate lilac blossom, with only two petals, which fly back and expose the other parts of the flower; the least breath of air will disturb them. The natives wash their children with its infusion, if they are backward in walking.
The Econda Boomba (Bidens, probably a new species, but too imperfect to be determined) is anti-venereal, as an infusion; the flower resembles the chamomile.
The Shewawono bears a spike with leaves resembling those of Hedysarum. The decoction is said to cure rheumatism.
The tobacco grows spontaneously, but I do not consider this so strong a proof of its being indigenous to Africa, as that it grows in Inta. The Portuguese have probably introduced it into Gaboon.
The natives here as well as elsewhere have a number of fetish plants; the most remarkable seems the Ewelly welly, (the Aserumbdrue of Ashantee, a species of Piper related to Umbellatum) the broad leaf of which, when rubbed on a fetish man, is said to render him invisible.
The Eroga, a favourite but violent medicine, is no doubt a fungus, for they describe it as growing on a tree called the Ocamboo, when decaying; they burn it first, and take as much as would lay on a shilling.
The medicine they most prize is the Neoöndoo; a small quantity was spared to me reluctantly. Four nuts grow in a pod on a very large tree of the hardest wood; it is purchased greedily, only growing on the frontier of Empoöngwa, and is used successfully by those afflicted with gravel.
In killing elephants they use two poisons, both of which are the milky juices of the stalks of plants. Inquaw indjoo (a plant belonging to the natural order Aroidea, and referable to the Linnean genus Arum) bears a hard white berry in a spiral cluster. The Ygwan agwan berries are red, and in perfection at the time that the flowers are budding. These juices are rubbed on the muskets balls, spears, arrows, and knives, and the effect on the elephant is described as almost instantaneous.
They make bird lime from a tree called Epoowa.
Besides the pine apple, the common thread of Africa, they use that of two other plants, the Ezoönee (Triumfitta elliptica, Nov. Sp.) and the Naängoo, an Urtica, or genus nearly allied to it. The former bears a yellow flower, too minute for my inspection. The top of the latter is surmounted by five or six delicate flower stalks; the blossoms were exceedingly minute, and of a lively green.
The governor of the town brought me two or three very harsh rough leaves, which he said were from the plant Egoögoo (a species of ficus) not then in blossom; they are used in planing wood, polishing and cleaning various articles of household furniture, and feel like emery paper. At the same time he gave me what they are very fond of chewing, a delicate little mimosa, (Abrus precatorius. Linn.) the taste of which resembles liquorice.
A beautiful red pod, the blossom of which was out of season, contains small black seeds, in taste exactly resembling the cardamom. The natives of this place, and also of the interior, are very fond of them. In Booroom the plant is called Booroomma, and at Gaboon, Entoöndo.
The Caoutchouc is to be met with here; the natives describe it as the product of one tree only,[138] the olamboo; their method of collecting it is curious. After the incision is made in the tree, whence it oozes like a glutinous milk, they spread it over their arms and breasts with a knife, (having first shaved themselves, that the hair of the skin may not be torn up when it is taken off,) in the form of a plaister. It is either rolled up in balls to play with, or stretched over the heads of drums; they do not seem to apply it to any other use.
They make their torches from the wood (odjoo) of which they form their canoes, the resinous parts are broken in small pieces, and tied closely in very long leaves; the smaller end is fixed to an upright stick placed in the ground of the apartment; they afford a brilliant light, and the resin, when burning, emits a grateful odour.
The Odica, from which they make a kind of chocolate, is a very high and large tree, bearing an acuminate shining leaf. The nuts, which are white, are contained in a round pod with a bulb at the end, twice as large as a man’s fist, green without, and yellow within; the parts surrounding the nuts are squeezed into water, which they sweeten like honey. The kernels are strung and smoke dried, and then beat in water into large masses, having the appearance of coarse chocolate, but the flavour of a rank gross gravy. It might be more palatable otherwise prepared.
The vegetable butter (which certainly belongs to the natural order Sapoteæ) brought to the Ashantee market, is here well known by the name of Onoöngoo: it is a large tree, and the nuts are enclosed in a round red pod, containing from four to six: the flower is also red, from description. My servant, a native of Booroom, called the tree Kirrimkoon, and the butter Incoom; the Ashantees call the latter Sarradee; in Mallowa the tree is called Timkeëä. The nut is first boiled, and the oil or butter afterwards expressed; in Booroom and Mallowa it is skimmed from the surface. It tasted quite as good as fresh butter before any salt is added, and we relished the meat fried in it exceedingly. Being the rainy season I could neither get a sight of the flower or the pod of this or the odica, but I procured the nuts and produce of both. The curious may compare this butter with the specimen of the Ashantee grease. Before I understood them to be distinct trees, I concluded the odica and the butter both to be the produce of the cacao-nut, but the butter answers closely to Mr. Park’s description of the shea-tolu, though the tree did not resemble the American oak.
The Kolla nut grows on one of those trees which are supposed to sow their own seed; it is round, and the size of an Orleans plum, having a very hard shell, the kernel is white, and, after being exposed to the sun for a few days, becomes even sweeter than a filbert. The natives frequently soak them in salt water for a few weeks, and relish the rank flavour they then acquire. They form the principal food of the lower orders. They have a round orange coloured fruit, called Incheema, the size varies from that of a small cocoa nut to a large one; the capsule is very thick, and when cut yields a milky juice; a number of hard, dark brown seeds, surrounded by a pulp, are found within, the latter only is eaten, and when gathered fresh from the tree, is of a very delicious flavour, not unlike that of a green gage. If the fruit is suffered to fall from the tree, the bruise renders it unwholesome and unpalatable.
Every dark night, Tom Lawson was sure to direct me to look in the direction of what some foolish Europeans had persuaded him must be a diamond mountain. It lays about three days eastward of Empoöngwa in direct distance, but from the fear of the intervening people, he had been obliged to visit it by a circuitous route, which occupied seven days; he lost the pieces he procured, in a skirmish on his return; they illuminated a great circumference. It is considered a powerful fetish, and described as a very high mountain. I must admit, that when there was no moon, a pale but distinct light was invariably reflected from a mountain in that quarter, and from no other.
The red and yellow ochres brought to me, were dug in the neighbourhood of a savannah three journies south-eastward of Empoöngwa, where they insisted there were large pits of strata, not only of red and yellow, but of other colours. They believe, that if a man attempts to carry off different colours at the same time, he is paralyzed on the spot. Gold has never been found in this part of Africa.
The music of Empoöngwa is, generally, very inferior to that I have before noticed. The enchambee, their only peculiar instrument, resembles the mandolino, but has only five strings, made from the root of the palm tree; the neck consists of five pieces of bamboo, to which the strings are fastened, and, slipping up and down, are easily, but not securely tuned; it is played with both hands; the tones are sweet, but have little power or variety. Long stories are recited to the enchambee in the moon-light evenings, in a sort of recitative; a favourite one, is an account of the arts by which the Sun gained the ascendancy over the Moon, who were first made of coeval power by their common father.
No. 1, (which, I imagine, commences in F major, and ends in G major) is an Empoöngwa air played on the enchambee. I do not know if the inversion of words is common in their conversation as well as in their songs. A native envies a neighbour, named Engaëlla, who has ivory to barter with a vessel.
| Amorill injanja | Engaëlla; | impoongee | m’adgillinjanja. |
| A brass pan he has got | Engaëlla; | ivory, | I have got none. |
Here again we find me answers to the personal pronoun I.
No. 2, in G major, is a song in which the men sing the air alone, and the women join in the chorus. It is an old one, and the subject the first appearance of a white man. One verse will be quite enough to satisfy others and exculpate myself. At least half a dozen followed it.
| Ma | bengwoo | ma bengwa | baïa. |
| A fine strange | thing, | A fine strange thing, | my mother. |
| Deboonga sai | camberwoona | nayennee. |
| Like the leaf of the fat tree,[139] | true I say, | so it is. |
| Sangwa moochoo, | baïa. |
| I make you look to-day, | my mother. |
| Baï yamgwan boonoo. |
| My mother fears this fetish man. |
My patience during a series of dull Empoöngwa songs, was recompensed by the introduction of a performer, as loathsome as his music was astonishing. It was a white negro from the interior country of Imbeekee; his features betrayed his race, his hair was woolly, and of a sandy colour, with thick eye brows of the same; his eyes small, bright, and of a dark grey; the light seemed to hurt them, and their constant quivering and rolling gave his countenance an air of insanity, which was confirmed by the actions of his head, and limbs, and the distortions of his mouth. His stature was middling, and his limbs very small; his skin was dreadfully diseased, and where it was free from sores bore the appearance of being thrown on, it hung about him so loose and so shrivelled; his voice was hollow, and his laugh loud, interspersed with African howls. His harp was formed of wood, except that part emitting the sound, which was covered with goat skin, perforated at the bottom. The bow to which the eight strings were fixed, was considerably curved, and there was no upright; the figure head, which was well carved, was placed at the top of the body, the strings were twisted round long pegs, which easily turned when they wanted tuning, and, being made of the fibrous roots of palm wine tree, were very tough and not apt to slip. The tone was full, harmonious, and deep. He sat on a low stool, and supporting his harp on his knee and shoulder, proceeded to tune it with great nicety; his hands seemed to wander amongst the strings until he gradually formed a running accompaniment (but with little variety) to his extraordinary vociferations. At times, one deep and hollow note burst forth and died away; the sounds of the harp became broken; presently he looked up, pursuing all the actions of a maniac, taking one hand from the strings, to wave it up and down, stretching forth one leg and drawing it up again as if convulsed, lowering the harp on to the other foot, and tossing it up and down. Whilst the one hand continued playing, he rung forth a peal which vibrated on the ear long after it had ceased; he was silent; the running accompaniment served again as a prelude to a loud recitative, uttered with the greatest volubility, and ending with one word, with which he ascended and descended, far beyond the extent of his harp, with the most beautiful precision. Sometimes he became more collected, and a mournful air succeeded the recitative, though without the least connection, and he would again burst out with the whole force of his powerful voice in the notes of the Hallelujah of Handel. To meet with this chorus in the wilds of Africa, and from such a being, had an effect I can scarcely describe, and I was lost in astonishment at the coincidence. There could not be a stronger proof of the nature of Handel, or the powers of the negro.
I naturally enquired if this man was in his senses, and the reply was, that he was always rational but when he played, when he invariably used the same gestures, and evinced the same incoherency. The accompanying notes were caught whilst he was singing; to do more than set them down in their respective lengths, was impossible, and every notation must be far inadequate.
As regards the words, there was such a rhapsody of recitative, of mournful, impetuous, and exhilarated air, wandering through the life of man, throughout the animal and vegetable kingdom for its subjects, without period, without connection, so transient, abrupt, and allegorical, that the Governor of the town could translate a line but occasionally, and I was too much possessed by the music, and the alternate rapture and phrenzy of the performer, to minute the half which he communicated. I can only submit the fragments of a melancholy and a descriptive part.
Burst of a man led to execution,
Bewailing the loss of his mother,
Jiggledy jiggledy, jiggledy, too too tee too, often invaded or broke off a mournful strain; it was said to be an imitation of the note of a bird, described as the wood-pecker.
Three Portuguese, one French, and two large Spanish ships, visited the river for slaves during our stay, and the master of a Liverpool vessel assured me that he had fallen in with 22 between Gaboon and the Congo. Their grand rendezvous is Mayumba. The Portuguese of St. Thomas’s and Prince’s islands send small schooner boats to Gaboon for slaves, which are kept after they are transported this short distance, until the coast is clear for shipping them to America. A third large Spanish ship, well armed, entered the river the night before we quitted it, and hurried our exit, for one of that character was committing piracy in the neighbouring rivers. Having suffered from falling into their hands before, I felicitated myself on the escape. We were afterwards chased and boarded by a Spanish armed schooner, with three hundred slaves on board; they only desired provisions.
[129]I believe no instructions for entering the River Gabon are in print, the following were compiled from the log-book of the Lord Mulgrave, which has been laden in the river the three successive years she has been chartered as a store-ship by the African Committee, and beat into it this time. When standing for the river, from the southward, it is best to give Round Corner a good birth, as a shoal or sand-bank runs off between that and Sandy point, and also in case of being becalmed, as the ground is foul and bad for anchoring. A channel goes in by Sandy point, but it is rarely used but by small vessels. Leave Round Corner about three leagues, and stand over for Cape Clara until you have the river well open, then steer for a bluff point about two miles inside of the Cape, where you will find from eight to ten fathom water. You may stand in, till you are about two miles from the above point, and then steer up the river, keeping the north shore aboard, and steering for the highest land you see, which lies above Quaw Ben’s town. In mid-channel, you will find nine fathoms, until you bring Sandy point on a line with Cape Clara bearing S.S.E. You are then in the narrowest part of the channel, which is not more than two or three miles wide, and your greatest soundings will be six fathoms. When you are well inside these bearings you may haul off from the shore at your leisure, and steer for Parrot Island. When athwart of Quaw Ben’s town, and about five miles off shore, you will find twelve and thirteen fathoms. In standing up from Quaw Ben’s, give Prince Glass’s town a good birth, as a shoal runs off to some distance, your soundings will be from seven to nine fathoms; you may anchor on any part of the north side, without danger. Between Konig and Parrot Islands, is very good anchorage in seven fathoms, and a soft, muddy, bottom; thence to Abraham’s town, you will have from seven to four fathoms at low water; and small vessels may go a considerable way up the river, for there are three fathoms at Naängoo or George-Town creek, about forty-five miles up the river. If you are turning into the river, when you are within the Cape, stand no further off than into five fathoms, for as you close the middle ground, the soundings are very irregular; you may have five fathoms; and, before the next cast, the ship may be ashore. The widest part of the channel, is not more than about 5½ miles, until you are nearly athwart of Quaw Ben’s town, when you may stand over to the south side, as you are then inside the bank. There is a very good watering-place at Rodney’s point. Ships unacquainted, may anchor off the Cape and wait for the sea breeze, which generally sets in before noon.
[130]I am sorry to say those whom their parents have been persuaded to entrust to English vessels for the same purpose, have invariably been sold as slaves, in violation of every assurance; an infamy of which the French have never been guilty in a single instance.
[131]Wōla is probably the Empoöngwa corruption of the original name Quolla or Kulla, for, presuming that name to be given to it in the Mallowa or Houssa country,[a] to denote its being a branch or arm of the great river, dividing into it and the Gambaroo after leaving the lake Dibbir, (Kulla being child in the Mallowa,) it doubtless retains the same name in the country known at Gaboon; not only because Mr. Brown first reported the river Kulla (Bahr Kulla) and the kingdom (Dar Kulla) to be situated thereabouts, but because from the following observation of Mr. Hutchison’s, received since I wrote my geographical chapter, it appears, that the language of the kingdom which bears the name of the river, is at least a dialect of the Mallowa language. “I send you the numerals of Quolla liffa, as given me by the servant boy I have got lately, who comes from that country, which is near the cannibals:” see Appendix, Language.
[a]The Jennë Moors however called it Quolla, which inclined me at first to derive its name from Killi, the numeral one in the Bambarra, as if to denote it the first or greatest river; as Yahndi, the name of the capital of Dagwumba, implies its pre-eminence; Yahndi being one in the language of the country.
[132]“The information received here (at Mavoonda) of the upward course of the river, was more distinct than any we have yet had; all the persons we spoke to agreeing that after ten days in a canoe, we should come to a large sandy island, which makes two channels, one to the north west, and the other to the north east; that in the latter there is a fall, but that canoes are easily got above it; that twenty days above the island, the river issues by many small streams from a great marsh or lake of mud.” Captain Tuckey’s Narrative. In a map, “Regna Congo et Angola,” in Dapper’s Description de l’Afrique, 1686, a large arm is laid down, about two hundred and fifty miles up the Zaire, running to or coming from the north-east. As this book is scarcely known, there being but one copy in England, it may be interesting to the reader to see a description of the Congo and its source, according to the geographical opinions, a century and a half ago, for 1686 is the date of the translation from the German. Refer first to my copy of a part of one of the many maps in Dapper’s work, p. 211. Au midi de cette riviere (Niger) est le Zaire, ou la grande riviere de Congo qui prend sa source de trois lacs, au sentiment de Pigaser. Le premier se nomme Zambre d’où procede le Nil, le second Zaire d’où sortent les rivieres de Lelunde et de Coanze, et le troisiême est un lac formé par le Nil. Mais le principal est le Zambre qui est comme le centre d’où les fleuves de nord le Nil, au levant Cuama et Coavo, au midi Zeila et Manice ou Manhessen, et au couchant la riviere de Zaire, qui par divers bras arrose toute la partie occidentale de l’Afrique, situé au delà de la ligne, les royaumes de Congo, d’Angola, de Monomatapa, de Matamam, de Bagamadiri et d’Agasymba jusqu’au cap de bonne-esperance; pendant que le Nil, Cuama, Coavo, Zeila, et Manice traversent l’Abyssinie et tous les pais qui sont entre la mer-Rouge et Cuama. L’embouchure de Zaire est à cinq degrez quarante minutes de latitude Meridionale. Elle a trois milles de large et se décharge dans l’ocean avec tant d’impetuosité, que l’impression qu’elle donne à la marée, dont elle rend le cours ouëst-nord-ouëst et nord-ouëst au nord se ressent en pleine mer, à douze milles de la côte. Quand on a perdu la terre de vue, on découvre une eau noire, de la verdure, des cannes et des roseaux qui ressemblent à de petites îles, et que la violence de la marée entraine après soi du haut des ecœuils. De sorte qu’à moins d’un vent d’arrière il est fort difficile de resister au courant et d’aller jetter l’ancre dans la rade de Cabo Padron. On ne sauroit remonter ce fleuve plus de vint ou vint cinq lieues au-dessus de son embouchure, à cause des cascades qui sont au milieu de son lit et qui s’élancent du haut des rochers avec tant de bruit qu’on l’entend à deux ou trois lieues de là. Plusieurs ruisseaux se déchargent ou sortent de ce fleuve et arrosent le pais: ce qui est fort commode pour les marchands et les habitans qui peuvent aller commodément d’un village à l’autre sur des canots. Les peuples qui demeurent le long de ces ruisseaux sont des gens de petite taille.
[133]The following, which Baron Humboldt sketched before me, (and which is only laid down in Walker’s Map of the World on the globular projection) is a more extraordinary concatenation of rivers; considering the opposite courses of the Orinoco and Amazon when connected by the Casiquaire, which is more curiously situated than the south eastern branch of the Ogooawai, flowing, through Tanyan, into the Zaire.
[134]“Captain Tuckey could only learn that the paramount Sovereign was named Blindy N’Congo, and resided at a banza named Congo, which was six days journey, in the interior from the ‘Tall Trees,’ where, by the account of the negroes, the Portuguese had an establishment, and where there were soldiers and white women. This place is no doubt the St. Salvador of the Portuguese. The following is the description in Dapper: La province de Pembo est la plus considerable de tout le royaume dont elle contient la ville capitale, et forme comme le centre. Cette ville porte le nom de banza chez les Ethiopiens, les Portugais la nomment présentement S. Salvador, et Marmol l’appelloit Ambas Congo. Elle est presque au milieu de la province, située sur une roche fort haute, à 76 lieues de France ou 150 milles de la mer, au sud-est de la riviere de Zaire, et ombragée de Palmiers, de Tamarins, de Bacoves, de Colas, de Limoniers et d’Orangers. Le côtau sur lequel elle est bâtie est si haut, que de dessus son sommet on porte la vue aussi loin qu’elle se peut étendre, sans qu’aucune montagne l’arrête. Il n’y a point de murailles autour de cette ville, si ce n’est d’un côté de devers le Midi, que le premier roi chrétien donna aux Portugais pour les mettre à couvert des insultes. Il fit aussi fermer de murailles son palais et toutes les maisons royales qui sont aux environs, laissant une place vuide où l’on bâtit ensuite un palais et un cimétiere. La cime de la montagne est occupé par des maisons baties fort près l’une de l’autre: les personnes de qualité en possedent la plus grande partie, et sont des enceintes de bâtimens qui ressemblent à une petite ville. Les habitations des personnes du commun sont rangées de file, en diverses rues, elles sont assez grandes, mais les murailles ne sont que de paille; excepté quelques unes que les Portugais ont faites, dont les murs sont de brique & le toit de chaume. Le palais du roi est aussi grand qu’une ville ordinaire; il est fermé de quatre murailles, celle qui regarde sur le quartier des Portugais est de chaux & de pierre, les autres ne sont que de paille, mais travaillée fort proprement. Les murailles des sales & des chambres sont orneés de tapisseries de paille nattées avec beaucoup d’art. Dans l’enceinte interieure du Palais, il y a des jardins & des vergers embellis de berceaux & de pavilions fort beaux pour le pais, quoiqu’au fond ce ne soit pas grande chose. Il y a dix ou douze Eglises, la Cathedrale, sept chapelles dans la ville & trois Eglises dans le chateau du Prince. Il y a aussi un couvent de Jesuites, où trois ou quatre de ces Peres sent tous le jours le Catechisme au peuple, & des écoles où l’on enseigne le Latin & le Portugais. Il y a deux fontaines, l’une dans la rue de St. Jaques & l’autre dans une cour du Palais, qui fournissent abondance d’eau fraiche, sans qu’on se donne la peine de refaire les aqueducs ou de les entretenir. Outre cela il y a un bras de la riviere Lelunde, qu’on nomme Vese, qui sort au pié de la montagne, au Levant de la ville; son eau est fort bonne, le peuple en va puiser, & elle sert à arroser & rendre fertiles les campagnes d’alentour. On y a des pourceaux & des chevres; mais peu de moutons & boeufs; on les renferme la nuit dans des parcs qui sont dans la ville près des maisons.
[135]This panther or leopard, was sent to the Governor-in-Chief by the King of Ashantee, and was so perfectly tame as never to be tied up, but strolled at liberty through the apartments, playing with the servants and children. It was presented to the Duchess of York, and died at Exeter ’Change, a short time after it landed, of an inflammation on the lungs. The extraordinary playfulness and good humour of the animal, and the preservation of its health and tameness during a four months voyage, (during the colder part of which he banquetted sumptuously on dead parrots) made the loss very mortifying.
[136]The description the natives give of this animal agrees extraordinarily with that of the Quoja Morrou in Dapper.
Les Quojas Morrou, dont on a parlé dans le royaume de Quoja, naissent dans le royaume d’Angola. Comme cet animal tient beaucoup de l’homme, bien des gens ont cru qu’il étoit issu d’un homme & d’un singe, mais les Negres même rejettent cette opinion. Il y a trente ou quarante ans qu’on apporta en Hollande un de ses animaux, dont on fit present à son Altesse le Prince Frederic Henri. Il étoit de la grandeur d’un enfant de trois ans, mais il avoit bien le double d’épais, étant d’une taille carreé, fort vigoureux & agile: car il levoit des choses fort pesantes & les portoit d’un lieu en un autre. Le devant de son corps étoit nud, mais le dos étoit couvert de poil noir. Sa face avoit quelque chose d’humain, mais son nez étoit plat & retroussé. Ses oreilles, son sein, et ses mamelles, ses coudes ses mains, le bas de son ventre & ses parties naturelles, ses jambes & ses pieds resembloient parfaitement à ceux d’une femme, parce que c’étoit un animal femelle. Il se tenoit debout & marchoit souvent tout droit; il buvoit fort proprement, portant, d’une main le pot à la bouche et le soutenant de l’autre; il se couchoit de même, mettoit sa tête sur un chevet, ajustoit la couverture sur son corps, & à le voir ainsi étendu on l’auroit pris pour un homme. Aussi les Negres rapportent-ils des choses prodigieuses de cet animal; ils assurent qu’il force des femmes & des filles, & qu’il ose s’en prendre à des hommes armez. Et selon toutes les apparences c’est là ce Satyre si celebre chez les Anciens, dont Pline & les poëtes ont tant parlé par oui-dire & sur des rapports incertains.
[137]“Les Botanistes remarquent même très fréquemment ces accidens de couleurs dans les plantes venues en lieux agrestes. Je n’en citerai qu’un exemple entre mille. Sur les rives sauvages du Volga et du Samara, Pallas a trouvé l’Anemone patens chargé de périanthes tantôt bleus, tantôt blancs, tantôt jaunes.”—Mirbel 1ère partie, p. 264.
[138]“India rubber is obtained from the milky juice of different plants in hot countries. The chief of these are, the Jatropha elastica and Urceola elastica. The juice is applied in successive coatings on a mould of clay, and dried by the fire or in the sun, and when of a sufficient thickness the mould is crushed and the pieces shaken out.” Nicholson.
“It has been discovered that caoutchouc is not exclusively the produce of the Heven caoutchouc, but that it is furnished by several other plants. We know it to be obtained in large quantities from the Jatropha elastica of South America, and Dr. Roxburgh has given us a description of an Indian plant (Urceola elastica) which affords a juice that when thickened has all the properties of the caoutchouc. We moreover know that the milky exudations of the Jack tree (Artocarpus integrifolia) the Banyan tree (Ficus Indica) and also that of the Arasum tree (Ficus religiosa) possess nearly similar qualities.” Ainslie’s Materia Medica of Hindoostan.
[139]The vegetable butter.
CHAPTER XIV.
Suggestions for future Missions to the Interior of Africa.
A mission to Dagwumba is of the first importance. See Geography, p. 178. The commercial genius and opulence of its people, their disinclination and inaptitude to war, their superior civilization, and the numerous caravans which frequent this emporium, from the most remote parts of the interior, make a treaty of intercourse most desirable, both for commerce and science. But it is more imperiously desirable, or rather this enterprise becomes a duty, from the recollection, that, from this King’s proverbial repute for sanctity, if he were persuaded by the deliberate remonstrance of a British Resident, at least to mitigate, if not ultimately to abolish human sacrifices, his example would naturally be followed by the several neighbouring monarchs who make him their oracle.
Mr. Hutchison’s courage, his love of enterprise, and his interest in intellectual pursuit, to say nothing of a feeling towards myself, which I cannot but be proud of, would, I am sure, lead him to anticipate my wishes and strengthen my hopes of success, by having him again as a companion; and his diary must have proved, though very imperfectly, compared with a personal acquaintance with him, how well he is qualified for an appointment, so important to the interests of commerce, science, and humanity, by his discretion, zeal, and benevolence.[140]
A third officer (and a zealous and able successor to Mr. Tedlie has presented himself) should accompany this mission, to proceed under the King of Dagwumba’s guarantee and recommendation, which is omnipotent to the Niger, to Wauwaw (on the banks of that river where Mr. Park was buried; for no plea could be less suspicious, than the King of England’s natural anxiety to send an officer to the Sultan of Wauwaw, to learn the particulars of Mr. Park’s death, and to enquire for his papers, especially as a Moorish emissary passing through Yahndi, was instructed to do so, directly we heard of the circumstance in Ashantee. The officer alluded to (who is a medical man, well acquainted with natural history, and an accurate draftsman) should be content with a sight of the Niger, and remain at Wauwaw collecting and observing, until an exchange of letters with Cape Coast, through the Resident at Yahndi[141]; when it would be seen how far it might be prudent, (having replaced him at Wauwaw) to allow him to proceed to Cassina, Houssa, or Timbuctoo; that is, if the Sultan of Wauwaw would guarantee his safety, under the same promise of reward previously held out to the King of Dagwumba.
No moment could be more auspicious than the present for this enterprise to Dagwumba, since the King of Ashantee’s absence and perplexity in the Gaman war bars his molestation or hindrance; though I have no expectation that he would offer either, were he at liberty, or aware of the occasion: see page 342.
If the trade of Dagwumba be so extensive as was invariably reported to us (and to Mr. Lucas at Mesurata on the Mediterranean) it might then become desirable to establish a British market up the Volta; but this is an after consideration. Geographical circumstances are much more in favour of a mission to Dagwumba than they were in that to Ashantee, (besides, that there are no irritating political retrospects to be debated on arrival,) for the Volta or Adirree is navigable from the sea to within eight days march of Yahndi; (see page 176;) even if we do not calculate on the reported junction of the river Laka, which would bring us close to Yahndi.
The presents should all be ingenious novelties, rather than costly apparel, for they are not only more acceptable and more imposing, but, which is very important, much more portable; and would require so few carriers, as to diminish the expense of conveyance as much as the expense of purchase. The negroes have more than anticipated our portable displays of splendour, from the pageantry and descriptions of the Moors; and we have had the advantage of witnessing what kind of presents made the most auspicious impression on the King of Dagwumba’s powerful neighbour, which were certainly all of the class of ingenious novelty. I should recommend, therefore, a few pieces of tissue and rich silk, with gold thread interwoven, to shew that our manufactures can be accommodated to their taste; see note page 331.
Pieces of worked muslin.
One piece of ditto, worked with gold thread.
Scotch damask.
Palampours, with gold and silver leaf.
Manchester cottons, of rich pattern.
Red, blue, and yellow broad cloth.
Raw silk, of various colours; see page 331.
Of the foregoing, only small quantities as presents to the King and principal Moors, by way of samples of our manufactures.
Two pair of richly cut glass decanters.
A small silver bowl embossed.
A handsome lamp.
A military saddle and bridle, with pistols, &c.
Two musical snuff boxes.
A good bird organ.
Two or three common violins, being the instrument of the country.
Pandean pipes.
Cymbals.
Two bugles.
Kaleidescopes.
An inferior gold repeater for the King.
Two or three common silver watches.
A telescope.
Camera obscura.
Magic lantern.
Microscope.
Pocket compasses.
Boxes of phosphorous matches.
Arabic Bibles, and Arabic literature.
Two or three landscapes, in sympathetic ink.
A port-folio of engravings of English costume and public buildings, with a set of the drawings of this work.
A copying writing apparatus for the chief Moor.
Wax, seals, pencils, Indian rubber.
Two boxes of water colours.
Drawing and writing paper, and vellum.
Razors, scissors, knives.
A handsome double barrelled gun.
Two boxes of carpenters tools.
A small turning lathe.
A small plough.
A made up turban of gold tissue, with a gilt circle for the head, set with false stones, for the chief Moor.
A silk union flag.
An air gun.
Candles and perfumed soap.
Bark, and other medicines.
The officers of the mission should be provided with Troughton’s pocket sextant, Dollond’s 32 feet telescope, the new barometers, &c. &c.
The Danes having deserted their fort (Adda) at the mouth of the Volta, their government, on being solicited, would surely not only not obstruct, but favour so important a scientific enterprise, and not compel us to reach the river over land, as we could do, by marching through Aquapim and Quaoo. The man of war on the station might convey the mission to the mouth of the Volta, and one of her boats accompany the canoes (which should be brought from Cape Coast) a day or two up the river.
It would be well to be prepared with several impressions of a manifesto (in Arabic,) explanatory and impressive of the legitimate and benevolent views of the British government, as an introduction to the King of Dagwumba, preparatory to our negociation, and also to serve the same purpose at Wauwaw, and to circulate through the interior. Numerous impressions of the certificates circulated in behalf of Major Peddie, should also be circulated, Mr. Ritchie’s name being substituted, and the reward for an act of kindness acknowledged in a letter from that gentleman, being made payable (after an authority from Cape Coast) at either of the British Residencies, Coomassie, Yahndi, or Dahomey; for as there are many officers to spare at Cape Coast, the expressed wish of the latter monarch should be immediately gratified, and our intercourse renewed by a Residency. See note, p. 340.
I think all the objects of the Dagwumba mission could be effected in four months; when I should feel impatient to visit the river Gaboon, for the purpose of penetrating to the Ogooawai, and going as far up it as I might with prudence. See p. 436. The discovery of so large a river in this situation is very important.
Arrangements could probably be made at Eninga or Okota (p. 429.) for the guarantee of an after mission to Asheera: also for one from Gaboon to Kaylee; and, which is most important, for the south-eastern navigation (from Adjoomba, p. 431) of the branch of the Ogooawai running through Tanyan into the Congo.
But there is another enterprise which should not be forgotten, the navigation of the Lagos river to the highest point, (p. 224) and a visit to Kosie, (p. 225,) a Residency at which court would doubtless lead to a similar establishment in the powerful and commercial kingdom of Yarriba. See p. 209.
The Residents at the various courts, who, as I have impressed before, should be young men of acquirement, patience, and address, should receive occasional instructions from head quarters, directing their enquiries and observations to the geographical and scientific desiderata, more peculiarly belonging to or expected from their different neighbourhoods, which would be suggested from the closer study of these subjects by the individual at the head of a department of discovery at head quarters, and also by the scientific Societies in England according to their peculiar pursuits.
The Residents should make quarterly reports, accompanied by specimens of natural history, to be digested into one annual report at head quarters, (with the various geographical improvements and discoveries, adjusted and embodied in one large chart) for forwardance to England.
All Residents and Conductors of Missions, should be provided with small copying apparatuses, so that they might forward their original dispatch, and one duplicate, to Cape Coast, by two different opportunities, always retaining the other copy, in case of accident, or until the receipt were acknowledged.
If it could be afforded, a medical officer should afterwards be added to the more important Residencies, to attach and relieve the natives.
Botanical and Mineralogical excursions, (taking sextants, telescopes, and barometers,) into Ahanta, Aowin, Warsaw, Akim, and Aquapim, small surveys, &c. &c. should be undertaken, ad interim, not only from the smallness of the expense and the great comparative benefit, (as we know nothing of these countries beyond their position,) but to qualify the younger officers (of congenial disposition and acquirement,) for future missions and residencies.
The young men soliciting appointments in England, should be required to make themselves acquainted with the grammar of the Arabic language, and practical astronomy, before they receive their commissions; and one or two intelligent Moors from the interior, should be invited, by a pay, to settle at Cape Coast Castle, to perfect these officers in writing and speaking the language. The Fantee language should also be cultivated, as it is a dialect of the Ashantee.
The soldiers of the settlements should no longer be enlisted from the mulattoes and Fantees of the neighbourhood, making the present paltry force the more inefficient, from local and family attachments, inseparable from human nature, and preventing their acting cordially, if at all, on emergencies for the rescue of human victims, or the punishment of their relatives and townsmen, for insult, or contempt of the British legislation for the abolition of the slave trade, &c. The Negroes captured in the illicit Spanish and Portuguese slave ships, of whom there must be a number unemployed at Sierra Leone, would form the most desirable military force, even preferable to European, which has recently been adopted by the Dutch. These rescued Negroes would possess no attachment, beyond that which the considerate kindness and good conduct of their officers might induce; the climate would be natural to them; and they would prove valuable companions, if not intelligent guides, in future missions to the interior. There should at least be two hundred and fifty of these soldiers at head quarters, (one company being trained as artillery by European serjeants) and fifty at each other settlement, if but two.
The three missions, to Dagwumba, Wauwaw, and Ogooawai, would not cost above a thousand pounds, judiciously expended in England; which is not so much as the annual expense of either of the six paltry out-forts (exclusive of the head quarters, and the vice presidency, which is but 9 miles from Cape Coast, and, since the abolition of the slave trade, an useless and absurd position;) the mere existence of which, although it may excite astonishment, and reflect credit on the mercantile ingenuity and economy of the African Committee, is notoriously a disgraceful caricature on the British name.
Three respectable establishments, one at Cape Coast Castle, one at Accra, (a rich and open country,) and one at Succondee, (if we could not purchase Axim, which commands the navigation of the Ancobra,) with an allowance of a thousand a year for a progress in the interior, (beneficial to commerce, science, and humanity,) would be productive of fame and honour, and probably of wealth, to our nation.