*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79805 *** [Illustration: _A View of Free-town, on the River Sierra Leone._] AN ACCOUNT OF THE _NATIVE AFRICANS_ IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF SIERRA LEONE; TO WHICH IS ADDED, AN ACCOUNT OF THE PRESENT STATE OF MEDICINE AMONG THEM. * * * * * Come fanciul ch’a pena Volge la Lingua e snoda; Che dir non sa, ma ’l piu tacer gli è Noia Cosi ’l desir mi mena A dire:· · · · Mi palpita il cor!· · · · · · ma forse diran . . . che un primo. Errore Punir non si dovea; che un Ramo infermo Subito non recide saggio Cultor. * * * * * BY _THOMAS WINTERBOTTOM, M.D._ PHYSICIAN TO THE COLONY OF SIERRA LEONE. * * * * * VOL. I. * * * * * _LONDON:_ PRINTED BY C. WHITTINGHAM, _Dean Street;_ AND SOLD BY JOHN HATCHARD, 199, PICCADILLY, AND J. MAWMAN, POULTRY. * * * * * 1803 PREFACE. * * * * * The Author does not presume to offer any apology for laying the following work before the tribunal of the Public: but, before their sentence upon it be pronounced, he wishes to observe, that it is offered merely as a rude sketch of the domestic economy, and medical knowledge, of the inhabitants of the windward coast of Africa; or rather, as a collection of gleanings which have either escaped the notice of more successful reapers in that extensive field, or which have been passed over as of little importance. If this work should be found to add little to our present knowledge of Africa, the Author hopes that it may at least tend to remove some prejudices respecting its inhabitants, whose customs have, in various instances, been misrepresented. The work is divided into two parts, the latter of which, first engaged the Author’s attention; to this was subjoined a brief account of the manners and customs of the people whose diseases had been noticed. But this account having increased so much by successive additions, as greatly to exceed the limits originally marked out for it, and the medical part being thought likely to prove uninteresting to many who might be desirous of perusing the rest of the work, it seemed adviseable to alter the arrangement, and print each part in separate volumes, in order that the general reader might be at liberty to purchase the one, without being obliged to purchase the other also. The Vocabularies placed at the end of the work, will probably appear to many to be too extensive and cumbrous; but the Author hopes they may prove useful to Europeans who visit that part of the African coast to which his account relates, by facilitating the acquisition of a more accurate knowledge of the native languages, a point of indispensable necessity to those who desire exact information. The difficulty of procuring satisfactory intelligence from the natives of Africa, respecting themselves or their country, is known only to those who have made the experiment; they frequently lead Europeans into error by answering questions in the affirmative, merely to avoid trouble and escape importunity. The questions themselves sometimes awaken the jealousy of those to whom they are addressed; feeling no desire to institute similar inquiries, they are apt to suspect that the curiosity of Europeans has some sinister end in view. It requires also much time, and a fund of patience, to propose the necessary queries; to vary them in such a manner as to enable the natives to comprehend their precise import; and to compare the testimonies of different individuals in order to avoid the risk of misconception. Even interpreters are not to be implicitly relied on, as they are apt to give to answers that colour which they perceive will be most agreeable to their employer. The author begs leave to return his sincere acknowledgments to his excellent friend, Z. Macaulay, Esq. formerly Governor of Sierra Leone, for much valuable information, and likewise for the Map of the Coast which accompanies this work. DIRECTIONS FOR PLACING THE PLATES. * * * * * 1. Map of the Coast to face page 1 2. Chart of the River Sierra Leone 14 3. A View of the Colony of Sierra Leone, _the Title_ 4. A Negro climbing a Palm Tree 61 5. The Game of Palm Nuts 117 6. Nests of the larger Termites 299 7. Nests of the smaller Termites 309 8. Representation of the Insects 311 EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. * * * * * PLATE I. Map of the Coast. Plate II. A Chart of the River Mitombo, including the Bullom Shore, and part of the peninsula of Sierra Leone, sketched by my much respected friend William Dawes, Esq. Governor of Sierra Leone. This chart, though sufficiently accurate, is not intended for nautical purposes. Plate III. A View of the Settlement at Sierra Leone, see page 275. This view takes in only one half of the town; but the remainder very nearly resembles the part which is here represented. The flag displayed at the governor’s house is in return to the compliment paid by the vessel, supposed to be just arrived from England. The large building close to the wharf or public landing place, is the Sierra Leone Company’s store or magazine. Round the first point, at the North East extremity of the town, is a small bay called Susan’s Bay; and round the second, upon the extremity of which is built a small hut, is another beautiful bay, having a fine sandy beach, very convenient for careening or repairing ships. From hence the land is seen running to form a third point, called Foro Point, and opening into a bay, called Foro Bay, at the bottom of which is placed Granville Town. See p. 274. The bright spots on the sides of the mountain are patches of ground which have been cleared of wood, for cultivation. Plate IV. represents a Negro at the Summit of a Palm Tree, and just about to remove the calibash which had been left to collect the palm wine. The man at the foot of a tree is giving the other some instructions. The woman crossing the Savannah is going to the neighbouring town with a load of yams, oranges, and pine apples. She leads one child by the hand, and carries the other at her back, secured by a broad cotton cloth fastened over her breast. See page 61. Plate V. Represents two young women who have been playing under the shade of a plantain tree, at the game of palm nuts, described page 117. The houses resemble those in the Bullom and Timmanee towns, and have each a _bunting_, or mud bank, running round the outside. Plate VI. fig. 1, represents the hill nest, raised by the termites bellicosi, described page 298. a a a. Turrets by which their hills are raised and enlarged, p. 299. Fig. 2. A section of fig. 1, as it would appear on being cut down through the middle from the top, a foot lower than the surface of the ground, p. 301. A. A. An horizontal line from A on the left, and a perpendicular line from A at the bottom, will intersect each other at the royal chamber, p. 301. The darker shades near it are the empty apartments and passages, which it seems are left so for the attendants on the king and queen, who, when old, may require near one hundred thousand to wait on them every day. The parts which are the least shaded and dotted are the nurseries, surrounded, like the royal chamber, by empty passages on all sides, for the more easy access to them, with the eggs from the queen, the provision for the young, &c. N.B. The magazines of provisions are situated without any seeming order among the vacant passages which surround the nurseries. B. The top of the interior buildings, which often seems, from the arches carrying upward, to be adorned on the sides with pinnacles, p. 305. C. The floor of the area or nave, p. 304. E. E. The bridges, p. 307. Fig. 3. (In the corner of the plate) the first appearance of an hill nest by two turrets, p. 299. Fig. 4. A tree, with the nest of the termites arborum, and their covered way, p. 310. F. F. F. F. Covered ways of the termites arborum, p. 318. Fig. 5. A section of the nest of the termites arborum. 6. A nest of the termites bellicosi, with Europeans on it, seemingly observing a vessel at sea, p. 300. 7. A bull standing centinel upon one of these nests, while the rest of the herd is ruminating below, p. 300. G. G. G. The African palm trees, from the nuts of which is made the oleum palmæ. Plate VII. fig. 1 and 2. The Turret Nests, with the roofs of the termes mordax, and a termes atrox as finished, p. 309. Fig. 3. A turret, with the roof begun. 4. A turret, raised only half its height. 5. A turret, building upon one which had been thrown down, p. 309. 6. 6. A turret broken in two. Plate VIII. fig. 1. A Termes Bellicosus, p. 293, No. 1. and p. 311. Fig. 2. A king. N.B. A king never alters his form after he loses his wings, neither does he apparently increase in bulk. 3. A queen, p. 315. 4. The head of a perfect insect magnified. 5. A face, with stemmata magnified, p. 293. No. 1. 6. A labourer, p. 311. 7. A labourer magnified. 8. A soldier, p. 311. 9. A soldier’s forceps, and part of his head magnified, p. 311. 10. The termes mordax, p. 293, No. 2. 11. The face with the stemmata magnified, p. 293, No. 2. 12. A labourer. 13. A soldier. 14. The termes atrox, p. 293, No. 3, and p. 308. 15. The face and stemmata magnified, p. 293, No. 3. 16. A labourer. 17. A soldier. 18. Idem. 19. The termes destructor, p. 293, No. 4. 20. The face and stemmata magnified, p. 293, No. 4. 21. The termes arborum, p. 293, No. 5, and p. 310. 22. The face and stemmata magnified, p. 293, No. 5. 23. A labourer. 24. A soldier. 25. A queen, p. 317. N.B. In the figures 5, 11, 15, 20, and 21, the two white spots between the edges are stemmata. CONTENTS. * * * * * _VOLUME I._ CHAP. I. Page _DIVISION of the African Coast — General Account of the 1 Country in the Neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, its Inhabitants, and their Languages — Discovery of the River Sierra Leone, and Origin of its Name — Description of the River, its Islands and the adjacent Country_ CHAP. II. _Division of the Year — Rains — Tornados — Temperature of the 21 Air — Prevailing Winds — Appearance of the Sky and the heavenly Bodies — Noise of Crickets, &c. at Night — Length of Day — Smokes — Humidity of the Atmosphere — State of the Thermometer and Barometer — Effect of Dews and Rain — The Hartmattan_ CHAP. III. _Agriculture — Clearing the Ground — Cultivation of Rice, &c. 46 — The Articles of Food — Fruits — Various Uses of the Palm Tree_ CHAP. IV. _Diet — Art of Cookery — Bread — Animal Food — Milk and Butter 64 — Spirituous Liquors — Tobacco — Kola_ CHAP V. _Situation of African Towns — Houses — Palaver House — Towns 78 of the Mahommedans_ CHAP. VI. _Ordinary Employments — Fishing — Manufacturing Leather — 89 Blacksmiths — Manufacture of Mats — Nets — Earthen Vessels — Cotton — Blue Dye — Dress of Men and Women — Mourning — Mode of painting and anointing their Bodies — Pointing their Teeth — Tattowing — Circumcision_ CHAP VII. _Amusements — Singing and Dancing — Musical Instruments — 108 Riding — Mahommedan Literature — Games of Chance — Negro Tales — Salutation_ CHAP. VIII. _Government — Administration of Justice — Ordeals — Red Water 124 — Divination — The Purrah_ CHAP. IX. _Situation of Women — Marriages — Polygamy — Population — 144 Period of Child Bearing — Names of Men and Women_ CHAP. X. _Wars — Revolt of the Mandingo Slaves — Implements of War — 153 Africans unjustly accused of being Anthropophagi_ CHAP. XI. _Trade — Mandingo Merchants — Trade with Foolas — Bar Trade — 168 Money Medium — Modes of Calculation — Singular Mode of Trading on the Banks of the Niger_ CHAP. XII. _Persons of the Natives — Supposed Causes of their black 180 Colour — Woolly Hair — Features and Form of the Negroes — Their Rank in the Creation_ CHAP. XIII. _General Character of the Africans as given by different 205 Authors — Their Pride — Sensibility — Deference to old Age — Hospitality — Genius — Oratory — Schools — Fondness for Literature_ CHAP. XIV. _Religion — Worship of Demons — Idea of a future State — Snake 222 Worship — Mahommedanism — Trial and Punishment of Offences among the Mahommedans — Funerals — Mourning — Singular Society of Women — Mahommedan Burials — Account of a Mahommedan Impostor_ CHAP. XV. _Union of Medicine with Magic — Superstition of the Africans — 251 Greegrees or Amulets — Treatment of sick Persons to avoid the Effect of Witchcraft — Practice of Obi — Art of poisoning — “Blowing”_ APPENDIX. No. I. _Description of the Colony of Sierra Leone_ 273 II. _Meteorological Account of Sierra Leone_ 281 III. _Account of the Termites_ 292 IV. _Vocabulary of the Bullom and Timmanee 337 Languages_ V. _Vocabulary of the Soosoo Languages_ 352 INDEX 363 [Illustration: A Map _of the WINDWARD COAST of_ AFRICA _from the_ RIO GRANDE _to C. PALMAS._] ACCOUNT OF THE _NATIVE AFRICANS_ IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF SIERRA LEONE. * * * * * CHAP. I. DIVISION OF THE AFRICAN COAST. GENERAL ACCOUNT OF THE COUNTRY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF SIERRA LEONE. ITS INHABITANTS, AND THEIR LANGUAGES. DISCOVERY OF THE RIVER SIERRA LEONE, AND ORIGIN OF ITS NAME. DESCRIPTION OF THE RIVER; ITS ISLANDS; AND THE ADJACENT COUNTRY. THE Coast of Guinea, as it is commonly termed, is divided into the Windward and Leeward Coast. The former extends from Senegal, in about 16° N. lat. or according to some from Cape Roxo, in 12° 23′ N. lat. to Cape Palmas, in lat. 4° 26′: the latter includes the remaining space, reaching from Cape Palmas as far south as European vessels commonly trade for slaves. The Windward Coast receives its name from lying to the northward and westward of the other parts of the Slave Coast, from which quarters the wind blows during a great part of the year. The line between Cape Mount, in lat. 6° 46′, or perhaps more accurately between Cape Mesurado, in 6° 13′, and Cape Palmas, is called the Grain or Malaguetta Coast; from the quantity of grains of paradise or Malaguetta pepper procured there: it is also frequently called the Kroo Coast. The space from Cape Palmas to Cape Three Points, in lat. 4° 40′ N. is called the Ivory Coast; and where it terminates the Gold Coast begins, which extends about 180 miles eastward. Almost the whole of the sea coast, for some hundred leagues to the north and south of Sierra Leone, is very low; and in some parts, the tops of the trees which appear like an immense forest growing in the water, are the first indication of the approach of land. If the river Sherbro be excepted, which is remarkable for its majestic size, and for the distance which it runs inland, there is no river of much consequence to the southward of Sierra Leone until the Gold Coast be passed. To the northward we meet with a number of fine rivers, some of which are large, and navigable by vessels of considerable burthen. Among them are the Scarcies, called by the Bulloms and Timmanees Ma-bayma, Sama River, Kissee, Rio Pongas, Rio Nunez, Rio Grande, Gambia, &c. These rivers penetrate into the interior by a great variety of windings, and divide into innumerable branches and creeks, which communicate with each other and with the branches of neighbouring rivers, so as to render the inland navigation very extensive. In sailing up these rivers, the eye is charmed with a landscape perpetually varying, which would afford full scope to the genius and pencil of a Claude. The vast diversity of trees, unknown in Europe, which overhang the banks; the immensity of their growth; the vivid hues of their luxuriant foliage; the sombre shade which they afford in despite of a dazzling and vertical sun; and the awful stillness which prevails in places so distant from the busy haunt of men; and which is interrupted only by the melancholy cooing of the dove, the shrill cry of the parrot, or the noisy mirth of the hordes of monkeys occasionally to be seen on these shores; fill the mind with astonishment, and cause it to exclaim in the language of the poet, What solemn twilight! what stupendous shades Inwrap these infant floods! thro’ ev’ry nerve A sacred horror thrills, a pleasing fear Glides o’er my frame. The forest deepens round, And more gigantic still th’ impending trees Stretch their extrav’gant arms athwart the gloom. The Windward Coast, as above described, is inhabited by several different nations. The Timmanees possess the south side of the river Sierra Leone, together with its branches of Port Logo[1] (so called from running into the Logo country) and Rokelle, called by the Timmanees Robung-dakell or River of Scales. Thence they penetrate to a considerable distance inland, where they are subdivided into Timmanees, Logos, and Krangos; all of whom it is said, speak dialects of the same language. This nation formerly lived at a distance from the sea coast; but being of a warlike and active disposition, they forced themselves down the river Sierra Leone, among the Bulloms, who formerly possessed the whole region from the river Kissee to the Sherbro. They have no tradition by which we can learn at what period this event took place. Not contented with dispossessing the Bulloms of a part of Sierra Leone, they have in like manner forced themselves down the river Scarcies. The Bulloms inhabit the country on the north side of the Sierra Leone river, called Bullom, which extends as far as the river Scarcies, from the banks of which, as has been said, the Timmanees have driven them. To the northward of the Scarcies the Bulloms chiefly occupy the sea coast, as far as the mouth of the river Kissee. They also inhabit to the southward of Sierra Leone the river Sherbro, the Bananas[2], the Plantains, and some other smaller islands. This once powerful nation formerly possessed the whole of the river Kissee, from which they were driven by a nation called Soosoos or Suzees. The Soosoos extend from the river Kissee beyond the Rio Pongas, nearly as far as the Rio Nunez, of which tract they dispossessed a nation called Bagoes, who were once masters of the whole of the Rio Pongas, and of the country between that river and the Rio Nunez, together with a considerable line of sea coast extending from the Rio Nunez southward as far as the river Dembia, nearly opposite to the Isles de Los.[3] They still retain a few straggling villages scattered here and there among the Soosoos; but are chiefly confined to the sea coast and to the Isles de Los, upon the largest of which, called Támara, they have plantations and villages. The Bagoes, like the Bulloms, seem to have been of a mild and peaceable disposition, and to have fallen a prey to ambitious and restless neighbours. It is said of them, that they will not allow Europeans to settle among them; and the reason assigned for their conduct is, that they dislike the slave trade. They make earthen vessels of a blue kind of clay, fashioned into a variety of forms, and burnt in the fire, which they use for holding water and other domestic purposes, and sell to their neighbours. Their canoes shew little ingenuity; they are long, very low and inconvenient, and taper very much from stern to stem. They are rowed by paddles, which the rowers use standing, and they can only go with the tide. The Soosoos however have not remained in undisturbed possession of their usurpation. A few emigrants from a powerful nation, called Mandingos[4], settled themselves upon the banks of the Kissee, and have since become possessed of a considerable tract of country in its neighbourhood. The Mandingos are strict Mahommedans, very zealous in making converts, and have spread their religion with much success among the Soosoos, where it appears to be daily gaining ground[5]. Europeans call every one on the coast who professes Mahommedanism, indiscriminately, _Mandingo Man_, or as the Pagan natives term it, _Book Man_. This is the same with the _Maraboo_ or _Marbut_ of travellers. These _Bookmen_ are much respected by the illiterate natives, and are very frequently met with in the Bullom and Timmanee villages, where they have great influence. It is not easy to draw the precise boundaries of each of the nations mentioned above, as villages of neighbouring nations are often met with considerably advanced within each other’s territories. The Foola nation lives at a considerable distance from the sea, Teembo, the capital, being nearly in the latitude of 10° N.; they are strict Mahommedans, and are much employed in agriculture and the breeding of cattle[6]. Several different nations inhabit the coast to the southward of Sierra Leone, between Cape Mount and Cape Palmas; among the most remarkable of whom are the people of that part called the Kroo Coast, the inhabitants of which spend much of their time on the water, and live chiefly on fish and rice[7]; they are remarkable for the robustness and fleshiness of their bodies, and also for their great agility. The Kroos, or Kroomen, are a very industrious people, and frequently engage themselves to European vessels upon the coast, continuing on board several months, and acting in the capacity of sailors and traders, in both which situations they shew much intelligence and activity. But notwithstanding their utmost exertions none of them become rich. When any person returns home from the service of Europeans, he is obliged to make large presents to the old men of the town: when this has been neglected, or when it is suspected that a part of his wealth has been concealed, he is summoned by the old people to the Palaver-house, where a fire being made of green pepper bushes, the culprit is suspended over it with his hands tied behind his back, until nearly suffocated with the smoke; a ceremony which never fails to extort a discovery of his treasure, and a compliance with all their demands. All these nations have languages peculiar to themselves, most of which are not merely dialects of the same language, but essentially different, though confined in some cases to a small district. Even the Bulloms of Sierra Leone, and those of Sherbro, though constituting one nation, differ in their mode of speaking; and this diversity, which is still greater in other instances, proves a great obstacle to the acquirement of a competent knowledge of the customs of the natives[8]. All these languages are highly figurative, and abound in metaphorical expressions, images, and comparisons, drawn from natural objects, which, when translated into European languages, give them a poetic turn. The languages to the northward of Sierra Leone are softer and more harmonious than those to the southward. Those of the Timmanees and Bulloms[9] are both agreeable to the ear, but the Soosoo excels them all, and in softness approaches the Italian. The Mandingo is the fashionable language in this region, but it is more difficult to acquire than the others, and abounds in guttural sounds. As we proceed southward, the languages become more harsh and unmusical: the Kroos have a guttural, singing pronunciation, which is very disagreeable, and one nation below Cape Palmas receives the name of Qua-qua, from their speech resembling the cry of a duck. The frequency of Europeans on the coast has introduced among the natives a kind of lingua franca sufficient for the purposes of trade; though it is not uncommon to meet with individuals among them who can speak English, French, Dutch, or Portuguese with tolerable fluency. The general face of the countries which have been here noticed, appears to an European uncommonly beautiful and attractive: it is covered with stately and umbrageous trees, among which the elegant palm tree[10], from the novelty of its appearance, is not the least conspicuous. The soil varies in different parts, but is pretty generally fruitful, and yields abundantly all the necessaries of life. The savannahs, or large open spaces of ground, are the least productive, and consist chiefly of beds of sand or rock: they are usually overflowed in the rainy season, and are covered with tall, coarse grass, and a few stunted trees. The River Sierra Leone lies in 8° 30′ N. lat. and in 13° 43′ of W. long. By early geographers it was named the river Tagrin, or Mitomba. The name Sierra Leone, or Mountain of Lions, applied to it by its first discoverers, the Portuguese, has been supposed to originate from the mountains hereabouts abounding in lions[11]. This supposition, however, is certainly ill-founded, as lions are not to be met with in this part of the country at present, nor is there any tradition among the natives of their ever having existed here; and in Cada Mosto’s relation of the voyage of Pedro di Sintra, who first discovered Sierra Leone, the following description is given, which shews the true origin of that appellation. “Liedo is the next place they discovered; it is a cape, to which they gave this name on account of the gay appearance which that and the country afforded them. At this cape a mountain begins, which extends fifty miles along the coast; it is high and perpetually covered with the loftiest green trees. Towards its extremity they found three islands[12], about eight miles from the shore, the largest of which was ten or twelve miles in circumference. They called these islands Salvezze, and the mountain Sierra Leona[13], on account of the tremendous roaring of the thunder upon the summit of it, which is continually wrapped up in clouds and mist[14].” [Illustration: _PLAN OF THE RIVER_ SIERRA LEONE] The river Mitomba, or Sierra Leone, is conspicuous for its magnitude, and is one of the most beautiful in Africa. Its entrance is formed by two projecting points, one on the south western termination of the Bullom shore, called Leopard’s island[15]; the other on the north west extremity of Sierra Leone. The last- mentioned point is a low, narrow neck of land, running out into the sea, and is called Cape Sierra Leone; in old charts it is often named Cape Ledo (Liedo) or Cape Tagrin. It is sometimes also called the True Cape, to distinguish it from a projecting high land, about five miles to the south-ward, called the False Cape, which is frequently mistaken for the former. The breadth of the river, taken from Leopard’s island, to the cape Sierra Leone, is about fifteen miles; from this it gradually decreases until it reaches St. George’s Bay[16], about six miles above the cape, where it does not exceed six or seven miles. From St. George’s Bay the river preserves nearly the same breadth, for the distance of near twenty miles higher up: it there ceases to become navigable for vessels of a large draught of water, and divides into two large branches called Port Logo and Rokelle rivers. Before it terminates in these two last-mentioned rivers, it sends off on the north side a small branch, which from running into the Bullom country takes the name of Bullom river, by the natives called Shallatook; and on the south side it sends off a more considerable branch, called the Bunch, which with the Kates, a river running into the bay where the Sherbro empties itself into the sea, nearly divides the mountains of the peninsula from the main land to the eastward. In one place the river Bunch approaches within six miles of the Kates river, which is called by Dapper, Bangue. “Au midi du Cap de Sierra Liona, il y a une autre riviere nommee Bangue, & celle de Mitombo etant au nord, ces deux rivieres forment une espece de presqu’ile, & la langue de terre qui les separe a si peu d’étendue que les batteliers negres, qui veulent aller d’un fleuve à l’autre, portent leur barque sur les epaules.” _Déscript. de l’Afrique_. Several fine bays are formed on the south side of the Sierra Leone river; all of which open to the north. The tide of this river rises about twelve feet at spring tides: during the rainy season it is very rapid, and flows about four or five miles in an hour: it is high water half an hour after seven o’clock at full and change. The high land, from which Cape Sierra Leone projects, is continued in a chain of hills running to the south as far as Cape Shelling, which forms the northern extremity of the bay of Sherbro. From Cape Sierra Leone the mountains run nearly parallel with the river, in a W.N.W. and E.S.E. direction, continuing to be very lofty until they pass Gambia island, about ten miles above St. George’s Bay[17]. The land forming the peninsula of Sierra Leone, when viewed from the sea, or from the opposite shore called Bullom, appears like a number of hills heaped upon each other in a very irregular manner. On a nearer approach the face of the country assumes a more beautiful aspect. The rugged appearance of these mountains is softened by the lively verdure with which they are constantly crowned; their majestic forms, irregularly advancing and receding, occasion huge masses of light and shade to be projected from their sides, which add a degree of picturesque grandeur to the scene. The most craggy and inaccessible parts of the mountains are covered with forests of immense growth, which yield A boundless deep immensity of shade. Here, lofty trees[18], to ancient song unknown, The noble sons of potent heat, and floods Prone rushing from the clouds, rear high to heaven Their thorny stems, and broad around them throw Meridian gloom[19]. The lower grounds which are cultivated, preserve a considerable degree of verdure through the whole year, which, contrasted with the darker hues of the more distant hills, forms a spectacle highly grateful to the eye. The shore of Sierra Leone, for the space of six or seven miles from the mouth of the river, is very rugged, and consists chiefly of rocks abounding in iron, which lie upon a sandy bottom. Excepting on the banks of the small creeks, which proceed from the bottom of one or two of the bays, it is quite free from mangroves and ooze, and is little incommoded with swamps. The land on the opposite or north shore of the river is called Bullom, from a word in that language signifying low land. From Leopard’s Island, which forms the north western extremity of the Bullom shore, at the entrance of the river, the land runs in a south east direction to its easternmost extremity called Tagrin Point, from whence it runs almost north. The Bullom shore, though low when compared to the high land of Sierra Leone, may be called high when compared to the coast in general from the Rio Nunez southward, but more particularly from the River Sherbro, called by the natives Mampa, as far south as Cape Palmas. We must except, however, Cape Mount and Cape Monserrado (or Mesurada) both which are high lands. The aspect of the country of Bullom is extremely beautiful; the land is finely shaded by a variety of lofty spreading trees. The soil is remarkably fertile, and the shore, though in some places very swampy, is for the most part bordered by a fine sandy beach. The island of Gambia, formerly a slave factory belonging to the French, but at present deserted, is placed in the mouth of Bunch River, and is of considerable extent; the land is pretty high, but the shore is covered with mangroves and ooze; and as its situation, in a kind of bay, half surrounded by very high hills, renders it extremely hot, it has always proved very unhealthy. The direction of the River Sierra Leone, as far as this place, is nearly east and west, but now it takes a northern direction, after sending off Bunch River to the east south east. In its course northward it forms a number of islands, most of which are small, and many of them are overgrown with mangroves, and overflowed by the tide. Some of them, however, are of considerable extent, as the island of Robanna, upon which there is a small town of the natives, and a few straggling houses, built to guard their rice plantations. The land is low, swampy, and greatly infested by musquitos. The islands of Tasso and Marabump are also considerable in point of size, and upon the latter are some towns belonging to the natives. The soil of Tasso is rich, and the appearance of the whole island is picturesque, but the land is low, and the shore is nearly surrounded by impenetrable mangroves[20]. The proprietors of the adjacent slave factory have lately established a cotton plantation upon it, which is likely to become productive. To the north of Tasso, about eighteen miles above St. George’s Bay, is Bance Island, upon which is established a slave factory. This is a small barren island, considerably elevated, with a dry gravelly soil; but being placed as it were in the midst of an archipelago of low marshy islands, the breeze, from whatever quarter it blows, is impregnated with moisture and marsh effluvia, which render it sickly. The air also is very much heated, and the thermometer generally stands four or five degrees higher on this island[21] than it does at Free Town. During the dry season the river is salt several miles above Bance Island. [Footnote 1: The river gives its name to an old town called Port Logo or Baga Logo, situated near 60 miles above Free Town. There are four other towns close to it. 1. Ar-re-bát. 2. Séndigo. 3. Sierra Leone or Mi-yín- ga. 4. Bómba. The Logo country is distant three days journey from Ar-re- bát; the Limbo Country is four days journey distant. After passing through the Limbo, the Foola country succeeds; Teembo the capital is said to be thirteen days walk from Port Logo. The names of the towns between these two last mentioned places are, Ma-kóoma, Mén-dee, Bám-ba- lee, Bántee, Sá-fro-go, Wo-see-yáyma, Mongo, Ka-móo-ga, Teembo.] [Footnote 2: The Bananas are three small islands situated in about 8° 8′ N. lat. and scarcely distant a league from the continent. At the distance of seven or eight leagues thence to the south east, are situated three other small islands, which are low and sandy, called the Plantains. Dapper calls the Plantain Islands Las Sombreras, and the Bananas Las Bravas, but if we may judge from the etymology of the words, it is probable that these names are misapplied. Sombreyro signifies in Portuguese a broad brimmed hat, and was probably applied to the Bananas from the fancied resemblance; the mountain in the middle island being not unaptly compared to the crown of the hat. On the contrary, Las Bravas signifies wild or desolate, an epithet more applicable to the Plantains. The same writer continues, “on fait dans les iles las Sombreras de l’excellent vin & de l’huile de dates, & du marc de vin melè avec cette huile, on fait du savon, qui est beaucoup meilleur que celui de l’Europe.” Between the Bananas and Plantains the coast forms a great bay, called the Bay of Sherbro, which has been compared to the Pampus of the Zuider- Zee in Holland. Into this bay four rivers discharge themselves, the Kates, the Camarancas, the Sherbro, and the Shebar, which were discovered by Le Maire in 1615, whilst searching for the river Sierra Leone. The river Sherbro divides into three branches, called the Boom, the Deong, and the Bagroo, which run to a great distance inland. The countries within this tract are generally named from the rivers. The coast between Shebar and the river Galinhas, so called by the Portuguese from the number of fowls found there, is named Kittim; and the country about the Galinhas, a river between Shebar and Cape Mount is called the Foy Country.] [Footnote 3: Called by the Soosoos For-tó-ma, or White Man’s Land.] [Footnote 4: For an account of this nation see Parke’s Travels.] [Footnote 5: The following extract from a report made to a Committee of the House of Commons by the Court of Directors of the Sierra Leone Company, with which the author has been favoured, will throw further light on this subject: “A remarkable proof exists in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, of the very great advantages of a permanent though very imperfect system of government, and of the abolition of those African laws, which make slavery the punishment of almost every offence. Not more than seventy years ago, a small number of Mahommedans established themselves in a country about forty miles to the northward of Sierra Leone, called from them the Mandingo country. As is the practice of the professors of that religion, they formed schools, in which the Arabic language and the doctrines of Mahommed were taught, and the customs of Mahommedans, particularly that of not selling any of their own religion as slaves, were adopted. Laws founded on the Koran were introduced. Those practices which chiefly contribute to depopulate the coast were eradicated; and, in spite of many intestine convulsions, a great comparative degree of civilization, union, and security was introduced. Population in consequence rapidly increased, and the whole power of that part of the country in which they are settled has gradually fallen into their hands. Those who have been taught in their schools are succeeding to wealth and power in the neighbouring countries, and carry with them a considerable portion of their religion and laws. Other chiefs are adopting the name assumed by these Mahommedans, on account of the respect which attends it, and the religion of Islam seems likely to diffuse itself peaceably over the whole district in which the colony is situated, carrying with it those advantages which seem ever to have attended its victory over negro superstition.”] [Footnote 6: The country inhabited by the Foolas is called Foota. It is supposed to extend about 300 miles from east to west, and 160 miles from north to south; and is said to be surrounded by twenty-four different nations. Those which lie between Foota and Tombuctoo are the following; as related by the chief of Laby, a large town in the Foola kingdom, to my brother in 1794: 1. Belia. The king’s name, Mamadoo. Their chief trade consists in gold, ivory, wax, cattle, and slaves; in return for which they receive salt, an article of indispensable utility to them; tobacco, silver, shells or cowries, which pass for money as far as Tombuctoo; cola, and beads. 2. Booree which is only seven days journey from Teemboo. King’s name Boorama. They export gold, ivory, slaves, wax, &c. and receive in return salt, tobacco, silver, cola, cloth, and beads. 3. Manda. Trade as above. 4. Sego. King Mansung. Trade the same. Thus far Mr. Parke proceeded. 5. Genah. King Alkaida. A very rich people. Trade as above. 6. Tombuctoo. King Albass. People richer than any of the others, but having nearly the same trade and returns.] [Footnote 7: Ichthyophagi, natantes ceu maris animalia.] [Footnote 8: Bosman observes, “though the Gold Coast is not extended above sixty[a] miles in length, yet we find there seven or eight several languages, so different that three or four of them are interchangeably unintelligible to any but the respective natives: the Negroes of Junmore, ten miles above Axim, cannot understand those of Egira, Abocroe, Ancober, and Axim.”] [Footnote a: A Dutch Mile is 3½ English.] [Footnote 9: The Bullom language is spoken from a little to the south of Cape Sierra Leone to Shebar; from which to Shuggree, near Cape Mount, the Foy language is spoken.] [Footnote 10: The palm tree has different names given to it by the natives, at various periods of its growth; when young it is called by the Bulloms Pur; when it has nearly reached its full growth, but before the branches have fallen from the trunk, they call it Bat, and the Timmanees Obbat. After the stem has become free from the branches, the Bulloms call it Wá and the Timmanees Ok-kóomp.] [Footnote 11: The opinion that Sierra Leone abounded with lions has been maintained by almost all old writers. Barbot, a Frenchman, who was here in 1678, describing the Baie de France, or St. George’s Bay; mentions the watering places, situated on the western extremity of Free Town, in a delightful small bay, “which is easily known by the fine bright colour of the sandy shore, looking at a distance like a large spread sail of a ship. The strand there is clear from rocks, which renders easy the access of boats and sloops to take in fresh water. A few paces from the sea is that curious fountain, the best and easiest to come at of any in all Guinea, where a ship may fill an hundred casks in a day. Its source is in the very midst of the mountains of Timina, stretching out about fifteen leagues in a long ridge: there is no approaching it for the many lions and crocodiles which harbour there.” This, in Barbot’s opinion, “is one of the most delightful places in all Guinea. The bason which receives this water being encompassed with tall evergreen trees which make a delightful shade in the most excessive heat, and the very rocks standing about it, at a small distance from each other, contribute to beautify the place.” Barbot used frequently to spend the whole day here and dine beside the _Fountain_. Harduin, in his notes upon Pliny, derives the name from the noise of the surf on the shore “Hesperium Cornu, hodie le _Cap de Sierra Liona_: facto a Lusitanis Nomine, quod maris ibi fremitus leænæ rugitum referre quodammodo videatur.”] [Footnote 12: The Bananas.] [Footnote 13: Romarong is the Timmanee name for Sierra Leone. Marong signifies a mountain, and Ro or Rok is a particle prefixed to the name of almost every Timmanee town, as Ro-baga, Ro-banna, Rok-bonko.] [Footnote 14: Voyages of the Portuguese in the fifteenth and sixteenth Centuries. The honour of discovering this coast is claimed by the French, who assert that their Norman ancestors carried on a very extensive trade here long before it was known by the Portuguese; and further add, that they had reached Sierra Leone as early as the year 1364, from whence they extended their commerce along the coast, and in 1382 built the Fort of del Mina, on the Gold Coast, nearly in 5° N. lat. If the French had any well authenticated facts to bring in support of this claim, it would still appear very extraordinary, that within the short space of twenty- eight years these transactions should be entirely forgotten, and that the utmost exertions of an enlightened prince should be required to induce men, who possessed enterprising spirits, to retrace the same ground. Besides, the rapidity with which these people are said to have extended their trade bears no proportion to the gradual and tardy progress of discoveries in that early period of navigation. “In the beginning of the fifteenth century the Portuguese were totally ignorant of that coast beyond Cape Non, 28° N. lat. In 1410, the celebrated Prince Henry of Portugal fitted out a fleet for discoveries, which proceeded along the coast to Cape Bojadore, in 26°. but had not courage to double it. In 1418, Tristan Vaz discovered the island Porto Santo; and the year after the island Madeira was discovered. In 1439, a Portuguese captain doubled Cape Bojadore; and the next year the Portuguese reached Cape Blanco, lat. 20°. In 1446, Nuna Tristan doubled Cape Verd, lat. 14° 40′. In 1448, Don Gonzallo Vallo took possession of the Azores. In 1449, the islands of Cape Verd were discovered for Don Henry. In 1471, Pedro d’Escovar discovered the island St. Thomas, and Prince’s island. In 1484, Diego Cam discovered the kingdom of Congo. In 1486, Bartholomew Diaz, employed by John II. of Portugal, doubled the Cape of Good Hope, which he called Cabo Tormentoso, from the tempestuous weather he found in the passage[a].” Of all the possessions formerly held by the Portugueze upon this widely extended coast, they retain at present only their settlements at Bissao, in about 12° N.; St. Salvador, in the river Congo, in about 6° S.; and Loango St. Paul’s, in 10° S. lat. (at which last place they have a large city, and several forts and settlements, and carry on a very extensive and lucrative trade for some hundred miles inland); and the islands of Cape Verd, Fernando Po, Prince’s, St. Thomas, and Annabona, besides a few others of little note, which still belong to them.] [Footnote a: Kaim’s Sketches.] [Footnote 15: This has at a distance the appearance of an island, as it is joined to the beach by a narrow, sandy neck. Although very small and rocky it is verdant, and covered with wood; it receives its name from the number of leopards which the natives suppose take shelter there. The Bulloms call it Ee-yil-eek-bill; Ee-yil signifies an island, and eek- bill a leopard.] [Footnote 16: By French writers this is commonly called Baie de France.] [Footnote 17: The echo which these mountains return when a gun is fired is very great; in consequence of which, and of the rumbling noise produced among them by thunder, they were named by the Portuguese Montes claros. Non fan si grande e si terribil suono Etna, qualor da Encelado è piu scossa; Scilla e Cariddi quand’ irate sono. PETRARCA.] [Footnote 18: Among these, the wild cotton, or pullom tree[a] as it is called by the natives, is one of the most conspicuous, and is probably that which the poet had in view in the above description. Bosman, an author who very seldom deals in the hyperbole, may be suspected perhaps of using this tempting figure, when, describing the vegetable productions on the Gold Coast, he says “I have seen some of these trees so high, that their tops and branches growing out of them were scarce to be reached by a common musquet-shot. They are here called capot trees, because on them grows a certain sort of cotton here called capot[b].”] [Footnote a: Bombax Ceiba.] [Footnote b: Description of Guinea.] [Footnote 19: Thomson.] [Footnote 20: Rhizophora Mangle. This tree, like the banian tree of the East Indies, ficus religiosa, is propagated by shoots thrown out from the upper branches; these descend, take root, and become parent trees, throwing out leaves, branches, and shoots, in their turn. Hence a whole forest of mangrove trees are intricately connected with each other, and by these means are so firmly rooted as to resist the most rapid tides and most impetuous currents. These trees always grow in wet places, and their trunks are generally covered with large quantities of oysters, hence called mangrove oysters. They render creeks unhealthy, by retaining the mud and ooze, and other putrefying substances, among their tangled roots; they render them also dangerous, by affording a secure retreat to alligators. The wood of this tree is extremely hard and much used by the natives for building houses, as it is not so easily destroyed by the termites as other kinds of timber. The coarse bark is used in the West Indies for ropes, and the softer bark is beaten into threads as fine as flax.] [Footnote 21: On the 2d of March, 1793, Fahrenheit’s thermometer rose at Bance Island, at noon, to 98° in the shade, whereas at Free Town, at the same hour, it was only 89°.] CHAP. II. DIVISION OF THE YEAR. RAINS. TORNADOS. TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR. PREVAILING WINDS. APPEARANCE OF THE SKY, AND THE HEAVENLY BODIES. NOISE OF CRICKETS, &C. AT NIGHT. LENGTH OF DAY. SMOKES. HUMIDITY OF THE ATMOSPHERE. STATE OF THERMOMETER AND BAROMETER. EFFECT OF DEWS AND RAIN. THE HARMATTAN. THE European mode of dividing the year into spring, summer, autumn, and winter, is not applicable to the climate of Africa. Were we to consider the general heat of the climate, always equal or superior to the mean summer heat of Europe, we should be tempted to call it a perpetual summer; but the fall of rain during one period of the year, which tempers the excessive heat, and wonderfully excites the activity of vegetation, gives it a title to the name of spring. The natives however adopt a more natural division, and all along the coast, the year is divided into the rainy and dry seasons, the former the Timmanys call Lokko a-liss, bad time; the latter Lokko feenoo, good time. It is further subdivided into lunar months or moons, as they term them, twelve of which constitute the year. Some of these are distinguished by appropriate names expressive of their qualities; thus the moon which occurs in the height of the rainy season is called by the Bulloms, Bulla-kont or sweep bush, from the violence of the rain. The moon in which the rice becomes ripe is called Pol-pol, and that in which the harvest is reaped is named Shakoo-monnee, ‘of one family.’ The moon in the height of the dry season, when the excessive heat renders it unpleasant to walk in the open path, is called Boppo-roong ‘or shun path.’ The time of day is marked by pointing to the situation of the sun in the heavens; or they say, the sun is ‘gone into the water,’ to denote the time from sun set to midnight; or, ‘he lives in the bush,’ from midnight to sunrise. The greater divisions of time are generally marked by the rice harvests, but these do not extend far back, and serve chiefly to indicate the age of children. More commonly they associate circumstances which they wish to recollect with some remarkable event, such as a town being burnt down or plundered, or a war being begun or ended. The Soosoos likewise distinguish all the months by appropriate names. The rainy season does not occur on all parts of the coast at the same time, but seems to move in progression along the whole line of it from south to north. It begins and is nearly over on the Gold Coast before it commences at Sierra Leone, and it has continued there six or eight weeks before it begins at Senegal[22]. Although it be called the rainy season, it must be observed that it does not rain incessantly at this time. A fall of continued rain for thirty hours happens but a few times during the season; more frequently twelve hours of heavy rain are followed by twenty-four or thirty hours, or even a longer period, of clear and remarkably pleasant weather[23]. This part of the year, from its coolness, is most agreeable to Europeans, but at the same time it is the most unhealthy. _The rains_, as they are called on the coast, continue about four months; at Sierra Leone they set in about the end of May, and terminate about the end of September. According to Dr. Lind, the quantity of rain which fell during one rainy season, or four months, at Senegal, amounted to 115 inches perpendicular depth. During the year 1793, according to my own observation, there fell at Sierra Leone 86,28 inches, and in the following year somewhat more than 82 inches[24]. The rainy season is ushered in and carried off by tornados[25], or as they are sometimes called travados[26], “Africæ procellæ.” These are violent gusts of wind, which come from the east, attended by thunder, lightning, and in general heavy rain. The violence of the wind seldom continues longer than twenty minutes or half an hour, but the scene, during the time it continues, may be considered as one of the most awfully sublime in nature. The genius of the storm is thus personified by Dr. Darwin with tolerable accuracy and with much poetic merit: —Seize tornado by his locks of mist, Burst his dense clouds, his wheeling spires untwist. Wide o’er the west, when borne on headlong gales, Dark as meridian night, the monster sails, Howls high in air, and shakes his curled brow, Lashing with serpent train the waves below, Whirls his black arm, the forked lightning flings, And showers a deluge from his demon wings[27]. The suddenness and violence of the wind are so great, as often to endanger the safety of vessels unprepared for it; and in the year 1794, the Porcupine of Liverpool, a ship of considerable size, which had just arrived upon the coast from England, was overset between Sierra Leone and the islands of Bananas by a tornado, and some of the people on board perished. A tornado, however, is never so instantaneous in its onset as not to afford sufficient warning. Its approach is foretold by certain appearances, which enable people to be upon their guard. A dark cloud, not larger than “a man’s hand,” is first observed on the verge of the eastern horizon. Faint flashes of lightning, attended sometimes by very distant thunder, are then seen to vibrate in quick succession. The clouds in that quarter become gradually more dense and black; they also increase in bulk, and appear as if heaped upon each other. The thunder, which at first was scarcely noticed, or heard only at long intervals, draws nearer by degrees, and becomes more frequent and tremendous. The blackness of the clouds increases to its utmost intensity, until a great part of the heavens seems wrapped in the darkness of midnight[28]; and it is rendered still more awful by being contrasted with a gleam of light, which generally appears in the western horizon. Immediately before the attack of a tornado, there is either a light breeze scarcely perceptible from the westward, or, as is more common, the air is perfectly calm, and unusually still. Men and animals fly for shelter; and “while expectation stands in horror,” the thundering storm in an instant bursts from the clouds. · · · · · · Since I was man, Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder, Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never Remember to have heard. KING LEAR. It is impossible for language to convey a more just idea of the uproar of the elements, which then takes place, than is contained in the following beautiful lines of Thompson: · · · · · · A faint deceitful calm, _A fluttering gale_, the demon sends before To tempt the spreading sail; then down at once, Precipitant, descends a mingled mass Of roaring winds, and flame, and rushing floods. A tornado at sea is foretold by the same presages as on shore, but, as may be supposed, the scene is rendered more grand and more terrific upon that unstable element. It is one of those displays of elemental war which astonishes and fills the mind with the most elevated ideas of the power of the great Author of nature[29]. When a few repetitions have diminished the alarm and dread of instant destruction, attendant on its first appearance, it may be contemplated with a considerable degree of pleasure. Just before the storm has reached the vessel, the sea is covered with a white foam, which marks the rapid advance of the wind, sweeping with the fury of a whirlwind over the surface of the water. The sea almost immediately loses its glassy smoothness, and is changed into the most turbulent billows. It is usually called a _white tornado_, when, at sea, no rain accompanies or follows the wind; and this is in general more violent than when rain falls. The temperature of the air is greatly affected by a tornado; and it is not unusual for the thermometer to suffer a depression of 8 or 10 degrees within two or three minutes after the storm has come on. After a tornado, the body feels invigorated and more active, and the mind recovers much of that elasticity which long continued heat tends greatly to impair. The months of April, May, June, October, and November, are those in which tornados most frequently occur. They appear very rarely in any of the other months. There is no reason to think that tornados produce any bad effects upon the human constitution. During their occurrence, no instance appeared at Free Town of any one being taken ill in consequence; nor did they seem to have any influence upon the course of the remittent fever of the country. The heat of the climate, though much greater than an European has been accustomed to for any length of time, is not so intolerable as might be supposed. The facility with which the perspiration flows, on using the slightest exercise, obviates the oppresive effects of heat so common in colder climates; and the evaporation from the surface of the skin, which in health is constantly proceeding, produces a refreshing degree of coolness. The atmosphere is in general tempered by a cooling breeze, which in the dry season blows during the day very regularly from the west and north west quarters, hence called the sea breeze; this is replaced at night by the land breeze, which blows from the east or south-east. During the rainy season, the wind blows chiefly between the south and south-west points, whence also the rain comes: · · · · unde nigerrimus auster Nascitur, & pluvio contristat frigore cælum. GEORG. III. 279. At this season, also a heavy surf beats upon the shore, the sky is often obscured with mist and murky clouds, and the wind is frequently boisterous, particularly at sea, where it merits the epithet bestowed upon it by the poet, “_Creber procellis_ Africus[30].” During the dry season, there is generally a haziness in the air at Sierra Leone, which abates in some measure the heat of the sun’s rays, and often obscures distant objects so much as to prevent the eye from extending above five or six miles. This gives the sky a very uniform appearance, and prevents the clouds from assuming that variety of gay and distinct forms so common in England. Immediately after a tornado, indeed, the atmosphere is very clear, and remote objects appear to be brought within half their former distance. At this time The groves, the mountain tops, the headland heights Stand all apparent, not a vapour streaks The boundless blue. COWPER’S TRANSLATION OF HOMER. Those rich and beautiful tints, which appear in more temperate climates, When in the western sky the downward sun _Looks_ out effulgent from amid the flush Of broken clouds, gay shifting to his beams, are seldom seen in Africa. The setting sun on the verge of the horizon resembles a large globe of fire, and may be viewed without exciting the least sensation of pain. The rising sun, which is rarely visible until it be a few degrees above the horizon, appears, commonly, in like manner, “shorn of his beams,” and incapable of affecting the sight. Twilight, here is of very short duration. Almost immediately after the disappearance of the sun, night begins to spread her mantle over the earth. This is foretold by a concert of crickets[31], lizards, &c. which continue their stridulous notes through the night. Sometimes, as if by mutual consent, a solemn pause is made for a few moments; after which the vocal band proceed with redoubled ardour. Upon the falling of a few drops of rain, the concert is instantly joined by the deep bass of the frogs, and may be heard above half a mile from the shore. The longest day at Sierra Leone consists of 12h. 29′ and 45″; the shortest is only 11h. 30′ 14″. The difference of time between London and Free Town is 54′ and 52″. The moon is sometimes seen within twenty four hours of the change; but it is when her orb is full, that she appears transcendently beautiful in that region of the world. Nor will it seem strange to one who has experienced the charms of a clear moon-light night succeeding the blaze of a vertical sun, heightened by the solitude and picturesque beauty of the surrounding scenery, that a rude people should pay divine honours to this luminary. When a heavy shower of rain has ceased, and the sun breaks out through the fog, a thick steam is raised from the surface of the earth, which often rests for some time upon the sides of the hills, and covers their summits as with a cap. Upon some parts of the coast, these appearances are called smokes, and are supposed to be peculiarly noxious: they frequently are of a reddish hue, and are then thought to have acquired the highest degree of malignancy; this, however, is not the case, as it depends merely upon the refraction of the rays of light; nor does it appear that they possess any hurtful qualities, independent of moisture. The air upon the sea coast is in general so humid, that salt and sugar can scarcely be preserved in a dry and hard state. Iron is so speedily corroded by rust, that a thick bar of that metal, which has lain on the ground five or six years, may be broken in pieces with little difficulty; and leather soon becomes mouldy, and rots. This moist state of the atmosphere is not experienced at some distance from the sea; and in the interior parts of the country it is said to be common for a man to leave to his son, in good condition and well polished, the musket which he has used for forty years. In the earlier part of the dry season, and in calm weather, the vapours exhaled from the ground by the heat of the sun are returned to it during the night in very copious dews. The river of Sierra Leone, owing to its breadth, its vicinity to the sea, and the breeze which pretty constantly passes over it, is seldom covered with fogs, except during the rainy season; but in some of the rivers at a distance from the sea coast, fogs are very dense, and continue to brood upon the surface of the water for two or three hours after the sun has risen. As the heat of the water continues at all times pretty equable, the evaporation from the surface of the smaller rivers goes on during the whole night, but as the heat of the atmosphere gradually diminishes, until near sun-rise, when it has reached its minimum; the vapour is precipitated in a very copious dew, which is astonishingly chilling to the body. I have often observed this at sea, at a distance from the coast, where the deck and sails were as wet in the morning as if a heavy rain had fallen in the night. The mean degree of heat at Sierra Leone may be fixed at 84° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer; this is, however, to be understood of Free Town, where my observations were made, which is situated upon an elevated piece of ground, open to the sea, and cleared from surrounding wood. In the villages of the natives, the thermometer usually stands some degrees higher at noon than it does at Free Town. Upon the whole of the sea coast also, the range of the thermometer is not so great as it is in the inland parts. Mr. Watt and Mr. Winterbottom[32] observed the thermometer as high as 103° in the shade, in a village of the Soosoo country; and in their route through the districts of Tamiso and Benna, when returning from the Foola country, it rose frequently to 100°, and more than once to 102°, in the shade. In the Rio Nunez they observed the thermometer as low as 60°, attended with copious and chilling dews; and in the Foola country they saw it as low as 51°. The following table contains the result of these gentlemen’s observations with the thermometer during their journey in the Foola country, that is, from February 1st to April 29th, 1794. ---------------------+-------+--------+-------------+-------- Hours of Observation.|Lowest.|Highest.| Number of |Average. | | |Observations.| ---------------------+-------+--------+-------------+-------- 6 A.M. | 51 | 75 | 39 | 66 | | | | 8 Do. | 68 | 84 | 40 | 78 | | | | 9 Do. | 80 | 83 | 3 | 81⅔ | | | | 12 Noon | 85 | 97 | 49 | 93 | | | | 1 P.M. | 91 | 94 | 3 | 92⅓ | | | | 2 Do. | 81 | 103 | 21 | 96 | | | | 3 Do. | 86 | 101 | 10 | 96⅘ | | | | 4 Do. | 85 | 100 | 37 | 92¾ | | | | 6 Do. | 70 | 86 | 12 | 79¼ | | | | 8 Do. | 68 | 92 | 40 | 82 About 60 miles up the Rio Pongas I observed the thermometer rise to 101° in the shade; and when laid upon the ground in the sun, the mercury rose to 138°. The lowest degree of heat I remember to have observed in Africa, was at Port Logo, about 60 miles above Free Town, where the thermometer, about sun-rise, stood at 68°. The least degree of heat which I observed at Free Town, during a residence of near four years, was 71° 5′. This occurred during a tornado, which sunk the mercury 8° in less than two minutes: at the same place the thermometer did not rise higher than 98°[33]. It is an opinion received by many, that in tropical countries the mercury in the barometer is nearly stationary at all times, and of course is not affected by changes of the atmosphere, as in more northern countries. This opinion, however, is not drawn from experience. An attentive observation of the barometer at Sierra Leone, four times a day, for the space of two years, has fully convinced me, that though the range of this instrument be more confined, yet the mercury within certain limits is as sensible of any atmospheric change as in Europe. Some observers have fixed the range of the barometer within the tropics at ⅒ of an inch; but at Sierra Leone it has rather exceeded one quarter of an inch. These observations on the barometer gave me also an opportunity of being fully convinced that a regular diurnal change actually takes place, and that the mercury invariably rises in the forenoon, and falls in the afternoon. This circumstance has been noticed by several travellers and others, but more particularly by Pere Cotte, in France[34], and has since been confirmed by Dr. Balfour, in some observations on the barometer, which he made at Calcutta, with uncommon accuracy and attention[35]. Dews have always been considered as inimical to the human constitution; and in tropical countries, where the heated earth is constantly exhaling vapour, they have been thought more peculiarly noxious. Because dew is said to leave a greater residuum in distillation than rain water, it has been supposed to be more laden with heterogeneous particles than any other precipitation from the atmosphere. Where it arises immediately from swamps, it may be easily conceived that some of the particles or miasmata, which render these places so insalubrious, may be also carried up with it; but as the malignant vapour of marshes, when carried by winds, is deprived of its baneful influence at some distance from its source, either by dilution or precipitation, the same effect may be, and probably is produced upon it, by being raised to a certain height in the air, and by the change which it undergoes in quitting the aeriform state. It appears therefore more probable, that the pernicious effects of dew in warm climates arise from no heterogeneous mixture, but from the great degree of cold produced by it, owing to its falling in minute drops, which expose a large surface, and are therefore favourable to evaporation. The rain of tropical countries has likewise been supposed to contain something extremely prejudicial to health, and with as little foundation. The natives upon the windward, and also on the Gold Coast, though they consider the rainy season as the most unhealthy, are not apprehensive of any bad effects from rain, when accidentally exposed to it. The women and children never wear any covering upon their head, and expose themselves with as little dread to heavy rain as they do to a scorching sun. Mr. Adanson says, the natives of Senegal are extremely apprehensive of the ill effects of being wet with rain, insomuch that if caught in a shower at sea, they will leap overboard to avoid it. “My negroes (says he), seeing there was no place of shelter for them, threw off their paans (or cloths, which they wear round the waist), and plunged into a little river, which passed close by the spot. This is their custom whenever caught in a storm, to jump into the water rather than run the risk of being wet by the rain, dreading its bad effects.” It is easy to explain this, however, without being under the necessity of supposing any thing noxious in the tropical rains. A shower of rain, by its sudden fall, will sometimes sink the thermometer 8 or 10° in a very short time: so sudden a diminution of heat must be very sensibly felt in a climate where the temperature continues for several months very uniform, and always high, and where any diminution of it produces a sensation of chilliness. This is likely to be more severely felt after a long continued state of dry weather, which has rendered the body irritable, and hence the first showers which fall have been considered as more peculiarly noxious[36]. At Sierra Leone, Europeans, who were _careful_ in using those precautions which would be expedient in any country, have been frequently exposed to violent rain without experiencing any ill effects. It has been said that the air on the coast of Africa is always in a moist state; this, however, admits of an exception during the prevalence of a peculiar, parching wind, called by the natives of the Gold Coast harmattan, and which is occasionally felt along the whole coast of Guinea, though it appears to be less frequent on the windward than upon the leeward coast. At Sierra Leone it had been only experienced a few times, and for a few hours each time, from the year 1792 to the year 1795, and was discovered merely by the peculiarly unpleasant parching effects which it produced on the skin. About the end of the year 1795, it continued to blow for ten successive days with considerable strength, from the same quarter as the land breeze; indeed it is to be observed, that wherever it blows, it is a land wind[37]. Although, during the time of its continuance, the thermometer was seldom or never below 78°, the wind was cold and chilling, its extreme dryness evaporating the perspiration, and thus producing cold. The body felt irritable, rather languid and uncomfortable, and the skin harsh and dry; the lips were chopped and painful, and the eyes sore, as if filled with fine dust, and appeared to be kept open with difficulty. The atmosphere was at the same time unusually dull and hazy. Notwithstanding the unpleasant sensations produced by this wind, it did not appear insalubrious; some few people laboured under slight colds, which could scarcely be attributed to the harmattan: in other respects, the colony was in a healthy state. It is a very curious circumstance, and hitherto unexplained, that the harmattan, which blows nearly from the same quarter as the usual land breeze, should possess qualities so essentially different. Nor does it appear probable that these can be derived, from blowing over any sandy desert, which deprives it of moisture. We are not acquainted with any deserts within some hundred miles of Sierra Leone, in the direction of this wind, of sufficient extent for such an effect. Besides, a tract of land constantly and excessively heated, ought rather to occasion an uniform current of air towards itself. Dr. Schotte speaks of this wind as blowing very frequently at Senegal, from the east, and adds, “that it blows sometimes very strong, and is always excessively _hot_, drying up the lakes and pools.” “When it happens in April,” it makes the weather “excessively hot, the sun being then in and about the zenith of Senegal, heating the vast plains of sand over which this wind is to pass before its arrival there, which, reverberating the received heat, may contribute to increase it; for I have observed, that this wind in the same month in the river Gambia was not hotter than any other wind, owing in all appearance to the difference of the soil of the country, which is not sandy like that of Senegal. I think it is the dust of the sand raised by this wind, which makes the atmosphere look hazy. I myself saw, in the year 1775, in the month of April, in a morning preceded by an easterly wind, such a dust imitating a fog in the air, that one could not see above twenty yards.” “This wind is in general not reckoned unwholesome, either by the inhabitants or Europeans, though it feels very disagreeable.” “When it sets in sooner or later in the month of October, it is considered by the inhabitants as producing a cessation of the sickly weather, and the beginning of healthier. In the months of December and January, when the sun is at its greatest distance, it makes the weather feel very cold in the nights and mornings.” On reading the above account, we may rather suspect that Dr. Schotte has mistaken the land breeze for an harmattan, from its being said so frequently to occur. There is no doubt but the situation of Senegal, in a sandy soil, must occasion some difference in the temperature of the breeze, and render it different from what it is in neighbouring rivers. At the same time it is probable that it chiefly occurs during the months of December and January, when it is said to feel cold, and that its appearance at other times is but of short duration, and therefore scarcely noticed. An accurate account of this extraordinary wind, taken from Mr. Norris, and agreeing in general with the phenomena observed at Sierra Leone, is given in a note below[38]. [Footnote 22: The tornados begin in the river Gambia about the beginning of June, and the rainy season about the beginning of August.] [Footnote 23: The rainbow, which is frequently remarkably distinct and vivid, is called by the Bulloms Kerráy-bay, the _King’s Bow_.] [Footnote 24: The Meteorological Journal, which had been continued with much care and attention, was interrupted in September, 1794, by the arrival of a French squadron, a part of the observations was lost, and the instruments were destroyed. For want of an apparatus the Journal was not resumed until the following year, in the month of July. In the year 1794 there fell in the month of May 5,347 inches of rain June 8,739 July 21,522 Aug. 29,351 Sept. 17,275 In the year 1795, the quantity of rain which fell during the months of July, August, and September, amounted to 60,108 inches; from the end of September until the 31st of December there fell 2,836. Mr. de Pauw must certainly be mistaken when he asserts that in America, within the tropics, it rains ‘a peu-pres huit fois d’avantage que dans l’Afrique.’ Recherches Philosoph. Vol. I. According to Mr. Edwards, the quantity of rain which fell in one year in Barbadoes was equal to 67 inches. At Calcutta, the rain which fell during the year 1784 amounted to 81,0 inches; in the year 1785, it amounted only to 77,5 inches.] [Footnote 25: Probably so called from the Portuguese word Tornáda, which signifies a return.] [Footnote 26: From the Portuguese word Trovao, thunder.] [Footnote 27: Botanic Garden.] [Footnote 28: Præterea, modò quom fuerit liquidissima cæli Tempestas, perquam subito fit turbida fœdè Undique, uti tenebras omneis Acherunta rearis Liquisse, & magnas cæli complesse cavernas Usque adeo tetra nimborum nocte coorta, Impendent atræ formidinis ora superne. LUCRET.] [Footnote 29: Præterea, persæpe niger quoque per mare nimbus, Ut picis e cælo demissum flumen, in undas Sic cadit, & fertur tenebris procul, & trahit atram Fulminibus grandam tempestatem, atque procellis, Ignibus, ac ventis cumprimis ipse repletus: In terra quoque ut horrescant, ac tecta requirant. LUCRET.] [Footnote 30: Milton likewise notices the fury of these winds, which · · · · · rend the woods, and seas upturn; With adverse blast upturns them from the south, Notus and Afer black with thund’rous clouds From Serraliona. This turbulent state is agreeably contrasted during the dry season, when the sea may be compared to a polished mirror, and often appears scarcely ruffled by the breeze which sports upon its surface. The poet says with truth— S’al soffiar d’austro nemboso Crolla in mar gli scogli alteri L’onda torbida spumante; _Dolce increspa il tergo ondoso_, _Sciolti i Nembi oscuri e feri_, _Aura tremula e vagante_. L’EURIDICE DI RINUCCINI.] [Footnote 31: Ligon, in his entertaining History of Barbadoes, gives the following curious account of these animals:—“They lye all day in holes and hollow trees; and as soon as the sun is downe, they begin their tunes, which are neither singing nor crying, but the shrillest voyces that ever I heard: nothing can be so neerely resembled to it as the mouths of a pack of small beagles at a distance; and so lively and chirping the noyse is, as nothing can be more delightful to the eares, if there were not too much of it; for the musick hath no intermission till morning, and then all is husht.” One species of cricket, Grylla Talpa, makes a noise more acute and piercing to the ears than the filing of a saw; it is difficult to discover where the animal is concealed, as sometimes the noise appears to come from one corner of the house, when it immediately changes to the roof, or seems to come through one of the walls. In this manner does this tormenting insect continue through the night to harass the sick, and prevent the approach of sleep.] [Footnote 32: These gentlemen were sent by the Governor and Council of Sierra Leone on an embassy to Teembo, the capital of the Foola kingdom, from whence they returned by a different route, after having performed, on foot, a journey of 450 miles in a country hitherto untrod by Europeans; But the fair guerdon when we hope to find, Comes the blind fury with th’ abhorred sheers, And slits the thin spun life. I have now to lament the loss of these two friends, in whose happiness I was deeply interested: the one, an affectionate brother, not more endeared to me by the ties of blood than by those of esteem and love; the other, a man of strict integrity and of unblemished character, whose active zeal in the cause to which he had dedicated the last years of his life had acquired the confidence of those whose benevolent views it was his constant study to promote. Mr. Winterbottom was unfortunately lost by the upsetting of a boat, July 7th, 1794, about two months after his return from the Foola country, whilst going on shore at the Fort of Dix Cove, on the Gold Coast. Mr. Watt died at Sierra Leone, June 1, 1795, while preparing, under the auspices of the Sierra Leone Company, for the arduous attempt of penetrating to Tombuctoo, and from thence, if practicable, to cross to the Mediterranean; an undertaking which his prudence and perseverance had flattered his friends he would have been able to accomplish.] [Footnote 33: Two pretty smart shocks of an earthquake were felt at Sierra Leone during my residence there: the first happened on the 21st of May, 1795, about ten o’clock at night; the second occurred on the 19th of June, at noon, in the same year. I experienced a third, March 28, 1796, at 10 P.M. though in a slighter degree, when travelling in the Soosoo country, in company with my friend, Dr. Afzelius. A Foola man, whom I met the day after the earthquake at Berrerie, having asked me the cause of it, and not being satisfied with my explanation, gave me one, which he said his book taught him. “The earth (said he) stands between the horns of a bull, and when this animal is sick, it causes the earth to shake, and when it breathes, the changes of the tide are occasioned.” This account differs from that of the King of Laby, as related in my brother’s journal, who, having asked what the earth stood upon, was answered it stood upon nothing, which the King said he did not believe. Being asked his opinion, he replied, “his book told him that the earth stood upon a rock, the rock stood upon a spirit, the spirit upon the back of a fish, the fish stood upon the water, the water on the wind, and that God Almighty knew what the wind stood upon.”] [Footnote 34: Analyt. Review, Nov. 1791.] [Footnote 35: He imposed on himself the task of observing the state of that instrument every half hour, for an entire lunation, from the new moon on the 31st of March to that of the 29th of April, 1794. The result was, the discovery of a periodical variation in the barometer, consisting of _two_ oscillations, which it performs regularly every twenty-four hours. 1. On every day that Dr. Balfour observed, with scarce any exception, the barometer constantly fell between ten at night and six in the morning, and this it did progressively, without any intermediate rising but in one instance. 2. Between six and ten in the morning the barometer constantly rose; it also did so progressively, and rarely with any intermediate falling. 3. Between ten in the morning and six at night, the barometer fell progressively, without a single exception. 4. Lastly, between six and ten at night the barometer rose progressively, without any intermediate falling, except in one instance. These are Dr. Balfour’s general conclusions; and accordingly, on casting an eye over the table, in which he has reduced his observations, one is immediately struck with the appearance of _two_ maxima, viz. at ten at night and ten in the morning; and again, _two_ minima, also diametrically opposite to one another, at six in the morning and six at night. The quantity of these diurnal variations is not very considerable, but sufficient, at the same time, to leave no doubt of their reality. The difference between the contiguous maximum and minimum is sometimes ⅒ of an inch, though in general it is less than half that quantity. It does not appear that the above variations have any relation to the heat and cold of the atmosphere, or to the changes of the temperature of the mercury in the barometer, though, with respect to this last, we are not furnished with sufficient information. It seems not improbable, that they are connected with the reciprocations of the sea and land winds, during the day and night, or with the heating and cooling of the superincumbent atmosphere[a].] [Footnote a: Transac. of the Roy. Soc. of Ed. vol. iv.] [Footnote 36: “The first rains which fall in Guinea are commonly supposed to be the most unhealthy; they have been known, in forty-eight hours, to render the leather of shoes quite mouldy and rotten; they stain clothes more than any other rain; and, soon after their commencement, the ground, even in places formerly dry and parched, swarms with frogs. At this time skins, part of the traffic at Senegal, quickly generate large worms; and it is remarked that the fowls, which greedily prey on other insects, refuse to feed on these: It has been farther observed, that woollen cloths, wet in those rains, and afterwards hung up to dry in the sun, have sometimes become full of maggots in a few hours.” _Dr. Lind on the Diseases of Europeans, &c._—This, however, proves no more than that some insect had considered the woollen cloth as a favourable nidus wherein to deposit its ova, or that they had been washed by the rain from the branches of trees, &c. Besides, it is well known that rain water is preserved for economical purposes, in large cisterns or tanks, in many of the West India Islands, and in most of the forts on the Gold Coast.] [Footnote 37: The harmattan has been experienced at Sierra Leone every year since 1795. The time of its recurrence has generally been in the months of December or January. The usual length of its continuance, with some slight intermissions, has been from eight to fifteen days.] [Footnote 38: “On that part of the coast of Africa, which extends from Cape Verd to Cape Lopez, there are, in the months of December, January, and February, frequent returns of a wind from the north-east, which is known by the name of the harmattan wind. It probably may be felt further to the southward than Cape Lopez, but I cannot speak of what occurs in countries which I have not visited. It comes on indiscriminately at any hour of the day or night; at any time of the tide, or at any period of the moon’s age, and continues a day or two, sometimes five or six; once I knew it to continue a fortnight; and there are generally three or four returns of it every season. It never rains in an harmattan; but it sometimes immediately succeeds a shower. It blows with moderate force, not quite so strong as the sea breeze which in the fair or dry season sets from the west, west-south-west, and south-west; but something stronger than the land-wind, which blows at night from the north, and north-north-west. “This wind is always accompanied with an unusual gloominess, and haziness of the atmosphere; very few stars can be seen through the fog; and the sun, concealed the greatest part of the day, appears only for a few hours about noon, and then of a mild red, exciting no painful sensation in the eye. No dew is perceived during the continuance of this wind; nor is there the least appearance of any moisture in the atmosphere. _Salt of tartar_, dissolved in water, so as to run upon a tile, and exposed to the harmattan, even in the night, becomes perfectly dry again in a few hours. Vegetables of every kind suffer considerably from it. All tender plants, and seeds just sprouting above the earth, are killed by it. The most flourishing ever-greens feel its baneful influence; the branches of the lemon, orange, and lime trees, droop; the leaves become flaccid and wither; and their fruits, robbed of their usual nourishment, are cramped in their growth, and ripen, or rather appear yellow, and become dry, before they have arrived at half their usual size. Every thing appears dull and faded; the grass withers, and dries like hay, of which circumstance the natives avail themselves, to burn it down in the vicinity of the roads, as well to keep them open, as to destroy the shelter which it affords to wild beasts, or even to enemies that might lurk concealed in it. The covers of books, shut up closely in a trunk, and protected by lying among clothes, bend back as if they had been exposed to a fire; the pannels of doors, window shutters, &c. split; and the joints of a well laid floor of seasoned wood will gape so wide that one may lay his finger in them. The sides and decks of ships become quite open and leaky; and veneered work flies to pieces from the contraction of the wood in different directions. If casks containing liquor, as wine or spirits, are not frequently wetted on the outside, they generally lose their contents. “The air becomes considerably cooler in an harmattan; and the thermometer (Fahrenheit’s) is generally ten or twelve degrees below the common standard. The _natives_ complain much of the severity of the weather on these occasions, and clothe themselves in their warmest apparel, to guard against it; though that alteration is highly grateful to the _Europeans_ resident in the country, yet _they_ also feel many inconveniencies, in common with the _blacks_; for the eyes, nostrils, lips, and palate, become disagreeably dry and uneasy: there is a necessity and inclination to drink often; not so much to quench the thirst, as to remove a painful aridity in the fauces: the lips and nose become chapped and sore; and though the air is cool, there is a disagreeable sensation of prickling heat upon the skin, as if it had been washed with spirits of hartshorn or strong lye. If this wind continues five or six days, the scarf skin generally peels off from the hands and face, and even from the rest of the body if the harmattan continues a few days longer. Perspiration is considerably suppressed; but when sweat is excited by exercise, I have found it peculiarly acrid, tasting like spirits of wine diluted with water[a]. “So far its effects on the animal and vegetable world are very disagreeable, but it is also productive of some good. The state of the air is extremely conducive to health: it contributes surprisingly to the cure of old ulcers and cutaneous eruptions. Persons labouring under fluxes and intermitting fevers generally recover in an harmattan; and they who have been weakened and relaxed by fevers, and sinking under evacuations for the cure of them, particularly bleeding (which is often injudiciously repeated) have their lives saved, in spite of the Doctor. It stops the progress of epidemic diseases: the small pox, fluxes, and remittent fevers, not only disappear, but they who are labouring under these disorders, when an harmattan comes on, are almost sure of a speedy recovery. Infection is not then easily communicated. In the year 1770, I had above three hundred slaves on board a ship in Whydah Road, when the small pox appeared among them; the greater part of these were inoculated before an _harmattan_ came on, and about seventy of them underwent that operation a few days after it set in; the former got very well through the disorder; none of the latter had either any sickness or eruption; we thought we had got clear of the disorder, but in a very few weeks it began to appear among these seventy; about fifty of them were inoculated the _second_ time; the others had it in the natural way: an _harmattan_ came on, and they _all_ recovered, except one girl, who had a malignant ulcer on the inoculated spot, and died some time afterwards of a locked jaw. These salutary effects may probably be not universal, especially where the harmattan may come laden with the noisome effluvia of a putrid swamp, which is not the case in _this_ part of the country. “The fog which accompanies the harmattan is occasioned by an infinite number of small particles floating in the air. They are so minute as to escape the touch, and elude every investigation that I could devise. I could not succeed in attempting to examine them by the microscope, though a part of them are deposited upon the grass, leaves of trees, and even upon the skin of the negroes, which makes them appear whitish, or rather greyish. These particles do not fly far over the surface of the sea: the fog is not so thick on board the ships in Whydah Road, at two or three miles distance from the shore, as it is on the beach; and in proportion to the distance from the shore, the fog decreases: at four or five leagues distance from it the fog is entirely lost, though the wind is felt ten or twelve leagues off. “Upon a careful inquiry concerning the face of the country, I learn, that except a few rivers, and some swamps and lakes of no considerable extent, the country behind Whydah, for four hundred miles back, is covered with verdure, open plains of grass, with some clumps of trees, and some woods or forests. It rises with a gentle and gradual ascent, for about an hundred and fifty miles from the sea, before there is the appearance of a hill; and behind these hills I do not hear of any remarkable ranges of mountains. The surface is generally a loose sandy soil, below that a rich reddish earth, and not a stone to be found in it of the size of a walnut. I hear of no barren tracks of arid sand from whence those particles are likely to be detached by the harmattan. Dr. Lind writes, that “the harmattan is said to arise from the conflux of several rivers about Benin;” but here, at _Abomey_, I felt it blowing from the north-east, stronger than I usually have elsewhere, and Benin bore from me south-east; therefore the harmattan was not likely to originate there. On the _Gold Coast_, it generally blows from the south- east; at the _Isles de Los_, a little to the northward of Sierra Leone, from the east-south-east; and at the river Gabon, near Cape Lopez, from the north-north-east. The intersection of these points, or (what I would prefer) an _east_ line drawn from _Cape Verd_, cut by a north-east one from the centre of the _Gold Coast_; and a north line from Cape Lopez, would, I think, point out a probable source for this extraordinary wind: but this is mere conjecture of my own.”] [Footnote a: Probably spirit of hartshorn is meant. The skin is at all times as salt as if sea water had been poured upon it, but is now rendered peculiarly pungent and acrid.] CHAP. III. AGRICULTURE. CLEARING THE GROUND. CULTIVATION OF RICE, &C. THE ARTICLES OF FOOD. FRUITS. VARIOUS USES OF THE PALM TREE. THE quickness and luxuriancy of vegetation in this country is such, that, without much exaggeration, the plants may be said visibly to grow. As the trees are not despoiled of their leaves at once, but have a constant succession, they always retain the appearance of summer: but although a considerable degree of verdure continues through the whole year, especially in such parts as are shaded by woods from the scorching heat of the sun, yet its brilliancy is remarkably increased on the falling of rain. Agriculture, though in a rude and infant state, is practised along the whole extent of the western coast of Africa. As the natives in general, have no farther solicitude than to provide for the necessities of the present moment, they take little care to guard against contingencies, so that the failure of a single crop would be apt to produce a famine. They first chuse a spot of ground large enough for the purpose of a plantation or lugar[39], as they term it. This is generally at a small distance from their town, and is proportioned to the number of its inhabitants. The greatest fatigue they undergo is in clearing the ground, which is done by merely cutting down the trees, the small ones close to the surface, and the larger ones a few feet above it. No care is taken to remove the stumps, nor even the trunks of the larger trees, but where each falls, there it is suffered to remain[40]. This labour is performed during the dry season; and a short time before the rains are expected, the whole is set on fire, and the ground is thus rendered as clear as the flames can make it, the unburnt wood being left strewed over the field. The proper time for preparing the plantations is shewn by the particular situation in which the Pleiades, called by the Bulloms a-warrang, the only stars which they observe or distinguish by peculiar names, are to be seen at sunset. At this time of the year, columns of smoke may be seen rising all round the horizon, and at night a fiery tinge is communicated to the clouds. The grass, which grows here to the height of six or eight feet, and which a long continuance of dry weather has rendered very combustible, burns with great violence and rapidity, and in those parts where the country is more free from wood than around Sierra Leone, it is not safe to travel at this time of the year without being provided with materials for striking fire. When a traveller sees a torrent of flame rushing towards him, he can only hope to escape by making another fire, and following its progress until he secures a place for retreat. It was probably towards the conclusion of the dry season, when Hanno reached the bounds of his navigation, as he takes notice in his Periplus of this custom of burning the grounds, the novel appearance of which created in him and his companions no small alarm. “Sailing quickly away thence,” he says, “we passed by a country burning with fires and perfumes; and the streams of fire supplied thence fell into the sea. The country was impassable on account of the heat. We sailed quickly thence, being much terrified; and passing on for four days, we discovered, at night, a country full of fire; in the middle was a lofty fire, larger than the rest, which seemed to touch the stars. When day came, we discovered it to be a large hill, called the Chariot of the Gods. On the third day after our departure thence, having sailed by those streams of fire, we arrived at a bay called the Southern Horn[41].” Having burnt as much of the wood as the fire will consume, as soon as a few showers of rain have fallen, and softened the dry and parched ground, the natives prepare to sow their rice or other grain. About Sierra Leone, the whole agricultural process consists in throwing the rice upon the ground, and slightly scratching it into the earth with a kind of hoe; it is very rare that any further care is bestowed upon it until nearly ripe. As soon as the grain is in the ear, some old people and children are sent to reside in a sorry hut or hovel[42], built in the middle of the lugar, in order to drive away the prodigious flocks of rice birds, emberiza oryzivora, which now appear, and which are continually on the watch to commit their depredations. The harvest, of which there is only one in the year, is generally completed within four months from the time of sowing. Their method of reaping is to cut off the spikes very close with a common knife, and after tying them up into sheaves about as large as the hand will conveniently grasp, to stick them upon the burnt stumps, which are plentifully scattered over the field. They never lay the sheaves up in granaries, but as soon as the harvest is cut, they thrash out the grain, by beating the ears, which are laid upon the ground, with two small sticks, one held in each hand. The grain is winnowed by means of a piece of mat, having a stick for a handle, not unlike an English hand fire-skreen. One person pours the grain from some height, and three or four standing round keep up a constant current of air with these fans or mats. In order to separate the husks more easily from the grain, the rice is steeped in hot water, and afterwards spread out on mats to dry in the sun. Sometimes the rice is dried in the sun, without having been previously moistened; in this state it is longer in drying, and the husks are with more difficulty separated; but the grain is much whiter than when it has been previously wet. The grain is afterwards preserved in large baskets, which will hold half a ton or more. In some parts of the country these baskets are made in the form of a pitcher, narrow at the mouth, and bulging out below: when they stand exposed to the air, as is frequently the case, they are plastered on the outside with clay baked hard in the sun, and are then placed on a kind of tripod about three feet high, and covered with a thatched roof. As the natives on the coast are ignorant of the advantages of manure, and probably are too idle to hoe the ground, they never raise two successive crops from the same plantation[43]: a new one is made every year, and the old one remains uncultivated for four, five, six, or seven years, according to the quantity of land conveniently situated for rice plantations, which may be possessed by them. The plantation is cultivated by all the inhabitants of the village, in common, and the produce is divided to every family in proportion to its numbers. The _head man_ of the village claims from the general stock as much rice as, when poured over his head, standing erect, will reach to his mouth. This quantity is scarcely adequate to the expence which he incurs by exercising that hospitality to strangers and others, which is expected from him as a duty attached to his office. Though each village and town has its public plantation, individuals are allowed to cultivate others for their own private use, and this they frequently do, employing sometimes their own labour, but generally slaves for that purpose. This custom is very prevalent among the Foolas, where land, in consequence, begins to be considered not as public but private property, and is subdivided into particular plantations, some of which are so extensive as to merit the appellation of farms. The Foolas have likewise made such considerable progress in the science of agriculture, as to raise successive crops from the same ground. Every year, before sowing time, they collect the weeds, &c. into heaps, and burn them, and then they hoe into the ground the ashes, after having mixed them with the dung of cattle, which they have in abundance[44]. The Foola nation is the only one on this part of the coast to whom the title “Armentarius Afer” can be justly applied: cattle are indeed met with on many parts of the coast, but not in such numbers as in the Foola country. Mr. Winterbottom, my brother, in his Journal, speaks of “charming meadows with cattle grazing in them,” and several times mentions herds consisting of above an hundred head, in good condition. These cattle are in size between the largest and smallest English breed. They are in general lean, and not well flavoured, but when fattened with better food than the coarse grass of the savannahs, their flesh is scarcely inferior to English beef. The common method of killing them is thus described in the journal just alluded to: “We were surprised at the dexterity with which a man threw a rope over a cow’s head, whilst running full speed from some other men, who were in pursuit of her: having got the rope round the neck, they threw the beast upon its back, and tied its feet, and the old chief having first said the prayer of Bismillah, ‘in the name of God,’ without which no Mahommedan would touch the flesh, cut its throat. They are very unskilful butchers. After skinning the animal, they cut off the quarters, and _afterwards_ took the bowels out.” In another place it is said, “they killed a bull for us this morning, which they butchered in a shocking manner, for they quartered it without skinning it, or cutting its throat.” From the Gambia downwards, as far as the Gold Coast, rice constitutes the chief support of the natives. In its stead, on the Gold Coast, they chiefly cultivate maize, or Indian corn[45], millet[46], and yams[47], though in the interior country rice is the general food. In the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, they also cultivate beside rice[48], the plantain[49], the rival of the bread fruit, and occasionally raise maize, Guinea corn[50], ground nuts[51], sweet potatoes[52], millet, cassada, &c. This latter root, from which tapioca is obtained, is of two kinds, one called the sweet cassada[53], which is perfectly innocent in every form; the other, or bitter cassada[54], when eaten raw or unprepared, is possessed of such deleterious powers as speedily to prove fatal to all animals who eat of it[55]. When the root of the former is grated small, it is baked into bread, with no other preparation than pressing out the juice. It is uncertain whether the bitter cassada is to be found in Africa; it is distinguished from the sweet cassada by wanting the fibrous substance or pith which the latter contains. A variety of excellent fruits grow upon the coast, but no more attention is paid by the natives to their cultivation than to that of crabs or blackberries in England. Ananas[56], or pine apples and oranges[57], are met with in great perfection. Grapes grow in great abundance also; but for want of cultivation they are too acerb to eat. Those introduced by the Sierra Leone Company from the island of St. Thomas are productive and well flavoured. The company have also introduced, with equal success, the granadillo, and in a little time, probably, the Africans will receive, through the same liberal source, the other delicious fruits of the West India islands[58]. They have also bananas[59], cocoa nuts[60], guayavas[61], water melons[62], papaws[63], several species of plumbs, and many wild fruits, unknown in other parts, some of which are very excellent. Among all their vegetable productions, however, there is none for which they ought to be more grateful than for the palm tree, one of the most useful inhabitants of the forest, as well as one of its greatest ornaments. The leaves of the palm tree afford an excellent thatch for houses, and a kind of hemp of which fishing lines, &c. are made. The inner bark is manufactured into a thick kind of cloth, on various parts of the coast; and from the outer bark of the young tree are frequently manufactured baskets, mats, &c. This tree has been not unaptly compared to the mast of a large vessel, having its summit crowned with verdure. Its fruit[64], which is nearly as large as a hen’s egg, when roasted is esteemed a great delicacy, and yields the palm oil, which they hold in much esteem, and use in all their dishes instead of butter. To procure the oil, the palm nuts are gathered when ripe, which is known by their fine red colour, and beaten in a mortar until the pulp is completely separated from the nucleus. A quantity of water is then added, and the whole mass is poured upon a kind of sieve, formed of split bamboo. The water, together with the pulpy part of the nut, passes through, and is received into a large iron pot, leaving behind the fibrous part and the stones; the former is thrown away, but the latter are reserved. The pot, with its contents, is placed upon the fire to boil, and as the oil, which is of a crimson colour, rises, they skim it off for use. When no more oil can be extracted by boiling, the contents of the iron pot are poured into a hole dug in the ground, and when the water has drained off, the solid part is taken out, and exposed to the sun to dry. To this is added, in order to form a soap, a quantity of the small unripe fruit of the papaw sliced, together with a certain proportion of an alkaline lixivium obtained by burning the leaves and stems of the plantain and banana trees, and the capsules of the wild cotton or pullom tree. The ashes are put into a kind of basket composed of bamboo, and water is poured upon them so as to obtain a saturated solution; the ingredients, to which this ley is added, are frequently stirred, and boiled until they become stiff. An oil is also extracted from the kernels of the palm nuts, the shells of which are broken between two stones, and the kernels picked out. The latter are then parched in an iron pot, and afterwards pounded in a large mortar; they are next boiled in water, and the oil skimmed off as it floats on the surface. This is used for the same purposes as palm oil, but more nearly resembles butter, as it has no peculiar smell. This oil is mentioned by Cada Mosto, who made a voyage to Senegal, in the year 1455. He says, “they make use of a certain oil in the preparation of their victuals, though I could not learn whence they drew it, which possesses a three-fold property, that of smelling like violets, of tasting like oil of olives, and of tinging victuals like saffron, with a colour still finer[65].” Herodotus appears to describe the same kind of oil, when he says the Ethiopians wash themselves in a certain _fountain_, which renders their skins as shining as oil, and imparts to them a smell like violets[66]. To this cause he attributes their attaining so great an age, that of 120 years, hence called Macrobii, or long lived. As this tree does not grow in the Foola country, or at least not in sufficient abundance, the Foolas are obliged to purchase the oil, of which they are extremely fond, from their neighbours[67]. The palm tree, moreover, affords the natives for drink “Its freshning wine, More bounteous far than all the frantic juice Which Bacchus pours.” To procure the palm wine requires no small degree of agility and address. As the trunk of the tree is too rough to allow the hands and knees to be applied in climbing to its summit, the natives use a kind of hoop of an elliptical form, made of bamboo, and open at one side. The person about to ascend, first passes the hoop round the stem of the tree, including himself also, he then fastens the hoop by twisting its two ends into a kind of knot. The hands are applied to the sides of the hoop, while the feet are firmly pressed against the tree, and the lower part of the back supported by the opposite end of the hoop. In order to advance, the person thus prepared draws his body a little forwards, keeping his feet steady, and at the same moment slips the hoop a little higher up the tree, after which he advances a step or two with his feet. In this manner he alternately raises the hoop and his feet, and thus advancing, he gains at length the upper part of the stem, just below where the branches are thrown off. Here, at the height of 50 or 60 feet, with no other support than the pressure of his feet against the tree, and of his back against the hoop, he sits with perfect composure. In a small bag hung round his neck or arm he carries an auger to bore the tree, and a gourd or calibash to receive the wine. A hole is bored, about half an inch deep, below the crown of the tree, and into this is inserted a leaf rolled up like a funnel, the other end of it being put into the mouth of a calibash capable of containing several quarts, which is filled in the course of a single night. The liquor is discharged more abundantly during the coolness of the night and morning than in the heat of the day. About a quart of wine may thus be procured twice a day, for the space of a month, from each tree, without any injury to it, as it will yield the same quantity for many succeeding years. If, however, wine be taken from it for a longer time than about a month, the tree either dies, or requires a much longer respite to recover. When the palm wine has been drawn off, the hole is carefully filled up with mud, to prevent insects from depositing their eggs in it, the larvæ of which would destroy the tree. Upon the Kroo coast it is the custom to cut the tree down, and to burn or scorch the outside before they tap it, probably to excite a degree of fermentation. Palm wine, when fresh drawn, is sweet, remarkably cool and pleasant, and very much resembles whey in appearance, and somewhat in taste. In this state it is not in the least degree intoxicating; but after standing twenty-four hours it enters into the vinous fermentation, and becomes very inebriating, and on that account is preferred by the natives. In order to increase the intoxicating effects of palm wine, they infuse in it a little of the bark of a species of plumb, called by the Bulloms rot; they also render the natural fermentation more brisk by adding the lees of a former brewing[68]. When drunk to excess, it is said to produce a violent head- ache, though perhaps only in those who are not much accustomed to it. Palm trees sometimes grow in sandy places, but are in general indicative of a good soil, and it is further remarked, that “wherever palm trees grow, however arid the soil, there is always water to be found, by opening the ground to the depth of ten to fifteen feet[69].” This has not escaped the observation of the Africans. [Illustration] [Footnote 39: From the Portuguese word lugar, a place.] [Footnote 40: If nature had not wisely provided for the destruction of vegetables as rapidly as they are produced, sufficient space would not be left for them to grow in; but no sooner is a tree deprived of life, than myriads of white ants, called termites, commence their destructive attacks; so that it is very common to see the trunk of a tree lying upon the ground, which retains its form, but so scooped out by these insects, that it crumbles to pieces the moment the foot is placed upon it. For a very exact account of these wonderful animals, see the ingenious Mr. Smeathman’s description of them in the 71st vol. of the Phil. Trans. The following curious and just account of their habitations is contained in C. Clusii Curis posterioribus, Antwerp, 1611, extracted from the journal of a Dutch admiral Van der Hagen. “Cum dictus Navarchus Van der Hagen primo suo itinere, nempe anno 1598, rediret e Sabo versus Moutre in Guinea, conspicatus est in latissimis campis, et vasta ac paucissimis arboribus consita sterilique planitie, multos tumulos _e rubra terra_ aggestos, haud secus ac in Belgio fænorum acervi per demissos campos sparsim conspici consueverunt fænificii tempore. Ad quos tumulos cum accedens, eosdem penitus adspicerit, animadvertit eos undiquaque pervios ac foratos esse, contextos a quibusdam exilibus vermiculis; quos ibidem affluenter circumrepentes ac vagantes contemplarierat, us apes apud nos alvearia sua circumcursare solent. Hi tumuli quantumvis trium orgyiarum altitudinem, aut circiter quindecim et sedecim pedum mensuram superarent, a minutulis hisce animalculis, ut Æthiopes inquilini affirmabant, triginta aut quadraginta dierum spatio conasi fuerant & aggesti. Quæ res profecto miranda est aspectu & dignissima notatu[a].” Neither are animal substances left to be destroyed by the slow process of putrefaction, but are speedily devoured by those innumerable swarms of ants, (formicæ) which, as Ligon justly observes, are to be found “everywhere, under ground, where any hollow or loose earth is; amongst the roots of trees, upon the bodies, branches, leaves, and fruit of all trees, in all places without the houses, and within; upon the sides, walls, windows, and roofs without; and on the floors, side walls, ceilings, and windows within; tables, cupboards, beds, stools, all are covered with them.” It is curious to observe how expeditiously they dissect a dead cockroach, and remove it piecemeal; though it be bigger than an hundred of them, “yet they will find the means to take hold of him, and lift him up; and having him above ground, away they carry him.”] [Footnote a: Wigt magaz. der Phys. & Naturgeschichte.] [Footnote 41: Falconer’s Voyage of Hanno.——The description which remains of this voyage is too brief and inaccurate to allow the real situation of the places to be assigned with certainty. Harduin supposes that Cape Palmas is meant by the Chariot of the Gods, or Theon Ochema; but Cape Mount appears more likely to be intended, as it answers better to the description there given of it, than Cape Palmas. The former is a lofty round hill, whose peculiar appearance might well impress their minds; this also agrees with the description of Pliny, if we suppose that by the Flumen Bambotum Crocodilis et Hippopotamis refertum, is intended the river Mitombo, or Sierra Leone, which appears probable from what immediately follows: _Ab eo_ montes perpetuos usque ad eum, quem Theon Ochema dicemus. Inde ad promontorium hesperium navigatione dierum ac noctium decem—as there is frequently a strong current here, the voyage from Cape Mount to Cape Palmas (promont. hesperium) might very probably be so long retarded. The peculiar appearance of the former mountain is thus noticed by an old writer: “Cabo Monte, qui est une montagne fort haute, and qui paroit de loin aux mariniers qui viennent de devers l’ouest, comme si c’etoit une casque; mais quand on l’aborde de plus pres, on voit qu’il est de figure ovale & qu’il a une eminence au milieu qui ressemble a une selle de cheval.” _Dapper, Description de l’Afrique_. The facility with which such coasting voyages as that of Hanno’s may be continued for several days, in small open vessels, without landing, is shewn by the practice of the natives of Sierra Leone. When at sea in a canoe, they boil their rice with as much convenience as on shore. A large shallow basket filled with sand, and having three flat triangular stones stuck in it, with the sharp points placed uppermost for the pot to rest on, serves for the hearth; fire is procured by means of a gun lock, a little powder, and oakum, or dry moss, &c.: they appear to be unacquainted with the mode of procuring it by rubbing two dry sticks together. The salt water along-side is used to boil the rice, so that as long as wood for fuel and rice abound, together with sufficient fresh water to quench their thirst, they have no need to approach the shore.] [Footnote 42: · · · · · · domus, non ullo robore fulta, Sed sterili junco, canaque intexta palustri. LUC. PHARS. V. 517.] [Footnote 43: The unappropriated land belonging to a village is in general at the disposal of the head man, who, during his own life time, may alienate it at pleasure; but disputes are very apt to arise respecting the right of occupancy, however large the sum which may have been paid for it. It is most prudent for Europeans to make purchases on the condition of paying an annual rent, and if it has been stipulated in due form at a meeting of the head men of the country, and be afterwards punctually paid, the land may be transmitted to their heirs, provided they are at the same time strong enough to defend their acknowledged right.] [Footnote 44: Notwithstanding the comparatively improved state of agriculture among the Foolas, they still remain ignorant of the use of the plough, and are obliged to till the ground by mere strength of arm. Their country, however, being well cleared of wood, appears to be in a very favourable state for the introduction of this useful implement. There is scarce a doubt that they might easily be taught to apply the labour of the cattle, which they raise in great numbers, to the cultivation of the ground. As a proof that the Africans are not averse to the introduction of improvements into their country, during my residence at Sierra Leone, a chief of considerable importance, named Cuddy, came there from the river Gambia, attracted by curiosity, and a desire of information. This man, whose appearance instantly announced a mind of no common cast, was so much struck with what he saw there, that before he went away he engaged in his service two of the most ingenious mechanics in the colony, one of whom, a carpenter, among other things, was to make a plough, and the other was to teach his people the art of training oxen for the draught, and fixing them to the yoke. _For a further account of this person, see the Report of the Directors of the Sierra Leone Company, London_, 1795.] [Footnote 45: Zea mays.] [Footnote 46: Holcus.] [Footnote 47: Dioscorea bulbifera.] [Footnote 48: It is said, though, I apprehend, not very correctly, that one acre of rice yields more food than five acres of wheat[a]. The rice raised around Sierra Leone grows in dry grounds, and even upon the sides of hills, and is accounted much more nutritious than the Carolina rice. It grows so luxuriantly, particularly on the grain coast, that a very intelligent writer observes, “a supply might be drawn from thence sufficient for all the markets of Europe.” He moreover adds, “it is extraordinary, that this rice should be finer in flavour, of a greater substance, more wholesome, and capable of preservation, than the rice of any other country whatever, and that in every point of view it should be superior to the rest.” _Clarkson on the Impolicy of the Slave Trade._] [Footnote a: Lord Kaim’s Sketches.] [Footnote 49: Musa sapientum.] [Footnote 50: Panicum.] [Footnote 51: Arachis hypogea.] [Footnote 52: Convolvulus patatas.] [Footnote 53: Jatropha janipha.] [Footnote 54: Jatropha manihot.] [Footnote 55: The pernicious effects of this root reside entirely in the milky juice with which it abounds, and which must first be carefully expressed before it be made into bread. Notwithstanding the fatal effects which are so speedily produced by this fluid when taken raw, it is frequently used by the inhabitants of Guinea to boil their meat in, and is then considered as a delicacy, and esteemed very wholesome. Dr. Clark, of Dominica, considers it “as the most powerful narcotic vegetable poison that we are acquainted with at present, not excepting even the cherry-laurel water. The Indians of South America, and the Caraibs of these islands (West Indies) who appear to be the same race of men, boil this juice with cayenne pepper and salt, which they use as a sauce to their fish, and soak their cassada bread in it before eating it[a].” It appears that heat alone is insufficient to destroy its noxious qualities, this effect is produced by the capsicum or cayenne pepper, with which they season it, and which is found to be the most effectual antidote against its bad effects. Piso, speaking of the pine apple, says, the fresh juice of the fruit, or the wine in which it has been infused, is of service in suppression of urine and nephritic pains, and adds, that it is also of service against poisons, especially the juice of the manioc.] [Footnote a: Med. Facts, Vol. vii.] [Footnote 56: Bromelia ananas.] [Footnote 57: Aurantium dulcissimum.] [Footnote 58: Mr. Park informs us, that in the course of his travels he did not see either the sugar cane, the coffee, or the cacao trees, and it appeared to him that the natives of those parts did not know them. He further adds, that the pine apple is unknown there, and that he only saw a few orange and banana trees near the mouth of the Gambia, which inclined him to doubt whether they were indigenous, or were planted there by white traders, or were originally introduced by the Portuguese. This is also noticed in the Encyclopedie Methodique, where it is said, “Il paroit que les arbres fruitiers, & en particulier les orangers, les citronniers, and les limons, sont, depuis la cote de Guinea, jusqu’a celle d’Angola, beaucoup plus communs, au moins vers les cotes, qu’ils ne le sont dans le reste du pays.” _A l’article Medecine_, tom. i. p. 326. These observations render it probable that the above-mentioned fruits are not indigenous upon any part of the coast, though in some places they are to be found in great profusion, but have been introduced, probably by the Portuguese, as the Africans have no tradition on the subject, and regard them now as natives of their own country. Lemons and Seville oranges are also found at Sierra Leone, though in small quantities, as they are not esteemed by the natives; and they spring, no doubt, from the same source. Cacao trees are unknown upon the Windward Coast. Upon the Gold Coast cocoa trees are found in great abundance; they are also found in some of the rivers near Sierra Leone, but they did not grow in the latter place until planted there since the establishment of the colony.] [Footnote 59: Musa paradisiaca.] [Footnote 60: Cocos nucifera.] [Footnote 61: Guayava psidium.] [Footnote 62: Anguria trilobata.] [Footnote 63: Carica papaya.] [Footnote 64: The fruit of the palm tree is thus described by Froger, who visited this coast in the year 1695. “The negroes made a present to us, as a choice banquet, of certain large fruits that resemble small gourds, but, under the skin, is only a kind of substance like dressed flax: they cause them to be roasted under embers, and afterwards chew them to suck out the juice, which is as yellow as saffron: this fruit has a stone as large as an egg, and as hard as iron.”] [Footnote 65: Voyages of the Portuguese during the 15th and 16th centuries.] [Footnote 66: Herodot. Thalia, 23.] [Footnote 67: The oil obtained from the fruit of a plant called sillicyprion by Herodotus, possessed some of the properties of that of the palm nut, and was perhaps somewhat of the same nature. The Egyptians procured it in the same manner in which the Africans obtain their palm oil, and they used it to burn in their lamps, as well as to anoint their bodies, notwithstanding its unpleasant odour.] [Footnote 68: Herodotus informs us, that the palm wine was procured in great quantity in the province of Babylon. From the same tree, (phenix dactylifera?) he says, was obtained bread, wine, and honey[a]. This latter practice is explained by Dr. Shaw, who says, “in the East, they, on great occasions of festivity, cut off the branches of a strong tree, and scoop out the crown or top of the trunk into the form of a bason; in this collects every day, for the space of a fortnight or three weeks, about three quarts or a gallon of fluid, sweeter than, and of the consistence of, a thin syrup, which soon, however, thickens, ferments, and becomes intoxicating. This quantity of fluid daily diminishes, and in about six weeks or two months the tree is totally exhausted, and fit only to be burnt[b].” It is probable that the African palm tree will not yield a similar produce, as the natives do not practise this method. They make use of the medullary part found in the crown of the tree as an article of food. This has been called the palm cabbage, from its resemblance to the vegetable of that name, both in appearance and taste.] [Footnote a: Clio, 193.] [Footnote b: Travels in the Levant.] [Footnote 69: Vincent’s Voyage of Nearchus.] CHAP. IV. DIET. ART OF COOKERY. BREAD. ANIMAL FOOD. MILK AND BUTTER. SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS. TOBACCO. KOLA. THE diet of the Africans is simple, and consists chiefly of boiled rice and palm oil, to which is occasionally added, a small proportion of animal food. Their art of cookery is confined to boiling or stewing, and the soup, which is always made strong, is poured over the rice. Baking or roasting is seldom used, except by those who have much intercourse with Europeans[70]. They eat in general only twice a day, about ten o’clock in the forenoon, and again about sunset. The natives on the Gold Coast are remarkable for seasoning their food very high with capsicum, in what they call black soup, a very favourite dish there; they also substitute the yam for rice, and eat oftener in the day than the Timmanees. It has been remarked, that the fondness for high seasonings increases with the heat of the climate. The natives also around Sierra Leone use a great quantity of the red pepper[71] in their food; and if we may judge from its general use in warm climates, we must conclude it to be very wholesome. Dr. Bancroft gives it as his opinion, that the quantity of pepper which the natives of Guiana use, preserves them from the intermittents, which are endemial to the other inhabitants of Guiana, who do not follow their example. He further adds, that they are not afflicted with the gout, though it is particularly troublesome to the white inhabitants. The use of bread is not known upon the Windward Coast, except by those who have learned it from Europeans, as they do not commonly practise the art of reducing rice or maize into flour; but the plantain and yam make excellent substitutes for it. When the natives make bread, it is generally with flour imported from Europe; and by way of leaven they use palm wine in a state of fermentation, which raises bread as well or better than yeast. Upon the Gold Coast they use a kind of bread made from maize, which they call kankee bread. The women reduce the corn into a fine powder or dough, by rubbing it between two stones, and occasionally moistening it with water; it is left all night to turn sour, and is baked next day, and has somewhat the taste of rye bread[72]. Where nations use farinaceous substances as food, we generally find a want of these sooner complained of than that of other kinds of provisions, and accordingly a scarcity of bread is always felt before a scarcity of animal food. This is the case among the natives of Africa. An African, who has been feasted with every delicacy which an European table can afford, yet if rice has not constituted a part of his entertainment, will say, he has had _no meat_ for so long a time, and on his return home will recur to his beloved food with redoubled ardour. The animals which these nations use for food, are deer, buffaloes, sheep, goats, oxen, wild hogs, and fowls[73]. The Guinea fowl, numida meleagris, is found abundantly in a wild state in the neighbourhood of the river Gambia, and other parts, but not so frequently near Sierra Leone. Those who live on the sea coast, or near the banks of the rivers, use fish[74], particularly oysters[75], in a large proportion. In addition to the above articles of food, some nations eat monkeys, rats, and snakes. Upon the Kroo Coast, a dog is esteemed a singular delicacy, and in the kingdoms of Dahomy and Whidaw, the flesh of dogs is exposed in the public market for sale. A large worm, about the size of a man’s thumb, is frequently found in the crown of the palm tree, when beginning to decay, and is considered as a great delicacy by the natives, when fried with palm oil[76]. These worms are said, in taste, “to partake of all the spices of India, as mace, cinnamon, cloves, nutmegs, &c.[77]” This was a very favourite dish of the late Mr. Smeathman, who resided several years on the island of Bananas. The natives still retain a pleasing remembrance of this ingenious man, whom they speak of by the title of the “Fly Catcher,” and relate many interesting anecdotes concerning him. The Mahommedan nations, like the Jews, eat only those animals which chew the cud. A Foola being asked what was the greatest crime he could commit? answered, “The eating of pork, especially if it happened to be the flesh of a boar.” They are also very particular in adhering to the Jewish precept, “Flesh with the blood thereof ye shall not eat;” and they never eat meat unless it has been killed by one of their own religion, which is always done by cutting the throat of the animal, pronouncing at the same time the prayer Bismillah, In the name of God. They are equally scrupulous in avoiding to eat “of any thing that dieth of itself[78]”, a command which to a delicate European may appear unnecessary, as being of itself sufficiently disgusting. The necessity of the law, however, is pointed out by the little scruple with which the Timmanees, Bulloms, &c. eat animals by whatever means they may have been deprived of life, and even when tainted with putrefaction. The same is practised by gipsies in England, and by the negro slaves in the West Indies. Although they have several species of lizards, they use only one as an article of diet, the _guana_, lacerta iguana, which they esteem delicate food. The rivers abound with a great variety of fine fish, and they have several of the species found in the West Indies, such as old wives, different kinds of eels, snappers, mullets, cavallies, barracootas, ten pounders, sword fish, sucking fish, &c. &c. The mannatee, or hippopotamos, is frequently met with in the rivers, and is eagerly sought after by the natives to feast upon. Milk and butter[79] also constitute a large part of the diet of the Mahommedan nations: they use, however, only the milk of cows, for though they eat the flesh, they abhor the milk of goats. They never boil the milk, for fear of causing the cow to become dry, nor will they sell milk to any one who should practise it. The Bulloms entertain a similar prejudice respecting oranges, and will not sell them to those who throw the skins into the fire, “lest it occasion the unripe fruit to fall off.” When the milk is fresh drawn, a little salt is added to it before they drink it; this they reckon a great delicacy, probably because their own country does not produce it, and they are obliged to send to a great distance, and purchase it at a dear rate; in general, however, they do not drink the milk until it has turned sour. They make butter by putting the cream into a large gourd, and use a stick to churn with. To preserve butter, when new made, they boil it, and skim off the oily part, which is reserved for use; to this are added the leaves of a plant which impart to it a strong and rather disagreeable taste[80]. They make a kind of sauce, or condiment, which they use to their food, called by the Foolas ken-da, and by the Soosoos and Mandingos cim-bar-ra. It is composed of the seeds of the locust tree, mimosa edulis, called by the Timmanees to-boy, and by the Bulloms bay. The sweetish pulpy substance in which the seeds are involved is set to ferment, and afterwards spread out in the sun to dry; it is then beaten into a powder, and mixed with a certain proportion of ground nuts and pepper. They make a kind of gingerbread, which they highly esteem, composed of parched ground nuts powdered, to which is added honey and the flour of Guinea corn. The ground nuts form a very fine meal, which readily mixes with water, and is convenient for travellers; but it is oily, and rather difficult of digestion[81]. They also make cakes of rice and honey, which are not unpalatable[82]. All these nations drink chiefly water to their victuals. The Foolas and Mandingos very strictly abstain from fermented liquors, and from spirits, which they hold in such abhorrence, that if a single drop were to fall upon a clean garment, it would be rendered unfit to wear until washed. They frequently make a kind of mead, which they are fond of, and also drink an infusion of a berry in water, which has a sweetish taste, and is mixed with milk; but it is said to be remarkably flatulent, in consequence of which young persons are forbidden to drink it. Those nations, which are not Mahommedan, drink spirits to great excess, prefering it to the wine of the palm tree. The Soosoos make a tolerably palatable liquor, having, however, a smoky taste, from the root of a plant called yin-ying. It is first burnt for a certain time, and the ashes are afterwards infused in water; a fermentation is thus produced, which renders it intoxicating when taken in large quantity. Upon most parts of the Gold Coast, a kind of beer, called pitto, is obtained from the Indian corn or maize, previously made into malt. The process is exactly the same as in Europe, only no hops are added to it. It is a pleasant drink, somewhat resembling small beer when a few days old, but has this inconvenience, that owing to its so readily fermenting, it cannot be preserved in bottles[83]. Bosman says, at Whidah they brew a kind of beer so strong, that it does not yield to the strong beers in Holland, and adds, “all people here, the slaves not excepted, drink only beer; for water they will not drink, because it is drawn out of wells twenty or thirty fathoms[84] deep, and but six or eight feet wide, so that no sun can reach it, which renders it raw and cold as ice, and, consequently, very unwholesome in this hot country; for drinking it but a few days only brings an unavoidable fever, and the good beer being too hot, an European cannot do better than mix them in equal quantities, whereby he will have a pleasant and wholesome drink.” The Bulloms make a kind of wine from a species of plumb called ’ng-bal, which they infuse in water, and set to ferment, when it becomes intoxicating. The natives of Bambouc make an inebriating liquor from honey, called besdon, of which they are extremely fond. For this purpose a little millet is infused in a large vessel full of water, called canary, resembling one of our earthen jars. Then they mix with it a certain quantity of honey. This liquor is exposed to the sun for eight or ten days: during this time it ferments, and becomes very strong and intoxicating. The Bulloms make a similar liquor called ’n-sookeea, which they prepare nearly in the same way as above. Sometimes a beer, or rather wine, is made from the ripe plantains. This fruit, when deprived of its skin, is bruised, and mixed with a certain quantity of water previously heated; after standing from 12 to 24 hours it is strained, and kept close in bottles for a week, when it becomes fit to drink. Ligon remarks, that this is a “strong and pleasant drinke, but it is to be drunk _sparingly_, for it is much stronger than sack, and is apt to mount up into the head.” The ingenuity of mankind shews itself perhaps in no instance more conspicuously than in the variety of means made use of to obtain intoxicating liquors. It is not difficult to imagine how, in those countries where the vine is indigenous, accident may have discovered to the inhabitants that the juice of grapes, placed in certain circumstances, will undergo a peculiar change, and be converted into a liquor possessing a pleasant taste, and other still more seducing qualities. It does not however appear so clear, how people in a rude and uncivilized state should attain the knowledge of a beverage similar in its effects to wine, and produced from a great variety of substances apparently so dissimilar to each other. Be this as it may, there are few nations, however barbarous in other respects, who are ignorant of the mode of exhilarating the spirits, and of producing a temporary delirium and agitation of mind[85]. The Kamschatdale feels himself enlivened by a liquor obtained from putrid fish; and the Tartar procures from the fermented milk of mares his favourite koumiss[86]. The Mahommedan nations very religiously abstain from the use of spirits and fermented liquors of every kind; but they, as well as the other Africans, are universally enslaved by the charms of tobacco. This plant is not now cultivated by any of the natives in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, notwithstanding its indispensable necessity to them; but it appears to have been raised by them in considerable quantities two centuries ago. It is still found wild in many places, but is wholly disregarded. Tobacco is chiefly used in the form of snuff, made by simply toasting the leaves of the plant before the fire until rendered friable, and then rubbing them in a small mortar, with which almost every one is provided. The Foolas have no idea of using it in any other way than snuff, and often use it as a dentifrice in this form; but those who live upon the coast frequently smoke this herb, a custom which they have probably copied from Europeans. A more innocent luxury in which they indulge, and which ranks in their esteem next to tobacco, is the chewing of kola. This is the fruit of a large and beautiful tree, which grows in abundance upon the coast, and is in as high esteem, and as much used by the natives of this part of Africa, as is the areca nut in the East Indies. The kola, seven or eight kernels of which, of the size and shape of a chesnut, are included in a thick green capsule, is a very pleasant bitter and astringent. It is much esteemed for its stomachic powers, and is generally washed down with a draught of cold water, to which it imparts a remarkably pleasant sweetish taste[87]. The Foolas and Mandingos generally eat a few grains of Malaguetta pepper[88], with the kola, which they call gorra, to give it an agreeable pungency. It is also a frequent practice among them to chew with the kola the bark of a tree called by the Bulloms loonee, by the Timmanees alloop, and by the Soosoos lazzar. This, when cut, exudes a milky juice, resembling, after it has been dried, the caoutchouc or elastic gum; the bark is gently astringent, cleans the mouth from sordes, and produces a copious flow of saliva. As a substitute for kola, the bark of a tree, called by the Bulloms and Timmanees sá-pea, is frequently used; it is a pretty strong astringent, possesses a considerable degree of bitterness, and is celebrated for its tonic powers. The kola is either white, or of a dark red or purple colour, and tinges the saliva yellow. The Portuguese esteem it highly, and use it as a yellow dye; they send from Bissao as far as the river Scarcies, where it grows in great abundance, to procure it, and draw a considerable advantage by selling it to the inhabitants of those parts where it is scarce. Kola is always presented to the guests, in visits of ceremony or of friendship, and is looked upon as a mark of great politeness. It generally forms a part of every considerable present, and at public meetings, or palavers between different nations, it is a substitute for the olive branch. Two _white_ kola presented by one party to the other betoken peace and a continuance of friendship, while two _red_ ones are considered as an indication of war[89]. [Footnote 70: Roast meat is called by the Bulloms, eewees eetoia, and by the Timmanees, oshemma toi, _i.e._ burnt meat. They preserve fish for a few days by drying it in the smoke. When going a journey, they sometimes fry it in palm oil until quite dry; and then pack it close in an earthen jar, previously well heated, and having its mouth closely covered over with plantain leaves. In this manner the fish may be preserved for three months, or longer. They use as a kind of sauce to their meat, the boiled leaf of a plant somewhat resembling spinage; the Bulloms call it oopóm, and the Timmanees sikka; the whites call it _palaver sauce_, a name which the natives have also adopted. The okra, hibiscus esculentus, which enters into the composition of the celebrated pepper pot of the West Indies, is often used for the same purpose by the natives. Eddoes, arum sagittæ folium, have been introduced by the Nova Scotia settlers.] [Footnote 71: Capsicum frutescens, bird pepper. The general term for the different species of pepper is bengbay; the largest kind is distinguished in Bullom by the word bengbay pootoo; in Timmanee, by kik bengbay pootoo; and in Soosoo, by foorootoo bengbay, or white man’s pepper: the reason alledged for this is, that it has a whitish appearance before it becomes ripe.] [Footnote 72: Isert Reise nach Guinea.] [Footnote 73: Fowls, like those in Europe, are raised in prodigious numbers, and are excellent food. In the Foola country, Messrs. Watt and Winterbottom bought a common fowl for two beads, of the kind called in trade arrango’s; and for two strings, each containing twenty beads, they purchased a sheep or goat.] [Footnote 74: The title Ichthyophagi, or Fish-eaters, so frequently occurring in Herodotus and other ancient authors, was applied to such nations as lived partly on fish, and was probably intended as a mark of contempt, or to express their wretched mode of subsistence. Menelaus, relating his adventures in Egypt, seems to consider the living upon fish as not the least of his hardships. Of his companions he says, · · · · they around the isle, with hooks The fishes snaring, roamed, by _famine urged_. COWPER’S TRANSLATION OF HOMER.] [Footnote 75: In the Bullom language, the same word, ee-way, signifies _a bird_ and _oysters_; the latter has no singular. To distinguish which is meant, they either say ee-way’n-tink-ay, mangrove oysters; or ee-way ee-toó-fay, _a forest bird_; or ee-way’n-feé-lay, _a flying bird_.] [Footnote 76: The sago tree, in the East Indies, has “like all the trees of the palm kind, a cabbage, which is eaten by the natives, though it is not so good or wholesome as that of the _aneebong_, or proper cabbage palm. When rotten, a sort of very fat white worms, called _sago worms_, with brown heads, are found in it, which the Indians roast, and think a great delicacy.” _Stavorinus’s Voyage to the East Indies._ These worms are much esteemed in the West Indies, where they are called groo-groo worms. They resemble marrow in taste, and are eaten roasted, and well seasoned with Guinea pepper, salt, and lime juice.] [Footnote 77: Stedman’s History of Surinam.] [Footnote 78: In the Koran it is also said, “Verily, he hath forbidden you to eat that which dieth of itself, and blood, and swine’s flesh, and that on which any other name but God’s hath been invocated. But he who is forced by necessity, not lusting, not returning to transgress, it shall be no crime in him if he eat of those things.” _Sale Ed._ c. ii. Before they begin to eat, this prayer Bismillah elrohman elrahim, In the name of God clement and merciful, is pronounced with much devotion; afterwards they return thanks with equal fervor by repeating Alhamdillah, God be praised, which is also done when they have met with extraordinary success.] [Footnote 79: “Barbararum gentium lautissimus cibus, & qui divites a plebe discernat.” _Plin. Hist. Nat._ 28. 35.] [Footnote 80: The Bulloms and Soosoos call butter made from cows milk, foolá-ya, probably because the art of making it was first taught them by the Foolas. Butter brought from Europe is called by the Bulloms mantinka. From the butter tree, called in Bullom chok, and in Timmanee ’ngut, they procure a substance which they use instead of butter. The fruit of this tree is large, and contains three or four seeds about the size of a walnut; these are first dried until the outer skin begins to crack, after which they are placed for a longer or shorter time over the smoke of the fire. The seeds are then parched in an iron pot, and bruised in a mortar; they are afterwards boiled in water, and as the oil rises to the surface it is skimmed off, and poured into a hole dug in the ground, and lined with a clean cotton cloth. Through this the water passes, and the butter acquires nearly the firmness and consistency of cheese, it is almost as white as chalk, which it much resembles; and is pleasant to the taste. It appears probable, that this is what Mr. Matthews has mistaken for a kind of clay; he says, “a saponaceous white earth is found in several parts of the country, which is of so very unctuous a nature, that the natives frequently eat it with their rice, as it dissolves like butter.” The Bulloms call this butter n-chok, the Timmanees moot, and the Soosoos lamee.] [Footnote 81: The ground nuts have this peculiarity, that when once planted, they will yield successively three annual crops without trouble; the two first are equally abundant, but the third much less so. Ground nuts are inclosed in a shell like an almond, which they a little resemble in taste. Before they are planted, the kernels are removed from the shell, and infused in water until they begin to germinate. The nuts grow in the earth, at the extremity of the root, and have a leaf resembling clover.] [Footnote 82: Honey is obtained in some parts in great quantities, particularly in the neighbourhood of the river Gambia, from whence they export much wax. The Bulloms and Timmanees do not attend much to the rearing of bees, though they sometimes have hives in their villages, which they form from the trunk of the palm tree, having previously burnt the inside, and filled the ends up with wood. Of the wax they make candles, by rolling a cotton thread in a piece of wax. This appears to have been taught them by Europeans, from the similarity of the name. The Bulloms call a candle oo-kandir, the Timmanees kandir’r, and the Soosoos kandáyree. The natives never place hives near lime bushes, because they say the bees dislike the smell; they feed upon every flower, except that of kola, and even on the blossoms of the red water tree. The natives think they are fond of red colours.] [Footnote 83: Isert.] [Footnote 84: Mr. Park speaks of wells in the kingdom of Bondou, twenty- eight fathoms deep.] [Footnote 85: According to Herodotus, the Egyptians were the first who discovered the use of ale or beer, called zythum, which they procured from barley. It is said, that the inhabitants of the Marian or Ladrone islands were ignorant of the use of fire before they were visited by the Spaniards; but even then they were acquainted with the mode of producing intoxication by means of the wine of the cocoa nut tree.] [Footnote 86: The root of the _ava_, piper methysticum, chewed with the saliva, and spit into water, or into the liquor of the cocoa nut, ferments and forms a delicious draught to the South Sea islanders. It is curious to observe, that this disgusting practice is common to nations separated from each other by immense tracts of land and ocean. The natives of Guiana, Capt. Stedman informs us, obtain an inebriating liquor, called picvorree, by chewing cassava bread and spitting it out mixed with the saliva into a certain quantity of water; a fermentation is thus excited in the mixture, which has somewhat the taste of ale. The filthiness of the practice may be thought somewhat lessened, by the chewing process being confined to the females. The same prevails among the inhabitants of Chili[a] and Brazil, in the preparation of _chica_, an intoxicating drink, which has the colour and taste of sourish milk. This is produced from maize, first ground into flour and made into a mass like bread, which is chewed by old women until it becomes almost as thin as water gruel; it is then mixed with a certain proportion of water, and allowed to ferment.] [Footnote a: Marcgravii Tractat. de Chili Regione & Indigenis.] [Footnote 87: Jobson, who was at Gambia in 1618, speaking of the kola, says, “the taste is very bitter, yet causes that which is taken next after it to taste very sweet; for so I found it made water taste like white wine and sugar: fifty of them will buy a wife.”] [Footnote 88: Amomum grana paradisi.] [Footnote 89: According to Niebuhr[a], in some parts of Arabia a practice prevails similar to that of chewing kola: “Nous trouvames chez les gens distinguès des montagnes de l’Yemen, pendant les mois de Mai, Juin, & Juillet, des petites bottes de _káad_: ce sont les bourgeons d’un certain arbre, qu’on mange par amusement comme nous prenons du tabac, mais cette friandise ne nous accommodoit point.”] [Footnote a: Description de l’Arabie.] CHAP. V. SITUATION OF AFRICAN TOWNS. HOUSES. PALAVER HOUSE. TOWNS OF THE MAHOMMEDANS. IN the choice of a spot of ground whereon to build a town, security is the primary object of the Africans. This is owing to the barbarous custom, which has too long prevailed in that country, of seizing the unsuspecting inhabitants of villages, and hurrying them away into slavery. To guard against this danger they generally choose the bank of some small river or creek, lined with thick mangroves, and thus rendered difficult of access: or where such a situation cannot be conveniently procured, a small piece of ground is cleared, barely sufficient for the houses to stand upon, which is surrounded by, and as it were buried in the bosom of a thick impenetrable wood. The only approach to the town is by one or more narrow foot-paths, sometimes scarcely perceptible, which are carried in a winding direction round the place, so that a traveller wandering through these gloomy forests may suppose himself, even when arrived within a few yards of a town, to be many miles from any human habitation, until he is undeceived by the noise of the inhabitants within. This circumstance renders their towns for the most part unhealthy to Europeans, the breeze which comes to them through the woods being in general laden with moisture, which makes the mornings and nights unpleasantly cool; while, during the middle of the day the breeze dying away, the heat reflected from the ground renders the air insupportably hot. The native inhabitants also suffer in their health from the same cause, though in a less degree. Having, however, no idea that their illness can have this origin, or proceed from the vicinity of swamps; whenever any extraordinary sickness or mortality occurs, they impute it to the effects of witchcraft, and remove to another spot, in hopes of thereby breaking the power of the incantation. Owing to this prejudice it is not uncommon to see a village, which has been many years inhabited, abandoned, and another formed at no great distance from it. Their houses, being so entirely encircled by trees and bushes, are greatly infested, particularly in the rainy season, with sandflies and musquitos, whose bites are almost intolerable[90]. We might be led to imagine, from an observation made by Dr. Rush, that the situation of a town similar to that described above, was not unhealthy. “It is a well known fact,” Dr. Rush observes, “that intermittents and bilious fevers have increased in Pennsylvania in proportion as the country has been cleared of its wood.” He adds, however, that “it is equally certain that these fevers have lessened or disappeared in proportion as the country has been cultivated.” It seems probable that these remarks only hold good where trees have been incautiously cut down in the neighbourhood of swamps; for experience has abundantly proved that towns which had been formerly sickly by having swamps near them, have become very healthy by having trees planted between them and the morass, the noxious parts of the vapour being thereby intercepted. The towns[91] or rather villages of the Bulloms and Timmanees, and the same may be said of most of the towns on the sea coast, are in general small, and seldom consist of more than forty or fifty houses, but as we advance inland they become more populous. The villages are commonly built of a circular form, inclosing an area, in the midst of which is placed the palaver house, or town hall. The houses are placed so close to each other, that if one happens to catch fire, the whole town can hardly escape being burnt to the ground in a very short time. They are built either square, or more frequently of a circular form, and never consist of more than the ground floor. At Whidah the king alone enjoys the privilege of dwelling in a house of more than one story; and we are told that the tyrant Bossa Ahadee, desirous of letting the whole world see how much he honoured one of his favourite generals, “actually gave him leave to build _a house two stories high_[92].” The buildings are composed of posts as thick as a man’s thigh, one placed at each of the four corners, and sunk into the ground about a foot and a half; other smaller ones are placed between, at the distance of about two feet, and the intermediate spaces are filled up by platting with twigs or wattles. The walls, which are about six feet high, are plastered inside and outside with clay, which is left to harden in the sun: but to prevent their drying too quickly and cracking, they are frequently moistened with water, and allowed to stand for several days or weeks exposed, before the roof is put on. It is seldom that the house consists of more than one apartment, but sometimes it is divided by a partition of wattles plastered with clay, reaching, however, only as high as the outside walls. Sometimes a kind of ceiling is made to the apartments, consisting of small spars of bamboo laid very close to each other, scarce strong enough to walk upon, and intended only as a store room to preserve their goods, &c.; but in general the space from the top of the walls upwards is left open, and then it somewhat resembles a large funnel. For the sake of coolness also, they leave the space of a foot open between the upper part of the wall and the roof. The roof, which is of thatch, composed of the branches of a species of bamboo, or of long grass, is generally of a conical form, which gives the town at a small distance the appearance of a collection of small hay stacks. The roof, by projecting a few feet beyond the outer walls, forms a kind of piazza, which affords shelter from the rain; and here, in the dry season, they spend much of their time, either swinging in a hammock, or reclined upon mats spread on a bank of earth raised about a foot and a half high, and two or three broad, called bunting, which runs round the outside of the house, except at the entrance. The houses have seldom any other opening than the door, of which there are usually two, opposite to each other; these serve the purpose of keeping up a current of air; they also admit the light, and afford an exit to the smoke of the fire[93], which is made on the middle of the floor. The entrance of a house is seldom closed by any thing but a mat, which is occasionally let down, and is a sufficient barrier against all intruders. The most intimate friend will not presume to lift the mat and enter in, unless his salutation be returned[94]. Nay, when the door is thus slightly secured, a woman, by pronouncing the word moo-rádee, _I am busy_, can prevent her husband from entering, even though he be assured she is entertaining her gallant; his only remedy is to wait for their coming out. The Africans are not much burthened with household furniture: a few mats to sleep on, and cloths to guard them from the cold at night, an iron pot, a few calibashes, a copper kettle for water, a balay or basket, with a small box for the women’s clothes, constitute the chief part of it. It may be remarked in general, that the villages near the sea coast not only consist of fewer houses than those more inland, but they also shew less neatness and ingenuity in their construction, and in some places are not much superior, and probably differ only in form from the mapalia of the ancient Numidians. The town house, or palaver house, which they call búrree, differs in its construction from the others, being supported upon posts only, and for the sake of coolness having no walls. A number of strong posts are fixed in the ground at the distance of six or eight feet from each other, and placed in a circle, or square; upon the top of each of these posts, which are about six feet high, are placed circular pieces of wood about two feet in diameter, with a view of preventing rats and mice from climbing up and getting to the roof. A floor composed of bamboo sticks laid very close to each other is placed upon these circular plates of wood, and over all is the roof, which exactly resembles that of an ordinary house, except in not projecting so much beyond the sides. A bank of earth about a foot high, called by Europeans the mud bank, runs round the side of this building for the convenience of sitting or reclining upon. Some of these houses are large enough to contain two or three hundred people, and here they transact all public business between themselves and neighbours. The men pass much of their time here conversing with each other, and hearing the news of the town, and to this place strangers go, on their first entrance into a town, and sit down until an house be provided for their reception. This place being the chief resort of the inhabitants, may be considered as a kind of exchange, and it illustrates the ancient practice of “sitting in the gate” of cities, where, as being the most public place, all business was transacted, justice was dispensed, and markets often held[95]. Similar motives induce the Africans to hold their meetings in the búrree, or palaver house; for as they have no means of authenticating the principal transactions of civil life by written documents, they are very careful to affix to every engagement, whether public or private, such a degree of notoriety as shall insure its memorial. For this purpose every contract is made before respectable witnesses, and when these die, people still remain who recollect to have heard the relation of it from them. Children are allowed, and even required, to be present at these meetings, and by hearing the old people converse about past transactions, the facts become indelibly imprinted in their minds; and by this early and continued practice their memories acquire an extraordinary degree of strength. The upper part of the búrree, or palaver house, serves as a granary to preserve their rice; the entrance is by a hole in the floor, shut by a sliding door, and they ascend to it by means of a post, in which notches are cut. When we advance from the coast into the interior, particularly among the Mahommedan nations, we find the housess in general more lofty and spacious, and built with more neatness and solidity than among the Timmanees and Bulloms: they consist, however, only of the ground floor, which is not raised above the surface of the earth. The walls are ten or twelve feet high, mostly of a circular form, and from 20 to 30 feet in diameter: they are generally built of bricks, about four inches thick, eight inches broad, and a foot long, baked in the sun, and between each row of bricks is placed a thin layer of mud or clay softened with water. The roof is always of a conical form, and projects considerably beyond the walls, in order to preserve them from rain during the wet season. In thatching the house they begin from below, placing a number of bundles of dry grass as close together as possible, and fastening them to the rafters on the inside by withes; above is placed another layer of thatch, the ends of which reach within six or eight inches of the ends of the first layer, like the tiles of a house, and in this manner they proceed until it be completed. In order to carry off the water more easily, they give an acute angle to the roof. A thatch of this kind lasts about two or three years; but it is often necessary to secure it from the violence of the wind by tying split pieces of bamboo upon the sides. As they sit upon the mud bank in the day, and sleep upon it at night, a space, the length of a man, is made slightly concave all the way round, which raises the head and feet higher than the body. The floors, insides of the walls, and sleeping banks, are covered with a very smooth kind of plaster, which soon becomes hard and compact; it is composed of fresh cow dung and clay, beaten very well together. Their mosques are built in the same manner, except that they are of a square form, and loftier, and that the roof projects about fifteen feet beyond the top of the wall, and affords a very agreeable walk below. Their towns also are much larger than those round Sierra Leone, and are divided into narrow streets or lanes, and as each family inhabits a distinct inclosure, they cover a considerable space of ground. Teembo, the capital of the Foola kingdom, is computed to contain about 8000 inhabitants; Laby, the second in size, has about 5000; and several of those which I have visited in the Soosoo and Mandingo countries, contain from 1 to 2 or 3000 inhabitants. The towns of the Bulloms and Timmanees are not in general surrounded by walls or palisades, but defended merely by the intricacy of the path leading to them; but the towns of the Soosoos and Mandingos are surrounded either by a lofty palisade of bamboos, or by a wall built of bricks hardened in the sun, and defended from the weather in the rainy season by a kind of sloping thatched roof built over it. The entrance is generally through a gateway or porch, which is carefully shut at night. Sometimes the gate is secured by five or six heavy spars, which are perforated by the lintel, and swing upon it. During the day they are left free below, and are easily pushed forwards by people wishing to enter the town, but at night they are secured by a bar, which runs across them at the bottom[96]. [Footnote 90: Herodotus describes the methods used by the Egyptians to avoid the musquitos, which greatly infested that low and marshy country. They either slept in very lofty places or towers, whither these delicate insects could not ascend on account of the wind, or they made musquito curtains to their beds, by covering them with the fishing nets they had used in the day, as these flies will not pass through the meshes when tolerably small. II. 95.] [Footnote 91: The names of their towns are generally descriptive of their situation, or of some remarkable occurrence which happened there, as in the following names of Bullom towns: Matcha, no path; Yella, surrounded with water; Tiama, close to great water; Pek-ken-tyeng, elephant broke wood there; Kak-billing, slap face; Fundoo, fall down; Woolpatie, old man; Makump, palm nut; Warryma, washed clean; Mabooga, nothing there; Patun-gwa, a town of slaves; Tumbo, begging town; Toolung, where they beat rice. Several towns are named after some tree growing near them, which is remarkable for its size or some other peculiarity, or for growing very abundantly there. Before these names the Bulloms place the Particle Kee as Kee-pul-lung, a town so called from a large pullom tree close to it; Kee-toónk, so called from a tree which bears a fruit resembling an almond; Kee’k-bál, called after the rough brown plumb from which beer is made. The Timmanee towns, as has been already said, have Ro _in general_ prefixed to them, as Ro-mak- baynee, a town where they finish things; Ro-yayma, want; Ro-sunt, in or upon the sand; Ro-paytfoo, new town; sometimes Ro is not used, as Muntee-matunk, cold water; Ro-bombo belonging to Bom-bo (a man’s name). They frequently add Ro to the names of Bullom towns, as Ro-kee-pullúng, Ro-kee-toonk, Ro-kee-’k-bal’.] [Footnote 92: Norris.] [Footnote 93: We should scarce suspect, from the present state of luxury in this country, that a very few centuries ago the convenience of a chimney was scarcely known in England. “Hollinshed, cotemporary with Elizabeth of England, describes the rudeness of the preceding generation in the arts of life. “There were,” he says, “very few chimnies, even in capital towns: the fire was laid to the wall, and the smoke issued out at the roof, or door, or window. The houses were wattled and plastered over with clay; and all the furniture and utensils were of wood. The people slept on straw pallets, with a log of wood for a pillow.” _Kaim’s Sketches._] [Footnote 94: In the Koran, ch. xxiv. it is said, “enter not any houses, besides your own houses, until ye have asked leave, and have saluted the family thereof.” _Sale’s Ed._] [Footnote 95: Persons of rank used frequently to sit there to discharge the duty of hospitality to strangers, and to “all that went in at the gate.”] [Footnote 96: Among the Foolas and Mandingos forts are often built to guard their towns from sudden assaults. In my brother’s journal it is said, the walls are built with country bricks, six feet in thickness, and surrounded by a deep and wide ditch; they are generally of a square form, having a tower at each corner, and the walls, which are strengthened with beams of timber, have loop holes to fire through. The same journal says, that a large tower had been built at Teembo by the late king’s father, though then going fast to decay, and used only as a storehouse by the reigning king. Mamadoojon, Ali Mammee’s father, had been engaged frequently in wars “with nations lying towards the rising and setting sun,” and had always proved victorious, but his enemies sometimes collecting their forces, and coming upon him by surprise, had burnt his town, which induced him to build this fort.] CHAP. VI. ORDINARY EMPLOYMENTS. FISHING. MANUFACTURING LEATHER. BLACKSMITHS. MANUFACTURE OF MATS, NETS, EARTHEN VESSELS, COTTON. BLUE DYE. DRESS OF MEN AND WOMEN. MOURNING. MODE OF PAINTING AND ANOINTING THEIR BODIES. POINTING THEIR TEETH. TATTOWING. CIRCUMCISION. THE division of labour and separation of trades is almost unknown, or at least not practised among the people who inhabit the sea coast; the most ingenious man in the village is usually the blacksmith, joiner, architect, and weaver, the chief trades which they require or exercise. The active employment of the men consists in general either in clearing a piece of ground for a rice plantation, building or repairing their houses, rowing in their canoes, fishing, or shooting; the other parts of domestic œconomy being left entirely to the women. They have various methods of catching fish; sometimes they go out to sea in their canoes, and fish with a hook and line, which is fastened to the thumb, while they paddle the canoe. Sometimes two men wade up to their breasts in the sea, having a net about twenty or thirty feet in length, and sufficiently broad, which is stretched at both ends by poles; it is then let down, and sinks to the bottom by weights appended to it. The men then walk very gradually and gently towards the shore, forming a kind of semicircle. This is a very dangerous mode, as the people are sometimes bitten by sharks. During my residence at Sierra Leone, an instance of this kind happened on the Bullom shore, where a young man had his leg so much lacerated by a shark, that he died very soon after. Another method is by shutting up the mouth of a creek, which is done by letting fall, at high water, a strong mat made for the purpose, which permits only the small fry to escape. A plant called by the Bulloms sabbee, and by the Timmanees makoo, is also frequently used to poison the fish, or rather to intoxicate them, and cause them to swim on the surface of the water. The same method is followed in the West Indies, where the bark of the dogwood tree is beaten small, steeped in salt water, and the infusion, which is of a red colour, is poured into the creek, river, &c. The women have an ingenious mode of catching a species of fish somewhat resembling the miller’s thumb, (cottus gobio) found in England. At low water they go into some creek, and roll a great number of large leaves into the form of funnels, which they stick in the mud, with the mouth upwards; the fish, which are continually leaping up to a small height, hence called jumping fish, fall into these leafy traps, and are caught. Much of the men’s time is taken up by settling disputes among themselves or neighbours, which they call talking palavers, and of which they are so fond, that Africa, at the present day, may well deserve the title formerly given to it, Nutricula Causidicorum. When unoccupied by these employments they while away the hours in listless indolence, reclined upon mats, or sleeping in the shade. Indolence is, without doubt, a distinguishing feature in the character of Africans, as of all uncivilized nations. In their endeavours, however, to attain their favourite luxuries of tobacco and rum, no toil is thought too severe. Among the Foolas, however, and other nations beyond them, some progress has been made in forming distinct occupations or trades. One set of men, called garrankees or shoemakers, are exclusively employed in manufacturing leather, and converting it into a variety of useful articles, as sandals, quivers for arrows, bridles, saddles, &c. As soon as an animal is killed, they take off the skin and stretch it, with the hair downwards, upon the ground, where it is retained by wooden pegs until sufficiently dried by the sun: the hair is taken off by an infusion of the ashes of the plantain tree, or some other vegetable, in water. They afterwards tan the skins, by rubbing them with the hands in an infusion of the bark of the mangrove tree in water. By means of an infusion in water of a bark called tallee, they impart to the leather a red colour equal to that of morocco in beauty; and by steeping the leather in a watery infusion of a bark called sinnee, they obtain a beautiful shining black. Another class of men are equally celebrated as blacksmiths[97]: besides making every kind of necessary utensil, they inlay the handles and chase the blades of swords, &c. with great neatness, and they make a variety of elegant fancy ornaments for the women out of pieces of gold and silver dollars. A considerable degree of ingenuity in the arts with which they are acquainted must be allowed to all these nations, and is evident in the construction of their houses, and the formation of a variety of domestic and agricultural utensils with the rudest instruments. They form canoes, from a single tree, capable of carrying eight or ten tons[98]. Their mats shew much neatness and ingenuity; they are composed of split bamboo or grass, and wove into a great variety of patterns, and are stained with very beautiful and indelible colours. The red die is produced by boiling the slips of bamboo, &c. with chips of camwood: the black die is obtained by boiling the leaves of a tree called kiss kiss, which bears berries somewhat resembling grapes. They obtain a fine bright yellow die from the bark of a tree called by the Bulloms bongheea. The Bulloms make four different kinds of mats, which they distinguish by peculiar names. The first kind, which they call pelléss, is the smallest, and worked with many colours. The second kind is called bik, it is as fine as the former, and variegated in like manner, but is larger. The third kind is plain, and is called kobbo; it is of a straw colour, like the bamboo itself. The fourth is a large coarse kind, upon which they dry rice, &c. and is called wérrik. The writer of the Voyage au Pays de Bambouc says, that the rice straw in that country is so tall as to be “six pieds de hauteur au-dessus d’un homme à cheval;” with this, he observes, the natives thatch their huts, and make mats, which are eight feet in breadth, and thirty or thirty-five in length. They have various substitutes for hemp and flax, of which they make fishing lines and nets equal in strength and durability to those of Europeans. For this purpose the Bulloms and Timmanees use the green leaves of the young palm tree; the outer skin of these is peeled off and thrown away, the pulp is then separated from the fibres, by rubbing between the fingers until they remain perfectly white, after which they are dried in the sun. They also use for the same purposes a species of grass or flag, which grows in great abundance, and is called by the Bulloms ipperboh. The leaves are laid upon a board, and scraped with a thin piece of wood until freed from the pulp, and then dried in the sun. The nets made from this are neither so strong nor so durable as those made from the palm leaves, but they are much easier prepared. Upon the Gold Coast, the same produce is obtained from the ananas. The leaves of this plant are steeped for a few days in water, then dried, and afterwards beaten with wooden mallets until the fibrous part only remains, which is equal in fineness to flax, and of a whiter colour. Although they are ignorant of the use of the potter’s wheel, they make earthen pots fit for every domestic use. The Bulloms use a blue kind of clay. The pots are first baked in the sun, and afterwards burnt with grass or rice straw. While the vessel is still hot, a little gum copal finely powdered is thrown into it, and well rubbed on with a piece of cloth fastened to the end of a stick like a mop, which answers instead of glazing, and prevents the water passing through. In the river Gambia they make vessels for holding water of a beautiful red clay, so porous that the water, which is continually oozing, is kept cool by the evaporation. It may be doubted whether the Europeans have not had some merit in instructing the natives in this art, as a pot for drinking out of is called by the Bulloms, Timmanees, and Soosoos, pottee; the two former nations sometimes call it kenká and kannika. Upon the Gold Coast, the accuracy and dexterity of the people called _Goldtakers_, employed by Europeans to detect false gold, is wonderful. They also fuse the gold dust[99], and work it into buckles, buttons, and a great variety of trinkets. Bosman mentions the fine gold and silver hat-bands, which these people make, the thread and contexture of which are so fine that he adds, “I question whether our European artists would not be put to it to imitate them.” They raise upon most parts of the coast a sufficient quantity of cotton[100] for their own use, or with more propriety it may be said, in the words of Herodotus, they have trees _growing wild_, which, instead of fruit, bear wool, surpassing in beauty and goodness the wool of the sheep, and from these trees they procure their garments[101]. Virgil also notices the nemora Æthiopum molli canentia lana[102]. As they pay so little attention to the cultivation of this useful plant, which grows as common, and almost as much neglected as the thistle in England, it is generally of too short _a staple_, as it is termed in trade, to be worth exporting. They spin the cotton in a very tedious manner, by twirling a spindle, one end of which is loaded with clay, in a large shell or wooden dish, passing the thread between the finger and thumb of one hand. They dye the threads, which are very fine and even, several colours, which are both vivid and permanent, especially blue, of a kind equal or superior to the finest blues of Europe[103]. Upon the Gold Coast[104], this blue dye is obtained by infusing the leaves of a species of bignonia, and the root of a species of tabernæmontana, in a solution of the ashes of the palm nut in water; they are then allowed to stand a few days in the cold, and the dye is ready. Into this dye the cotton threads are dipped a few times; they are then dried and washed, and the process is complete. From this cotton they weave cloths of various degrees of fineness, and of a great variety of pleasing patterns. The looms resemble those used in England to weave shalloons, except in being much narrower: they are so simple that in fine weather they are brought out of doors, and placed under the shade of a tree, and in rainy weather are taken into the house. Four strong stakes, about four feet long, fixed in the ground, compose the frame of the loom; the comb or reed, which is not above six or eight inches broad, is supported by the warp, and is not fixed to the upper part of the frame as in England. The warp is not rolled upon a beam, but is stretched out at its full length, and kept extended by a large stone laid upon it; the shuttle is formed like a canoe[105]. The men are the weavers, and as the cloth is wove so very narrow, not more than six inches in breadth, seven such pieces, between four and five feet in length, must be joined to form a cloth for a woman; but they are so exact in the pattern, that at a small distance the junctures cannot be easily discovered. The common dress of the men among the Timmanees and Bulloms consists in a shirt, trowsers, and a woollen cap or hat, which they buy of Europeans. When at work in their plantations, they seldom wear more than a piece of cloth wrapped round the waist. Those who can afford it are fond of indulging their vanity in imitating the European mode of dress, and of displaying all the finery they can procure. They love to deck themselves in tawdry embroidered silk clothes, with a profusion of gold and silver tinsel, which often give to the wearers a very ludicrous appearance. The inhabitants of the Kroo Coast very seldom wear more than a piece of cloth, not larger than a handkerchief, wrapped round the loins, which, when rowing in their canoes, they take off, and fasten on the head to keep it dry[106]. The dress of the Foolas and Mahommedans in general is more decent and becoming: it consists of a large flowing robe, generally of white cotton, resembling a surplice, but sometimes composed of a blue kind of cotton called baft, imported from Europe. They wear very wide drawers, reaching a little below the knee, and as a piece of finery, a piece of red cloth is frequently patched upon them behind in the bend of the knee. The legs are always bare, but on their feet they wear sandals. They cover the head either with coarse red worsted caps, such as are worn by the lower classes of workmen in England, or they wear caps of blue or red cloth: some of the Foolas roll a cotton cloth round the bottom of the cap, which makes it resemble a turban, a dress which is very becoming, and adds much dignity to the wearer’s appearance. It is amusing to observe with what an air of conscious superiority and stateliness of gait a person shews himself in this dress, when surrounded by those who are more meanly attired. The dress of the pagan African is never thought complete unless a variety of gree-grees[107] or amulets be superadded; and as these are to guard against every possible accident, the wearer often appears much incumbered with the load, and when in real danger is sometimes glad to rid himself of them. The women, although fond of dress, and eager to display their charms to the best advantage, do not render themselves so ridiculous as the men, by aping European fashions. A large cotton cloth wrapped round the waist, and reaching to the ancles like a petticoat, constitutes the chief part of their dress; the arms and upper part of the body are left exposed, though sometimes to guard against cold, or perhaps rather to display a little finery, a second cloth or large handkerchief is carelessly thrown over the shoulders. Their heads and feet are always uncovered. M. Chenier observes, that the hat is common to men and women among the Moors who travel, and the custom of wearing it came from Africa to Europe. Many of them wear small bells attached to their ankles, and when dancing, iron rings are put round the legs, which being partly hollowed, and having small pellets within, produce a jingling noise. These probably resemble the “tinkling ornaments about their feet” worn by the Jewish ladies, for which they were reproved by the prophet Isaiah. This practice is forbidden in the Koran, where, speaking of the behaviour of women, it is said, “let them not make a noise with their feet, that their ornaments which they hide may _thereby_ be discovered,” ch. xxiv. _Sale’s Ed._—They are fond of ornaments, such as beads, coral, &c. which they wear in their ears, and round their neck, waist, and ankles. Those who can afford it, have likewise pieces of gold and silver round their necks, and upon their arms they wear large silver rings or bracelets, called manillas, to the number of eight or ten, or more, on each, which are not complete circles, a part being wanting for the convenience of putting the wrist into them. Women belonging to the great men have frequently more than the value of twenty guineas in trinkets upon their persons. The children go entirely naked until two or three years of age, but still they are not left without ornaments. The hair is neatly plaited, and a string of coral, beads, a dollar, or an English shilling, is hung round the neck, ankles, or wrists. Among the Bulloms of Sherbro, the most enviable and most esteemed ornament for a child is a leopard’s tooth hung to the wrist. This being a badge of freedom, cannot be worn by the child of a slave. From two or three years of age, until thirteen or fourteen, or even older, the only dress worn by girls is a piece of narrow cloth, three or four inches broad, called a tuntungee, somewhat like the T bandage of surgeons: this passes between the thighs, and over a string fastened round the waist, the ends of the cloth hanging down before and behind nearly as low as the feet. The dress of the boys is nearly the same as the girls, only the ends of the cloth do not hang loose. The tuntungee[108] distinguishes the girl from the married woman, and it is very common, when speaking of their husband, to say, that “he gave them a cloth,” to denote that he took them when girls. When mourning for the loss of relations, the dress of the women undergoes a very singular change; the cloth is again laid aside, and the tuntungee used; the head and face are so far covered with a white night cap, that the wearer can only see her feet, unless she throws her head very far back. To take off this cap would occasion a very serious palaver, which it would require some expence to settle, nor can it be taken off but by the head man of the village. A number of white cowries, of a large size, are hung round the neck in two or three rows, and in some parts it is the custom to whiten the legs with chalk as high as the knees, and also the face, and neck, and shoulders. Both men and women spend much time in having their hair plaited and braided, which is done in a great variety of fashions, and with singular neatness. Before the men go from home upon a journey, it is customary with them to spend several hours in having their hair dressed by the women; this is done with so much closeness and exactness as to retain its form for two or three weeks. The women also, in addition to their natural charms, call in the assistance of paint: the chief colours they make use of are blue, red, and white; the two latter are species of clays, which they find in abundance, but the former is generally Prussian blue, which they obtain from Europeans. These substances are first ground very smooth with a little water between two stones, and then applied to the forehead with the tips of the fingers, or by means of a small piece of stick cut like a pencil; with this they form squares, parallelograms, triangles, &c. according to the taste of the wearer. The business of the toilet is of sufficient importance to require the aid of a looking glass, and where this is wanting, which is seldom, recourse is had to that which nature has furnished, and a little water in a convenient vessel supplies its place. The women are remarkable for the attention they bestow upon the cleanliness of their persons; they wash several times a day, and to preserve the velvet smoothness and softness of their skins, they anoint themselves every day with the oil of the palm[109], which at the same time serves the purpose of checking excessive perspiration, and guarding against the effects of cold[110]. Ladies of rank frequently use the oil obtained from the tallow tree, which does not possess any peculiar smell like that of the palm, and is therefore preferred: with these oils also they generally mix a gummy substance, which possesses an agreeable musky odour. The peculiar smell complained of in the African, arises chiefly from the various substances which they mix in the oil they anoint themselves with to render it of a more agreeable smell[111]. Ear-rings are very generally worn by the natives in much the same way as in Europe, but in some parts, especially the Rio Pongas, it is the fashion to bore a number of holes in the outer circle of the ear, each of which is large enough to contain six or eight small rings: when in an undress these holes are filled up with pegs of wood. In the neighbourhood of this river also, the odious custom of bringing the fore or incisor teeth to a sharp point very generally prevails; it is practised by other nations likewise, especially upon the Gold Coast; the Bulloms and Timmanees practise the same, but less frequently. To do this, they place beneath the tooth a thin flat piece of iron; a sharp- edged knife is laid edgeways upon the upper surface of the tooth, and a pretty smart blow is given to it with a piece of wood, by which a part of the tooth is chipped off, this is repeated until the tooth is made perfectly sharp, in which consists the chief beauty. They do not complain of much pain from the operation, nor are they afterwards subject to any uneasy sensations in those teeth from drinking cold or hot liquors. The chief reason for this strange custom, is the idea they entertain of its being ornamental. They also assign another cause, which is, to allow a sufficient space for the teeth to grow in; but that there is no truth in this notion is proved by the fine and regular teeth which those people have who do not follow this practice. The Foolas, however, must be excepted, who destroy their teeth by the extreme care which they take to clean them[112]. This practice of pointing the teeth is followed both by men and women. The men frequently have marks (stigmata) made upon the forehead and temples, by means of needles, and rubbed over with gunpowder, or the juice of a fruit tree which leaves an indelible stain. The women also sometimes ornament their faces with these marks; but there is a species of tatowing, which is peculiar to the sex, called sora, or soccalla; it is used upon the back, breast, abdomen, and arms, forming a variety of figures upon the skin, which appears as if embossed. The figures intended to be represented are first drawn upon the skin with a small piece of stick dipped in wood ashes, after which the line is divided by a sharp pointed knife. The wound is then healed as quickly as possible, by washing it with an infusion of bullanta. This operation is not performed by a particular set of people, but is practised by any one who possesses sufficient skill to make the attempt. This custom has prevailed very generally among rude nations, and is of very great antiquity; it was in use to denote their grief and lamentation for the dead, and also implied that they had devoted themselves to the service of some particular idol, whose image they had impressed upon their bodies[113]. For this cause it is strictly forbidden in scripture. “Ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead;” and again, “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, not _print any marks upon you_[114].” Although the people who allow this custom do not attach to it any superstitious ideas, but practise it merely for ornament, yet it seems probable that the Mahommedan nations are influenced by this prohibition, and for the same reasons, as they say their book forbids them to practise it. These incisions or marks are generally made during childhood, and are very common on the Gold Coast, where each nation has its peculiar mode of ornamenting themselves, so that by the disposition of the marks it is easy to know which country the person belongs to: for the most part the females possess the greatest number of these painful ornaments. Circumcision is practised along the greatest part, or the whole, of the western coast of Africa, by the Hottentots and Caffres; and from its general use in those parts at present known, we may conclude that the practice pervades the whole of this great continent. [Footnote 97: The smithy of the blacksmith is not very complex in its construction. A small hemisphere, not unlike the upper part of a beehive in appearance, is formed of clay beat up with the fibrous part of the palm nut. This is fixed to the ground, and is solid, having only a small tubular passage leading through in a slanting direction. To the upper orifice is fixed the nozle of the bellows, and the air finds an exit by the lower one, which, like the entrance to a hive, is upon the ground, and close to it the fuel is placed; this always consists of charcoal made from the _red water tree_, the wood of which is so hard as almost to resist the blows of an ax. The bellows are composed of two circular boxes, from the bottom of each of which proceeds a wooden tube about a foot long; these tubes unite before they enter the clay tube. A piece of goat’s skin is fixed to the top of each box, which is left open. When the bellows are worked, the mouths of the goat’s skins are contracted by the hands, which are alternately raised and depressed; at the same time a half turn of the wrist admits or excludes the air, which is thus driven forward by a very regular blast. The anvil consists of a large smooth stone, or a flat piece of iron.] [Footnote 98: Piso speaks of trees in the Brazils, which, when formed into canoes, are capable of holding 150 men. The same is also said by Mr. Edwards, of trees in the West Indies.] [Footnote 99: The gold is generally procured by washing the sand of rivers or mountain streams after very heavy rains, which now become a “Pactolus with golden sands”; they very seldom dig below the surface, at least not many feet, nor are they so fortunate as to possess the ants mentioned by Herodotus, “rather smaller than dogs, but larger than foxes,” which are so filled with the “sacra auri fames” as to be constantly employed in digging this precious metal out of the bowels of the earth. The learned Busbequius, in his Travels into Turkey, speaking of the presents sent to the Sultan by the Sophi, mentions “some beasts of an unusual sort, as, an _Indian ant_, as big as an ordinary dog.”] [Footnote 100: Gossypium.] [Footnote 101: Herod. III. 106.] [Footnote 102: Georg. II. 120.] [Footnote 103: “The blue is so much more beautiful and permanent than that which is extracted from the same plant (indigo) in other parts, that many have been led to doubt whether the African cloths brought into this country were dyed with indigo or not.” Two or three of the balls which they use having been procured, were found to be “the leaves of indigo rolled up, and in a very simple state.” _Clarkson on the Impolicy of the Slave Trade._ There is now, however, no room to question that the blue dye most commonly used by the natives on the Windward Coast is not indigo, but is obtained from a very different plant. A few roots of it, I am informed, have been lately planted within the settlement, so that an accurate description of it may soon be hoped for. Mr. Park observes, that the women dye cloth “of a rich and lasting blue colour by the following simple process: the leaves of the indigo, when fresh gathered, are pounded in a wooden mortar, and mixed in a large earthen jar, with a strong ley of wood ashes; chamberley is sometimes added. The cloth is steeped in this mixture, and allowed to remain until it has acquired the proper shade.” “Where indigo is not plentiful, they collect the leaves, and dry them in the sun, and when they wish to use them, they reduce a sufficient quantity to powder, and mix it with the ley as before mentioned.” _Park’s Travels_, 281.] [Footnote 104: Isert. l.c.] [Footnote 105: Herodotus says, the loom was managed in Egypt by the men.] [Footnote 106: The natives round Sierra Leone, and those upon the coast, generally shave the upper lip and cheeks, sometimes leaving a tuft of hair upon the chin.] [Footnote 107: Gree-gree is a word of European introduction, adopted by the natives through complaisance. The Soosoos call them seb’-bay, the Bulloms call them ’nseb’bay, and the Timmanees using the same word, call them maseb’bay. Roemer derives the word feteesh from the Portuguese fides, but it more probably is derived from feiticeira, a witch, or feiticaria, witchcraft.] [Footnote 108: This is the Soosoo name; the Bulloms call it oorés; the Timmanees, ukkáta.] [Footnote 109: In order to render it of a proper consistence, it is mixed with goat’s suet, and melted over the fire, which takes away its high red colour, and makes it nearly white.] [Footnote 110: Notwithstanding their fondness for anointing the skin in health, they have no notion of using it as a remedy in sickness.] [Footnote 111: Juvenal seems to express his dislike to these perfumes of the Africans, when he says, Propter quod Romæ cum boccare nemo lavatur; Quod tutos etiam facit a serpentibus Afros[a]. A modern beau, perfumed with the most fashionable scents of the present day, might have proved perhaps equally offensive to his nostrils. The sense of smell seems to be as much under the tyrannic influence of caprice and fashion as any of the others; and those perfumes which have been thought exquisite in one age, have been considered as detestable by a succeeding one. This has been the case with musk, which now no longer retains in Europe its former celebrity; but the Mahommedans are taught by the Koran, that this odoriferous substance is to contribute to their sensual delights in paradise[b]. Good Mussulmen are there to be gratified, as a recompence for their abstinence in this world, with copious draughts of a delicious wine, preserved in vessels sealed with this fragrant substance. Paradise is said to be watered by a number of “springs and fountains, whose pebbles are rubies and emeralds, their earth of camphire, their beds of musk, and their sides of saffron.” _Sale’s Koran_[c]. The Mahommedans of Africa entertain nearly the same opinions, only they suppose that rum is the liquor with which they are to be solaced, probably because it is more familiar to them than wine. With regard to their favourite perfumes, though they are fond of the sweet scent of the orange flower, and other fragrant vegetables, yet the more powerful odour of “musk is still with them the favourite of the toilet.” It is probably owing to its being mentioned in the Koran, that musk is indebted for a part of the estimation in which it is held by eastern nations. A Persian poet describing the approach of his mistress, celebrates her musky fragrance, a compliment which, to an English ear, conveys rather an equivocal meaning, in the following translation by Sir William Jones[d]. Suavisne aura ex hortulo proveniens spirat? An moscho onusta caterva ex via Khoteni redit? Another poet of the same nation celebrating the charms of a beautiful maid, adds, “Nullum esse moscho odorem, si illum olfacimus, præter odorem hujus puellæ.”] [Footnote a: Sat. v. 90.] [Footnote b: Ouseley’s Persian Miscellany.] [Footnote c: Ils boiront d’un vin exquis & scellè, Le cachet sera de musc. KORAN, c. 83.] [Footnote d: Poeseos Asiaticæ Comment.] [Footnote 112: There is an observation of Professor Campers, which, though it rather contradicts his opinion, may appear to place this notion in a less ridiculous point of view. “The irregular position of the teeth, he observes, among the northern nations, depends upon the small space which the two inferior canine teeth leave; they push as it were the incisors out of their places, because the inhabitants of the north have narrower jaws than the more southern nations, and even still narrower than the Africans and Asiatics.”] [Footnote 113: Herodotus informs us, that the Thracians considered it as a mark of honour to have the skin marked with punctures, and to want them was accounted dishonourable. v. 6. Abbè Raynal gives a very curious, though unsubstantial, reason for the origin of this custom: “Un des inconvenientes de cette couleur noire, image de la nuit, qui confond tous les objets, c’est que’lle a, en quelque sorte, obligé ces peuples à se cizeler le visage & la poitrine, a marqueter leur peau de diverses couleurs, pour se reconnoitre de loin.”] [Footnote 114: Levit. xiv. 1. xix. 28.] CHAP. VII. AMUSEMENTS. SINGING AND DANCING. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. RIDING. MAHOMMEDAN LITERATURE. GAMES OF CHANCE. NEGRO TALES. SALUTATION. AMONG the chief amusements of the Bulloms and Timmanees must be reckoned singing and dancing, in both which accomplishments they so much excel, as to excite a degree of jealousy in their northern neighbours. Among the Foolas there is a set of people called singing men, who, like the ancient bards, travel about the country singing the praises of those who chuse to purchase renown, or venting their sarcasms upon such as have offended them. In the towns of the Bulloms there is frequently a person who professes this art; he is called kárramukko, or _the master_, and composes songs for the inhabitants, into which he introduces any remarkable event which has lately happened in the country. These diversions they practise every moonlight night, and such is their fondness for them, that a great part of the night is often spent in the most violent exertions[115]. Hanno, in his Periplus, gives an account of this custom among the Africans, which exactly corresponds with their present practice. “Having come to a large bay, called the Western Horn; in this,” he observes, “was a large island, and in the island a salt water lake, and in this another island, where, when we had landed, we could discover nothing in the day time except trees; but in the night we saw many fires burning, and heard the sound of pipes, cymbals, drums, and confused shouts. We were then afraid, and our diviners ordered us to abandon the island.” Pliny also takes notice of these customs on the coast of Africa, in speaking of the neighbourhood of Mount Atlas: “Incolarum neminem interdiu cerni: silere omnia, haud alio, quam solitudinum horrore: subire tacitam religionem animos propius accedentium, præterque horrorem elati (montis Atlantis) super nubila, atque in viciniam lunaris circuli. Eundem noctibus micare crebris ignibus, Ægipanum Satyrorumque lascivia impleri, tibiarum ac fistulæ cantu, _tympanorumque_ & _cymbalorum_ sonitu strepere.” These descriptions though they appear dressed in the garb of fiction, are perfectly reconcileable with truth, and clearly evince that the lapse of so many intervening ages has not produced any material change in the customs of the natives of this country. During the heat of the day, an African village is often nearly deserted by its inhabitants. At a certain part of the year, the men and young people of both sexes are in the day time at work in their plantations, which probably was the case when Hanno visited the coast: those who remain at home are overwhelmed in the lethargy of sleep; or, oppressed by the enervating heat, pursue their occupations in the shade, in languid silence. No sooner, however, does the departing sun permit the air to cool, than fresh vigour seems to animate each breast, and the village resounds with the tumult of loud mirth. About the same time the young people return to enjoy, after the fatigue of the day, their evening repast: then, “welcome joy and feast, midnight shout and revelry.” The surrounding woods, in which the village is embosomed, soon re-echo with the sound of drums, and shouts joined with the “clam’rous cymbals shrill toned bells,” which are heard at a prodigious distance. No wonder then that the imagination of strangers, just landed upon an unknown coast, aided by the power of superstition, should attribute these uncouth noises to invisible spirits, and they might justly say, Hæc loca capripedes satyros nymphasque tenere, (_Finitimi fingunt_), & Faunos esse loquuntur; Quorum noctivago strepitu, ludoque jocanti Adfirmant volgo taciturna silentia rumpi. LUCR. iv. 584. The fatigue of dancing may appear incompatible with that state of indolence in which these people universally love to indulge: but even indolence, that fruitful source of ennui, requires some respite; and to avoid the languor and listlessness arising from sloth too far indulged, which is more insupportable than continued bodily labour, the mind is gratified in being roused by an amusement in which it participates without fatigue to itself. This reason, perhaps, gave origin to so frivolous an amusement as that of dancing, one which modern times, probably from similar causes, find it convenient to retain. Music, if we may apply the name to sounds distinguished rather by their obstreperousness than by their harmony, is seldom listened to alone, but is generally used as an accompaniment to the dance. Drums are their most common instruments, and are of various kinds; some of these are six feet in length, and are composed of the trunk of a large tree hollowed, and covered at both ends with a sheep or goat’s skin, upon which they beat with a stick somewhat resembling a hammer. Another kind of drum, called eekilling, consists of the trunk of a tree hollowed out, but having both ends closed with wood, and in the side a longitudinal slit, upon which they beat alternately with two sticks: it emits a lugubrious sound, which is heard at a great distance. They have also a smaller kind of drum, about two feet long, hollow at both ends, and covered with skins, but contracted in the middle like an hour glass. This is carried under the left arm, when walking, and is beaten upon with a stick; it probably was intended, in passing through the woods, to frighten snakes and wild beasts from the path; and this accounts also for the small bells, and other tinkling ornaments, which the natives are fond of wearing. Upon the Gold Coast they make a kind of drum by covering a large calibash with a skin; this is hung round the neck, and beat upon with the flat hand[116]. When rowing in canoes also, they generally sing during the whole time, and one of the passengers accompanies the song with a small drum. One of the rowers sings a couplet, somewhat in a recitative voice, which is closed by a chorus in which they all join. When there are several rowers the couplet is repeated by a second person, and concluded by a general chorus. The subject of the song is either a description of some love intrigue, the praise of some woman celebrated for her beauty, &c. or it is of a satirical cast, lashing the vices of the neighbouring _head men_, or lampooning the females in general. They are commonly impromptu, seldom the result of much study, and frequently describe the passengers in a strain either of praise or of the most pointed ridicule. Besides the above, they have the banja or merrywang, as it is called in the West Indies, and the Dundo. “The first is an imperfect kind of violoncello, except that it is played on by the finger like the guitar; producing a dismal monotony of four notes. The dundo is precisely a tabor[117].” The tusks of young elephants, called scrivellas, are hollowed and made into a kind of flute with stops, which emit a very shrill sound. Upon the Gold Coast, these are used like bugle horns, to convey the orders of the general in the time of an engagement, and so skilful are they, that if any part of the army appears to give ground, the general, by ordering his trumpeter to blow a particular note[118], which is immediately understood, generally succeeds in imparting fresh courage, and in restoring them to order. Besides the tabor or tamborine, which Europeans have borrowed from the Africans, they have also taken from them another instrument, frequently used in the British army, called a triangle, which is a piece of iron of that form beat upon by a rod of the same metal, and used with the drum. These sounds, though extremely harsh for the most part, and rendered still more so by the shouting and clapping of hands, with which they are accompanied, yet when softened by distance, and heard in a serene moonlight night, in the midst of a thick wood, where a deep silence reigns, their monotony ceases to offend, and a pleasing effect is produced by them. The Foolas, and indeed all the Mahommedans, are of a more serious disposition, and affect to hold dancing[119], and such like trifling amusements, in the greatest contempt. Riding on horseback[120] is their favourite and almost only exercise. Sedentary amusements, as reading and writing, which flatter the literary pride, with which they are greatly puffed up, are most congenial to their minds: collating manuscripts, which they perform with much accuracy and industry, takes up likewise much of their time. The fondness for praising times which are past, appears to be a passion inherent in the human breast, and the epithet, Laudator temporis acti, is as much applicable to the Foolas at this day, as it was to the Romans in the time of Horace. The king of Labby told our travellers, that knowledge was in a declining state among them, adding, that their ancestors were much wiser one hundred years ago than the present generation, though he did not give any good reasons to substantiate this opinion[121]. The Timmanees and Bulloms have moreover a variety of games which they practise with great pleasure, and take vast interest in, even when they are playing for amusement, and not for any stake of value. One of the games which they play at is called k’yungee poo, or the game of bamboos. For this purpose a square is traced upon the ground, in the centre of which, at the corners, and in the middle of each side, a hole is formed. Two lines are drawn through the centre, which intersect each other, and pass through and beyond the lateral holes: at each of their extremities a hole or town, as they call it, is placed, which makes the number of towns amount to thirteen. Each player has eleven pieces of bamboo, which are distinguished by one set being longer than the other. In order to play, a bamboo is put into one of the corner towns, and as the _moves_ are alternate, the other party does the same at the opposite corner. The first bamboo is then moved to one of the lateral towns, in order to allow others to be introduced. It may at the next move be placed in the centre, end town, &c. The bamboos may be moved forwards or backwards at pleasure, but they must rest at the first town they meet _in the path_, and not pass it for another. If one party be in a town at the extremity of a line, or in the centre, and the other be in the middle (or side town) having the town behind it unguarded, the opponent may step over into the unoccupied town, and thus take a man as at draughts. The players may introduce as many bamboos upon the board as they chuse, but seldom above four or five are brought forward at once, and these can only be introduced at the corner town, which each occupied at first. This game does not appear to admit of such variety, nor is it so generally practised as the following, which is called k’yungee-bel, or the game of palm nuts. To play at this, they have a board about two feet in length, sharp pointed at each end, and placed for convenience upon a stand. There are fourteen shallow round holes formed in it, six of which are on each side, and opposite to each other; these they call towns. The two other holes are placed one at each end, for the players to deposit the counters which they win. Each player has twenty-four palm nuts or counters, four of which he places in each town on that side of the board which he keeps to himself. The game consists in moving these palm nuts all round the board from left to right, but so that the whole number contained in any one town must be taken up and deposited one by one in the following right hand towns, as far as they will reach. If the last palm nut falls into one of the adversary’s towns, which contain but one or two counters, they are taken up and placed in the depot; but if there be already three in the town, as the addition of another nut forms a complete set, they cannot be taken, but remain there without doing good to either party. Thus, if in the furthest town towards the left hand, there happen to be eight palm nuts, the player may take them up, and leaving this town empty, he deposits a counter in each of his own towns in succession towards the right, in addition to those they already contain; the remainder are deposited singly in the three first towns of his adversary. If in the town in which the _last_ palm nut is placed there be only one or two counters, he not only takes them, but also those in the first and second town, provided with his addition the number of counters contained amount only to three in each, but this wholly depends upon the last palm nut. In this manner the game proceeds, until one party has won as many counters as he began with, which decides the game in his favour. Simple as this game may appear, it is sufficiently interesting to employ their whole attention, and is pursued with equal avidity by the boys and girls, by matrons and infirm old men. [Illustration] Upon these occasions, a number of people collect around the players, mutually assisting them with their advice, and appearing highly gratified with their success. These games being forbidden by the Koran, are seldom or never practised by the Mahommedans[122]. The boys have also their peculiar sports: at the game called wur’n keur, or throwing of shells, four boys play, each of whom has nine shells. A circle is made on the ground, and four lines are drawn at right angles to each other, on the outside of the circle, but touching the circumference thus, [Illustration] The boys squat down upon the ground, each in the midst of his own quarter. The two which sit opposite then throw their shells, which they endeavour to make strike against each other, and afterwards attempt to catch them. If the shells chance to fall within the circle, a general scramble ensues, each striving to catch for himself; but if they fall into one of the divisions belonging to any of the players they become his property. In this manner they proceed, until two of the party have won so many shells as to decide the game. Another game of shells is played by only two boys, in the following manner: twelve shells are placed upon the ground, about a foot apart, and at the distance of twelve feet a similar row is formed opposite the former. One of the players begins by throwing a shell at the line of his antagonist; if he miss, his shell is retained, and the other throws. If the latter strike a shell, it is given to him, and his own is also returned. He now has two shells to throw, and as often as he hits his adversary’s shells they are given to him, together with his own, which entitle him to an equal number of throws. The game proceeds thus, until one side is reduced to a single _man_. This last resource becomes now dignified with the title of king, and it must be hit three times successively before the game can be won. Another favourite diversion, which requires both activity and address, is whipping tops. The inside of a gourd is scooped out through a small hole formed in the side, and a round piece of wood, about three inches long, is fixed to the bottom. To play at this they have a piece of cord fastened to the end of a stick, like a whip; the cord is wrapped round the wooden peg, and the top is thrown into the air so as to give it a rotatory motion. This is continued by constantly whipping it, and thus some are able to keep the top suspended in the air for two or three hours, emitting a sound which may be heard at a considerable distance. The young men are universally fond of giving proofs of their great agility; and many of them are extremely expert in vaulting, tumbling, and performing a variety of somersets, &c. The natives round Sierra Leone are fond of inventing little histories or fables, in relating which they often spend a great part of the night; in these, animals are usually the dramatis personæ; the stratagems of the leopard and alligator are occasionally introduced, and form as brilliant a part as those of the fox in the fables of Æsop. The two following stories may serve as specimens of their mode of relating them: an elephant and a goat had once a dispute, which could eat most, and in order to decide it, they went into a meadow as “big as from here to white man’s country.” After having eaten some time, the goat lay down upon a rock to chew the cud; “What are you doing,” said the elephant to him? “I am eating this rock,” replied the goat, “and when I have done, I will eat you.” The elephant, terrified at this unexpected threat, betook himself to flight, and _since that time has never dared to enter a town in which there is a goat_. A man and his wife were travelling through a thick wood, and carried with them their spoiled and froward child. Seeing a gourd lying near the path, the child cried for it, and the father took it up, and pursued his journey. Soon afterwards one of those spirits called min, to whom the gourd belonged, awaking from his sleep, and being thirsty, seeks for his gourd bottle. Not finding it, he sings a couplet, which he repeats once or twice in a plaintive tone of voice, “Where are you, my gourd? Why have you gone away, and left me thus alone?” In answer to this, the gourd instantly replies in the same tone, “I have not run away from you, oh Min, but have been carried off against my will.” The man, alarmed at this strange occurrence, throws down the gourd, and, with his wife and child, endeavours to escape by flight. Min, pursuing the direction of the sound, arrives at the spot, and takes up his gourd. Provoked at the theft, he resolves to find the culprit, and sings as before. “Where is the wretch who stole my gourd? I’ll wreak my vengeance on his guilty head.” The child then accuses itself, and is dropped by the father and mother, who pursue their flight in the most agonizing state of distress. Min soon reaches the place, and destroys the child, but persists in his intention of knowing the offender; hereupon the woman accuses herself, and is stabbed by the man in a fit of despair. Min, whose revenge is not yet glutted, on finding the body, repeats his demand, and the man is obliged to confess himself guilty. He attempts, however, to elude the search of his dreadful adversary, by concealing himself in the bushes, but is soon discovered, and sacrificed to the resentment of Min. The moral which they draw from this story is, that children ought not to have every thing given to them which they cry for, as it may not only cause their own destruction, but that also of those most intimately connected with them. These questions and answers being formed into stanzas and sung, contribute much to relieve the tediousness of the narration. M. Adanson also speaks of the amusement which he received “from the fables, dialogues, and witty stories with which the negroes entertained each other alternately, according to their custom.” In saluting each other there is a great appearance of friendship and cordiality, the palms of the right hands are laid upon each other, and drawn downwards to the extremities of the fingers, which are snapped. To offer the left hand would be considered as an unpardonable insult; the right hand only is used to eat with, the left being reserved for less honourable purposes[123]. The Mahommedan nations salute each other by saying, Salám alaikum, “Peace be between us:” which is returned by Alaikum salama, “There is peace between us.” This is the most natural, and probably the most ancient form of salutation, and, no doubt, originated in the apprehension of danger. It is the mode used in scripture; Jacob enquiring after Laban’s welfare and health, says, “Is there peace to him?” Among the Soosoos, even the wives of a great man, when speaking to him, bend their bodies, and place one hand upon each knee; this is done also when passing by. The common people generally squat down upon the ground before the great man, until they catch his eye, when they open their business. A custom prevails upon this part of the coast, which resembles the ancient practice of pouring out a libation; they seldom or never drink spirits, wine, &c. without spilling a little of it upon the ground, and wetting the gree-gree, or fetish, hung round their neck: at the same time they mutter a kind of short prayer. [Footnote 115: Their dances are not calculated to display elegance of movement; the men plume themselves upon their activity, and make the most laboured exertions. The women are slow, and affect in the dance a degree of bashful prudery. Sometimes they all move round in a large circle, singing and clapping hands in exact unison, at other times one or more trip lightly into the centre of the dance, and after performing a few steps resume their former places. The Bulloms of Sherbro, besides the sandee, or public dancing girls, have itinerant dancing masters. These are dressed in the most extravagant and ludicrous manner; upon their heads they have a fabric of bamboo, the size of a buck basket, and adorned with feathers. They wear a kind of petticoat of grass, and have upon their legs a number of iron rings, which make a jingling noise whenever the wearer moves. When one of these men comes to a town, the young women assemble, and form a ring, inclosing the dancing master. His mode of dancing consists in throwing himself into a variety of the most fatiguing attitudes, which he continues, though exposed to the rays of a scorching sun, until rivulets of perspiration flow down his body, and he appears exhausted with fatigue. Sometimes he sings in a loud and shrill voice, the women occasionally joining in the chorus, and clapping hands all at the same instant.] [Footnote 116: Tympana tenta tonant palmis, & _cymbala_ circum Concava, raucisonoque minantur cornua cantu. LUCRET. ii. 618.] [Footnote 117: Edwards’s History of the West Indies.] [Footnote 118: Isert.] [Footnote 119: Notwithstanding this contempt of the Foolas for dancing, it used formerly to be occasionally practised among them, particularly after completing their rice harvests. But during the reign of the late king’s father, an insurrection of the slaves having taken place, whilst their masters were busy dancing, the custom was abolished. Since that period, no person has ventured to dance in the king’s presence, or even in the capital; but when at a distance in the country, dancing is sometimes practised, though probably only by the lower order of people.] [Footnote 120: Their horses are of the Arabian breed, and very swift; they are seldom above twelve hands high, are very well formed, and tolerably strong and spirited. They generally walk or gallop, and stop at full speed. Their saddles are peeked in the Turkish fashion, and are very heavy and inconvenient. The stirrups very much resemble a small fire shovel, and consist of a flat piece of iron the length of the foot, raised at the sides, and suspended to the saddle by small leathern thongs fixed to an iron bow crossing the middle of the stirrup. The bridle is still more inconvenient. The bit consists of a triangular piece of iron, which lies flat in the horse’s mouth so long as the rein is slack, but the slightest check causes the sharp point to run into the roof of the horse’s mouth, which renders him very tender mouthed, and apt to rear. Notwithstanding the Foola country is mountainous, and the roads very rough, they never shoe their horses.] [Footnote 121: The Mahommedan literati display the extent of their acquirements to the eyes of the vulgar by the following devices. When a man thinks himself capable of answering a respectable number of theological questions, he allows the ends of his turban to hang down on one side of his head. When he becomes still more learned, he allows both ends of the turban to hang down, one on each side of the head; a higher degree of learning is denoted by one end of the turban being passed under his chin, and fastened on the crown of the head; but the highest degree, or that which supposes him able to solve every question that can be proposed, is indicated by both ends of the turban being passed under the chin, and fastened on the crown of the head.] [Footnote 122: “They will ask thee concerning wine, and games of chance; say unto them, they are criminal, and more fatal than useful.” _Koran_, ch. ii.] [Footnote 123: Niebuhr says of the Arabs, “Qu’ils ne mangent qu’avec la main droite, parceque la gauche leur sert à s’èssuyer & se laver le corps.” The Timmanees call the right hand kitta-kadde’a, or eating hand; the Soosoos call it béllikay fang-ee, or good hand.] CHAP. VIII. GOVERNMENT. ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. ORDEALS. RED WATER. DIVINATION. THE PURRAH. THE government in Africa is in general monarchical, at least in name; for it must be acknowledged that in most cases the power of the aristocracy considerably overbalances that of the king, whose office is not hereditary, except, perhaps, in the Foola kingdom; and even there the rights of primogeniture are not much attended to, unless other circumstances give weight to the succession. Among the Timmanees and Bulloms, the crown remains in the same family, but the chief or head men of the country upon, whom the election of a king depends, are at liberty to nominate a very distant branch of that family, should they think proper to do so. Indeed the honour of reigning, so much coveted in Europe, is very frequently rejected in Africa, on account of the expence attached to it, which sometimes greatly exceeds the revenues of the crown. The title of king, it must be confessed, is often too indiscriminately used. Europeans are apt to apply it even to such as enjoy little or no authority, except over the village in which they dwell; and many are called king, who do not possess above half a dozen small towns or villages. Each town is generally under the jurisdiction of some elderly person, distinguished for his good sense and acquaintance with the laws of the country, who is called the _head man_[124]; he settles every dispute which may happen among the inhabitants, and acts on their behalf in any meeting of the heads of the country where the general interest is debated upon. They pay him such implicit obedience on every occasion, that it may justly be said, “their law his eye, their oracle his tongue.” The veneration with which these old men are regarded by their family and immediate dependants, their respectable appearance, rendered still more striking by their hoary heads and venerable white beards[125] present to our minds a lively picture of the patriarchal age. The whole village indeed looks to him as a father, and they universally give him that title. To this cause it is probably owing that the Africans have been accused of selling their own children. The truth in this case can only be discovered by asking in the plainest manner, if the person whom they call father _made them_. A parent indeed has been frequently known to leave his child as a pledge for a debt he has contracted, but this is generally, if not always, done in the expectation of being able to redeem it in proper time. Bosman, who, though an author of much credit, does not appear willing to relate any thing which can militate against the traffic he was engaged in, yet says on this subject, “Not a few in our country fondly imagine that parents here sell their children, men their wives, and one brother the other. But those who think so deceive themselves; for this never happens on any other account but that of necessity, or some great crime.” Instances, however, have occurred within my knowledge, of Europeans residing in Africa, for some trifling offence, real or pretended, selling for slaves women with whom they had long cohabited, and by whom they had children. The head men are generally accountable, in case of mal-administration, to some superior under whom they act as deputy, or to an assembly of all the neighbouring chiefs. Their domestics are in general treated by them with great humanity, and it is not uncommon to see the heir apparent of a head man sitting down to eat with the meanest of his father’s people, and in nowise distinguished from them by his dress. This is more especially the case among the Timmanees and Bulloms. No one can be sold as a slave, except such as have been first bought, without having some crime imputed, and being condemned by a public trial or palaver. The property of masters in the children of their slaves is very much circumscribed, and the power of selling them without a palaver is taken away by the custom of Africa. Those cases in which the life or liberty of the accused are endangered, may be referred to three principal heads; which, to use the African mode of expressing them, are termed, sauce palaver, where impertinent language, “or cursing,” has been used to a superior; witch palaver; and woman palaver, or adultery[126]. The African law authorises the creditor to sieze the goods or person of his debtor, or even the goods or person of any one belonging to the debtor’s town, without a palaver. If he has no opportunity of doing this, he pursues the plan of calling his debtor to a palaver. The former, however, is the more customary mode. The creditor catches, as it is called, (that is, seizes some one belonging to the same town, or family, with the debtor) on which the debtor endeavours to procure a palaver to adjust the matter; if not, the persons seized may be sold as slaves. Criminal causes are tried by a public palaver, or assembly of the head men of the country, and slavery is the usual punishment; a circumstance which holds out a strong temptation to prefer false accusations, particularly as the African mode of trial furnishes convenient means of promoting purposes of avarice and oppression. In all cases where crimes are alledged, the accused, if he deny the charge, is obliged to prove his innocence by submitting to a certain ordeal[127], which varies according to the nature of the complaint: either a hot iron is applied to the culprit’s skin; or he must slip his arm into a vessel full of boiling palm oil, and take from thence a snake’s head, a ring, or some other article which has been put in for the purpose. In either case, his being burnt is considered as a sufficient proof of his guilt. “Sometimes the priest strokes the prisoner three times over the tongue with a red hot copper arm ring,” which, if it produces no effect, proves his innocency. Bosman saw this kind of trial practised, but unfortunately it condemned the culprit. Upon the Gold Coast, the ordeal consists in chewing the bark of a tree, with a prayer that it may cause his death, if he be not innocent. In the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, the most usual mode of trial resembles that by bitter water, formerly in use among the Jews, and is called _red water_ by the Africans. A person accused of theft or of witchcraft endeavours, if innocent, to repel the charge by drinking red water. A palaver is first held among the old people of the town, to whom the accusation is made by one party, and protestations of innocence by the other; and if they determine that it shall be settled by a public trial, the accused fixes on some neighbouring town, to which he repairs, and informs the head man of his wish to drink red water there. A palaver is again held to determine whether his request shall be granted; if not, he must seek some other town. In case of the head man’s acquiescence, the accused remains in the town concealed from strangers, sometimes for two or three months, before the day of trial is appointed. When that is fixed, notice is sent to the accuser three days before, that he may attend with as many of his friends as he chuses. The red water is prepared by infusing the bark of a tree, called by the Bulloms kwon, by the Timmanees okwon, and by the Soosoos millee[128], in water, to which it imparts a powerfully emetic, and sometimes a purgative quality. In some instances it has proved immediately fatal, which leads to a suspicion that occasionally some other addition must be made to it, especially as it does not appear that the delicate are more liable to be thus violently affected by it than the robust. To prevent, however, any suspicion of improper conduct, the red water is always administered in the most public manner, in the open air, and in the midst of a large concourse of people, who upon these solemn occasions never fail to assemble from all quarters, particularly the women, to whom it affords as good an opportunity of displaying their finery and taste in dress, as a country wake in England does to the neighbouring females. The accused is placed upon a kind of stool about three feet high, one hand being held up and the other placed upon his thigh, and beneath the seat are spread a number of fresh plantain leaves. A circle of about seven or eight feet in diameter is formed round the prisoner, and no one is admitted within it but the person who prepares the red water. The bark is publicly exposed, to shew that it is genuine. The operator first washes his own hands and then the bark, as well as the mortar and pestle with which it is to be powdered, to prove that nothing improper is concealed there. When powdered, a calibash full is mixed in a large brass pan full of water, and is stirred quickly with a kind of whisk until covered with a froth like a lather of soap. A variety of ceremonies, prayers, &c. are performed at the same time, and the accused is repeatedly and solemnly desired to confess the crime with which he has been charged. A little before he begins to drink the infusion, he is obliged to wash his mouth and spit the water out, to shew that he has nothing concealed in it: a little rice or a piece of kola is then given him to eat, being the only substance he is allowed to take for twelve hours previous to the trial; and, in order to prevent his obtaining any thing else, he is narrowly watched during that space of time by a number of people, who are responsible for his conduct. After having repeated a prayer dictated to him, which contains an imprecation upon himself if he be guilty, the red water is administered to him in a calibash capable of holding about half a pint, which he empties eight, ten, or a dozen times successively, as quick as it can be filled. It probably now begins to exert its emetic powers, but he must notwithstanding persist in drinking until the rice or kola be brought up, which is easily seen upon the plantain leaves spread below. Should vomiting not be caused, and the medicine produce purgative effects, the person is condemned immediately; or if it be suspected that the whole of what he has eaten is not brought up, he is permitted to retire, but with this reserve, that if the medicine shall produce no effect upon his bowels until next day at the same hour, he is then, and not before, pronounced innocent; otherwise he is accounted guilty. When the red water proves purgative, it is termed “spoiling the red water.” The utmost quantity which may be swallowed is sixteen calibashes full; if these have not the desired effect, the prisoner is not allowed to take any more. When neither vomiting nor purging are produced, the red water causes violent pains in the bowels, which are considered as marks of guilt: in such cases they endeavour to recover the patient by exciting vomiting; and to sheathe the acrimony of the red water they give him raw eggs to swallow. In some instances the person has died after drinking the fourth calibash. If the rice or kola be long in coming up, it is common for some of the culprit’s friends to come near, and accuse him with great violence of some trifling fault; for they suppose, if any thing prejudicial to his character were concealed, it would prevent the favourable operation of the red water. Women at such a time, when the trial is for witchcraft or some other crime and not for adultery, have an excellent opportunity of proving their chastity before the world, by publicly declaring that they have proved faithful to their husband, and wishing that they may be punished if they have spoken falsely: this is looked upon as a most irrefragable proof of fidelity. When the accused is permitted to leave the tripod upon which he is seated, he is ordered to move his arms and legs, to shew that he has not lost the use of them, and immediately runs back into the town, followed by all the women and boys shouting and hallooing. People who have undergone this trial and have escaped, acquire from that circumstance additional consequence and respect. When acquitted, they dress, particularly the women, in their best clothes, and visit all their friends and acquaintances, who receive them with many tokens of affection and regard. When the accused dies upon the spot, which frequently happens; or when the red water _is spoiled_, and the party is too old to sell; one of his family, unless he can redeem himself by a slave, is taken and sold. Sometimes, for want of a proper opportunity, the affair remains unsettled for many years, and I knew an instance of a young man having actually been sold for a slave, because his _grand-mother_ had spoiled red water many years before he was born. The Africans are strongly impressed with that absurd propensity so inherent in the human breast, the desire of penetrating into the secrets of futurity. They practise various contrivances for gratifying it, but the most general and infallible method is by geomancy, or, as they term it, “casting the sand,” which is reduced among them to a science. This practice is resorted to in a variety of cases, as in a dangerous illness, to discover whether the person will live or die; or in cases of witchcraft, to discover the town in which the witch resides. The answers thus obtained, never descend to minute particulars, but, like the oracles of old, are very general, and usually wrapped up in obscurity. The method pursued is as follows: the diviner takes a goat’s skin upon which is spread very smoothly a quantity of fine dry sand, and mutters to himself certain words which express the object of his inquiries. He then shuts his eyes, and with the three first fingers of the right hand makes a variety of dots and lines, which are afterwards to be decyphered. This practice is undoubtedly of great antiquity, and it seems not improbable that the _Babylonios numeros_ of Horace, or those of Thrasyllus noticed by Juvenal, allude rather to this simple and easy method of divination than to the complex and operose mode of calculating by the stars[129]. They practise another mode of divination, called by the Bulloms ooló káberray, and by the Timmanees katuppus katik’barra, or “casting palm nuts.” This is performed by placing a number of palm nuts in small heaps, of two, three, four, or five nuts, in a square form, upon a goat’s skin: each side of the square is formed by three of these heaps, and one is placed in the centre. By shifting these in a particular manner, they imagine they gain an answer to the question proposed. This mode, as well as that of casting the sand, is generally performed by blind men, otherwise the eyes are closed. Casting the palm nuts is most frequently resorted to in trifling cases, the fee being sometimes only a fowl or a few kola, whereas for casting the sand the premium is expected to be at least a bar, equal in value to about three shillings and four- pence. The Bulloms of Sherbro have an institution peculiar to themselves called purra, which is partly of a religious, but chiefly of a political nature. It resembles free-masonry in excluding females, and in obliging every member by a solemn oath, which I believe is seldom violated, not to divulge the sacred mysteries, and to yield a prompt and implicit obedience to every order of their superiors. Boys of seven or eight years of age are admitted, or rather serve a novitiate until they arrive at a proper age; for it is difficult to procure exact information, and even somewhat dangerous to make many inquiries. Every person on entering the society lays aside his former name and assumes a new one; to call him by his old name would produce a dispute. They have a superior, or _head purra man_, assisted by a grand council, whose commands are received with the most profound reverence and absolute submission, both by the subordinate councils and by individuals. Their meetings are held in the most retired spots, amid the gloom of night, and carried on with inquisitorial secrecy. When the purra comes into a town, which is always at night, it is accompanied with the most dreadful howlings, screams, and other horrid noises. The inhabitants, who are not members of the society, are obliged to secure themselves within doors; should any one be discovered without, or attempting to peep at what is going forward, he would inevitably be put to death. To restrain the curiosity of the females, they are ordered to continue within doors, clapping their hands incessantly, so long as the purra remains. Like the secret tribunal, which formerly existed in Germany, it takes cognizance of offences, particularly of witchcraft and murder, but above all of contumacy and disobedience in any of its own members, and punishes the guilty with death in so secret and sudden a manner, that the perpetrators are never known: indeed, such is the dread created by this institution, that they are never even inquired after. It is sometimes employed in putting a stop to wars between neighbouring nations, who are threatened, in case they will not desist from hostilities, with the vengeance of the purra; and also in composing family feuds. No one is admitted into this institution until such of his friends as already belong to it bind themselves by an oath to put him to death should he betray the secrets of the confederacy, or draw back during the progress of his initiation. In every district comprised within the limits of this association, there is a grove set apart for the use of the purra, to which the candidate is brought, and where he is obliged to remain until fully initiated. Should any one, led by indiscreet curiosity, or even by ignorance, attempt to penetrate into this place, he would be sacrificed without the smallest hesitation, and would never more be heard of. The purra is chiefly confined to the vicinity of the Sherbro, and does not extend to the north of Sierra Leone, nor even to Sierra Leone itself. The natives of that river view it with great horror, and never speak of it but with evident marks of apprehension: they believe that all the purra men have constant intercourse with demons who are subject to their orders. The late Mr. Cleveland introduced the purra at the Bananas. There is an institution among the Soosoos called semo, which adds considerably to the importance of those who are initiated into it. With respect to the secrecy wherewith it is observed, it bears some resemblance to the purra: the natives who speak English call it African masonry. As the whole ceremonies are kept very private, it is difficult to discover in what they consist: but it is said that the novices are met in the woods by the old men, who cut marks on several parts of their bodies, but most commonly on the belly; they are also taught a language peculiar to the semo, and swear dreadful oaths never to divulge the secrets revealed to them. The young men are then made to live in the woods for twelve months, and are supposed to be at liberty to kill any one who approaches and does not understand the language of the semo. Those who understand the sacred language may enter these recesses and converse with the young men. Interest appears capable of mitigating the punishment, which would be perhaps immediately inflicted upon an unfortunate intruder. The head man of a Soosoo town, named Boorámee, having inadvertently entered one of these consecrated retreats, without having been previously initiated, he was seized upon and suspended to the bough of a tree until he promised to give them a bullock and some country wine. The first man of his acquaintance, understanding the semo, who came to the place, was dispatched to bring the bullock and the wine: but, notwithstanding, Boorámee was not set at liberty immediately, but obliged to remain in the woods until the usual term of probation was completed. During their residence in the woods, the young men live upon what they can collect, and on victuals which are left by their relations in certain appointed places. When the time of their confinement expires, they go about begging and dancing from town to town; and, as their importance is increased by this initiation, they soon procure wives. It is said, when women are so unfortunate as to intrude upon the semo, they kill them, cut off their breasts, and hang them up by the side of the paths as a warning to others. This latter circumstance is perhaps less deserving of credit, because the Soosoos are fond of telling wonderful and horrid stories respecting this institution. They say, for instance, that when first initiated their throats are cut, and they continue dead for some time; at length they are reanimated and initiated into the mysteries of the institution, and are enabled to ramble about with much more vigour than they possessed before[130]. Among the Timmanees there is an inquisitorial institution called boondoo, to which women only are amenable. An old woman, called boondoowoman, has the entire superintendance of it, and to her care husbands and fathers consign their wives and daughters. The object of placing these in the boondoo, is to extract from them a full confession of every crime of which they may have been guilty themselves, or which they may have been privy to in others. On their admission, they are smeared over with a white clay, which gives them a frightful appearance, and some solemn adjurations are pronounced in case they should not make the desired confession. Being persuaded that speedy death will follow their refusal to make an ample disclosure of their guilt, they generally comply with the old woman’s injunction, who makes known the substance of their declaration to the people assembled in the town where the boondoo is instituted. If the boondoo woman should be satisfied with the confession of any individual, she is dismissed from the boondoo, and an act of oblivion is passed with respect to her former conduct, excepting in the case of a confession of witchcraft, which is always followed by slavery. Those, however, whom she may have accused as partners of her guilt, are obliged either to undergo the red water ordeal, or to submit to be sold for slaves, or else to redeem themselves, if the crime be not witchcraft, by the substitution of two or more slaves. Should any of the women be hardy enough to refuse or hesitate to confess all she knows, she is invariably cut off by a sudden death, probably effected by the exhibition of poison. If, on the other hand, the boondoo-woman should chuse to be dissatisfied with the confessions which have been made, she causes the women to sit down, and, after rubbing some leaves between her hands, and infusing them in water, gives them the infusion to drink. Should they feel, as they are likely to do, some pain in their stomach or bowels after this draught, it is considered as denoting that some flagrant crime has been concealed. The boondoo-woman immediately sets herself, by means of incantations, to discover what it is, and in proper time charges each of them with the crime which she may think right to allege against them. If they confess it, they are sold; if they obstinately persist in affirming their ignorance of the offence, the boondoo-woman pursues such measures as ensure their death in the course of the next night or the succeeding day. This institution it will be seen is an useful engine in the hands of chiefs for the execution of their avaricious and oppressive purposes, and they contrive to prevent the gloom which it seems calculated to produce, by giving to their towns during its continuance the air of festive gaiety. The great drum is its constant accompaniment, and is never intermitted day nor night; and the dance and song are only interrupted for the purpose of necessary rest. Add to this, that such is the implicit faith reposed in the infallibility of the boondoo-woman’s greegrees, that when one of their number is struck, the others conclude that she must have been a guilty wretch who merited her punishment; and they console themselves with the consciousness of their own innocence until they also are made partakers of her fate. The death of one of their companions therefore does not even interrupt the music or the dance; and as for the sale of those who confess, it furnishes a fresh supply of rum to enliven their mirth. The following anecdote, which serves to illustrate this “mystery of iniquity,” was related to me by a friend who was present at the time, and on whose accuracy I can rely: In the year 1799 a woman, who, while in the boondoo, had been condemned to be sold, made her escape, and took refuge in Freetown. She related, that, having been affected with a pain in her stomach in consequence of drinking the infusion of leaves spoken of above, she was accused by the boondoo-woman of having by witchcraft killed Pa Bunky (a chief who had died four years before), and afterwards having taken up his body and eaten it[131]. The poor girl, well informed of the fate of all who deny the crime with which they are charged, and trembling between the dread of slavery on the one hand, and instant death on the other[132], confessed herself guilty. At Freetown, however, she strenuously maintained her innocence, affirming, that “Pa Bunky’s blood did not live in her belly,” and that it was solely through fear she had been induced, while in the boondoo, to acknowledge her guilt. Being with child when she made the acknowledgment, she was not sold immediately on coming out of the boondoo; but after she had been delivered, expecting daily to be sent to Bance island, the neighbouring slave factory, she took the first opportunity of escaping to the colony. The above account was confirmed in all its parts by another woman, who accompanied her in her flight; and they added, that not fewer than a hundred women had been sold out of the same boondoo since its first establishment[133]. Such, however, was the darkness of their minds, and so far were they from suspecting that any deceit and villany were practised, that the woman, though persuaded of her own innocence, said no more than that “the greegrees were bad,” and that she only wished for an opportunity of “drinking red water,” which she was sure would acquit her[134]. [Footnote 124: Very frequently, particularly in the Soosoo country, when a man has been prudent enough to save a little property, he buys a few slaves, and builds a town with them. By the fruits of their labour he purchases a few more, till at length he becomes a powerful chief. As the number of his slaves is seen to increase, free people seek protection from him, and reside in his town; which tends to add to his power and consequence. The following extract from a report of the Sierra Leone Company, to a committee of the House of Commons, will throw further light on this subject. “The state of society in Africa affords to any individual of superior knowledge and activity, ready means of raising himself to a state of wealth and power. Whoever can possess himself of a few slaves, may become the head of a town. Success in the cultivation of rice, or in the trade between Europeans on the coast and the natives of the interior, will enable him to increase the number of his domestic slaves, and consequently his strength and influence. Many freemen then seek his protection, and put themselves under his government. In this way some of the most considerable towns in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone have arisen in a single generation. A feeble minded or debauched successor, by selling, under a variety of pretexts (most of which the superstitions of his country supply) those whom in policy as well as in justice he ought to protect, destroys in a still shorter period the power which has been thus raised. The free people desert him, and possibly his town falls a prey to some enterprising chieftain in the neighbourhood.”] [Footnote 125: Maccgrav de Incolis Brasiliæ, says, “Multos hic vidi Æthiopes senes barba magna & totaliter cana, ut et capillis capitis canis. Lepidum spectaculum! atra barba quæ incanuit, in nigra cute videtur quasi farina esset aspersa.”] [Footnote 126: The punishment of murder is usually left to the family of the deceased, the nearest of kin to whom may punish the murderer with death, or accept of a pecuniary satisfaction.] [Footnote 127: It is not, however, in every case, that the privilege of these ordeals is allowed to persons accused of crimes. The accused must have some chief to patronize him, or he cannot expect even this desperate alternative.] [Footnote 128: This bark is the same which is stated above to be used as an ordeal on the Gold Coast.] [Footnote 129: This method is taken notice of by Baptista Porta[a], who thus describes it: “Dopò il cielo seguono le divinationi de gli elementi, dal fuoco la piromantia, dall’ aere l’aeromantia, dall’ acqua l’hidromantia, e dalla terra la geomantia, le quali con certe superstitioni, et incatamenti diabolici presumeuano preuedere le cose future, e scoprire le nascoste. V’è un altra spetie di geomantia ritrouata da Heleno figlio di Priamo: questa imprime certi punti nell’ arena (onde nasce il suo nome) et dallo accopiamento di quelli ne forma una figura, con cui si crede giudicar le cose auuenire: veramente cose da burla.”] [Footnote a: La Fisonomia dell’ Hoomo, lib. i.] [Footnote 130: There is a kind of semo into which girls are introduced, and which is sometimes called humbé. A colungee, or great dance, is sometimes made before the girls are initiated, but they do not remain long in confinement. A man who has been taught the mysteries of the institution, and a few women, are shut up in a house with the girls, and are the only persons admitted. The girls on this occasion are instructed in such circumstances as most immediately concern women. They are forbidden to have intercourse with men for a certain time, fixed by the matrons who instruct them. If they transgress, something is given them to drink, which causes them to swell, and they are forbidden to repeat the offence for the space of a year. A similar punishment awaits another transgression. It is not known what means they use to extort a confession; but it is said the girls are afraid to deny lest some dreadful curse should fall upon them.] [Footnote 131: This is said to be a frequent subject of accusation.] [Footnote 132: She said that she was expressly threatened with death if she did not confess.] [Footnote 133: This number is not to be depended upon, as the natives have inaccurate conceptions of high numbers; yet it is by no means improbable, as the boondoo continued for two years. The number of women confined in it was indeed different at different periods, but at one time it appeared, from good authority, that there were ninety-seven women there, and there might be more at times when there were no means of information.] [Footnote 134: I have already mentioned, that the mode of trial on the Gold Coast, which corresponds to the _red water_ ordeal of Sierra Leone, consists in making the accused chew the bark of the red water tree. This unjust and superstitious practice, I am sorry to add, is so far countenanced by the governors of the British forts there, as to be frequently employed, under their immediate sanction, for the discovery of thefts and other crimes. This surely ought not to be the case.] CHAP. IX. SITUATION OF WOMEN. MARRIAGES. POLYGAMY. POPULATION. PERIOD OF CHILD BEARING. NAMES OF MEN AND WOMEN. THE female sex does not hold in Africa that distinguished rank in society which it happily enjoys in Europe; a circumstance which will not excite surprise, as it occurs among all rude and uncivilized nations. Montesquieu says, that the existence of a money medium is a certain mark of civilization; but it will probably be found a less fallible criterion, to judge by the degree of respect in which women are held. Among the Arabs and eastern nations in general, women are in a state of degradation; all the menial offices, and some of the most laborious kind, fall to their lot. The North American Indians also affect to hold them in the uttermost contempt. In Africa, women are regarded as beings of an inferior nature, and as born to be the slaves of man; they are not admitted to eat at the same table, but must wait till their lord has finished his repast, when they are allowed the scraps which he may have left. Upon them devolves all the drudgery of the family, they not only cook, and wash, beat rice[135], and clean it from the husk, but they cut down the underwood, assist in hoeing the ground, and they also carry the produce to market. The only labour from which they are excused, is felling the larger wood to make a plantation, and rowing in canoes. In places near the sea, they are also busied in making salt[136], though this is generally the province of women who are advanced in years, and of old infirm men. Polygamy is universally practised upon this coast, which tends still more to debase the female sex. Every man may have as many wives as his circumstances will allow him to maintain; his wealth is therefore estimated according to this criterion, and he rises in the esteem of his neighbours in proportion to the number of his women[137]. The husband is at liberty, however, to employ his wives in the manner most advantageous to his own interest, and it is not uncommon to station some of them in different parts of the country as factors, an office which they execute with great fidelity. The ancient custom of purchasing the wife may be said in some measure to exist here, though the sum paid seldom amounts to more than a small present of cloth to the father or guardian, together with some tobacco and rum for an entertainment. The consent of the woman is scarcely necessary in making the contract, which is concluded by the husband and father with very little ceremony. Their marriages, however, are not indissoluble, as in case of ill usage from the husband, the woman, if free and of a powerful family, may call a palaver, and be separated from him. Polygamy, though the source of many evils, does not produce those violent commotions in families which husbands in Europe might be led to apprehend. The women, by habit and education, are so much accustomed to the practice, that a younger rival scarce excites in them any emotion of jealousy. A Foola woman of some consequence and much good sense, whose husband had four wives, being asked if she did not wish to reign alone, replied in the negative; for as she was not _company_ for her husband, she would be quite at a loss for amusement, were it not for the conversation of his other wives[138]. The first wife a man takes, enjoys a greater share of respect than the others, and retains the title of head woman, with a degree of enviable authority, long after her personal charms have ceased to enslave her husband’s affections. Polygamy is not more adverse to the civilization of a country than to its population, and if we except China, those countries where this practice prevails will in general be found less populous than others. Many authors, however, are of a different opinion, which they support by alleging, that some men in tropical countries have fifty or sixty children; this, however, is not so common as it is for a man in Europe to have a dozen; and when we reflect that they are the offspring of nearly as many women, who might each have borne three or four children, had each had her own husband, the loss to society will appear very great. Some have argued, among whom may be reckoned Mr. Bruce, that as a greater number of females are born in eastern nations than males, polygamy becomes a matter of political expediency; but the fact is questioned. Niebuhr is of opinion, that in the east there are not more females born than males; and although in the lists of births which he gives, the balance is somewhat in favour of the females, he adds, “allowing that this trifling superiority actually exists, it cannot have determined the eastern nations to polygamy.” He further observes, “it cannot be doubted that polygamy hurts population. If there be instances that a man has had a number of children by several women, it has also been observed, that monogamists have in general more children than polygamists.” I do not doubt the truth of this observation. Whatever disproportion may arise in other countries between the sexes, it certainly does not prevail in any material degree about Sierra Leone, where the number of men and women seem pretty equally balanced. This natural equality of the sexes, however, is destroyed by the prevalence of polygamy; although its effect is counteracted by the slave trade, which carries annually from the coast a considerably greater number of men than women. It is no uncommon practice, in order to cement a friendship more strongly, for two men to promise to each other for wives their unborn infants if they should prove to be females. Notwithstanding this, it is rare to see a man without a wife, solely from not being able to find one. Agreeably to what has been already said, the population of the Windward Coast of Africa is extremely small: it would be very difficult to determine what may be the proportion of inhabitants to a given extent of country; but probably it is not so much as in the least populous countries in Europe. Mr. Smeathman confirms this remark; he observes that this country is so thinly peopled, “that we rarely find a town containing two or three hundred inhabitants within ten or fifteen leagues of another of the same population. The finest rivers will not have towns upon them, where, perhaps, there are a hundred persons, within a long tide’s distance of each other[139].” The length of time women suckle their children, may be mentioned as another obstacle to population; as, during this period, which is generally two years, or until the child be able to bring to its mother a calibash full of water[140], they are entirely separated from their husbands[141]. It is rather a rare occurrence to meet with women in Africa who have had more than three or four children. This is not occasioned by their leaving off child-bearing so very early in life, as is said to be the case in warm climates; for I have seen women have children, who certainly were not younger than thirty-five or forty[142]. Although the women are betrothed at a very early age, and as has been said, even before _they are born_, the marriage seldom, if ever, takes place before the fourteenth year; and, judging from appearances, no women in this part of Africa bear children before that age. Another obstacle to the population of this country infinitely greater than any hitherto noticed, and more dreadful in its consequences than war, pestilence, and famine, is “that cruel trade which spoils unhappy Guinea of her sons,” and which annually sends from her shores many thousands of young people in the bloom of life. It may perhaps appear to contradict the observation already made respecting the low rank which women hold in Africa, to state, that men generally are named after their mothers; thus, Fenda Modoo, is Modoo or Mahommed the son of Fenda; and Namina Modoo, Mahommed the son of Namina; and the same may be said of the females, Kalee Namina, for instance, signifies Namina the daughter of Kalee[143]. This arises probably from the practice of polygamy, which makes it easier among a number of children of the same family to distinguish them by their mothers’ names, than if each had his father’s prefixed. Among the Arabs it is usual for a man to add his father’s name, and sometimes that of a favourite son to his own; but among the Turks it is not unfrequent to add that of the mother. The same custom is noticed by Herodotus[144], as peculiar to the Lycians. Another reason for the general assumption of the mother’s name may be found in the warmth of filial affection, which, where polygamy prevails, is usually in much more lively exercise towards mothers than towards fathers. I have been often gratified by observing the strength and tenderness of the attachment subsisting between mothers and their sons. [Footnote 135: They beat the rice in wooden mortars, shaped somewhat like an hour glass, and called peloons; instead of a pestle they use a stake five or six feet long. The rice is beaten night and morning, before each meal, not from idleness, but because it is better preserved from insects while in the husk. Similar to this was the custom of the eastern nations, who ground their corn every day in hand mills as they wanted it. It is common to see a dozen women and girls ranged in a line beating rice, and while one sings, the others keep exact time, and join in the chorus. They are extremely careful, in the preparation of this their favourite grain, to free it from the husk, and to wash it from dust and every impurity.] [Footnote 136: For this purpose the water of a creek, or of the sea at spring tides, is received into large shallow ponds, where it is permitted to evaporate by the heat of the sun; the saline crust which remains is scraped up with a portion of earth, and again dissolved in warm salt water, to which a quantity of wood ashes is added. This solution is poured into a basket of a conical form, at the apex of which a little straw is placed, to prevent the earthy matter from passing through; the solution is finally evaporated to dryness in large round, shallow, brass pans, called Neptunes, which are sent out from Europe in the way of trade.] [Footnote 137: If it be asked whether such a person be rich? the answer is, “Oh, he has too much woman.”] [Footnote 138: Polygamy has been considered, though on very insufficient grounds, as an insurmountable obstacle to the introduction of the Christian religion in Africa. The Mahommedans, in propagating their tenets, have had to contend with obstacles apparently as insuperable—the use of spirits, for instance; which they have overcome by their zeal and steady perseverance. These people, in gaining proselytes, direct their chief care to the children, whose education they superintend with unremitted attention; but as it is necessary to obtain the sanction of the old people, who are highly flattered in being thought either Mahommedans or Christians, they overlook in them those habits of intemperance which long custom has rendered inveterate. As a further proof that Christianity may flourish in a warm climate, the people of Abyssinia and Nubia are Christians, and do not practise polygamy. But the history of primitive Christianity has already sufficiently proved the point.] [Footnote 139: Wadstrom Append.] [Footnote 140: This practice, though in itself bad, is founded upon prudential motives; for the mother, upon whom devolves the whole care of her children, is afraid of being burthened with a second offspring before the first can in some degree dispense with her continued care. It is very common for a woman who has a child, to procure another wife for her husband during the time she is nursing.] [Footnote 141: During the period of mourning also for a friend or relation, the wife separates herself from her husband. The caprice or jealousy of the head woman, sometimes obliges a favourite rival to put on mourning upon some frivolous pretext, hoping at the same time to procure some presents from the husband to remove the restraint.] [Footnote 142: There is no doubt that women in hot climates arrive somewhat sooner at maturity than in the more temperate and colder ones, and that child-bearing also sooner terminates. But we may doubt if this be so early, or so generally the case in these countries as authors assert, it being extremely difficult or impossible to ascertain ages, where a few revolutions of the moon is the greatest space of time they retain in their memories. This is a subject which affords scope for much curious investigation, it not being easy to explain why in some hot countries the period of child-bearing is confined within such narrow limits, as many authors have represented it to be. Perhaps the effect, if it really exist, will be found to be produced by particular situations, or confined to certain countries, in which case the discordant opinions of authors[a] upon the point might be reconciled. That these circumstances may have some share in producing such effects appears probable from the observations of a very accurate observer, who says, that “white females, born and constantly residing in the lower districts of the province of Georgia in America, have seldom been observed to live beyond the age of forty. Males, sometimes approach fifty; while Europeans, who have arrived at manhood before they come to the country, often attain a good old age.” The same author gives us a still more surprising instance of the effects of certain situations in shortening the period of life. “There is not on record, I am credibly informed,” he says, “an instance of a person born at Petersborough in Virginia, and constantly residing in the same place, who has lived to the age of twenty-one.” _Jackson on Fevers._] [Footnote a: Compare Bruce and Niebuhr with Piso and Ouseley.] [Footnote 143: The most frequent names of men among the Mahommedans are Mamadoo, or Mahommed, Ali, Amarah, Brama, (Abraham); of the women, Amina, or as they pronounce it, Námina, Fatima, Maimoona, and Henda. Simba, Sillia, Yamba, Lorana, Tilla, Yellee, Kai, Boi, are the most common female names among the Soosoos, Bulloms, and Timmanees. The Foolas frequently use an affix, which, like the Italian diminutives, implies prettiness, tenderness, &c. as Fatimatta, Isatta, Aminetta, Sallematta. Nicknames are sometimes given expressive of the person’s disposition, as Pa Cacadooga, _i.e._ great belly, or covetous; Pa Toffin, _i.e._ can’t talk, or wont talk.] [Footnote 144: Clio, clxxiii. à matribus nomina sibi induunt, non a patribus.] CHAP. X. WARS. REVOLT OF THE MANDINGO SLAVES. IMPLEMENTS OF WAR. AFRICANS UNJUSTLY ACCUSED OF BEING ANTHROPOPHAGI. WARS were not very frequent in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone during my stay there; and when they did occur, they were rather the squabbles of two or three villages, occasioned by some of their inhabitants having been kidnapped, or laid hold of and sold for debt, or otherwise ill treated. Their military expeditions were generally limited to the burning of a town by not more than twenty or thirty assailants. This is always performed by a coup de main, and they chuse for it the time at which their enemies are supposed to be least upon their guard, usually the hour which precedes day-break, when the attack is executed with such silence, that, to use their own expression, not a leaf is heard to move[145]. Among the Foolas, armies of some thousand strong have been brought into the field under their late king Alimamee Sadoo, who was of a restless and enterprising spirit, and frequently engaged in war. When they go to war, they endeavour to strike terror into their enemies by dressing themselves in the most hideous manner they can devise. Some whiten their bodies with chalk, except the face, which they render still blacker by means of a vegetable pigment. Others paint the joints of the knees and elbows red. To this is superadded a load of greegrees, some of which are of very grotesque forms. They do not approve of European tactics, and laugh when they are told that men expose themselves to be shot at. When opposite parties meet, which is not often the case, they shelter themselves behind trees, and pursue the Indian mode of bush fighting. About the year 1785, or 1786, a number of Mandingo slaves, availing themselves of the distractions which then prevailed in that country, revolted, and withdrew to a place called Yangheeakurree, in the Soosoo territory. At this period the Mandingos and Soosoos were engaged in war with each other; in consequence of which the latter were disposed to afford the slaves the asylum which they sought. The slaves, finding the situation of Yangheeakurree convenient for them, induced the former inhabitants, partly by threats, and partly by fair speeches, to take them in, and thus they formed one community. Some of them also settled in three or four smaller towns at a little distance. Not long after this revolt the Soosoos and Mandingos concluded a peace, but no measures were taken for reducing the revolted slaves for the space of five or six years. They did not, however, remain unmolested; for the Mandingos, who were exceedingly inveterate, as might be supposed, in their enmity against them, were used to lie in wait for them in the neighbourhood of their rice plantations, and to catch and either kill or sell as many as they could find. This provoked the deserters to acts of retaliation, and they made several successful incursions into the Mandingo territory, and plundered several small towns. They also seized upon several people belonging to Berrerie, Kissee, and Mallakurree, towns of the Mandingos, whom they sold for slaves. The Mandingos, exasperated at this aggression, attempted to reduce them to subjection, and attacked their town; but they defended themselves so well, that, after losing several people, the Mandingos were obliged to make a precipitate retreat. This unsuccessful attempt was followed by slight skirmishes and predatory expeditions, without any material advantage accruing to either side. All this time the Soosoos observed a careless neutrality, or rather, as was said, privately assisted the slaves, and allowed them to procure supplies of ammunition through their country. At length some disturbance arising among their own slaves, and a fear being entertained of their joining the deserters, the Soosoos determined to assist the Mandingos, and accordingly joined them immediately after the conclusion of the rainy season of 1795, and they laid siege in concert to Yangheeakurree. This town was most delightfully situated upon a piece of gently rising ground, near the foot of a range of lofty wood-crowned hills running in a north and west direction; a distant range of hills being also seen stretching towards the south and south-west, and the intermediate country being charmingly diversified by easy undulations. The soil was very rich, consisting chiefly of a deep black mould, and abounding with springs of excellent water. The town was enclosed by a strong mud wall about twelve feet high, built in the form of an oblong square. On each side three circular bastions projected, for the better security of the wall. The slaves possessed four or five smaller towns, which were taken without much difficulty, and burnt by the assailants; two of these only, named Kania and Funkoo, were surrounded with walls, and made a slight resistance. The people taken in them were either slain or sold. During the two first months of the siege of Yangheeakurree the allies were very active, and made several attempts to force the wall, but were repelled with so much loss, that their chiefs resolved to change the siege into a blockade. For that purpose a strong palisade, about ten feet high, was carried round the town, about twenty yards distant from the walls. Before this was done, the slaves had the side of the town next the mountains quite open, and could go out to hunt and procure provisions and vegetables; but when I visited it in March 1796, it had been completely invested near two months. In order to annoy the besieged, stages about twenty feet high were erected behind the palisades, like the _turres contabulatæ_ of the Romans, but of much ruder construction. These stages formed only two sides of a square, and were composed of four strong spars fixed in the ground, the intermediate spaces being filled up with small stakes secured by withes. They were prevented from falling forwards by the long shoots of the mangrove tree, which were fixed to the upper part of the stage on the inside, and fastened to strong stakes driven into the ground. Before the erection of these stages the inhabitants had used to pass a great part of the moonlight nights in dancing and making merry in the open air, but afterwards they did not dare to move out, except during the gloom of night, for fear of being shot at. From one of these stages I had a complete view of the inside of the town. The thatch of the houses nearest the walls had been set on fire by the besiegers, by firing from their muskets pieces of iron made red hot in a smith’s forge; and, to prevent the others sharing the same fate, the inhabitants had pulled off the thatch. A melancholy silence reigned in the town; nothing was to be seen but the bare walls of the houses, which appeared deserted; not a blade of grass could be observed, but the narrow footpath which ran through the town and divided it into streets was still perceptible. The inhabitants kept themselves concealed in the houses, while a strong guard lay at the foot of the wall, but never fired unless an attempt was made to break through it, or unless they were certain of hitting their mark. For this purpose loop-holes were made in a slanting direction through the wall, about two feet from the ground, and the men lay upon their faces to fire. About a fortnight before I reached the camp the Soosoos had cut down a large pullom tree, which grew just within the line of their intrenchment, and causing it to fall towards the town, it broke down about twenty or thirty feet of the wall. During the confusion which succeeded, two of the besiegers entered the town by the tree, which served them for a bridge, and brought away the war drum as a trophy. No further attempts were made to penetrate by this breach, nor did the besieged endeavour to rebuild it. The approach of the rainy season rendered it at length necessary for the besiegers to take more active measures, and with infinite labour they brought, from a distance of twenty miles, two or three pieces of old rusty cannon, carrying one and two pound balls, slung by means of poles upon men’s shoulders. Pieces of iron bars, about six inches long, were fired from these guns, and, after having beat down a great portion of the walls, they rushed in, and, as I was afterwards informed, cut the throats of the wretched inhabitants who survived. The following instance of generosity in an enemy has not often been surpassed by more civilized nations. Some years ago the Foolas and Mandingos united their forces against Sambo, king of Bambouc, and attempted, as they term it, to break his capital, Ferbanna, situated on the banks of the Gambia. The siege was carried on with uncommon vigour, and they even attempted to undermine the walls. The besieged, however, behaved with so much firmness and activity, that the assailants, foiled in every attempt, were obliged to withdraw. They remained at a small distance inactive, owing to the want of powder. Sambo hearing this, sent them a supply, desiring them to make use of it. Soon afterwards they became distressed for provisions, and were immediately supplied by the king of Bambouc; after which they broke up their camp, and returned to their own countries. Upon the whole of the sea coast, and for a considerable distance inland, the natives are very dextrous in the use of fire-arms, and it is very rare to meet one of them at any distance from home, though already sufficiently laden with other articles, without his musket. The Foolas, indeed, use indifferently bows and muskets, and they often carry a bow, and quiver loaded with poisoned arrows[146], instead of a musket. In many cases they go armed merely because it is ornamental, but the prevalence of the practice is doubtless to be attributed to the insecurity not only of property but of person throughout the whole of this continent. Their bow is made of bamboo, and is very elastic and strong, and, in defiance of the old English proverb, they keep it constantly bent. The cord is composed of a thin piece of bamboo split lengthwise[147]. Upon the Gold Coast, and for at least three hundred miles inland, the natives at present use fire-arms, but in Bosman’s time the people of Aquambo used only the bow, with which they were “so nicely dextrous in shooting, that in hare hunting,” this author observes, “they will lodge their small fine arrows in what part of the hare’s body[148] is desired. These arrows have feathers at their head (in this they differ from those of the Foolas, which are not feathered), and are pointed with iron. The negroes of Awinee usually poison them; but on the coast that pernicious custom is not practised, nor do they so much as know what poison is.” The Africans have been very unjustly branded with the title of anthropophagists: · · · · Quorum non sufficit iræ Occidisse aliquem; sed pectora, brachia, vultum Crediderint genus esse cibi· · · · JUV. Sat. xv. 170. This practice is said to have existed formerly both on the western and eastern coasts of Africa, and Mr. Bruce informs us, that “there is still alive a man of the name of Matthews who was present at one of these bloody banquets, on the west coast of Africa, to the northward of Senegal.” Travellers very gravely tell us, that in the _interior parts_ of Africa “human flesh is frequently exposed for sale in wooden shambles.” Snelgrave asserts, that human flesh is eaten in the kingdom of Dahomy, and Mr. Norris corroborates the assertion; but notwithstanding both these authors are highly respectable, and worthy of the utmost credit in every instance where they describe what they have themselves seen, yet in the present instance, where ocular demonstration alone, not vague report, is to be depended on, we have reason to suspect that they were imposed upon, as they no where affirm that they were eye witnesses of the transaction. Snelgrave appears to have been so much affected by what he saw at the great annual festival celebrated by the king of Dahomy, that he readily gave credit to whatever was told him respecting the conclusion of the horrid spectacle. Mr. Norris’s account is by no means satisfactory, and is besides not strictly consistent. “I do not think,” he observes, “the Dahomans are _anthropophagists_, in the full sense of that word; though they scruple not to eat a devoted victim at the public festivals; and yet reproach their own countrymen, the natives of Toree, with cannibalism, of which, I own, I am not inclined to believe them guilty. But, that other African nations are addicted to that unnatural practice I have not the smallest doubt; because, from the concurrent and creditable testimony of those who have been at Bonny, it is well known that a Bonny man kills and eats an Audony man, and an Audony man treats a Bonny man in the same way, whenever he has an opportunity: I mean, as a familiar repast, and not merely in savage triumph after a victory.” The manner in which the devoted victim above alluded to is treated, the same author thus describes: “As some _cruelty_ must accompany all their exhibitions, a man tied neck and heels, an alligator muzzled, and a couple of pigeons with their wings clipped, are thrown off the stage among the crowd, where a confusion, greater if possible than what has preceded, ensues, in scrambling for the heads of each, to the great amusement of the king: and whoever are lucky enough to carry off the prizes, which consist of the heads of the victims, are each rewarded with a handsome present. This is the last human sacrifice at the _customs_, and is a part of the ceremony which the _whites_ never stay to see performed; but, _if report may be credited_, the carcase of the human victim is almost wholly devoured, as all the mob below will have a taste of it.” This is the only instance adduced by Mr. Norris to prove that the Dahomans are cannibals, and it must be allowed to be very defective in point of evidence. Dr. Isert, an author of equal credit with those above mentioned, and whose testimony upon this point deserves greater weight than theirs, as he was more accustomed to the sight of dead bodies, positively asserts that they do not eat human flesh, and that it never was sold in the market. During the celebration of the “annual customs,” as they are called, when the king of Dahomy waters the graves of his ancestors with the blood of human victims, forty or fifty wretched slaves are sacrificed; a cup full of their blood is presented to the king, who dips the tip of his little finger in it, and applies it to his tongue; the bodies are then thrown upon the royal graves, and the heads fixed upon stakes surrounding the burying place. An ingenious and interesting traveller, describing the natives of Surinam, appears fully convinced of the existence of this depraved appetite among them, and also among their African countrymen. “I should not forget,” he observes, “to mention, that the Gango negroes are _supposed to be_ anthropophagi, or cannibals, like the Caribbee Indians, instigated by habitual and implacable revenge. Amongst the rebels of this tribe, after the taking of Boucou, some pots were found on the fire with human flesh, which one of the officers had the curiosity to taste, and declared it was not inferior to some kinds of beef or pork. I have been since assured, by a Mr. Vangills, an American, that, having travelled for a great number of miles inland in Africa, he at length came to a place where human legs, arms, and thighs, hung upon wooden shambles, and were exposed to sale, like butchers’ meat in Leadenhall market. And Captain John Keene, formerly of the Dolphin cutter, but late of the Naimbanna schooner, in the Sierra Leone company’s service, positively assured me, that when he, a few years since, was on the coast of Africa, in the brig Fame, from Bristol, Mr. Samuel Biggs, owner, trading for wood, iron, and gold-dust, a Captain Dunningen, with his whole crew, belonging to the Nassau schooner, which acted as a tender to the Fame, were cut in pieces, _salted_, and _eaten_ by the negroes of Great Drewin, about thirty miles north of the river St. Andrew’s, who, having torn the copper off her bottom, burned the vessel[149].” In reply to these assertions it may be alleged, that it would not be an easy matter for a common spectator to distinguish human _flesh_ from beef or pork, and the bustle and confusion which must have attended the storming an enemy’s camp, where this banquet was discovered, could not be favourable to such an investigation. Besides, as we are all too much disposed, in order to exculpate ourselves, to blacken the character of our enemies, and accuse them of vices which they never thought of practising, it is not improbable that a similar prejudice operated upon the officer alluded to, and caused him to mistake some _ordinary_ article of diet for human flesh. Mr. Vangill’s evidence is so very defective in every point, that no reliance can be placed upon it: if he alluded to the kingdom of Dahomy, we have the testimony of Mr. Norris, and the positive assurance of Dr. Isert, that human flesh is not publicly sold there. With respect to the inhabitants of Drewin it must be confessed, that their character has been of late greatly stigmatized, owing to their having cut off, or seized upon, the crews of such boats and vessels as fell into their power; not to sate their appetites with human flesh, but allured by plunder, or perhaps as a retaliation for injuries they had formerly suffered. The story of their eating the crew of a vessel, though probably not invented by the narrator, but the offspring of _common report_, and considered as a proper conclusion to the fatal catastrophe, is rendered still more suspicious by their being said to have _salted_ the flesh, a practice seldom or never used by the Africans. An honest Dutchman, named John Snoek, who visited this part of the coast in 1702, describes the inhabitants of Drewin as cannibals, for which he gives the following curious reason: “Their teeth, with which they eat human flesh, when they can come at it, were as sharp as awls[150], wherefore I should not advise any to set foot on land here, who is not fond of being buried in their bellies[151].[152] That this horrid practice does not exist in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, nor for many hundred leagues along the coast to the northward and southward of that place, may be asserted with the utmost confidence; nor is there any tradition among the natives which can prove that it ever was the custom: on the contrary, they appear struck with horror when they are questioned individually on the subject; though at the same time they make no scruple of accusing other nations at a distance, and whom they barely know by name, of cannibalism[153]. [Footnote 145: Since the above was written, wars of a much more serious and extensive nature have been carried on in this neighbourhood.] [Footnote 146: Spicula nec solo spargunt fidentia ferro; Stridula sed multo saturantur tela veneno. Volnera parva nocent fatumque in sanguine summo est. LUC. Phars. viii. 303. The Foolas poison their arrows with the milky juice of a plant called gang-gang, and consider its effects as fatal. It is uncertain whether this be the same with the shrub called roona (a species of echites) mentioned by Mr. Park. He says, “the leaves of this shrub, when boiled with a small quantity of water, yield a thick black juice, into which the negroes dip a cotton thread; this thread they fasten round the iron of the arrow, in such a manner that it is almost impossible to extract it when it has sunk beyond the barbs, without leaving the iron point and the poisoned thread in the wound.” _Park’s Travels._] [Footnote 147: This may perhaps explain a passage of Edrisius, where, speaking of the produce of Nigritia, he says, “Ad Nili Ripam, qui terram Nigrorum ab oriente ad occidentem alluit, producuntur arundines scheraci.” This word his editor suspects ought to be sacchari; but it will be evident that the bamboo is meant by the following passage, in which he describes the arms of the same people: “Utuntur arcu, sagittis (artificiose una cum arcuum chordis ex arundine scheraci paratis), quibus maxime freti. EDRISII Africa, cur. J. M. Hartmann.] [Footnote 148: It is customary in many parts, among the Soosoos and Mandingos, for people to sit by the river’s side watching the fish approach the shore, and then shoot them with arrows.] [Footnote 149: Stedman’s Narrative.] [Footnote 150: A peculiarity, as I have already observed, which is entirely the effect of art, being considered as ornamental.] [Footnote 151: Bosman.] [Footnote 152: Most of these stories are upon an equal footing with those of hobgoblins and spectres, used in England to terrify children, and which, by being frequently repeated, acquire a degree of credit among the vulgar. Posterity may, from such ill-grounded reports as those above mentioned, have reason to class our neighbours the French among the anthropophagists, as in a late periodical work it is said, though without giving any credit to the tale, that “the good people of France, if we may credit report, indulged some of their numerous prisoners, in the early periods of their blessed revolution, with soup made out of the limbs of those human victims whom they sacrificed at the altar of liberty[a].” Strabo says of the Irish, that they were large of stature, savage, and ate human flesh; that they looked upon it as honourable to devour the bodies of their fathers and mothers: he accuses them also of very gross indecencies, and even of habitual incest.] [Footnote a: Gentleman’s Magazine, September 1798.] [Footnote 153: Mr. Park is disposed to consider the inhabitants of Maniana, a nation in Africa, as cannibals, because the epithet ma dummulo, man eaters, is bestowed upon them by all their neighbours. But still this is mere report, for, as Mr. Park justly observes, “the accounts which the negroes give of their enemies ought to be received with great caution.”] CHAP. XI. TRADE. MANDINGO MERCHANTS. TRADE WITH FOOLAS. BAR TRADE. MONEY MEDIUM. MODES OF CALCULATION. SINGULAR MODE OF TRADING ON THE BANKS OF THE NIGER. THE Africans carry on a commerce with Europeans in the same manner in which it has ever been carried on in the early ages of mankind, by barter. To procure to themselves the fascinating luxuries of Europe, they usually give in return, not their own superfluous productions, an exchange which, by exciting a moderate and useful degree of industry, might prove highly beneficial to them, but, unfortunately, the innocent labourer, who is more frequently sold than the produce of his fields. The Mandingos are the greatest merchants in Africa, and conduct the chief part of the trade carried on to the northward of Sierra Leone. Some of these people have made their appearance at Cape Coast Castle, and other forts on the Gold Coast, after having traversed a considerable part of Africa. It is said, by an author of respectability, that the news of the defeat of the Spaniards before Gibraltar was brought to the Rio Pongas by some of these people within forty days after the action[154]. Snelgrave mentions some merchants, probably of this nation, whom he calls “Malayes[155], and who had come from a country far inland, bordering on the Moors;” they had been taken prisoners, while travelling from one country to another, by the king of Dahomy, who treated them very kindly, “for they had the art of dying goat and sheep skins with divers colours;” they also understood writing. Merchants of this kind occasionally visit the factories not far distant from Sierra Leone. When in the Rio Pongas, I was informed by a slave trader there, that he daily expected a man who had paid him a visit about four years before, and who came from a great distance inland. This person, by the description, appeared to be an Arab or Moor, possessed of much acuteness, and uncommonly well skilled in the Arabic language. In his former visit he brought with him seventeen slaves, whom, contrary to the custom of the Foolas, he sold in one lot, receiving in exchange tea, sugar, coffee, very fine silks, &c. He played remarkably well at draughts, of which he was very fond. When the Foolas come down to the sea side to trade, they travel in larger or smaller parties, each subject to the controul of a head man, who regulates their march, has the disposal of all their goods, and settles every dispute which may happen _in the path_, not unfrequently inflicting stripes upon the offender. When they have reached the end of their journey, they build for themselves small huts, composed of boughs of trees sufficient to shelter them from the heat of the sun, which is all that is necessary in the dry season, when their trading expeditions are generally undertaken. The head man of the party expects to be accommodated by the factor, though it is of no consequence how small his room be, provided it is furnished with a door, or a mat in its stead. Before they enter upon their business, the factor gives to the head man his boonyar, or present, which consists of kola, Malagetta pepper, tobacco, rice, and palm oil; the two first articles are of the most consequence, and without these the others, in however large a quantity, would scarce be thought worth acceptance. If they do not agree in their bargain the boonyar is returned, but if they eat of the kola it is a sign that they do not intend to go away. When the present is agreed upon, the head man makes his speech, which is always very long, shewing the great difficulties he has had to encounter, and the great distance he has come. The intercourse is not carried on directly between the principals, but by means of interpreters, for the head man’s speech is translated by means of his interpreter, and this speech is again translated by the factor’s interpreter, though they both very often understand it as well as the interpreters. The trade for rice is soon settled, as an equal measure of salt is usually given for it; but every tooth of ivory requires a fresh palaver, or bargain, in which every formality is repeated as at first; for as the Foolas have no idea of the value of time, they would sit a whole day with inexhaustible patience to gain half a bar more. When they have settled their trade, and received payment for it, they expect a second boonyar on going away, which is more or less considerable in proportion to the quantity of goods they brought. If pleased with the present, they return sounding the factor’s praise as they go, and telling every party they meet how well they have been treated. The salt which they carry away is packed up in round masses of about fifty pounds weight. It is astonishing to see what prodigious loads these people carry to such a distance. The goods are packed in a kind of basket, about seven feet long and a foot and half or two feet broad, and sometimes weigh from one hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds. The load is then placed between the shoulders, so as to project about four feet above the head, and to preserve it in its proper place a bow is fixed to one of the upper corners of the load, and a string to the other, both which are retained in one hand. In the other hand they carry a forked stick, upon which the load is placed when they want to rest. Boys of eleven years of age, or even younger, are frequently seen carrying very heavy loads. The chief articles which they bring for sale are slaves, elephants’ teeth, rice, soap, cattle; and in return they receive salt, kola, gunpowder, guns, cloth, tobacco, beads, &c. Upon the Gold Coast a very important step is taken towards a more improved state of trade, in the establishment of regular markets once or twice a week, on fixed days, which are very numerously attended: this is unknown on the Windward Coast. The inhabitants of the Gold Coast, being more accustomed to trade with Europeans, are less tedious in transacting business than the northern nations. The Africans are nearly unacquainted with the use of coin as a medium of commerce, though they have formed to themselves an ideal standard by which they determine the value of commodities bought or sold. This is however a very fluctuating measure, and differs greatly upon various parts of the coast. From Senegal to Cape Mesurado, or the Windward Coast as it is called, the medium of computation is termed a bar, hence the trade is named the _bar trade_; thence to the eastward of Cape Palmas their measure of value is called rounds; but still further eastward, and on the Gold Coast, they compute by ounces and ackies of gold, the acky being the sixteenth part of an ounce. The bar, which is the current medium round Sierra Leone, is, like our pound sterling, merely nominal, but much less precise in its value, and subject to great irregularities; moreover, the quantity of an article contained in a bar differs, not only on various parts of the coast[156], but often in neighbouring rivers. A gun, valued at twenty shillings, is sold for six bars; but the same number of bars of tobacco will only be equal in value to four or five shillings. Twenty leaves of tobacco are a bar; and a gallon of rum or a fathom of chintz pass for no more. A piece of cloth, which in one place passes for six bars, passes in others for eight, and in others for ten. Hence the trader, in disposing of his goods, forms to himself a standard to which, upon the average, he reduces all his bars, the number of cheap bars which he sells serving to diminish the value of the dearer kind. It would tend greatly to facilitate commercial intercourse, and prove more advantageous to both parties, were this fluctuating medium of bars abolished, and in their stead an article introduced of an established though arbitrary value, which might serve as the representative sign of the worth of every article of commerce. To this, however, a late writer[157] objects, as he supposes the African idea of bars to be “founded on an article (iron) which is of primary and indispensable necessity to the negroes; whereas dollars,” he adds, “are founded upon an article (silver) which is necessary only to those who deal with those negroes.” This opinion, however, does not appear to be well founded; for although iron bars are articles of the same indispensable necessity to the natives along the whole coast, yet the term bar, used in trade, supposing it to imply a bar of iron, is confined within certain limits. On the Gold Coast the ounce (of gold) becomes the medium of calculation, but we cannot suppose from thence that gold is a more necessary article to the Africans than silver. The same author gives it as his opinion, that the introduction of coined money among the Africans would be more productive of confusion, disputes, and frauds, than their old method of computing by bars, “especially when it is considered that those simple nations are not nearly so expert in fine mercantile calculations as the Europeans.” This reasoning, though ingenious, has been already proved by experience to be fallacious; and it has been decidedly shewn at Sierra Leone, that the natives are not only as capable of computing by dollars, and probably by any other European coin, as by their usual mode of bars, but also that they have not the least objection to receive coin in exchange for their produce. When the Sierra Leone company established at Free Town a silver currency of dollars, half dollars, shillings and sixpences, or as they were called, _twenty_ and _ten cent_ pieces, and a copper currency of cents or the hundredth parts of dollars, no difficulty occurred in their introduction and use. Before this event happened, it was a matter of great difficulty to procure a small supply of vegetables, fruit, &c.: the seller had probably fixed his eye upon some article of dress or household furniture as an equivalent for his merchandise, which greatly exceeded the value of the articles to be purchased, and which at the same time, perhaps, the owner could not conveniently part with. Afterwards it became customary to affix a certain value upon their goods when brought to market, as one, two, three coppers, sixpence, a shilling, &c. without an instance occurring of confusion, dispute, or fraud, occasioned by misconception. Their willingness to adopt this plan is further evinced by what happened after the colony was plundered by the French. A large sum of silver having been carried away, it was necessary to introduce in its stead a paper currency of dollars, half dollars, and shillings, which were received by the natives in exchange for labour, provisions, &c. with the same confidence as they had before taken silver. Such also was their faith in this measure, that although there were at that time no goods to purchase with these notes, they received them with the greatest cheerfulness, and waited until goods were received from England. As they are strangers to the use of figures, they carry on their numerical calculations by the aid of counters, which are either small pebbles, gun flints, or the kernel of the palm nut. These they dispose in heaps of five or ten, and by referring to them, they recount every article which they have to receive from the factor; and on their return home, by the same association, they account to their employers for their purchases[158]. In affairs of less consequence they reckon by their fingers; for this purpose they bend the little finger of the right hand close to the palm, and the other fingers and thumb in succession: if the number be more than five, they bend the little finger of the left hand, and proceed as before. When it is necessary to proceed further, they shut both hands at once, and begin again as at first. We see here a very striking similarity of manners, in every age and climate, among nations in their early states, though widely differing in feature and complexion, and it affords us a good example of the first efforts of a limited numeration gradually advancing with civilization to a more perfect arithmetic. The word calculation, it is well known, is derived from _calculus_, a pebble, with which the ancient Romans were accustomed to compute; and the same word in Greek originates from _psephos_, a little stone. Even the mode of performing these calculations is wonderfully alike: the word _pempazein_ in Greek signifies to count by fives, either with the fingers or pebbles; and Homer represents Proteus, “the old prophet of the sea,” as numbering his flock of phocæ, sea calves or seals, in this manner: The sum Of all his phocæ numb’ring duly first, He will pass through them, and when all _by fives_ He counted hath, will in the midst repose Content, as sleeps the shepherd with his flock[159]. The strangest and most curious kind of commercial intercourse is that which is practised by a nation inhabiting the banks of the Niger. They trade with Moorish merchants, who annually pay them a visit, without the parties seeing each other, or practising any fraud. The merchants repair every year, at a stated period of the moon, to a certain place, where they find in the evening the articles they are in want of, consisting chiefly of gold dust, disposed in small heaps at a little distance from each other. Opposite to these heaps the merchants place the value they intend to give for each, consisting of coral, beads, bracelets, and other trinkets, which they leave there and retire: next day the negroes return, and if they approve of the bargain they take away the trinkets, or, if not, they diminish the quantity of gold[160]. This very curious account was averred as a fact to Mr. Wadstrom when at Goree, by the Chevalier de la Touch, who was vice-governor of that place in 1788, and by several other gentlemen at Goree who had visited the interior. This serves to corroborate a passage in Pliny, where, speaking of a nation called Seres, and of their manner of trading with strangers, he says, “Fluminis ulteriore ripa merces positas juxta venalia tolli ab his, si placeat permutatio[161].” It is worthy of remark also, that a similar practice prevailed formerly among the Indians of Newfoundland. “Formerly a very beneficial barter was carried on in the neighbourhood of Bonavista, by some of the inhabitants of that harbour. They used to lay a variety of goods at a certain place, to which the Indians resorted, who took what they were in want of, and left furs in return. One day a villain hid himself near the deposite, and shot a woman dead, as she was furnishing herself with what pleased her best. Since that time they have been always hostile to Europeans[162].” [Footnote 154: Matthews’s Letters from Sierra Leone.] [Footnote 155: The same, probably, who are at present known by the name of ’Nyamalas. These ’Nyamalas (Mr. Watt called them ’Nyalas, which is probably a contraction of the word) are described as coming a considerable way from the interior, and as being in the habit of travelling through the different Mahommedan countries, where they exercise the trade of shoemakers (garengays), and of iron and silver smiths. Their persons are held sacred from violence, and on this account they are much employed as merchants: they are also sometimes attached to embassies, being great orators, and being allowed unbounded freedom of speech even to kings. If two opposing armies are on the point of engaging, they are obliged to listen to the mediation of these ’Nyamalas, should any interfere; and their interposition is often effectual for producing peace. This is plainly a very partial account of this extraordinary race, and yet it is worthy of remark, that every particular of it, which was procured from a respectable chief in the Gambia, was confirmed by my brother and Mr. Watt, who had met with some of these people during their journey to the Foola country.] [Footnote 156: Four pieces of twenty-four sous make a bar at Senegal. At Goree the bar consists of four pieces of twenty-four sous, and one of six. At Senegal the dollar passes only for a bar. At Goree six sous are added to the dollar to make up a bar. The French crown there, as well as at Senegal, is worth a bar and a fifth; but in the river Salum a bar is only equal to a dollar. SAUGNIER’S Voyage to the Coast of Africa.] [Footnote 157: Wadstrom.] [Footnote 158: In expressing numbers, they make use of the pentenary method instead of the decimal mode practised in Europe: thus their integers reach only to five, after which they are compounded. The number six is expressed by five and one; seven, by five and two, &c.] [Footnote 159: Odyss. iv. 412.] [Footnote 160: In the relation of Commodore Stewart’s embassy to Mequinez, in 1721, is contained a similar account of this mode of carrying on trade. “They also send (from Morocco) caravans to Guinea: the places they trade to there bear several names, as Tombatton (probably Tombuctoo), Niger, or the Black River, &c.—They trade into Guinea with salt, cowreys, wrought silk, about five hundred pieces of British cloth, and the woollen manufactures of Barbary. The salt, I have been informed, is the chief commodity, which they keep _to rub their lips with_, being apt to corrupt and rot for want of it; and they covet to be rich in having great quantities by them. Cowreys are little shells brought from the East Indies, and pass for money of the most value, as _bitter almonds_ do for the least.—From thence they return richly laden with gold dust, ostrich feathers, elephants’ teeth, and negroes, who are the emperor’s property. This journey is performed in six or seven months. “The method of trading in some of those parts is very extraordinary; for they do not see the persons they trade with, but, passing over a little river, leave their salt (at the accustomed place) in a pot or jar, and retire; then the people take the salt, and put into the same pot as much gold as they judge it worth, which, if the Moors approve of, they take it away; otherwise they set the pot on edge, and retire again, and afterwards find either more gold or their salt returned.”] [Footnote 161: Lib. vi. 24. Herodotus mentions the same method of trading between the Carthaginians and Africans on the western coast; and also takes notice of the practice of making a smoke as a signal for _trade_. iv. 196.] [Footnote 162: Cartwright’s Voyage to Labrador.] CHAP. XII. PERSONS OF THE NATIVES. SUPPOSED CAUSES OF THEIR BLACK COLOUR. WOOLLY HAIR. FEATURES AND FORM OF THE NEGROES. THEIR RANK IN THE CREATION. THE natives of Guinea[163] are in general described by travellers as well formed in their limbs, and remarkably free from natural deformity. Their skins are always cool, at least more so than those of Europeans in the same climate, and they are also remarkable for their sleekness and velvet-like softness[164]. The inhabitants of the river Sierra Leone, particularly the females, are said to be the handsomest people upon the coast[165]. Both men and women are in general above the middle size, well proportioned, sprightly, and of an open countenance. Although the palm of elegance may be denied to them, yet they possess a great degree of ease in all their actions. The manners of the females, particularly the younger part, are not devoid of grace, and are free from every appearance of constraint. The estimation of female beauty among the natives in this country is the same as in most others[166]. The young women are in general remarkable for the beautiful contour of their limbs, and for an ingenuous open countenance. Their eyes are often large and well formed; their ears small and neat. Their necks and bosoms are well turned, scarcely indeed to be surpassed by “the bending statue which enchants the world.” The frankness of their manners is tempered with an agreeable timidity towards strangers, which renders them still more interesting. The great variety of complexion observable in mankind is too striking to have passed unnoticed[167], and accordingly it has exercised the ingenuity of observers, and given birth to many hypotheses without having clearly and satisfactorily accounted for its probable immediate and secondary cause. The diversity of complexion which we observe in our own country scarce excites our attention, and appears perfectly consistent with the causes assigned to it, a greater or less exposure to the action of the sun and air. Even when we compare the skins of the different nations of Europe together, climate is considered as a sufficient cause for the variety of tints which we remark; but when the skin of the European is contrasted with that of the negro, the dissimilitude appears so great, that recourse is had to the unscriptural, and, I may add, unphilosophical idea, of different races of men having been originally created. Yet these two extremes of colour are approximated by such a variety of tints, and so exquisitely blended, that we pass from one to the other by almost imperceptible gradations. The ancients attributed the black colour of the skin to its being burnt by too great a vicinity to the sun. Pliny says, “Æthiopas vicini sideris vapore torreri, adustisque similes gigni, barba et capillo vibrato, non est dubium[168];” and according to Ovid’s elegant and ingenious account, the Æthiopians acquired their black colour during the conflagration excited by the rash attempt of Phaeton to govern his father’s chariot. It excites no small degree of surprise when we find some modern authors having recourse to a similar idea, without their reflecting that a degree of heat capable of altering the colour of the blood in the vessels on the surface of the body must inevitably have destroyed the vital principle. Every permanent and characteristical variety in human nature is effected by slow and almost imperceptible gradations. Great and sudden changes are too violent for the delicate constitution of man, and always tend to destroy the system. The powerful effects of heat in changing the colour of the European skin are very evident, but they differ in different people: in some, an uniform brownness is produced; in others, discoloured spots called freckles, which, when of long continuance, are indelible. Freckles, however, are not peculiar to a fair skin, they occur even in brown complexions in Europe, and sometimes even in mulattos. Discolorations, apparently of the same nature with freckles, are often seen in the black skin, and are also occasionally seen in negro women when pregnant. The Saracens and Moors, who in the seventh century settled themselves in the north-east parts of Africa, and were then of a brown complexion, have, since their nearer approach to the equator, suffered such a change of colour as scarcely to be distinguishable at present from negroes. According to Demánet, they have made a change in this part of Africa, by introducing their language, customs, and religion; and in their turn they have suffered a similar change from the climate. The Portuguese also, who settled during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in the islands of Bissao, St. Thomas, Prince, Fernando Po, &c. where they still remain, are said to have so far acquired the colour of the natives, as scarcely to be distinguished from them by complexion; though this also is doubtless owing in part to intermarriages with the aborigines. In all warm climates we see the skin has a tendency to a darker colour: the French are browner than the Swedes, Danes, English, and Germans; the inhabitants of the southern parts of Spain are darker than the French; and the Portuguese, in complexion, differ but a few shades from the mulatto. As we approach the equator the skin assumes in general a darker colour, and the complexion of the inhabitants for the most part bears a relative proportion to the heat of the climate[169]. Exceptions, however, occur; local circumstances, such as the elevation of the land, its vicinity to the sea, the nature of the soil, the state of cultivation and civilization, the course of winds, &c.[170] have a great power in counteracting climate, and we even find that the skin assumes a darker hue in the high latitudes, as is shewn in the Laplander and Esquimaux. It has been remarked[171], that people who reside near the sea coast are in general darker coloured than those who live more inland; and in support of this opinion it may be observed, that the Foolas are for the most part of a lighter complexion than their neighbours on the coast. But though less black than some of their neighbours, the Foola complexion can only be regarded as an intermediate shade between the darkest African and the Moor. Major Rennel, in his valuable additions to Mr. Park’s interesting account of his travels, is of opinion that the Foolas are the Leucæthiopes of Ptolemy and Pliny. But the propriety of the term, white negro, applied to a people of a dark mahogany colour, does not appear very striking. The idea of a nation of white negroes in Africa most probably arose in consequence of that curious variety the Albino having been accidentally discovered; and from a similar cause perhaps the learned Haller held the same opinion: he says, “sunt in æstuosis illis terris integræ nationes albæ.” Elem. Physiol. vol. v c. 12. But as a further proof that the Foolas are not so white as the term Leucæthiopes would suppose, Mr. Watt and my brother found that a Mulatto had resided some years at Teembo before they arrived, and had pretended to the Foolas that he was a _white man_. An alteration of complexion also often follows a change in the habit of body, and thin people of a dark complexion appear to turn fairer on becoming more plump[172]. Professor Zimmerman supposes[173], that if a certain number of generations be requisite to change an European into a negro, a much greater number will be necessary to change the African into a white; for he adds, “A dark coloured spot is easily produced upon the skin by burning, but a long time is required to efface it, and porous bodies receive a tinge more readily than they part with it. In order to know,” he continues, “how long a time and how many generations would be required to change a race of Senegal negroes as white as the northern nations of Europe, they ought to be placed, not in Pennsylvania, nor even in France, but in Denmark or in Sweden. There they should be exposed as much as possible to the open air, prevented from having any communication with whites, and be nourished with food adapted to such a northern climate.” Were this done, the change, he thinks, would certainly be brought about, though perhaps slowly. From this cause negroes carried from their own hot country into other warm climates suffer no change. If, as an intelligent writer observes, the human race be divided into species merely from their colour, it must necessarily follow, that if the negroes form a specific class because they are black, those of an olive and tawny complexion must form another class, because they are not white; and, from the same cause, the Spaniards and Swedes would form two distinct species of men. The most striking example we have of the influence of climate is to be found among that persecuted race of people the Jews; dispersed over the chief parts of the civilized globe, but prevented by religious motives from mixing with the rest of mankind, they still retain their characteristic features, though they have assumed the complexion of every country they inhabit. Thus they are “fair[174] in Britain and Germany, brown in France and in Turkey, swarthy in Portugal and in Spain, olive in Syria and in Chaldea, tawny or copper-coloured in Arabia and Egypt,” and nearly black in Abyssinia[175]. Children of the same family, in Europe, very frequently are of different complexions, some being fair, and others brown; the same variety occurs in Africa, independently of any admixture of white blood, and while some are of a jet black, others are sometimes only a dark brown. In a family of six persons whom I knew, one half was almost as light coloured as mulattos, while the other was jet black. The father of these people was of a deep black, but the mother was a mulatto. The offspring of the darkest coloured African and fairest European, successively intermarrying with Europeans, become white in the fourth generation, and in the West India islands are allowed by law to enjoy the same privileges as whites; the reverse takes place in intermarriages with blacks. The child of an European and African is called a mulatto; the European and mulatto produce a quadroon; this last with the European produces the mestee, which in the succeeding generation becomes white. The offspring of the black and mulatto is called a sambo, which is the only gradation marked between them, though there appears to be as much reason to distinguish a shade between the sambo and black as between the quadroon and white. A distinction of this kind is probably used by the Dutch, as Captain Stedman places the mongroo, as it is called, between the black and sambo. These gradations of colour are chiefly characterized by the hair, which retains more or less of its woolly nature; for some mulattos are nearly as fair as brown people in Europe, and it is well known that some of the mestees in the West Indies have as fine complexions as many even fair people in England. The very striking difference of colour between the African and European is merely superficial, and resides in a part so extremely delicate as to require the skill of the anatomist to detect it. The skin, or that part which corresponds to the hide of animals, is covered by two thin membranes or skins; the outermost is called the cuticle or scarf skin, which we daily see broken by accidents, raised by blisters, and renewed without any trouble: it is devoid of sensibility, and in the African as well as European is nearly colourless and transparent. Immediately below the cuticle, or between it and the true skin, lies a delicate membrane called the rete mucosum, in which the whole distinction of colour exists: in the European it is white or brown, according to his complexion; in the African it is of a firmer texture than in fair people, and is of various shades of blackness. When this middle membrane is destroyed by extensive wounds, burns, &c. it is never reproduced, and the cicatrix or scar remains white through life. It is worthy of observation that negro children are nearly as fair as Europeans at birth, and do not acquire their colour until several days have elapsed. The eyes of new-born negro children are also of a light colour, and preserve somewhat of a bluish tinge for several days after birth, or, as Ligon expresses it, “not unlike the eyes of a young kitling.” The palms of the hands and soles of the feet are nearly as white as in Europeans, and continue so through life, a circumstance not sufficiently attended to by painters. Among the various theories formed to account for the black complexion, it has been supposed that the blood and other fluids secreted from it are darker coloured in the African than in the European, and communicate the same tinge to the skin. This is asserted by Herodotus[176], but is contradicted by Aristotle. The bile has been noticed as another cause; but, according to my experience, it is not darker coloured in the African than in the European. Bile has no power in producing a permanent change in the colour of the skin; and sickness, which in hot climates causes the skins of Europeans to assume a yellow hue, changes that of the African to a lighter colour[177]. Next to the black colour of the skin, the hair constitutes the most striking peculiarity in the African. Its cause remains still unexplained, and affords to the naturalist as well as to the physiologist matter for curious speculation. Professor Soemmering[178] remarks, that the hair of the African differs from that of the European not merely in being woolly; it is also much shorter, of a finer texture, more elastic, blacker, more shining and crisp. It does not decline so gradually towards the forehead, temples, and neck, as in whites, but appears placed on the head like a wig. Professor Zimmerman[179] considers the hair of negroes as more deserving of attention than either their nose or lips. Dr. Foster makes a distinction between woolly and curly hair; the latter we frequently see in Europeans of a dark complexion and rigid fibre. The wool of negroes is not merely curled; each hair is of a finer texture also. According to Dr. Foster’s idea, this fineness of the hair arises from too abundant perspiration, which carries off the fluids destined for its nourishment and growth. Where the perspiration is not so copious, the hair curls and becomes black, but is not woolly: the inhabitants of Otaheite, the Society, Marquesa, and Friendly Islands, he observes, have a similar climate with the inhabitants of the New Hebrides, but we do not observe woolly hair among the former, owing to the custom of anointing themselves with cocoa-nut oil, which restrains excessive perspiration. Were this opinion of Dr. Foster’s well founded, the Africans ought also to have long hair, as the custom of anointing with oil is universal among them. The hair, as well as the colour of the skin, is affected by extremes of heat or cold: in high and low latitudes it is short, crisp, and woolly; in mean latitudes it is long and straight. The reverse of this happens in animals; in the cold climates of the north they become white, and sheep carried from temperate regions towards the equator soon change their wool to hair. Although woolly hair appears to be more permanently characteristic of the negro, and less apt to be affected by extraneous causes than colour or feature, yet even in this respect very striking varieties occur. When the head has been much exposed during the dry season to a hot sun, the ends of the hair in negroes frequently acquire a reddish or burnt appearance; sometimes this is the natural colour of the hair, independent of exposure to the sun. In a family at Free Town, the children had red or copper coloured skins, and woolly hair of a dirty red or singed colour: at the same place I saw a mulatto man, belonging to the Kroo Coast, whose hair was a pale red, such as occurs in England, and disposed in very small curls over his head; his skin was very much freckled, his eyes were black, and not affected by the glare of sun light. Marcgraf saw in the Brazils an African woman whose skin and hair were red. Professor Blumenbach, in his excellent work De Generis humani Varietate nativa, makes the following important remarks on the varieties of the hair of negroes:——“neque crispitudo Æthiopum capillis, neque nigredo ternis quas postremo loco dixi varietatibus communis et propria est. Dantur siquidem Æthiopum stemmata prolixa coma; dantur contra gentes cuprei coloris attamen crispo, qualis Æthiopum esse solet, capillo; dantur alii, v.c. Novo- Hollandi, quorum cæsaries, ut ex speciminibus video quæ mihi ad manus sunt, tam perfecte medium tenet locum inter Æthiopum crispitudinem et concinnos hominum qui Maris Pacifici insulas inhabitant, ut mirus inde dissensus natus sit in itinerum relationibus à primis inde seculi præteriti Batavorum ad nuperrimas usque Anglorum, num scilicet potius ad unam numve rectius ad alteram varietatem pilorum referenda sit[180].” The length of the hair also varies much; some of the Africans, especially the women, by much care, have hair six or eight inches long, which the men are fond of wearing en queue. In my brother’s journal people are frequently mentioned who had hair as long as Europeans, though they may possibly have been of Moorish extraction. Climate has a great effect in rendering the fleeces of sheep of a finer or coarser texture; whether it can produce a corresponding change upon the woolly hair of negroes has not been noticed: it has a considerable influence upon hair, for, in trade, hair the growth of England bears a higher value than that of the southern parts of France, and Spain. Moderate heat is favourable to the growth of the hair. The natives of Africa think it grows quickest during the cool or rainy season; their hair turns white sooner in them than in Europeans, but even the old people among them are rarely bald. In hot climates the skins of Europeans become very hairy where exposed, especially on the backs of the hands: this is a rare occurrence among the Africans, except in old people. The eye-brows differ from the hair of the head in not being curled and woolly. In warm climates we commonly find the eye-brows remarkably large and black, to guard the eye against the too great influx of light; but in the African they are very seldom so long and bushy as in Europe. The same office appears to be performed by the eye-lashes, which in the negro are remarkably long, dense, and finely curved. Professor Soemmering observes, that the opening formed by the eye-lids is smaller in the negro than in the European, and therefore less of the globe of the eye is visible in the former. The tunica adnata, or white of the eye, he adds, is not so resplendently white in the African as in whites, but is of a yellowish brown. These remarks are in some instances just; but a great variety occurs in the eye, except in its colour, which is invariably dark: some are small, but we occasionally see them well formed, large, and brilliant, particularly in the women. Mr. Adanson, speaking of the women of Senegal, says, “Leur visage est d’une douceur extreme. Elles ont les yeux noirs bien fendus, la bouche et les levres petites, et les traits du visage bien proportionnés. Il s’entrouve plusieurs d’une beauté parfait. Elles ont beaucoup de vivacité, et surtout un air aisé de liberté qui fait plaisir.” In men the white of the eye frequently appears to have a slight yellowish suffusion, not so clear or bright as in jaundice in white people; but this is not constant, and in consumptive cases the eye frequently gets the pearly whiteness so commonly attendant on that complaint in England. The lips of the Africans are in general dark coloured, sometimes differing but little from the colour of the face. Sometimes a considerable tinge of red is seen in them, and in a few instances I have seen them nearly as red as the lips of Europeans, but they never have that beautiful rose colour which occurs in the delicate scrophulous habit in England. This redness of the lips has probably given occasion to the absurd story, already quoted, of a nation, living in the interior parts of Africa, whose lips are constantly bleeding, and, in order to prevent their mortifying, they are obliged to rub them with salt. Professor Zimmerman[181] considers the thick lips, flat nose, and particularly the woolly hair of negroes, circumstances upon which the advocates for distinct races of mankind lay so much stress, as of no great moment. Thick lips are every where to be met with; they occur in the Eskimau and Kalmuck, and among Europeans many families may be pointed out which have thick lips. Moreover there are nations of negroes, he adds, which have neither thick lips nor flat noses; the Joloffs, a negro nation between the Gambia and Senegal rivers, are very black, but, according to the testimony of Moore, they have handsome features, and neither broad noses nor thick lips. Pigafetta[182] expressly says, that the Congo negroes have black, curly, and frequently red hair. He observes, they resembled the Portuguese pretty much, except in colour; the iris was in some black, but in others of a bluish green, and they had not the thick lips of the Nubians. Dampier, in his description of the country of Natal, on the east coast of Africa, says, that the inhabitants were black, and had curly hair, but that they had rather a long face, well proportioned nose, white teeth, and an agreeable countenance. As great a variety of features[183] occurs among these people as is to be met with in the nations of Europe: the sloping contracted forehead, small eyes, depressed nose, thick lips, and projecting jaw, with which the African is usually caricatured, are by no means constant[184] traits: on the contrary, almost every gradation of countenance may be met with, from the disgusting picture too commonly drawn of them, to the finest set of European features. Want of animation does not characterize them, and faces are often met with which express the various emotions of the mind with great energy. Professor Camper remarks that painters, in sketching the heads of Africans, give only black coloured Europeans: more frequent opportunities of observing them would have shewn him the fallacy of this opinion. In drawing the characteristic features of any nation the maximum ought not to be taken, as is most frequently done, following the example of the Grecian artists, who formed to themselves an ideal beauty, which perhaps never existed in any one human form, and in which expression of countenance is nearly annihilated. That wonderful diversity of feature, observable in men and animals, is referred by Professor Camper to the different angles formed by what he terms the facial line taken _en profile_. This is a line drawn from the projecting part of the forehead above the nose, to the extremity of the superior maxillary bone, between the two front incisor teeth; which is intersected by another line drawn through the centre of the meatus auditorius externus and the lower part of the nostrils. The angle formed by these lines is most acute in birds, and becomes greater in animals as they approach nearer to the human species: in one species of ape it is 42°; in another, the simia sciurea Linn. it is 50°; in the negro 70°; in the European 80°; and in the most beautiful antique it forms an angle of 100°. This idea, though extremely ingenious, will probably not be found to stand the test of experience. Professor Blumenbach observes, that the skulls of very different nations, and which vary greatly in appearance from each other, possess the same facial line; and, on the contrary, skulls belonging to the same nation, which bear upon the whole a striking resemblance to each other, have a very different facial line. Thus in two skulls belonging to the professor, one of which belonged to a Congo negro, and the other to a Lithuanian, the facial line is nearly the same; but in two other skulls belonging to negroes, the facial line differs very remarkably. He further adds, that Camper has varied so much in his drawings from the rule he lays down, as to shew that there is much uncertainty in its use. Besides, the human features are altered by such a variety of circumstances, that they never can be reduced to any exact standard. When a rude and ill-featured nation migrates from a cold to a temperate climate, their features are softened, and assume a more elegant form. The Hungarians, originally sprung from the Laplanders, but placed in a temperate climate, and in the neighbourhood of Greece and Turkey, have acquired more handsome features. The Creoles in the West Indies resemble the native Americans in their high cheek bones and deep- seated eyes[185]. Among the Nova Scotia settlers at Sierra Leone the facial line is so much diversified that no conclusion can be drawn from it. Nations who live in barren countries, and experience a scarcity of food, are usually of a diminutive size: the Bedouin Arabs are of small stature, and are remarked for the smallness of their hands and feet. A fuller diet produces a corresponding change; and it is a well known fact, that the slaves in the West Indies, who are humanely treated and well fed, are better made than the others, and acquire more of the European cast of features. Civilization has also a considerable effect upon the countenance, and perhaps to this it may be owing that the Foolas have in general more regular and delicate features than are to be found upon the sea coast. Among those of them whom either curiosity or commerce had attracted to the settlement at Sierra Leone, I saw a youth whose features were exactly of the Grecian mold, and whose person might have afforded to the statuary a model of the Apollo Belvidere. Many of the children also of the Nova Scotian settlers, who are born at Free Town, Sierra Leone, are distinguishable from those of Europeans only by their complexion. An opinion has very generally prevailed, that the flat nose of the African is occasioned by the mother pressing it down after birth; this is just as false as the notion that the curvature of the thigh bone is occasioned by the weight of the child resting on the nurse’s arm: both these are original formations, as they are seen in the fœtus. “Should we not deem it very ridiculous, if a travelling or philosophic negro, or Calmuck, in describing the particular forms of our features, were gravely to assert, that our midwives, mothers, or nurses, pulled us by the nose during our infant days, in order to give it the requisite length[186]?” Various opinions have been formed respecting the rank which the African holds in the scale of creation, and many attempts have been made to depreciate his claim to the dignity of man. Owing to the resemblance which the oran outang is said to bear to the human species, and perhaps from a wish to overturn the only rational and satisfactory account we have of the creation, some writers of eminence have asserted that man originally walked upon four feet, and was in fact the same with the oran outang. There is reason, however, to suspect the accuracy of the figures which we possess of the oran outang; and it seems probable that it is indebted for much of its human appearance to the complaisance of painters. Professor Ludwig, in his excellent work[187], asserts, that the representations of the oran outang, by Tyson, Edwards, Daubenton, and Allemand, are defective and even imaginary. Baron von Wurmb[188] also positively declares, since the time that Bontius resided at Batavia, about the middle of the last century, an oran outang, such as is represented by him, has never been seen there, or in any of the neighbouring countries. The oldest and most experienced Javanese, he continues, know no other oran outang but such as are perfect apes; and in the Malay language they distinguish only two species of apes without tails, which Buffon has classed under the titles pongos and jockos. These circumstances appear to have misled naturalists, who have been led still farther astray by their anxiety to trace every link of the chain with which nature is supposed to connect her works. In support of this strange opinion, and agreeable to the spirit of systematizing which generally prevails, the African has been pointed out as the connecting link between the homo sapiens, and his supposed progenitor the oran outang. The learned and accurate Professor Soemmering has, with much anatomical skill, compared the organization of the African with that of the European, and has pointed out several circumstances in which they differ; though some of these are of so trifling a nature, that they would probably have escaped a less accurate and intelligent observer. At the same time it must be remarked, that the observations have been drawn from too few subjects, and many of the deviations, upon which much stress is laid, are such as occur occasionally in the dissection of European bodies. In justice to Professor Soemmering it ought to be observed, that in prosecuting this comparative inquiry he attended solely to the appearances as they presented themselves, without having been biassed on instituting his observations by any preconceived theory. He therefore does not hesitate to consider them as brethren entitled to an interchange of good offices, and moreover adds, that many of the blacks surpass their brothers the whites, as well in understanding as in the fineness of their shape. It is curious to observe into what a variety of forms authors have endeavoured to diversify the human species, supposing no doubt that Nature loved to indulge her fondness for variety in producing races of men according to their distorted fancies. Thus Pliny, in his learned and invaluable History, says, “in quadam convalle magna Imai Montis, regio est, quæ vocatur Abarimon, in qua silvestres vivunt homines, aversis post crura plantis, eximiæ velocitatis, passim cum feris vagantes,” vii. 2. For some further amusing caricatures see the same chapter. A modern author retails this same fable, and speaks of a nation in Guiana “qui naissaient avec le devant des pieds en arriere, de sorte qu’en marchant sur leurs traces on s’eloignait d’eux.” Voyage a la Guiane. All these opinions may be finally answered in the words of an elegant author, who observes, that “of all animals, the differences between mankind are the smallest. Of the lower races of creatures the changes are so great as often entirely to disguise the natural animal, and to distort or to disfigure its shape. But the chief differences in man are rather taken from the tincture of his skin than the variety of his figure; and in all climates he presents his erect deportment and the marked superiority of his form[189].” [Footnote 163: The Africans are called by Herodotus Kallistoi and Megistoi.] [Footnote 164: This smoothness and softness of the skin has also been noticed in the Caraib, the inhabitant of Otaheite, and even among the Turks. This is variously accounted for by authors: some refer it to a thicker cuticle, while others, among whom is Professor Blumenbach, refer it to a thinner state of the cuticle, or to a thicker layer of the mucus malpighianus. Cutis Nolosericea, LIN. Mr. de Pauw has committed a gross error in asserting that the pulse of the African is always quick, and their skin hot to the touch.] [Footnote 165: Writers are apt to be partial, and to give the preference to those nations among whom they have longest resided. Mr. Adanson says the natives of Senegal are the handsomest and finest looking people in Nigritia; and the same character is given of several other nations upon the coast. The same observation holds good with respect to the salubrity of the climate; every European who has lived a length of time in Africa calls all parts of the coast unhealthy except the place where he happened to dwell.] [Footnote 166: They have no other mode of expressing that an object is beautiful, than by saying it is good: thus a pretty woman is no lak’an kelleng, _i.e._ a good woman; a pretty child, no pom’mo kelleng, _i.e._ a good child.] [Footnote 167: Quis enim Æthiopas, antequam cerneret, credidit? PLIN. Hist. Nat. vii. 1.] [Footnote 168: ii. 80.] [Footnote 169: “Immediately below the arctic circle a high and sanguine colour prevails. From this you descend to the mixture of red in white; afterwards succeed the brown, the olive, the tawny, and at length the black, as you proceed to the line.” SMITH on Variety of Complexion.] [Footnote 170: Zimmerman.] [Footnote 171: Smith on Complexion and Figure of the Human Species.] [Footnote 172: Raynal, who attributes the dark colour of the African chiefly to the effects of climate, adds, “Ce qui paroit confirmer que le coloris des negres est l’effet du climat, de l’air, de l’eau, des alimens de la Guinèe, c’est qu’il change lorsqu’on les conduit dans d’autres nations. Les enfans qu’ils procréent en Amerique sont moins noirs que ceux dont ils ont reçu le jour. Après chaque lignée, la difference est plus sensible. Il se pourrait, qu’après nombreuses generations, on ne distinguat pas les hommes sortis de l’Afrique de ceux des pays où ils auroient été transplantès.” Hist. Philos. et Polit. vol. vi. These observations are for the present rather premature, as we are still in want of facts to prove the probable assertion above made, that climate is equivalent to produce this change in the black complexion. In America we cannot trace black families unmixed with white above four or five generations back, a period much too short to produce any important change. The lapse of a few centuries will probably shew the Abbé’s opinion to be just.] [Footnote 173: Geographische Geschichte des Menschen.] [Footnote 174: Smith.] [Footnote 175: Zimmerman.] [Footnote 176: Thalia, ci.] [Footnote 177: Mr. de Pauw likewise imagines he has discovered the cause of the black colour of the negro in the dark hue with which he supposes their fluids are tinged; from these he supposes there is constantly separated “une matiere acre qu’on nomme Æthiops animal,” and which is deposited in the rete mucosum. He says, “Ils ont la substance moëlleuse du cerveau noiratre, la glande pinéale presqu’entierement noire, l’entrelas des nerfs optiques brunatre, le sang d’un rouge beaucoup plus foncé que le notre,” &c. If these observations were just, this ingenious writer’s hypothesis might receive some support; but there is such disagreement among anatomists on this head, that we may conclude the difference in the colour of the brain, &c. in an African and European cannot be very striking. Professor Meckel, from whom de Pauw quotes the remark, imagined the brain of the African to be darker coloured than in the European, from which he deduced the black colour of their skin: Professor Walter is of a contrary opinion, in which he is supported by Professor Soemmering, who positively asserts, that he could not observe the smallest difference in colour, either in the cineritious or medullary parts of the brain of an African and European. Professor Walter thinks the blood of negroes is darker coloured than that of Europeans; and Professor Soemmering inclines to the same opinion, but adds, that he agrees with Professor Camper, who asserts, that he has found the blood of Europeans equally dark coloured. If I may be allowed to give an opinion after men so deservedly eminent, I would assert that there is no perceptible difference in the colour of the blood of an African and European. Much stress has also been laid upon the colour of the bile; but Professor Soemmering asserts[a], that he has not found this fluid darker coloured in the African than it is in the European. Two other theories, founded upon chemical combinations, have been brought forward to solve this problem. The first[b] supposes that iron abounds in the blood of the negroes, and is precipitated into the rete mucosum by the phosphorous acid. The other, which is proposed by Professor Blumenbach[c], supposes, that the carbon which abounds in the body is thrown off by the _cutis vera_ united with hydrogen, but is decompounded by the access of the oxygen of the atmosphere, and the carbon remains fixed in the mucus Malpighianus. But as the cuticle is impervious to the external air, except what may be absorbed by vessels, the precipitation could only happen on the outside of the epidermis; and as oxygen has a stronger attraction for carbon than for hydrogen, if the elective attraction took place, only carbonic acid would be formed, at the same time the hydrogen uniting with azote might form ammoniac. From what has been said we may infer, that the immediate cause of the black colour of the African remains still a problem for future observers to solve.] [Footnote a: Uber die Koerperliche Verschiedenheit des Negers, &c.] [Footnote b: Kant. in Engels Philosoph. fur die Welt.] [Footnote c: De Generis Humani Varietate nativa, p. 125.] [Footnote 178: Ueber die Koerperl. Verschiedenh. des Negers, &c.] [Footnote 179: Geograph. Geschichte des Mensch.] [Footnote 180: The learned author above mentioned quotes the following writers on the subject of the hair: “Plerosque Wotjakos, sibi visos, rufos fuisse, J. G. Gmelin, Reise durch Sibirien. “Flavi Capilli Eskimotas memorat Charlevoix in Histoire de la Nouvelle France. “De Æthiopibus rufis v. Lopez, Relazione del Reame di Congo. “Mulatum rufo capillo ipse vidi, et pilorum specimen servo. Idem de Mulatis a se in Sierra Liona visis notat Von der Gröben, Guineische Reise beschreibung.”] [Footnote 181: In his excellent work, Geograph. Geschichte des Menschen.] [Footnote 182: Relatione del Reame di Congo.] [Footnote 183: In Professor Voigt’s Magazin fur das neueste aus der Physik und Naturgeschichte are contained some ingenious and excellent observations of Professor Blumenbach respecting the negroes, and controverting Professor Camper’s opinions concerning them.] [Footnote 184: “Les habitans ont tous,” says Abbé Raynal, “après le Niger, la tete oblongue; le nez large, ecrasé, epaté; de grosses levres; une chevelure crepue comme la laine de nos moutons.” Mons. Buffon says, on the contrary, with more justice, “Il paroit d’abord en rassemblant les temoignages des voyageurs, qu’il y a autant de varieté dans la race des noirs, que dans celle des blancs; les noirs ont, comme les blancs, leurs Tartares and leurs Circassiens—” And again he adds, “Ensuite en examinant en particulier les differens peuples qui composent chacune de ces races noires, nous y verrons autant de varietés que dans les races blanches, et nous y trouverons toutes les nuances du brun au noir, comme nous avons trouvé dans les races blanches toutes les nuances du brun au blanc.” Hist. Nat. de l’Homme.] [Footnote 185: Blumenbach de Gener. Hum. Variet. nativa.] [Footnote 186: Camper’s Works, by Cogan.] [Footnote 187: (Ludwig) Grundriss der Naturgeschichte der Menschenspecies.] [Footnote 188: Beschreibung des grossen Orangutangs der Insel Borneo, contained in Lichtenbergo Magazin fur das neuste aus der Physik, 1 B. 4to. St.] [Footnote 189: Goldsmith’s Animated Nature.] CHAP. XIII. GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE AFRICANS AS GIVEN BY DIFFERENT AUTHORS. THEIR PRIDE. SENSIBILITY. DEFERENCE TO OLD AGE. HOSPITALITY. GENIUS. ORATORY. SCHOOLS. FONDNESS FOR LITERATURE. ALTHOUGH Europeans have carried on a trade with the natives of the western coast of Africa for near three centuries, the latter have no cause to rejoice in the intercourse. Instead of introducing amongst them what they pride themselves in possessing, the boasted arts of civilized life; to say nothing of the slave trade, the natural effects of which in degrading and brutalizing the human character are sufficiently apparent; Europeans have taught them only the vices of their own countries. But these are not the only injuries of which the Africans have reason to complain. In delineating their moral character, prejudice or interest has too commonly been allowed to guide the pencil, and it would appear that, in forming the sketch, the words of the celebrated Montesquieu had been understood literally and not ironically. “These creatures,” says the learned president, “are all over black, and with such a flat nose, that they can scarcely be pitied. It is hardly to be believed that God, who is a wise being, should place a soul, especially a good soul, in such a black ugly body.” The Africans may be divided into two classes; those who dwell in the interior parts at a distance from the sea, and those who inhabit the sea coast. These differ from each other in disposition, as much as the manners of the people who dwell in large and populous towns in Europe differ from the more simple and ingenuous manners of those who inhabit the country. The Africans on the sea coast are chiefly engaged in commerce, and are in general shrewd and artful, sometimes malevolent and perfidious. Their long connection with European slave traders has tutored them in the arts of deceit, so that false weights and measures, damaged goods, and all the various cheats which the ingenuity of the more enlightened European has strained itself to invent, are now detected almost as soon as they are attempted to be put in practice. It is in a great measure owing to this cause that traders who visit the coast of Africa in hopes of becoming suddenly rich, disappointed in finding the natives better acquainted with the value of their country’s produce than they at first supposed, and too well instructed by dear bought experience to be so grossly imposed upon as formerly, have drawn of them as foul a picture as they could invent. In short, the Africans may quote Æsop’s fable of the Man and the Lion, and reply to their calumniators, “We lions tell the story differently.” In proportion as we advance into the country the natives are found to be more simple in their manners, more devoid of art, and more free from suspicion. But erroneous opinions respecting the African character are not confined to the interested and ignorant observer; prejudice has biassed the minds of men celebrated for their learning and acuteness, as will appear from the following extract: “[190]Of all the various races of mankind, there are none who have a stronger attachment to life implanted in them, and a greater horror at the thoughts of death, than the negroes on the western coast of Africa, from Senegal down to Loango. They are more insensible than others towards pain and natural evils, as well as towards injurious and unjust treatment. In short, there are none so well adapted to be the slaves of others, and who therefore have been armed with so much passive obedience.” The fear which the Africans entertain of dissolution, if it really exists, would rather indicate excessive sensibility, and seems incompatible with the stoical apathy which this writer affirms they possess. These traits are certainly not observable in the natives round Sierra Leone, nor in any others whom I have seen. With more truth it may be said, that in sickness and pain they shew a becoming fortitude, and they certainly meet the approach of death with at least as much indifference as is usually seen in Europe. It is indeed said by some travellers, that amongst the nations of Whidah to mention death is accounted rude, and if it be done before a great man, it is deemed a capital crime. But even allowing this to be true, it does not imply any extraordinary fear of death, because _fashion_ may introduce into a country customs which are no fair indication of natural disposition. Many instances of this kind occur in the writings of antiquity: Joseph does not ask of Pharaoh permission to go and bury his father, but sends to request it, as it was not lawful for him to appear before the king in a mourning habit; and in the book of Esther it is said, “None might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth.” If they were thus strict in prohibiting a certain dress, we may presume they might be equally careful to avoid certain subjects of conversation. It may further be remarked, that nearly the same ideas were prevalent among the Romans, who never were accused of any slavish fear of death; witness their circumlocutory mode of expressing themselves upon this subject. Another learned author has remarked[191], “that the strong backs of the Africans seem to shew that these people are designed by nature to bear the yoke of slavery.” The converse of this proposition must therefore be true; and nature has undoubtedly intended that the Eskimaux, the most pigmy race of men existing, should become lords of the universe. An author, who resided some time among the natives round Sierra Leone, though he does not give the most favourable account of their dispositions in general, yet he allows them the praise of being hospitable and kind to those whose conduct is marked with propriety; and at the same time he shews that they possess sufficient penetration to distinguish men of merit from the common herd of traders who infest that part. “The Mandingos,” he observes, “from religious motives, hate a Christian, and vilify those Europeans who reside among them, and whom they _frequently_ see drinking and rioting, with the appellation of dog. But when I formerly resided among them, by pursuing a _contrary conduct_, and being able to converse with them on the tenets of their religion, I received such treatment from them, in the time of the utmost distress, when I was dangerously ill, as I could have expected only from my best and dearest friends[192].” Though the Mandingos and Foolas are very rigidly tenacious of the dogmas of their religion, yet they are highly gratified by having passages in the Bible pointed out which bear a relation to parts of the Koran. I have seen many of them listen, with deep attention and extreme pleasure, to various passages of our scriptures, which were translated to them by an interpreter. They never speak disrespectfully of our religion, nor do they call its professors vilifying names, as far as my experience reaches; though certainly they can draw no favourable opinion of it from the conduct of the _Christians_ who reside in Africa[193]. The baseness and depravity of manners, which too generally prevail among Europeans settled upon this coast, are so great, that the words of a learned author unhappily, apply to them with literal exactness: “Vita et moribus suis in contrarium potius videantur conspirasse ad avertendos _Turcarum_ animos a fide christiana. Fraudes nomine christiano indignæ, vita dissoluta, mores pravi, consortia turpissima, mendacia quibus ob leve lucrum sæpissime aliis imponunt, proverbium dedere Turcis, quod æterno nobis erit opprobrio, nisi novis moribus, facta priora deleamus[194].” In describing the disposition of nations who have scarcely emerged from what is termed a state of barbarism, observers are too apt to be led astray by individual acts of kindness or of injury, and, yielding to a momentary impulse, decide upon their character with too little diffidence as well as discrimination. Thus to one people they attribute virtues too sublime to be consistent with human frailty and depravity, while others they accuse of vices altogether inconsistent with their small progress in civilization. As mankind, however, though they may differ in complexion or in feature, are precisely alike in that immortal part which alone ought to characterize the human species, so long as they are unrestrained by education, the same motives will always impel to similar modes of action. If my testimony can avail ought in placing the character of the Africans in a more just and proper point of view, it will be only a grateful though inadequate return for many acts of kindness received at their hands. In performing this office, however, it is my earnest wish to divest myself of partiality, and neither to “extenuate nor set down aught in malice.” They are in general of mild external manners; but they possess a great share of pride, and are easily affected by an insult: they cannot hear even a harsh expression, or a raised tone of voice, without shewing that they feel it. As a proof that they are not deficient in natural affection, one of the severest insults which can be offered to an African is to speak disrespectfully of his mother, which is called “cursing her;” that they do not feel so very acutely an insult offered to their father is a natural consequence of polygamy. The respect which they pay to old people is very great, and perhaps was not exceeded at Lacedæmon; indeed such is their deference towards age, that we may apply to them the words of the poet: Credebant hoc grande nefas, et morte piandum, Si juvenis vetulo non assurrexerat, et si Barbato cuicunque puer. JUV. Sat. xiii. After a certain age the title of pa, or father, is prefixed to the names of the men, as a token of respect, as Pa Roonee, Pa Sayba, &c.: the title of ma, or mother, is also added to the names of the women, as Ma Shella, Ma Coomba[195]. This is also practised among the slaves in the West Indies; and it is worthy of remark, that those unfortunate people who have gone to the West Indies in the same vessel, ever after retain for each other a strong and tender affection: with them the term _ship- mate_ is almost equivalent to that of brother and sister, and it is rarely that matrimonial connections take place between them[196]. The hospitality of the Africans has been noticed by almost every traveller who has been much among them. When the colony of Sierra Leone was destroyed by those who styled themselves the friends of liberty, and the inhabitants were stripped in the most wanton manner of the comforts they were enjoying, when their houses[197] were burnt, their provisions and even medicines _destroyed_, and they themselves reduced by this cruel treatment to the prospect of disease, famine, and misery, _quæque ipse miserrima vidi_; they were all, whites as well as blacks, most hospitably received by the natives, into whose villages they were obliged to fly for shelter. In travelling through many parts of their country, when overpowered with heat, fatigue, and hunger, I have ever met with a welcome and hospitable reception on arriving at their villages; mats have been brought out for myself and friends to repose on; and if it happened to be meal-time, we have been at liberty to join them without ceremony, or to wait till something better could be provided. If we intended to spend the night there, a house has been set apart for us, and, on taking leave in the morning, a guide has generally offered to shew us on our way. Indeed, so far does this spirit of hospitality prevail, that a traveller or stranger, as they call him, is scarcely accountable for any faults which he may commit, whether through inadvertency or design, the host being considered as responsible for the actions of “his stranger.” The entrance into a Bullom or Timmanee town, and in general into the small towns or villages of all the other nations, affords a gratifying picture of African manners. As soon as a stranger is observed, all the inhabitants quit their occupations, and hasten to shake him by the hand, repeating several times the word senno, welcome. Even the children, who can barely lisp a welcome, when a little custom has diminished the dread attending a white face, are eager to discharge this duty of hospitality, and with a smile hold out their little hands, and seem delighted if he deigns but to notice them. Upon entering into a Bullom house, particularly those in the river Sherbro and on the Bananas, the usual salutation is moi-ée, are you come? They express in a civil manner their dislike to any person’s visits by saying pa-nee-móo, you have not been long away. After all, it must be acknowledged, that in uncivilized countries hospitality is so necessary, and so much required by the mutual convenience of all parties, as to detract greatly from its merit as a moral quality. It must also be acknowledged that this virtue is by no means so generally practised among the Bulloms and Timmanees, partly no doubt from their poverty, as it is said to be by nations further removed from the sea coast. Extremes of heat and cold have been supposed to be equally unfavourable to the growth of genius. It is in temperate climates that the mind as well as the body attains its greatest power; and an elegant author observes, that “the shade of the barren oak and the pine are more favourable to the genius of mankind than that of the palm or the tamarind.” This opinion, however, rational as it may appear to us at present, may be shewn by succeeding ages to be ill founded. The annals of history clearly prove to us, that genius and empire have been constantly changing their seats, and that no people or country have been favoured hitherto with the exclusive enjoyment of them. Lucretius very justly observes, Augescunt aliæ gentes, aliæ minuuntur, Inque brevi spatio mutantur sæcla animantum. Who, during the Augustan age of Rome, would have presumed to predict that science would one day remove to the impenetrable forests of Germany and Gaul, or, still more improbable, to the distant shores of Britain? The sciences, which were cultivated in Egypt[198] at a time when Europe was almost desert and uncultivated, were said to have been carried thither from Ethiopia, so that it would be as absurd to deny that the arts could flourish in Africa, from viewing the present state of the country and of its inhabitants, as it would be to assert that Athens, mutilated and in ruins, never enjoyed the celebrity which historians have attributed to it, or that Britons were not once numbered among the greatest barbarians. Had the Carthaginian empire withstood the attacks of the Romans, we might at this time have possessed much important knowledge, which was lost to its then unlettered conquerors; and it is not improbable that Africa would have risen to a height of grandeur beyond what we can now conceive. Authors have remarked a circumstance respecting the intellectual faculties, which, it is asserted, is peculiar to the natives of all hot climates, and which, if founded on fact, is certainly not unworthy of attention; that is the early appearance of genius and understanding said to be observable in children, and their equally sudden and rapid decay. Heat, it is well known, is the most active agent in nature, and its powerful effects are daily seen in accelerating the growth of vegetables: the same effects are supposed to be produced in the animal kingdom; and, according to this analogy, by increasing the sensibility of the body it hastens the evolution of its organs. The faculties, therefore, in consequence of this early evolution, are exerted before they have acquired sufficient energy; and the mind is exposed to the allurements of vice before the judgment is sufficiently matured to withstand its mischievous attacks. It is asserted also, that the baneful effects of this premature manhood are peculiarly felt in South America, where the moral character has in consequence thereof greatly suffered[199]. This early evolution and rapid decline of the mental faculties, if they exist in nature, certainly do not form traits in the African character. I have frequently observed, with great pleasure, the facility with which the children of the native Africans, as well as those of the Nova Scotian settlers brought from America, receive instruction in the different schools established at Free Town, but it is not such as to lead to an idea of precocity. Neither is there any reason to suppose that the judgment decays with age, if we consider the soundness of intellect and strength of memory frequently observable in their old people. So far indeed does the opinion quoted above differ from the result of my observations, that I should be disposed to say that African children are no more inferior to English children than men in Africa are below men of the same age in England. Their orators are in general men who have passed the prime of life, but they are often very successful in exciting the passions by their bold and figurative language, which flows in torrents, and is sometimes such as would not disgrace the page of an eastern poet. Their discourses are delivered with force and energy, and sometimes with considerable violence of tone and gesticulation, even when the discourse itself is vapid and full of tiresome repetitions. Those who have visited the schools instituted by the Mahommedans, for the instruction of children in Arabic literature, must have admired the industry and perseverance of the scholars, at the same time that he lamented the great loss of time spent in acquiring a knowledge of the Arabic, which would have been so much more profitably employed in learning to read their own or some European language[200]. In these schools the boys read, or rather shout, their lessons as loud as possible: the same is observed by Dr. Russell, speaking of the Mahommedan schools at Aleppo: “as they read aloud all together, the noise they make in getting their lessons may be heard at some distance.” This noise is rendered still more grating to the ear by their harsh and guttural pronunciation. Such, however, is their quickness of perception, that, amidst this confused clamour, if a word be wrong pronounced, or falsely accented, it is immediately noticed by the master, or corrected by one of the scholars, among whom a strong spirit of emulation prevails. The boys begin their studies at least an hour before daylight in the morning, and protract them till late at night, taking some respite during the middle of the day. In the dry season, before sun-rise and after sun-set, they generally sit in the open air round a large fire[201], which affords them light, and for its support each scholar brings a bundle of faggots. Their lessons are written with ink which washes out, by means of a reed cut in form of a pen, upon thin smooth pieces of wood of a close grain like beech; the letters are first written, then the combinations of letters, and lastly passages of the Koran. When they can read and write with facility, the master receives as his reward, for each scholar, a slave, or the value of one; but if he fails in this point, he receives no recompence for his trouble.[202] As writing constitutes one of their chief amusements, they are anxious to excel in it, and many of them write with great expedition and a tolerable degree of elegance. They procure paper from Europeans, but use a reed instead of a pen. They procure a very excellent ink by boiling the leaves of a tree called bullanta in water: this is generally done in an iron pot, containing some scoriæ of iron from a smith’s forge. After it has boiled for a considerable time, the liquor is set aside to cool, and is then strained for use: it is of a dark purple colour, and is extremely durable. They generally make use of a large snail-shell to keep it in, to which a little cotton is added to absorb the ink. A similar receptacle is also used for their ointments: · · · · Funde capacibus Unguenta de conchis[203]. They set a high value upon some of their manuscripts: an old man, who had a small duodecimo book of a quarto form, containing extracts from the Koran very neatly written, and ornamented with views of the Caaba, &c. at Mecca, refused to sell it for eight slaves, as it had been at Mecca, or, as he expressed it, “had walked to Mecca.” The Mandingos and Foolas are passionate admirers of Arabic literature, in which they are tolerably proficient; and it is to be ascribed partly to the shackles imposed by their religion, and partly to the debasing effects of the slave trade and the obstructions it presents to improvement, rather than to a want of genius, that they have made so little progress in other sciences. Niebuhr observes, that he has often shewn to the Arabs books printed in their own language which they could scarce read. I have, however, more than once seen the Africans read Arabic books; one in particular read several chapters of the New Testament in Arabic, and of which he appeared to have a just comprehension. Several others explained passages in Arabic books, particularly Richardson’s Arabic Dictionary, giving the sound of the words very nearly as they are there written, and in general explaining the meaning of them very exactly[204]. [Footnote 190: Meiners vermischte Philosoph. Schriften. See Soemmering.] [Footnote 191: Wunsch Rosmologische Unterhaltungen. Vide Soemmering.] [Footnote 192: Matthews’s Letters from Sierra Leone.] [Footnote 193: It is only by the very lowest class, when irritated, that an European will be reproached with the title of kaafr, infidel.] [Footnote 194: Relandus in Præfatione.] [Footnote 195: Among the Bulloms, an old man who is become grey headed is styled yome, and a woman laam. A young person would not dare to call one of these titled old people by any other name than yome or laam; if necessary to distinguish him from some other old person he would say, for example, Yome Pa Sóberra, or if a woman, Laam Ya Doora. Appa is used among the Bulloms, and pa by the Timmanees. The Soosoos use fa, or fafay. Children speaking to their father say papa. When a Soosoo man speaks to a person older than himself, to whom he wishes to pay some respect, he styles him kammay fooree, old man; if he intends to mark a greater degree of respect, he says fa-fay fooree, old father: but the most honourable appellation is tannum fooree, old grandfather. The same degrees of courtesy are used to the women; thus, n’yakkalay fooree is old woman; gaa fooree, old mother; and mama fooree, old grandmother. A boy, speaking to a woman about thirty years of age, called her Gaa Fooree Bondee; to which she indignantly replied, that being older than his mother, she thought herself entitled to be called Mama Fooree Bondee, or old grandmother Bondee.] [Footnote 196: An intimate friend of mine, who resided several years in Jamaica, where he had the management of a large sugar plantation, returning home late in the evening, met a negro belonging to it carrying a box upon his head. He insisted on knowing its contents: the negro said it was the heart of a _ship-mate_, which he was carrying to an estate a few miles off, where a number of the friends of the deceased lived, in order that they might _cry_ over it. He said he had already cried over the body the night before in committing it to the ground, and now he meant to join his friends, who were more remote, in the same ceremony. Their _cries_ consist of music, dancing, and crying, as in Africa, and differ only in name, being called plays in the West Indies.] [Footnote 197: It must be acknowledged, however, that the French left the bare walls of the huts belonging to the Nova Scotian settlers uninjured, after having plundered them of their contents, even the wearing apparel of the women and children, and destroyed those articles of furniture which they could not carry away.] [Footnote 198: Herodotus. Diodorus Siculus.] [Footnote 199: Falconer on the Influence of Climate.] [Footnote 200: I am happy to say, that, since the above was written, much has been done to remedy the disadvantage here complained of. The Soosoo language has been reduced to fixed principles through the assiduous labours of the Rev. Mr. Brunton, and several tracts have been translated into it, and printed, at the expense of the Society for Missions to Africa and the East. As the Soosoo is the language not only of a considerable space near the sea coast, but of the extensive country which Mr. Park distinguishes by the name of Jallonkadoo, and as it is also very frequently spoken by the Timmanees, Bulloms, and Mandingos, its reduction to writing appears to be an event of no small importance. No book had ever before been printed, or even written, in any of the languages of western Africa. The greater ease, however, with which knowledge may be introduced through the medium of their own language, which they perfectly understand, than it can by means of the Arabic, which is a foreign language, and consequently of itself a difficult acquirement, is obvious. The books already printed in Soosoo are as follows, viz. 1. A Grammar and Vocabulary; 2. A Spelling-book and Church Catechism; 3. An easy First Catechism; 4. A Second Catechism; 5. An Historical Catechism; 6. Three Dialogues on the Advantage of Letters, the Absurdity of the religious Notions of the Soosoos, and the comparative Value of the Christian and Mahommedan Religion; 7. Christian Instructions, being an Abridgment of the Scripture History and Doctrine.] [Footnote 201: The same method prevails also in Morocco. M. Chenier says, “In the evening, when they return from their day’s labour, all the children of the douhar (encampment) assemble in a common tent, where the Iman, who himself can scarcely spell, teaches them to read some lessons in the Koran, transcribed on boards, and instructs them in their religion by the light of a fire made of straw, underwood, and cow-dung dried in the sun.”] [Footnote 202: According to Mr. Park, where the parents are unable to pay the stipulated reward, the boy remains as a slave to the schoolmaster, until he be redeemed by his friends, or by his own industry. Whether this be the case among the Soosoos and Mandingos I am uncertain; but all the time the boys are at school, during a certain portion of the day, they are obliged to work as slaves to the master, and not only bring his wood and water, but even cultivate the ground for him.] [Footnote 203: Horace, Carm. ii. 7.] [Footnote 204: This circumstance is corroborated by Mr. Park.] CHAP. XIV. RELIGION. WORSHIP OF DEMONS. IDEA OF A FUTURE STATE. SNAKE WORSHIP. MAHOMMEDANISM. TRIAL AND PUNISHMENT OF OFFENCES AMONG THE MAHOMMEDANS. FUNERALS. MOURNING. SINGULAR SOCIETY OF WOMEN. MAHOMMEDAN BURIALS. ACCOUNT OF A MAHOMMEDAN IMPOSTOR. THE immense continent of Africa, except only that part where Mahommedanism is practised, lies buried in the grossest idolatry. The Africans all acknowledge a Supreme Being, the creator of the universe; but they suppose him to be endowed with too much benevolence to do harm to mankind, and therefore think it unnecessary to offer him any homage. It is from demons, or evil spirits, only that they apprehend danger, and they endeavour to deprecate their wrath by sacrifice and offerings. These demons are divided by the Bulloms and Timmanees into a superior and an inferior order: the former inhabit chiefly the deepest recesses of the forest, and are called by the Bulloms ay-min, and by the Timmanees ma-mull. The precise spot where they dwell is supposed to be indicated by a cluster of the nests of the smaller termites, which are thus formed [Illustration]. Many other places are dedicated to these spirits, which are generally such as inspire the spectator with awe, or are remarkable for their appearance, as immensely large trees rendered venerable by age, rocks appearing in the midst of rivers, and having something peculiar in their form, in short, whatever appears to them strange or uncommon. Before they begin to sow their plantations, they sacrifice a sheep, goat, fowl, or fish, to the ay-min, to beg that their crop may abound; for were this neglected, they are persuaded that nothing would grow there. Other spirits of this class, called by the Bulloms ay min ee hay lay, and by the Timmanees ay mull robang, preside over the water, and particularly inhabit those rocks called by Europeans from this circumstance Devil Rocks; to these they sacrifice as to the former when about to undertake a voyage, requesting that it may prove successful, and that the people where they go may not think lightly of them. In both instances only a small part of the sacrifice is left for the demons, the remainder being eaten by their votaries. When they see the bug a bugs carrying away the meat, they imagine they are conveying it to the spirits. The inferior order of demons is called by the Bulloms pom mull’, and by the Timmanees griffee: they commonly reside in the skirts of the town, and sometimes even dwell in the midst of it. Every person is supposed to have one of these to himself as a tutelary spirit, to which he never sacrifices except in case of sickness. Those who inhabit the town have no animal sacrifices made to them; but when liquor is brought, it is never drunk until a small portion is poured into a cup or broken bottle, and set apart for griffee. A small house or shed, about three or four feet high, is built for both kinds of demons in the forest, or in the path which leads to the landing-place, or close to the town; and under each shed is placed a small bug a bug’s nest. The natives, when rowing in canoes, never pass any of the sacred rocks, the residence of the mull’ robang, without stopping to pour out a libation to them, though it consist only of a little salt water, if they happen to have no liquor, accompanied with a short prayer; nor would they presume for any consideration to set their foot upon them[205]. This appears to explain a passage in an ancient author, where superstitious notions of a similar nature are taken notice of: “This islet (Isle of Angar in the Persian Gulph),” as the Journal informs us, “was inaccessible, and sacred to Neptune; inaccessible, perhaps, from some native superstition, like that attending the retreat of the Nereid in the Indian Ocean, and sacred to Neptune in a sense we do not understand[206].” It was formerly the custom to perform religious duties in groves planted for the purpose, or the darkest recess of a forest was appropriated to this use, as it was supposed the gloom and stillness of these retired places would more powerfully dispose the mind to contemplation and devotion. In these gloomy retreats, where the sublime beauties of nature are heightened by an imposing silence, and rendered still more awful by the impenetrable shades with which they are veiled, the imagination is powerfully acted upon, and those sombre ideas are imprinted upon the mind, which the prejudices of education never suffer to be eradicated. Lucan thus describes one of these sacred groves: Lucus erat longo numquam violatus ab ævo, Obscurum cingens connexus aëra ramis, Et gelidas alte submotis solibus umbras. Hunc non ruricolæ Panes, nemorumque potentes Silvani Nymphæque tenent, sed barbara ritu Sacra Deum, structæ diris altaribus aræ; Omnis et humanis lustrata cruoribus arbos. Si qua fidem meruit superos mirata vetustas, Illis et volucres metuunt insistere ramis, Et lustris recubare feræ: nec ventus in illas Incubuit silvas, excussaque nubibus atris, Fulmina: non ullis fronde præbentibus auris, _Arboribus suus horror inest_. Tum plurima nigris Fontibus unda cadit, _simulacraque mæsta deorum_ _Arte carent, cæsisque extant informia truncis_. · · · · · · _non vulgatis sacrata figuris_ _Numina sic metuunt: tantum terroribus addit_, _Quos timeant non nosse deos_. Lib. iii. 400. These groves, therefore, or trees, distinguished from the others by their stately and venerable appearance, were the most ancient temples; and this custom is followed in Africa at the present day, where, under the shade of the wild cotton or pullom tree, they assemble to perform their solemn sacrifices and other rites. It is curious to observe how accurately the religious tenets of the natives of Guiana, as described by Dr. Bancroft, correspond with those of the inhabitants of Sierra Leone and its vicinity. “The principal attribute with which these tribes endow the Deity is benevolence; and though they impute the good, yet they attribute none of the ills of life to him. Good and evil they think so essentially different, so incompatible with each other, that they can never flow from the same source; and have therefore instituted an order of subordinate malevolent beings, corresponding to our commonly received ideas of devils, who delight in, and are permitted to inflict, miseries on mankind. To them are attributed all the misfortunes and afflictions of life. Death, diseases, wounds, bruises, and all the unlucky accidents of life, are supposed to result immediately from the malign influence of these beings, who are called yowahoos by the Indians, who think that they are constantly employed in concerting measures for afflicting them. To these yowahoos, therefore, they direct their supplications, and in affliction use various endeavours to avert or appease their malevolence, while the adoration of the supreme Deity is entirely neglected.” The Bulloms and Timmanees have no fixed opinion respecting a future state; for though they speak of future rewards and punishments, their ideas on this head are vague and fluctuating. They do not believe that the spirits of their deceased friends return to visit their former abodes, nor have they any word in their language to express a _spirit_ or _apparition_. They imagine, however, that witches, when they die, appear again under the forms of a pigmy race, which they call a-baám, not unlike the fairy elves of Europe. These people after death are supposed to be so far deprived of their former malignity, that they rejoice in being present at every social meeting, and never fail to attend the nocturnal revels of the natives, in which they delight to take an active part. They make their appearance only at night, and retreat during the day into little holes and corners. When a person is drunk, and staggers much, they say wo ko boong a-baám a-tay, he is going to beat or throw down the fairies. The Soosoos imagine when a child is born, that its body has been taken possession of by the soul of some person lately deceased. To discover who has returned, they place a cylindrical piece of iron against a wall, and ask if it be such a person: if the iron falls, the question is answered in the negative; if it stand, it is in the affirmative. As we advance to the southward of Sierra Leone, superstition appears to acquire greater power and multiformity, and the objects to which a degree of religious worship is paid increase astonishingly. At Whidah the national worship is confined chiefly to “serpents void of reason[207].” These, according to Dr. Isert, are about the length and thickness of a man’s arm, and very beautiful; the colour of them is grey, covered with brown and yellow spots. They are perfectly harmless, and enter boldly into every house. There are places set apart for them to retire to, called snake houses, in which meat and drink are constantly ready for them, and priests are appointed to serve them[208]. The same author observes, the nearer we approach Benin the more zealous are the natives in the worship of idols. These are called _Fe- teesh_[209], Dii Minores, and may be represented by a snake, leopard, alligator, stone, tree, &c. in which the tutelary power or divinity is supposed to dwell. When a sacrifice is made to the feteesh, whether a goat, sheep, fowl, egg, &c. be offered, it is thrown into the cross roads (trivia), and left there. Upon the Kroo Coast every person has his peculiar feteesh, which sometimes is a goat, fowl, fish, &c. of which kind of food he never presumes to eat. Some dare not eat fowls which are white, others dare not eat those which are black. These customs are not more absurd, and very much resemble those of the Egyptians, who paid divine honours to the ox, cat, crocodile, ichneumon, and many other things still more ridiculous[210]; likewise to those of the ancient Romans, who worshipped stones, stumps of trees, &c. placed in the fields and roads, under the names of Sylvanus, Pan, Bacchus, &c. Nam veneror, seu stipes habet desertus in agris, Seu vetus _in trivio_ florea serta lapis[211]. Among the negroes of Akra, the jackall, _canis carcharias_, is reckoned amongst their divinities, and in consequence no person will presume to kill one, notwithstanding the number of sheep, and sometimes children, which they carry off. At Ningo a temple is dedicated to them, and provided every evening with food, which these ravenous beasts take away. They are of the size of an European wolf, to which they have a great resemblance. If pressed by hunger, they will attack adults when they find them asleep[212]. The sea is the national feteesh of the Eyeo nation, a warlike people bordering upon the kingdom of Dahomy to the north-west, and they are fully persuaded that immediate death would be the consequence if they were to look upon it. One of the kings upon the Gold Coast having a leopard for his feteesh, his subjects were prohibited, under pain of death, from killing these animals. The Soosoos, though chiefly Caffrees or Pagans, pay a kind of worship to the Deity, and never undertake any affair of importance until they have sacrificed to him a bullock. This sacrifice they call serratta. The head man of the town generally officiates at the ceremony. Having cut the throat of the animal, he places a calibash half full of water, and gree grees, or kivey-es, on its side, and prays God to give the petitioners prosperity, and to supply them with all they want. At the same time all the people touch the bullock with their hands, but those who cannot approach near enough, make use of long poles for that purpose. When the ceremony is finished, the people make a feast of the carcase. The Soosoos think white is a colour pleasing to the Deity, and therefore, when they pray, they frequently hold a white fowl in their hands, and sometimes a sheet of white paper. The Foolas and Mandingos, being a more enlightened people, and professing a religion which teaches them that God alone is the proper object of worship, are in some measure emancipated from the gross superstition of their ignorant neighbours; but they still entertain a degree of belief in the powers of witchcraft, and in those of greegrees or charms. The customs of these people bear a striking resemblance to those of the Jews, as described in the Pentateuch, and, after Mahommed, Moses is held by them in the highest estimation. They attend to the ceremonial duties of their religion with such strictness as might well cause Christians to blush. The Ramadan[213], a kind of Lent, during which they abstain from food, and every species of indulgence, from sun rise to sun set, is observed with rigorous accuracy[214]. Sick persons and travellers only are exempt, on condition of observing it at a more convenient season. This fast, which continues during the period of one entire lunation, ends with the appearance of the next new moon, which, as it frees them from so irksome a constraint, is looked for with the greatest anxiety. On the morning which succeeds the first appearance of the new moon the great drum is beaten at eight o’clock to assemble the people to prayers:[215] these are generally performed on this occasion in a large field or open piece of ground; the men and women, dressed in their best apparel, standing at some distance apart. When prayers are over[216], the young women amuse themselves with dancing, and the men engage with each other in mock contests. The women are not permitted to enter the same mosque with the men; a circular building, open at the sides, is built adjoining to the mosque, for the women to pray in. As the mosque is built with mud walls like a house, the women cannot see nor hear what is done within, but a man who stands without repeats with a loud singing voice every prayer in order, as it is made by the imam[217] within, making also the proper genuflexions and prostrations, in all which the women join, observing, however, a profound silence, except when Salam Alaikum is pronounced, which they also repeat aloud. The women, during the time of prayer, appear careful to cover their heads with a corner of the cloth thrown round their shoulders. They are very strict in preventing Europeans from entering the mosques of the men, though not those of the women, and also from passing over their burying grounds. As they turn their face towards Mecca during the time of prayer, the Foolas were very anxious to know the true direction in which this place lay from Teembo, and it was accordingly pointed out to them by our travellers: they were also desirous of being shewn the star which in the evening rose over Mecca, and which proved to be one of the pointers of the great bear. Hitherto they had looked to the east, but they now turned more towards the east north east. They pray five times a day, early in the morning, at noon, at three in the afternoon, at sun set, and a little after seven in the evening, which closes their day. When the time of prayer arrives, in whatever place they chance to be, if clean; and even if in the midst of a journey, they stop to pray, and after washing their hands and feet, spread a goat’s skin, on which they alternately stand and kneel. When a number of them are together, they range themselves in one or more lines, and one person advancing a few yards in front, like the fugle-man of a regiment, serves to regulate the motions of the others, which are all performed at once, as they see their leader act. This has a very imposing appearance when some hundreds are assembled at prayers. They pronounce in a loud voice and all together their profession of faith, La allah illa allah Mohammed resoul allah, there is no God but God, and Mahommed is the prophet of God. In Reland de Religione Mohammedica is given a very exact representation of the ceremonies and gestures used by the Mahommedans of Africa in their prayers; and if the turbans be changed for caps, it shews tolerably well their mode of dress. As the Koran is their code of civil as well as religious law, it is always brought into court and read, before sentence is passed upon a criminal. Adultery is punished by stripes, and is thus described in my brother’s journal[218]. “A man who had been guilty of this crime was put into confinement at a small distance from the house we lodged in. One of his legs was put through a hole in a log of wood, somewhat like a pair of stocks, and secured there by a wooden pin; the other was secured by an iron ring nailed to the outside of the log, and his hands were tied behind his back. In the morning the drum beat to summon the people to the _palaver_ and to see the sentence inflicted. The assembly was held at the mosque, whither we went, and seated ourselves on the outside; the prisoner was then brought before the head man and afterwards taken to a small distance from the mosque, where he was stretched upon his face, on the ground, having his bare back exposed for a considerable time to the rays of a scorching sun. The book of their law was then taken to the mosque with much ceremony and read, after which a head man, named Mohammedoo, approaching the prisoner, and ordering him to be held fast, gave him sixty lashes upon the back with a small whip; another head man, called Mamadoo Sambo, then gave him sixty more. When the punishment was over, the prisoner cried out, Alhamdillah, ‘God be praised.’ The next part of the punishment was cutting off his hair close to his head, during which he exclaimed, Alla ackbar, ‘God is gracious.’ Having picked up his hair very carefully he returned to his own house.” Theft is punished by amputating the hand or leg. This punishment appears to be inflicted very impartially, for my brother’s journal speaks of “one of the Foola king’s brothers, who was a great thief, and had his right hand cut off for stealing.” People a little advanced in years are seldom without their chaplets or rosaries consisting of ninety-nine beads, which, when alone, or when conversation begins to flag, they turn over, reciting a short prayer as they drop each bead. The beads are frequently also counted by way of amusement, without any prayers being offered up. The gross superstition of the Africans, at least of the idolatrous part of them, leads them to conceive that no death is natural or accidental, but that the disease or the accident by which it is immediately caused, is the effect of supernatural agency. In some cases it is imagined that death is brought about by the malign influence of some individual, who employs witchcraft for that purpose: in other cases it is supposed that death is inflicted by the tutelar demon of some one on whom the deceased, when discovered and punished by the avenging hand of griffee, was practising incantations. It is most usual to assign the former cause for the sickness and death of chiefs, and other people of consequence and their connections; and the latter for those of any of the lower class. When any one dies, if it be a man, the body is stretched out and put in order by men; if a woman, that office is performed by females. Before the corpse is carried out for interment, it is generally put upon a kind of bier composed of sticks formed like a ladder, but having two flat pieces of board for the head and feet to rest upon. This is placed upon the heads of two men, while a third, standing before the body, and having in his hand a kind of reed called cattop, proceeds to interrogate it respecting the cause of its death. He first advances a step or two towards the corpse, shakes the reed over it, and immediately steps back; he then asks a variety of questions, to which assent is signified by the corpse impelling the bearers, as is supposed, towards the man with the reed, while a negative is implied by its producing a kind of rolling motion. It is first asked, was your death caused by God on account of your great age and infirmities? or (if a young person) because he liked to take you? If this question should be answered in the affirmative, which is seldom, if ever, the case, the inquest closes, and the burial takes place; if not, the examiner proceeds to enquire, Was your death caused by your bad actions (in other words on account of your being a witch?) If assent be signified, the next question is, By whose griffee was it caused? was it by such an one’s, or such an one’s? naming a number of persons in succession, until at last an affirmative reply is obtained. This reply generally attributes to the griffee of the head man of the place the merit of destroying the witch, in consequence of his discovering attempts against the life of his protégé; a circumstance which enhances the dread of the power of the head man’s demon, and is supposed to operate in deterring others from similar practices[219]. If it should appear, however, that the deceased was not put to death for being _bad_, an expression synonimous with being a witch, the body is asked; Was your death caused by a man or a woman; in such a town (naming a number of towns); belonging to such a family; by such an individual of that family, naming as many as the enquirer chuses; until an answer has been obtained, which fixes the guilt of killing the deceased by witchcraft on one or more individuals. These, if they have friends to plead for them, are allowed the privilege of appealing to the red water ordeal in proof of their innocence; but if not, they are sold. A confession of the crime is also followed by being sold for slaves[220]. Every town or village, which has been long inhabited, has a common burial place attached to it, hard by. Children are often buried in the houses of their parents, and people of consequence are generally buried in the burrè or palaver house. The corpse is folded in a cotton cloth and then wrapped in a mat; two pieces of board are laid at the bottom of the grave, upon which the body is placed; two pieces of board are also laid upon the body to prevent the earth touching it. The head of the corpse, if a man, lies either east or west, if a woman it is turned to the north or south. An occasional prayer is pronounced over the grave, importing a wish that God may receive the deceased, and that no harm may happen to him. They have no very distinct notion of an immaterial part, which may be separated from the body, but they have some idea that the same body must hereafter be reanimated. When the grave is filled up, it is covered with a cotton cloth, which is left there to rot, and a little water and boiled rice are placed at the head of the grave. A fowl is fastened by the leg upon the grave, and a little rice placed near it: if it refuse to eat the rice, it is not killed; but if it eat, the head is cut off, and the blood sprinkled upon the grave, after which it is cooked, and a part placed on the grave, the remainder being eaten by the attendants. This is done immediately after the funeral, and is repeated when the cry, as it is called, or mourning, is concluded. The cry or mourning for great people is sometimes continued for months: during the day time the mourners sleep, or employ themselves in business, but return in the evening to pass the night in firing muskets, in shouting, drinking, and dancing. The Soosoos frequently bury their dead in the street close to the house of the deceased. The grave is inclosed by four pieces of wood about five feet long, placed in a square form, and secured by stakes. They bury their dead with their faces to the west. A woman, whose grave I saw, and who had died in labour, undelivered, of her fourth child, was buried in the midst of her husband’s trapado or court-yard. At the head of the grave, were placed the horns of a bullock, which had been killed to feast the people; and close to it was laid the hair of her eldest daughter, a girl of twelve years of age, which had been cut close off, and her head shaved, in order to put on the mourning cap. A mourning dress is only worn by the women for persons of their own sex; no mourning is worn for the men, or by them. The dress consists, as has been already said, of a white cap drawn over the eyes, and of a necklace composed of three or four rows of white cowries. When at home, instead of cowries they wear the black seeds of a tree exactly resembling the banana, called by the Bulloms pokkolo, and by the Timmanees oppollo, but if they go to another town they must put on cowries. Mourning necklaces for children are composed of the black seeds of the pokkolo intermixed with white cowries. During the whole time the cry continues, the mourners cannot prepare their own victuals, but are supplied by some other person. They must also eat their meals in the public palaver house, and both before and after, by way of returning thanks, they must beat upon a small drum before the person’s door who supplies them. In general, only one in a family, the nearest in age to the deceased, puts on mourning for a length of time, though some of the others may wear it for a few days. In those towns which have burying grounds attached to them, there is a house adjoining the burrè or palaver house, of the same construction but much smaller. When any person in the town dies, with some exceptions, a stone is taken to the king, who deposits it in this house. When the king dies he is buried in this house and a larger stone is placed there for him than for the others. If a woman dies during the time she wears mourning, or if she has worn mourning at any former period, she cannot be buried in the common burial place, but in a piece of ground set apart for the purpose, in this there is also a small house wherein to deposit a stone as a memorial of her. The men, who dig the grave, wear a necklace of cowries. Persons who are supposed to have died in consequence of their witchcrafts are buried by the side of a road. Among the Bulloms there is a society of females called Attonga, who make occasional sacrifices and offerings of rice to the stones which are preserved in memory of the dead. They prostrate themselves before these, clasping the hands behind the neck and resting their elbows on the ground: this has given occasion to authors to assert that they worshipped stones. In this society there is a head woman, who resides in a large house built for the purpose in those towns which have burying grounds. When one of this society dies, the Attonga women from the neighbouring towns, and those of the same town, repair to the head woman’s house, and live with her for three months. During this time they wear for mourning a black cap, and a necklace composed of white cowries and the black seeds of the pokkolo tree intermixed. They do not wear the tuntungee; and in other respects their dress does not differ from the usual mode. These people when they die are interred in the common burying ground, but their memorial stone is not suffered to be placed with those of the others in the king’s burial place, but there is a house built for their reception, called the Attonga house, close to that in which the head woman resides. If a man happen through ignorance or inadvertency to enter the Attonga house, he is made one of the society, though contrary to his inclination, and at his death his stone cannot be placed with those of the other men. Boys are sometimes taken to the Attonga house by their mothers, but when they grow up they commonly desert the society, to avoid the ridicule of the men, who laugh at them for associating with the women. Notwithstanding their desertion, their memorial stone must be placed in the Attonga house. The Attonga women do not change their dress for the death of any others than the females of their own society. They do not beat drums, but use instead thereof the shell of the land tortoise. When the head woman dies, she is succeeded by her who has been longest in the society, without regard to age. They have an annual meeting after the rice harvest, when they come from all quarters to offer sacrifice, and pay their respects to the head woman. In conversation they have a method of inverting or transposing the ordinary language so as to be unintelligible to the vulgar. Among the Bulloms and Timmanees, the chief solemnity and magnificence of their funerals consists in the quantity of rum and tobacco expended upon the occasion, which they call “making a cry.” Among the poorer sort this ceremony is sometimes deferred for several months after the body is buried, until they can procure a sufficient quantity of these indispensable articles to honour the memory of the deceased. The funeral ‘or cry’ of the late Mr. James Cleveland, of the Bananas, owing to some considerations of policy in his successor, was not solemnized until near three years after the body had been buried. During the time which elapsed from his death until ‘the cry’ was celebrated, a bed was kept constantly prepared for him in the palaver house, water was placed by the bed-side for his hands, and also meat for him to eat. Upwards of twenty puncheons of rum, together with a large quantity of tobacco, were consumed at the celebration of his _cry_. The late king Jemmy, who resided within a mile of the settlement of Sierra Leone, died at a town in the river Bunch, whither he had been removed about ten days, for the benefit of medical aid, and probably to escape from the witchcraft which he conceived to be practised against him. The body was removed to his own town the day after his death, and placed in the palaver house. A message was sent to the governor of Sierra Leone, to solicit him “to help the people to cry for king Jemmy.” About half past four in the afternoon the body was taken from the palaver house, where it was attended by a number of women, to the grave, which was dug about four feet deep, just without the town. The corpse being placed by the side of the grave, a number of questions were put to it by different persons, who stooped down to the coffin for that purpose. Pa Demba (a neighbouring head man) in a speech of some minutes, which he addressed to the deceased as if he had been still alive, expressed his great grief in having lost so good _a father_: he further added, that he and all the people had wished the deceased to stay with them, but as he had thought proper to leave them, they could not help it, but he and all the people wished him well. Some others of the head men expressed themselves in a similar manner. The umbrella belonging to the deceased was put into the coffin, because they said “he liked to walk with it.” The pillow which he commonly used was laid in the grave beneath the head of the coffin. The queen or head woman stood sorrowing by the side of the grave, having his hat in her hand, which she was going to put into the grave, but was prevented by one of the head men (Pa Demba) who probably reserved it for his own use. When the corpse was let down into the grave, which was done with great care, each of the spectators took an handful of earth and threw it upon the coffin; most of them threw it backwards over their shoulder. When the speeches were finished, a friend of mine, who represented the governor upon this occasion, was asked if he would not shake king Jemmy by the hand. Upon requesting an explanation, he was desired to “say a prayer, white man’s fashion,” which was done, “not for the dead, but for the living,” by the chaplain of the colony, who was also present. Several pieces of kola were put into the grave for the king to eat, and his neck handkerchief for him to wear. As soon as the grave was closed, the women commenced a dismal cry or howl, which they continued incessantly until the Europeans had left the town. The manner of burying the dead in the Foola country is thus described in my brother’s journal. “Having arrived at the village of Roomia, where we intended to pass the night, we proceeded towards the mosque, and seated ourselves under a shady tree; the women and children were making great lamentations for the son of the head man, who died just as we entered the village. In the evening, about the time of their fourth prayer, we went to the mosque, and sat down at a small distance from it, to see the ceremony they use in burying the dead. A number of people were already collected, some were praying in the mosque, while others were standing without. When prayers were over, they came out of the mosque and sat down upon the ground: in the mean time the corpse was sent for, which soon arrived, laid upon a mat, and carried by twelve people. When the body was near the mosque, several men rose from the ground, and went to meet it, and walked with the bearers towards the north end of the mosque, where the body was placed upon the ground, with the head towards the south. The remainder of the people now rose up, and ranged themselves in rows parallel to the corpse, but as they stood before us, we could not see what the priest was doing, but frequently heard him repeat Alla ackbar, which the people repeated also, in a hollow tone of voice, at the same time lifting up their hands. They afterwards made a kind of hissing noise, which finished this part of the ceremony. The body was then taken up to be carried to the burying ground: we followed it a little way, but the people obliged us to return. While prayers were performing over the body before the mosque, I attempted to see it, but was turned back by some old men who were standing close to the building. They bury their dead in a north and south direction.” Some years ago a celebrated impostor, who called himself Mahadee, and pretended to have a divine mission, made his appearance among the Soosoos and Mandingos, over whom by his address he soon gained a kind of supremacy, and ruled with despotic sway. His reign however was not of such long duration as, at the commencement of his career, the general belief of his prophetic character, and the universal terror inspired by the success of his arms, promised: for having lost, chiefly by his own misconduct, the ascendency which, by his very superior knowledge and address he had at first acquired over the minds of the Mandingos, he was deserted by his followers, and at length put to death by a Soosoo chief called Brama Sayoo. The public opinion is still divided respecting the real character of this extraordinary man, one part affirming that he was a designing knave, the other as firmly maintaining that he was divinely inspired. The latter party assert that no person knows where Mahadee[221] came from, nor who were his parents, and that no man ever spake like him, or could be compared to him for depth of knowledge, especially of the Koran; from which they conclude he must have been a prophet. Among the stories which circulate respecting Mahadee, it is said that when he was coming down towards the coast from the interior parts of the country, attended only by five persons, he arrived, late in the evening, at the gates of a large and well inhabited town. Not chusing to enter himself, he sent one of his attendants to command the head man of the town to submit, and to put on his uniform, which was orange, or yellow: this was peremptorily refused, but a tornado happening to come on in the night, blew down a large pullom tree, which, in its fall, crushed seven or eight people to death. This accident terrified the inhabitants so much, that, as soon as it was light, they sent a humble message to him, and submitted to his orders, by which means Mahadee became possessed of a camp, and an army which daily increased until it amounted to many thousands strong. Elated with his success, Mahadee set no bounds to his ambition, lust, and avarice; every woman celebrated for her beauty, though married to a man of the greatest consequence in the country, was taken from her husband; at the same time his extortions from those who had the reputation of being rich were excessively immoderate, and excited loud complaints. A slave trader at the Isle de Los informed me, that when Mahadee began first to attract notice, he took a journey of some days into the country to see him. Mahadee appeared to be flattered with this mark of respect, and behaved with great civility to him, as he did to all the Europeans who afterwards visited him. Mahadee was the more pleased with this visit, as he had never before seen a white man: he examined his skin with peculiar attention, comparing it frequently with his own, and could not suppress his admiration at the length of the European’s hair, which he often took hold of and attempted to count. This person received from Mahadee an order, written in Arabic, commanding every one who owed him any thing to pay the debt immediately, on pain of being put to death. Another slave trader, belonging to Rio Nunez, told me that he had seen several people, who assured him that they knew Mahadee’s mother, and that she was then (1796) living between the Gambia and Rio Nunez, but a great way back in the country. They described her as being a rich and powerful woman, of a proud and imperious disposition, supposing herself to be inspired, and not scrupling to put any one of her people to death who might offend her. Fendamodoo, a Soosoo chief of considerable eminence, and at that time engaged extensively in trade, informed me that he was sent for by Mahadee, whose summons he instantly obeyed, though with fearful apprehensions of the issue of his visit. On being ordered into his presence, he crawled on all fours for near a hundred yards in token of his veneration of the prophet, and in hopes of conciliating him by this instance of absolute submission. The present he made to Mahadee amounted in value to 4000 bars, about £650 sterling, for which he did not utter one expression of acknowledgment; on the contrary, it was a relief to Fendamodoo even to know that his present was accepted. This piece of information was withheld from him for some hours, during which he continued trembling for his fate, and he was glad to be at length allowed to depart with his life. What chiefly caused his apprehension was, that it had been Mahadee’s policy to destroy all the old chiefs in the country, many of whom he had put to death on very slight pretences. He was proud, haughty, and capricious; exorbitant in his exactions, and severe and unrelenting in his decisions. The veneration, however, which had been at first excited by his thorough knowledge of the Koran, his generally admitted pretensions to the favour of God, the uncommon comeliness of his person, his imposing tone and demeanour, and his great personal courage, was maintained for a long time in spite of his tyrannical and oppressive conduct. When, at last, his followers deserted him, and some began to consider what might be the best mode of securing themselves against the cruel effects of his avarice and ambition, they were deterred, at first, from taking any effectual measures, by not being able to think of a weapon, by which, he had not assured them that he was, and they did not believe him to be, completely invulnerable. At last it was recollected that he had not said that he had any “greegree” against a smith’s anvil, which happened conveniently to present itself, when a fair opportunity occurred of dispatching him. It proved a very effectual instrument, the first blow being so applied as to fracture his skull. Some time passed before his death was generally credited, and some even now doubt the reality of it. Many of those, however, who were convinced of his death, still revering him as a prophet, eagerly procured some of his hair, teeth, nails, or any part of his body, in the firm persuasion that, possessing these relics they would be secured from all bodily harm. [Footnote 205: One of the kings in the river Sierra Leone either is, or pretends to be, strongly impressed with the notion, that if he (or any of his successors) should set foot upon Bance Island it would instantly sink.] [Footnote 206: Dr. Vincent’s Voyage of Nearchus.] [Footnote 207: Wisdom xi. 15. See Bosman.] [Footnote 208: At Sierra Leone there is a snake answering exactly to the above description, called by the natives the king snake, and which is capable of being to a great degree tamed. For an account of the sacred serpents at Thebes, where the same superstition prevailed, see Herodotus ii. 74. The ophiolatreia, or snake worship, prevailed also in some degree among the Romans; in Livy we find “anguem, in quo ipsum numen fuisse constabat.”] [Footnote 209: The word feteesh appears to have a meaning somewhat synonimous with the _taboo_ of Otaheite, viz. _sacred_; and in this sense it is that some particular kind of food is considered feteesh by each individual. But this is not the only meaning of the word; it signifies also amulets, idols, incantations, and medicines, for these last are supposed to derive their efficacy from the magical skill of the physician. The word greegree has also all these various meanings.] [Footnote 210: For a very curious account of the origin of idol-worship, see the book of Wisdom, chapters xiii. and xiv.] [Footnote 211: Tibullus i. 12.] [Footnote 212: Isert.] [Footnote 213: This is the name of the ninth month of the Arabian year, and signifies, in that language, “a consuming fire.”] [Footnote 214: “The month of Ramadan shall ye fast, in which the Koran was sent down from heaven——let him among you, who shall be present in this month, fast the same month; but he who shall be sick, or on a journey, shall fast the like number of other days.—Eat and drink until ye can plainly distinguish a white thread from a black thread by the day-break: then keep the fast until night.” Koran, chap. ii.] [Footnote 215: My brother was present at the celebration of one of these festivals, which happened at Berrerie on the evening of the 30th of April, 1794.] [Footnote 216: The Turks call this feast Byram, in which all of them indulge in joy and mirth.] [Footnote 217: The word imam has the same signification in Arabic as the Latin word antistes. Among the Mahommedans it denotes the person who makes the public prayer, not only in the mosque but in every other place. Those who stand behind him make all together the same genuflexions, prostrations, and other gestures, which they see him perform. (Herbelot, Dict. Or.) It answers pretty nearly to the office of deacon or priest in our church, though generally filled by the calif himself. This is also the case among the Foolas: the name of the late king was Al Imamee Saddoo. It is also frequent in these countries, in large towns, to give the title of Al Imamee to some respectable young man, who is thus made a kind of superintendant of the young men in the place: he settles all disputes among them, punishes the refractory, and puts in force proper regulations for their better conduct.] [Footnote 218: Slavery is the punishment inflicted upon the male offender among the Bulloms and Timmanees. The female is too often rewarded for having entrapped a victim. In any case a whipping is the severest punishment she receives.] [Footnote 219: The chiefs are, in general, as much under the power of superstitious terror as their people. The doctors, as they are called, or magicians, are the persons who practise on the common credulity, and to them it proves highly gainful to promote the power and influence of the chiefs, who never fail to reward them handsomely.] [Footnote 220: It will appear strange to persons unacquainted with African superstition, that anyone should confess himself guilty of the imaginary crime of witchcraft; but besides that in many cases the choice of the accused lies only between slavery and death, (for in some places, particularly in the river Mesurado, the red water scarcely ever fails to kill), it is to be remarked that not a few may be conscious to themselves of having, in consequence of their enmity to the deceased, tried the effect of incantations upon him, or applied to some other person to “make greegree” for him: for as their confidence in such practices is unlimited, it is not likely that they should not have recourse to them occasionally for purposes of revenge, however inefficacious they may in reality prove.] [Footnote 221: The word Mahadee signifies “the director and conductor,” and was the sirname of Mohammed, the last of the twelve imams of the race of Ali, so celebrated among the mussulmen, and especially the Persians. These last imagine that this person is still living, and suppose he will appear with the prophet Elias at the second coming of Jesus Christ, and be one of the two witnesses spoken of in the Apocalypse. Herbelot Diction. Orient.] CHAP. XV. UNION OF MEDICINE WITH MAGIC. SUPERSTITION OF THE AFRICANS. GREEGREES OR AMULETS. TREATMENT OF SICK PERSONS TO AVOID THE EFFECT OF WITCHCRAFT. PRACTICE OF OBI. ART OF POISONING. “BLOWING”. THE unlettered but artful African, who, by the terrors of superstition, had gained an ascendency over the minds of his countrymen, probably foresaw the additional influence which he would acquire by retaining in his own hands the care of their bodies also. Hence, the practice of medicine and the art of making greegrees and fetiches, in other words amulets, to resist the effects of witchcraft, or the malicious attempts of evil spirits, are generally the province of the same person. So strongly is the notion of medicine being a supernatural art imprinted on the minds of the people on the western coast of Africa, that they look upon every person who practises it as a witch, and are firmly persuaded that he can not only see and hold familiar conversation with evil spirits, whenever he pleases, but that he can give them a variety of commissions, which they never fail to execute. This notion is a source of great gain to the greegree makers, and of course they are at much pains to encourage it. Dr. Bancroft, speaking of a tribe of Indians called Worrow, says, “their physicians, or rather priests, are believed to have a particular influence with evil spirits above those of any other tribe.” The dexterity and address of some of these people cannot be exceeded by the legerdemain tricks of their itinerant brethren in Europe. I have met with instances, at Sierra Leone, of persons who might be supposed to know better, being so far imposed upon by the grimaces and pretended magical ceremonies of one of these greegree men, as to believe that he had extracted from their sides the bottom of a _quart bottle_, which he produced at the time, and which he assured them had been conveyed there by some unfriendly witch, and had occasioned all their illness. A similar practice obtains among the inhabitants of Guiana, where the peii, priest and physician, pretends to extract the cause of the disorder by sucking the part which has been the most affected, and then pulls out of his mouth either fish bones, thorns, snake’s teeth, or some such substances which he has before concealed in it, but which he affirms came from the seat of the disease, having been maliciously introduced there by the yowahoo[222]. Superstition no where exerts her baneful influence more powerfully than in Africa, where all ranks of people are deeply affected by it. The powers of witchcraft continually excite the apprehension of the natives, and frequently destroy their peace of mind. To guard against its so much dreaded effects, a variety of greegrees, fetiches, or amulets, are invented, which promise to the wearer perfect immunity from danger[223]. These greegrees are as various in their forms as in the substances of which they are composed. The Timmanees and Bulloms are of opinion, that by possessing a part of the body of a person who has been successful in his undertakings, they will also inherit a portion of his good fortune; hence it was deemed necessary that the body of the late Mr. James Cleveland, of the Bananas, who had been a successful trader, and had raised himself to great power, should be buried in a secret manner, lest the natives should have converted it into greegrees. Those made by the Mahommedans consist of passages in the Koran, written upon paper in Arabic, sewed up in red leather, and neatly stamped on the outside. They are either of a square, triangular, round, or oblong form, and as there are greegrees against every possible danger, such as drowning, fire- arms, bites of snakes, wild beasts, sharks, &c. a person who is armed at all points with these charms appears almost sinking under their load. They are most frequently worn round the neck and arms; sometimes as a girdle round the waist, and even round the legs. So strongly are they persuaded of the efficacy of these means of protection, that an African, a man of very superior mind, offered to allow a friend of mine, whose accuracy he had just been praising, to fire at him with a pistol charged with ball. It was proposed to him to hang his greegree round the neck of a sheep and allow the trial to be made, but this he refused, alleging they were designed for a man not for a sheep. Another, who placed equal confidence in a girdle of goatskin about an inch broad, would not have hesitated to throw himself naked into the sea, although he had seen a shark[224] close to him, but without his greegree he would not put his foot into the water, for fear of these voracious animals. The origin of amulets is lost in deep antiquity: the Jews had their phylacteries; the Greeks their apotropaia, phylacteria, amynteria, periapta, periammata; and the Romans had their phylacteria, amuleta, and præbia. The bullæ aureæ, worn by the Roman youth, and used as an insignium of triumph, and which often contained herbs supposed capable of resisting the effects of envy, were of the same nature. They had also præfiscini, or preservatives against fascination. It was usual among the ancients, when praising any one, to add, præfiscinè, i.e. sine fascino, to denote that the praise was sincere and given from no sinister motive. Africa appears to have been celebrated for every species of fascination and witchcraft: Pliny says, ‘In eadem Africa familias quasdam effascinantium,—quorum _laudatione_ intereant probata, arescant arbores, emoriantur infantes.’ The Arabians appear to have improved upon the superstitious practices of the Greeks and Romans, by inventing certain cabalistic and magical words, as abraxas, abracadabra, abracalan, &c. which they supposed concentrated within themselves every virtue. It was probably a similar motive which induced Alimami Saddoo, the Foola king, to enquire of Mr. Watt and my brother the name of the mother of Moses[225]. In Europe, at the present day, the superstitious practice of wearing amulets still prevails, and great faith is reposed in them, when hung round the necks of children, to protect them from disease. Anodyne necklaces are worn to prevent convulsions in teething, as a cure for worms, hooping cough, &c. and it is only lately that such modes of cure have been banished from our dispensatories, many instances of which may be seen in the writings of the excellent Mr. Boyle. It is not improbable that the necklace, which at present forms so ornamental a part of female dress, owed its origin to these superstitious practices. Dioscorides, speaking of the stone selenites, says, “pro amuleto sibi eum alligant mulieres,” and of the jasper he adds “omnes pro amuletis alligari feruntur.” In all the Bullom and Timmanee towns greegrees are placed to prevent the incursion of evil spirits or witches. These consist of pieces of rag, like streamers, attached to the end of a long pole; or a small country axe fixed upon the trunk of a tree; or the bottom of a bottle; or an old pot placed upon the end of a stake: sometimes the greegree is a cannon ball, or an old pewter dish laid upon the ground; but whatever it may consist of, it would give great offence to remove, or even to touch it. When any person of consequence falls sick, he is immediately removed from his own residence to another town at some distance, to be farther from the effects of the witchcraft which is supposed to have been practised upon him. If he does not soon recover in his new situation, a hut is built in the deepest recess of some impenetrable wood, whither he is carried, the place of his retreat being only known to his most confidential friends. The late king Naimbanna in his last illness was removed from his own town, on the island of Robanna, to a small island a few miles distant. A semicircular piece of ground was cleared from the underwood, the larger trees being left standing; and the only avenue to it was defended by the most potent greegrees which could be procured. A small hut, about eight or ten feet square and about six feet high, was formed of stakes driven into the ground, the sides and roof being composed of grass and flags neatly woven like a basket, but not so close as to prevent the access of light: in the midst was left standing the stem of a young tree, lopped about five feet from the ground, and upon the top of it was placed a greegree. The old king was laid upon mats spread on the ground, surrounded by his own family: on one side stood the physician, who had in his hand a greegree of a very uncouth form, about four feet long, and ornamented with bells and pieces of iron, which he occasionally jingled with much self complacency, making a most distracting noise. A blister was applied to the patient, and some medicines, which I had taken with me, administered; but notwithstanding these, and the greegrees used by his own physician, the king died soon after, much and deservedly lamented. When any person of consequence dies, whether from the effects of old age, or illness produced by some other natural cause, the whole is commonly attributed to witchcraft, and the friends of the deceased make strict enquiry to discover the witch. This is frequently pointed out to some of them in a dream, which is considered as sufficient testimony. But what will appear strange, if we do not take into the account the dread of the red water ordeal, and the possibility of incantation having really been used with a view to injure the deceased, is, that the accused person frequently acknowledges the charge, and submits to his sentence without repining. During king Naimbanna’s illness I saw an old man confined in chains, accused of having bewitched the king. A person killed by witchcraft is supposed to die from the effects of a poison secretly administered or infused into his system by the witch; or the latter is supposed to assume sometimes the form of some animal, as a cat, or a rat, which, during the night, sucks the person’s blood from a small and imperceptible wound, by which a lingering illness and death are produced; and sometimes the form of a snake, which by its bite causes instant death. This piece of superstition appears to be alluded to in Ecclesiast. x. 11. where it is said, ‘surely the serpent will bite without enchantment.’[226] Greegrees are often placed in lugars or plantations to deter people from stealing, and a few old rags placed upon an orange tree[227] will generally, though not always, secure the fruit as effectually as if guarded by the dragons of the Hesperides. When any person falls sick, if, at the distance of several months, he recollects having stolen fruit, &c. or having taken it _softly_ as they term it, he immediately supposes _wangka_ has caught him, and to get cured he must go or send to the person whose property he had taken, and make to him whatever recompence he demands. This superstitious dread of witchcraft, which may be properly considered as a mental disease, like many of those diseases to which the body is subject, appears to have acquired additional vigour by being transplanted from one country to another. Accordingly we find that in the West India Islands the belief in witchcraft is the occasion of as much, if not more, terror to the negroes than in Africa whence it came at first. It is known in the West Indies by the name of obia, and its effects upon the minds of the slaves are so powerful as very frequently to prove fatal, notwithstanding the utmost efforts used to counteract them[228]. Strange as these superstitious practices must appear to those who are not infatuated with them, it is a well known fact, that many Europeans, who have resided for a length of time upon the coast of Africa, imbibe the same notions, practise them in their full extent, and become subject to all their terrors. I have been informed by an intimate friend, a man of strict veracity, who resided several years in Jamaica, that a member of the council in that island was so strongly convinced of the reality of these absurd practices, as to shew evident marks of fear and perturbation, when, during the trial of an obia man, some of the articles of _obi_ abovementioned, which had been found upon the person accused of this practice, were laid near him upon a table. The dread of poison affords to the African another cause for alarm, though in general it is connected with some superstitious terrors, and magical illusions. To remove every apprehension of this kind from the minds of their guests, it is customary for the host to taste the meat and drink before it be offered to them, and on returning their visit, he expects a similar mark of assurance. Their great skill in selecting the most deleterious poisons has frequently been noticed by writers, but this is perhaps only in common with all rude nations, who have had more credit given to them for their knowledge in this particular than they really merit. A sensible writer observes, that “the American Indians are noted for their traditional knowledge of poisonous herbs and antidotes, but I do not find, he adds, that our Indian venefici are so expert in the veneficium art, as the negroes of Africa, who give poisons, which in various but certain periods produce their mortal effects, some suddenly, some after a number of months or years.” There appears, however, to be a great degree of credulity in this account; for from all that I could learn upon this subject, I am convinced that the Africans are not acquainted with any poisons, but such as prove fatal by their violent action upon the stomach and bowels. The gall of the alligator[229] is considered by the natives of Sierra Leone as one of the most active and fatal poisons, but it is chiefly used in combination with magical ceremonies and in the composition of greegrees. In Egypt, on the contrary, the gall of the crocodile is extolled as an invaluable and safe internal medicine. Dr. Hasselquist says, six grains of it, probably dried, are given as a certain remedy for barrenness; and outwardly they apply a pessus made of cotton and the gall of the crocodile[230]. If any person in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone should happen to kill an alligator, he must have the testimony of at least two respectable witnesses to prove that he poured the gall upon the ground, and in case of failure he is liable to be severely punished. In some parts of that country, however, it is made use of as an external application in lumbago, and is rubbed on the part after it has been scarified. The Egyptians applied the gall of the crocodile in complaints of the eyes, and used its fat as an application in rheumatic disorders. It is said by Roemer[231] that the natives about Akra, on the Gold Coast, use the gall of the alligator as a poison; and he adds, when they kill a sea cow, manatee, with young, they preserve the fæces of the calf, which they look upon as a still more violent poison. These pretended poisons appear rather designed to excite a sense of nausea and disgust, than any serious apprehension of danger, and the antidotes said to prove effectual against other poisons equally violent, lead us to entertain some degree of scepticism with respect to their powers. The Ticunas, a race of Indians inhabiting the banks of the river of the Amazons, are said to possess the most subtle poison yet known. It is extracted wholly from vegetables, chiefly from certain species of vines, (lianes), and with this they poison their arrows. Monsieur de la Condamine says, that thirty species of herbs and roots enter into its composition; it proves speedily fatal to men and animals, but its fatal effects are said to be prevented by _salt_, and still more certainly by _sugar_. “With the poison of serpents and the juice of the sideroxylum toxiferum (gift boom, or poison tree) according to Professor Thunberg the Hottentots poison their arrows[232], which they use against antelopes and wild buffaloes, as also against their enemies;” he further adds, that “the _blood of a tortoise_, used externally and internally, is of the greatest service in wounds from these poisoned arrows, and that it is dried, and always carried by the Hottentots in their journies[233].” According to a vulgar prejudice entertained by the lower classes in England, the blacks are said to have naturally a very deleterious poison growing under their nails, with which they frequently destroy those who offend them. This opinion may perhaps have originated from the method practised by a tribe of Indians in Guiana, who sometimes conceal under their nail part of the kernel of a nut, produced by a tree called caruna, which they secretly mix in the drink of any one whom they have an antipathy to, and which proves slowly but certainly fatal[234]. Captain Stedman adds, in addition to this account of the caruna, that “by only dipping their thumb into a tumbler of water, which they offer as a beverage to the object of their revenge, they infuse a slow but certain death.” No instance occurred, to my knowledge, of any of the natives near Sierra Leone dying from the effects of poison, one woman excepted, who was killed by drinking the red water in public, several instances of which have been related to me. They do not however consider this as a poison, because they do not think it would be fatal if the person who drinks it were innocent. The only poison with which they are acquainted, and which they generally acknowledge as such, is taken from a large tree called by the Bulloms and Timmanees toma. They assert, that if the juice of two or three of the leaves be swallowed, it proves fatal in a very short time. It is customary, when they discover that the calibashes fixed to the palm trees to collect the wine are robbed of the liquor, which is often done by a species of ape, to infuse in them a few leaves of the toma, by which means the unsuspecting thief is punished with immediate death. After this poison has been swallowed, the tongue turns black, and the body swells very much. There is another strange practice, of which the Europeans accuse the Africans, which, however, as there can be no real foundation for it, is wrapped up in much mystery and obscurity. They are said to cause the body of any person to swell to a prodigious size by merely _blowing_ upon them; this is sometimes done by contact, and in so secret a manner as not to be observed by the injured party; at other times it is done by blowing a certain substance through a long tube at people as they cross a distant path. There may indeed be some foundation for the latter practice, as it is said to be frequently used by the natives of Guiana, who blow, through a tube about six feet long, a kind of dart[235], about ten or twelve inches long, made of a splinter of a species of palm tree, and dipped in a poison called woorrara. These destructive weapons, it is affirmed, are thrown by the breath to the distance of forty paces with unerring skill. Captain Stedman mentions an instance of a negro woman, who, though slightly wounded by one of these arrows, almost instantly expired, and her sucking infant, though unhurt by the arrow, lost its life also by drinking her milk. In this instance, supposing the poison possesses the active powers ascribed to it, no doubt can be entertained of the efficacy of the practice, but in the former instance there is every reason to suppose that the imagination alone is acted upon. Having made many enquiries upon the subject, I am convinced that the story of _blowing_ is founded only on idle report, and deserves to be classed among the fabulæ aniles, those remnants of superstition and ignorance so abundant in every country, and which, by being frequently repeated among the lower classes of Europeans, has gained established credit. The answers of the natives also are rather calculated to support the illusion, as they are only anxious to clear their own characters from this aspersion, by professing their utter ignorance of it, though they are indifferent respecting those to whom it may attach, and even in some instances are ready to accuse their neighbours; thus I have heard some Bullom people accuse the inhabitants of the river Sherbro’ of practising this art, and these in their turn may probably retort. It may appear perhaps unnecessary to have mentioned this circumstance, but as it has been noticed by an author of great respectability and eminence in his profession, as having occurred to a patient under his care at Antigua, it was entitled to some consideration. [Footnote 222: Bancroft’s Hist. of Guiana. These instances of gross superstition have been adduced as proofs of stupidity in the African, and other uncultivated nations, without reflecting that not more than a century ago the same ridiculous notions very generally prevailed, and were universally credited, in Europe. Paracelsus, whose eccentricities frequently occasion a smile, appears to have believed implicitly in the power of witchcraft. What he has said upon this subject is curious, and presents a very exact picture of African superstition; and his opinion of witches perfectly coincides with that of the Bulloms and Timmanees, “Nulla saga est quæ non summæ invidiæ et infidelitatis plena sit[a].” In like manner he refers diseases to their evil machinations, “Frequenter etiam fit, ut derepente in hominis alicujus corpore, tumores, vibices, et livores enascantur, aut universum ejus corpus lædatur non secus ac si baculis cæsum fuisset.” Again he adds, “Evenit sæpius, ut homo aut altero aut utroque oculo cæcus, aut ex aure una vel utraque surdus, aut mutus, aut distortus, et claudus fiat, aut denique totaliter moriatur. Quæ omnia permissu Dei per hujusmodi incantatores patrantur.” When such cases therefore occur, which have not been occasioned by any obvious cause, the patient is to be asked if he has not some enemy publicly suspected of practising magic; if he answers in the affirmative, it evidently arises from this cause. He next informs us how to cure these, by forming a waxen image, in the same manner as the obia professors in the West Indies. Respecting the introduction of extraneous substances into the body, he adds, “Frequentius fit ut sub cutem corporis mittant, aut jaculentur stramen, setas, ramenta, coriorum detrimenta, glomos filorum, ollarum fragmina, fusorum cuspides, floccos, spinas piscium, et similia his alia infinita. Tanta autem subtilitate talia intro in corpus jaculantur, ut cutis nulla parte rumpatur aut aperiatur, quod quidem oculis videri possit.” Bonetus[b] very gravely defends these absurdities, and asserts that demons are able to introduce themselves into the human body by a wound so dexterously made, and so instantly consolidated, as to be invisible. He further gives us some curious histories of these malicious sprites, who, he says, cannot be doubted to exist in the mines of Norway; and he even particularizes the contest of a demunculus with an unfortunate miner, who was much torn in the affray, and carried ever afterwards in his face the marks of the demon’s nails. Ramazzini also says, “a metallurgo—accepi, fabulosum non esse, _ut putubam_, id quod de hujusmodi dæmunculis in fodinis stabulantibus tradunt[c]”.] [Footnote a: De Sagis et earum Operibus.] [Footnote b: Medicina Septentrionalis.] [Footnote c: De Morbis Artificum, p. 482.] [Footnote 223: The difference between an amulet and talisman is, that the former must be worn upon some part of the body, whereas the latter can exert its powers though placed at a distance. Amulets were called by the Romans amolimenta, ab amoliendo, because they were supposed to guard against disease. Pliny, speaking of the succinum or amber, says, “hodieque Transpadanorum agrestibus feminis, monilium vice succina gestantibus, maxime decoris gratia, sed et medicinæ: quando tonsillis creditur resistere et faucium vitiis;” and again “infantibus adalligari amuleti ratione prodest.” Although these practices are in themselves highly absurd, yet their great antiquity and general prevalence among mankind seem to shew that they are natural to the human mind; nor is it surprising that men should practise means which readily suggest themselves, to soothe the mind with the flattering hope of procuring immunity from disease, or of discovering what futurity has in store for them. Pliny justly observes, to man _alone_ is given “immensa vivendi cupido, _uni_ superstitio, uni sepulturæ cura, atque etiam post se de futuro.” The first account which we have of amulets or greegrees is contained in the scriptures, where it seems probable that the teraphim, or images, as it is translated, which Rachel stole from her father were not idols to which a kind of worship was paid, but were greegrees, fetiches, or talismans. We cannot suppose that Laban actually worshipped idols, otherwise Isaac would not have sent his son Jacob to marry one of his daughters, as he was already so much displeased with Esau for having taken a wife from among the Canaanites. Laban, however, though not an idolater in the grosser sense of that term, might yet be much tinctured with the popular superstitions of his neighbours. Homer also takes notice of amulets; in the Odyssey we find Ulysses, when in danger of being shipwrecked upon the coast of Phæacia, has a greegree or “ribbon to bind beneath his breast,”[a] given to him by the goddess Leucothöe to preserve him from drowning. The Egyptians were much in the habit of wearing of amulets, and used to hang round the neck images of Harpocrates, Horus, Apis, Osiris, Isis, &c. from which they hoped to derive many advantages, as skill in divination, improvement in natural knowledge, increase of offspring, &c. &c.] [Footnote a: Book IV.] [Footnote 224: Sierra Leone and the neighbouring rivers abound with sharks and alligators, which are extremely voracious, and are much dreaded by the natives. It is a curious fact, that upon the Kroo coast the natives have so little apprehension of sharks, that the children are constantly playing in the water; but when they remove to any distance from home, though it be only as far as Cape Mount, they are afraid of going into the water lest they should be devoured by sharks. At the Turtle Islands, in the Bay of Sherbro, according to Mr. Matthews, there never was an instance known of a shark attacking any one, though the children are constantly playing in the water. It is further said, that in the river Gallenhas (between Sherbro and Cape Mount) where alligators are in great abundance, there was not an instance upon record of any person being hurt by them, although the natives were much in the river, until a few years ago, when a slave ship blew up opposite its entrance. Monsieur Brue[a] says, at a village situated at the mouth of the Rio San Domingo (north of Sierra Leone) that the crocodiles hurt no person, and that children play with them, riding on their backs and sometimes beating them, without their showing the least resentment. The natives account for these circumstances by the great care they take to bury their dead, and all their offals, at such a distance from the sea side that the sharks cannot smell them. Among the Bulloms and Timmanees it is usual to refer even all accidents, as an alligator seizing upon a child whilst bathing in the river, or a leopard carrying off a goat, to the effects of witchcraft. They are of opinion that it is not a real leopard or alligator which has committed the depredation, but a witch under one of these assumed forms. A popular superstition of this kind probably gave rise to the story related by Herodotus of the Neuri, who were every year, at a certain time, changed into wolves for a few days[b]; and we find a similar story occurring in Virgil lecta venena, · · · · · · nascuntur plurima Ponto; His ego sæpe lupum fieri, & se condere silvis Mærin,· · · · · · Ecl. viii. 95. The strength of the leopard is very great, Mr. Norris speaks of one which seized upon a fat sheep, and carried it off in an instant, by leaping over a wall eight feet high.] [Footnote a: Voyage a la Cote d’Afrique Occident.] [Footnote b: Melpom. 105.] [Footnote 225: The king several times told them he had a very important question to put to them, which he must defer to a more private opportunity; at length obliging every one to go out except the interpreter, whom he said he was sorry to allow to be present, he asked, with great seriousness, what was the name of the mother of Moses.] [Footnote 226: In the Encyclopedie Methodique is inserted a very curious and interesting detail of the superstitious practices of the vulgar in France, and of their firm adherence to the use of amulets and charms, which will probably apply with equal justness to many other parts of Europe. The following short extract is inserted here, because it affords so striking a picture of African superstition, that we might be almost tempted to believe it had been applied by mistake to the more _polished_ natives of France. “Il suffit d’avoir parcouru les campagnes, à l’effet de porter des secours aux bestiaux malades, pour juger de l’espece de barbarie dans laquelle sont encore plongés le plus grand nombre des cultivateurs & des proprietaires des bestiaux. Une maladie opiniatre & qui devaste leurs ecuries, leurs etables, ou leurs bergeries, est certainement, selon eux, l’effet d’un _sortilege_, & ceux dans l’esprit desquels la demonomanie est fortement enracinée, n’ont garde de soumettre les animaux malades au moindre traitement, parce qu’ils sont bien persuadés qu’il n’est aucune ressource de ce genre à opposer à la puissance invincible du diable. Les bergers sont specialement regardés comme _sorciers_ dans la plupart des provinces, & sous ce titre ils ont droit à la confiance & à la crainte respectueuse du paysan.” Medecine, tome II. p. 213. à l’article Amulette.] [Footnote 227: Qualis frugifero quercus sublimis in agro Exuvias veteres populi, sacrataque gestans Dona ducum. Lucan. i. 136.] [Footnote 228: The following curious account of this strange malady is extracted from Mr. Bryan Edwards’s History of the West India Islands. “The term _Obeah_, _Obiah_ or _Obia_ (for it is variously written) we conceive to be the adjective, and _Obe_ or _Obi_ the noun substantive; and that by the words, obia men or women, are meant those who practice obi.” This, “is now become in Jamaica the general term to denote those Africans who in that island practise witchcraft or sorcery, comprehending also the class of what are called myalmen, or those who, by means of a narcotic potion, made with the juice of an herb (said to be the branched callalue, or species of solanum) which occasions a trance or profound sleep of a certain duration, endeavour to convince the deluded spectators of their power to reanimate dead bodies. “As far as we are able to decide from our own experience and information when we lived in the island, and from the current testimony of all the negroes we have ever conversed with on the subject, the professors of _obi_ are, and always were, natives of Africa, and none other; and they have brought the science with them from thence to Jamaica, where it is so universally practised, that we believe there are few of the large estates possessing native Africans, which have not one or more of them. The oldest and most crafty are those who usually attract the greatest devotion and confidence; those whose hoary heads, and a somewhat peculiarly harsh and forbidding in their aspect, together with some skill in plants of the medicinal and poisonous species, have qualified them for successful imposition upon the weak and credulous. The negroes in general, whether Africans or Creoles, revere, consult, and fear them; to these oracles they resort, and with the most implicit faith, upon all occasions, whether for the cure of disorders, the obtaining revenge for injuries or insults, the conciliating of favour, the discovery and punishment of the thief or the adulterer, and the prediction of future events. The trade which these impostors carry on is extremely lucrative; they manufacture and sell their obies, adapted to different cases and at different prices. A veil of mystery is studiously thrown over their incantations, to which the midnight hours are allotted, and every precaution is taken to conceal them from the knowledge and discovery of the white people. The deluded negroes, who thoroughly believe in their supernatural power, become the willing accomplices in this concealment, and the stoutest among them tremble at the very sight of the ragged bundle, the bottle, or the egg shells, which are stuck in the thatch or hung over the door of a hut, or upon the branch of a plantain tree, to deter marauders. In cases of poison, the natural effects of it are, by the ignorant negroes, ascribed entirely to the potent workings of obi. The wiser negroes hesitate to reveal their suspicions, through a dread of incurring the terrible vengeance which is fulminated by the obeah men against any one who should betray them; it is very difficult therefore for the white proprietor to distinguish the _obeah professor_ from any other negro upon his plantation; and so infatuated are the blacks in general, that but few instances occur of their having assumed courage enough to impeach these miscreants. With minds so firmly prepossessed, they no sooner find the _obi set for them_ near the door of their house, or in the path which leads to it, than they give themselves up for lost. When a negro is robbed of a fowl or a hog, he applies directly to the obeah man or woman; it is then made known among his fellow blacks, that _obi is set_ for the thief; and as soon as the latter hears the dreadful news, his terrified imagination begins to work, no resource is left but in the superior skill of some more eminent _obeah man_ of the neighbourhood, who may counteract the magical operations of the other; but if no one can be found of higher rank and ability, or if, after gaining such an ally, he should still fancy himself affected, he presently falls into a decline, under the incessant horror of impending calamities. The slightest painful sensation in the head, the bowels, or any other part, any casual loss or hurt, confirms his apprehensions, and he believes himself the devoted victim of an invisible and irresistible agency. Sleep, appetite, and cheerfulness forsake him; his strength decays, his disturbed imagination is haunted without respite, his features wear the settled gloom of despondency; dirt or any other unwholesome substance become his only food; he contracts a morbid habit of body, and gradually sinks into the grave. A negro, who is taken ill, enquires of the _obeah man_ the cause of his sickness, whether it will prove mortal or not, and within what time he shall die or recover? The oracle generally ascribes the distemper to the malice of some particular person by name, and advises to set _obi_ for that person; but if no hopes are given of recovery, immediate despair takes place, which no medicine can remove, and death is the certain consequence. Those anomalous symptoms, which originate from causes deeply rooted in the mind, such as the terrors of obi, or from poisons, whose operation is slow and intricate, will baffle the skill of the ablest physician. “The _obi_ is usually composed of a farrago of materials, most of which are enumerated in the Jamaica law (a law passed against this practice in 1760) viz. blood, feathers, parrots’ beaks, dogs’ teeth, alligators’ teeth, broken bottles, grave dirt[a], rum, and egg shells.”] [Footnote a: _Grave dirt_ affords a very solemn mode of trial among the negroes in the West Indies; when accused of some crime of which they wish to prove their innocence, they take a little of the earth from the grave of a near relation or friend, and drink it mixed with water, wishing at the same time that it may cause their belly to swell, and prove fatal, if they be guilty of the imputed charge.] [Footnote 229: The Romans had the same opinion of the gall of a horse; Pliny says, “damnatur equinum (fel) tantum inter venena.” l. 28. c. 40.] [Footnote 230: Travels in the Levant.] [Footnote 231: Nachrichten von die Kuste Guinea.] [Footnote 232: The use of poisoned weapons is of great antiquity, and probably originated among those rude nations who found themselves unable, without such assistance, to resist the attacks of the wild beasts which surrounded them. In proportion as these people became more civilized, they laid aside such pusillanimous practices, and had recourse to more manly methods of defence. Homer takes notice of this usage, but mentions it in such a manner as seems to shew that it was not generally approved; indeed he represents in the following lines a person as refusing, from religious motives, to propagate this pernicious art. For thither[a] also had Ulysses gone In his swift bark, seeking some pois’nous drug Wherewith to taint his brazen arrows keen, Which drug, through fear of the eternal gods Ilus refused him, and my father free Gave to him, for he loved him past belief. COWPER’S HOMER, ODYSSEY I.] [Footnote a: To Ephyre.] [Footnote 233: The juice of the bitter cassada, jatropha manihot, is perhaps one of the most deleterious poisons of the vegetable creation; it very speedily produces its fatal effects upon the larger animals, although we obtain a very wholesome and nutritious substance, called tapioca, from the sediment which its juice deposits. An ingenious writer observes, that he has “known a strong negro die in little more than an hour after drinking perhaps half a pint or more of this juice, and a strong mule in much less time. Negroes, who had eaten the roots roasted, lived three or four hours after.” This juice, when recently expressed, is as white as milk of almonds and has somewhat of its smell. The following instance of its fatal effects, if any dependance can be placed upon it, may serve as a proper supplement to Captain Stedman’s account of the _humane_ treatment of the slaves in Surinam. “Un de mes amis dit le meme medecin (de Surinam) me confia qu’il voulait punir de mort un de ses esclaves _tres coupable_. Comme j’etais curieux de connaitre toujours mieux l’effet de ce poison, je me determinai à l’employer pour le defaire de ce malheureux negre, avec promesse d’une fidelitè inviolable à garder le secret, d’assister moi meme _à l’execution_, & faire ensuite l’ouverture du cadavre. Je lui donnai trente cinq gouttes de cette liqueur: & à peine les eut il avalées, que ce miserable fit des contorsions & des hurlemens horribles. Ils furent suivis d’evacuations, de mouvemens convulsifs, & en six minutes ce malheureux eut perdu la vie. Trois heures après, j’en fis l’ouverture, & ne trouvai aucunes des parties offensées, aucune inflammation, excepté l’estomac, qui s’etait retiré de plus de moitiè. “En distillant, à feu gradué, cinquante livres de suc recent de manioc, la vertu du poison ne passe que dans les trois ou quatre premieres onces de l’esprit qu’on en retire. L’odeur en est insupportable; & c’est de cet elixir terrible que se servit le medecin de Surinam. L’huile chaude de navette est un excellent antidote, ainsi que le suc de roucou; mais il faut les prendre sur le champ, car ils ne produiraient aucun effet si on differait de les employer.” Voyage a la Guiane p. 100.] [Footnote 234: Bancroft’s History of Guiana.] [Footnote 235: Voyage a la Guiana & a Cayenne, fait en 1789.] APPENDIX. No I. * * * * * DESCRIPTION OF THE _COLONY OF SIERRA LEONE_. AS there has been frequent occasion in the course of the foregoing work to mention the colony of Sierra Leone, it may not be unseasonable to subjoin a short account of it. In the year 1787, Mr. Granville Sharp, commiserating the wretched situation of the black poor, who crowded the streets of London, formed the benevolent plan of procuring for them an asylum in their native country. With the assistance of some gentlemen, of the same humane disposition, a few thousand pounds were subscribed for carrying this philanthropic scheme into execution. About four hundred and sixty blacks, who chose to accept the offer, were, at the expence of government, carried to Sierra Leone, and supplied with provisions for the first six or eight months after their arrival. Of the whole number embarked, eighty-four were carried off by a contagious disease during their detention in the channel; and about an hundred more died during the first rainy season, partly owing to intemperance, and partly to a want of sufficient accommodation and shelter against the violence of the rains. A certain quantity of land was ceded to them by the natives, and they built for themselves a town upon the present scite of Free Town. Here they resided in tolerable peace and comfort until the year 1790, when, in consequence of a quarrel between the captain of a British ship of war and the natives, in which the settlers, though in no degree concerned in the dispute, were obliged to take an active part, they were ordered, by the natives, to quit their town, and for this purpose they were allowed only three days. In consequence of this unforeseen event, the settlers were dispersed over the country; but in the following year they were again collected by an agent sent, for that purpose, from England; and they were settled about two miles from their former situation, in a small town, which they built, and named after their patron and benefactor, Granville Town. About the same time an act of parliament was obtained for incorporating the Sierra Leone Company. A number of free blacks, who had served in the royal army during the war in America, had, as a recompense for their services, certain portions of land assigned to them in Nova Scotia by the British government; but most of these people having been accustomed to a hot climate, suffered much from the severity of the winters of that country, and finding also the lands less productive than they expected, they became dissatisfied with their situation. An offer was therefore made, with the approbation of government, of land in the company’s territory at Sierra Leone to as many of these people as chose, with their families, to quit Nova Scotia. In consequence of this proposal, eleven hundred and ninety-six persons, including men, women, and children, embarked at Halifax, and were conveyed to Africa at the expence of government. The situation, which had been at first occupied by the former settlers, was fixed upon for the chief establishment of the Sierra Leone Company, and the name of Free Town was given to it. Free Town is situated on the south side of the river Sierra Leone, about six miles from its mouth, upon a piece of ground which rises abruptly from the water’s edge to the height of at least fifty feet, and then proceeds with a gentle and gradual ascent for about three quarters of a mile, till it reaches the foot of a chain of mountains running nearly in an E.S.E. and W.N.W. direction. The town is bounded on the N.W. by St. George’s Bay, on the E. by another small bay called Susan’s Bay, and on the S. are the mountains already mentioned. It extends about one third of a mile in length, and nearly the same in breadth, and contains about seventy or eighty acres. The number of houses amounts to between three and four hundred, and they are disposed in regular streets, of which nine run in a straight line towards the mountains, in a north west and south east direction. These streets are intersected at right angles by three cross streets, which run parallel to the shore. They are all eighty feet in breadth, except the parallel street nearest the water, which is double the breadth of the others. Each house stands separate, and has a small garden attached to it; forty-eight feet by seventy-six being the space allotted for each family to build upon. Before the town was destroyed by the French, the principal public buildings were placed in the widest street, which was terminated by the governor’s house, situated upon a point of land at the north eastern extremity of Free Town. All these, however, together with every other building which had the appearance of superior neatness, were unfeelingly devoted to the flames in October 1794, by the French. The dwelling houses of the Nova Scotian settlers, which constitute the chief part of the town, consisted, during the two first years, almost entirely of thatched buildings; but since that period they have procured for themselves more comfortable habitations. They, at present[236], consist chiefly of wooden buildings about thirty feet in length, and fifteen in breadth, divided into rooms by partitions, and raised two or three feet from the ground. The floors also, instead of being formed of earth, are now boarded, and the roofs of many of them are covered with shingles, or thin pieces of wood, about six inches in breadth, and three feet in length, placed over each other like the tiles of a house. In general there are no chimneys in these houses, the fire for culinary purposes being made in the open air, or in a detached building. The present residence of the governor of Sierra Leone is a handsome wooden building of one story, surrounded by a spacious piazza. It is situated upon a small round hill, elevated about an hundred and fifty feet above the level of the water, and placed between the town and the foot of the mountains. From this eminence, called Thornton Hill, the eye takes in a most extensive prospect, and dwells with pleasure upon the surrounding picturesque scenery, in which the milder beauties of nature are agreeably blended with those of a more solemn and sublime appearance[237]. The cheerful tints imparted by a vast profusion of shrubs are finely contrasted by the sombre shade of venerable trees, whose aspect bespeaks them of primæval growth. The attention is first attracted indeed by the active scenes of life immediately beneath. From this hill the eye distinguishes with ease, not only the various streets, but almost every house in the town, which appears as if placed in the midst of a shrubbery. Over the town is seen St. George’s Bay, enlivened by the appearance of ships, or the frequent passing of boats and canoes, and the scene on that side terminates in an extensive view of the ocean. On the right hand is seen the river flowing majestically for several miles above the colony, together with several of its islands, and the whole extent of the Bullom shore, from Leopard’s Island to Tagrin Point, a distance of twelve or fourteen miles; the land richly clothed with wood, and edged with a fine white sandy beach. On the left hand are the mountains, forest crowned, winding in nearly a semicircular form, and running with a gentle declivity towards the Cape. The back ground is closed by immense forests, which rise like an amphitheatre, and occasionally have their summits veiled in fleecy clouds. An intelligent traveller[238], who visited this river, observes, that those who admire the tranquil and solemn scenery of nature, which disposes the mind to soothing reveries; and who wish to experience the charms of the picture which the entrance of the river Sierra Leone presents, should visit it in the month of April. “It was about five o’clock in the afternoon; behind us we had the sun, which in little more than an hour disappeared in the ocean. The evening was calm, and the heat moderated by a gentle breeze which had just risen. The rays of the sun, of a lilac red, were diffused over the internal parts of the bay, and marked its various inequalities, which appeared like compartments of the same picture, but differently illuminated. Before us appeared the village of Sierra Leone, and two other towns of the natives, and near the former place we could distinguish the masts of vessels at anchor. The bustle of men, and the manœuvres of boats and canoes returning from fishing, gave animation to this beautiful landscape, whose composition is sweet and simple, and peculiarly pleasing by the harmony of its tints. Europe, indeed, offers more brilliant and richer views; and Switzerland and the Alps present more stupendous appearances; but no where can we find a more agreeable or more charming situation than the bay of Sierra Leone.” The soil in the neighbourhood of Free Town is of an argillaceous nature mixed with sand; in some parts it is of a very deep red colour, and here and there interspersed with rocks. The situation of the town upon a gentle slope renders it dry; and its elevation exposes it to the regular sea and land breezes. It is not incommoded by swamps in its vicinity, consequently the breeze is inhaled with pleasure, and leaves no noxious effects behind. The situation of Free Town is well adapted for trade, being placed upon the banks of a river accessible at all times to vessels of the greatest burden, which may lie in safety close to the shore. Near it are various bays which offer every convenience for the careening or repairing of vessels, or for the construction of docks; and the immense forests which clothe the adjacent mountains contain timber well adapted for every purpose of ship building. This river has always been much resorted to by ships on account of the excellency of its water and the facility with which it is procured. These causes rendered it, about the beginning of the last century, a great resort for pirates, in consequence of which, one of the bays, near the Cape, still retains the name of Pirate’s Bay. Snelgrave had the misfortune, about the year 1718, to fall into the hands of the pirates in this river, who treated him with great cruelty, and from whom he narrowly escaped with life. As the different reports which have been published, from time to time, by the Court of Directors of the Sierra Leone Company, have already made the public acquainted with the nature, objects, progress, and present state of the colony, it seems unnecessary in this place to enter into any further details respecting it. [Footnote 236: The whole of this account refers to the beginning of the year 1796, when the author quitted the colony to return to Europe.] [Footnote 237: —Appunto una scena Pastorale, a cui fanno Quinci il mar, quincï i colli, e d’ogn’ intorno I fior, le piante, e l’ombre, e l’onde, e l’cielo Un teatro pomposo— FILLI DI SCIRO.] [Footnote 238: See Fragmens d’un Voyage par Golbery.] APPENDIX. No II. * * * * * METEOROLOGICAL ACCOUNT OF _SIERRA LEONE_. THE following meteorological table, with the observations on the state of the weather for each month, is extracted from a paper of the author’s, in the eighth vol. of Medical Facts and Observations, entitled, “Some Observations relative to the Climate and Diseases of Sierra Leone.” In this table are presented, at one view, the highest, lowest, and medium states of the thermometer, hygrometer, and barometer, during each month, and during the whole year. The number of rainy days which occurred during each month, and in the whole year, is likewise noted, with the quantity of rain which fell in each month, and the number of tornadoes. The rain attending tornadoes is not included among the number of rainy days; but the whole quantity of rain which fell, is noted. _METEOROLOGICAL TABLE FOR THE YEAR_ 1793. +------+---------------+---------------+ | | Thermometer. | Hygrometer. | |Month +-----+----+----+-----+----+----+ | |high.|low.|med.|high.|low.|med.| +------+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+ |Jan. | 89 |74½ |81½ | | | | | | | | | | | | |Feb. | 88 |75 |81½ |59½ |51½ |55½ | | | | | | | | | |March | 95 |74 |84½ |55½ |48½ |52 | | | | | | | | | |April | 95 |74 |84½ |56½ |50 |53¼ | | | | | | | | | |May | 92 |71 |81½ |61 |46½ |53¾ | | | | | | | | | |June | 88 |71 |79½ |65½ |55 |60¼ | | | | | | | | | |July | 85 |73 |79 |69½ |59½ |64½ | | | | | | | | | |August| 86 |72 |79 |66½ |58 |62¼ | | | | | | | | | |Sept. | 85 |71 |78 |66 |58 |62 | | | | | | | | | |Oct. | 89 |71½ |80¼ |62¾ |52½ |57⅝ | | | | | | | | | |Nov. | 91¼ |72¾ |82 |57½ |51 |54½ | | | | | | | | | |Dec. | 90 |72¼ |81⅛ |57¾ |46¼ |52 | +------+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+ |Whole | 95 |71 |83 |69½ |46¼ |57⅞ | |Year | | | | | | | +------+-----+----+----+-----+----+----+ [Continued] +------+------------------------+------------+----------+ | | Barometer. | Rain. | | |Month +--------+-------+-------+-----+------+Tornadoes.| | |highest.|lowest.|medium.|Days.|Quant.| | +------+--------+-------+-------+-----+------+----------+ |Jan. | 30,066 |29,810 |29,938 | 1| 0,73| 1 | | | | | | | | | |Feb. | 30,018 |29,831 |29,924 | 3| 0,30| 1 | | | | | | | | | |March | 29,976 |29,888 |29,932 | 2| 1,12| 4 | | | | | | | | | |April | 30,016 |29,813 |29,914 | 3| 1,61| 2 | | | | | | | | | |May | | | | 11| 6,90| 12 | | | | | | | | | |June | | | | 25| 10,16| 2 | | | | | | | | | |July | | | | 30| 10,32| 1 | | | | | | | | | |August| | | | 29| 23,14| 0 | | | | | | | | | |Sept. | 30,068 |29,934 |30,001 | 26| 19,90| 4 | | | | | | | | | |Oct. | 30,090 |29,980 |30,035 | 17| 9,08| 15 | | | | | | | | | |Nov. | 30,052 |29,852 |29,952 | 4| 1,85| 9 | | | | | | | | | |Dec. | 30,060 |29,842 |29,951 | 3| 1,17| 1 | +------+--------+-------+-------+-----+------+----------+ |Whole | 30,090 |29,810 |29,950 | 154| 86,28| 52 | |Year | | | | | | | +------+--------+-------+-------+-----+------+----------+ _January._—The weather was in general close and sultry, especially in the evenings and mornings; but the heat was abated during the middle of the day, by the sea breeze, which commonly blew pretty fresh. The atmosphere was usually much obscured by haze and clouds. The N. and E. were the most prevailing winds. A tornado occurred on the 3d, and much heavy rain fell on the morning of the 4th. There was much thunder and lightning on the 8th. The 8th, 11th, 12th, 16th, 28th, 29th, 30th, and 31st days, were remarkably foggy. _February._—The temperature of the air, though little different in absolute heat from that of the preceding month, was rendered more agreeable to the feelings, by the fresh breezes which prevailed during the greatest part of this month. The 1st, 13th, 14th, 21st, 22d, and 28th were very foggy days. On the 13th, 22d, and 23d, there were slight showers. A smart tornado occurred in the night of the 21st. The most prevailing winds, during this month, were from the N. and W. _March._—Notwithstanding the thermometer for the most part ranged pretty high in this month, the temperature of the air was not unpleasant. The sea and land breezes most commonly blew pretty fresh, and succeeded each other with great regularity. In the mornings, however, during the interval between the blowing of the land and sea breezes, it was often close and sultry, though the breeze seldom set in later than half past eight or nine. On the 7th a slight shower fell. On the 8th, there fell smart rain during the night. On the 13th, 26th, 27th, and 31st there were tornadoes. There was thunder and lightning on the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 26th, and 29th. The 13th, 14th, 20th, 29th, 30th, and 31st days were remarkably foggy: the only entire days in which the heat felt unpleasant, were the 18th and 19th. _April._—Though the range of the thermometer was pretty high this month, the heat was in general temperate and agreeable, the mornings being usually the only part of the day which felt sultry, though this was of short continuance, as the sea breeze generally sprung up about nine A.M. The breeze, towards evening, sometimes became less, or settled in a calm, which made the air feel close and rather unpleasant. The atmosphere was generally hazy, and frequently obscured with heavy clouds, as if threatening rain. On the 4th, 20th, and 24th, a slight shower occurred each day. A tornado occurred on the 16th, and 18th, but without being followed by thunder, lightning or rain. On the 6th, 7th, 8th, 29th, and 30th days, there was thunder and lightning. _May._—This month was more sultry and close than the preceding one, though the thermometer did not rise so high. The most prevailing winds were from the W. and E. but they seldom blew fresh for any length of time. The 7th, 24th, and 29th, were attended with heavy rain. On the 9th, 10th, 11th, 19th, 23d, and 25th, slight showers fell. Smart showers occurred on the 16th, and 21st. Tornadoes appeared on the 8th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th, 21st, 25th, and 26th. There were two tornadoes on the 13th; the tornado on the 19th was from the sea, a very unusual circumstance. Thunder and lightning occurred during some part of the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 18th, 22d, 25th, 28th, 29th, and 31st days. The atmosphere was in general very cloudy, hazy, and overcast. _June._—The temperature of the air, during this month, was in general sultry, and often close and stifling, particularly when the sun made its appearance after a shower of rain had fallen, and when there was at the same time little wind, though the heat indicated by the thermometer was not so great as in the preceding months. In the last month, which might be considered as the forerunner of the rainy season, there were only eleven days of rain; in the present month there were twenty-five, of which the 2d, 6th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 16th, and 17th days were attended with only slight showers. On the 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th, 18th, 19th, 23d, 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th days, there fell smart showers. On the 8th, 15th, 20th, 21st, 24th, and 30th days, heavy rain fell. Thunder and lightning occurred during some part of the 1st, 2d, 3d, 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 18th, 21st, 24th, 26th, and 27th. A tornado occurred on the 4th, A.M. and on the 7th, P.M. The most prevailing winds were from the S. and W. quarters; the breeze being in general pretty fresh during the middle of the day, but it was frequently calm in the mornings and evenings. _July._—During the whole of this month, the atmosphere was thick and hazy, and frequently overcast with dense clouds. The temperature of the air was, for the most part, cool, often even cold, with a degree of rawness. During the intervals of the showers, however, when calm, or with only a light breeze, the air felt sometimes sultry and close. The most prevailing winds were from the S. and W. and generally with a pretty fresh breeze. There were thirty days of rain in the present month, the 27th being the only day in which no rain fell. The 1st, 4th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 24th, 26th, 29th, 30th, and 31st, were attended with smart showers of rain. On the 2d, 13th, 21st, 22d, and 23d, only slight showers fell. On the 3d, 5th, 6th, 9th, 14th, 16th, 25th, and 28th, there was heavy rain. On the 3d, 6th, 8th, 10th, and 27th, thunder and lightning occurred. _August._—The temperature of the air, during the present month, was, for the most part, cool, sometimes chilly and raw. The atmosphere was usually obscured by clouds and haze. The S. was the most prevalent wind this month, and in general it blew pretty fresh. The number of rainy days was twenty-nine, of which the 8th, 14th, 22d, 23d, and 31st, were attended with only slight showers. On the 1st, 3d, 9th, 13th, 17th, 20th, and 25th there were smart showers of rain. The 2d, 4th, 5th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 26th, 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th, were days in which heavy rain fell. The 21st and 24th were the only days free from rain, and the 21st was the only day which could be said to be pretty clear. There were no tornadoes, nor did any thunder or lightning occur in the present month. _September._—The temperature of the air, during the present month, was rather agreeable than remarkable for either heat or chilliness. The atmosphere was frequently obscured with clouds and haze, and the tops of the hills behind the town were covered with fog. There were twenty-six rainy days in this month, of which the 3d, 4th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 20th, 26th, and 28th, had smart showers. The 1st, 2d, 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th, 12th, 15th, 21st, 22d, 24th, 25th, 29th, and 30th, were attended with heavy rain. There occurred tornadoes on the 23d, 28th, and 30th. On the 1st, 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 20th, 21st, 22d, 26th, 27th, and 28th, there was thunder and lightning, during some part of the day. _October._—The rains which, during the three preceding months, had been very severe, began to diminish considerably during the present. The number of rainy days which occurred were only seventeen, of which the 3d, 4th, 5th, 13th, 14th, 16th, and 28th, were attended only with slight showers. On the 18th, 23d, 24th, 30th, and 31st, smart showers of rain fell. On the 2d, 6th, 10th, and 11th, heavy rain fell. Tornadoes occurred on the 3d, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 14th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 22d, 23d, 25th, 26th, and 31st. On the 7th, there were two tornadoes. On the 2d, 11th, 12th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 20th, 21st, 29th, and 30th, there was thunder and lightning, during some part of the day. The air was, in general, rendered cool and pleasant, by a moderate breeze; but on those days on which the land breeze continued till near noon, it was often close and sultry during part of the afternoon, until the sea breeze set in, the interval between the sea and land breezes being commonly greater under such circumstances. The atmosphere was less gloomy than in the preceding months, though still hazy and often obscured by clouds. _November._—The range of the thermometer was higher in the present than in the five last months. The degree of moisture of the atmosphere also, as shewn by the hygrometer, was less. The most prevailing winds were from the N. and E. quarters. The heat, during the whole month, was sometimes not unpleasant, though sultry about noon, when the sea breeze happened to set in late. The number of rainy days in this month were only four. On the 1st, and 30th, slight showers fell. A smart shower fell on the 2d, and on the 25th there was heavy rain. Thunder and lightning occurred on the 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 8th, 10th, 20th, 22d, 25th, and 29th. Tornadoes occurred on the 3d, 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 18th, and 19th. _December._—This month, like all the preceding, was accompanied with great haziness of the atmosphere, and often with low heavy clouds. The 23d was remarkably foggy; the haze covering the Bullom shore, and extending almost two-thirds over the river, so as often completely to obstruct the view. The 8th was very close and sultry; the thermometer at eight A.M. rising to 85°. There were three rainy days in this month, the 2d, 27th, and 28th. A tornado occurred on the 1st, and faint lightnings were seen on the 26th and 27th. The temperature of the air was in general cool and pleasant. The winds were rather variable this month; the east was most common in the mornings, and often continued till noon, or later. It continued to blow almost the whole of the 19th, 20th, and 21st days[239]. About noon it usually came from the north quarter, and towards evening veered towards the west. The breeze was, in general, moderate and pleasant. Respecting the journal itself, from which these observations are extracted, it is divided into eleven columns; in which are noted the day and hour, the height of the thermometer and barometer, the state of the hygrometer, the moon’s age, the prevailing winds, the appearance of the sun, and the quantity of rain. The relative temperature of the air also, with respect to the feelings, is noticed. The observations were made regularly four times a day, and, as nearly as was convenient, at the same hours. The greatest and least heights, also, of the thermometer, during the day, if differing much from the hour observed, is commonly noted. The thermometer, constructed according to Fahrenheit’s scale, was always exposed to the free air, in a large open passage, perfectly shaded from the rays of the sun. It was suspended about six feet from the ground, and preserved from the contact of surrounding bodies. The height of the barometer is marked in inches and 1000 parts. This instrument was kept in a large airy room, elevated about sixty feet from the surface of the water; the doors and windows of the room were generally kept open, but the heat of it was sometimes increased by the presence of numbers of people. The hygrometer made use of was the one invented by Monsieur de Luc, a plate of which instrument, with an accurate description, is given in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. 81st, page 420. The scale of this delicate instrument is divided into 100 equal parts, 0 being the point of extreme dryness, and 100 that of extreme moisture. There were two of these instruments alternately used; one being kept close while the other was in use, they were compared from time to time, and after upwards of a year and half’s use, were not found to vary. This instrument was contained in a box pierced with a number of small holes, and suspended about ten feet from the ground, in a room sixty feet above the surface of the water, and in which the doors and windows were kept constantly open during the day. It was placed out of a current of air, and though the box which contained it was pierced with holes, yet, for greater certainty, the lid was kept open about two minutes before each observation. The rain gauge was placed in an open piece of ground, at a considerable distance from trees, houses, &c. upon a stand about four feet high. The quantity of rain which fell between any two observations was in general noted, except when the shower was very slight, when it was left until more had fallen. The instruments made use of were all made by Mr. Adams, of Fleet Street, London, except the barometer, which was made by Mr. Ramsden. [Footnote 239: This I have since thought must have been the harmattan, though I was not aware of it at the time.] APPENDIX. No III. * * * * * _ACCOUNT OF THE TERMITES._ THE following accurate account of the Termites, alluded to in page 47, is contained in a letter to Sir Joseph Banks, from Mr. Smeathman, inserted in the 71st vol. of the Philosophical Transactions. These insects are known by various names. They belong to the termes of Linnæus, and other systematical naturalists. By the English: In the windward parts of Africa they are called _bug a bugs_; in the West Indies, _wood lice_, _wood ants_, or _white ants_. By the French: At Senegal, _vague-vagues_; in the West Indies, _poux de bois_, or _fourmis blanches_. By the Bullom, or Sherbro, people, in Africa, _scantz_. By the Portugueze in the Brazils, _coupèe_, or _cutters_, from their cutting things in pieces. By this latter name, and that of _piercers_ or _eaters_, and similar terms, they are distinguished in various parts of the tropical regions. The following are the specific differences, given by Dr. Solander, of such insects of this _genus_ as I have observed and collected. 1. Termes _bellicosus_ corpore fusco, alis fuscescentibus: costâ ferrugineâ, stemmatibus subsuperis oculo propinquis, puncto centrali prominulo. 2. Termes _mordax_ nigricans, antennis pedibusque testaceis, alis fuliginosis: areâ marginali dilatatâ: costâ nigricante, stemmatibus inferis oculo approximatis, puncto centrali impresso. 3. Termes _atrox_ nigricans, segmentis abdominalibus margine pallidis, antennis pedibusque testaceis, alis fuliginosis: costâ nigrâ, stemmatibus inferis, puncto centrali impresso. 4. Termes _destructor_ nigricans, abdominis lineâ laterali luteâ, antennis testaceis, alis hyalinis: costa lutescente, stemmatibus subsuperis, puncto centrali obliterato. 5. Termes _arborum_ corpore testaceo, alis fuscescentibus: costâ lutescente, capite nigricante, stemmatibus inferis oculo approximatis, puncto centrali impresso. The termites are represented by Linnæus as the greatest plagues of both Indies, and are indeed every way between the tropics so deemed, from the vast damages they cause, and the losses which are experienced in consequence of their eating and perforating wooden buildings, utensils, and furniture, with all kinds of household stuff and merchandize, which are totally destroyed by them, if not timely prevented; for nothing less hard than metal or stone can escape their destructive jaws. These insects have generally obtained the name of ants, it may be presumed, from the similarity in their manner of living, which is, in large communities, that erect very extraordinary nests, for the most part on the surface of the ground, from whence their excursions are made through subterraneous passages or covered galleries, which they build whenever necessity obliges, or plunder induces them to march above ground, and at a great distance from their habitations carry on a business of depredation and destruction, scarce credible but to those who have seen it. But notwithstanding they live in communities, and are, like the ants, omnivorous; though like them, at a certain period, they are furnished with four wings, and emigrate or colonize at the same season; they are by no means the same kind of insects, nor does their form correspond with that of _ants_ in any one state of their existence, which, like most other insects, is changed several times. The termites resemble the ants also in their provident and diligent labour, but surpass them, as well as the bees, wasps, beavers, and all other animals which I have ever heard of, in the arts of building, as much as the Europeans excel the least cultivated savages. It is more than probable they excel them as much in sagacity and the arts of government; it is certain they shew more substantial instances of their ingenuity and industry than any other animals; and do in fact lay up vast magazines of provisions and other stores. As this is the case, it is a little surprising that an accurate natural history of these wonderful insects has not been attempted long since; especially as, according to Bosman (who wrote the beginning of this century) in his description of the Coast of Guinea, some curious circumstances relative to them must have been known. According to that gentleman, the king was supposed to be as large as a cray-fish[240]. This, though a bad comparison, is pretty near the truth in respect to the size of the female, who is the _common mother_ of the community, and, according to the mode we have adopted from time immemorial in speaking of ants and bees, the queen. These communities consist of one _male_ and one _female_ (who are generally the _common parents_ of the whole, or greater part, of the rest), and of three orders of insects, apparently of very different species, but really the same, which together compose great commonwealths, or rather monarchies, if I may be allowed the term. Linnæus, having seen or heard of but two of these orders, has classed the genus erroneously; for he has placed it among the _aptera_, or insects without wings; whereas the chief order, that is to say, the insect in its perfect state, having four wings without any sting, it belongs to the _neuroptera_; in which class it will constitute a new genus of many species. The different species of this genus resemble each other in form, in their manner of living, and in their good and bad qualities: but differ as much as birds in the manner of building their habitations or nests, and in the choice of the materials of which they compose them. There are some species which build upon the surface of the ground, or part above and part beneath, and one or two species, perhaps more, which build on the stems or branches of trees, sometimes aloft at a vast height. Of every species there are three orders; first, the working insects, which, for brevity, I shall generally call _labourers_; next, the fighting ones, or _soldiers_, which do no kind of labour; and, last of all, the winged ones, or _perfect insects_, which are male and female, and capable of propagation. These neither labour, nor toil, nor fight, being quite incapable of either, and almost of self-defence. These only however are capable of being elected _kings_ or _queens_; and nature has so ordered it, that they emigrate within a few weeks after they are elevated to this state, and either establish new kingdoms, or perish within a day or two. The _termes bellicosus_, being the largest species, is most remarkable and best known on the Coast of Africa. It erects immense buildings of well tempered clay or earth, which are contrived and finished with such art and ingenuity, that we are at a loss to say, whether they are most to be admired on that account, or for their enormous magnitude and solidity. It is from the two lower orders of this, or a similar species, that Linnæus seems to have taken his description of the _termes fatalis_; and most of the accounts brought home from Africa or Asia, of the white ants, are also taken from a species that are so much alike in external habit and size, and build so much in their manner, that one may almost venture to pronounce them mere variations of the same species. The reason that the larger termites have been most remarked is obvious; they not only build larger and more curious nests, but are also more numerous, and do infinitely more mischief to mankind. They have, at the same time, some highly important purposes to serve in the destruction of that immense load of putrid substances of a vegetable kind which encumber the earth in tropical climates. In a few weeks they will destroy and carry away the bodies of large trees, without leaving a particle behind, thus clearing the place for other vegetables, which soon fill up every vacancy; and in places where, two or three years before, there has been a populous town, if the inhabitants, as is frequently the case, have chosen to abandon it, there shall be a very thick wood, and not the vestige of a post to be seen, unless the wood has been of a species which, from its hardness, is called _iron wood_. My general account of the termites is taken from observations made on the _termes bellicosus_, to which I was induced by the greater facility and certainty with which they could be made. The nests of this species are so numerous all over the island of Bananas, and the adjacent continent of Africa, that it is scarce possible to stand upon any open place, such as a rice plantation, or other clear spot, where one of these buildings is not to be seen within fifty paces, and frequently two or three are to be seen almost close to each other. In some parts, near Senegal, as mentioned by Monsieur Adanson, their number, magnitude, and closeness of situation, make them appear like the villages of the natives. These buildings are usually termed hills, from their appearance, which is that of little hills more or less conical, generally pretty much in the form of sugar loaves, and about ten or twelve feet in perpendicular height above the common surface of the ground[241]. [Illustration] These hills continue quite bare for some time; but in the second or third year, the hillock, if not overshaded by trees, becomes, like the rest of the earth, almost covered with grass and other plants. The exterior of these buildings is one large shell, in the manner of a dome, large and strong enough to inclose and shelter the interior from the vicissitudes of the weather, and the inhabitants from the attacks of natural or accidental enemies. It is always, therefore, much stronger than the interior building, which is the habitable part, divided with wonderful regularity and contrivance into an amazing number of apartments for the residence of the _king_ and _queen_, and the nursing of their numerous progeny; or for magazines, which are always found well filled with stores and provisions. These hills make their first appearance above ground by a little turret or two in the shape of sugar loaves, which are run a foot high or more[242]. Soon after, at some little distance, while the former are increasing in height and size, they raise others, and so go on increasing the number, and widening them at the base, till their works below are covered with these turrets, which they always raise the highest and largest in the middle, and by filling up the intervals between each turret, collect them as it were into one dome. They are not very curious or exact about these turrets, except in making them very solid and strong, and when, by this junction of them, the dome is completed, for which purpose the turrets answer as scaffolds, they take away the middle ones entirely, except the tops (which joined together make the crown of the cupola) and apply the clay to the building of the works within, or to erecting fresh turrets for the purpose of raising the hillock still higher; so that no doubt some part of the clay is used several times, like the boards and posts of a mason’s scaffold. When these hills are at about little more than half their height, it is always the practice of the wild bulls to stand as centinels upon them, while the rest of the herd is ruminating below. They are sufficiently strong for that purpose, and at their full height answer excellently as places to look out. I have been with four men on the top of one of these hillocks. The outward shell or dome is not only of use to protect and support the interior buildings from external violence and the heavy rains, but to collect and preserve a regular degree of genial warmth and moisture, which seems very necessary for hatching the eggs and cherishing the young ones. The _royal chamber_, which I call so on account of its being adapted for, and occupied by, the _king_ and _queen_, appears to be, in the opinion of this little people, of the most consequence, being always situated as near the centre of the interior building as possible, and generally about the height of the common surface of the ground, at a pace or two from the hillock. It is always nearly in the shape of half an egg, or an obtuse oval, within, and may be supposed to represent a long oven. In the infant state of the colony, it is not above an inch or thereabout in length; but in time will be increased to six or eight inches or more in the clear, being always in proportion to the size of the _queen_, who, increasing in bulk as in age, at length requires a chamber of such dimensions. Its floor is perfectly horizontal, and in large hillocks, sometimes an inch thick and upward of solid clay. The roof also, which is one solid and well turned oval arch, is generally about the same solidity, but in some places it is not a quarter of an inch thick: this is on the sides where it joins the floor, and where the doors or entrances are made level therewith at pretty equal distances from each other. These entrances will not admit any animal larger than the soldiers or labourers; so that the _king_, and the _queen_ (who is, at full size, a thousand times the weight of a _king_) can never possibly go out. The royal chamber, if in a large hillock, is surrounded by an innumerable quantity of others of different sizes, shapes, and dimensions; but all of them arched in one way or another, sometimes circular, and sometimes elliptical or oval. These either open into each other, or communicate by passages as wide, and being always empty, are evidently made for the soldiers and attendants, of whom it will soon appear great numbers are necessary, and of course always in waiting. These apartments are joined by the magazines and nurseries. The former are chambers of clay, and are always well filled with provisions, which, to the naked eye, seem to consist of the raspings of wood and plants which the termites destroy, but are found in the microscope to be principally the gums or inspissated juices of plants. These are thrown together in little masses, some of which are finer than others, and resemble the sugar about preserved fruits; others are like tears of gum, one quite transparent, another like amber, a third brown, and a fourth quite opaque, as we see often in parcels of ordinary gums. These magazines are intermixed with the nurseries, which are buildings totally different from the rest of the apartments: for they are composed entirely of wooden materials, seemingly joined together with gums. I call them the nurseries, because they are invariably occupied by the eggs and young ones, which appear at first in the shape of labourers, but white as snow. These buildings are exceeding compact, and divided into many very small irregular shaped chambers, not one of which is to be found of half an inch in width. They are placed all round the royal apartments, and as near as possible to them. When the nest is in the infant state, the nurseries are close to the royal chamber; but as in process of time the queen enlarges, it is necessary to enlarge the chamber for her accommodation; and as she then lays a greater number of eggs, and requires a greater number of attendants, so it is necessary to enlarge and increase the number of the adjacent apartments: for this purpose the small nurseries which are first built are taken to pieces, rebuilt a little farther off, a size bigger, and the number of them increased at the same time. The nurseries are always found slightly overgrown with _mould_, and plentifully sprinkled with small white globules about the size of a small pin’s head. These, on bringing them to the microscope, evidently appeared to be a species of mushroom. They appear, when whole, white like snow a little thawed and then frozen again, and when bruised seem composed of an infinite number of pellucid particles, approaching to oval forms, and difficult to separate; the mouldiness seems likewise to be the same kind of substance. The nurseries are inclosed in chambers of clay, like those which contain the provisions, but much larger. In the early state of the nest they are not bigger than an hazel-nut, but in great hills are often as large as a child’s head of a year old. The disposition of the interior parts of these hills is in general pretty nearly according to the following plan. The royal chamber is situated at about a level with the surface of the ground, at an equal distance from all the sides of the building, and directly under the apex of the hill. It is on all sides, both above and below, surrounded by what I should call the _royal apartments_, where the labourers and soldiers wait to guard or serve their common father and mother, on whose safety depends the happiness, and, according to the negroes, even the existence of the whole community. These apartments compose an intricate labyrinth, which extends a foot or more in diameter from the _royal chamber_ on every side. Here the nurseries and magazines of provisions begin, and, being separated by small empty chambers and galleries, which go round them, or communicate from one to the other, are continued on all sides to the outward shell, and reach up within it two thirds or three fourths of its height, leaving an open area in the middle under the dome, which very much resembles the nave of an old cathedral: this is surrounded by three or four very large gothic shaped arches, which are sometimes two or three feet high next the front of the area, but diminish very rapidly as they recede from thence, like the arches of aisles in perspectives, and are soon lost among the innumerable chambers and nurseries behind them. All these chambers, and the passages leading to and from them, being arched, they help to support one another; and while the interior large arches prevent them falling into the centre, and keep the area open, the exterior building supports them on the outside. There are, comparatively speaking, few openings into the great area, and they for the most part seem intended only to admit that genial warmth into the nurseries which the dome collects. The interior building, or assemblage of nurseries, chambers, &c. has a flattish top or roof without any perforation, which would keep the apartments below dry, in case, through accident, the dome should receive any injury, and let in water; and it is never exactly flat and uniform, because they are always adding to it by building more chambers and nurseries: so that the divisions or columns between the future arched apartments resemble the pinnacles upon the fronts of some old buildings, and demand particular notice, as affording one proof that for the most part the insects project their arches, and do not make them, as I imagined for a long time, by excavation. The area has also a flattish floor, which lies over the royal chamber, but sometimes a good height above it, having nurseries and magazines between. It is likewise water- proof, and contrived, as far as I could guess, to let the water off, if it should get in, and run over, by some short way, into the subterraneous passages which run under the lowest apartments in the hill in various directions, and are of an astonishing size, being wider than the bore of a great cannon. I have a memorandum of one I measured, perfectly cylindrical, and thirteen inches in diameter. These subterraneous passages or galleries are lined very thick with the same kind of clay of which the hill is composed, and ascend the inside of the outward shell in a spiral manner, and winding round the whole building up to the top, intersect each other at different heights, opening either immediately into the dome in various places, and into the interior building, the new turrets, &c. or communicating thereto by other galleries of different bores or diameters, either circular or oval. From every part of these large galleries are various small pipes or galleries leading to different parts of the building. Under ground there are a great many, which lead downward by sloping descents three and four feet perpendicular among the gravel, from whence the labouring termites cull the finer parts, which, being worked up in their mouths to the consistence of mortar, becomes that solid clay or stone of which their hills, and all their buildings except their nurseries, are composed. Other galleries again ascend, and lead out horizontally on every side, and are carried under ground near to the surface a vast distance: for if you destroy all the nests within one hundred yards of your house, the inhabitants of those which are left unmolested, further off, will nevertheless carry on their subterraneous galleries, and invade the goods and merchandize contained in it by sap and mine, and do great mischief, if you are not very circumspect. But to return to the cities from whence these extraordinary expeditions and operations originate, it seems there is a degree of necessity for the galleries under the hills being thus large, being the great thoroughfares for all the labourers and soldiers going forth or returning upon any business whatever, whether fetching clay, wood, water, or provisions; and they are certainly well calculated for the purposes to which they are applied, by the spiral slope which is given them; for if they were perpendicular the labourers would not be able to carry on their building with so much facility, as they ascend a perpendicular with great difficulty, and the soldiers can scarce do it at all. It is on this account that sometimes a road like a ledge is made on the perpendicular side of any part of their building within their hill, which is flat on the upper surface, and half an inch wide, and ascends gradually like a staircase, or like those roads which are cut on the sides of hills and mountains that would otherwise be inaccessible; by which, and similar contrivances, they travel with great facility to every interior part. This too is probably the cause of their building a kind of bridge of one vast arch, which answers the purpose of a flight of stairs from the floor of the area to some opening on the side of one of the columns which support the great arches, which must shorten the distance exceedingly to those labourers who have the eggs to carry from the royal chamber to some of the upper nurseries, which in some hills would be four or five feet in the straightest line, and much more if carried through all the winding passages which lead through the inner chambers and apartments, I have a memorandum of one of these bridges, half an inch broad, a quarter of an inch thick, and ten inches long, making the side of an elliptical arch of proportionable size; so that it is wonderful it did not fall over or break by its own weight before they got it joined to the side of the column above. It was strengthened by a small arch at the bottom, and had a hollow or groove all the length of the upper surface, either made purposely for the inhabitants to travel over with more safety, or else, which is not improbable, worn so by frequent treading. The nests before described are so remarkable on account of their size, that travellers have seldom, where they were to be seen, taken notice of any other; and have generally, when speaking of white ants, described them as inhabitants of those hills. Those, however, which are built by the smaller species of those insects, are very numerous, and some of them exceedingly worth our attention; one sort in particular, which from their form I have named _turret nests_. These are a great deal less than the foregoing, and indeed much less in proportion to the size of the builders; but their external form is more curious, and, their solidity considered, they are prodigious buildings for so small an animal[243]. [Illustration] These buildings are upright cylinders composed of a well tempered black earth or clay, about three quarters of a yard high, and covered with a roof of the same material in the shape of a cone, whose base extends over, and hangs down three or four inches wider than the perpendicular sides of the cylinder, so that most of them resemble in shape the body of a round wind-mill; but some of the roofs have so little elevation in the middle, that they are pretty much in the shape of the top of a full grown mushroom. After one of these turrets is finished, it is not altered or enlarged; but when no longer capable of containing the community, the foundation of another is laid within a few inches of it. Sometimes, though but rarely, the second is begun before the first is finished, and a third before they have completed the second: thus they will run up five or six of these turrets at the foot of a tree in the thick woods[244], and make a most singular group of buildings. The turrets are so strongly built, that in case of violence they will much sooner overset from the foundation, and tear up the gravel and solid earth, than break in the middle; and in that case the insects will frequently begin another turret, and build it, as it were, through that which is fallen; for they will connect the cylinder below with the ground, and run up a new turret from its upper side, so that it will seem to rest upon the horizontal cylinder only. I have not observed any thing else about these nests that is remarkable, except the quality of the black brown clay, which is as dark coloured as rich vegetable mould, but burns to an exceeding fine and clear red brick. Within, the whole building is pretty equally divided into innumerable cells of irregular shapes; sometimes they are quadrangular or cubic, and sometimes pentagonal; but often the angles are so ill defined, that each half of a cell will be shaped like the inside of that shell which is called the sea-ear. Each cell has two or more entrances, and as there are no pipes or galleries, no variety of apartments, no well-turned arches, wooden nurseries, &c. &c. they do not by any means excite our admiration so much as the hill nests, which are indeed collections of wonders. The next kind of nests, built by another species of this genus, the _termes arborum_, have very little resemblance to the former in shape or substance. These are generally spherical or oval, and built in trees. Sometimes they are seated between the arms and the stems of trees, and very frequently may be seen surrounding the branch of a tree at the height of seventy or eighty feet; and (though but rarely of so large a size) as big as a very great sugar cask[245]. They are composed of small particles of wood and the various gums and juices of trees, combined with, perhaps, those of the animals, and worked by those little industrious creatures into a paste, and so moulded into innumerable little cells of very different and irregular forms, which afford no amusing variety and nothing curious, but the immense quantity of inhabitants, young and old, with which they are at all times crowded. [Illustration] I have observed before, that there are of every species of termites three orders; of these orders the working insects or labourers are always the most numerous; in the _termes bellicosus_ there seems to be at the least one hundred labourers to one of the fighting insects or soldiers. They are in this state about one fourth of an inch long, and twenty-five of them weigh about a grain; so that they are not so large as some of our ants. The second order, or soldiers, have a very different form from the labourers; but they are, in fact, the same insects as the foregoing, only they have undergone a change of form, and approached one degree nearer to the perfect state. They are now much larger, being half an inch long, and equal in bulk to fifteen of the labourers. There is now likewise a most remarkable circumstance in the form of the head and mouth; for in the former state the mouth is evidently calculated for gnawing and holding bodies; but in this state, the jaws being shaped just like two very sharp awls a little jagged, they are incapable of any thing but piercing or wounding, for which purposes they are very effectual, being as hard as a crab’s claw, and placed in a strong horny head, which is of a nut brown colour, and larger than all the rest of the body together, which seems to labour under great difficulty in carrying it; on which account perhaps the animal is incapable of climbing up perpendicular surfaces. The third order, or the insect in its perfect state, varies its form still more than ever. The head, thorax, and abdomen, differ almost entirely from the same parts in the labourers and soldiers; and, besides this, the animal is now furnished with four fine, large, brownish, transparent wings, with which it is at the time of emigration to wing its way in search of a new settlement. In short, it differs so much from its form and appearance in the other two states, that it has never been supposed to be the same animal, but by those who have seen it in the same nest; and some of these have distrusted the evidence of their senses. It was so long before I met with them in the nests myself, that I doubted the information which was given me by the natives, that they belonged to the same family. Indeed we may open twenty nests without finding one winged one, for those are to be found only just before the commencement of the rainy season, when they undergo the last change, which is preparative to their colonization. In the winged state they have also much altered their size as well as form. Their bodies now measure between six and seven tenths of an inch in length, and their wings above two inches and a half from tip to tip, and they are equal in bulk to about thirty labourers, or two soldiers. They are now also furnished with two large eyes placed on each side of the head; and very conspicuous; if they have any before, they are not easily to be distinguished. In this form the animal comes abroad during or soon after the first tornado, which, at the latter end of the dry season, proclaims the approach of the ensuing rains, and seldom waits for a second or third shower. If the first, as is generally the case, happens in the night, and brings much wet after it, the quantities that are to be found the next morning all over the surface of the earth, but particularly on the waters, is astonishing; for their wings are only calculated to carry them a few hours, and after the rising of the sun not one in a thousand is to be found with four wings, unless the morning continues rainy, when here and there a solitary being is seen winging its way from one place to another, as if solicitous only to avoid its numerous enemies, particularly various species of ants, which are hunting on every spray, on every leaf, and in every possible place, for this unhappy race, of which probably not a pair in many millions get into a place of safety, fulfil the first law of nature, and lay the foundation of a new community. Not only all kinds of ants, birds, and carnivorous reptiles, as well as insects, are upon the hunt for them, but the inhabitants of many countries, and particularly of that part of Africa where I was, eat them[246]. On the following morning, however, as I have observed, they are to be seen running upon the ground in chase of each other; sometimes with one or two wings still hanging to their bodies, which are not only useless, but seem rather cumbersome. The greater part have no wings, but they run exceeding fast, the males after the females; I have sometimes remarked two males after one female, contending with great eagerness who should win the prize, regardless of the innumerable dangers that surrounded them. They are now become from one of the most active, industrious, and rapacious, from one of the most fierce and implacable little animals in the world, the most innocent, helpless, and cowardly, never making the least resistance to the smallest ant. The ants are to be seen on every side in infinite numbers, of various species and sizes, dragging them to their different nests. It is wonderful that a pair should ever escape so many dangers, and get into a place of security. Some, however, are so fortunate; and being found by some of the labouring insects that are continually running about the surface of the ground, are _elected_ kings and queens of new states; all those who are not so elected and preserved certainly perish, and most probably in the course of the following day. The labourers immediately inclose them in a small chamber of clay suitable to their size, into which at first they leave but one small entrance, large enough for themselves and the soldiers to go in and out, but much too little for either of the royal pair to make use of; and when necessity obliges them to make more entrances, they are never larger; so that, of course, the _voluntary subjects_ charge themselves with the task of providing for the offspring of their sovereigns, as well as to work and to fight for them, until they shall have raised a progeny capable at least of dividing the task with them. The business of propagation soon commences, and the labourers having constructed a small wooden nursery, as before described, carry the eggs, and lodge them there as fast as they can obtain them from the queen. About this time a most extraordinary change begins to take place in the queen, to which I know nothing similar, except in the pulex penetrans of Linnæus, the jigger of the _West Indies_, and in the different species of coccus, cochineal. The abdomen of this female begins gradually to extend and enlarge to such an enormous size, that an _old queen_ will have it increased so as to be _fifteen hundred_ or _two thousand times_ the bulk of the rest of her body, and _twenty_ or _thirty thousand times_ the bulk of a labourer, as I have found by carefully weighing and computing the different states. The skin between the segments of the abdomen extends in every direction, and at last the segments are removed to half an inch distance from each other, though at first the length of the whole abdomen is not half an inch. They preserve their dark brown colour, and the upper part of the abdomen is marked with a regular series of brown bars from the thorax to the posterior part of the abdomen, while the intervals between them are covered with a thin, delicate, transparent skin, and appear of a fine cream colour, a little shaded by the dark colour of the intestines and watery fluid seen here and there beneath. I conjecture the animal is upward of two years old when the abdomen is increased to three inches in length: I have sometimes found them of near twice that size. The abdomen is now of an irregular oblong shape, being contracted by the muscles of every segment, and is become one vast matrix full of eggs, which make long circumvolutions through an innumerable quantity of very minute vessels that circulate round the inside in a serpentine manner, which would exercise the ingenuity of a skilful anatomist to dissect and develope. This singular matrix is not more remarkable for its amazing extension and size than for its peristaltic motion, which resembles the undulating of waves, and continues incessantly without any apparent effort of the animal, so that one part or other alternately is rising and sinking in perpetual succession, and the matrix seems never at rest, but is always protruding eggs to the amount (as I have frequently counted in old queens) of sixty in a minute[247], or eighty thousand and upward in one day of twenty-four hours. These eggs are instantly taken from her body by her attendants (of whom there always are, in the royal chamber and the galleries adjacent, a sufficient number in waiting) and carried to the nurseries, which in a great nest may some of them be four or five feet distant in a straight line, and consequently much farther by their winding galleries. Here, after they are hatched, the young are attended and provided with every thing necessary until they are able to shift for themselves, and take their share of the labours of the community. The foregoing, I flatter myself, is an accurate description and account of the _termes bellicosus_, or species that builds the large nests in its different states. Those which build either the roofed turrets or the nests in the trees, seem in most instances to have a strong resemblance to them, both in their form and economy, going through the same changes from the egg to the winged state; the _queens_ also increase to a great size when compared with the labourers; but very short of those _queens_ before described. The largest are from about an inch to an inch and a half long, and not much thicker than a common quill. There is the same kind of peristaltic motion in the abdomen, but in a much smaller degree; and, as the animal is incapable of moving from her place, the eggs no doubt are carried to the different cells by the labourers, and reared with a care similar to that which is practised in the larger nests. It is remarkable of all these different species, that the working and the fighting insects never expose themselves to the open air, but either travel under ground, or within such trees and substances as they destroy, except, indeed, when they cannot proceed by their latent passages, and find it convenient or necessary to search for plunder above ground; in that case they make pipes of the materials with which they build their nests. With these materials they completely line most of the roads leading from their nests into the various parts of the country, and travel out and home with the utmost security in all kinds of weather. If they meet a rock or any other obstruction, they will make their way upon the surface, and for that purpose erect a covered way or arch, still of the same materials, continuing it with many windings and ramifications through large groves; having, where it is possible, subterranean pipes running parallel with them, into which they sink and save themselves, if their galleries above ground are destroyed by any violence, or the tread of men or animals alarms them. When one chances by accident to enter any solitary grove, where the ground is pretty well covered with their arched galleries, they give the alarm by loud hissings, which we hear distinctly at every step we make; soon after which we may examine their galleries in vain for the insects, but find little holes, just large enough for them, by which they have made their escape into their subterraneous roads. These galleries are large enough for them to pass and repass so as to prevent any stoppages (though there are always numerous passengers) and shelter them equally from light and air, as well as from their enemies, of which the ants, being the most numerous, are the most formidable. The _termites_, except their heads, are exceeding soft, and covered with a very thin and delicate skin; being blind, they are no match on the open ground for the ants, who can see, and are all of them covered with a strong horny shell not easily pierced, and are of dispositions bold, active, and rapacious. Whenever the termites are dislodged from their covered ways, the various species of the former, who probably are as numerous above ground as the latter are in their subterraneous passages, instantly seize and drag them away to their nests, to feed the young brood[248]. The termites are therefore exceeding solicitous about the preserving their covered ways in good repair; and if you demolish one of them, for a few inches in length, it is wonderful how soon they rebuild it. At first in their hurry they get into the open part an inch or two, but stop so suddenly that it is very apparent they are surprised: for though some run straight on, and get under the arch as speedily as possible in the further part, most of them run as fast back, and very few will venture through that part of the track which is left uncovered. In a few minutes you will perceive them rebuilding the arch, and by the next morning they will have restored their gallery for three or four yards in length, if so much has been ruined; and upon opening it again will be found as numerous as ever, under it, passing both ways. If you continue to destroy it several times, they will at length seem to give up the point, and build another in a different direction; but, if the old one led to some favourite plunder, in a few days will rebuild it again; and, unless you destroy their nest, never totally abandon their gallery. The _termites arborum_, those which build in trees, frequently establish their nests within the roofs and other parts of houses, to which they do considerable damage, if not timely extirpated. The large species are, however, not only much more destructive, but more difficult to be guarded against, since they make their approaches chiefly under ground, descending below the foundations of houses and stores at several feet from the surface, and rising again either in the floors, or entering at the bottoms of the posts, of which the sides of the buildings are composed, bore quite through them, following the course of the fibres to the top, or making lateral perforations and cavities here and there as they proceed. While some are employed in gutting the posts, others ascend from them, entering a rafter or some other part of the roof. If they once find the thatch, which seems to be a favourite food, they soon bring up wet clay, and build their pipes or galleries through the roof in various directions, as long as it will support them; sometimes eating the palm tree leaves and branches of which it is composed, and, perhaps (for variety seems very pleasing to them) the rattan or other running plant which is used as a cord to tie the various parts of the roof together, and that to the posts which support it: thus, with the assistance of the rats, who during the rainy season are apt to shelter themselves there, and to burrow through it, they very soon ruin the house, by weakening the fastenings and exposing it to the wet. In the mean time the posts will be perforated in every direction as full of holes as the timber in the bottoms of ships which has been bored by the worms; the fibrous and knotty parts, which are the hardest, being left to the last[249]. They sometimes, in carrying on this business, find, I will not pretend to say how, that the post has some weight to support, and then if it is a convenient track to the roof, or is itself a kind of wood agreeable to them, they bring their mortar, and fill all or most of the cavities, leaving the necessary roads through it, and as fast as they take away the wood replace the vacancy with that material, which being worked together by them closer and more compactly than human strength or art could ram it, when the house is pulled to pieces, in order to examine if any of the posts are fit to be used again, those of the softer kinds are often found reduced almost to a shell, and all, or a greater part, transformed from wood to clay as solid and as hard as many kinds of free stone used for building in England. It is much the same when the _termites bellicosi_ get into a chest or trunk containing clothes and other things. If the weight above is great, or they are afraid of ants or other enemies, and have time, they carry their pipes through, and replace a great part with clay, running their galleries in various directions. The _tree termites_, indeed, when they get within a box, often make a nest there, and being once in possession destroy it at their leisure. They did so to the pyramidal box which contained my compound microscope. It was of mahogany, and I had left it in the store of Governor Campbell of Tobago, for a few months, while I made the tour of the Leeward Islands. On my return I found these insects had done much mischief in the store, and, among other things, had taken possession of the microscope, and eaten every thing about it except the glass or metal, and the board on which the pedestal is fixed, with the drawers under it, and the things inclosed. The cells were built all round the pedestal and the tube, and attached to it on every side. All the glasses, which were covered with the wooden substance of their nests, retained a cloud of a gummy nature upon them that was not easily got off, and the lacquer or burnish with which the brass work was covered was totally spoiled. Another party had taken a liking to the staves of a Madeira cask, and had let out almost a pipe of fine old wine. If the large species of Africa (the termites bellicosi) had been so long in the uninterrupted possession of such a store, they would not have left twenty pounds weight of wood remaining in the whole building, and all that it contained. These insects are not less expeditious in destroying the shelves, wainscotting, and other fixtures of an house, than the house itself. They are for ever piercing and boring in all directions, and sometimes go out of the broadside of one post into that of another joining to it; but they prefer and always destroy the softer substances the first, and are particularly fond of pine and fir boards, which they excavate and carry away with wonderful dispatch and astonishing cunning: for, except a shelf has something standing upon it, as a book, or any thing else which may tempt them, they will not perforate the surface, but artfully preserve it quite whole, and eat away all the inside, except a few fibres which barely keep the two sides connected together, so that a piece of an inch board which appears solid to the eye will not weigh much more than two sheets of pasteboard of equal dimensions, after these animals have been a little while in possession of it. In short, the termites are so insidious in their attacks, that we cannot be too much on our guard against them: they will sometimes begin and raise their works, especially in new houses, through the floor. If you destroy the work so begun, and make a fire upon the spot, the next night they will attempt to rise through another part; and, if they happen to emerge under a chest or trunk early in the night, will pierce the bottom, and destroy or spoil every thing in it before the morning. When the termites attack trees and branches in the open air, they sometimes vary their manner of doing it. If a stake in a hedge has not taken root and vegetated, it becomes their business to destroy it. If it has a good sound bark round it, they will enter at the bottom, and eat all but the bark, which will remain, and exhibit the appearance of a solid stick (which some vagrant colony of ants or other insects often shelter in till the winds disperse it;) but if they cannot trust the bark, they cover the whole stick with their mortar, and it then looks as if it had been dipped into thick mud that had been dried on. Under this covering they work, leaving no more of the stick and bark than is barely sufficient to support it, and frequently not the smallest particle, so that upon a very small tap with your walking stick, the whole stake, though apparently as thick as your arm, and five or six feet long, loses its form, and disappearing like a shadow, falls in small fragments at your feet. They generally enter the body of a large tree which has fallen through age, or been thrown down by violence, on the side next the ground, and eat away at their leisure within the bark, without giving themselves the trouble either to cover it on the outside, or to replace the wood which they have removed from within, being somehow sensible there is no necessity for it. These excavated trees have deceived me two or three times in running; for, attempting to step two or three feet high, I might as well have attempted to step upon a cloud, and have come down with such unexpected violence, that, besides shaking my teeth and bones almost to dislocation, I have been precipitated, head foremost, among the neighbouring trees and bushes. Sometimes, though seldom, the animals are known to attack living trees; but not, I apprehend, before symptoms of mortification have appeared at the roots, since it is evident, as is before observed, that these insects are intended in the order of nature to hasten the dissolution of such trees and vegetables as have arrived at their greatest maturity and perfection, and which would, by a tedious decay, serve only to encumber the face of the earth. This purpose they answer so effectually, that nothing perishable escapes them, and it is almost impossible to leave any thing penetrable upon the ground a long time in safety; for the odds are, that, put it where you will abroad, they will find it out before the following morning, and its destruction follows very soon of course. In consequence of this disposition, the woods never remain long encumbered with the fallen trunks of trees or their branches; and thus it is the total destruction of deserted towns is so effectually completed, that in two or three years a thick wood fills the space; and, unless _iron wood_ posts have been made use of, not the least vestige of an house is to be discovered. The first object of admiration which strikes one upon opening their hills is the behaviour of the soldiers. If you make a breach in a slight part of the building, and do it quickly with a strong hoe or pick-axe, in the space of a few seconds a soldier will run out, and walk about the breach, as if to see whether the enemy is gone, or to examine what is the cause of the attack. He will sometimes go in again, as if to give the alarm; but most frequently, in a short time, is followed by two or three others, who run as fast as they can, straggling after one another, and are soon followed by a large body, who rush out as fast as the breach will permit them, and so they proceed, the number increasing, as long as any one continues battering their building. It is not easy to describe the rage and fury they shew. In their hurry they frequently miss their hold, and tumble down the sides of the hill, but recover themselves as quickly as possible, and, being blind, bite every thing they run against, and thus make a crackling noise, while some of them beat repeatedly with their forceps upon the building, and make a small vibrating noise, something shriller and quicker than the ticking of a watch: I could distinguish this noise at three or four feet distance, and it continued for a minute at a time, with short intervals. While the attack proceeds they are in the most violent bustle and agitation. If they get hold of any one, they will in an instant let out blood enough to weigh against their whole body; and if it is the leg they wound, you will see the stain upon the stocking extend an inch in width. They make their hooked jaws meet at the first stroke, and never quit their hold, but suffer themselves to be pulled away leg by leg, and piece after piece, without the least attempt to escape. On the other hand, keep out of their way, and give them no interruption, and they will in less than half an hour retire into the nest, as if they supposed the wonderful monster that damaged their castle to be gone beyond their reach. Before they are all got in you will see the labourers in motion, and hastening in various directions toward the breach: every one with a burthen of mortar in his mouth ready tempered. This they stick upon the breach as fast as they come up, and do it with so much dispatch and facility, that although there are thousands, and I may say millions, of them, they never stop or embarrass one another; and you are most agreeably deceived when, after an apparent scene of hurry and confusion, a regular wall arises, gradually filling up the chasm. While they are thus employed, almost all the soldiers are retired quite out of sight, except here and there one, who saunters about among six hundred or a thousand of the labourers, but never touches the mortar either to lift or to carry it; one, in particular, places himself close to the wall they are building. This soldier will turn himself leisurely on all sides, and every now and then, at intervals of a minute or two, lift up his head, and with his forceps beat upon the building, and make the vibrating noise before mentioned; on which immediately a loud hiss, which appears to come from all the labourers, issues from within side the dome, and all the subterraneous caverns and passages: that it does come from the labourers is very evident, for you will see them all hasten at every such signal, redouble their pace, and work as fast again. As the most interesting experiments become dull by repetition or continuance, so the uniformity with which this business is carried on, though so very wonderful, at last satiates the mind. A renewal of the attack, however, instantly changes the scene, and gratifies our curiosity still more. At every stroke we hear a loud hiss; and on the first the labourers run into the many pipes and galleries with which the building is perforated, which they do so quickly that they seem to vanish, for in a few seconds all are gone, and the soldiers rush out as numerous and as vindictive as before[250]. On finding no enemy they return again leisurely into the hill, and very soon after the labourers appear loaded as at first, as active and as sedulous, with soldiers here and there among them, who act just in the same manner, one or other of them giving the signal to hasten the business. Thus the pleasure of seeing them come out to work or to fight alternately may be obtained as often as curiosity excites or time permits: and it will certainly be found, that the one order never attempts to fight, or the other to work, let the emergency be ever so great. We meet vast obstacles in examining the interior parts of these tumuli. In the first place, the works, for instance, the apartments which surround the royal chamber and the nurseries, and indeed the whole internal fabric, are moist, and consequently the clay is very brittle: they have also so close a connexion, that they can only be seen as it were by piece meal; for having a kind of geometrical dependence or abutment against each other, the breaking of one arch pulls down two or three. To these obstacles must be added the obstinacy of the soldiers, who fight to the very last, disputing every inch of ground so well as often to drive away the negroes, who are without shoes, and make white people bleed plentifully through their stockings. Neither can we let a building stand so as to get a view of the interior parts without interruption, for while the soldiers are defending the outworks, the labourers keep barricadoing all the way against us, stopping up the different galleries and passages which lead to the various apartments, particularly the royal chamber, all the entrances to which they fill up so artfully as not to let it be distinguishable while it remains moist; and externally it has no other appearance than that of a shapeless lump of clay[251]. It is, however, easily found from its situation with respect to the other parts of the building, and by the crowds of labourers and soldiers which surround it, who shew their loyalty and fidelity by dying under its wall. The royal chamber in a large nest is capacious enough to hold many hundreds of the attendants, besides the royal pair, and you always find it as full of them as it can hold. These faithful subjects never abandon their charge even in the last distress; for whenever I took out the royal chamber, and as I often did, preserved it for some time in a large glass bowl, all the attendants continued running in one direction round the king and queen with the utmost solicitude, some of them stopping on every circuit at the head of the latter, as if to give her something. When they came to the extremity of the abdomen, they took the eggs from her, and carried them away, and piled them carefully together in some part of the chamber, or in the bowl under, or behind any pieces of broken clay which lay most convenient for the purpose. Some of these little unhappy creatures would ramble from the chamber, as if to explore the cause of such a horrid ruin and catastrophe to their immense building, as it must appear to them; and, after fruitless endeavours to get over the side of the bowl, return and mix with the crowd that continue running round their common parents to the last. Others, placing themselves along her side, get hold of the queen’s vast matrix with their jaws, and pull with all their strength, so as visibly to lift up the part which they fix at; but, as I never saw any effect from these attempts, I never could determine whether this pulling was with an intention to remove her body, or to stimulate her to move herself, or for any other purpose; but, after many ineffectual tugs, they would desist, and join in the crowd running round, or assist some of those who are cutting off clay from the external parts of the chamber, or some of the fragments, and moistening it with the juices of their bodies, to begin to work a thin arched shell over the body of the queen, as if to exclude the air, or to hide her from the observation of some enemy. These, if not interrupted, before the next morning completely cover her, leaving room enough within for great numbers to run about her. I do not mention the king in this case, because he is very small in proportion to the queen, not being bigger than thirty of the labourers, so that he generally conceals himself under one side of the abdomen, except when he goes up to the queen’s head, which he does now and then, but not so frequently as the rest. If in your attack on the hill you stop short of the royal chamber, and cut down about half of the building, and leave open some thousands of galleries and chambers, they will all be shut up with thin sheets of clay before the next morning. If even the whole is pulled down, and the different buildings are thrown in a confused heap of ruins, provided the king and queen are not destroyed or taken away, every interstice between the ruins, at which either cold or wet can possibly enter, will be so covered as to exclude both, and, if the animals are left undisturbed, in about a year they will raise the building to near its pristine size and grandeur. The _marching termites_ are not less curious in their order, as far as I have had an opportunity of observing them, than those described before. This species seems much scarcer and larger than the _termes bellicosus_. I could get no information relative to them from the black people, from which I conjecture they are little known to them: my seeing them was very accidental. One day, having made an excursion with my gun up the river Camarancas, on my return through the thick forest, whilst I was sauntering very silently in hopes of finding some sport, on a sudden I heard a loud hiss, which, on account of the many serpents in those countries, is a most alarming sound. The next step caused a repetition of the noise, which I soon recognised, and was rather surprised, seeing no covered ways or hills. The noise, however, led me a few paces from the path, where, to my great astonishment and pleasure, I saw an army of termites coming out of a hole in the ground, which could not be above four or five inches wide. They came out in vast numbers, moving forward as fast seemingly as it was possible for them to march. In less than a yard from this place they divided into two streams or columns, composed chiefly of the first order, which I call labourers, twelve or fifteen abreast, and crowded as close after one another as sheep in a drove, going straight forward without deviating to the right or left. Among these, here and there, one of the soldiers was to be seen, trudging along with them, in the same manner, neither stopping or turning; and as he carried his enormous large head with apparent difficulty, he put me in mind of a very large ox amidst a flock of sheep. While these were bustling along, a great many soldiers were to be seen spread about on both sides of the two lines of march, some a foot or two distant, standing still or sauntering about as if upon the look out least some enemy should suddenly come upon the labourers. But the most extraordinary part of this march was the conduct of some others of the soldiers, who having mounted the plants which grow thinly here and there in the thick shade, had placed themselves upon the points of the leaves, which were elevated ten or fifteen inches above the ground, and hung over the army marching below. Every now and then one or other of them beat with his forceps upon the leaf, and made the same sort of ticking noise which I had so frequently observed to be made by the soldier who acts the part of a surveyor or super-intendant when the labourers are at work repairing a breach made in one of the common hills of the _termites bellicosi_. This signal among the _marching termites_ produced a similar effect; for, whenever it was made, the whole army returned a hiss, and obeyed the signal by increasing their pace with the utmost hurry. The soldiers who had mounted aloft, and gave these signals, sat quite still during the intervals (except making now and then a slight turn of the head) and seemed as solicitous to keep their posts as regular centinels. The two columns of the army joined into one about twelve or fifteen paces from their separation, having in no part been above three yards asunder, and then descended into the earth by two or three holes. They continued marching by me for above an hour that I stood admiring them, and seemed neither to increase or diminish their numbers, the soldiers only excepted, who quitted the line of march, and placed themselves at different distances on each side of the two columns; for they appeared much more numerous before I quitted the spot. Not expecting to see any change in their march, and being pinched for time, the tide being nearly up, and our departure fixed at high water, I quitted the scene with some regret, as the observation of a day or two might have afforded me the opportunity of exploring the reason and necessity of their marching with such expedition, as well as of discovering their chief settlement, which is probably built in the same manner as the large hills before described. If so, it may be larger and more curious, as these insects were at least one third larger than the other species, and consequently their buildings must be more wonderful if possible: thus much is certain, there must be some fixed place for their king and queen, and the young ones of these species. I have not seen the perfect insect. The œconomy of nature is wonderfully displayed in a comparative observation on the different species, who are calculated to live under ground until they have wings, and this species which marches in great bodies in open day. The former in the two first states, that is, of labourers and soldiers, have no eyes that I could ever discover; but when they arrive at the winged or perfect state in which they are to appear abroad, though only for a few hours, and that chiefly in the night, they are furnished with two conspicuous and fine eyes: so the _termes viarum_, or marching bug a bugs, being intended to walk in the open air and light, are even in the first state furnished with eyes proportionably as fine as those which are given to the winged or perfect insects of the other species. [Footnote 240: Bosman’s Guinea, p. 260.] [Footnote 241: The _labourers_ are not quite a quarter of an inch in length; however, for the sake of avoiding fractions, and of comparing them and their buildings with those of mankind more easily, I estimate their length or height so much, and the human standard of length or height, also to avoid fractions, at six feet, which is likewise above the height of men. If then one labourer is = to one fourth of an inch = to six feet, four labourers are = to one inch in height = 24 feet, which multiplied by 12 inches, gives the comparative height of a foot of their building = 288 feet of the buildings of men, which multiplied by 10 feet, the supposed average height of one of their nests is = 2880 of our feet, which is 240 feet more than half a mile, or near five times the height of the great pyramid; and, as it is proportionably wide at the base, a great many times its solid contents. If to this comparison we join that of the time in which the different buildings are erected, and consider the termites as raising theirs in the course of three or four years, the immensity of their works sets the boasted magnitude of the ancient wonders of the world in a most diminutive point of view, and gives a specimen of industry and enterprize as much beyond the pride and ambition of men as St. Paul’s cathedral exceeds an Indian hut.] [Footnote 242: I have seen turrets on the sides of these nests four or five feet high.] [Footnote 243: If their height is estimated and computed by the size of the builders, and compared with ours upon the like scale; each of them is four or five times the height of the monument, and a great many times its solid contents.] [Footnote 244: See page 222.] [Footnote 245: Long’s Jamaica, vol. iii. p. 887. Sloane’s Jamaica, vol. ii. p. 221, and sequel.] [Footnote 246: They skim off with calibashes those which, at the time of swarming, or rather of emigration, fall into the neighbouring waters, and bring large kettles full of them to their habitations, and parch them in iron pots over a gentle fire, stirring them about as is usually done in roasting coffee. In that state, without sauce or any other addition, they serve them as delicious food; and they put them by hands- full into their mouths, as we do comfits. I have eat them dressed this way several times, and think them both delicate, nourishing, and wholesome; they are something sweeter, but not so fat and cloying as the caterpillar or maggot of the _palm tree snout beetle_, _curculio palmarum_, which is served up at all the luxurious tables of West Indian epicures, particularly of the French, as the greatest dainty of the western world.] [Footnote 247: I cannot positively assert, that the old queens yield eggs so plentifully at all times, but the protruding them being the consequence of the peristaltic motion, it would seem involuntary on their parts, and the number, or nearly so, always indispensable: the astonishing multitudes of inhabitants found in their nests also countenance this opinion strongly.] [Footnote 248: Sir Hans Sloane was certainly mistaken in his account of the wood ants; it is utterly improbable that they should go into the nests of the red ants and kill them. It is most probable, the error has arisen from Sir Hans having confounded the two genera of insects, the _formica_ and _termes_ together, which made him never speak of them with precision. The reverse of his account is most likely, which is, that the _formicæ_ will follow their plunder into the nests of the _termites_ and destroy them; for the latter always keep within their nests or covered ways, avoiding all communications with other insects and animals, and never meddling with them but when dead; whereas the _formicæ_ ramble about every where, and enter every cranny and hole that is large enough, and attack not only insects and reptiles but even large animals. See Sloane’s Voyage to Jamaica, vol. ii. p. 221, 222. tab. 238. Hist. de l’Academie Royale des Sciences, 1701, p. 16. Fourmis de Visite.] [Footnote 249: The sea worms, so pernicious to our shipping, appear to have the same office allotted them in the waters which the termites have on the land. They will appear, on a very little consideration, to be most important beings in the grand chain of creation, and pleasing demonstrations of that infinitely wise and gracious power which formed, and still preserves, the whole in such wonderful order and beauty, for if it was not for the rapacity of these and such animals, tropical rivers, and indeed the ocean itself, would be choked with the bodies of trees which are annually carried down by the rapid torrents, as many of them would last for ages, and probably be productive of evils, of which, happily, we cannot in the present state of things form any idea[a]; whereas now being consumed by these animals, they are more easily broken in pieces by the waves, and the fragments which are not devoured become specifically lighter, and are consequently more readily and more effectually thrown on shore, where the sun, wind, insects, and various other instruments, speedily promote their entire dissolution.] [Footnote a: That wood will endure in water an amazing number of ages, is apparent from the _oak stakes_ which were driven into the bed of the river Thames on the invasion of this island by _Julius Cæsar_, one of which is to be seen in Sir Ashton Lever’s Museum, and likewise from those bodies of trees which are daily found in the bogs and morasses of Great Britain and Ireland, which, after a duration, the former of eighteen hundred, the latter of upwards of two thousand years, are found in a perfect state of preservation.] [Footnote 250: By the soldiers being so ready to run out upon the repetition of the attack, it appears, that they but just withdraw out of sight, to leave room for the labourers to proceed without interruption in repairing the breach, and in this instance they shew more good sense than the bulk of mankind, for, in case of a conflagration in a city, the number of people who assemble to stare is much greater than of those who come to assist, and the former always interrupt and hinder the latter in their efforts. The sudden retreat of the labourers, in case of an alarm, is also a wonderful instance of good order and discipline, seldom seen in populous cities, where we frequently find helpless people, women, and children, without any ill intention, intermixing in violent tumults and dangerous riots.] [Footnote 251: In tab 8. fig. 2. and 4. the entrances of the royal chamber, now exhibited, are represented open. They were all shut by the labourers before I had got to it, and were opened since I arrived in England. Two or three of them, however, are not quite open in the chamber itself, and that next the breach at A, and marked with a cross ⊕, is still left shut, as a specimen of the manner in which they do it. I have also more royal chambers and various specimens of the interior buildings, with several galleries and passages, shut up while we were attacking the nest.] APPENDIX. No IV. * * * * * SCHEME FOR PRONOUNCING THE _TIMMANEE AND BULLOM LANGUAGES_. * * * * * a sounds short; as in hat, cat. aa —— broad; as in all, fall. ay —— as in day. e —— short; as in met, get. ee —— long; as in me, meet. ey —— as in the interjection hey. i —— short; as in hit, fit. ī —— long; as in fine, pine. o —— short; as in hot, not. ō —— long; as in bone, tone. oo —— as in book, fool. oi —— as in soil, toil. u —— short; as in us, fuss. ū —— long; as in blue. y —— as in yonder, you. g —— always hard. Every letter must receive its full sound. ’m, ’n, ’ng, denote the nasal sounds; the two first are very slight, the latter strong. ’h denotes that the preceding vowel is to sound very short with a slight aspiration at the end. _h_ denotes the guttural sound. VOCABULARY OF THE _BULLOM AND TIMMANEE LANGUAGES_. * * * * * BULLOM. TIMMANEE. Good Kelleng Tot Better (or very Yengkelleng good) Best, or past ’ngō chang kelleng Nattás tissō good Sweet Teng Abōtee Sweeter Tenǵul Sweetest ’ngo chang teng Nattás abōt Too sweet ’ngo chang ateng, or paychangteng Hot Took Awún Hotter Tooḱul Nattasyee awun Hottest ’ngo chang toók Nattas awún Too hot Paychang atoók Awun alléy Cold or wet Bośsul Atunk Colder or wetter Oobossul oo’kbir Too cold—Atunḱ alléy Coldest or ’ngo chang bośsul Nattas’ atunḱ wettest Heavy Dees Allil Heavier Deesul Nattasyee allil Heaviest ’ngo chang dees Nattas allil Hard Kat Abokkee Harder kat́ul Nattasyee abokkee Hardest ’ngo chang kat Nattas abokkee The pronouns admit of no change except in number. In the Bullom and Timmanee languages the possessive pronouns become interrogative by the addition of a, thus in Bullom ya mee, signifies my mother; ya méea, where is my mother? Ya heea, where is our mother? Ya ’ngnáa, where is their mother? The Timmanees say, ya ka meea, where is my mother? Ya konga, where is his mother? Ya ka’nganǵa, where is their mother? The Soosoos ask the question by kō or minday, where? thus, ’nga, (my) mother; ’nga kō, or ’nga na minday, where is (my) mother? _This_ when applied to animated things is, in Bullom, wonno, in Timmanee, owáy. The Soosoos make no distinction. In answer to the question kannay ma kāee, who is going? the Bulloms say, yang, mun, won, &c. but the Timmanees say meenang, I; moonang, thou; kon, he; shang, we; angnang, ye; angna, they. In asking the question, Is it I, thou, &c. the Timmanees say meenangee, moonangee, koonee, shangee, &c. but the Bulloms say yangee, munee, woonee, &c. BULLOM. TIMMANEE. { Eéto I Yang { { Meénang { Móoto Thou Mun { { Moónang { Ot́to He or she Won { { Kon { Sit́ta We Hin (or) hee { { Shang { ángnang Ye ’ngnang { { ’ngnáta They ’ngna angna It pay ree My Mee Mee Thy Mo Moo His Wo ’ngong Our, us Hee Soo Your No Noo Their ’ngna Angang Myself Yang eekén Minsún Thyself Mun eekén Moonsún Himself Won eekén Konsun Ourselves Hin akén Yourselves ’ngnan akén Who ’nyenna Kańnay Which Há lō Raykay This ’ngunna Angay That Wonnay Awońg What Yay Kō Other Pooḿtay Ooloḿ My father Appa mee Pa ka mee Thy houses Kiltee mo Ayshayt aymoo His plantations Tee hiltee wo Tur’r tong Our children Apommo ahee Awoot a soo Your canoes Womtee nō Tubbil tu’h noo Their towns Teetur’rt ’ngna Topayt ’ngang That man No pokan tay wonnay Otim owong Which house Kil halō Oshayt oraykay This tree Rom to ’ngunna ’ngunt angáy The other town Tur poomtay Okapayt kalom My father and my Appa mee na ya mee Pa ka mee na ya ka mee mother This woman No’h laḱan tō wonnō Oberra owáy One Nimbúl Pin Two Nintińg Prung Three Ninráa Pisaas Four Ninhyúl Paanlee Five Ninmén Tōmát Six Menbúl Rōkin Seven Mentińg Dayrińg Eight Menraá Daysaás Nine Menhyúl Day’ngaanlee Ten Waáang Tōfot Eleven Waaang nō lebul Tōfot awin Twelve Waaang nō le ting Tōfot amarung Thirteen Waaang nō le raa Tōfot ama saas Twenty Waáang le ting, or, Tōfot marúng, or, ootong ka’kbay Thirty Waáang le ráa Tōfot masaas Forty Wáaang le’hyul Tōfot máanlee Fifty Wáaang le mén Tōfot tomat Sixty Wáaang menbúl Tōfot rōkin Seventy Wáaang menting Tōfot dayring Eighty Waaang menraa Tōfot daysáas Ninety Waaang men’hyul Tōfot day’nga anlee Hundred Wáaang waáang, or, Tōfot tōfot, or, kemmay kemmay The infinitive mood of verbs is denoted by the word hállee in Bullom, and by tuḱka in Timmanee, in both which languages these signs precede the verb, but in Soosoo, fay, the mark of the infinitive mood, follows it, as killee fay, to call. The imperfect tense is formed in Bullom by adding ree to the present as ya tinkilla, I call; ya tinkillaree, I did call. The Timmanees form it by the syllable nang, thus, Ee tingla, I call; Ee tingla nang, I did call. The future tense is generally expressed by an adverb of time added to the present tense; thus, I will go in the morning, is in Bullom, ya kō eeshō; in Timmanee, Eé tee kō; but in Soosoo, ’nshikka ma kayshekkay. I will have some to-morrow, ya beng béeree, or in Timmanee, Ee tee baa aneenang. They have no impersonal verbs. To make an interrogation ee is added to the end of the verb in Bullom and Timmanee; thus, he sleeps, wō lul; does he sleep, wō lulee? In Timmanee, otto deéra, he sleeps; otto deeráee, does he sleep? The Soosoos in asking a question add ma, as a_h_ée, he sleeps; a_h_eema, does he sleep? BULLOM. TIMMANEE. To bleed Hallee fōnkong Tukka wur’r mateer To break (a pot) Hallee pel (kenka) Tukka wo’ht To break (a stick) Hallee kentee (oorom) Tukka shim To destroy Hallee shińnee Tukka lissúr To bring Hallee tee’h Tukka korro’h To buy Hallee pin Tukka wey To come Hallee hun Tukka deer’r To crow Hallee wung i.e. to Tukka tam curse To cut Hallee bet Tukka rok To die Hallee woo Tukka fee To dig Hallee buoy Tukka bes To drink Hallee kul Tukka moon To eat Hallee d’yō Tukka dee To cook Hallee yar Tukka tung To fight Hallee tchō Tukka tchim To give Hallee ka Tukka song To have Hallee bee Tukka baa I have Ya bee Eee baa I had Ya beéree Ee baanang To sneeze Hallee chiśsung Tukka tuśsum To dream Hallee son Tukka war rup To walk round Hallee soi Tukkabut́ta To whiten Hallee lintay Tukka faýter To warm (one’s self) Hallee sangken Tukka saáeenay To warm (water) Hallee tóokullee Tukka wunnis To consider Hallee taý nin Tukka naanee To sew Hallee sont Tukka sot To see Hallee kyō Tukka nunk To look Hallee lelĺee Tukka kiĺlee To be Hallee chay Tukkee yee I am Ya chay Eeyee I was Ya chayree Eee yeereenang To go Hallee ko Tukka konnay (or) ko To hide Hallee mat Tukka monk To hit Hallee soontá Tukka soot To hold Hallee yéttee Tukka wōp To know Hallee shoo Tukka torra To arise, or awake Hallee pō Tukka yōkannay To beat or strike Hallee boom Tukka sup To begin Hallee tup Tukka tup To beg or beseech Hallee tum Tukka tullō To bite Hallee kil Tukka ’ngang To blow (with the Hallee fool Tukka fooroop mouth) To breathe Hallee wol Tukka ’nyaysum To bark Hallee bus Tukka buf To hang up Hallee lant Tukka k’buk To sit down Hallee tchal Tukka eéra To boil Hallee yar Tukka tung To thirst Kullee men laymee Rōmoon rōbang mee To smell Hallee toon Tukka moómul To feel Hallee beng Tukka boora To be drunk Hallee yil Tukka tees Sober ooyillen, i.e. not ōma teés fay drunk To speak Hallee fo’h Tukka fof. To do Hallee ’nga Tukka yo’h To fear Hallee wuoy Tukka naýsur To sell Hallee wunǵul Tukka nōnla To land Hallee tik Tukka so’h To embark Hallee he’h Tukka boḱka To spill (water) Hallee payree (men) Tukka lōng (munt) To kneel down Hallee bang ’nloonk Tukka so’h tōwoo To bring Hallee tee’h Tukka karra To finish Hallee ’kbing Tukka pung To assist Hallee mar Tukka mar To sharp (or whet) Hallee bungul Tukka wōtir To love Hallee mer’r Tukka bōter To stretch Hallee wiḱkee To light or kindle Hallee mennee Tukka lep To extinguish Hallee nyummee Tukka dimshee To stir (the fire) Hallee taykee Tukka lep To cast anchor Hallee pong eetoó Tukka lim afot́ To call Hallee tinḱilla Tukka tingla To approach and call Hallee wuoy Tukka mootee To pull up by the Hallee sooree Tukka toósee roots To kill Hallee dee Tukka deef To tie or fasten Hallee pant Tukka shayk To swallow Hallee min Tukka mīrr To prepare or make Hallee tongalin Tukka baynaynay ready To make haste Hallee paámun Tukka teémōnay To quarrel Hallee pōk Tukka boll To cut the throat Hallee fī Tukka fī To split or cleave Hallee tak Tukka ’kbuoy Sweep the house ’Mbás kil to Bul anǵa shayt To float Hallee fuoyúng Tukka fuoyt To whip Hallee boong Tukka sop To groan Hallee yurŕ Tukka lang To lay eggs Hallee bay teepil Tukka ba emḿis To shave Hallee senńee Tukka fun To dry Hallee seḱkalee Tukka wōsúr To shake Hallee yiḱketta Tukka yeéta To squeeze Hallee wok Tukka wayk To whistle Hallee hong ooshōsung Tukka feela To blow Hallee hong Tukka foóroop To want Hallee yaýma Tukka yayma To bathe or to wash Hallee tòhn Tukka booko To wash clothes Hallee tok Tukka yak To wash the face Hallee tóhn tee follay Tukka yánee dir’r To swim Hallee shaḱkil Tukka ’ngund To stoop Hallee naśsun Tukka saánee To sweep Hallee bas Tukka bul To build Hallee yuk Tukka shayt To make Hallee shol Tukka pat To give over Hallee fól Tukka tuoy To sing Hallee tun Tukka layng To dance Hallee yay Tukka toḿmo To beat drum Hallee lok Tukka feer’r To tickle Hallee tchoomoot Tukka tuttuḱ To laugh Hallee mam Tukka shil To cry Hallee tang Tukka bōk To fill Hallee pay Tukka laasser To come out Hallee fook Tukka wur’r To go back or return Hallee móonee waýling Tukka kullanay To turn round Hallee pińkin Tukka ray pa To interpret Hallee yaýree Tukka taý pa To carry Hallee yok Tukka kayray To be silent Hallee toĺlin Tukka tunk Be silent ’n tollin Tunk To tremble Hallee paḱkil Tukka turr’h To anoint Hallee baan Tukka sōpńay To spoil Hallee shińnee Tukka liśsur To climb Hallee tang Tukka ’kbayp To play Hallee tisśung Tukka wōl To chew Hallee tchakómun Tukka tòhminnay To reap Hallee rók Tukka rok To mix Hallee sōrree Tukka koólung To forget Hallee pórren Tukka púlnay To remember Malla pórren, i.e. not Taytee pulnay, id. forget To pay Hallee páka Tukka rum To comb Hallee soonting Tukka sunǵteenay To rally or banter Hallee maḿnoo Tukka shil woónee To row Hallee yat Tukka ’ngás To thank Hallee wuoy máma, to Tukka mootee máma, id. call thanks To resemble Hallee wulńin Tukka baĺlanay To trade Hallee teéla Tukka teéla To count Hallee tum Tukka lum To tell or inform Hallee koonang Tukka kwaanee To cut down Hallee ket Tukka tup To spit Hallee too Tukka toof To stand still Hallee sem soong Tukka tummá soong To run Hallee ’kbuŕrekan Tukka boókay To make haste Hallee paáman Tukka teémonnay To skin, also to Hallee boos Tukka tuf undress To borrow Hallee yō Tukka bo’h To lend Hallee yay Tukka yip (or) bo’h To chain Hallee bang Tukka tang To bury Hallee kong Tukka baynee To spin or twist Hallee chuk Tukka ’kbal To float upon the Hallee fuoýung Tukka fuoyt water To leap or jump Hallee peng Tukka pey To suck Hallee tot Tukka bet To tumble Hallee lool Tukka foompo To cough Hallee tośsung Tukka sur To cross or go over Hallee hīr’r Tukka fishee I eat or am eating Ya d’yō Eetee dee Thou eatest Mō d’yō Mooto dee He eateth Wō d’yō Otto dee We eat Hee d’yō Sitta dee Ye eat ’ngna d’yō ’ngnata dee They eat ’ngna d’yō ’ngnata dee I did eat Ya d’yōree Ee deénang Thou didst eat Mō d’yōree Moo deénang He did eat Wo d’yōree, &c. O’ deénang We did eat Hee d’yōree, &c. Si’ deénang &c. Eat ’ngd’yō Dee Let him eat Oo d’yō Tō dee Let us eat Hee d’yō Man dée Let them eat ’ngna d’yō Tay’ngna dee { A’kbing reed’yō Eepoon nang dee I have done eating { { Akbing d’yō Eeepoon dee Thou hast done eating ’ng kbing ree d’yō Mō poon nang dee He has done eating Oo kbing reed’yō O’ poon nang dee We have done eating Hee kbing reed’yō Soo poon nang dee Ye—they have done ngna k’bing reed’yō ’ngna poón nang dee eating Let us go Hee kon Mang konnay Let us play Hee ko tiśsung Mang konnay wōl Wilt thou go with me? Mō mee kō daýree? ’ntoo kō pey a mee? I have only one A bee bō bul Ee ba bō rin I have no money A bee yen fay Ee ba fay okkálla He is far off Way lee wil O yee a bollee I will not A káy Ee kośsee Have you done ’ngbeńgee ’ngpuńgee He was here just now Wō chay ’ngarree ō yeéray nang ōtaytay kekkáytoo Are you afraid Mō wuóyee ’nto naýsaee I do not sleep A lul layn Ee deéra fay I am not asleep yet A lul laýnum Ee ta deera fay He is not yet gone Oo kon náynum O tay konnay fay I run Ya ’kbuŕrekan Eetee bookay Thou dost run Mō ’kbuŕrekan Mooto bookay He doth run Wō ’kbúrrekan Otto bookay We run Hee ’kbúrrekan Sitta bookay Ye do run, &c. ’ngna ’kburrekan ’ngnata bookay, &c. I ran or did run Ya ’kburrekánree Eebookaynang Thou didst run Mo ’kburrekanree Moo bookaynang He did run, &c. Wō ’kburrekanree O’bookaynang I am going to run or Ya kō ’kburrekan Eetee kō bookay will run Thou art going to run Mō kō ’kburrekan, &c. Moóto kō bookay, &c. I ran some time Akka ’kburrekańree ago[252] Thou didst run some ’ngka ’kburrekańree time ago He ran some time ago Ooka ’kburrekańree We ran, &c. Heeka ’kburrekańree Ye ran, &c. (they ngnaka ’kburrekańree ran, the same) I burn myself Ya toin ’nken Ee toinay sun I did burn myself Ya twinree ’nken Ee toinay nang sun He is dead Oo woóree ōfee He is not yet dead Oo weénum O ta feé fay He is not dead Oo ween O fee fay Did you sleep well Mō lulōree yin ’ndeera náng feenooee kellengee To understand (or Hallee tuoi Tukka tul hear) Do you understand Mō tuoi ’n soosooee ’ntátul ta Soosóoee Soosoo I understand English Ya tuoi ’m pootoo Eetátul ta Pootoo I do not understand A chin tuoi Ee tuĺla fay you How old are you ’ng ō moi tee nén a Tōḿba tayrińeeay Do you know Pa Saba ’nshooree Pa Saybaée ’ntōra Pa Saybańgee (To) take care (Hallee) baykay ’ntayn (Tukka) bootrá meera To make faces Hallee tchṓsun, i.e. (Tukka) tṓsennay to suck the teeth I teach Ya mengee Eetee mung I did teach Ya mengeereé Eemung nang I taught long ago Akka mengeerée Ee mung tippang I will teach or am Ya hun menǵee Eetee deemung going to teach Thou givest me Mō ká mee Moóto song me Wilt thou give me Mō mee kaeé ’nta song mee I will give them some Yang ’nakka moḱkōlung Eetee song ’ngna pillá white rice To be hungry Hallee tchō ’nrik Tukka dur’r I am hungry ’nrik mī a mee Durra bang mee, i.e. hurts Thou art hungry ’nrik mī mō Durra bang moo He is hungry ’nrik mī wō Durra bang kō We are hungry ’nrik mī hee Durra bang soo They are hungry ’nrik mī ’ngna Durra bang ’nga If I come La hun Bay deer’ray If thou comest Lōng hun Bay ’n deer’ray If he come Lō hun Bay o’h deer’ray If we come Lō hee hun Bay si’h deer’ray If ye or they come Longá hun Bay ’nga deer’ray I am going Ya kō Eéto kō I will go presently Ya na kōree Eéto kō taánee Where do you live? Lō ’nchōa? Ray ma yeéay? Where does your Lō appa mō chōa? Ráy pa ka móo ma yéeay? father live? How many children ’ngom beéa pommṓa? Tō ’mbá afaytay? have you? How much have you got? ’ngombeea? Tō ’mbáee? How much do you want? ’ng ō yaýma? Tō ’ng yaymaee? Give me ’nkaa mee Song mee It rains (rain comes Eepor wō lil Kom kitta toof down) Does it rain? Eepor wō liĺee? Kom kitta toofeé? { Ooḱillee He is alive (or he Wayree lelleéay { looks) { Konkillee Lend me ’nyáy mee Bo’h mee (or) yip mee Sit down ’nchál Yeéra Shut the door Ingkánta fongfólootay Kanta kayráree Are you going? Mōkońnayee? ’n tu’h konnayee? I have twenty black Abeé seelońkōbay Ee ba tolomay abee ka sheep atee’h ootońg? ’kba? { ’nfōḿ mee lá Bayka mee tee Tell it me { { ’nkoonan mee la Kōa naý mee tee Where are you going? Lō mō kōa? Ráy mō kōáy? I am going no where A koin ayin Ee kō fay diŕr Who (is) there? ’nyennay lōa? Kannay yeéreeay What do you say? La mō fōa? Tō ’mpokaee? I say nothing A foi’n lin Ee pa fay tey What (is) that? Yay ya? Kō ráka rángay? What noise (is) that? Yay pennay kwoiya? Kō kawuńga końgay? Are you sick? Mō nakkée? ’nto’h tuoyee? How does your father? ’ngo appa mō waý ya? Tō pa ka moo ō yeeay Is that your house? Kil mō ’ngoi yayee? ōshayt a moo ’ngángee My brother and I are Kin a pintay meeō hin Sharaý want ka méeō going a kō sha ma kō Salutation at meeting Lemmóo Koóreeoo Reply Baa Baa Are you well? Appay wa? Too pay? Very well Pay chinlin Taiōtai Thank you Mamóo Mamoó Yes A A Good bye Heepeeárō Mangpeeárō Good night Heelúlō Mandaýrō What is your name? Illiĺee mōa? ’ngaýsee mooa? It is true Oorońgdong Tō’htińg Is it true? Oorońgdongee Tō’htinǵee? Let me alone ’nfolmee Tuoy mee Let me go ’mmeĺmee Teeŕa mee What do you want? Yeng yaýma? Kō ’n yaymaee? I see him A keé worree Ee nunk kō I do not see him A chay won kay Ee nung fay kō Do you see him? Mō wō kayée? ’n ’ti’h nung kóeé? Do you not see him? ’nchay won kayée? Nunk fay kōeé I see it Ya pay kay (or) a káy Ee nunḱ aree perŕee I dont see it Achaý pen kay Ee nunǵ fay ree Is your father in the Appa mō way lorree kō Pa ka moo ō yee house? killayeé rōshayt́ee He is there Way loŕree ōeéree What do you seek? Yay mō toońá Kō ma teńay Have you found (seen) ’n k’yō payée ’n nunḱ a rée it? This hat is not yours Sundeer tong unnō Angay sundeer’ anǵay chayn ha mō ’ngō ’nga moo ta fō Somebody, a person No’h yayma mo’h Oonee ōyaýma moo wants you? Are you cold? Oo bośsul koi moiee? Atunḱ moóeé? Yes, I am cold A, oo bośsul koi mee A, atuńk mee Give me a little rice ’nkámee oopéllay Song mee pillá pittuń ootaýk Why do you do so Yay wum lay ’ngaĺla Kō sum kong yot́teeay A bad smell Eebuś eebang Eebont eeliś A sharp knife Leekaińg lee loía Ottees owonǵee Lofty trees Eerom eewiĺ Yint aboĺlee A little river Ooshál ootún Rōbung rōluĺ A cool brook Po’hay bośsul Ka baát katunk A cool day Oo bóssul eenańg Atuńk taýnung A hot day Ootoókul eenang Awuń taynung A hot sun Leehal leetookul Nee nawun Sour oranges ’nlippree ’nlul Malimray mabang A bright moon Eepang eelintay, i.e. ’ngoof affayra white Hollow trees Romtee bang Yintee yay tollō Lean sheep Lońkobay seen’yarra Tōlōmay tōlankkee Black goats See kullung seetee’h Teer’r teebeé Old elephants Seepay seeben Tirronk tebókkee A large fat man Nō poḱan bōmung Oónee roónee banna A tall thin man Nō poḱan wil ’nyarra Ootim oobóllee oolankee A little man Nō poḱan tun (or) kit Ootim oobroop (or) oo lul A pregnant woman Nō laḱan kuntaŕ Ooberra ookur A lying-in woman Ukkóom, i.e. has Okkoóm brought A plantation of rice Ahil oopeĺlay Kor’r ko pilla Too good Paychang kelleng or ’ngo chang á kelleng He is taller than I Oo chang mee ree ooshúl Otas mee kaból Sweet as honey Teng kin sillo A botee mofo rommee A wet thing Yeḿpee bośsul Raka ratunk This goat is as old Ee kullung eetay wonnō Oweer oway oobakeemo as that way ben kin wonnay fō awong Yungroo is as large Yungroo loi lee bomung Yungroo obanna ree (a town) as Toolung kin Tolung mofo Toolung My father is as rich Appa mee obbeeree fay Paka mee oba okkalla as your’s kin hámō mōfō ka moo An elephant is larger Eepay chang ree soee Orronk ataś osway than a horse halle bōmung tukka bōngdo Wongapong is Wonkapong lochang lee Wonkapongrataś rokamp larger than the bōmung ’nga kō kampa ka bōngdo camp[253] The river Sherbro is Oo shaloo Mampa Robung ro Mampa ratas greater than Sierra kochang hōnoongay robung ro Marong tukka Leone oobōmung bōngdō I beg your pardon La maŕra mō A marree moo I love you A maŕra mō Ee bōter moo He has money but I Oo bee fay, a bee yen ō bá okkalla ee ba fay have none I can jump farther A bōree peng há chang Ee’kbuĺlee pey eetas than you mō moo A man much talked of Illiĺeewō nyay ’kbay, ’ngays ’ngung nguttō i.e. his name walks kōt, id. Six old men Annina pokan aben Attim abakkee tamattra menbul kin Six baskets full of Ee ballay menbul hay Tu ballay tamattra kin rice pellay tu laa pillá Who is in the house? ’nyennay kō killay Kannay yee rōshayt ay ayeéa? Who told you that ’nyennay soot ko mō Kannay kwánay moo lie?[254] ’mbuĺntay mannay ya? royim arrangay? Who gave you that ’nyennay ka moo Kannay song moooweeŕ goat? eekullung eetay wonnay awongee? ya? What are you doing? Yay mō ’ngaa? Kōma yoi? Which road do you go? Ney halō lō mō kōa? Roong ra raykay ra ma koiay? Here Ha (or) kakée Uńno There Kul Kō Where Lō’a Rayfói Every where Ayin boolaýn Derbáy Some where Ayiń Deŕr No where Ayin ō ayin Der ō deŕr Forward Eeból Ki’hdée Backward Waýling Rarúng Out, without Kōpál Rō’ka In, within Ayée Rōkúr On one side Oobellung oobúl Kay bellung kin On both sides Eebéllung eeting Tabellung terrúng Which way? Lōkeéa Raýkay This way Kee Yung Another way Áyin a tillang Der atiĺ To-day Eenang Taynang Yesterday Chencha Dees To-morrow Beng Aneénang Immediately Kaykaýtoo Ataytay Again Pay Tissō Long ago Lawaýya Toowún Something, anything Yin Ráka Nothing Yin ō yin Raka ō raka No Bay De’h Downward Boolúng Rōpil Now, at this time Kekkaýtoo Otaýtay Often or every time Lokkō boolaýn Lokkō bay Sometimes Lokkō poom? Ollokkō olloń Lofty So’heé So’heé Together Ayiń a búl Der’r akiń Amongst or amidst Ayaýng Ratońg At Kō Rō Near, nigh ’tayńt Rayiŕr Above, upward Eetooḱ ’ngút Down Allṓ Ráta Beyond, yonder Kut́tokol Rōyuńg From Keŕree Behind Waylińg Raruńg Before Eeboĺ Kadeé Over Lil Mṓree Upon. Atooḱ Rōkoḿ On a horse Sway atook Osswaý rokoḿ Upon a tree Rom atook ’ngunt rókóm Near the brook Poi ’ntaynt Kabaat rayiŕr Behind the hills Kik táy Waýling Kuttińg rárung Over the river Ooshál ootólil Rabuńg mōrée Before the house Kiltay eeból Anga shayt kadée To go before Hallee kō eebol Tukka kō kadee In the midst of the Tōfoi ayaýng Rōkunt ratońg woods At my house Kō kō mee kiĺay Rōmee rōshayt Down the hill Kik allṓ Kutting ráta Under the table Messa taý allō Anǵa messa ráta Far off Leewil ōboĺlee (To come) from Sierra Kerree kō unróngay Leone And Na Ray Both Hin ating, i.e. we two Shárung, id. If, provided Lō Beeō [Footnote 252: This is said when more than two or three days have elapsed since the action.] [Footnote 253: The natives usually call Free Town, _the camp_.] [Footnote 254: _That_, when applied to things without life, is in Bullom _mannay_, in Timmanee _arrang_.] APPENDIX. No V. * * * * * VOCABULARY OF THE _SOOSOO LANGUAGE_[255]. * * * * * SCHEME OF PRONUNCIATION. a sounds as in hat, cat. aa —— all, fall. e —— hey, nay. é —— men, hen. ee —— me, see. i —— fit, sit. o —— hot, not. ō —— bone, stone. oo —— book, good. ū —— full, blue. u —— but, cut. g —— always hard, as in guns, get. The plural of nouns is made by the addition of ee to the singular; as ketaaba, a book; ketaabaee, books. SOOSOO. I Emtang Thou Etang He, she Atang We Mukutang Ye Wotang They Etang It Atang My Em_h_a Thy E_h_a His A_h_a Our, us Muku_h_a Your Wo_h_a Their E_h_a Myself Emkang Thyself Ekang Himself Akang Ourselves Mukukang Yourselves Wokang Who? Na_h_an, indé? Which? Ná_h_an, indé? This Ee That Na What Mung Other Dangting, bōre Father Fafe Mother Inga House Bank_h_i Canoe Kunkgi Town Tai Tree Wic My father and my mother Em_h_a fafe nung em_h_a inga One Kiring Two Firing Three Shukūng Four Naani Five Shooli Six Shéni Seven Shulifiring Eight Shulimashukūng Nine Shulimanaani Ten Foo Eleven Foonung kiring Twelve Foonung firing Thirteen Foonung shukūng Twenty Mawhonia Thirty Tongashukūng Forty Tonganaani Fifty Tongashooli Sixty Tongashéni Seventy Tongashūlifiring Eighty Tongashūlimashukūng Ninety Tongashūlimanaani Hundred Kémé A corpse Bembi, mu_h_e too_h_e An infant Di iore A suckling child Di na_h_an _h_inie mimma A stranger Whonie A slave Kuongji A free man Whōra Eldest son Di _h_ame singe Youngest son Di _h_ame dong_h_e Twins Buleng irei God Allah A person Mu_h_e A man _H_ame A female Gine, nia_h_ale A boy Di _h_ame A girl Temadi A young woman Lungutung A young man Shukatala A grown girl Gine mō_h_e Brother Tara, hungjia Sister Magine Uncle Fafe tara or hungjia Aunt Inga magine The head Hung, hungji The back part of the head Hung or hungje feri The crown of the head Hung _l_egi The hair Shuke The forehead Tigi The face Nia ire An eye Nia The white of the eye Nia fi_h_e The eye-lashes Nia kiri The nose Nieue The bridge of the nose Nieue féri The mouth Dé The lip Dé kiri The elbow Béla_h_é aradokhade The shoulder Fankgé The arm pit Dungbungji A tooth Ning, ningji The jaw Ning _h_umbe The tongue Néng, néngji The cheek _H_ére The beard _H_abe, dé _h_abe The ear Tuli The neck and throat Kongji The breast Kankge The arm Béla_h_é The hand Ingni A bone Whori Blood Uli The right hand Ingni fange The left hand Kōla béla_h_é A finger Béla_h_é shooli The thumb Béla_h_é shooli _h_umbe The thigh Tabe The leg _H_ilengji The foot Sangji The toe Sang shooli The great toe Sang shooli _h_umbe The belly Furu The knee _H_imbe An elephant Sili A dog Bare A hedge hog Sali A guinea pig Whushe di A squirrel Bale A cameleon Kōlungji A cat Gniaare An animal Shube A horse Shuoe A bull Ninkge _h_ame A cow Ninkge gine A sheep Ju_h_é A goat Shee A wild hog Whus_h_e A buffalo Shuke ninkge A monkey Kule A leopard Shuku she An alligator Shonge A bird Whone A fowl To_h_e A rat Gniéné A baboon Démungji The rice bird Lége whone A flock (or crowd) of birds Whonei sété Wax Dule A dove Gabe A parrot Kaale A hawk Kongkosaare A shark Sarke A crab Gémba Oysters Sibolaee A turtle Kuré Bull frog Hoonié A cricket She pa_h_an shige shama bank_h_i kange kuee A bee Kume Honey Kume A bugabug (or white ant) Bugabuge A musquito Tashe The large black ant Shei, dingdilei The shade Neenee Thick wood or forest Barungji Rice Maalungji A plantation _H_é A tree Uri A leaf Bura_h_e Green Bogema Dry _H_are A foot stalk Lore, uri di The buds or eyes Uri sale di The bark Uri kiri A seed Sénsi A flower Uri fugee Grass Shuke A yam _H_abe Boiled rice Bangde Plantain tree Banaane uri The fruit of the plantain Banaane uri boge she A nut _H_ure Ground nut Kengshe Cassada Jōka Ananas, or pine apples Naanase Orange Lémure Papaw Faafea Palm tree Tuge Oil Turi Wine Bére A star Tumbui Water Jé Clear Tinge_h_e Muddy Noha_h_e Warm Furi Boiling Ning_h_e Cold _H_embéle The sun Shuge The moon Kige The new moon Kige néné Flood tide Jé sho Ebb tide Je whori The sea Baa A river Dabungji A spring Dulengji Spring water Jé mine_h_e dulengji kue A brook Whuri A pond or lake Déra A swamp Langbangji bungda_h_e Salt Fo_h_e A wave Morungji A rock or stone Gémé Gravel Gémé whori Sand Maiéngji Sea shore Baa dé An island Shuri A cape or head land Bongfi The world Dunia A hill Géa A fire brand Té uri A Tornado Tuli akbegbe Foie akbegbe Land breeze Bo_h_e foie A valley Langbangji Clay Bénde Earth Bo_h_e Dew Kungda Earthquake Bo_h_e séring Rainy season Niéme Rain Tuli Darkness Naifōro Fire Té A spark Té bula Smoke Turi Ashes _H_ube Wind Foie Sea breeze Baafoie A shoe Shang kiri A town Tai A plantation, hut, or house _H_é bage Thunder Galungji A drum Fare A Shirt Doma Trowsers Wangtangji A cap Comite A cover for a dish Léfa Thread or cotton Geshe A needle Shembe A knife Finé Paper Kaire Writing Sibba A brass pan Tangkue A house Bank_h_i A pestle Kile A rope Lute A horn Feri Walls of a house Bank_h_i kankge Mud bank on the outside Bungtungji Door Dé, nadé Fire place Inside of the house Bank_h_i kuee A basket Dibbe A box or chest Kangkera A looking glass Neenee ma tō she A bottle Bitre An iron pot Uri tunde An earthen pot Fénge A mortar Unungji A broom Seela she Soap Safungji A chair or seat Ting_h_ingji, dokha she Midnight Qué tégi After to-morrow Tina bōre A bed Shaade A comb Shangte A year Niéme A month Kige A day _H_i Morning Gérishugé Noon Shugemé Evening Nimaré Night Qué To-day To To-morrow Tina Yesterday Whora A name _H_ili Health Maiélangfe Sickness Fura Pain Whondi, whonafe Hunger Kaame Feeling Shuku Smell _H_iri Taste Nimnim Hearing Mé Seeing Tō, nartō Stammering Bobo Sneezing Tiseng Hiccough Sikong Eating Dong The breath Iengi A dream _H_eeé Joy Bonié dokha fe A drink She inda ming fe ra (something to drink) Thirst (or thirsty) _H_ara Truth Nondi A lie Uli Love, desire Whuli Hatred Niaa_h_u Fear Gaahu Anger Whona Drunkenness Seese A present Būnia A lover Iankga A witch Qué ra mu_h_e A doctor Seri baa mu_h_e A coward gaahu muhe A brave man, or, they say, ‘he Mu_h_e gaahu téri has a hard heart’ Bad Niaa_h_e Old Fori Big, or, great _H_umbe Little Hūrung Soft Bora_h_o Short Bige_h_e Deep, or, long Quié Sour, or bitter Niaa_h_e Active Mawhorowhoro Blind Nia téri Beautiful Tō fang Burning } } Gang_h_e Scorching } Noisy Wé_h_ee White Fi_h_e Black, or dark Fōro Stammering Bobo Much, many, plenty Akbegbe Bald Hung shuke téri Dear Séra whona Hollow Jéle_h_e Equal Lang_h_e Artful Jamfa Proud Huma Foolish, or mad Bonié téri Lean Gongdong_h_e Naked Duge téri New Néné Ripe Mo_h_e Rotten Bora_h_e Quick Maafuri A sensible man Ma_h_e na_h_an fe kulong A cunning man Kiring karan He is more sensible A fe kulong dangu A road Kiraa A hole Ili Rich Bana Clean Noha téri Idle or lazy Kobi Like, alike Biring kiring Full Fe_h_ende Round Digling_h_e Square Kungkuma Clear Tinge_h_e Crooked Mū lang_h_e Sharp _H_angang_h_e Milk _H_inié A large round house Diglingna Empty, or nothing there She mū na Strong Mawhorowhoro_h_e Very little Hūrung A little (or few) Dundundi Spotted Masumbu_h_e Bright Iamba_h_e A pregnant woman Giné furu_h_e A lying-in woman Giné na_h_an di béri Too good Fange pisa na_h_an fange be He is taller than I A quié pisa em be Good Fange Better (or very good) Fang akbegbe ra Best (or past good) Fange pisa biring bé Sweet Niu_h_ung Sweeter Niu_h_ung pisa Sweetest Niu_h_ung pisa biring bé Too sweet Niu_h_ung pisa na_h_an niu_h_ung bé Hot Furi, furi_h_e Hotter Furi pisa Hottest Furi pisa biring bé Too hot Furi akbegbe ra Cold or wet _H_imbéli, bungda_h_e Colder or wetter _H_imbeli pisa Coldest or wettest _H_imbéli pisa biring bé Sweet as honey Niu_h_ung éme kumé Heavy Bingja Heavier, or very heavy Bingja_h_e akbegbe Heaviest Bingja dangu biring ra Hard or rough Balang_h_e Harder Balang_h_e pisa Hardest Balang_h_e pisa biring bé This goat is as old as that Ee shee fori éme na Youngroo as large (a town) as Yongroo tai _h_umbe naa ra éme Foolung Toolung My father is as rich as yours Em_h_a fafe banaa eme e_h_a fafe An elephant is arger than a horse Sili _h_umbe naa ra dangu shuoe ra Wonkapong is larger than the camp Wonkapong _h_umbe na a ra pisa camp bé Who is in the house? Indé na bank_h_i kuee? Who told you that lie? Indé na ule fala e bé? Who gave you that goat? Indé na shee feee ma? What are you doing? E mung she ra falama? Which road do you go? E sigama mung kiraara? To bleed Uli ra mine fe To break (a pot) Fénge kana fe To break (a stick) Uri gira fe To destroy Kana fe To bring, to come Fa fe To buy Séra fe To crow To_h_e a ra te fe To cut _H_aba fe To die Tū fe To dig Gé fe To drink Ming fe To eat Dong fe To cook She gang fe To fight Géri sho fe To give Fee fe To have Na fe I have Na em bé I had Nū na em bé To sneeze Tiseng fe To dream _H_eeé shaa fe To walk Nieri fe To walk round Nieri fe diling_h_e To whiten it A ra fala fe fi_h_e ra To warm (one’s self) A ra fala fe mū _h_imbéli ra To warm (water) Jé ra fala fe fura ra To consider it Jengi shaa fe a ra To sew Dégé fe To see Tō fe To look Naitō fe To be Lū fe To boil Ning fe To thirst Wa fé ié hong To smell _H_iri mé fe To feel Shuku fe To be drunk Seese fe Sober Mū seese fe To speak Fala fe To do Baa fe To fear Gaahu fe To sell Séra fe To land _H_are lee fe To embark Siga fe kungi kuee To spill (water) Ié fili fe To kneel down _H_imbe seng fe To go Siga fe To hide Lukung fe To hit Ding fe To know Kulong fe To hold Shuku fe To arise, or awake Kili fe To beat, or strike Ding fe, bomba fe To begin Samba fe To beg, or beseech Ma_h_ande fe To bite _H_ing fe To blow (with the mouth) Fe fe To breathe Jenkgi fe To bark Wongwong fe To hang up Singang fe To sit down Dokha fe To finish Fa fe nieng To assist Malee fe To love Fang fe, niu_h_ung fe To light or kindle Té shaa fe To extinguish Huabang fe To cast anchor Uri woli fe To call _H_ili fe To pull up by the roots Burung fe To kill Fuka fe To tie or fasten _H_iri fe To swallow Gerung fe To prepare, or make ready Akang ra fala fe To make haste A ra baafe maafuri To quarrel Géri sho fe To split or cleave Bō fe To sweep Makō fe To groan Makutung fe To dry _H_ara fe To shake Mo_h_a fe To squeeze _H_éremung fe To whistle Kuéling fe To want Wa fe To bathe or wash Ma_h_aa fe, _h_aafe To swim or float Ié ma shaa fe To stoop Kungkulung fe To build Ti fe To give over Lū fe To sing Shige shaa fe To dance Fare boring fe To beat drum Faré mo_h_a fe To tickle Maielehung fe To laugh Iele fe To cry Wa fe To fill it A ra fe fe To come out Mine fe To go back or return Buleng fe To turn round Lingling fe To interpret Whi ma dangu fe To carry _H_ane fe To be silent Dundu fe Be silent E _h_a dundu I will not Em tonde Have you done? E banta gei? He was here just now A nū na be kuóre Are you afraid? E gahuma? I do sleep Em mū _h_éema I am not asleep yet Em mū _h_éema sending He is not yet gone A mū siga sending To trade Sera sho fe To count Tińkga To tell or inform Fala fe To cut down Fong fe To spit Daie bohung fe To stand still Ti fe ira_h_ara To run Gee fe To make haste Mafuri fe To skin Būra fe To borrow or lend Iefū fe To chain Balang fe korangtiée ra To bury Mageli fe bo_h_e ma To spin or twist Geshe woli fe Leap or jump Tubang fe He is dead A banta tū He is not yet dead A mū tū sending He is not dead A mū tū Did you sleep well? E _h_eo kee fang? To understand (or hear) Mé fe Do you understand Soosoo? E Susoo whi méma? I understand English Em furto whi méma I do not understand you Em mū e whi méma Do you know Pa Sayba? E Pa Sayba kulong? To take care Iengisa fe To make faces Nia ra mine fe I teach Em tingkama I did teach Em tingka I taught long ago Em tingka kuore a maa ra I will teach or am going to teach Em fama tingka To tremble Sèring je To anoint Turi sha fe To spoil Kana fe To climb Te fe To play Kong fe To chew Dong fe To reap _H_ába fe To mix Sumbu fe To forget Nēmū fe To remember Fe ra gáta fe To pay Sèra fë fe To comb Shangte fe To rally or banter Iele fe To row Kungi ba fe To thank Whongiēmáma sha fe To resemble Maninga fe I run Gee fe Thou didst run E gee He doth run A geema We run Muku geema Ye do run Wo geema I ran or did run Em gee He did run, &c. A fama gee I am going to run or will run Em fama gee Thou art going to run E fama gee I ran some time ago Em gee beri inda sa dangu Thou didst run some time ago E gee beri inda sa dangu He ran some time ago A gee beri inda sa dangu We ran, &c. Muku gee I burn myself Em emkang gamma I did burn myself Em emkang gang To suck _H_inié ming fe To tumble _H_ung seng ra mine fe To cough Tahung fe To cross or go over Giri fe, siga fe giride I eat or am eating Em domma Thou eatest E domma He eateth A domma We eat Muku domma Ye eat Wo domma They eat E domma I did eat Em dong Thou didst eat E dong He did eat A dong We did eat Muku dong Thou givest me E fee em ma Wilt thou give me? E feema em ma? I will give them some white rice Em maalung fi_h_e feema a ma To be hungry Kaame shuku fe I am hungry Kaame em shukuma Thou art hungry Kaame e shukuma He is hungry Kaame a shukuma We are hungry Kaame muku shukuma They are hungry Kaame e shukuma If I come _H_a em fa If thou comest _H_a e fa If he come _H_a a fa If we come _H_a muku fa If ye or they come _H_a wo fa I am going Em sigaama I will go presently Em sigaama kuore Where do you live? E lūma minding? Where does your father live? E fafe lūma minding? Eat Dong Let him eat A _h_a dong Let us eat Muku _h_a dong Let them eat E _h_a dong I have done eating Em banta gei dongde Thou hast done eating E banta gei dongde He has done eating A banta gei dongde We have done eating Muku banta gei dongde Ye—they have done eating Wo banta gei dongde Let us go Wo em _h_a siga Let us play Wo em _h_a kong Wilt thou go with me? E sigaama em fokhera I have only one She mū na em be mine kiring I have no money Naafuli mū na em bé He is far off A na ma quie How many children have you? Diee iére na e bé How much have you got? E iére shota? How much do you want? E wama iére hong? Give me E _h_a fee em ma It rains (rain comes down) Tuli fama Does it rain? Tuli fama? He is alive (or he looks) A gningniema Lend me Iefū em ma Sit down Dokha Shut the door Nadé ra geli Are you going? E sigaama Tell it me E _h_a a fala em bé Where are you going? E sigaama minding? I am going nowhere Em mū sigaama ire Who (is) there? Indé ra? What do you say? E mung fe falama? I say nothing Em mū fe falama What (is) that? Mung na a ra? What noise (is) that? Mung wé_h_ama na kee? Ate you sick? E fúrama? How does your father? E fafe mung kee? Is that your house? E_h_a bank_h_i na na My brother and I are going Em tara nung emtang sigaama How do you do? E mung kee? Are you well? E maiélang? Very well Em maiélang_h_e kee fange Thank you Ba Yes Eō Good bye E ma mana Good night Wo em gerishuge What is your name? E _h_ili mung kee? It is true A nondi na a ra Is it true? A nondi? Let me alone Malabu em ma Let me go Em _h_a siga What do you want? E wama mung hong? I see him Em a tōma I do not see him Em mū a tōma Do you see him? E a tōma? Do you not see him? E mū a tōma? I see it Em na tōma I do not see it Em ma tōma Is your father in the house? E fafe na bank_h_i kuee? He is there A na What do you seek? E mung femma? Have you found it? Eato? This hat is not yours Ee libite ek bé mā ra Somebody wants you Mu_h_e inda wama e hong Are you cold? _H_imbéli e shukuma? Yes, I am cold Eō, _h_imbéli em shukuma Give me a little rice Maalung dundundi fee em ma Why do you do so? E a ra baama na kee mung fe ra? Here Be There Mine Where? Minding? Everywhere Ire ō ire Somewhere Ire inda Nowhere Mū ire Forward Niaara Backward _H_ambe ra Out, without Tangde In, within A kuee On one side Féma On both sides Ireee firing féma Which way? Mung kee? This way Ee kee Another way Da_h_e dangting To-day To Yesterday Whora To-morrow Tina Immediately Kuore Again Sono Long ago Kuore a maa ra { She inda Something, any thing { { She ō she Nothing She mū na No Adé Downward Labe ra Now, at this time Ia, kuore Often, or every time Beri ō beri Sometimes Beri inda Together Mulang_h_e I beg your pardon Iangde kili e _h_a a ra lū em bé I love you E fang_h_e em ma He has money but I have none Naafuli na a bé kono she mū na em bé I can jump farther than you Em faata tubang dangu a ra A man much talked of _H_ame _h_ili na na_h_an bé Amongst, amidst Niaama At Ma Near, nigh Féma Above, upward Koré ra Down Gura_h_e Beyond, yonder _H_ambe ra From Ma Back, behind _H_ambe ra Before Niaara Over Huma Upon Ma On a house Bank_h_i ma Upon a tree Uri kono Near the brook Whuri féma Behind the hills Géaee _h_ambe ra Before the house Bank_h_i niaara I go before Em sigaama niaara In the midst of the woods Fortungji kuee At thy house Em _h_a bank_h_i kuee Down the hill Géa labe ra Under the table Mesá buing Far off Na ma quié To come from Sierra Leone Kili Sierra Leone And Nung Both Firing If, provided _H_a, a shota Let us both go Muku firing _h_a siga If you want rice I will give you _H_a e wama maalung hong, em inda some feema e ma But, only Kono, mine, kiring [Footnote 255: This language is not only spoken throughout a considerable space near the coast, but is also the language of the extensive district called Jallonkadoo, and is understood by great numbers of Foolas, Mandingos, Bulloms, and Timmanees.] INDEX TO THE _FIRST VOLUME._ * * * * * A Page ACKY, a medium of commerce used on the Gold Coast 173 Adultery, how punished 234 African, attempts to depreciate 201 ······· in the interior differs from those of the coast 206 ······· has no slavish fear of death 207 ······· peculiarly skilful in culling poisons 265 ······· supposed to have a poison under the nails 269 Age 125 Agriculture, state of, in Africa 46 ··········· improved state of, among the Foolas 53 Air, usual state of, on the sea coast 31 ··· differs at a distance from the sea ib. ··· temperature of 32 Albino, or white Negro, an opinion respecting 185 Alhamdillah, a kind of grace, when used 68 Alimamee Saddoo, his important question 258 Alligator, instances of being tamed 256 ········· form of, assumed by witches ib. ········· the gall of, ranked among poisons 266 Amulet, antiquity of, noticed 257 ····· an important appendage of dress 99 ····· composition and form of 255 ····· difference between, and talisman 254 Amusements, chief, of the Africans 108 ·········· drawn from the relation of fables 120 Ananas or pine apples, raised in abundance 57 ······ suspected not to be indigenous there ib. ······ the leaves of, converted into flax 94 Animals, chief, used for food by the Africans 66 ······· what kind of, eaten by the Mahommedans 68 Anodyne necklaces worn in Europe as amulets 258 Anthropophagi, Africans unjustly stiled 161 ············· opinions of authors concerning ib. Antidotes, supposed, various species of 267 Ants, great abundance of, at Sierra Leone 48 ···· white or bug-a-bug, noticed 47 ···· Indian, as large as a dog 95 Arabians, superstitious inventions of 257 Aristocracy, balances the power of kings 124 Arrows, poisoned, used by the Foolas 159 Articles, chief, brought by the Foolas for sale 172 Atmosphere, hazy state of the 29 ·········· when most clear ib. Attonga, a society of women so called 241 Ava, a drink used by the South Sea Islanders 75 ··· used by the natives of Chili ib. B Baft, an East India cotton, much used for dress 98 Bagoes, a nation to the North of Sierra Leone 6 ······ extent and situation of their country ib. ······ character and disposition of ib. Bagroo, a branch of the river Sherbro 5 Bambotum flumen, supposed to be the river Mitombo 49 ········ bows, Foola, formed of it 16 Bambouc, Sambo king of, instance of magnanimity in 158 Bananas, the islands of 4 ······· names given to them by the Portuguese ib. Bananas, a fruit much esteemed by the natives 58 Bance Island, situation of 20 Banja, or merrywang, a musical instrument 113 Banks, sleeping, described 86 Bar, signification of 172 ··· trade, extent of it ib. ··· fluctuates in value 173 Bargains always concluded in public 85 Barometer, remarks on, at Sierra Leone 35 ········· range of, within the tropics ib. ········· observations on, at Calcutta 36 Barakoota, a large fish found at Sierra Leone 69 Baskets made from the bark of the young palm tree 58 Bay, St. George’s, called by the French Baie de France 15 Beads or rosaries, used by the Mahommedans 235 Bees not much attended to by the natives of Sierra Leone 71 ···· supposed to dislike particular smells 72 Beer called pitto, made on the Gold Coast ib. ··········· yin-ying, much used by the Soosoos ib. ···· very strong kind of, made at Whidah ib. Bellows, blacksmith’s, described 92 Bignonia, the leaves of, used as a dye 97 Bismillah, the prayer of, used by the Mahommedans 54 ······························ when an animal is killed 68 ······························ as a grace before eating ib. Blacksmiths, their expertness 92 Blind men chiefly employed in divination 135 Blowing, an idle story related of the Africans 270 ······· darts, mode of, practised in Guiana ib. Books printed in the Soosoo tongue, a list of 218 Boom river, a branch of the Sherbro 5 Boondoo, an institution peculiar to the Timmanees 139 ······· woman, the chief, her office ib. ······· instance of its dreadful power 140 Bows of the Foolas, formed of bamboo 16 ···· dexterity of the natives in using ib. ···· and arrows, not generally used ib. Boys, dress of, how distinguished from that of girls 101 Bracelets or manillas worn by the women 100 Bread, use of, unknown on the Windward Coast 65 ····· kankee, composition of 66 Breeze, sea and land, reciprocation of 28 Buffalo, flesh of, eaten by the natives ib. Bug-a-bug hills described 47 Bullom country, situation of 4 ······ appearance and direction of 18 Bullæ aureæ of the Romans, a species of amulet 257 Bullom River, the African name of 15 Bunch River assists in forming the peninsula of Sierra Leone 15 Bunting, or mud bank, formed round the houses 82 Burree, palaver or town-house, described 84 Burial, usual ceremonies attending 238 Butter, how procured 69 ······ mode of preserving it 70 ······ African names of ib. ······ tree described ib. C Cabbage palm, how procured 63 Cacao trees, unknown on the Windward Coast 57 Cada Mosto, a Venetian nobleman, visited Senegal 60 ·········· his accurate description of palm oil ib. Cakes made of rice and honey a delicacy 71 Calculations, how conducted by the Africans 176 ············ pentenary, noticed by Homer 177 Camarancas River 5 Camper, Prof. his remarks concerning the teeth 105 Candles, use of, probably introduced by Europeans 71 Cannibalism, natives of Africa unjustly accused of 161 ··········· French equally liable to this misrepresentation 166 Canoe, size of, formed from a single tree 92 Cape, False, of Sierra Leone, why so called 14 ···· Mount, its situation 5 ·········· Dapper’s description of 50 ···· Palmas, supposed to be the _chariot of the gods_ 49 ···· Shelling, the north extremity of the river Sherbro 16 Caps of cloth, or red worsted, much worn 98 Capsicum, or bird pepper. See pepper. Caruna, the kernel of, a subtil poison 269 Cassada, two species of, sweet and bitter 55 ······················· how distinguished ib. ······· poisonous quality of the bitter 56, 268 ······················· how best remedied 56 ······················· how made into bread ib. ······················· a cruel experiment with 268 Cattle, abundance of, in the Foola country 54 ······ description of, and mode of slaughtering ib. Cavallie, a well tasted fish, caught at Sierra Leone 69 Cents, Sierra Leone currency so called 175 Character, African, not justly drawn 205 ········· a more accurate one attempted 211 Charcoal, whence formed 92 Children, African, upon a level with European 217 ················· very anxious to acquire the Arabic 220 ········ present at all public meetings 85 ········ how dressed 100 ········ not black immediately after birth 189 ········ never sold by their fathers 126 ········ how Europeans have been led into this error ib. ········ of slaves cannot be sold without a palaver 127 ········ froward, a fable respecting 120 Circumcision, universally practised on the coast 107 Civilization affects the cast of features 200 Clay, a white kind of, supposed to be eaten by the natives 70 Clearing the ground for cultivation, mode of 47 Climate, heat of 27 Cloth manufactured from the palm tree 58 Coast of Guinea, division of 1 ··············· general appearance of 11 ········ Grain, or Malaguetta 2 ········ Kroo, extent of ib. ········ Ivory or Tooth ib. ········ Gold ib. Coasting voyages, how performed in small vessels 50 Cocoa trees abundant on the Gold Coast 57 Coin not used as a standard of value in trade 172 ···· proof that it might be advantageously introduced 175 ···· objections to the introduction of, answered 174 Colours, various, given to mats 93 Complexion, human, great variety of the 181 ·········· opinions of authors concerning 182 ·········· altered by the state of health, habit, &c. ib. ·········· black, where it resides 189 ·········· various theories to account for 190 Conjuror and physician, office of, united in the same person 252 ········ their impositions noticed ib. Cookery, art of, among the Africans 64 Corpse, questioned concerning the cause of its death 236 Cotton, grows spontaneously 95 ······ tedious mode of spinning 96 ······ manner of dying the threads ib. ······ wove into cloth by the men ib. Cowries, white, part of the mourning dress 101 Cows milk used by the Mahommedans 69 ········· popular superstition respecting ib. Crickets begin to chirp at the approach of night 30 ········ Ligon’s curious account of ib. Crimes, chief, in Africa referable to three heads 127 Crown, the, not hereditary 124 Cry, or mourning, durations of 239 Cuddy, a chief belonging to the river Gambia 53 Cultivation of rice at Sierra Leone 50 D Dahomy, account of, the annual feast, or _customs_, there 162 ······ Dr. Issert’s account thereof 163 Dances of the Africans described 108 Dancing, a favourite amusement of the Pagan nations ib. ······· an art in which the Timmanees excel ib. ······· girls, public, called Sandee girls 109 ······· masters, itinerant ib. ······· why pursued by the votaries of indolence 111 Day, length of, at Sierra Leone 30 Death, supposed dread of, not peculiar to the Africans 207 Debts, how procured 127 Deer or flintombo, frequent about Sierra Leone 66 Deference paid to old age 211 Deity, their notions concerning 226 Dembia river 6 Demons, various orders of, worshipped 222 Deong, a branch of the river Sherbro 5 Devil rocks, the meaning of 223 Dews, very copious in tropical countries 32 ···· supposed to be peculiarly noxious 37 Diet, chief, of the natives of Africa 55 ···· articles of, chiefly used 64 Dioscorides notices the use of amulets 258 Divination, various modes of performing 134 Division of the Coast of Guinea 1 Doctors, suspected of being connected with evil spirits 251 Dogs flesh, considered as a delicacy among the Kroos 67 ·········· publickly sold in the kingdom of Dahomy ib. Dollars, silver, accepted by the Africans in trade 175 Dress of the Bulloms and Timmanees 98 ····· Foolas and Mandingos ib. ····· mourning, of the women 101 ·············· when, and by whom worn 240 Drewin, inhabitants of, bear a bad character 164, 165 ······ described as cannibals; and why 166 Drums, various kinds of, in use 112 Dry season, towards the conclusion of, grass set on fire 48 Danger of travelling at that time ib. Dundo, a musical instrument like a tabor 113 Dust, gold, accuracy of the natives in detecting false 95 Dye, blue, peculiarly fine; how obtained 96 E Ear-rings, much worn by the Africans 104 ········· strange mode of wearing, in the Rio Pongas ib. Earthquakes, shocks of, felt at Sierra Leone, &c. 34 ··········· explanation of the cause of 35 Eddoes, introduced by the colonists of Free Town 64 Edrisius, a passage in, relative to the Bamboo, noticed 160 Eels, of a large size, caught at Sierra Leone 69 Egyptians, the inventors of malt liquor 74 Elephant and goat, the fable of 120 Embroidered tawdry clothes delight the Africans 9 Europeans, depravity of, in Africa 210 ········· enslaved by African superstitions 264 ········· tactics, not approved of by the natives 154 Eyes of the Africans, compared with Europeans 195 ···· brows, some peculiarities of, noticed ib. Expeditions, military, how conducted 153 Extraneous matters introduced under the skin by witches 252 F Fables, the relation of, a favourite amusement 120 Facial line, in what it consists 198 Fairies, fond of attending social meetings 227 Fascination, the power of, supposed hereditary 257 Father, title of, indiscriminately applied to every superior 126 ················ has led Europeans into an error ib. Features, African, great diversity in 197 ········ diversity of, how explained by Camper 198 Feteesh, import of the word 228 ······· applied to any thing prohibited ib. Fish very abundantly used upon the coast 67 ···· different kinds of, caught at Sierra Leone 69 ···· how preserved 64 ···· eater, probably a term of reproach 67 ···· practice of shooting with arrows 160 Fishing, various modes of, practised 90 ······· how practised by the women ib. ······· lines, procured from the palm tree 58 Flax, various substitutes for 94 Fleeces of sheep, affected by climate 194 Food, animal, the kind of, chiefly used by the Africans 66 Food, vegetable, various articles of 55 ···· scarcity of, effects of upon the features 200 Foota or Foola country, its situation and extent 8 ····· its distance from Port Logo 4 ····· nations bordering upon 8 ····· improved state of agriculture in 53 Foolas manure the ground and raise successive crops ib. ······ rich in cattle 54 ······ and Mandingos, amusements of 114 ······ despise dancing as indecorous ib. Forts sometimes built by the Foolas and Mandingos 88 ····· how constructed ib. ····· account of one built at Teembo ib. Fowls domestic, raised in great abundance 66 ····· guinea, abundant in the river Gambia 66 Foy country, situation of 5 Free Town, a description of. See Appendix. No. I 275 Fruits, various kinds of, at Sierra Leone 57 Funerals, how solemnized 239 ········ among the Foolas 245 ········ of the late king Jemmy, described 243 ········ chief magnificence of ib. Furniture, household, of the Africans 83 Future state, Africans have no precise notions respecting 226 Futurity, state of, anxious to explore the secrets of 133 ········ various modes of enquiring into ib. G Gall of the alligator dreaded as a poison 266 ···· used as a medicine by the Egyptians ib. Galinhas river, to the North of Sierra Leone 5 Gambia river, one of the principal in Africa 2 ······ island, situation of 18 Games, various, of the Bulloms and Timmanees 115 ····· of Bamboo, described ib. ····· of palm nuts 117 ····· prohibited by the Mahommedans 118 ····· of throwing shells 119 Garrankees or shoemakers, their employment 91 Genius, developement of, affected by climate 15 Geomancy, or casting the sand, when resorted to 133 ········ how performed 134 ········ mentioned by Baptista Porta ib. Gingerbread, made from ground nuts 71 Goats abound upon the coast 66 ····· milk of, rejected by the Mahommedans 69 Gold, how procured 95 ···· dust, manufactured into various trinkets ib. ···· coast, extent of 2 ···· takers, their accuracy 95 Government, general form of, practised in Africa 124 Gradations in the offspring of Africans and Europeans 188 Grain or Malaguetta coast 2 Granadillo imported into Sierra Leone by the Sierra Leone 57 company Grapes introduced in like manner ib. Grass, a species of, used as a substitute for flax 94 ····· burnt by the natives at a certain period of the year 48 Greegrees, a great variety of, worn 99 ········· their form and composition 255 ········· placed in the towns, described 258 ········· placed upon trees to protect their fruit 261 ········· an instance of the confidence reposed in 255 ········· not called so by the natives ib. Ground nuts described 71 ··········· used as an article of diet 55 Groves, most ancient places of worship 225 ······ Lucan’s description of ib. Grylla talpa, a most tormenting insect 30 Guana, a species of lizard used for food 69 Guayava, a delicious fruit growing at Sierra Leone 58 Guinea, divided into the windward and leeward coasts 1 ······ coast of, progress of the Portuguese in discovering 13 ······ present possessions of the Portuguese there ib. ······ corn or maize, much used on the Gold Coast 55 H Hair, ornamenting of, much attended to by the natives 100, 102 ···· of the Africans, peculiar nature of 191 ···················· attempted to be explained 192 ···· red, occasionally observed among the Africans 193 ···· growth of, affected by the degree of temperature 195 Hand, right, more honourable than the left 122 Hanno, the periplus of, noticed 49, 109 Harmattan, a peculiarly cold and parching wind 39 ········· account of its occurrence at Sierra Leone 40 ········· described by Dr. Schotte at Senegal 41 ········· by Mr. Norris 42 Harvests, used to compute time 22 Hats, said to be invented by the Moors 100 Headman of a village, his office described 125 ······· how it may be acquired ib. ······· the portion of grain allotted to 53 Heat of the climate not oppressive 28 ···· mean degree of, at Free Town 32 ···· experienced by Messrs. Watt and Winterbottom in their 33 journey ···· powerful effects of, upon the complexion 183 Hemp, a kind of, procured from the palm tree 58 ···· excellent substitutes for 93 Hippopotamos or manatee, often seen in the rivers 69 ············ fœces of, the embryo, an idle notion concerning 267 Hogs, wild, abound in the mountains and forests 66 ·········· much esteemed as food by the natives ib. Honey procured in abundance in the river Gambia 71 ····· mead, made from, by Mahommedans 72 ····· an intoxicating liquor produced from 73 Horn, southern, a bay, so called 49 Horses of the Foolas described 114 ······ accoutrements of ib. Hospitality of the Africans noticed 213 Houses, how formed by the Bulloms and Timmanees 81 ······ have neither windows nor chimneys 82 ······ of two stories allowed as a peculiar favour 81 ······ doors of, supplied by a mat 83 ······ of the Mahommedans, peculiarly neat 86 ······ their mode of building described ib. ······ thatch of, procured from palm leaves 58 Humbé, an institution peculiar to the women 139 I Jackal, the national feeteesh at Akra 229 Jasper employed as an amulet 258 Ichthyophagi. See Fish Eater 67 Jews, great variety of complexion in 187 Imam al, his office described 232 Indian, American, their knowledge of poisons 265 Indians called Ticuna, prepare a most active poison 267 ······· corn or maize, a valuable article of food 55 Indigo, much used by the natives 96 Ink, how made 220 Institution of the Purrah, peculiar to the Bulloms 135 ························· as mysterious as free masonry ib. ························· among the Soosoos called semo 137 ························· peculiar to females, called humbe 139 ························· among the Timmanees, called ib. boondoo Insurrection of slaves in the Foola country 114 Intoxicating fish, the mode of 90 Intoxication, various means of producing 74 Journal, meteorological, in the Foola country 34 ······· Mr. Watt’s, extracts from 169 ······· Mr. Winterbottom’s, extracts from 8, 35, 54, 88, 234, 245 Jumping fish, how caught 90 Ivory trade, how conducted 171 Justice, administration of 127 K Kamschatdale, obtains an intoxicating liquor from putrid 75 fish Kates river, opens into the Bay of Sherbro 5 King, the title of, too generally applied by Europeans 124 Kissee river, divides into two large branches 2, 4 Kittim, coast of 5 Kola, description of 76 ···· much esteemed by the natives ib. ···· two kinds of, betoken war or peace 77 ···· used as a dye by the Portuguese ib. ···· supposed to be used in Arabia ib. Koran, quotations from 68, 83, 100, 104, 118, 231 Koumiss, a favourite drink of the Tartars 75 Kroo coast, situation of 8 ·········· natives of, described 9 L Labour, the division of, not practised 89 Laby, the number of its inhabitants 87 Ladrone Islands, the inhabitants of, ignorant of fire 75 ······························ acquainted with an ib. intoxicating liquor Land breeze, the quarter from whence its blows 28 ···· how best obtained from the natives 52 Languages, great variety of, on the coast of Africa 9 ········· Bosman’s account of, on the Gold Coast 10 ········· peculiar, belong to the Purrah and Semo 137 Leather, how tanned 91 ······· black and red, manufacture of ib. Ledo or Liedo Cape, origin of the name 14 Lemons, probably introduced by the Portuguese 57 Leopard’s Island, situation of 14 ········ tooth, a badge of freedom 101 ········ very numerous in the woods; strength of 257 ········ form of, supposed to be assumed by witches ib. ········ and alligator, stratagems of, subject of fables 120 Libations, occasionally practised 123 Life, period of, affected by peculiar situations 150 Lightning, very frequent and vivid at Sierra Leone 26 Limbo country, situation of 3 Lind, Dr. his opinion respecting tropical rains 39 Lips of the African have a tinge of red 196 ···· vary in different nations 197 ···· red, colour of, error occasioned by the 196 Liquors, spirituous, drank to excess by the Pagan nations 72 Literature, Arabic, highly esteemed 220 Literati, Mahommedan, how they display their learning 115 Lizards, their noise at the approach of night 30 ······· a species of, used as food 69 Loads, prodigious, carried by the Foolas 171 Logo country, situation of 3 Looking glass, how procured 102 Looms used by the Africans, a description of 97 Los isles de, situation and native name of 6 Lugars or plantations, careless mode of preparing 47 M Mabayma, Scarcies river so called by the natives 2 Macrobii, Ethiopians so called by Herodotus 60 Mahadee, a celebrated impostor in Africa 246 ······· signification of the name 247 ······· treats the chiefs of the country with contempt 249 ······· is put to death by Brama Sayoo 250 Mahommedanism, how propagated in Africa 147 Mahommedans, extreme dislike of, to spirits 72 ··········· fond of comparing the Koran with the Bible 209 ··········· chief amusements of 114 ··········· dress of the 98 ··········· very strict in their ceremonial duties 241 Maize or Indian corn, much used for food 55 ····· how formed into bread 66 Malayes, or travelling merchants, described 169 Mampa river, the Sherbro so called 18 Mandingo nation, account of 6 ········ their first establishment in the country 7 ········ the greatest merchants in Africa 168 Mangrove tree described 19 Manillas or bracelets, worn by the women 100 Manioc. See Cassada. Mannatee. See Hippopotamos. Manuscripts, Arabic, highly valued 220 Marabump, island of 19 Markets, public, unknown on the Windward coast 172 Marks or stigmata made upon the face 105 Marriages, not indissoluble in Africa 146 ········· how contracted ib. Master, the, a kind of singing man 108 Mats, four different kinds of, described 93 ···· beautiful dyes imparted to them ib. Mead, made by the Foolas and Mandingos 72 Meals, the usual time of 64 Meat, roast, not used by the Africans ib. Medicine and magic, union of 251 Melons, water, very large at Sierra Leone 58 Men, the usual employment of 89 Merchants, Foola, mode of travelling 170 ········· mode of transacting business 171 ········· intelligence quickly brought by, from Gibraltar 168 ········· money medium, their substitute for 175 Meteorological journal 23 ·············· for 1793. See Appendix. No. II 282 Milk of cows, much esteemed by the Mahommedans 69 ············ seldom used until sour ib. ············ of goats, held in abhorrence ib. Millet, raised abundantly on the coast 55 Min, a spirit so called, fable respecting 120 Mitombo, the river, described 14 Monkies eaten by the natives of Africa 67 Monserrado or Mesurada Cape 18 Moon, when first seen 30 Moo-radee, a word of great import 83 Moors, curious mode of trading practised by the 177 ····· noticed by Pliny 178 Morocco, leather equal to, how made 91 Mosques, form of 87 ······· ceremonies performed in 232 Mount Cape 5, 18 Mourning dress described 101 ········ by whom worn 240 Mud Bank. See Bunting. Mulatto produced by a black and European 188 ······· instance of one passing for a white 185 Mullet, an excellent fish caught at Sierra Leone 69 Murder, how punished 127 Musk, a favourite perfume in Africa 103 ···· why so much used by the Mahommedans ib. Music, used to accompany the dance 111 ····· various instruments of, used ib. Muskets generally used by the natives 159 Musquitos, very troublesome in the native villages 79 ········· noticed by Herodotus ib. N Naimbanna ring, the medical treatment of 259 Names of men, derived from their mothers 151 ········ women, a list of ib. Natives, villages of the, state of at mid day 110 ················· exactly agrees with Pliny’s account ib. Natives, persons of the, described 180 Necklaces, much worn by the women and children 100 ········· probably originated in superstition 258 Neptunes, shallow brass pans, used for making salt 145 Niger, a nation on its banks, mode of trading with 177 ····· mentioned by Pliny and corroborated by Wadstrom 178 ····· a similar practice prevailed at Newfoundland 179 ’Nyamalas or ’Nyalas, travelling merchants described 169 Nose, curious opinion respecting that of the African 201 O Obia, the practice of, described 262 Oil, palm, how procured 59 ··· palm, boiling, used as an ordeal 128 Okra, an esculent plant much esteemed 64 Old people, respect shewn to, in Africa 211 ··· wife, a species of fish, caught at Sierra Leone 69 Oranges, grow in abundance on the coast of Africa 57 ······· suspected to have been introduced by the Portuguese ib. ······· Seville, found in small quantity about Sierra Leone ib. ······· superstitious notion respecting 69 Oran-outang, improper notions respecting 201 ··········· figures of, not accurate 202 Orators, African, energetic in their discourses 217 Ordeal, various kinds of, practised 128 ······ by the application of a hot iron ib. ······ by dipping the arm into boiling oil ib. ······ chewing the bark of a tree 129 ······ drinking red water ib. Organization of the European and African compared 203 Ornaments, various, worn by the women 100 Ounce of gold, the standard of commerce on the Gold Coast 173 Oysters, mangrove, why so called 67 ······· name for, in the Bullom language ib. Ox species, raised in abundance in various parts 66 P Paint, different kinds of, used by the women 102 Painters, an error committed by 189 Palaver house or Burree, described 84 ············· the place of public resort ib. ············· upper part of, used for a granary ib. ······· talking, what is meant by 91 ············· occupies much of their time ib. ······· sauce, so called by Europeans, what 64 ······· witch, what is meant by 127 ······· woman, meaning of. ib. ······· sauce, or impertinence ib. Palm nuts, the game of, described 117 ········· casting of, a species of divination 134 ···· oil, how procured, its uses 59 ········ mentioned by Herodotus 60 ········ described by Cada Mosto ib. ···· tree, names of, at different periods 11 ········· indicates a good soil, and presence of water 63 ········· serves various œconomical purposes 58 ···· tree, the fruit of, exactly described by Frogert 58 ········· the green leaves of, converted into flax 93 ········· yields bread, wine, and honey 63 ········· address of the natives in climbing 61 ···· cabbage, how obtained 63 ···· wine, how obtained 61 ········· quantity produced by one tree 62 ········· when fermented, powerfully intoxicating 63 ········· used to leaven bread 65 Paracelsus, his whimsical description of witches 253 Pepper, red, or capsicum, much used 64 ··········· names of different species ib. ······ use of, supposed to prevent intermittents ib. Periplus of Hanno, quotations from 49 Piazza of the natives’ houses, how formed 82 Pine apples, abundance of, on the coast 57 ··········· not known in the interior parts ib. ··········· suspected not to be indigenous ib. Plantain islands, situation of 5 ········ tree, affords a substitute for bread 55 Plantation or lugar, how formed 47 ·········· a new one formed every year 52 ·········· cultivated generally in common ib. ·········· private property among the Foolas 53 Plaster for floors of houses, how made 87 Pleiades, situation of, point out the time to form 48 plantations Pliny, his account of the Africans, accurate 109 Plough, use of, unknown in Africa 53 ·············· much wished for by an African chief ib. Plumbs, several kinds of, at Sierra Leone 58 Poison, a frequent source of alarm in Africa 265 ······ from a tree called toma 270 ······ for arrows, how procured 159 Pots, earthen, various kinds of, manufactured 6, 94 ············· how glazed ib. ············· a porous kind, formed for cooling water ib. ············· art of making, perhaps derived from Europeans 95 Potters wheel, the use of, unknown 94 Poisoned arrows, not generally used by the Africans 161 ········ weapons, of great antiquity 267 Polygamy, universally practised in Africa 145 ········ bad effects of, on the population of a country 146 ········ opinion of authors respecting 148 ········ no obstacle to the introduction of christianity 147 Population of the sea coast very thin 149 ·········· small, causes thereof ib. Port Logo, towns near, names of 3 Portuguese, descendants of, in Africa changed by the climate 183 Praying, mode of, among the Soosoos 230 ······· stated times of 233 Pride, literary, of the Mahommedans, noticed 115 Priest, physician, and conjuror, office of, united in one 252 person Promontorium Hesperium 49 Pulse of the African, an error respecting 180 Purrah, an institution peculiar to the Bulloms 135 ······ its mysterious proceedings 136 ······ provincial, like the lodges of masons ib. Pullom, or wild cotton tree, its magnitude 17 R Rain, quantity of, which falls at Sierra Leone 23 ·············· at Senegal, &c. ib. ···· of tropical countries pernicious 38 ···· Mr. Adanson’s account of, at Senegal ib. ···· Dr. Lind’s opinion respecting 39 Rains, the season of, at Sierra Leone 23 ················· at Gambia ib. ················· have a regular progress along the coast 22 Ramadan, the feast of, described 231 Rank of the Africans in the creation 201 Rats eaten by some nations in Africa 67 Red water ordeal used at Sierra Leone 129 ········· how prepared and administered 130 ········· when said to be _spoiled_ 132 ········· countenanced by British governors 143 Religion of the natives of Africa 222 Revolt of the Mandingo slaves 154 Rice, mode of sowing, at Sierra Leone 50 ···· how preserved from the attacks of birds 51 ···· mode of reaping and thrashing ib. ···· how separated from the husks ib. ···· preserved in large baskets 52 ···· the, grown at Sierra Leone remarkably nutritive 55 ···· prepared by the women night and morning 145 Rio Grande 2 ··· Nunez 2, 5 ···· Pongas ib. Rivers on the Windward coast of Africa 2 Robanna, island of 19 Robe of the Mandingos, like a surplice 99 Rocks, devil, much dreaded by the natives 223 Rosaries, much worn by the Mahommedans 235 Rounds a medium of commerce 173 Rush, Dr. his opinion respecting the effects of cultivation 79 S Sacrifices made to demons, on what occasions 223 Saddles used by the Foolas described 114 Salt, how made 144 ···· quantity of, exchanged for rice 171 Salutation, mode of, at Sierra Leone 122 ··················· among the Mahommedans ib. ·········· of women to their superiors 123 ·········· usual, on entering a village 214 Salvezze islands, Bananas so called 13 Sama, or Malakurry river 2 Sand, mode of casting the 134 Sandals, worn by the Mahommedans 98 Sandflies, troublesome in the houses of the natives 79 Sauce or condiment, a kind of, used by the natives 71 ····· palaver, what is meant by 127 Scarcies river, called by the natives Mabayma 2 Schoolmaster, his reward for teaching 217 Schools established at Free Town 217 ······· of the Mahommedans described 218 Scrivellas or tusks of young elephants formed into flutes 113 Sea breeze, direction of 128 Seasons, divided into rainy and dry 22 Sea coast, natives of, have the darkest complexions 184 Selenites, a stone so called, worn as an amulet 258 Sensibility of the Africans 211 Sharks, abound in the river Sierra Leone 90 ······ curious facts respecting 256 Shaving, only partially used 98 Shaw, Dr. his account of the palm tree 63 Sheep, abundance of, in the Mahommedan countries 65 Shells, the game of throwing, described 119 Sherbro river; divides into three branches 2, 4, 5 Sherbro, bay of, described 5 Shipmate, import of the term in the West Indies 212 Shoemakers or garrankees, their occupation 91 Shuttle, weavers, described 97 Sick, their mode of treating the, in Africa 259 Sickness of the late king Naimbanna ib. Siege of Yangheeakurree described 156 ········ Ferbanna 159 Sierra Leone, discovery of, claimed by the French 13 ············ Cape, called also Cape Tagrin and Cape Ledo ib. ················· why called the true Cape ib. ············ colony of, described. See Appendix. No. I 273 ············ peninsula of, how formed 15 ············ river, description of 11, 15 ·················· tide of 16 ············ mountains, their extent and direction ib. ············ islands of 19 ············ origin of its name 12 ············ Barbot’s description of 11 Singing, a favourite amusement of the Africans 108 ······· men, itinerant, in the Foola country ib. ······· among the Bulloms ib. Skins of the Africans remarkably cool and smooth 180 ····················· daily anointed with palm oil 108 ····· of animals, how prepared 91 Sky, appearance of the, in Africa 29 Slaves, Mandingo, revolt of 154 ······ domestic, kindly treated 127 Smeathman, Mr. _lives_, in the recollection of the natives 68 Smithy or furnace of the blacksmith described 92 Smoke, as a signal for trade, noticed by Herodotus 179 _Smokes_, what; why supposed noxious 31 Smoking tobacco, learned from the Europeans 76 Snake, the form of, assumed by witches 261 ····· worship, an account of 228 ····· an article of food in many parts 67 Snapper, a fish caught at Sierra Leone 69 Snuff, much used by the natives 76 Soap, how made in Africa 59 Soldiers, their dress when going to fight 154 Soosoo, or Suzee nation, described 5 Soup, black, a favourite dish on the Gold Coast 65 South-east winds, their violence noticed by Milton 28 Southern Horn, a bay so called 49 Spirits or apparitions, Africans have no name for 227 Spirituous liquors, use of, universally known 74 Spoiling red water, what 132 Stages erected at Yangheeakurree 157 Stedman, Capt. supposes the Africans to be cannibals 164 Stone, memorial, custom of depositing one in an 240 appropriated place Stranger, a term applied by an African to his guest 214 Sucking fish adheres to the bottoms of ships; used as food 69 Sun, appearance of the rising and setting 29 Superstition, gross, of the Africans 251 ··················· of the vulgar in France 260 Sweet potatoes, cultivated at Sierra Leone 55 Sword fish, met with upon the coast 69 T Tabor or tamborine, borrowed from the Africans 113 Tagrin Cape, ancient name of Cape Sierra Leone 14 Tallow tree, an oil obtained from, used by the women 103 Tales, African, specimens of 120 Tapioca, how obtained 55 Tasso, island of, its situation 19 Tatowing, practised by the women 106 ········ noticed by Herodotus ib. ········ forbidden in the sacred writings ib. Teembo, capital of the Foola country, its population 87 Teeth, sharp pointed, thought ornamental 104 ············ how produced 105 ····· of the Foolas destroyed by continual friction ib. ····· Professor Camper’s opinion respecting ib. Ten-pounder, a fish remarkably full of small bones 69 Termites, white ants, or bug-a-bugs, utility of 47 ········ curious account of, by a Dutch admiral ib. ········ very accurately described by Mr. Smeathman. See 292 Appendix. No. III Theft, punishment of, among the Foolas 235 Theon Ochemo, Harduin’s opinion respecting 49 ············ supposed to be Cape Mount ib. Thermometer, height of, in the Soosoo country 33 ···········observations upon, at different places 34 ··········· range of, at Free Town 23 Thrashing rice and other grain, mode of 51 Thunder, tremendous, at Sierra Leone 13 Time, division of, in Africa 22 ···· difference of, between London and Free Town 30 Timmanee nation described 3 ··············· divided into Timmanees, Logos, and Krangos 4 Titles, honorary, assumed by old people 212 Tobacco, much used by the Africans 75 Toma, a poisonous tree, account of 270 Tops, activity of the boys in whipping 119 Tornados, description of 24 ········ etymology of the word ib. ········ _white_, why so called 27 ········ time of occurrence at Sierra Leone ib. ············· in the river Gambia, &c. 22 Towns, African, situation of 78 ····· how preserved from sudden attacks ib. ····· Mandingo, superior to those of the Bulloms, &c. 87 ·············· how defended ib. ····· Timmanee and Bullom, described 81 ····· names of, whence derived 80 Trade, how carried on in Africa 168 Transmigration, some notion of, among the Soosoos 227 Trees bearing wool, mentioned by Herodotus 95 Triangle, a musical instrument used in Africa 113 Tuntungee, a dress used by the girls 101 Turban, worn by the Foolas, &c. 99 Twilight, short duration of 30 ········ how ushered in ib. V Varieties of mankind, curious, invented by authors 203 Vaulting and tumbling, favourite amusements 120 Vegetation, luxuriancy of, in Africa 46 Villages of the natives described 80 ········ on the coast differ from those inland 83 Vines grow spontaneously at Sierra Leone 57 Voyages, coasting, in canoes, how performed 50 Utensils, variety of, made by the blacksmiths 92 W Wangka, a word signifying mischief or witchcraft 262 Warp, how managed 97 War of Mandingo slaves described 154 Wars, how conducted 153 ···· implements of 159 Water melons 58 Watt and Winterbottom, Messrs. account of their journey 33 Wax, abundance of, procured in the river Gambia 71 ··· formed into candles by the natives ib. Weapons, poisoned, great antiquity of 267 Weaving, practised chiefly by the men 97 Wells, very deep at Whidah and Bondou 73 West Indies, bad effects of the obia practised there 262 Whidah, dog’s flesh sold there in the public market 67 White tornado described 27 ····· colour, supposed to be agreeable to the Deity 230 Wild hogs, abound at Sierra Leone 66 Winds, prevailing, at Sierra Leone 28 Wine, palm, how procured 61 ···· made from a species of plumb 73 Winnowing grain, method of 51 Witch, palaver, what is meant by 127 ····· assume another form after death 227 Witchcraft, belief in, universal 230 ·········· believed in by Paracelsus and other physicians 253 ·········· supposed to be the most common cause of death 260 ·········· how it is supposed to produce death ib. Woman, palaver, what 127 Women, persons of the, described 181 ····· dress of the 99 ····· ornaments worn by 100 ····· their attention to cleanliness 102 ····· early bloom and rapid decline of 150 ····· men named after the 151 ····· situation of, in Africa 144 ····· perform the chief menial offices ib. ····· employed in making salt 145 Woolly hair of the Africans noticed 191 Worm found in the palm tree, a great delicacy 67 ············· the sago tree ib. Worship, snake, established in some parts 228 Writing, how performed 220 Y Yams, a substitute for potatoes 55 Yangheeakurree, town of the Mandingo slaves 154 ·············· delightful situation of 156 ·············· internal appearance of 157 Year, division of, on the coast of Africa 21 END OF VOL. I. ERRATA. Page 12, line 20, for _render_ read _renders_. 14, — 5, for _north_ read _south_. 15, — 21, for _divide_ read _divides_. 47, — 22, for _Navauha_ read _Navarchus_. 48, — 8, after _awanang_ dele ; 50, — 37, for _canaque interta_ read _cannaque intexta_. 54, — 24, for _cuts_ read _cut_. 67, — 1, for _river_ read _rivers_. 69, — 15, dele *, and insert it line 21, after _butter_. 96, — 5, for _two_ read _too_. 109, — 22, for _Sundee_ read _Sandee_. 112, — 5, for _lugubrous_ read _lugubrious_. 172, — 3, after _place_ dele . 186, — 1, for _genations_ read _generations_. 216, — 14, dele . and insert ; 228, — 8, for _is_ read _are_. 251, — 15, for _is_ read _are_. 282, — , for _hydrometer_ read _hygrometer_. 276, — 14, for _north-western_ read _north-eastern_. * * * * * C. WHITTINGHAM, _Printer_, Dean Street. * * * * * Transcriber's note: The changes in the ERRATA have been done, and other obvious typographical errors have been fixed. Inconsistent French spelling has been left unchanged. In page 231, missing ref. to footnote 215 placed after: "assemble the people to prayers:" *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 79805 ***