Map
of the Western
Coast of Africa
from Cape Blanco
to the River of Sierra Leone
with the Courses of the Rivers
Senegal and Gambia,
Shewing the Journey of
M. Durand from Senegal to Galam.
Published Sept. 30th 1806 by Rich. Philips New Bridge Street.
![[(Large-size)]](#6988767790341919219_map_large.jpg.id-4290777114196216385.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}
A
VOYAGE
TO
SENEGAL;
OR,
HISTORICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL, AND POLITICAL
MEMOIRS,
RELATIVE TO
THE DISCOVERIES, ESTABLISHMENTS, AND COMMERCE
OF EUROPEANS IN THE ATLANTIC OCEAN,
FROM
Cape Blanco to the River of Sierra Leone.
TO WHICH IS ADDED AN
ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY
FROM
ISLE ST. LOUIS TO GALAM.
BY
J. P. L. DURAND,
FORMERLY GOVERNOR OF ISLE ST. LOUIS.
Translated from the French, & embellished with numerous Engravings.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR RICHARD PHILLIPS, 6, NEW BRIDGE STREET,
By J. G. Barnard, 57, Snow Hill.
1806
PREFACE.
SINCE the activity of commerce, and the necessity of understanding its relations, induced the maritime powers of Europe to attempt fresh discoveries, all their efforts have been directed towards the new world. When the most fertile parts of that continent, and its still more productive isles, were discovered and explored, the enterprising spirit of navigators carried them even to the south pole; in short, the most distant and hazardous expeditions were undertaken, and immense sums were disbursed to find out a few corners of the earth which were uninhabited.
While, however, those navigators were pursuing their adventures, the discoveries which had long before been made, and the establishments which had been formed in the richest country in the world, a country most proper for producing colonial goods, and one situated nearest to Europe, were neglected. That country would probably have been abandoned altogether, if the necessity of obtaining for other regions its robust cultivators, had not drawn many vessels towards the part which exclusively afforded such a resource.
I allude to the western part of Africa, which, whether on the shores of the sea, or in the interior districts, is of the greatest importance in the double respect of agriculture and commerce. It appears that the ancients were only acquainted with the northern coast of Africa, which extends from the straits of Gibraltar to the isthmus of Suez, and with the eastern coast, contiguous to the Red Sea. The southern part was totally unknown to them; while their notions of the western coast were very confined, and they did nothing but sail along it: even this route, which is now so easy, was to them a dangerous adventure: the Phenicians, Persians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans, successively attempted to reconnoitre in this direction; and it is said, that the Phenicians cleared the pillars of Hercules, passed the straits, and established colonies and factories on several parts of the coast. But the accounts which we have received of all those expeditions, are so replete with fables, and evident contradictions, that it is difficult to place in them any degree of confidence.
According to Herodotus, a few Phenicians left the Red Sea during the reign of Necas, king of Egypt; and after a three years’ voyage, returned to their country by the straits of Gibraltar, but they saw only the coast. Eudoxia, to avoid the wrath of Ptolemy Lathyrus, succeeded in the same enterprise; but no advantage was derived from her voyage. Satas, in the time of Xerxes king of Persia, and Hanno and Himilcon, by order of the republic of Carthage, made similar attempts at discovery, by proceeding from the pillars of Hercules; but they failed in their undertaking. The Nasamones, or ancient inhabitants of the kingdom of Tunis, undertook a similar voyage, though without success. Hence, all those navigators, and many others who might be mentioned, far from affording us information, only gave rise to doubts, and prove the general ignorance and fear which pervaded the ancient sailors. Certain it is, that if such expeditions did take place, the ships kept at a great distance from the continent: for we have no proofs of the appearance of these people, much less their residence, on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Romans, who were so ardent in extending their empire, did not succeed in fixing it on the western coast of Africa. It is believed that they penetrated from the isthmus of Suez as far as the Niger, and thence to Mount Atlas. But if they reached this famous mountain, it certainly stopped their discoveries in that part of the world: for they thought, that under the torrid zone, the lands burned, and the rivers were torrents of fire; an opinion which was long credited, even by the learned men of those times: and when the Christians, who were the first that presumed to suppose, the countries under the torrid zone to be inhabited, expressed such an opinion, they were looked upon as heretics.
The Spaniards, in more modern times, pretended to have examined all the coasts of Africa, several centuries before the birth of the Messiah; but they said nothing of the interior, and we must give them credit for their reserve. They pretended to have conducted to America the vessels of Solomon and Hiram, when they went in search of the treasures mentioned in scripture; but this pretension was seriously combated by the Portuguese, who insisted on the honour of having made the first discovery of those countries; and with such obstinacy did the latter maintain their opinions, that the subject was brought under legal discussion, and a verdict given in their favour. At this period, some Frenchmen of Dieppe interfered in the famous dispute, and proved, that they were the first navigators who had entered the Senegal, and that they had formed establishments on that part of the coast, long before the Portuguese and other navigators had made their appearance.
These expeditions of the merchants of Dieppe, took place at the commencement of the fourteenth century, and from that time they established themselves on the Senegal, and along the coast as far as Sierra Leone. In September, 1365, they engaged with some merchants of Rouen; and the next year they undertook the strongest maritime expedition which had till then been seen on the African coast. They formed factories at certain distances, which served as an asylum for their merchandise and the persons in their employ, by which the Africans always found a ready market, and the French vessels constant cargoes. From this beginning were produced the establishments of the Senegal, Rufisque, Goree, the river Gambia, Sierra Leone, and two others on the coast of Malaguette, one of which was called “Little Paris,” and the other “Little Dieppe.” In 1382, they erected forts at the gold mine on the coast of Guinea, at Agra, and at Cormentin. The consequences of these discoveries, were immense wealth, and the best profit was probably that afforded by ivory. In 1392, owing to the violent agitation of France, in consequence of the civil war and the illness of Charles VI. the commerce of Africa was entirely abandoned; and the factories for which such great sacrifices had been made, fell into the hands of the Dutch, the Portuguese, the English, and the Spaniards. The Portuguese were the most ardent plunderers, as they were authorised by the Popes, who conceded to them in perpetuity all the territories which they might discover from Cape Bojador to the Indies inclusively; they therefore made several fortunate expeditions, and for a long time enjoyed a decisive superiority.
Pope Martin V. in the plenitude of his divine authority, very liberally granted to Portugal, the right of seizing and confiscating all the property of infidels, in order that they might have the opportunity of becoming converts, to which he added a plenary indulgence for the souls of those who might fall in such pious expeditions. This donation, which was made in 1432, was afterwards confirmed and augmented by Popes Eugene IV. Nicolas V. and Sextus IV.; and the kings of Portugal assumed the title of “Lords of Guinea and the Coast of Africa.”
Spain now became anxious to have a share in the acts of temporal authority of the sovereign pontifs; and in 1492, Alexander VI. divided his liberalities, by investing Spain and Portugal with the territories of the East and West Indies.
The English were slow in their courses, and were restrained by the express orders of their court, which, out of respect for the Popes, and consideration for Portugal, would not permit its subjects to proceed towards the western coast of Africa; nor did they emancipate themselves from this restriction, till the middle of the sixteenth century, when being at war with Portugal, they directed their arms against her establishments, and gradually succeeded in destroying their power.
The French, who were the legitimate proprietors, recovered their rights, and regained several of their ancient possessions; but as these events took place gradually, and at different periods, I shall not here describe them, though I ought to say, that we maintained for a long time by force of arms, the possessions which we had acquired from Cape Blanco to the Cape of Good Hope; and that the French have always considered that vast extent of coast, as dependent on their commercial operations.
It will be equally needless to trace the progress of our commercial companies in Africa down to the present period. It is known, that in 1664, the merchants of Dieppe and Rouen sold their establishments to the West India Company, for the sum of 150,000 livres; and that the new owners, by the extent of their speculations, had more than they could manage, and were crushed beneath the weight of their own projects.
The English captured isle St. Louis and Senegal in 1758; the French regained them twenty years afterwards, and had the possession ensured to them by the treaty of peace with England in 1783, which also guaranteed to France, the isle of Goree, all the coast between Cape Verd and the river Gambia, and the factory of Albreda, situated at the mouth of that river; which, however, as well as fort James, is in the possession of England.
From the left bank of the river Gambia, which forms Cape St. Mary, as far as the river of Sierra Leone, the coast belongs exclusively to no foreign nation; but the French share with the English, the Portuguese, and all commercial people, the right of frequenting, and that of forming new establishments on such points as are not occupied.
Soon after the peace of 1783, it was proposed to create a company for the Senegal; when the king granted to the Guiana company the exclusive privilege of the gum trade for nine years; and this company ceded its new privilege in 1785, to a body of merchants, who assumed the title of the Gum Company. By a decree of the council on the 10th of November, 1786, the king subjected the company to pay the colonial expences, which were fixed at 260,749 livres; and granted them in return, the exclusive right of the slave trade, with an extension of the commerce in gum for three years longer. It then took the name of the Senegal Company; but being badly organised, it met with little success, and was abolished by a decree of the Constituent Assembly in 1791.
Previous to this time, I belonged to the naval department, when the marshal de Castrées appointed me principal director of the company at Isle St. Louis. I therefore left Havre on the 13th of March, 1785, and arrived at my new destination on the 10th of April following; at which time, M. de Repentigny was governor-general, and to whom I was particularly recommended by M. Vergennes, the minister for foreign affairs. This wise and modest officer received me with the greatest kindness; and we lived together in the most perfect harmony, till he was succeeded by M. de Boufflers, whose talents and celebrity were of the greatest advantage to the country.
My memoirs were begun at Senegal, and terminated at Paris. I have shewn them to several persons; and the two great authors, Lalande and La Harpe, have published reflections on my journey to Galam; in consequence of which, and at the urgent desire of many friends, I have submitted my manuscript to the press. I shall only observe, that all the people of Africa are so much alike, that I have found it impossible to give a just and precise idea of them, without making what may be deemed repetitions; and as to the style of my work, I declare that I have no literary pretensions: I have only occupied myself in describing facts with accuracy and truth; while my object is to promote the power and riches of my country, with the hope that the inhabitants of Africa may thereby become more happy.
VOYAGE
TO
SENEGAL.
CHAP. I.
CAPE BLANCO AND ITS ENVIRONS. — DANGERS OF THAT PASSAGE. — BARBAROUS AND CRUEL CHARACTER OF THE MOORS WHO INHABIT THE COAST. — SHIPWRECK OF M. DE BRISSON. — CAPTURE OF HIM AND HIS COMPANIONS. — CHARACTER OF A MOORISH CHIEF. — HARDSHIPS OF CAPTIVITY IN THE DESERTS. — LIBERATION OF M. DE BRISSON AND ONE OF HIS COMPANIONS.
ON reaching the western coast of Africa, navigators meet first with Cape Blanco, which is situated in 20° 55 m. 30 sec. lat. and 19° 30 m. long. It is a spot almost circular, insomuch that, on account of its far projections, it is more difficult to discover than any other point on the coast: it is surrounded with dangerous banks, which are with difficulty avoided; and it derives its name from the white colour of its burning and arid soil. The next point is Cape St. Anne, which is to the eastward on the same parallel; the distance from one cape to the other, is computed at eight leagues. They form between them a large and deep bay, about twelve leagues north and south, which contains various mouths of torrents or rivers, in which the sea ascends so high as to spoil the fresh water, and thus deprives vessels of the only resource which this part of the coast would otherwise afford them.
From Cape St. Anne to Salt Cape, the coast runs S. E. for about six leagues. This cape received its name from a variety of natural and abundant salt-pits which it contained, and from which, before the rainy season, a quantity of salt used to be collected. The Europeans, however, have abandoned them; but it is probable that the Moors turn them to advantage. About six leagues farther, at the point called Hof, is another bay as large and deep as the former: it contains three isles, the largest of which is to the eastward, and is called Arguin. It is necessary to pass all these capes, in order to arrive at the French possessions. The coast is uncommonly dangerous for navigators, on account of the frequent storms and continually heavy sea; while there are numerous currents which set violently in towards land, and which prove a new Taurida to such vessels as have the misfortune to fall in their tracks. The natives, who are subjects of the emperor of Morocco, are, in every sense of the word, barbarians, with whom it has hitherto, and doubtless always will be impossible to trade. They consider wrecked ships as presents sent them by heaven; enrich themselves by the plunder they afford, and reduce the unfortunate mariners to the most disgusting slavery. From this state of bondage, indeed they have not the least hope of escaping, as they can only regain their liberty by means of a serious demand on the part of their country at the emperor’s court; in which case, the monarch compels his subjects to give up the slaves when they can be discovered, but, to which they do not consent, without receiving a considerable ransom. We have several instances of the payment of this ransom, by the emperor of Morocco himself, when he has wished to make his court to the French government. Sometimes these savages, in order to avoid the demands of their emperor, and keep the slaves they have seized on, retire to inaccessible parts of the desert, where I have good reason to know that they amuse themselves by subjecting the unfortunate Europeans to the most shocking torments and cruel death. But navigators may avoid these dangers by sailing to the westward of the Canaries.
I shall give an account of a shipwreck, which happened on this coast while I was at isle St. Louis, which will be the best means of illustrating the dangers I have mentioned, while it will afford some interesting information relative to the desert which borders on the Senegal.
M. de Brisson left France in the month of June, 1785, for isle St. Louis, in a vessel called the St. Catharine, Captain Le Turc. On the 10th of July following, they found themselves at midnight, between the coast of Africa and the Canary islands, in a sort of creek formed by rocks. The captain being alarmed, steered the ship towards the shoal; and the vessel being driven with great force by the currents, struck three times, and then remained motionless. During the whole night, it resisted the attacks of the sea, which seemed ready every instant to swallow it up; but towards morning the storm abated, and M. de Brisson, with all the crew, got to land. But these unfortunate people found themselves on a barren and unknown country; they ascended the highest rocks, and could perceive nothing but an immense plain covered with white sand, on which a few plants were interspersed, similar to branches of coral; they bore a small seed of the same colour, resembling in size and shape that of mustard. The Moors call it avezoud, and make a paste of it, with which they regale themselves. In the distance, they discovered several hillocks, which, being overspread by a kind of wild fern, resembled a vast forest.
Shipwreck at Cape Blanc.
Catching Slaves.
They advanced towards the hillocks, and soon perceived a number of camels feeding, from which they had no doubt that the neighbourhood was inhabited. This was a valuable discovery for the poor mariners, who were almost perishing with hunger and thirst. Some men who were watching the camels, as soon as they perceived the Europeans, gave the alarm to a neighbouring encampment, and they soon found themselves surrounded by Moors, who appeared to be overjoyed, and made the most dreadful shouts and cries. The shipwrecked crew not being together, were seized by the collar with a ferocious eagerness, and immediately stripped; while those who attempted resistance, were wounded and thrown almost expiring on the sand.
During this barbarous transaction, M. de Brisson perceived a Moor unarmed, and from his costume, he recognised him to be one of those who had accompanied the king Alikouri on a visit which he paid him at isle St. Louis. He therefore ran and threw himself at his feet, as did M. Devoize, the second officer of the ship, and five of the crew who had not left him: but they soon perceived that they were as unfortunate as their companions; for the Moor received them with contempt. He asked M. de Brisson in a severe tone, who he was, from whence he came, and what brought them all there? This officer answered by drawing on the sand the form of a ship, and by means of expressive gestures, with the assistance of a few Arabic words, which he had learned at isle St. Louis, he made him understand that they had been shipwrecked, and begged his assistance to conduct them to their destination; adding, that he possessed the means of rewarding him for his trouble. This last remark was perfectly understood, and gave great pleasure to the Moor, who immediately composed his features, and placed his fingers between those of M. de Brisson, as a testimony that they were friends, and would be always united. He demanded the effects of which M. de Brisson had spoken, and received two watches, one of them a repeater; two chains, a gold stock-buckle, two pair of silver shoe-buckles, a brilliant ring, a silver goblet and cover, and 220 livres in specie. The money gave him more pleasure than all the other articles; he secreted the treasure very mysteriously in his blue shirt, and promised M. de Brisson that he would never abandon him. The surrender of this property had induced our countryman to think that he should gain the kindness of those into whose hands he had fallen; but it proved to him a source of the greatest misfortune. The Moor then asked M. de Brisson, at what part he had been shipwrecked; and on being informed, he called several of his fellows, and made a sign to them to follow him. By the manner in which they approached, M. de Brisson perceived that his protector was a man of some consideration; and he afterwards learned that he was one of the priests, whom they called a Talba.
On reaching the sea-shore they shouted with joy; but their eagerness for plunder soon set them at variance. Several of them swam off to the remains of the wreck in order to get what they could, while those who remained behind were afraid that they should not obtain their share: the women, in particular, became quite outrageous.
The news of this shipwreck becoming known in the country, the savages ran towards the shore in great numbers; and their disputes about the plunder attained such a height that several lives were lost. The women, enraged at not being able to get to the ship, fell upon the unfortunate Frenchmen, and partly stripped them naked, disputing all the time who should possess the clothes of M. de Brisson, which were better than the rest.
The talba, who had become the master of the ship-wrecked crew, but who, though a priest, was a warrior by profession, perceiving that the number of savages increased every instant, found himself obliged to join with two friends in order to secure the portion of plunder which he had obtained. The arrangements being made, as well concerning the share of plunder as that of the slaves, the three Moors retired from the crowd for the purpose of hiding their booty. The Frenchmen were conducted to a miserable hut covered with moss, about a league distant from the sea, where they were crowded together and rigorously searched in case they might have concealed some valuables; but nothing being found on them, they were stripped quite naked, and even robbed of their shirts and handkerchiefs. M. de Brisson then learned that his master was called Sidy Mahammet-del-Zouze, of the tribe of Labdesseba, the most ferocious of any in the desert, and the irreconcilable enemy of the Wadelims, who are not much better.
After having buried in the sand the treasure which he had acquired, Sidy-Mahammet returned to the shore to get his share of the plunder of the ship; and during his absence a troop of Wadelims attacked the retreat of the Europeans, pulled them out by the throat and the hair of the head, and then began to fight amongst themselves for the few clothes which M. de Brisson had about him; and in their jealous fury they not only stripped him to the skin, but pursued him behind some heaps of sand, where they knocked him down, and almost beat him to death. They were preparing a rope to strangle him, when one of the men whom the talba had associated with him, came running out of breath, and accused them with having violated the asylum of Sidy-Mahammet, carried off his slave, and trodden under foot the sacred book of their religion. He told them that the priest, indignant at the indecency of their sacrilegious conduct, had demanded that the old men of both parties should meet to try the criminals in full council, and that the only means of appeasing his wrath would be to give up his slave. This menace had a good effect, and M. de Brisson was immediately set at liberty. The person who had interfered in behalf of the French officer was called Nonegem; he conducted M. de Brisson to the place where the council was assembled, and the trial immediately began; when the liberator, as avaricious as he was cunning, pretended that M. de Brisson was a slave of his own, as he had taken him from those who would have carried him off. He also founded his pretensions on having seen this Frenchman give his master several articles which he conceived to be very valuable. These audacious remarks, and particularly the disclosure of the little treasure, rendered Sidy-Mahammet furious: he darted at Nonegem a look of rage and indignation, and exclaimed, “This Christian belongs to me; he came of his own accord to throw himself into my arms, and I have promised to protect him and conduct him to king Alikouri. I gave him my word that I would do so; and I hope the tribunal will give a verdict in my favour, instead of declaring for Nonegem, who deserves to be severely punished.” To this Nonegem replied, “As thy slave cannot be mine, he shall die by my hand.” On which he drew a poignard to kill M. de Brisson, who stood appalled with terror. Sidy-Mahammet, however, without expressing the least emotion, threw over him a kind of chaplet of a considerable length; and then took up a little book which hung at his waist, when in an instant the women rushed towards M. de Brisson, took him from Nonegem, and delivered him over to the enraged priest: for they dreaded lest he should issue an anathema against his adversary. The whole of the council immediately applauded the act of authority of the talba, and approved of the conduct of the women. I should add by the way, that the talbas, or marabous, always wear a long string, which contains one hundred and fifteen little black balls, and which they use as the catholics do chaplets.
M. de Brisson was then taken to his comrades who were in the vicinity, and whom he found in a pitiable state. They were almost starved; for during the three days which they had been in captivity they had had no food but a little wheat-flour spoiled by sea-water, mixed with some barley-flour, which had for a long time been preserved in goats-skins. While they were enjoying this wretched meal, a friend of Sidy-Mahammet came and told them to hide themselves without delay, as the Wadelims were coming from all parts to carry off the slaves and treasure. The talba profited by this advice, and they all hid themselves behind some hillocks of sand, where they remained till some Moors of the other tribe, who were interested in preserving their plunder, came to reinforce their comrades. A guide went before the Frenchmen, and pointed out to them the road they had to take, by erecting at certain distances little pyramids of stones. This precaution was necessary in order to avoid the outskirts of the enemy, particularly those of the Wadelims. Indeed, these people are so avaricious, that whether friends or enemies they are equally to be dreaded. At break of day all those who possessed Christian slaves came with them, and joined the Frenchmen; when the whole body marched off for the interior of the country, at which resided the families of their respective owners.
This journey was to the Europeans toilsome in the extreme: they were dying with hunger and thirst, by which they experienced such pain, on moving the tongue, that they were afraid to ask the simplest question. Being forced to follow the steps of the camels, whose pace was hastened, they were exhausted by fatigue; and to avoid being surprised, they made several counter marches, in consequence of which they were a fortnight in making a journey which was generally performed in five days.
After climbing mountains of a prodigious height, covered with small greyish flints as sharp as those of muskets, they descended into a sandy plain, interspersed with thistles, and here the cavalcade rested. M. de Brisson having walked till his feet were excoriated, could proceed no farther; on which his master made him get up behind him on a camel, whose rough movements caused him to experience insupportable pain. Being naked, and having no means of preventing the friction of the camel’s hair, he was soon so chafed, that his blood ran down the camel’s sides. This was a sight which afforded much amusement to his master; and the better to enjoy it, he pressed the camel to a quicker pace. At length M. de Brisson, no longer able to endure the torture, threw himself down on the sand, and experienced no other injury than a few scratches from the thorny thistles.
Towards evening they met their guide and halted. M. de Brisson being no longer able to move, and suffering all the horrors of starvation, threw himself behind a bush and implored death; but they soon roughly pulled him from his retreat to make him unload the camels. Being, however, tired of his life, he made some resistance, and knocked down the Moor who disturbed him, on which the latter ran off and fetched his master, who assured his captive that he had nothing to fear. This, and many other instances of a similar nature, prove that the Moors are not insolent, and that they only shew courage when they meet with no resistance.
The shipwrecked mariners, while sitting beneath the bushes, perceived some arrangements which made them tremble with horror. The Moors put a quantity of stones in a brasier, and made them red hot; they then lifted up a lage stone, and dug a hole in the ground, occasionally making shouts of laughter, and repeating the name of Brisson. At length they called him to them, and made him approach to the hole which they had dug; but what was his surprise when he saw them draw from the hole which they had just dug, and in which he thought they were going to bury him, a large skin full of water, a sack of barley-flour, and a newly-killed goat. His fear subsided, and the sight of the provisions gave him a new life; he saw them fill a large wooden bowl with water in which they put a quantity of flour, and then, by throwing into it the red-hot stones, they made it boil. By this means they produced a sort of gruel which they kneaded in their hands, and ate without chewing. The slaves had for their repast the same steeped flour, and a very small quantity of brackish water: the goat was reserved for the next day. The guide who went before them had procured those provisions in a neighbouring village, and had concealed them under the stone. M. de Brisson observed, that the resentment of the Moor whom he had struck was converted into acts of kindness and complaisance: for this man brought him a larger share of provisions than was allotted to the others. The meal being finished, each man laid himself down to sleep behind the bushes.
The next morning as soon as day appeared, a signal was given for their departure; and M. de Brisson, with the other slaves, were ordered to collect the camels and load them; after which the troop set off, and at noon stopped in a plain where there was not a single tree to shade them from the rays of the sun. Having unloaded the camels, the slaves were employed in digging up roots to make a fire; a labour which, in this country, is the more troublesome, as all the trees, roots, and grasses, are thorny. As soon as the fire had imparted a sufficient heat to the sand, they covered the goat entirely with it; and while the slaves were keeping up the fire, their masters regaled themselves with the raw fat of the animal, for which they seemed to have a great relish. When the goat was dressed, the Moors, without taking the trouble to knock off the sand, ate it with a most incredible voracity, gnawing it to the very bones, and pulling off the skin which remained on them with their nails: they then threw the bones to the slaves, telling them to make haste and get their dinner, that they might reload the camels.
Towards evening they perceived some tents on a little eminence, with a few herds grazing: the inhabitants of this village came in crowds to meet the travellers; but far from expressing towards the unfortunate slaves the mild laws of hospitality, they overwhelmed them with insults, and subjected them to the most inhuman treatment. Two comrades of M. de Brisson were used with extreme rigour, and the women were more ferocious than the men. Their owners made but feeble resistance; for they were very glad that the people occupied themselves more with the slaves than with the burdens of the camels. M. de Brisson, who was at a little distance from his camel, perceived a man who was aiming at his face with a double-barrelled musket, on which he presented his breast to him and told him to fire; when the assassin, struck by his firmness, let the piece fall from his hands. At the same instant he was struck on the head by a stone, and for a moment lost his senses; but on recovering himself he burst into a rage, and loudly demanded vengeance. There needed no more to spread terror through the village, and the savages who had come to see the travellers took to flight; one of them, however, before he ran off, gave M. de Brisson a blow on the breast with his musket, which made him vomit blood, and the unfortunate man was unable to recognise the fellow who had injured him; but by complaining loudly he excited the curiosity of several of those monsters, who asked him a number of questions, and seemed pleased with his answers.
M. de Brisson, to prove that he knew the king Alikouri, and that he had been his friend at isle St. Louis, attempted to imitate the egeums or buffoons, whom that king had in his suite: by this kind of drollery he so highly pleased his master, that he made him repeat his mimickry several times, and at last employed this stratagem to divert the people, who, he feared, would steal his property. No sooner had he mentioned the talent of his slave for imitating the egeums, than M. de Brisson was surrounded by crowds of men, women, and children, who were constantly pressing him to sing, and for which they rewarded him with a little camel’s milk.
The travelling party remained one day in this canton; but the inhabitants, though they had received them coldly, supplied them on their departure with provisions for three or four days. They proceeded eastward, and passed over large plains, which were covered with white, flat, and round flints, but not a single plant was to be seen; and the horizon appeared to be loaded with a reddish vapour, which resembled in different parts the flames from volcanoes. The small pebbles pricked the feet of the Frenchmen, and produced a sensation similar to the burning of sparks. The air contained neither birds nor insects; and the silence which prevailed was so profound, as to produce a sort of terrific effect on the mind. If by chance a breath of air arose, the traveller immediately experienced an extreme lassitude; his lips became chapped, his skin parched, and his whole body covered with painful carbuncles. The Moors, who had retired to live in these countries in order to avoid certain tributes which they did not wish to pay, were afflicted by the atmosphere as much as their slaves; for so inhospitable is the region, that the most ferocious animals dare not penetrate it.
On leaving this plain they entered another, where the wind had raised from space to space the sand into hillocks, and the intervals of which produced a few odoriferous plants, which the almost famished camels devoured with avidity. They afterwards came to a valley surrounded by mountains, the soil of which was white and saponaceous; and here, for the first time, they found some pools of water: it was very brackish, covered with green moss, and had a pestilential smell; but such was their thirst, that they drank it with indescribable pleasure. Towards evening they had the good fortune to meet with an hospitable horde by whom they were well received, and who pointed out to them the road which led to some other villages where they could obtain provisions to last them for the remainder of their journey. This information was very seasonable, as their guide had lost his way.
The brother-in-law of the master of M. de Brisson was one of the chiefs of the burgh, and took particular care of all the slaves: he sent them a meal of ostrich-flesh and camel’s milk. He appeared affected at the fate of M. de Brisson, and said to him, with much tenderness, “Unfortunate Christian! my brother has long been my debtor; if you will attach yourself to me, I will make arrangements with him to obtain you.” This proposition, though it affected M. de Brisson, nevertheless made him tremble, as it indicated a long captivity, while he flattered himself that his present state would soon be changed; he therefore sought for his master, and intreated him not to consent to such an arrangement. “Be easy,” said the Moor; “you shall not leave me except to go to Senegal or Morocco, and that shall soon take place.” This assurance gave indescribable joy to the captive.
They rested three days amongst the Moors of the tribe called Laroussye, and then continued their journey to the spot at which resided the families of their conductors. It was not till they had travelled sixteen days, and suffered the most dreadful fatigue and misery, that they arrived at the place of their destination, reduced to skeletons.
At break of day they discovered a village which apparently occupied a fertile spot. Several tents were pitched under large shady trees, and innumerable herds were grazing on the hillocks, which made them conceive the place to be the residence of peace and plenty. But this proved an illusion.
The travellers were soon perceived ascending a hill which led to the residence of the Moors who were approaching; and several black slaves came to meet them, prostrated themselves, and kissed their feet. At a short distance the children made the air resound with shouts of joy; and the women placed themselves erect at the entrance of the tents to give their husbands a respectful reception. As the latter approached, the women came forward, and with a submissive aspect, placed the right hand on the men’s heads, which they kissed after prostrating themselves to the ground. This ceremony being over, they looked towards the Christian slaves with much curiosity, and then insulted them in the most odious manner: they spat in their faces, and threw stones at them; while the children, imitating their example, pinched them, pulled their hair, and tore their flesh with their nails, their cruel mothers stimulating them to the commission of such injuries.
A division was now made of the slaves; and Messrs. Devoise, de Brisson, and Beaudré were taken by Sidy-Mahammet. As soon as his family had done carressing him, M. de Brisson asked which of the women who surrounded him was his favourite, on which he pointed her out. The captive then approached her, and presented her with a double handful of cloves, which her husband had carefully kept for her, that he might meet with a favourable reception; for these women are passionately fond of aromatic scents, and that of cloves beyond others. She received the present with an insulting hauteur, and then kicked him from the tent. A minute afterwards this despotic woman commanded the slaves to unload the camels; after which she set one to clean a sort of kettle, and sent another to pull up roots for fuel. While she was giving these orders, her dear husband was fast asleep, with his head on the lap of one of his concubines.
The unfortunate Frenchmen, though thus condemned to an excess of fatigue, misery, and opprobrium, nevertheless occasionally experienced some relaxation, owing to the interference of their master; but the cruelty of his wife was incessant, and at length became unbearable. The Moors never inhabit the same place for a length of time; but when the half-starved herds have devoured all the pasturage, they change their position, and remove to a spot which is more favourable. The care and labour attendant upon such changes were the task imposed upon the French slaves; and from the frequency of these movements they were absolutely exhausted. One day Devoise and Beaudré were beaten almost to death, and left senseless on the sand, because they were unable to perform the required service. For a long time they were compelled to the dire necessity of seeking their food along with the cattle; and on these occasions their only nutriment was plants and live snails.
M. de Brisson was possessed of sufficient strength and firmness of mind to resist all these hardships; but he was soon subjected to others. He was compelled to harness the camels to the plough, to attend to the tillage and sowing of the lands; and his master, when he had finished his own jobs, would let him out to other Moors for a portion of milk. He would infallibly have fallen under the fatigue, if some hope of liberty had not remained with him, and if he had not been enabled occasionally to steal some barley and mutton in addition to the small quantity of food which they allowed him.
The unfortunate M. Devoise being older, and not so strong in constitution, could not long withstand such hardships. Every day he prayed for death, who at length came to his assistance. This gentleman was the brother of the present French commercial commissioner at Tunis. I was on terms of the strictest intimacy with him; and when I heard of his shipwreck, I sent to the deserts with the most pressing requests that he might be delivered up; but all my endeavours were unsuccessful. M. de Brisson paid him the last duties of humanity. Beaudré also died, and his body was devoured by ravens and serpents.
M. de Brisson at length obtained the permission of his master to write to Mogador, which the Moors call Sovia. He addressed his letter to the French consul, and gave a melancholy account of the hardships he suffered. It was conveyed by a Jew, who travelled through that part of the desert; for the Jews who are born in the desert live on good terms with the Moors, and adopt nearly the same customs; but the Jewish inhabitants of the towns being more rigid observers of their religious maxims, receive far worse treatment.
A second favour more important than the first occurred by chance. Another Sidy-Mahammet, who was sheriff of the tribe of the Trarzas, had occasion to pass through the place where M. de Brisson was enslaved, and they recognised each other. The sheriff spoke so highly of him to the brother-in-law of his master, Sidy-Sellem, that the latter, who was naturally humane and compassionate, made a second attempt to purchase him, and the bargain was at length concluded. The price of his transfer was five camels.
Sidy-Sellem was the first who informed M. de Brisson of the change, which was soon confirmed by his former master, and they separated on the best terms. M. de Brisson, on returning with his new owner, met with a companion of his misfortune, who had been baker to the wrecked ship, and they travelled together under the protection of Sidy-Sellem. Their master had given them a camel to ride on without a saddle, and they proceeded in this manner for some days; but the motion of the animal was so fatiguing, that they were obliged to quit it and travel the rest of the way on foot.
This journey was difficult, but much less so than the former, as their master took them through villages where water was plentiful, and the people were more feeling. M. de Brisson, however, had a shocking rencontre with some Moors of the tribe of Telkannes. They fired two muskets at him, but which luckily missed him. Two Moors then seized him, and were about to carry him off, when Sidy-Sellem, who was some distance behind, came forward on the report of the guns, and loudly complained of the outrage; but the Moors told him that they had taken the slave for a thief who had run away, Sidy-Sellem pretended to believe them, and the travellers continued their journey.
The Moors of this tribe are the worst off of any in the desert. They live amongst hills which are formed entirely of sand raised by the wind; and it is so difficult to penetrate into their retreats, that it is a common saying, that they endeavour to conceal themselves from the rays of the sun: the plains in the neighbourhood contain great numbers of enormous serpents, which do not permit the cattle to approach them.
At length our travellers reached the town of Gouadnum, which is the refuge for all the rebels of the desert: it is divided into two parts, each of which has a governor; but the only superiority between them is that which is given by fortune, All the houses are built alike, and receive their light from the door and the roof, which is uncovered. Four large walls surround the space which contains the houses; and the whole circumference has only one gate, which is guarded by large dogs. Each individual has also a dog for his own security, because they have as much to fear from their neighbours as from strangers. The town, however, carries on a considerable trade, and has several markets which resemble our fairs. They have for sale great quantities of the most beautiful wool, and fine woollen stuffs, of which they make their cloathing. The merchants who carry them into the interior of the country give in exchange camels and gold from the mines of Bambouk: they also receive for those articles wheat, barley, dates, horses, tobacco, salt, gunpowder, combs, mirrors, and other articles of hardware. This commerce is chiefly carried on by Jews, who are exposed to the most outrageous insults, which they nevertheless bear patiently, on account of the great advantages they derive from the traffic, and the pleasure they experience in cheating the Moors.
Our travellers remained eight days at Gouadnum, From thence to Mogador they met with nothing but villages, and castles built on the summits of high mountains. At a distance these look like superb palaces; but on approaching them, their walls are found to consist of nothing but mud, and are built in the most shapeless and disgusting form. They were now not so well fed; and the nearer they approached to a town, the less hospitality they received.
At length, after a journey of sixty-six days, they arrived at Mogador, where Messrs. Dupras and Cabannes came to them, and without being disgusted at their revolting appearance, assured them that their misfortunes were at an end. They took with them Sidy-Sellem and his son, and their house became the asylum of the whole.
The same day M. de Brisson and the baker were presented to the governor of the place, who informed them that they must proceed to Morocco, as the emperor desired to see all the Christian slaves, and give them their liberty.
Mogador is advantageously built; the batteries are strong, and have a cannon at each embrasure; but the mouth of the cannon rests on the bottom of the aperture, so that the pieces can be of no use but for shew. It is the same at Rabat, Salep, and Tangier; the emperor having neither workmen capable of mounting them, nor timber fit for making the carriages.
Eight days afterwards Sidy-Sellem and the party set off for Morocco: they were furnished with mules, a tent, provisions, and men to wait on them; and after a journey of four days they reached the capital.
The city of Morocco is every thing but handsome; the houses are of clay, and in the style of those of Gouadnum, but lower, more dirty, and close. The streets are covered with filth of every kind, including the bones and offal of the cattle that are killed. The emperor’s palace is of the same kind as the other buildings, being of clay, and surrounded by walls: it consists of six vast squares. The mosque is built in the same manner, and the whole of the palace has a disgusting appearance.
The unfortunate captives repaired to the house of the French consul-general, where they were to remain till they could be sent to France; they were afterwards taken before the emperor, whom they found sitting in a sort of coach body. He looked at M. de Brisson for some time, and then told him that he had been wrecked through his own fault, by not keeping far enough from the shore. He then asked for ink and paper, and traced with a reed the four principal points of the compass to indicate that Paris was northwards; after which he scratched about a dozen Roman characters, and gave the paper to M. de Brisson, asking him if he could read it? On repeating a few other questions to shew how well he was informed, he added, that the rebels of the desert had ill-treated him, and desired to know what they had taken from him. M. de Brisson told him all that had happened; on which he said, “I do not command in the country where you have been taken, that is the people are beyond my authority.” He wished to know how M. de Brisson had got to his capital; and on being told, he ordered Sidy-Sellem to be brought before him. He asked him, if he had given a high price for the Frenchmen, and what he intended to do with them. To which Sidy-Sellem replied, that he had no other intentions than to prostrate himself at the feet of his sovereign, and do the homage of a slave. He then enquired, whether the Wadelims and Lebdessebas had any other Christian prisoners. Sidy-Sellem, in the most submissive manner, answered, that there were several whom he could easily collect, if the emperor would give him orders. The emperor, however, dropped the conversation; but he ordered the Frenchmen to be guarded for the present, and supplied with provisions from the royal kitchen.
The next day the consul claimed them, and they were given up. The emperor does not supply the ambassadors or other foreigners in his capital with any household furniture, though he assigns them a residence, and distributes to them a certain number of oxen, sheep, poultry, and a quantity of bread.
The inhabitants of Morocco are almost white, and are not quite so barbarous as those of the desert, which, perhaps, is only owing to the presence of the emperor. One day M. de Brisson rode out on horseback with the French consul and American envoy: they were followed and pressed hard by the mob, till at last they were obliged to dismount, although escorted by a guard; without this precaution their lives would have been in danger. M. de Brisson was struck on the head by a stone, and it was impossible to discover the offender.
A few days afterwards the emperor again ordered the slaves before him in the court where he gives his public audiences. He was sitting on a beautiful charger, caparisoned with blue and scarlet cloth covered with gold fringe. Beside him was a squire or prince holding a long pole, on the top of which was a parasol to shelter his majesty from the solar rays. Behind him stood the body guard in the most profound silence. The looks of the emperor seemed to spread consternation around him: indeed, he is always preceded by terror; for he orders the heads of several of his subjects to be struck off, and beholds the execution with the most perfect apathy. His will is a law, and is executed instantaneously; but when a rich criminal purchases his pardon, he is never put to death, whatever may be his crime. At this audience the Frenchmen were permitted to depart.
M. de Brisson and the baker embarked for France; and Sidy-Sellem retired well satisfied with the generosity of the consul.
CHAP. II.
ISLE OF ARGUIN. — PORTENDICK. — HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT NATIONS WHO HAVE OCCUPIED THOSE PLACES. — EUROPEAN COMMERCE AND FISHERIES. — CAPE VERD. — GOREE, ITS POSSESSION BY EUROPEAN NATIONS. — ACCOUNT OF THE MANNERS AND TRADE OF ITS INHABITANTS.
THE ships which leave Europe for the establishments in the Atlantic ocean, along an extensive coast of about three hundred and fifty leagues, cannot relay more conveniently in Africa than at the isle of Arguin, at which their commercial operations may be said to begin. The most safe anchorage is at the southern point, where vessels that draw only ten or twelve feet water may approach very near to land. Between the isle and the continent is a canal in which vessels of heavy burden, and even frigates, may anchor at the spot on which formerly stood the fort. When the Dutch took the place, they regularly fortified it, and built a fort with four bastions and deep fosses. In short, they neglected nothing that might enable them to keep perpetual possession of the isle, but this fort has disappeared; and of all their works there only remain two cisterns, which seem to have been respected both by time and men. The largest is ten fathoms wide, sixteen long, and about fifteen deep, and is about two hundred fathoms from the part containing the remains of the face of the fort. It appears to have been dug in the rock. In the midst of this spacious vault is a large well fifteen feet deep, in which all the waters unite, whether they proceed from springs or filtrate through the rock from the soil which covers it. It is asserted that the cistern contains five thousand six hundred muids of water. The smaller cistern is to the north of the first, and is an artificial vault dug like the other by the hand of man, with the assistance of explosion. The capacity of the parts which receive the water is estimated at half that of the cistern first mentioned. These two cisterns were formed by the Portuguese between 1445 and 1481, when after the fall of the Norman company they first occupied the isle of Arguin.
PORTENDICK.
Portendick is a bay about half way between Arguin and isle St. Louis. Its entrance is very difficult, being closed by two sand banks, which have only two or three fathoms of water; but in the middle between the two banks is a passage from 70 to 80 fathoms wide, and six deep, by the north bank; and from seven to eight on the south. On proceeding some distance you discover another pass, which cuts the northern bank at about one third of its length, and contains about five fathoms of water. The bay is only six fathoms deep; the bottom is uneven, and it is impossible to remain long here during the greater part of the year, on account of the heavy sea and breakers which are driven in by the wind. The Dutch have erected a wooden fort at Portendick, for which all the materials were prepared at Amsterdam.
Arguin and Portendick have been disputed by several European nations with inconceivable rancour. The Portuguese were driven from them, after possessing them two hundred years, by the Dutch, who took the isle and fort of Arguin in 1638; but in 1665 they were captured by the English. The Dutch, however, retook them in the following year, but lost them in 1678, after sustaining an obstinate siege from the French. The French destroyed the fort, carried off the artillery, with every thing else that was worth removing; but the possession of the isle was secured to them by the treaty of Nimeguen, concluded between France and Holland 1678.
The loss of this factory did a serious injury to the Dutch merchants, and they resolved to retake it; but fearing to violate the treaty, they attacked it in 1685, under the mask of the flag of the elector of Brandenburgh, who had become king of Prussia. They then restored the fortifications, and kept the isle during the war, which began in 1688 and lasted till 1698, when it was terminated by the treaty of Ryswick. This war enabled the Dutch to renew their alliances with the Moors; and the latter, who were engaged in the negociations, had their warehouses near the cisterns.
The French company in 1721, fitted out a squadron at L’Orient and Havre, to retake that valuable possession. It consisted of three ships of war, a frigate, and three sloops, with land forces; the squadron was commanded by M. P. de Salvert, who landed, and finding the Dutch disinclined to surrender, erected batteries to attack the fort. He was given to understand, that the Moors, who were then numerous, were determined to assist the Dutch, and perish to a man, rather than surrender the place. After a vigorous bombardment, the Moors finding themselves incapable of farther defence, retired during the night, and passed over to the continent.
The French entered the fort by the same ladder by which the Moors had left it. They found in it only two negroes, an old female Moor, and two children belonging to M. Both, the former French governor of Arguin. The Dutch governor, M. Jan de Wine, voluntarily followed the Moors, who took with them prisoners to the continent, several Frenchmen who resided in the fort; they also carried along with them all the merchandise. The French repaired the breaches, and M. J. du Bellay, who had been appointed governor of the Settlements, transferred the command to M. Duval, and embarked in the squadron for isle St. Louis. Duval was of all others in the service of the company, the least proper for such a command; he was a violent man, cruel in prosperity, and cowardly and irresolute in adversity. The Moors had been informed that they might come back to Arguin, and would be well received, as it was a matter of much consequence to attach them to the French interest. Duval, however, counteracted these orders, and was guilty of the blackest perfidy.
The Moors returned with confidence, when this infamous governor ordered them all to be massacred. Their bodies were cut in pieces and exposed in different parts, as an example to their countrymen of the treatment they were to expect.
After this horrible execution, no accommodation with the irritated Moors could be hoped for; and the Dutch did not fail to keep up the resentment of those people towards the French. In the mean time, the Moors and pretended Prussians had retired to Portendick. Duval was superceded in his command; and the Moors having landed on the island in concert with the Dutch, they gained possession of the cisterns, and seized on M. Leriche and four other Frenchmen, who had been sent to them with a flag of truce; and after springing a mine, which injured the fortifications, they compelled the French to surrender the fortress on the 11th January, 1722, when the latter were obliged to solicit the protection of the Dutch, to prevent the Moors from cutting their throats. The captors acquired on this occasion an immense quantity of merchandise. Shortly before the surrender, a French vessel was stranded about five leagues from Arguin, and the crew, eight in number, having effected a landing, were seized by the Moorish chief Homar, and instantly put to death. Duval became the victim of his atrocity and imprudence; for Homar meeting with him off Cape Blanco, as he was returning home, boarded his vessel, cut off his head, and put to death the whole of the crew, sixteen in number, Duval not making the least resistance.
This sanguinary warfare lasted for some time; the Moors revenged the outrages they had suffered; and the Dutch obtained a momentary triumph.
It would be useless to trace the various operations which were incessantly carried on against these two possessions. M. de Salvert in 1724, re-acquired possession both of Portendick and Arguin; since which, the Dutch have not appeared as enemies in that quarter.
The result of this statement is, that every nation which has endeavoured to establish itself at Arguin and Portendick, had no object but to share or monopolize the gum trade, which the French, who were firmly established in the Senegal, wished to concentrate amongst themselves. Indeed the gum trade with the Moors, was the most important of the operations which took place in those roads. The forests of gum trees are at no great distance from the shore; and the trade likewise consisted of gold, elephants’ teeth, oxen, sheep, raw hides, and ostrich feathers; besides which, it is asserted that ambergrease was formerly found in considerable quantities. But though I made and caused to be made the most vigorous researches, I could never obtain any. M. Pelletan, my successor, was more fortunate, nevertheless he mentions only a single instance in which he found it; and that was in a different part of the coast; which proves at least that this substance is very scarce.
The fisheries on this part of the coast are very abundant. All the capes, as far as the mouth of St John river, afford shelter to multitudes of fish, which find plenty of nutriment. Indeed these gulphs are like so many vast ponds completely stocked, with the only difference that they cannot be exhausted. The Europeans derive much advantage from these fisheries, which afford them a number of seals: the fish forms the chief subsistence of the garrisons, and are exchanged with the Canary and Azores islands, as well as with the Moors on the coast of Guinea. The green species of turtle also delights in these roads, and the shell is much sought for in commerce.
When the French directed their commercial operations to the Senegal, they abandoned the fisheries.
About 30 or 35 leagues from Portendick, and in 15° 15 m. lat. you arrive at the mouth of the Senegal. To reach Goree, either from Europe or from the Senegal, it is necessary to pass Cape Verd, which is the most western point of Africa; its elongation into the sea, makes it a vast peninsula. The soil is good, and covered with fine trees: it is fit for all kinds of cultivation, and is fertilized by several rivulets; all which render it very desirable for the establishment of the colony. Its trees being always green, have given rise to its name, as it is distinguished by its appearance from all the other capes on the coast, which are dry and barren. The bay of Yof forms a considerable space between the point of Barbary and Cape Verd; and the currents set violently into this bay in a S. S. E. direction.
The approach of a ship towards this cape is known by two mountains, which are called the Breasts, from an idea that they resemble those organs in form. As soon as they are perceived, precaution must be taken to avoid a rocky point, which projects about two leagues into the sea, and which causes the ships to make a considerable offing to the S. W. in order to double it: they are obliged to do so, till the two Breasts appear on the same line, so that one obscures the other. Thus you arrive at Cape Verd, on doubling which, you reach Goree, at a distance of two leagues. This cape, from the two Breasts to Cape Bernard, was ceded to France by two treaties in 1763 and 1765, between the king Damel and the governor of Senegal, as well as the villages of Daccard and Bin, from which the inhabitants of the isle of Goree derive their subsistence.
The passage from the Senegal to Goree is made in about twenty-four hours; but the return is generally longer, from the opposition of the winds and currents. It sometimes even takes a month to return this short distance. The island received its name Goree, which means “Good Road,” from the Dutch, who obtained it in 1617 by treaty, from Biram, king of Cape Verd. They built a strong fort upon it on a steep mountain to the N. W. and another which commanded the creek, and secured their magazines. The Dutch enjoyed their acquisition till 1663, when it was taken from them by the English, to whom this conquest was the more important, as they had established themselves in the river Gambia: but next year they were expelled from the isle by the Dutch admiral de Ruyter, who attacked them with a powerful squadron. The French took it from the Dutch in 1677, by which time the latter had put it into an excellent state of defence, and mounted the batteries with forty-two pieces of cannon. From that time to the present it has often been contested; and fallen into the possession of the English, French, and Dutch. The English possessed it during the last war. The government of the island when the French retained it, was the same as that of isle St. Louis; and the religion, manners, and customs of the inhabitants of both places are nearly similar.
CHAP. III.
FARTHER REMARKS ON GOREE, AND COMMUNICATION FROM IT TO THE SENEGAL. — KINGDOMS ON THE COAST OF GOREE, VIZ. CAYOR, BAOL, SIN, AND SALEM. — CURIOUS PARTICULARS OF A RACE OF NEGROES. — JOURNEY FROM GOREE TO SENEGAL, &c.
THE commerce of the isle of Goree, extends from Cape Verd to the kingdom of Salem, about seven leagues from the mouth of the Gambia; but there is no establishment on that part of the coast. The three factories of Rufisque, Portudal, and Joal are abandoned, the French administration of Goree merely keeping as residents, while they had the island, an inhabitant and a negro, who relieved each other alternately, and whose business was to treat for provisions. An establishment was projected at Cahone, a village belonging to the kingdom of Salem, nearly at the part where the river Gambia divides into two branches, the most northerly of which takes the name of Salem. It would have been very advantageous, as the Mandingos, from the kingdoms of Tombuctoo, Bambara, and the other states to the eastward, come to Cahone with their merchandise. It was not carried into execution; but it is evident that such an establishment would at any time be of the greatest advantage, as it might receive the commerce which formerly existed between Goree and the numerous isles formed by the river of Salem. Some inhabitants still go to trade at that river, and always turn their merchandise to the best account. It was on the banks of this river, that the famous lump of ambergrease was found, which M. Pelletan acquired; I will give an account of its discovery.
An inhabitant of Goree, named St. Jean, a well informed man, one day observed his negroes employed in careening their canoe, with a substance which they had melted, and of which they neither knew the nature nor the value. St. Jean discovered it by the smell, and caused what remained of the lump to be carried home. The whole had weighed upwards of a hundred pounds. To shew that this branch of commerce might become very important, I shall only observe that M. St. Jean sold the substance at from nine to ten francs per ounce, and it was resold in France for thirty-six francs.
Besides the means of commerce which Goree might have on this coast, it has opened a communication by land with Senegal. The distance between those two establishments is about forty leagues, but it is commonly made in five or six days; and the journey used to be one of pleasure to the French merchants, who went in parties, carrying with them provisions and tents for encamping on the most agreeable spots. The route is now so well known, that a sort of barracks have been built as an asylum for travellers. The greatest difficulty on the journey is that of procuring water, which it is necessary to carry with one, though wells have been dug at different distances. Milk, however, may always be procured in great quantities and at a cheap rate.
About half way up Cape Verd is a large lake, the water of which is brackish, though formed by a rivulet which is perfectly fresh. It is difficult to explain the cause of this singularity. Some suppose that the bottom of the lake consists of a nitrous earth, which communicates its flavour to the water; while others think, and perhaps with more reason, that the sea water filtrates through the ground, and mixes with that of the lake. But whatever may be the cause, it is remarkable that the water agrees equally well with sea and river fish. The negroes take immense quantities of fish between Capes Verd and Manuel, where the lake empties itself into the sea; and the vast flocks of birds, which live on its banks, also devour quantities of fish. Amongst the birds is a species which seems to belong to the falcon tribe: they have a brown plumage, with some white feathers at the neck and extremities of the wings . Their beak is thick and curved like a sickle, so that the fish which they take cannot escape. They have short thighs and claws; and the latter are armed with strong and sharp nails. They fly easily, and keep themselves for a considerable time on the surface of the water with the head inclined. When a fish appears they dart upon it, and carry it off to devour amongst the reeds. They have been sometimes shot, but they cannot be eaten, as their flesh has such a rank and fishy taste, and is full of oil. Near this lake, and in several parts of the route lately mentioned, are numbers of trumpet birds, whose notes resemble the sound of that instrument. They are black, and of the size of a turkey-cock, to which they are nearly similar in shape. Their lower beak is hollow and sonorous; and it is by this that they produce the sound described.
The lake just mentioned is named after the Cereses or Serays, some tribes of negroes who inhabit its banks: they form, as in every other part where they establish themselves, a sort of democratic republic, without knowing the principles of that kind of government; but following in this case their instinct and wishes, they never choose to acknowledge any master. They live in a complete state of nature, without any other rules than what she inspires: they have no idea of the divinity, and are persuaded that the soul dies with the body. They go almost entirely naked, speak a particular language, which differs from that of all their neighbours, and never intermarry with the other negroes, whom they dislike to such a degree, that they seem to be as averse from trading with them, as they would be from a contagion. One of the principal traits in their character is the resentment which they bear for offences, which they never pardon: and if they do not take vengeance themselves, they transmit their hatred to their children, and it subsists in the family till reparation be made for the real or supposed injury. In other respects they are a good kind of people, mild and simple in their manners, and hospitable even to officiousness. They give a particularly kind reception to the whites who pass through their country, carefully cultivate their lands, and raise a great number of cattle.
They have a great respect for the dead, whom they inter without their villages, in round or square spots, like those which they inhabit. After exposing the body on a bed they plaister the stakes, which form the square of interment, with a kind of clay, and also encompass it with a wall about a foot thick, which ends in a pointed roof, and incloses the spot. This collection of burying grounds resembles another village, and is often larger than the inhabited one to which it belongs. These people do not know how to write; but to distinguish the bodies which rest in these little huts, they put a bow and arrow on those which contain the men, while the women’s sepulchres have at top a pestle and mortar, being the instruments which they use to pound their rice and millet. In other respects, as they marry amongst each other, and thus form only one family: they have no object in transmitting to posterity the names of the dead or their parentage.
The route from Goree to Senegal is in general woody, and the woods contain many banyan and latane or palm trees. The fruit of the former, and the wine of the latter, are too well known to need any description. There are also great numbers of a shrub, whose leaves resemble those of the pear-tree, and have an aromatic flavour combined with the smell of the myrtle: it communicates its delicious flavour to the flesh of the cattle, which feed on it in preference to any other vegetable. There is likewise a tree which is called the soap-tree: its fruit is of the size of a small walnut, and the negroes, who use it to wash the cotton cloths which they wear round their waists, beat it between two stones to separate the nut from the shells; and it is with the latter that they rub what they are about to wash. It dissolves easily, and completely cleanses the cotton, but burns the cloth: this circumstance, however, though serious to the wearers, is of great advantage to our commerce, which supplies them with such articles.
In some parts they cultivate tobacco upon a large scale; for the negroes, though they only use it for smoking, consume vast quantities. They merely bruise it when ripe, and make it into bunches; and notwithstanding this slovenly way of preparing it, the flavour of it is tolerably good.
In the journey to which I have alluded we meet with no dangerous animals, excepting serpents, which are both large and numerous, being sometimes from fifteen to twenty feet long, and a foot and a half in diameter. It is asserted that these are less dangerous than the small ones, which are but two inches thick, and four or five feet long: it is, however, remarkable that the human species are very seldom injured by these reptiles. To observe the sang froid with which the negroes let the serpents enter the hovels to creep about, hunt the rats, and sometimes the fowls, without feeling the least alarm at their appearance, one would suppose that there was a reciprocal contract between them to live together in harmony. Nevertheless the negroes are sometimes bitten by these animals, on which occasions the remedy they apply is the actual cautery. When they happen to possess gunpowder, they cover the puncture with it and explode it, which produces a scar that draws out the venom. These accidents, however, are not frequent, and the negroes in general do not appear to apprehend them. The Cereses, on the contrary, dread the serpents, and keep them from their habitations as much as possible; indeed, they are continually at war with them, lay snares for them with much adroitness, and, on finding them, eat their flesh, which they think very good.
The serpents have other and still more terrible enemies, which are the eagles that abound throughout the country: they are of the same species as those in Europe, but far superior in size and strength.
We also meet in the journey above described numerous hordes of elephants; but they do no injury, nor ever disturb travellers: and likewise with parties of apes, who amuse by their watching and singular antics. There is also an aquatic animal sometimes found which the Cereses call bourba. This animal is something between the bear and the hog: its hair is short, thin, and whitish; and its feet have tolerably strong and pointed claws, which it uses to climb up trees like the bear. Its head is more like the bear’s than the hog’s; and though wild, it has not a terrific aspect. Its eyes are small and half closed, notwithstanding which it is very active. Its mouth is large and furnished with long and sharp strong teeth. It lives almost constantly in the rivers, notwithstanding which it is ascertained to be amphibious: its size is equal to that of a hog about a year old; and its flesh is fat and succulent.
Several persons have published their accounts of this little journey, and they all agree in stating that it is easy and agreeable. Indeed, I never heard of the slightest accident happening to those who performed it. The travellers arrive unfatigued at the village of Gandiolle, which is situated at the mouth of the Senegal, where they embark in canoes, and proceed to isle St. Louis in two or three hours, ascending the river by means of their oars.
The coast on which the commerce with Goree is established, as has been specified in the preceding passages, is divided amongst, and governed by, four negro kings. The most important and considerable of these states is that of Cayor, which is worthy of particular attention on account of the influence which its king, named Damel, has had in the success or disasters of the French establishments in this vicinity.
The kingdom of Cayor begins in the province of Toubè on the continent, and is about six leagues distant eastwards of Senegal, from which it is only separated by some marshes and the isle of Sor. It extends along the sea as far as the village called Grand Brigny, the frontier of the kingdom of Baol. Its continent is only a short league from Goree, but it stretches nearly sixty leagues in the interior. It was joined to the dominions of the provinces of Baol in 1695, after a sanguinary war, in which the latter were conquerors, and possessed both states to the year 1717. The king gave himself the name of Damel, which is the particular appellation of the king of Cayor; but at the death of Tinmacodon, the inconvenience arising from so great an extent of country being under one governor was seriously felt, and the kingdom was again divided, when Amarizone, brother to the deceased monarch, ascended the throne of Baol.
The royal family of Cayor is called Bisayou-ma-Fatim. The king who at present reigns was not the first in the order of succession, but was elected; but he was elected without any intrigue on his part: he took the title of Damel, and established his common residence at Guiguis, a village about thirty leagues from Senegal. After his election, the great people came to pay their homage to him, and all the ceremonies usual in such cases were scrupulously attended to: they prostrated themselves at some distance from the king’s feet without any other clothing than a simple piece of cloth round the loins; and afterwards, on approaching, they bent the knee three times before him, putting at each declension a handful of sand to their foreheads. The marabous or priests were exempted from these humiliating ceremonies; and on coming to acknowledge their new sovereign, they merely took the oath of fidelity, which was administered by himself.
The order of succession to the throne is regulated as follows: The brothers of the king succeed him by seniority; and the children of the deceased prince only ascend the throne when there are no brothers to take possession of it, a circumstance which very rarely happens; but when it does, the eldest son takes precedence. The first wife is the queen; the prince marries her publicly, and the festival lasts three days; nearly all his subjects attend it and make him presents. The children by this marriage are the legitimate children, and natural heirs to the throne; and after them the children by the second wife have the right, as well as those of the other women whom the king has simply declared to be his wives. The king may also have other women to whom he gives no qualification; and their children, who are reputed legitimate, may also pretend to the throne according to their age, in case their father should die, and leave no children by his first queen or other acknowledged wives.
This succession to the throne in the collateral lines is not peculiar to the kingdom of Cayor. It is also the case in that of Hoval, which is contiguous, and the king of which takes the title of Brack; but a different method is adopted by the family of the latter; as it is always the eldest son of the eldest sister of the deceased king who succeeds to the throne. These people, who in other respects are neither better informed, nor more polished, than their neighbours, think with good reason that by this manner of succession, there is more certainty as to birth-right. They apply to themselves, without knowing the meaning of it, the maxim of the Roman laws: “Partus matrem demonstrat, pater vero semper est incertus”; and it is doubtless this persuasion which causes the law to be religiously observed in the country of Hoval. In the kingdom of Cayor, on the contrary, it is sometimes violated, as is proved by the election of the last sovereign. Indeed it often happens that the great men combine together, convoke the people, and appoint to the throne another prince of a different family from him who has the right to ascend it, though they are always cautious to take him from the royal family.
The king of Cayor reigns despotically over his subjects, who are rather his slaves, as they tacitly obey and serve him: in other respects he is neither richer nor better off than themselves; and they pay him for his subsistence, a tribute which varies according to his pleasure. He is not distinguished either by the number of his houses, by that of his women, or by his guards. The military service near his person, that which takes place in time of war, and, in general, all the jobs or escorts, are performed by the subjects at their own expence, and they are obliged to execute his orders, and follow him wherever he chooses to lead them.
Damel and his subjects profess the Mahometan religion; but they render it scarcely recognisable by a multitude of retrenchments or additions. The same occurs amongst all the African hordes, who only agree together on three points, namely, a plurality of women, circumcision, and the respect which is due to the prophet Mahomet: on the other hand, each village has its particular practices, and turns those of the others into ridicule.
Damel, and the other kings and princes of the Negroes or Moors, have the privilege of never being made slaves. When they are taken in battle, they are either killed, or they destroy themselves.
A superstition peculiar to the kingdom of Cayor is, that both the people and the king think that the latter will die in the year in which he may cross any river or branch of the sea: hence he never goes to Goree, or to isle St. Louis in the Senegal, but remains always in his own territories on the continent.
While I was at Senegal, M. de Boufflers, governor-general of the colony, wished to have an interview with Damel, and it took place on the 24th April, 1786. The place fixed on was a large plain on the continent, called Guyarabop, and which lay on the banks of the Senegal; it was inclosed by a fosse, and its entrance was defended by an entrenchment; a tent was prepared in the middle. M. de Boufflers proceeded thither in the morning with a detachment of fifty men; and Damel, who was then at Gandiolle, a village in the southern part of his states, set off to meet the French general. This prince had in his suite a corps of cavalry, and a numerous body of infantry: on reaching the gate, he entered on horseback alone, and was received at the tent by the French general. The troops of this sovereign then took their station in the plain, and remained under arms the whole day in the most perfect order and discipline.
The productions and objects of commerce furnished by this country, are, slaves, who are generally rendered numerous by war; millet, of which such quantities are produced, that during my administration, being charged with the supply of provisions, &c., I derived enough from it for our whole consumption, which is immense; and lastly salt, which is furnished by the inexhaustible pits at Gandiolle.
These pits form the dowry of the wife of Damel, who is the acknowledged queen of Cayor. Each vessel which comes to trade for the salt, pays her a sort of duty, which is not always the same, but is agreed on with a delegate whom she sends to the spot during the period of the trade. It is however, in general, a piece of Guinea, four piastres, and twenty bottles of brandy, for a hundred barrels of salt; which number of barrels every year receives an addition of three or four. The purchasers give besides to the queen’s envoy a present in merchandise to the value of three or four piastres.
On the payment of these duties, and a few others of a subordinate nature, the women of Gandiolle undertake to carry the salt on board the ships at the rate of half a bar per barrel. By giving them something more they are induced to smuggle an additional quantity on board, a plan which is always adopted, and which it is impossible for the queen to prevent. These expences of porterage are paid in iron, coral, beads, and other trifling articles, on which the merchants gain so much profit, that the half bar, which is valued at two livres, eight sous (about two shillings sterling) is not worth to them more than ten sous, or five pence English.
During the time that M. Brue was at Senegal, a serious dispute arose between him and Damel, during which the former was seized by the negro king, and was in great danger of his life; but after many stratagems and much threatening on the part of the French, he regained his liberty; and though by the stipulations in the last treaty of peace with Damel, the French were to pay no kind of duty for their commerce, it was found necessary on this occasion to make the king a present amounting to 20,779 livres, which was taken in merchandize, valued according to the price which is given for negroes. This reduced the ransom to about 7,000 livres in actual value, without reckoning the private loss of the general, who was robbed of his money, jewels, and clothes, which were estimated at 6,000 livres; besides which he was kept for twelve days in close captivity, without being allowed to speak to any one. Since this period, Damel has never failed to insist on a very considerable duty every year, as the price of his good-will towards our nation. The king, however, did not escape with impunity on account of the outrage; for M. Brue on his liberation formed a coalition with the neighbouring sovereigns of Brack, Siratick, Burba-yolof, Bur-sin, and Bur-salum, and watched the coasts of Damel so closely, that no foreign vessels could approach them. He likewise seized and destroyed all the fishing-boats that came out, burned several villages, and obliged many others to supply Goree with all the wood which it required.
This war lasted eight months, and the states of Damel suffered by it severely, but still no reconciliation took place; and a plan was laid for seizing the negro king, and sending him as a slave to the West Indies; but at this crisis M. Brue was recalled to France, to give his advice on the deranged affairs of the African company. A negociation was afterwards entered into with M. Lemaitre, who submitted to the most humiliating terms, and undertook to pay annually to the king of Cayor 100 bars of iron for permission to get wood and water from his territory, and to purchase provision. This duty has successively increased, and it is now very high, so that it would be dangerous, if not impossible, to suppress it.
What I am now about to say relative to the Moors, and the customs in the kingdom of Cayor, will apply to all the other states on this coast, the difference between each being too trivial to merit distinction. I shall therefore confine myself chiefly to topographical details.
The kingdom of Baol, which is the first after Cayor, begins at the village of Little Brigny, and ends at the river of Serena: it is seven leagues from Goree, and has only about twelve leagues of coast from north to south. The king bears the name of Tin.
The kingdom of Sin, whose sovereign takes the name of Bur, is still smaller; as it has only eleven leagues of coast in the same direction.
The same title of Bur belongs to the king of Salum, whose dominions begin at the river of Palmera, and end at two or three leagues from the point of Barra. They run inwards as far as where the Gambia separates into two branches, the northern of which takes the name of the river of Salum. This river divides itself into six arms, each of which contains islands, which are inhabited and cultivated; but they are said to be unhealthy, particularly for foreigners.
CHAP. IV.
OF THE RIVER GAMBIA. — ESTABLISHMENTS OF EUROPEANS ON ITS BANKS. — KINGDOMS WHICH DIVIDE THEM. — MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE INHABITANTS. — PRODUCTIONS OF THE COUNTRY, &c. &c.
AFTER traversing the country which I have just described, and about thirty leagues from Goree, you arrive at the mouth of the Gambia, which empties itself into the sea at cape St. Mary on the south, and at the Isle of Birds on the north. Its width at this part is very great, being estimated at least at two leagues between the points of Barra and Bagnon. The strait between those points is ten or twelve fathoms deep, so that all sorts of vessels can go up it. On the left bank of the river is a point which contains a large group of trees, amongst which is one much higher and larger than the rest: it is called the flag of the king of Barra; and the English have introduced the custom of saluting it with several guns, a ceremony which would subject a ship, that might dispense with it, to the greatest insults.
The river Gambia is, throughout its whole course, of considerable width, and its bed is deep and muddy; while its banks are covered with thick mango-trees. It abounds in fish; and sharks are very common at its mouth. In the upper parts it is frequented by crocodiles and hippopotami: its depth is so great that a ship of forty guns, and three hundred tons, may ascend it as far as Genachor, situated about sixty leagues from the sea; while a vessel of one hundred and fifty tons, can go as far as Barraconda, which is about two hundred and fifty leagues distant. The tide flows as high as this spot in the dry season, that is, from November to June or July; but the rest of the year the river is impassable, on account of the inundations caused by the rains, and on account of the violence of currents, which overflow the banks in every direction, and carry away large trees.
Europeans have not proceeded higher than Barraconda: it appears that hereabouts the course of the river is interrupted by a bank of rocks, and farther up, it loses itself for several days in an impenetrable lake, covered by high grass and reeds. From the account of the Mandingo merchants and other negroes, who are in the habit of travelling the whole length of this river, as well as from the opinion of several celebrated writers, there is reason to believe that it takes its source below a considerable fall made by the Senegal, which there divides into two branches, one of which to the south has been mistaken for the Gambia; but this error has been controverted by several authors, and particularly by Mungo Park, who has examined the place in question, and who asserts that the river Gambia takes its rise from the same chain of mountains from which issue the Senegal and the Niger. The Gambia begins to run one hundred miles to the westward of the Senegal, and continues its course in the same direction till it enters the sea.
The part of the coast near this river was, like all the rest, discovered by the Normans, who probably formed establishments along it, which they abandoned for the more rich and permanent situations of the Senegal and the Gold-coast. The Portuguese then occupied those spots which the Normans had left; and it may be seen by the ruins of their factories, and the forts which they erected, that they had penetrated very far into the interior. The wars in which they were involved with the other nations of Europe, at length rendered them incapable of supporting their power in that part of the world: yet several Portuguese families remained there, were naturalised amongst the inhabitants; while their descendants gradually becoming Africans, have spread into the interior, and live on good terms with the natives. The latter are the subjects of a multitude of petty princes, who all take the title of king, though the territories of many of them are very small. There are no less than eight of these kingdoms on each bank of the Gambia, in a space of about two hundred and fifty leagues from its mouth.
The kingdoms situated on the northern bank are, 1. that of Barra, which extends eighteen leagues along the coast; Guiocanda, which follows it, and occupies five leagues of coast; 3. Baddison, which fills twenty leagues; 4. Salum, which surrounds the first three mentioned to the north and west, by following a course of the river to the extent of ten leagues; 5. Gniania, which comprises only two leagues of coast; 6. Couhan, which occupies four; 7. Gniani, extending thirty leagues along the river; and 8. Ouli, which terminates between Barraconda and the rocky bank, and occupies ninety leagues.
These different distances calculated in a right line, form a total of one hundred and seventy-nine leagues; to which may be added seventy-two leagues for the windings of the river in this space, which makes the whole extent from the point of Barra to the kingdom of Ouli, two hundred and fifty leagues.
The eight kingdoms on the southern bank are that of Combe or Combo, which runs eighteen leagues along the coast, from St. Mary’s Point to the river Combo, from which it takes its name. 2. The kingdom or empire of Foigny, which begins at the river Combo and terminates at that of Bintan, having eleven leagues of coast. 3. Gereges, whose limits are the river of Bintan, and the village from which the kingdom takes its name; it possesses seven leagues of coast. 4. Kiam, which comprises twenty. 5. Geagra, which has only ten. 6. Gnamena, whose extent is fifteen. 7. Kiaconda, which occupies forty. 8. Toumana, of the same extent, and the kingdom of Cantor, the limits of which are not perfectly known, but which must be at least twenty leagues of coast.
The whole of these different parts of the coast, calculated in a right line, forms a total of one hundred and sixty-five leagues, to which may be added for capes and contours of the river, at least eighty-five more; so that, from the mouth of the Gambia to the known extremity of the kingdom of Cantor, the extent of territory on ascending the south bank of the Gambia, is two hundred and fifty leagues.
We possess no very circumstantial account of these Negro states, which, however, are nearly alike. Those most worthy of notice are the empire of Foigny, on the south bank, and the kingdom of Barra on the north. The former is watered by four rivers, and extremely fertile: it produces rice, pulse of all kinds, potatoes, and abundance of fruits. Its palm wine is excellent, and the people breed oxen, sheep, goats, and poultry. The country is uncommonly populous: the inhabitants are industrious and of a commercial turn; they are open, tractable, and particularly faithful. The king assumes the title of emperor, and his neighbours not only acknowledge this distinction, but pay him a tribute. He bestows great attention on the conduct of the English and French, who carry on the commerce of the river; and when the two nations are at war in Europe, he takes care that they shall not fight in his states; but in cases of hostility he takes the part of the weakest, or of those who are attacked.
The kingdom of Barra is almost entirely peopled by strangers, as the natives of the country are there only few in number. The greatest population is that of the Mandingos or Mandings, so called from the name of their native country Mandin or Mandingue, which is situated about four hundred leagues to the east, and is prodigiously peopled, as is evident from the vast number of slaves which it furnishes every year, as well as from the colonies, which frequently proceed from it to extend their active industry to other quarters. It was thus that there arrived in the kingdom of Barra those who are considered as natives and who have possessed themselves of the supreme power, and the whole of the commerce; the king and his great men being Mandingos. They are the only well informed persons in the state; for they know almost every thing, and can read and write. They have public schools, in which the Marabous, who are the masters, teach the children the Arabic tongue; their lessons are written on small pieces of white wood; but they give the preference to the paper which we have introduced amongst them. When they know the alcoran, they obtain the title of doctors.
It is remarkable that the Mandingos, who have all come from a republican state, have formed nothing but monarchies wherever they have established themselves; but they have not invested their kings with unlimited authority. On all important occasions these princes are obliged to convoke a meeting of the wisest old men, by whose advice they act, and without which they can neither declare war nor make peace.
In all the large towns the people have a chief magistrate who bears the name of alcaide, and whose place is hereditary: his duty is to preserve order, to receive the tribute imposed upon travellers, and to preside at the sittings of the tribunal of justice. The jurisdiction is composed of old men who are free; and their meeting is called a palaver; it holds its sittings in the open air, and with much solemnity. The affairs which are brought for discussion, are investigated with much candour; the witnesses are publicly heard; and the decisions generally excite the approbation of both parties.
They have no written laws, but decide on the cases according to their ancient customs; nevertheless they sometimes have recourse to the civil institutes of Mahomet, and when the koran does not appear to them sufficiently perspicuous, they consult a commentary entitled Al Scharra, which contains a complete exposition of the civil and criminal laws of Islamism. They have amongst them people who exercise the profession of counsellors, or interpreters of the laws, and who are allowed to plead either for the accuser or the accused, as at European tribunals: these negro-lawyers are Mahometans, and have, or pretend to have, studied, with particular attention, the institutions of the prophet. In the art of chicanery they equal the most acute pleaders of civilized countries.
These people follow the laws of Mahomet, of which they are rigid observers: most of them neither drink wine nor spirits; and all fast with the utmost rigour during the ramadan or lent. They breed no hogs, because their laws forbid the eating of their flesh; though they might sell them to great advantage. They are very affectionate amongst themselves, and always assist each other. It is not understood that they make slaves, as this punishment is only decreed by the king, and chiefly against the great people who are guilty of crimes. In other respects they are more polished than the rest of the negroes; are of a mild character, sensible, and benevolent: all which qualities may be attributed to their love for commerce, and to the extensive travels in which they are continually engaged. The ease with which they cultivate their lands proves their industry; they are covered with palm, banyan, fig, and other useful trees. The people have but few horses, though the country is well adapted to breeding them; but they have a number of asses, which they use for travelling, and their territory abounds with wild buffalos.
The Mandingos are particularly industrious in making salt, which they do in a peculiar manner. They put river water in the halves of calabashes, or in shallow earthen pots, and expose it to the sun, the heat of which produces crystals of salt, the same as in ordinary pits: for the water is always much impregnated with the saline principle, as the sea mixes with it a considerable way up the river. In a short time after the calabashes have been exposed, a cream of fine white salt is formed on the surface, and this is taken off three or four times; after which the vessels are filled again. They have also very abundant salt-pits at Joal and Faquiou, and their produce forms an important branch of trade: they load their canoes with it; and ascending the river as far as Barraconda, they exchange it for maize, cotton stuffs, ivory, gold dust, &c.
The great number of canoes and men employed in this commerce gives great influence and respect to the king of Barra. Indeed, he is the most powerful and terrible of all the kings of the Gambia; he has imposed considerable duties on the ships of all nations, each of which, whatever may be its size, is obliged to pay on entering the river, a duty equal to about five hundred livres, or nearly 21l. sterling. The governor of Gillifrie is charged with the receipt of these duties, and he is always attended by a number of persons who are very importunate: they are incessantly asking for whatever pleases their fancy, and pursue their demands with such ardour and perseverance, that to get rid of them the navigators are almost always obliged to satisfy their desires.
The Mandingos are above the middle size, are well made, robust, and capable of bearing great fatigue. The women are stout, active, and pretty. The clothes of both sexes are of cotton, which they manufacture themselves. The men wear drawers, which hang half way down the thigh, and an open tunic, similar to our surplice. They have sandals on their feet, and cotton caps on their heads. The women’s dress consists of two pieces of linen six feet long and about three wide; the one is plaited round the loins, and falls down to the ancle, forming kind of petticoat; while the other negligently covers their bosom and shoulders.
Their habitations like those of all the other negroes, are small and inconvenient huts. A mud wall about four feet high, over which is a conical opening made of bamboos and straw, serves for the residence of the rich man, as well as of the humblest slave. The furniture is equally uncouth: their beds are made of a bundle of reeds placed on pickets two feet high, and covered with a mat or an ox’s skin; a jar for water, a few earthen vessels for boiling their meat, with some wooden bowls, calabashes, and one or two stools, form the whole of their household goods.
All the Mandingos in a free state have several women; but they cannot marry two sisters. These women have each a hut; while all the hovels belonging to one master are surrounded by a lattice-work of bamboo made with much art: an assemblage of this kind is called Sirk, or Sourk. Several of these enclosures, separated by narrow paths, compose a town; but the huts are placed with much irregularity, and according to the caprice of the person to whom they belong. The only point to which they attend is to have the door in a south-westerly direction, that it may admit the sea-breezes.
In each town a spot is set apart for the assemblies of the old men; it is enclosed by interlaced reeds, and generally covered by trees which protect it from the sun. Here they discuss public affairs and try causes; the idle and profligate also resort hither to smoke their pipes and hear the news.
In several parts they have missourates or mosques, where they meet to say the prayers prescribed by the Koran.
The population of the free Mandingos forms at the utmost, about one fourth of the inhabitants of the country which they occupy. The remaining three fourths are born in slavery, and have no hope of escaping from it: they are employed in all servile labours; but the free Mandingo has no right to take the life of his slave, nor to sell him to a foreigner, unless he has been publicly tried, and decreed to deserve such a punishment. The prisoners of war, those imprisoned for crimes or debt, and those who are taken from the centre of Africa and brought to the coast for sale, have no right to appeal, as their masters may treat and dispose of them according to their fancy.
Another part of the population of the kingdom of Barra, is composed of the descendants of the Portuguese families who remain in the country, and of whom we have already spoken. Such persons, or rather those who take the title of Portuguese (for all the Mulattos, and even men who are almost black, call themselves Portuguese, and to doubt their origin is an affront they do not pardon), profess the catholic religion, and have churches and priests in different parts. They are recognized by their costume; they wear a great chaplet suspended from the neck, a very long sword by their side, a shirt, a cloak, a hat, and a poignard.
Some of these people devote themselves to commerce and agriculture, and are generally adroit, brave, and enterprising. They acquire property, live happily, and are much esteemed; but by far the greatest part live in the most complete state of idleness, and in consequence of being poor, addict themselves to thieving; they also pass their time in the most disgusting state of libertinism, and are equally despised by the Mahometans and the Christians.
The industrious part of these people proceed to the top of the river in the canoes or boats of the country, and generally perform such voyages on account of the French, who entrust them with merchandise, and pay them liberally. They have sometimes been attacked in their voyage, but they always proved that they knew how to defend their liberty and property. They have also learnt from their ancestors never to pardon wrongs nor injuries; and if this be not a precept of their religion, it is a command of their fathers which necessity justifies. I am of opinion that it is possible to employ with great advantage these men so inured to the climate, to travel over, and make discoveries in the interior of Africa.
The Portuguese build their habitations according to the plan of their ancestors, by which they are more solid and commodious than those of the Negroes: they raise them two or three feet above the soil to secure them from the damp, and give them a considerable length so as to divide each house into several chambers. The windows they make are very small, in order to keep out the excessive heat of the climate; and they never fail to build a vestibule open on all sides, in which they receive visits, take their meals, and transact their business. The walls are seven or eight feet high, and, as well as the roof, are of reeds covered on both sides with a mixture of clay and chopped straw: the whole is coated with plaister. They take care to plant latane or other trees before their houses, or to build them on a spot where such trees are growing, in order to enjoy the refreshing shade which they produce. The king of Barra and the greatest people of his kingdom have similar places of residence.
On the banks of the river Gambia may also be found three nations of Africans, namely, the Felups, Yolofs, and Foulahs. All these people are Mahometans, but they have retained the stupid, though innocent superstitions of their ancestors. The real Mahometans they call Kafirs, which means infidels.
The Felups are of an indolent, melancholy, and slovenly character: they never pardon an injury, but transfer their hatred to their children as a sacred inheritance, so that a son must necessarily avenge the offence received by his father. At their festivals they drink a quantity of mead, and their drunkenness almost always produces quarrels: if on these occasions a man lose his life, his eldest son takes his sandals and wears them every year on the anniversary of his death, till he have had an opportunity to avenge it; and the murderer seldom escapes this determined resentment. The Felups, however, notwithstanding this ferocious and unruly disposition, have several good qualities; they are very grateful, have the greatest affection for their benefactors, and restore whatever is entrusted to their care, with the most scrupulous fidelity.
The Yolofs are active, powerful, and warlike; they inhabit a part of the vast territory which extends between the Senegal and that occupied by the Mandingos on the banks of the Gambia. I shall speak of them more fully in the description which I shall give of the Senegal, and in which I shall include some account of the different people who inhabit its banks.
The Foulahs have a complexion of a rather deep black colour, silky hair, and small and agreeable features; their manners are mild, and they love a pastoral and agricultural life. They are dispersed through several kingdoms on the coast of the river Gambia as shepherds and farmers; and they pay a tribute to the sovereign of the country which they cultivate. They are natives of the kingdom of Bondou, situated between the Gambia and the Senegal, near Bambouk: they leave their country in large bodies in search of distant territories, where they can extend their industry; and after making, what they conceive, a fortune, they return to enjoy the result of their labours.
To recur to the establishments which have been formed by Europeans on the river Gambia, it should be stated that the Portuguese replaced the French on that river, and that the former were succeeded by the English. They established themselves at a distance of fourteen leagues from its mouth, on a little isle not more than seventy or eighty fathoms in length, by forty or fifty in width. They built a tolerably strong fort flanked by three bastions, and constructed several redoubts on different parts of the isle; but in the war from 1688 to 1695, several attacks were made on this settlement by the French with various success, and which ended in a convention for a permanent neutrality between France and England in that part of the world. The possessions of the French were confirmed by the treaty of 1783; and at present the only post which the French possess in the Gambia, is Albreda on the territories of the king of Barra, to whom they pay a duty of 810 livres. It is a possession at the mouth of the river which will never be of any great importance, as nothing can be procured by it but what escapes the activity of the English, and that of course is little. The English have no fort in this quarter, nor does it appear that they have any intention of building one; they have, however, four factories without fortifications, one at Gillifrie, a little town on the northern bank, opposite St. Jaques; another at Vintain, on the southern bank, and about two leagues from Gillifrie; and two more, which will be subsequently mentioned.
The Felups, a savage and unsocial nation of whom I have spoken, carry to Vintain a great quantity of wax, which they collect in the woods: the honey is consumed amongst them, as they make it into an intoxicating drink, which bears a great resemblance to the mead of the Europeans. The country which they inhabit is very extensive, and produces a quantity of rice, with which they supply the persons who trade on the rivers Gambia and Casamança; they also sell them goats and poultry at a moderate price.
The third English factory is at Joukakonda, about six days’ navigation from Vintain. This is a very mercantile town, and is entirely inhabited by Negroes and English.
The fourth is at Pisania, about sixteen miles above Joukakonda. It is a village built by the English in the states of the king of Gniagnia; it serves them for a factory, and is only inhabited by themselves and a few domestic Negroes; they here carry on a trade in slaves, ivory, and gold. This village is situated in an immense and peculiarly fertile plain, and is covered with wood. The cattle get very fat from the richness of the pasture, and the inhabitants raise them in great numbers; they also employ themselves in fishing, from which they derive much advantage, and have a number of well regulated gardens, in which they grow onions, potatoes, manioc, pistachios, pompions, and other useful pulse. Near the towns they cultivate on a large scale, tobacco, indigo, and cotton. Their domestic animals are the same as in Europe: they have hogs which live in the woods, but whose flesh is by no means good; poultry of every kind, with the exception of turkies; and red partridges and Guinea-hens are abundant. The forests are filled with a small species of gazelle, whose flesh is perfectly good. The most common wild animals are the hyæna, the panther, the elephant, the tiger, and the lion. The ass is the only beast of burden which is used in this part of Africa. The art of employing animals in labours of the field is unknown, for every thing is done by hand. The principal aratory instrument is the hoe, whose form is different in every district. The free Negroes do not till the ground, as this labour is performed exclusively by the slaves.
The commerce is carried on by the Negro courtiers, who are known by the name of the Slatées; these are free Negroes who possess considerable influence in the country, and whose principal employment consists in selling the slaves they procure from the centre of Africa. They likewise furnish the Negroes on the coast with native iron, odoriferous gums, incense, and schetoulou, or vegetable butter, which I shall afterwards have occasion to speak of; and take in exchange salt, which is a rare and valuable commodity in the interior.
The English are not established on the river Gambia farther up than Pisania; and here their trade is not very extensive, as their exports do not amount to more than 500,000 French francs, (about 20,000l.) The Americans have attempted to send some vessels to this quarter on commercial speculations.
The objects of trade here are the same as on the other parts of the coast, namely, gold, elephants’ teeth, slaves, wax, millet, oxen, sheep, poultry, and other articles of subsistence. Slaves, however, form the principal object; but at present not above 1000 are annually purchased: they cost from 450 to 500 francs each, which is the ordinary price of a man of a healthy constitution, from sixteen to twenty-five years of age. The European merchandises given in exchange are, fire-arms, ammunition, iron work, spirituous liquors, tobacco, cotton caps, a small quantity of broad cloth, trinkets, India goods, glass-work, and other trifles.
CHAP. V.
COMMUNICATION BY LAND BETWEEN ALBREDA AND CACHAUX. — DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. — MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND RELIGION OF ITS INHABITANTS. — ARTS. — EXTRAORDINARY SPANIARD. — DIFFERENT VILLAGES, &c.
NOTWITHSTANDING the difficulties which the factory of Albreda had to encounter from the operations of the English established up the river, it nevertheless acquired a degree of importance from the industry of the persons employed in it. They formed connections with the villages situated along the rivers that emptied themselves into the Gambia, and extended their views as far as Cachaux, the principal establishment of the Portuguese at the river of St. Domingo, with which they opened a communication by land.
They first arrived at the river of Bintan, the mouth of which is on the left bank of the Gambia, about a league above the old fort of the English. Vessels enter it without fear of grounding, at any season of the year, though they generally profit by spring tides; and when these fail, they use the oar or are towed. The banks of this river are very agreeable, as they are to the right lined with hills that are covered with large trees, while the left contains extensive and beautiful meadows.
The village of Bintan, which is the ordinary residence of the emperor of Foigny, was formerly of more importance than it is at present; it is situated to the right of the river, on the declivity of a hill, and covered with fine trees, which protect it from the sun. Almost all its houses are built in the Portuguese style. The French have a factory in it, as have the English; and both parties live in an amicable manner under the protection of the emperor. When, however, any difficulties arise between them, this prince never fails to assist the side that is the weakest.
The population of the Portuguese at Bintan is considerable; they live at their ease; their houses are large, good, and well-furnished, and they have a decent church. The Negro inhabitants of this part are the Felups; they speak a language peculiar to themselves, and are idolaters. Those who live up the country or at a distance from the Europeans, are almost savages: they hunt other Negroes that pass through their territories; but they respect the Whites, and make it a rule never to offer them the slightest insult. Those of Bintan or its environs who are occupied in commerce, are gentle, frank, and civilized; they like strangers, are always ready to render them service, and are candid and honest in their commercial dealings.
About seven leagues from Bintan is the village of Gereges. The French and English formerly had factories here, but they are now abandoned: the Portuguese have, however, established themselves in this village in great numbers. The country is intersected by a number of little rivers; and journeys as well as commerce are here performed by water. The king of this little state resides about a quarter of a league from Gereges; his houses, and those of his women, officers, and slaves, form a large village, which is built without order or regularity on a level soil well covered with trees. The houses are surrounded by several palisades formed of large piles, ten or twelve feet high, and each door is, according to custom, very low and narrow.
The subjects of this prince are reputed brave, and adroit in the use of arms. The English have more than once experienced the effects of their skill, particularly on an occasion which I shall describe. They had some misunderstanding with the alquier of Gereges and the officers of the king. The English complained to the prince and asserted, that as he had not done them justice, they would do it to themselves. With this view they armed and manned the largest vessel which had entered the river, and seemed by their preparations as if they intended to land and ravage the country, as they came to anchor opposite the village. The prince, far from being alarmed at this expedition, assembled his troops, and dispersed them in ambush along the river; when, as soon as the English begun the attack, the Negroes opened, and kept up for several hours such a rapid fire of musquetry, that several of the enemy were killed and wounded, and their intentions rendered abortive.
The king commanded in person, and when he saw that the English could no longer appear above deck, he ordered his troops to cease firing, and ranged them towards the shore in a threatening position. The result was, that the English were obliged to weigh anchor and let their vessel drop down with the tide. An accommodation was then set on foot, which the English purchased dearly.
Besides the Portuguese, two nations, who differ in their manner and language, inhabit this state: they are the Felups and the Bagnons, or Banions. The character of the former I have already explained; for they are the same here as in the empire of Foigni. The Bagnons are of a mild and gentle disposition, and are attached to a commercial intercourse with foreigners; they are also brave and industrious. The women are mild, economical, and much attached to their husbands and children; perhaps indeed, the world does not contain more industrious females, as they voluntarily devote themselves to labour from their youth.
The king of Gereges and his negro subjects are idolaters.
Pasqua, a large village of the Bagnons is next to, and about ten leagues distant from Gereges. This journey is commonly performed by land and without danger. The country is well cultivated, and those lands which are capable of inundation produce rice, while the other parts afford millet and all kinds of peas: they also grow immense quantities of gourds and water-melons.
The oxen of this country are excellent and uncommonly large, probably in consequence of the pastures being abundantly rich in fine and tender grass; the sheep, however, are not so good, as they are very fat, and their flesh has a strong taste. Poultry, on the contrary, succeeds well, and is very fine.
All the houses are sheltered from the excessive heat of the sun by large trees called cheese trees, which are always in leaf while their branches are susceptible of any direction.
This country abounds in bats, which are generally as large as pigeons: their wings are very long, and are furnished with five or six pointed hooks, by means of which they fix themselves together from the branches of trees, and hang down like large parcels of any thing thrown over the boughs. Of all volant animals, this is the only one which has milk to nourish its young; it is eaten by the Negroes. On the road to this village there may be observed a kind of round pyramids of earth, some of which are about seven feet high: they resemble the monuments raised to the memory of the great men of the country; but they are in fact the buildings of ants, and are as firm and compact as if they were formed of mortar. On breaking them, a multitude of ants fiercely issue out, and endeavour to punish the disturbers of their repose. These ants are whitish, and about the size of a barley-corn: their nests have only a single aperture at about one third of its height; and the ants attain it by means of a path, which runs round the pyramid from the bottom to the entrance.
Pasqua, which means the tree or pavilion of the king, is a village not remarkable for the number of its inhabitants, as its population does not exceed 300 persons, including the Portuguese, who are about one fourth of the number; but it is important on account of its political distinction. The king keeps in it a garrison of 100 infantry to awe the neighbouring states, and protect the Bagnons from the enterprizes of the savage Felups. This garrison is charged with exacting the tribute imposed by the kings, and with punishing the vagabonds. The village is surrounded by six rows of pallisades, comparatively fastened together by six traverse beams, and they are kept in good repair: it is situated on the bank of a little river called St. Grigou, but which is in several maps called Pasqua. This river is not wide, but is very deep, and contains plenty of fish, though crocodiles abound in it, and destroy immense numbers: its banks are fertile and agreeable.
About a league from Pasqua, and on the bank of the same river, a Spaniard from the isle of Cuba, called Don Juan Maldonado, had taken up his residence in a charming house, all the environs of which were delightful. The land which was not in tillage, formed vast meadows interspersed with bowers of palm and other trees, which presented a most charming appearance.
The house of this Spaniard was large and convenient, was surrounded by eight or ten huts occupied by his slaves, and the whole was enclosed by a quadruple wall of piles, the innermost of which was ten feet high, well terraced, and supported by two raised ways, with four platforms, each of which contained two pieces of cannon. Don Juan lived peaceably in his fortress, and was esteemed and respected by his neighbours: he was rich and did much good, but he had no wife.
At this residence travellers were cordially received and feasted. The people of the country do not agree with respect to this extraordinary man; some say that he left several children, heirs to his virtues and solitude. He lived in the most intimate way with several Negresses, without being attached to any one of them by the ties of marriage. Others assert, that he had no children; that the king inherited his property, and that he left his ordinary residence to return to Spain.
The Negroes of this country are husbandmen, and they perform their operations in cadence with the sound of drums: the spades which they use, are made of wood, shod with a small rib of iron; this serves them to root up weeds, open the ground, and cover the seeds which they sow.
From the residence of Maldonado to James’s village, is about three days journey, a distance which is agreeably performed by land. At this village, a greater quantity of wax is procured than at any other part of the province: the Portuguese alone buy here more than 500 cwt. every year. A market is held in it twice a week, whither the Negroes of the environs bring the wax for sale; the Portuguese buy it by wholesale, melt, and purify it, form it into cakes, and send it to Cachaux, where the magazines are established; from hence they ship it on their own account, or sell it to European merchants who send in quest of it.
The native inhabitants of James are Feloups and idolaters: they are adroit and civilized; and their manners are softened by their commerce and connections with foreigners. They acknowledge no sovereign, but live under the pacific republican government of their elders; their lands are rich and well cultivated, though they have no other agricultural implements than wooden spades, shod with iron, and having long handles.
With respect to the country, it is impossible for one to be more agreeable; it abounds in palm and other large trees. The Portuguese live here in easy circumstances, and have handsome and convenient houses. It is remarkable that the musquitoes are more numerous here than in any other part of Africa; they consequently are a great inconvenience to the inhabitants.
The river of Casamança is about a league distant from this village; it empties itself into the sea, to the north of the river St. Domingo; its water is deep enough to bear large ships; but there is a bar at its mouth which is very difficult and dangerous to pass, as it can only be cleared by canoes or small craft, and never without danger. Both banks of this river are inhabited by savage and cruel Felups, who will not hold any communication with the whites, and are always at war with their neighbours. Their country is interspersed with rivers, or rather with torrents, which proceed from a lake that is formed by the heavy rains, but which is dry in the fine season. At the rainy period the whole country resembles a vast marsh.
A few leagues up this river, is the village of Guinguin: it is inhabited by the Portuguese, who carry on a considerable commerce in wax; for this privilege they pay a duty to the king, and are as much masters in his states as he is himself. This prince and all his subjects are idolaters, and speak a peculiar language. The soil of this district is flat and very rich. Apes are uncommonly numerous in this part, and commit shocking ravages; but they are themselves grievously tormented by the bees, with which the country is covered.
The next Portuguese colony is Cachaux; it lies near the river of St. Domingo, about twenty leagues from its mouth. This establishment is in the territory of the tribe called Papels, an idolatrous people, whose principal god is a little statue, which they call Chine, and to which they sacrifice dogs. These Negroes are of an intrepid character, but they are treacherous, cruel, and vindictive; they are almost always at war with their neighbours, and even with the Portuguese, who, to secure themselves against their incursions, have surrounded their town on the land side with a strong pallisade, supported by some batteries, at which they always mount guard to prevent being surprised. Their houses consist only of a ground floor, but they are large and convenient; they are covered during the rainy season with the leaves of the latane tree, and the rest of the year with sail-cloth, which secures them from the operation of the sun, or of moisture. This change of covering is indispensible, because in the dry season the leaves would take fire, while the sail-cloth would not keep out the rain. They have a church, the duty of which is performed by a curate and a few priests; and there is likewise a convent inhabited by two or three Capuchins. All the Portuguese catholics and their priests are spiritually dependent on the bishop of St. Jago, one of the Cape de Verd islands. The Papels or natives have a part of the town to themselves, which they exclusively occupy: though they remain idolaters, they have adopted nearly all the customs of the Portuguese. Outside of the pallisades nothing is to be seen but swamps and fields of rice, the produce of which is not equal to the consumption. Oxen and cows are very scarce and dear in this part, and there are neither sheep, hogs, goats, nor poultry, though they might be bred with great facility. The town is not supplied with water, so that the inhabitants are obliged to fetch it from the distance of a musquet-shot from the pallisades, and almost always with an escort, to prevent their slaves from being killed or carried off.
The political, civil, and military government, rests with a governor, who is called a captain-major; he has under him a lieutenant, an ensign, and an aid-de-camp, as well as a receiver of the duties, a notary, and a few serjeants who act as clerks. The garrison contains thirty European soldiers, who are changed every three years; it is generally composed of men who are sentenced to banishment, and who are absolved on their return; they are obliged to work for their subsistence, as they have scarcely any allowance. The inhabitants form a sort of militia, who do the duty of the place and maintain order: nevertheless it is dangerous to go out at night; and the players on the guitar are often the victims of their nocturnal perambulations.
Nearly all the Portuguese in Africa are of mixed blood, that is, mulattoes; but they are so black, that it requires a good knowledge of colours to distinguish them from Negroes.
These people take credit to themselves for being jealous, and carrying that passion to excess: they keep their women extremely close, and the white ones in particular are never allowed to go out in the day time, not even to mass. The women of colour have rather more liberty; they go out in the day time, but they are wrapt up in such a manner, that nothing can be seen but their toes and one of their eyes. At visits, the women are never seen nor even spoken of; for to enquire after a lady’s health, is the greatest injury that can be done to the Portuguese in Africa.
The daughters of the Papels, and indeed all the girls who are slaves, are more lucky; they are not watched so closely, but are allowed to work in the houses, and go out to market, or wherever their business calls them: they go almost naked, having only before them a little apron about a foot long, and six or seven inches wide, with belts of different coloured beads, ear-rings, and fringe round their loins. When they are married, they wear a piece of cotton cloth, which covers them from the waist to the calf of the leg.
The Portuguese of Cachaux, and all those of Africa, eat meat only once a day, which is at dinner time; in the evening they eat fish and vegetables, both of which they procure in abundance, and almost for nothing. They begin every meal with fruit, of which they have plenty which grows naturally, as well as of the kinds which require a little care to cultivate.
Their commerce is carried on by barter; for gold and silver are not current. The articles of exportation are, slaves, wax, ivory, and gold from the mines of the interior; those of importation consist of wine, brandy, wheat, flour, iron, glass, copper utensils, arms, powder, lead, gun-flints, cottons, shoes, hats, silks, combs, hardware, mirrors, &c. In this traffic the Portuguese employ three or four vessels per year, which come to them from Lisbon; but the principal part of the commerce is carried on by foreigners.
At this settlements are the finest trees in Africa, whether for their size, height, or the value of their timber. It is not rare to find a single tree, which will make a canoe large enough to carry ten tons burthen, and twenty or thirty men.
The Papels naturally like the sea, and are good sailors; the Portuguese employ them in all their expeditions. Although some change may have taken place in the Portuguese settlements since I resided in Africa, yet that naturalized nation exists on the same spot, and has lost none of its customs.
CHAP. VI.
OF THE ISLES OF THE BISSAGOS AND THEIR INHABITANTS. — RECEPTION OF M. BRUE ON THE ISLE OF CAZEGUT. — ACCOUNT OF A PIRATICAL EXPEDITION. — COSTUME OF THE PEOPLE OF CAZEGUT. — PRECAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN ON TRADING WITH SEVERAL OF THE ISLANDS. — SANGUINARY AND TREACHEROUS CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE.
ON passing the mouth of the rivers of Casamança and St. Domingo, you meet between Capes Rouge and Verga, with a large deep gulph, in which are several isles of various sizes, and inhabited by different tribes. You first observe the archipelago of the Bissagos, which takes its name from the people who inhabit its islands.
The French after discovering these spots, abandoned them on account of their wars in Europe. The Portuguese who inhabited the isles of Cape Verd, succeeded them, but were too weak to maintain the possession. The descendants of the first colonists, who are confounded with the aborigines, still live there in a humiliating and precarious condition; notwithstanding which, they pretend to be sovereigns of those isles, and have at different periods built several villages and forts; but the French have paid little respect to their pretended rights, and have established factories wherever they pleased.
The Bissago isles are about eighteen or twenty in number; the most considerable are Casnabac, Galline, Cazégut, Carache, Aranguena, Papaguaye or Parrots’ isle, Formosa, Babachoca, Bisague, Ouarangue, Jatte, Bussi, Bourbon, Bissaux, Bulam, and a few others which are less known, because they are less frequented. Of those which I have specified, the last two are the most important.
The archipelago of the Bissagos is nearly fifty leagues in length, by an unequal width. The isles are enclosed by a large chain of rocks, between which and the isles of Jatte, Bussi, Bissaux, and Bulam, which are near to the continent, is a canal three or four leagues wide, and in no part less than one league: it generally contains from eight to twelve fathoms of water, with a muddy bottom. There are several natural harbours in theses islands, which contain all the materials necessary for forming establishments.
Each of these isles is governed by a chief, who assumes the title and authority of a king; these petty princes are independent of each other, and sometimes make war amongst themselves, but they more frequently unite against the Biafares, who are their greatest enemies, and whom they have expelled from Bulam. They have canoes large enough to carry from twenty-five to thirty men with their arms, which are sabres and darts.
The Bissagos are large, strong, and robust people, though they feed only upon shell and other fish, palm-oil, and the nuts of the palm-tree; they sell to Europeans the millet, rice, and other vegetables which they produce. They have an extreme liking for brandy, which they drink in great quantities, and which is sold to them at a high price; indeed their propensity for this liquor is so great, that it renders them furious and unnatural. As soon as a vessel appears for the purpose of selling that article, they always quarrel amongst themselves about who shall obtain the greatest quantity, and be first served. The weakest on these occasions become the prey of the most powerful. The father sells his children; and if the son can seize his father and mother, he conducts them to the Europeans, and barters them for brandy; he then gets drunk, and continues so as long as the quantity will last, at which his relatives have been valued.
All these people are idolaters, and naturally cruel. They cut off the heads of the men they kill, drag their bodies through the streets, scalp them, dry the skins with the hair on, and ornament their houses with them as a proof of their bravery and victories. Their envious character renders suicide very frequent amongst them; the least chagrin induces them to turn their rage against their own persons. They hang themselves, jump from precipices, and throw themselves into the sea, while the most brave amongst them terminate their existence with the poniard.
Besides these general characters, there are distinctive traits amongst the inhabitants of the different isles: that of Formosa, the most eastern of the whole, is planted with the finest trees, which they consider as the residence of gods. They give a delightful aspect to the island, which, however, is uninhabited.
The isle of Galline and that of Casnabac, are at the head of the bank: they are populous and fertile; their shores abound in fish, and they contain plenty of fresh water. Nothing is wanting amongst the inhabitants, but an industrious disposition, to render them a social race. The isles in general are very fertile, and capable of supporting large colonies.
The isle of Cazégut is one of the most extensive, being six leagues long by two wide: it is surrounded by banks and shoals, except at its N. E. and S. W. points, where vessels can anchor in perfect safety. It abounds in fruit and timber trees, as well as in rice, pumpkins, peas, and every species of culinary vegetables. The Negroes are idolaters, and sacrifice cocks to their divinity; in other respects, they are very sociable and honest in their dealings. The trade which they carry on with the Europeans has refined their manners; and they have learned from the Portuguese the manner of building large and convenient houses.
M. Brue visited this island, and received on board his ship the greatest person belonging to it, except the king, to whom he was a near relation: this prince, accompanied by only two Negroes, came with great confidence on board the French frigate: he had only a piece of cotton round his loins, and a hat on his head; while his hair, which was almost red, was greased with palm oil. He saluted M. Brue very civilly, took off his hat to him, and said, through his interpreter, that the island was at his disposal. While they were in conversation with this prince, and were making him drink brandy, a canoe arrived from the island, having on board five men. One of the Negroes came on board holding a cock in his left hand and a knife in his right: he fell on his knees before M. Brue, then rose, and turning to the east, cut his cock’s throat; he then went upon his knees again, and scattered a few drops of the animal’s blood at M. Brue’s feet. He performed the same ceremony at the masts and at the pump, and then presented the cock to the French general: the latter wished to inform himself of the object of these ceremonies, and was told by the Negro, that the wise men of his country considered the whites as the gods of the sea, and that the mast was a divinity which caused the vessel to walk; while the pump was a miracle which made water rise, whose nature it was to fall down. These Negroes retired on the approach of night; and M. Brue promised the prince that he would visit him next morning.
He went according to his appointment, when the Negro prince received him on the shore, gave him his hand, and led him to his house, which was about 300 paces from the sea: it was large, built in the Portuguese style, and white-washed within and without; it had an open vestibule at the entrance, was surrounded with large palm-trees, and had convenient articles of furniture, including very neat chairs and stools of black wood. After offering M. Brue refreshments and palm wine, he led him to another building, about fifty paces farther: this was a chapel, with an altar and benches, and a bell was attached to a tree before the door. The prince ordered it to be rung, and said to M. Brue, who was singularly astonished at what he saw, that he had built this church himself for the use of the Christians who might wish to settle near him; that he was no Christian, but that he loved them; and that if some priest would come and live with him, he would let him want for nothing. M. Brue promised that he would send him a priest and some Frenchmen to live on the isle under his protection.
The king resided about a quarter of a league from this spot, and M. Brue was presented to him by the Negro prince, who received him in a gracious manner. He was a good looking old man, with a grey beard and white hair; he had lively eyes, a handsome mouth, and a majestic air. His cloathing consisted only of a piece of cotton and a hat, which he took off to salute M. Brue; he then offered him the land which he desired, to form an establishment, and promised to protect him against all enemies. He added, “I have forgotten all that has passed between one of my predecessors and a French pirate; because faults are personal, and vengeance should not be extended to those who are innocent.”
The following were the circumstances to which the Negro king alluded. In 1687, a Frenchman named Delafond, stopped at the island to barter some goods, and had reason to complain of the inhabitants, who stole some of his property. While he was thinking how he should revenge himself, a French ship of war arrived; and he proposed to the commander to conquer and pillage the island of Cazégut. The attack was resolved on, and 200 men were landed, who carried every thing before them. The king of the island at that time was invested and burnt in his huts; while his subjects flew to the woods and mountains; so that only ten or twelve were taken out of 2000 or 3000, who formed the population of the island.
This unfortunate and cruel expedition did not, however, interrupt the commerce of the French. Delafond had recourse to so many artifices, that he persuaded the principal people of the island, that he had taken no part in the attack, but that the death of the king, and the desolation with which it had been attended, were caused by a chief of pirates, on whom all the crime of the expedition was at length thrown.
The king having promised to forget this outrage, M. Brue felt inclined to accept his offers, and made him presents, which he much admired; amongst which were two casks of brandy.
The king’s house was neither so fine nor so well furnished as that of his relative; but it had some chairs and tables. The king invited M. Brue and his suite to dinner, and gave them venison, beef, and mutton, tolerably well prepared. They drank very good palm wine; and after dinner they smoaked and drank brandy, on which occasion the king caused M. Brue to smoke out of his own pipe. This was really a royal instrument, both with respect to its length and capacity; the tunnel was five feet long, and the bowl large enough to hold a quarter of a pound of tobacco: it was well ornamented outside.
The king presented two cocks to M. Brue. In this country, such a present is the most distinguished that can be made; as it is a sort of sacrifice in favour of the person who receives it. Soon afterwards the French officer left the island to visit Bussi, of which I shall have occasion to speak.
The women and girls of Cazégut wear no covering, but a sort of belt in the form of fringe, which is extremely thick, and made of rushes; it surrounds their loins, and reaches down to their knees. The rest of the body is generally naked, except when the wind blows from the N. E. at which time the cold, to which they are very sensible, obliges them to put a similar covering round their neck; this defends their arms, and falls down to the belt, in the shape of a cone. Some of them wear a third belt round the head, and which falls over their shoulders. They ornament themselves with bracelets of copper and tin, which they put on their arms and legs; and they always rub their hair with palm-oil, to make it red, fat, and soft, which with them is the highest degree of elegance.
In general, both the men and women are of a good size, and well shaped; their skin is of so fine a black, that it seems like polished marble. The features of their face are agreeable; they have neither the thick lips, nor pug nose, which seems the characteristic of the Africans; and they possess a degree of wit and address which would render them skilful in the arts, if they were less idle, and if their happy disposition could be cultivated. Their character, which is naturally proud, renders slavery insupportable to them, particularly out of their own country; and there is nothing which they will not undertake to rid themselves of it; when therefore they are embarked as slaves, too much precaution cannot be taken to prevent them from revolting; for when that happens, the women are as terrible as the men. If the Whites neglect the slightest means of security, they know how to profit by it: they murder them, seize the vessel, and make towards the coast, where they generally run the ship aground, and then save themselves by swimming.
The isle of Jatte is not more than ten leagues long. Its reduction would not be difficult; and it is asserted to be one of the most agreeable of the Bissagos.
The isle of Bussi is to the west of that of the Bissaux, from which it is separated by a large and deep channel. The entrance on the south side is dangerous, on account of shoals which cover a good part of its width. It is almost as large as that of the Bissaux, abounds in fine trees, and contains many rivulets, which run into the sea. The inhabitants are Papels; but, as they have not been civilized by commerce, they are wicked, treacherous, and addicted to thieving. The interior of the island is unknown, because voyagers have not a sufficient opinion of the inhabitants to expose themselves in going over it; and even in procuring from them provisions and refreshments, it is necessary to secure oneself from insult. This isle has two ports or roadsteads, in which ships can anchor and be secure from the sea winds. The old port is to the north, and the new one is to the south.
| 1 A Moorish Soldier. | 3 A Moorish Princess. |
| 2 A Moorish Prince. | 4 A Woman of ordinary Rank. |
| 1 & 2 Female Slaves. | 4 Priest of the Country. |
| 3 Lady of the Isle of St. Louis. | 5 An Armed Negro. |
To the north of the isle of Bussi, and on the other side of the canal on the main land, is a tract of country ten or twelve leagues long, which is inhabited by Negroes, who are called Balantes, and who are remarkable for holding no intercourse whatever with their neighbours, either on the continent or the isles. They allow no one to enter their country, never give their daughters in marriage to the other Negroes, and very seldom allow their sons to unite themselves to foreign women. They are idolaters; their government is a sort of republic, administered by the elders of each canton, who form a council. They have slaves; but the free Negroes never attempt each other’s liberty. In other respects they are wicked, cruel, and all of them thieves. Their arms are saguayes, arrows, and sabres.
In their battles these negroes are daring, rash, and furious: they respect no flag; and all nations have occasionally been insulted by them. Notwithstanding they are often victorious, yet they are more frequently defeated; but their natural ferocity is always the same. They never abandon their piracies; and thus the navigation, near their territories, is always attended with danger.
These people are tolerably industrious; at least we judge so from the appearance of their country, as we pass along the coast. They traffic by carrying to their neighbours, and even to foreigners who enter their roads, rice, millet, culinary vegetables, oxen, goats, poultry, and particularly gold. The quantity of these different articles which they annually bring from their country, is a sufficient proof of its fertility. It is a generally received opinion, that the gold which the Balantes sell, is obtained from mines in the interior of the country which they occupy; and that this is the reason why they refuse to let any person enter it: they are aware that this precious metal excites the envy of the Europeans, and that they would expose themselves to expulsion or slavery, if they were to admit those nations amongst them. They pay a tribute in gold to the king of Casamança, and sometimes give this metal for such merchandise as pleases them, or for which they have great occasion. An analysis has been made of this gold, and of that from Galam, the result of which has proved the former far superior to the latter, and even to that of all the countries to the eastward. Several circumstances contribute to strengthen the opinion, that the country of the Balantes contains gold-mines; and it is not impossible for an European nation to possess them by the means of address or of force; but the former should be employed in preference.
The Portuguese, in 1696, united to their forces 300 Bissaux Negroes, and undertook an expedition against the Balantes: they effected a landing without opposition, but the time was not propitious, as they began their operations in the rainy season; and at the time of the action their arms and ammunition got wet, and were rendered unserviceable. In this disaster, which they ought to have foreseen, they were attacked by the Balantes, and pursued with a fury peculiar to people who fight for every thing which they hold dear: they were, therefore, completely defeated and obliged precipitately to re-embark, leaving the field strewed with their Negroes and their own people; while all their ammunition and baggage fell into the hands of the enemy, who have ever since been far more insolent.
Several Europeans who have since had the imprudence to land amongst these Negroes for commercial purposes, have been plundered and assassinated: it is, therefore, found to be more wise to trade with them without quitting one’s boats, and to be cautious that the tide does not leave them aground; for, on such occasions, which have often happened, these people without caring for the numbers which they may lose, attack the Europeans with singular fury, so that it is impossible to resist them.
When such accidents as have just been alluded to are foreseen and provided against, the merchants inform the Negroes of their arrival by the discharge of a cannon, on which they come down to the shore, and the king is almost always at their head. The interpreter then lands with specimens of the merchandise, and a bottle of brandy for the king, or the greatest personage present: the canoe which conveys him ought to be well armed; and immediately after landing him, it should return to the vessel. These people always receive a master of languages with proper respect. Presents follow their mutual compliments, and they then agree about the slaves, ivory, &c. He at length returns to the shore; a signal is made for the canoe, and he re-embarks, observing the same precautions as on landing.
The slaves and other merchandise, are conveyed on board the European ships by the canoes of the country. As soon as they approach, the whole crews of the vessels take up arms, the guns are primed, and the matches lighted; the canoes come along side one at a time, and only a very few Negroes are suffered to board at the same time: if they disobey these orders, they are fired on without hesitation; otherwise they would not fail to possess themselves of the ship, and murder all the people it might contain. On such an occasion, the Europeans cannot be too alert; for if they shew either weakness or pity, they are lost. Not only the captain, but none of the crew ought ever to go on shore, for they would thereby rashly expose themselves to slavery or loss of life; and in the former case their ransom would cost more than the entire cargo of the ship.
About twenty-eight years ago, a French vessel arrived at the Bissagos for the purpose of trading; but running aground off one of the isles, part of the crew were massacred, and the rest made slaves. Amongst the latter, was a man named Constantine, whom M. de Lajaille, who was employed to reconnoitre this archipelago, found at the Bissaux in 1785, and from whom he received some particulars of the country.
On the 31st December, in that year, M. de Lajaille cast anchor before the isle of Jatte, and disembarked in his canoe, followed by four armed boats; he first met with five or six negroes who were watching cattle on the strand. Soon afterwards about 100 unarmed inhabitants came forward, and advancing to M. de Lajaille, several of them took hold of his hand as a token of friendship. They were followed by a much greater number of the islanders who were not perceived by the crew, and who issued out from the bushes. They suddenly attacked him, seized him by the body and limbs, and endeavoured to confine him; but being a powerful man, he disengaged himself, and the boats, by firing amongst the assailants, favoured his re-embarkation. M. de Carbonneau, however, who came to his assistance, was wounded by a musket and a sabre; in consequence of which he died six days after. These events afford a recent proof of the ferocious character of the people who inhabit several of the islands in this archipelago, and of the contempt in which they ought to be held. Notwithstanding all these difficulties, and the risks with which they are attended, we do not hesitate to trade with them; and in exchange for slaves, ivory, wax, gold, and other articles, which they procure for us, we bring them yellow amber, baize, and serges made to imitate cloth, or dyed of two different colours, one on each side. We also convey to them a quantity of brandy, bells, red and yellow woollens, linen, glass work, fowling-pieces, powder, &c. This commerce, however, is very confined; but it might be carried on to a great extent if a number of ships were to proceed together on such a speculation.
CHAP. VII.
OF THE BISSAUX ISLAND, ITS DISCOVERY, ESTABLISHMENTS, PRODUCTIONS, &c. — RELIGION, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS OF THE INHABITANTS. — OF THE PEOPLE OF THE BISSAGOS. — THEIR TREACHERY TOWARDS EUROPEANS WHO TRADE WITH THEM; AND CAUTIONS TO NAVIGATORS, WHO ATTEMPT ANY INTERCOURSE WITH THEM. — FERTILITY OF THE BISSAUX. — PRIVILEGES OF THE KING OF THAT ISLAND. — HIS CURIOUS METHOD OF PUBLISHING HIS ORDERS. — MANNER OF TAKING CAPTIVES. — CEREMONY AT THE DEATH OF THE SOVEREIGN.
THE isle of the Bissaux, which is situated E. and W. of cape Rouge, between 17 deg. 28 min. long., and 11 deg. 16 min. lat. at its south point, was discovered by the Normans in their early expeditions, who establish themselves upon it and traded with the natives. The decline of their affairs at length obliged them to abandon this establishment, and the Portuguese took possession of it; they derived great advantages from this island, though they had but a few ships which traded with it, and these only came at long intervals. But the advantageous position of this establishment in the centre of the great number of fertile and populous islands, containing large navigable rivers, which were capable of affording an easy communication with the interior parts of them, and a knowledge of what it had formerly produced, and which was annually at least four hundred negroes, five hundred quintals of wax, and three or four hundred quintals of ivory, induced M. Brue, who in 1697 was governor-general at Senegal, to re-establish the French factory.
M. Castaing, who was employed under him, was selected to execute this project: he repaired to the island with a good assortment of merchandise, and was well received by the king of the country, who granted him some huts in which he took up his residence with his escort. He succeeded to great advantage in the trade which he carried on; but having lost many of his people, and those who remained with him being dangerously ill, he returned to Senegal in 1699, and complained to the governor, that the Portuguese, who remained in the island, had compelled him to pay them ten per cent on his articles of trade.
M. Brue in consequence resolved to go himself to the island with forces capable of overawing both the Portuguese and the negroes; and in March 1700, he came to anchor before the Portuguese fort, at the point of Bernafel with seven ships of war. The Portuguese governor wished to prevent the French from landing; but the menacing attitudes of the French vessels, soon induced him to come to an understanding with them; and M. Brue demanded an audience of the king of the island, which was granted him. The king received him in the most humble manner, and sacrificed an ox to him, dipping his fingers in the blood, and touching with them the hand of M. Brue, a ceremony, which amongst these people is considered as a mark of eternal alliance. The result was, that he gave him leave to establish a factory or houses in any part of his dominions, and even offered to accommodate him with his own places of residence till the French establishments should be built.
Thus the French regained their footing upon the Bissaux; and M. Brue, after leaving a guard, a factor, and other officers on the island, returned to Goree and Senegal in April 1700.
The isle of the Bissaux is from thirty-five to forty leagues in circumference: its appearance is agreeable, and its soil rises insensibly as far as the centre, where summits of mountains are found which are level, and from which issue several springs that fertilize the country. The ground is throughout planted with trees which form the most delightful and refreshing arbours; and we everywhere meet with orange-trees of a size and height, which are truly astonishing, as well as lemon-trees, cheese-trees, and banians. The soil is deep, fat, and extremely fertile; it produces abundance of rice, and two kinds of millet, the straw of which receives so much nutriment, that it resembles young trees. They also have good harvests of a small grain similar to the millet, which is uncommonly white, and with the flower of which they make a thick soup or porridge, which the negroes eat, after dissolving in it a quantity of butter or fat. The Portuguese have planted manioc in these parts, which grows well and affords excellent flour. The Negroes, who are naturally idle, eat it after roasting it on their embers. Palm-wine is the general drink in this country. Oxen here are of an uncommonly large size, and the cows as well as short-legged goats are very fat, and give abundance of milk. There are, however, neither sheep, hogs, nor horses: the labours of the last mentioned animals are performed by the cows, who carry easily, and naturally go at a jog-trot. A hole is made in the cartilage of the nostrils, through which a cord is passed, and this serves for a bridle, by which they are governed without trouble.
With the exception of the European establishments, we nowhere see a collection of houses so considerable as to deserve the name of a town, burgh or village, though the last appellation might be given to the palace of the king, which M. Brue saw when he visited that prince, and which was about three quarters of a league from the Portuguese fort.
This palace is formed within a wall made of straw so compact, that it appears at a distance like an enclosure of stone; at the door is a guard of twenty-five or thirty soldiers armed with sabres, bows and arrows. On entering, you first observe a kind of labyrinth of banian-trees with tolerably neat huts, which form the residence of the king’s women, children, domestics and slaves. In the centre is a large court entirely shaded by a single orange-tree, which is so thick, and its foliage so compact and extensive, that it forms a sort of roof-work. The huts which belong exclusively to the king surround this court, and their number, together with those which are in the parts already mentioned, and the extent of the ground on which they are built, present the appearance of a village enclosed within a wall.
When this king has an interview with Europeans, he is generally clothed in the dresses which he has obtained from them; but on other occasions he, as well as his subjects, appears in no other dress than a piece of cotton which goes round his loins and hangs down to his knees. The costume of the women consists of a simple piece of cotton which covers them from the waist downwards, and they wear ornaments, such as collars and bracelets of beads and coral. The girls go entirely naked, and several of them have their bodies tattoed with flowers and different figures; but as soon as they are married they take to the cotton. The king’s daughters appear in the same manner as those of his subjects.
The king of the Bissaux and all his people are idolators; but so extravagant is their religion, that it is impossible to give an idea of it. Their principal idol is a small figure, which they call Chine; but it is difficult to know who he is, whence he comes, or what he is good for? This deity however is not exclusively adored: for every individual adopts for his god whatever his imagination presents to him. They have consecrated trees to which they make sacrifices, and which they consider either as gods of, or as the residence of divinities: the animals sacrificed are dogs, cocks, and oxen, which they take great care in fattening. After these sacrifices, they cut the victim to pieces, and the king with his attendants, as well as others who are present, take a portion and eat it, leaving the gods nothing but the horns, which are hung on the branches of the trees, and left there till they drop by corruption or decay. They never undertake any important affair without consulting these deities.
The isle of the Bissaux is divided into nine provinces, eight of which are governed by officers who are appointed by the king, and who themselves afterwards take this title in order to give that of emperor to their sovereign. This prince when he issues orders or makes known his will, uses a wooden instrument which is called bombalon, and which is much like a ship’s trumpet, only longer and bigger: by striking it outside with a mallet of hard wood, it produces a sound which is heard at a tolerable distance; and men being stationed with similar instruments, at intervals repeat the number of strokes as fast as the sounds are conveyed to them, and thus transmit the orders of their sovereign; for every one knows what is meant by any number of strokes and the comparative force with which they are given.
By means of this instrument, which may be considered similar to our telegraph, the will of the prince is made known and promptly executed throughout the island; and those who refuse to obey the orders which they receive, are immediately made slaves. This political punishment serves to keep the subjects to their duty, and to form a part of the revenues of the king, who sells the slaves for his own emolument.
This prince has a singular method of acquiring property; it is only necessary for him to accept the gift which any individual may make him of his neighbour’s house, though the donor may have no right to it whatever; and though the king knows this, he nevertheless takes possession of the tenement, while the owner is obliged either to repurchase it or build another. It must, however, be admitted, that the sufferer has immediate means of retaliation, as he can at the same instant give the king the house of the person who has deprived him of his own; and then both are ruined, as two houses are disposed of, and the king is the only gainer. This custom is not indeed so dangerous in a country where every one is his own landlord, so that the donor always fear thars that his own property may be given away; a circumstance which causes such presents very rarely to be made.
This king contrives to preserve peace within his own states; but though he has no intestine war, he is continually in hostilities with his neighbours: for when he wants slaves, he makes an irruption amongst the Biafares, the Bissagots, the Balantes, and the Nalons, who live contiguous to his territories, either on the main land, or in the numerous isles, which form the archipelago of the Bissagos.
On such occasions the preparations and the expedition itself do not occupy more than five or six days. The bombalon announces that the king wishes to make war, and points out the place of rendezvous; on which the great men with the officers and armed soldiery never fail to repair thither, and are embarked in the canoes of the prince, which are twenty or thirty in number. Each canoe holds about twenty men, for whom the commandant is responsible to the king; and they are obliged to row under pain of death or slavery. The king seldom goes upon these kinds of expeditions, but employs himself in consulting the gods, who always gave an opinion favourable to his undertakings. On such an occasion he makes them a great sacrifice, and himself with the warriors and priests are the only persons who eat the flesh of the animals that are killed. The embarkation then takes place, and every one is inspired with the greatest hopes: they always contrive to land on the enemy’s shore in the night, and come by surprise upon a few scattered and defenceless huts, the inhabitants of which they carry off together with whatever they possess. Oftentimes these warriors lie in ambush in the bye-paths which lead to the rivers and springs, and endeavour to seize those who pass, or come for water. When they make a capture they return to their canoes singing, as if they had gained a glorious victory.
The king, as his right of sovereignty, possesses one half of the slaves who are taken, and the rest are divided amongst the men who have so bravely exposed their lives. These slaves are sold to the Europeans, excepting those who are princes, or persons of some distinction, whom their friends ransom by giving for each of them two slaves, or five or six oxen.
When the conquering warriors return to their island, they are received with praise and congratulation; but woe be to the prisoners if the expeditions have not been completely successful; if a warrior have been taken or killed, they run the risk of being murdered, particularly if the person who has been killed be a man of distinction, or if his relatives be rich.
These warlike people are, however, often attacked in their turn by their neighbours. The Balantes and Biafares make frequent incursions in the Bissaux isle, and wage war with the greatest cruelty: for though they set apart a certain number of their prisoners to be sold to the whites, they reserve the rest to be sacrificed to their god, in honour of their victory.
They celebrate the obsequies of their dead by rude songs and dances to the sound of the drum, in which their motions and postures exhibit in a frightful manner the passions of rage, melancholy, and despair. The women are the principal actresses in this scene: they appear with their heads loaded with mire and blood, the latter of which they have drawn from themselves by scratching; and they continue to howl like persons deranged till the body is put in the ground.
The same ceremonies are observed at the death of the king; and on this occasion the women of whom he has been most fond, and the slaves for whom he had occasion either to serve or divert him, are murdered and buried in his grave. It is, however, asserted, that this custom is now almost abolished, that is, that a smaller number of those miserable people are buried with the body of their king.
The order of succession to the throne is regulated in a manner truly extraordinary. Four of the strongest noblemen carry the body of the deceased king as far as the sepulchre; on reaching which they toss the bier up in the air and keep it from falling to the ground. After giving the corpse several propulsions of this kind, they let it fall upon the grandees who have prostrated themselves around the grave; and the person on whom the royal body rests, is immediately proclaimed king.
Hence royalty is elective in the Bissaux island; though from the arrangements that are made, the election cannot fall upon any but a prince of the royal family, namely the sons, brothers, or nephews of the deceased. It may easily be supposed that those who aspire to the throne, neglect no means to gain the favour of the electors; and happy is he who is rich enough to acquire their good opinion, and obtain their royal burden: such an one on being proclaimed king, has the diadem encircled on his head, that is, they twist round his cap two folds of rope, which is the mark of his sovereign power.
I shall terminate this chapter by mentioning a phenomenon observed by M. Brue. He declares, that he saw on this island a white woman who had a black father and mother: she was married to a black man, and all their children were of his colour. Several travellers have mentioned similar occurrences; but none of them attempt to point out the cause.
CHAP. VIII.
DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLE OF BULAM. — ITS ADVANTAGES AND PRODUCTIONS. — ORIGIN AND FAILURE OF THE ENGLISH ESTABLISHMENT. — RIVERS WHICH FORM THE ARCHIPELAGOS OF THE BISSAGOS, WITH SOME PARTICULARS OF THE PEOPLE WHO RESIDE ON THEIR BANKS. — PARTICULARS OF THE KINGDOM OF CABO, AND ITS SOVEREIGN. — COMMERCIAL ADVANTAGES OF THE VILLAGE OF GESVES, AND THE KINGDOM OF GUENALA.
THE isle of Bulam is situated in 11° 18′ 6″ lat. and 17° 19′ long. It was discovered by the French, who frequented it for a long time, and examined it in every direction, without forming any establishment upon it, though they always intended the contrary. Some of the plans, however, were badly conceived, having originated with men who possessed no knowledge of the country; while others indicated objects of the greatest advantage: amongst the latter were those of M. Brue at the beginning of the last century; of the Abbe Desmance, towards the middle; and of Barber, an Englishman, who resided at Havre, in 1787. All these schemes, however, came to nothing, and are now forgotten.
The island of Bulam is eight or nine leagues long from east to west, about five leagues in breadth from north to south; and between twenty-five and thirty in circumference: it is only separated from the main land by a channel, which forms the harbour at the east end. It is contiguous to many navigable rivers, which ascend to a vast distance in the continent and offer the greatest commercial advantages. The climate is better than that of most of the West India Islands, and is only unhealthy where the rough state of nature is predominant: by cultivation and industry it might be rendered very salubrious.
The shore, which affords an easy landing, is bordered with large and fine trees; the soil rises insensibly during the space of two leagues from the sea to a few hills, serving as the bases of some considerable mountains, which are in the centre of the island. These mountains are neither steep nor barren; they are easy of access, and might be cultivated without much trouble; their summits are covered with trees; and rivers, which always contain plenty of water, issue from them, and fertilize the whole of the country. It is doubtless to this irrigation that the soil is indebted for its fecundity. Palm-trees of every kind, as well as all those which are indigenous in hot climates, are most abundant. The southern quarter is a natural meadow, in which are herds of oxen and wild horses; the former of a very large size, but the latter smaller than ordinary.