Journal of an African Cruiser Part 8

On the Gold Coast, each vessel employs a native who is called its "gold-taker," and is skilful in detecting spurious metal. The gold-dust is brought for sale, wrapped up in numerous coverings, to avoid waste. It is tested by acids; or, more commonly, by rubbing the gold on the "black-stone," when the color of the mark, which it leaves upon the stone, decides the character of the metal. The gold, after its weight has been ascertained, is put by the captain into little barrels, holding perhaps half a pint, and with the top s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g tightly on. This "glittering dust"

(to use the phrase which moralists are fond of applying to worldly pelf), commands from sixteen to eighteen dollars per ounce, in England and the United States. It is gathered from the sands which the rivers of Africa wash down from the golden mountains; and, when offered for sale, small lumps of gold and rudely manufactured rings are sometimes found among the dust--ornaments that have perhaps been worn by sable monarchs, or their sultanas, in the interior of the country.

In the ivory trade, small teeth (comprising all that weigh less than twenty pounds) are considered to be worth but half the price, per pound, that is paid for large teeth. From fifty cents to a dollar is the ordinary value of a pound of ivory. Some large teeth sell for a hundred dollars, or even a hundred and fifty. The sale of such a gigantic tusk, as may well be supposed, is considered an affair of almost national importance, and the bargain can only be adjusted through the medium of a "big palaver." The trade in ivory is now on the decline; the demand in England and France not being so great as formerly, and America never having presented a good market for the article.

Palm-oil is brought from the interior, on the heads of the natives, in calabashes, containing two or three gallons each. In speaking of the interior, however, a comparatively short distance from the coast is to be understood. Gold, where great value is concentrated into small bulk, and some ivory, may occasionally come from remote regions; but the vast inland tracts of the African continent have little to do, either directly or indirectly, with the commerce of the civilized world.

In dealing with the natives, there was formerly a system much in vogue, but now going out of use, called the "round trade." The method was, to offer one of each article; for instance, one gun, one cutla.s.s, one flint, one bra.s.s kettle, one needle, and so on, from the commodity of greatest value down to the least. In all traffic there is a desire on the part of the native to obtain as great a variety as his means will compa.s.s. If the native commodity on sale be valuable, the captain offers two or more of his guns, cutla.s.ses, flints, bra.s.s kettles, and needles; if it be small, and of trifling value, he perhaps exhibits only a flint and a needle as an equivalent. The native of course tries to get the most valuable, and the purchaser to pay the least. If the former demand a piece of cloth, and if it be refused by the captain, the native then asks what he will "room" it with. The captain, it may be, proposes to subst.i.tute a needle; and, after much talk, the troublesome bargain is thus brought to a point. English vessels usually have supercargoes; the Americans are seldom so provided.

But the American captains, on the other hand, are respectable, intelligent, and trustworthy men, almost without exception. The exigencies of the trade require such men; and any defect, either of capacity or integrity, would soon be brought to light by the onerous duties and responsibilities imposed upon them. Great lat.i.tude must be allowed them, or the voyage cannot be expected to turn out profitably. They perform the double duty of master and supercargo, and perhaps with the more success, as there can be no disunion or difference of judgment. These captains are likewise often part owners of vessel and cargo.

Since the African coast has been made the cruising ground of an American squadron, the merchantmen have brought out stores, with the expectation of disposing of them to the s.h.i.+ps of war. Some of these speculations have turned out very profitable; but now, when the Government understands and has made provisions for the wants of the station, this market is not to be relied upon. To the officers, indeed, there is a chance, though by no means a certainty, of selling mess-stores. The prices charged by merchantmen correspond with the scarcity of the article, and are sometimes enormous. I have known nine dollars a barrel asked for Irish, or rather Yankee potatoes, and have paid my share for a small quant.i.ty, at that rate. To those who see this vegetable daily on their tables, it may seem strange that men should value a potatoe five times as highly as an orange.

After eating yams and ca.s.sada, however, for months together, one learns how to appreciate a mealy potatoe, the absence of which cannot be compensated by the most delicious of tropical fruits. Adam's fare in Paradise might have been much improved, had Eve known how to boil potatoes; nor, perhaps, would the fatal apple have been so tempting.

CHAPTER XV.

Jack Purser's wife--Fever on Board--Arrival at Cape Palmas--Strange Figure and Equipage of a Missionary--King George of Grand Ba.s.sam--Intercourse with the Natives--Tahon--Grand Drewin--St. Andrew's--Picaninny Lahoo--Natives attacked by the French--Visit of King Peter--Sketches of Scenery and People at Cape Labon.

_March_ 30.--Got under way, at daylight, and stood down the coast.

I recollect nothing else, at Settra Kroo, that requires description, unless it be the person and garb of a native lady of fas.h.i.+on. Sitting with my friend Jack Purser, yesterday, a young woman came up, with a pipe in her mouth. A cloth around her loins, dyed with gay colors, composed her whole drapery, leaving her figure as fully exposed as the most cla.s.sic sculptor could have wished. It is to be observed, however, that the sable hue is in itself a kind of veil, and takes away from that sense of nudity which would so oppress the eye, were a woman of our own race to present herself so scantily attired. The native lady in question was tall, finely shaped, and would have been not a little attractive, but for the white clay with which she had seen fit to smear her face and bosom. Around her ankles were many rows of blue beads, which also encircled her leg below the knee, thus supplying the place of garters, although stockings were dispensed with. Her smile was pleasant, and her disposition seemed agreeable; and, certainly, if the rest of Jack Purser's wives (for this was one of the nine-and-twenty) be so well-fitted to make him happy, the sum total of his conjugal felicity must be enormous!

31.--Sunday. An oppressively hot day. There are three new cases of fever, making fourteen in all, besides sixteen or seventeen of other complaints.

There is some apprehension that we are to have general sickness on board.

_April_ 1.--Off Cape Palmas. A canoe being sent ash.o.r.e, returned with a letter from the Rev. Mr. Hazlehurst, stating that two missionaries wish for a pa.s.sage to the Gaboon, and making so strong an appeal that the captain's sympathies could not resist it. So we run in and anchor.

2.--Went ash.o.r.e in the gig, and amused myself by reading the newspapers at the Governor's, while the captain rode out to the mission establishment, at Mount Vaughan. During my stay, one of the new missionaries, a native of Kentucky, came in from Mount Vaughan, and rode up to the Government House, in country style. He was in a little wagon, drawn by eight natives, and sat bolt upright, with an umbrella over his head. The maligners of the priesthood, in all ages and countries, have accused them of wis.h.i.+ng to ride on the necks of the people; but I never before saw so nearly literal an exemplification of the fact. In its metaphorical sense, indeed, I should be very far from casting such an imputation upon the zealous and single-minded missionary before me. He is a man of eminent figure, at least six feet and three inches high, with a tremendous nose, vast in its longitude and depth, but wonderfully thin across the edge. It was curious to meet, in Africa, a person so strongly imbued with the peculiarities of his section of our native land; for his manner had the real Western swing, and his dialect was more marked than is usual among educated men. With a native audience, however, this is a matter of no moment.

We were told that the Roman Catholics are about to leave Cape Palmas, and establish branches of their mission at the different French stations on the coast, under the patronage of Louis Philippe. The Presbyterians have all gone to the Gaboon river. The Episcopal Mission pines at Cape Palmas, and will probably be removed. The discord between its members and the Colonial Government continues with unabated bitterness. Mr. Hazlehurst regrets that the missionaries were identified with the colonists, in our great palaver with the four-and-twenty kings and headmen, at Cape Palmas.

He believes, that, in case of any outbreak of the natives, the missionaries on the out stations would fall the first victims. His sentiments, it must be admitted, are such as it behoves a minister of religion to entertain, in so far as he would repudiate military force as an agent for sustaining the cause of missions.

We sailed at noon for the leeward without the missionaries, who declined taking pa.s.sage, as it is doubtful whether the s.h.i.+p will proceed beyond Cape Coast Castle. We have now fifteen cases of fever, most of them mild in character. The prospect of sickness will cut short our leeward cruise.

4.--Off Tahoo. The natives have come on board, with fowls, ivory, and monkey-skins, to "make trade." Tobacco is the article chiefly sought for in exchange. A large canoe came off, with a small English flag displayed, and a native in regimentals standing erect; a most unusual and inconvenient posture to be maintained in a canoe. Mounting the s.h.i.+p's side, he proved to be no less a man than King George of Grand Ba.s.sam. His majesty wore a military frock trimmed with yellow, two worsted epaulettes on his shoulders, and an English hussar-cap on his head, with the motto FULGOR ET HONOS. A cloth around his loins completed his heterogeneous equipment. In the canoe was a small bullock, tied by the feet, together with several ducks, chickens, kids, and plantains. The bullock and one duck were presented to the captain by way of "dash;" always the most expensive mode of procuring provisions, for, unless you dash the donor to at least an equal extent, he will certainly importune you for more. King George remarked that the other articles in the canoe belonged to the boys, and were for sale. They refused to sell them, however, until the King, after eating and drinking his fill in the cabin, went out, and engaged in the traffic at once. The liquor brought out his real character; and this royal personage scolded and haggled like a private trader, and a sharp one too.

Having sold his stock, and received much more than its value, his majesty thought it not beneath his station to beg, and thus obtain divers odd things for his wardrobe and larder. When he could get no more, he finally took his leave, carrying off the remains of the food which had been set before him, without so much as an apology.

We have been running along that portion of the coast, where, three months ago, we burned the native towns. No attempt has yet been made to rebuild them, for fear of a second hostile visit from the s.h.i.+ps; but the natives have indirectly applied to the Commodore for permission to do so, and it will probably be granted, on their pledging themselves to good behavior.

5.--At anchor off Grand Berebee. All day, the s.h.i.+p has been thronged with natives. They are civil at first, but almost universally display a bad trait of character, by altering their manners for the worse, in proportion to the kindness shown them. As they acquire confidence, they become importunate, and almost impudent. Every canoe brings something to sell. It is amusing to see these people paddling alongside with two or three chickens tied round their necks, and hanging down their backs, with an occasional flutter that shows them to be yet alive. Some of the kings hold umbrellas over their heads; rather, one would suppose, as a mark of dignity, than from a tender regard to their complexions. These umbrellas were afterwards converted into bags, to hold the bread which they received.

The weather has been cooler for two days, and the fever-patients are fast improving.

6.--This morning, our visitors of yesterday, and many more, came alongside, but only persons of distinction were admitted on board.

Nevertheless, they suffice to crowd the deck. A war-canoe, with a king in it, paddled round the s.h.i.+p twice, all the men working for dear life, by way, I suppose, of contrasting their naval force with our own. All our guests, of whatever rank, come to trade or to beg; and it is curious to see how essentially their estimation of money differs from our own. Coin is almost unknown in the traffic of the coast, and it is only those who have been at Sierra Leone, or some of the colonial settlements, who are aware of its value. One "cut money," or quarter of a dollar, is the smallest coin of which most of the natives have any idea. This is invariably the price of a fowl, when money is offered; but a head of tobacco or a couple of fish-hooks would be preferred. Empty bottles find a ready market. Yesterday, I "dashed" three or four great characters with a bottle each; all choosing ale or porter bottles in preference to an octagonal-sided one, used by "J. Wingrove and Co." of London, in putting up their "Celebrated Raspberry Vinegar." The chiefs must have consulted about it afterwards; for, this morning, no less than three kings and a governor, begged, as a great favor, that I would give them that particular bottle, and were sadly disappointed, on learning that it had been paid away for a monkey-skin. No other bottle would console them.

After the traffic is over, the begging commences; and they prove themselves artful as well as persevering mendicants. Sometimes they make an appeal to your social affections; "Ma.s.sa, I be your friend!" The rascal has never seen you before, and would cut your throat for a pound of tobacco. Another seeks to excite your compa.s.sion: "My heart cry for a bottle of rum!" and no honest toper, who has felt what that cry is, can refuse his sympathy, even if he withhold the liquor. A third applicant addresses himself to your n.o.ble thirst for fame. "Suppose you dash me, I take your name ash.o.r.e, and make him live there!" And certainly a deathless name, at the price of an empty bottle or a head of tobacco, is a bargain that even a Yankee would not scorn.

7.--We pa.s.sed Tahoo in the night, and are now running along a more beautiful country. The land is high and woody, unlike the flat and marshy tracts that skirt the sh.o.r.es to windward. These are the Highlands of Drewin. The s.h.i.+p has been full of Grand Drewin people, who come to look about them, to beg, and to dispose of fowls, ducks, cocoa-nuts, and small canoes. They are the most noisy set of fellows on the coast.

8. We left Grand Drewin, and anch.o.r.ed at St. Andrew's, six miles distant.

The inhabitants, being at war with those of Grand Drewin, do not come off to us, apprehending that their enemies are concealed behind the s.h.i.+p.

These tribes have been at war more than a year, and have made two expeditions, resulting in the death of two men on one side and three on the other. The army of Grand Drewin, having slain three, boasts much of its superior valor. It must be owned, that the absurdity of war, as the ultimate appeal of nations, becomes rather strikingly manifest, by being witnessed on a scale so ridiculously minute.

9.--A message having been sent in to inform the King of our character, three or four canoes came off to us. The inhabitants have little to sell compared with those of Grand Drewin. Indian corn, which does not flourish so well to windward, has been offered freely at both places, in the ear.

I went ash.o.r.e, in company with four other officers. The bar is difficult, and, in rough weather, must be dangerous. A broad bay opens on your sight, as soon as the narrow and rocky mouth of the river is pa.s.sed. Two large streams branch off, and lose themselves among the high trees upon their banks. A number of cocoa-nut trees, on the sh.o.r.e, made a thick shade for fifteen or twenty soldiers, who loitered about, or sat, or lay at length upon the ground, watching against the approach of the enemy. Some held muskets in their hands; others had rested their weapons against the trunks of the trees. We were first conducted to the residence of King Queah, who received us courteously, regaled us with palm-wine, and inflicted a duck upon us by way of "dash." The wine, in a capacious gourd, was brought out, and placed in the centre of the large open s.p.a.ce, where we sat. The King, his headman, and his son, all drank first, in order to prove that the liquor was not poisonous; a ceremony which makes one strongly sensible of being among people, who have no very conscientious regard for human life.

The mug was then refilled, and pa.s.sed to us.

On the walls of the house there were fresco-paintings, evidently by a native artist, rudely representing persons and birds. The most prominent figures were the King, seated in a chair, and seven wives standing in a row before him, most of them with pipes in their mouths. Black, red, and white, were apparently the only colors that the painter's palette supplied. The groundwork was the natural color of the clay, which had been plastered upon the wall of wicker-work.

There seem to be two crowned heads at this place, reminding one of the two cla.s.sic Kings of Brentford; for, after leaving King Queah, we were led to the house of another sovereign, styled King George. The frequent occurrence of this latter name, indicates the familiarity between the natives and the English. His Majesty received us in state; that is to say, chairs were placed for the visitors, and the King, with a black hat on his head, looked dignified. I was so fortunate as to make a favorable impression on his princ.i.p.al wife, by means of an empty bottle and a head of tobacco, which she was pleased to accept at my hands in the most gracious manner. Though probably fifty years of age, she had beautified herself, and concealed the touch of time by streaks of soot carefully laid on over her face and body.

The houses of each family are enclosed within bamboo walls, sometimes to the number of eight or ten huts in one of these insulated hamlets. They are generally wretched hovels, and of the simplest construction, merely a thatched roof, like a permanent umbrella, with no lower walls, and no ends. Altogether, the dwellings and their inhabitants looked miserable enough. The tribe has the reputation of being treacherous and cruel, and the aspect of the people is in accordance with their character.

I purchased a man's cloth, of native manufacture. It is said to be made of the bark of a tree, pounded together so as to be strong and durable. I also procured a hank of fine white fibre of the pine-apple leaf. Of this material the natives make strong and beautiful fis.h.i.+ng-lines, and other cords. Before being twisted it has the appearance of hemp.

11.--We anch.o.r.ed, last evening, at Picaninny Lahoo. Only one canoe has come off to us. The natives are shy of all strange vessels, in consequence of a French man-of-war having fired upon one of the neighboring towns, a few days since. It seems that a French merchant-barque was wrecked here, by running ash.o.r.e. The master saved his gold and personal property, and he and the crew were kindly treated; but the vessel and cargo were plundered, in accordance with the custom of the African coast, as well as of countries that boast more of their civilisation. Nevertheless, the captain of the French man-of-war demanded rest.i.tution, and kept up a fire upon the town for several successive days. An English merchant-vessel, lying there at the time, protested against the cannonade, and threatened to report the French captain to Lord Stanley!--on the plea that his measures of hostility prevented the natives from engaging in trade.

In fact, these masters of English merchant-vessels would probably consider the interruption of trade as the greatest of all offences against human rights. We boarded a brig of that nation to-day, and found her full of natives, with whom a very brisk business was going forward. Some brought palm-oil, and others gold, which they exchanged princ.i.p.ally for guns, cloth, and powder. We here saw the gold tested by the "blackstone;" a peculiar kind of mineral, black, with a slight tinge of blue. If, when the gold is rubbed upon this stone, it leaves a reddish mark, it is regarded as a satisfactory proof of its purity; otherwise, there is more or less alloy. The trader is obliged to depend upon the judgment and integrity of a native in his employ, who is skilful in trying gold. The average profit, acquired by the foreign traders in their dealings with the natives, is not less than a hundred per cent. on the princ.i.p.al articles, and much more on the smaller ones. No inconsiderable portion of this, however, is absorbed by the numerous "dashes;" in the first place, to the king, then to the head trade-men, the canoe-men, and all others whose agency can anywise influence the success of the business.

The masters or supercargoes of English vessels receive, besides their regular pay of six pounds per month, a commission of five per cent. on all sales; they being responsible for any debts which they may allow the natives to contract.

12.--Ash.o.r.e at Cape Lahon, the scene of the recent hostilities between the French and the natives. We landed in large heavy canoes, flat-bottomed and square-sided. The town is built upon a narrow point of land between the sea and a lake, just at the outlet of two rivers. On the side next the sea, you discern only the bamboo walls of the town, and a few cocoa-nut trees, scattered along the sandy beach; but on the lake side, there is one of the loveliest views imaginable. The quiet lake and its wooded islands; the thousand of green cocoa-nut trees, laden with fruit, and shadowing all the sh.o.r.e; the rivers, broad and dark, stretching away on either hand, until lost among the depths of the forest, which doubtless extends into the mysterious heart of Africa; the canoes, returning along these majestic streams with people who had fled; the hundreds of natives who reclined in the shade, or cl.u.s.tered around a fountain in the sand, or busied themselves with the canoes;--all contributed to form a picture which was very pleasant to our eyes, long wearied as we were with the sight of ocean and sky, and the dreary skirts of the sea-sh.o.r.e. It was an hour of true repose, while we lay in the shadow of the trees, and drank the cool milk of cocoa-nuts, which the native boys plucked and opened for us.

I should have narrated, in the first place, our visit to King Peter, who rules over this beautiful spot. He held his court under an awning of palm-leaves, in an area of more than a hundred feet square, around the sides of which were the little dwellings that, conjointly, composed his palace. The King received us with dignity and affability; and probably not less than two hundred of his subjects were collected in the area, to witness the interview; for it was to them a matter of national importance.

They are exceedingly anxious to adjust their difficulties with the French, and hope to interest us as mediators. By their own history of the affair, which was laid before us at great length, they appear to have been only moderately to blame, and to have suffered a great deal of mischief. King Quashee and nine men were killed, and fifty or sixty houses burnt, besides other damage.

These people are a fine-looking race, well formed, and with very pleasing countenances. At our first arrival the women were all at the plantations, in the interior, whither they had fled when our s.h.i.+p came in sight, apprehending her to be French. Towards evening, they returned to the village, and afforded us an opportunity to see and talk with them. They are the handsomest African dames with whom I have formed an acquaintance, and the most affable. It grieves me to add, that, like all their countrymen and countrywomen, they are importunate beggars, and seem greatly to prefer the fiery liquors of the white man to their own mild palm-wine and cocoa-nut milk. One of our party offered rum to the eight young wives of Tom Beggree, our trade-man; and every soul of them tossed off her goblet without a wry face, though it was undiluted, and thirty-three per cent. above proof.

As at other places, each family resides in a separate enclosure, which is larger or smaller, according to the number of houses required. Domestic harmony is in some degree provided for, by allotting a separate residence to each wife. There is a courtyard before most of the enclosures, after traversing which, you enter a s.p.a.cious square, and perceive neatly built houses on all four of its sides. They are constructed of bamboo-cane placed upright, and united by cross-pieces of the same, strongly sewed together with thongs of some tough wood. Some of the floors are not untastefully paved with small pebbles, intermingled with white sh.e.l.ls.

Doors there are none, the entrance being through the windows, in order to keep out the pigs and sheep, which abound in the enclosures. The streets or pa.s.sages through the town are about five feet wide, and are bordered on either side by the high bamboo wall of some private domain. The settlement extends more than a mile in length, and is the largest and best-built that I have yet had the good fortune to see on the coast of Africa.

CHAPTER XVI.

Visit from two English Trading-Captains--The Invisible King of Jack-a-Jack--Human Sacrifices--French Fortresses at Grand Ba.s.sam, at a.s.sinee, and other points--Objections to the Locality of Liberia--Encroachments on the Limits of that Colony--Arrival at Axim--Sketches of that Settlement--Dix Cove--Civilized Natives--An Alligator.

_April_ 14.--Under way from Cape Lahon at daylight. All the morning, there were light breezes and warm air; but a fine sea-breeze set in, in the afternoon, and brought us, at seven o'clock, to anchor at "Grand Jack," or "Jack-a-Jack." The distributors of names along this coast deserve no credit for their taste. The masters of two English merchantmen came on board and spent the evening. One of them was far gone with a consumption; the other was, in his own phrase, a "jolly c.o.c.k," and seemed disposed to make himself amusing; in pursuance of which object he became very drunk, before taking his departure. Englishmen, in this station of life, do not occupy the same social rank as with us, and, consequently, have seldom the correct and gentlemanly manners of our own s.h.i.+p-masters.

The master of an English merchant-vessel would hardly be considered a fit guest for either the cabin or ward-room of a British man-of-war.

These masters informed us that they had paid three hundred dollars each, for the king's "dash," at this place; in addition to which, every merchant-captain must pay eight dollars on landing, and if from Bristol, twenty-four dollars. This distinction is in consequence of a Bristol captain having shot a native, some years ago; and when the palaver was settled, the above amount of blood-money was imposed upon all s.h.i.+p-masters from the same place. Our two visitors have now been here for months, and will remain for months longer, without once setting foot on sh.o.r.e; partly to avoid incurring the impost on landing, partly from caution against the natives, and partly to keep their business secret. The jealousy between the traders is very great. Those from Bristol, Liverpool, and London, all are in active compet.i.tion with each other, and with any foreigner who may come in their way; and their policy may truly be described as Machiavelian, in its mystery, craft, and crookedness. The business requires at least as long an apprentices.h.i.+p as the diplomacy of nations, and a new hand has but little chance among these sharp fellows.