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*** • • •

ABBE0KUTA;
SUNRISE WITHIN THE TROPICS:
AN ouTLINE of THE
ORIGIN AND PROGRESS
OF
THE YORUBA MISSION.
chaº stie
MISS TUCKER,
AUTHOR of “souTH INDIAN SRETchss,” AND “THE BAINBow
IN THE North.”
LONDON :
JAMES NISBET AND CO., BERNERS’ STREET.
- 1853.
@ V
3%,3S
r26
LONDON : C. RICHARDs, 100 ST, MARTIN's LANE.
37 ° 3% 7-y? 0
P. R. E. F. A C E .
THE writer of this little volume hopes that
more will not be expected from it than its title-
page professes it to be, namely, an “outline *
of the origin and progress of the Missions in
Yoruba. The many interesting details which
she has omitted will be found in the periodicals
mentiomed below.”
There are some pages which it will be painful
for others to read, as they have been to herself
to transcribe, particularly those relating to the
slave-trade. They could not be wholly omitted
without altering the character of the book; but
the dark deeds have been dwelt on as sparingly
as was consistent with the main objects in view
—the quickening her own and others’ gratitude
to God for what He has already done, and the
stirring up of every heart to more earnest,
* “The Church Missionary Intelligencer,” “The Gleaner,”
“The Juvenile Instructor,” and “The Children's Missionary
Magazine.”
iy PREFACE.
strenuous, and prayerful efforts, to rescue these
nations from the grasp of Satan; to work while
it is day, lest the night should again come upon
them, (though the writer trusts it never may,)
when no man can work. *
For the view of Abbeokuta, and the portrait
of the public crier, she is indebted to the kind-
ness of Edward Irving, Esq., M.D., of Her
Majesty’s Navy, who visited Abbeokuta in
December last with Capt. Foote, R.N., by the
directions of Commodore Admiral Bruce,
WEST HENDRED,
April, 1853.
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Chap.
. Introduction—the Slave Trade
II.
III.
IV.
WI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
* X,
XI.
XII.
XIII,
XIV.
CONTENTS.
The Fellatahs .
Yoruba and its People
Foundation of Abbeokuta—Sierra Leone Emi-
grants
. The Niger Expedition
The Niger Expedition
Rev. H. Townsend’s Visit to Abbeokuta .
Badagry
Arrival at Abbeokuta — Commencement of
Work there — Mr. Crowther's Re-union
with his Mother and Sisters
Progress of the Work—Baptism of first Converts
The Rev. J. C. Müller :*
Progress of the work—the Queen's and Prince
Albert's presents to the Chiefs
Persecution
The Rev. D. Hinderer—Extension of Mission
39
55
72
84
94
104
I23
139
153
. , 169
186
V; CONTENTS.
Chap.
XV. The Dahomian Attack
XVI. John Baptist Dasalu
XVII. Ibadan
XVIII. Abbeokuta Schools— Messages from distant
Chiefs—Visit of Commander Forbes
XIX. Badagry and Lagos
XX. Conclusion
Page
203
220
230
242
The following remarks will assist in the pro-
nunciation of the proper names.
The sound of a is like the a in bath, bat.
6 : vowel in bait, bet.
t 77 7 ) beat, bit.
O 77 7 ) iboat.
Qſ, 37 77 boot, full.
e is almost like ai in bait.
O is like a in law, water.
al ,, . in mile.
ot } ) oi in voice.
g is always hard, as in gate.
8 is pronounced sh.
A BBE () KUTA,
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.—THE SLAVE-TRADE.
“From heaven did the LoBD behold the earth, to hear the groaning of
the prisoner, to loose those that are appointed to death.”—Ps. cii. 19, 20.
ON Friday, the last day of October, 1851, an in-
terview took place, between two individuals, at the
Church Missionary House, Salisbury Square, which
will not soon be forgotten by those who happened
to be present. One of the two was an English
gentleman, of middle age, whose calm and dignified
look and manner well accorded with the fact of his
being a Christian sailor, long accustomed to com-
mand. The other was a younger man, one of the .
sable sons of Africa, in whose intelligent countēn-
ance, and manly yet gentle bearing, might have been
read a tale of wonder and of mercy, at which #gels
had rejoiced. This last was the Rev. Samuel
Crowther, a native of Yoruba, once a slave boy, but
now an ordained minister of the Church of England.
The other was Sir Henry Leeke, an admiral in the
B
2 CHAPTER I.
British navy. The pause of sudden feeling, the
eager grasp of the hand, the inquiring look of glad
recognition, and the hasty question and reply, “Do
you remember me?” “Oh indeed I do,” told of some
previous meeting, of no common character, and of .
no very recent date.
And so it was. In the year 1822, Sir Henry
Leeke, then in command of H.M.S. “Myrmidon,”
was cruising in the Gulf of Guinea, when he fell in
with and captured a Portuguese slaver, in which
Mr. Crowther, then a lad, had just been embarked
to be borne across the Atlantic. He took him,
together with some other boys, on board his own
ship, and after a two months’ further cruise, landed
him in freedom at Sierra Leone. Mr. Crowther
was, at that time, thirteen years old, and since then
they had never met, but twenty-nine years had not
effaced from the recollections of the grateful African
the lineaments of his deliverer. Often, when musing
on the past, had he recalled them to his memory,
and when, in 1841, he accompanied the expedition
up the Niger, he delighted to trace, or to fancy he
could trace, a likeness in one of the officers on board
the Soudan, to him to whom he owed so much. And
now, when he met him once more, hand to hand, and
eye to eye, and recognised the same warm manner
and kindly look that had won his heart on board the
Myrmidon, the events of the intervening years
INTRODUCTION.—SLAVE-TRADE. 3
crowded fast upon his memory, and a flood of mingled
feelings passed across his soul, that well-nigh over-
whelmed him.
The interview was necessarily brief, and again
they parted—the one to take the command of the
Indian navy, the other to return to the work of an
evangelist in his native land.
We have placed this little incident thus early in
our narrative, that we might at once introduce our
‘readers to the name of Crowther, which will very
frequently occur in the following pages, and we will
now proceed to a more connected history.
It would be beyond our purpose were we to enter
into anyhistory of the slave-trade—ofits abandonment
on the part of our own country in the year 1807, or
of the endeavours made to prevent its continuance
by other nations. The names of Clarkson and
Wilberforce are still too dear to the memory of
Englishmen to need our mention of them; and the
details of their persevering zeal, and of the success
with which it was crowned, may be read elsewhere.
We will only glance at the state of things since that
period, in order to make our succeeding pages more
intelligible.
Even the youngest of our readers will remember
the form of the western coast of Africa; how, when
beyond Cape Verde, it follows a south-eastern direc-
4 - CHAPTER I.
tion for four or five degrees, how the encroachments
of the Gulf of Guinea then force it into a course due
east, for several hundred miles, till, after yielding
to two smaller sweeps of the sea, the Bight of Benin
and the Bight of Biafra, it turns abruptly to the
south, and scarcely varies its direction till it reaches
the equator. Along the whole of this coast, an
extent of nearly 2,600 miles, the Spaniards and
Portuguese, notwithstanding their treaties with
Great Britain, continued to pursue the hateful traffic
with unremitting activity. Nearly seventy ports
were open to their slave-ships, and tens and tens of
thousands were annually shipped off to supply the
markets of Cuba and Brazil. Oh! could the walls
of those dismal factories and barracoons relate the
scenes of sorrow and suffering, of cruelty and des-
pair that have taken place within them, we believe
we should find that in the annals of the whole world
no page more dark with crime and misery has ever
been looked upon by God's All-seeing Eye. -
Africa had indeed become “One universal den of
desolation, misery,” and crime.” A fearful waste of
* * When we look on Africa, does not the scene that we
behold approve itself to our sympathising hearts as more
deeply needing, than any other region under heaven, that
message which can light the eye with the beaming smile of
joy! Joy, of all blessings, is the least known in Africa. To
bid the African go on his way rejoicing is a task too little
tried ; for ages and for centuries sorrow has been the heritage
INTRODUCTION.—SLAVE-TRADE. 5
Human life was incurred in the seizure of the slaves
for the market, in the hurried march through the
desert to the coast, under a blazing sun, with a very
scanty supply of water, in the detention at the
ports, where hunger, disease, and despair carried off
their many victims. Those who survived these
accumulated sufferings, pressed down for weeks
between the decks of the slave-ship, had to endure
torments that cannot be described. Scarcely even
can the mind realise the horrors of that voyage—the
sea-sickness—the Suffocation—the terrible thirst—
the living chained to the dead—the agony of despair.
Many perished on the voyage, and the remnant were
sold as slaves, to endure the frightful cruelties of
their Spanish and Portuguese masters.”
. and portion of the sons and daughters of Ham.”—Sermon by
the Bishop of Sierra Leone, at Carfax Church, Oxford, Oct. 31,
1852. • -
* That this is no exaggerated or overcharged picture, we
have unhappily abundant evidence; and as late as 1839 Lord
John Russell, in his letter to the Lords of the Treasury,
proposing the Niger Expedition, says—“I find it impossible
to avoid the conclusion that the average number of slaves
ntroduced into America and the West Indies from the
western coast of Africa annually exceeds one hundred thousand,
and this estimate affords but a very imperfect indication of
the real extent of the calamities which this traffic inflicts
upon its victims. No record exists of the multitudes who
perish in the overland journey to the African coast, or in the
passage across the Atlantic, or of the still greater number who
fall a sacrifice to the warfare, pillage, and cruelties by which
6 - CHAPTER I.
Thus did this hateful trade continue for more than
30 years after its abolition by Great Britain, depo-
pulating the countries, and demoralising both the
captors and the enslaved. Sierra Leone indeed was
a haven of refuge to those who were re-captured by
our cruisers; but the hundreds, or even thousands,”
that were thus annually rescued bore a very small
proportion to the mass of sufferers. The whole of
this part of Africa, with the exception of Liberia,
was in apparently hopeless darkness; liberty, whe-
ther bodily, mental, or spiritual, was unknown, and
the eye of pity sought in vain for any gleam of
better things.
But in the year 1839 the faint streaks of a brighter
morning appeared; and, since that time, thanks to
the unconquerable spirit of a few British and
Christian philanthropists;–thanks to the far-sighted
benevolence of our rulers in entering into treaties
with the more friendly tribes, and to their steady
firmness in maintaining the cruising squadron to
check the trade where it could not be eradicated ;-
above all, thanks to Him who not only thus guided
the slave-trade is fed. The whole involves a waste of human
life and a state of human misery, proceeding from year to year
without respite or intermission, to such an extent, as to render
the subject the most painful of any which, in the survey of
the condition of mankind, it is possible to contemplate.”
* In the three years preceding 1838, 13,000 recaptured
negroes were brought into Sierra Leone and set free.
INTRODUCTION-SLAVE-TRADE. 7
the minds of his servants, but ordered the events of
his Providence to the same end—the slave-trade
has gradually diminished. In 1851, the nearly
seventy-three ports were reduced to three : Lagos,
Porto Novo, and Whydah, all in the Bight of Benin;
and now, in 1853, Lagos is taken—Porto Novo and
Whydah are no longer able to continue the traffic—
Brazil itself has denounced the trade, and the slave-
trade is, we hope and believe, extinct.
CHAPTER II.
THE FELLATAHS.
“The spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape : the
valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed. Give wings unto
Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be deso-
late, without any to dwell therein.”—Jer. xlviii. 8, 9.
WHEN we read of tens, and even hundreds, of
thousands annually falling victims to the slave-trade,
we naturally ask, “How and whence could these
multitudes have been procured?” and the answer to
this question must be sought for in the very heart of
Western Africa. It is true that a small portion of
these unhappy people were prisoners taken in the
continual warfare carried on among the Smaller
states along the shore, but the chief supply was from
the interior, where the love of gain tempted the
more powerful chiefs to make war upon their weaker
neighbours, for the eaſpress purpose of procuring slaves
for the markets on the coast. Here they were
eagerly purchased by Spanish and Portuguese dealers,
who, in return, supplied the native chiefs with rum,
gunpowder, fire-arms, and a few other articles of
European manufacture.” -
* It is, indeed, melancholy to find how all the kindlier feel-
THE FELLATAHS. , 9
. The heathen kings of Dahomey stand out conspi-
cuously in this barbarous warfare; but even they
must yield in this disgraceful pre-eminence to the
Mohammedan Fellatahs.” -
This singular people, who have exercised so extra-
ordinary an influence over the destinies of Western
Africa, seem to have been originally a nomadic
nation, in the fertile tracts along the shores of the
Mediterranean; but being driven thence by the
Saracens, they retired across the Great Desert, and
established themselves to the south and west of it, in
a tract of country called Fooladoo.
In this land of refuge they lived for centuries as a
pastoral and inoffensive people, moving about with
their flocks and herds, as the various spots supplied
them with pasturage and water. Their numbers
rapidly increased, and spreading eastward, they gra-
dually occupied the greatest part of Soudan, while
small parties even made their way aeross the Niger
into the countries of Boossa, Borgoo, and the
northern part of Yoruba. They are spoken of as of
ings of even a Mohammedan or a heathen heart could be so
deadened, but what shall we say to those, who, bearing the
name of Christians, were the instigators to such cruel and
unholy deeds? How true it is, as the natives themselves ex-
press it: “The root of the slave-trade is in white man's coun-
try, not in black man's—for if white man did not buy, black
man would not sell.”
* Called also Foula's and Fellanis.
l:0 CHAPTER II.
quite a distinct race from the Negro, with oval faces,
Small features, and long hair, and their complexion
varying from a dark copper colour to that of our
English gipsy. They were Mohammedans, yet
nothing seems to have occurred to bring out the
peculiar features of that stern and cruel faith, till
about a century ago, when a sudden impulse was
given to their latent love of war and conquest by one
of themselves, the Sheikh Othman, or, as he is oftener
called, Dantodio. -
This ambitious man began by building a town in
his native woods of Ader, and persuading many of
his countrymen to settle there. His next step was
to establish a regular military system; he ranged the
people under different chiefs, to each of whom he
delivered a white flag as a token of future victory,
desiring them to go forward in the name of “Allah,
and of his Prophet,” assuring them that God had
given them all the lands and riches of the “Infidels,”
and declaring that all who fell in battle would be
sure of Paradise. The army, fired by the exhorta-
tions and example of their leader, rushed on to
deeds of valour; and the career of conquest was
rapid and extensive. t -
Ere long the whole of Haussa, Cubbi, and Yaouri, -
were conquered; gradually the centry of Nufi was
brought into subjection, and even the powerful
THE FELLATAHS. 11
kingdom of Bournu, although Mohammedan like
themselves, was for a time obliged to yield.
From that time to the present the Fellatahs" have
been the unceasing scourge of all that portion of the
continent of Africa. Their armies have been conti-
nually in motion, overrunning the country, putting
the chiefs under tribute, destroying towns and
villages, and carrying away the inhabitants to be
sold as slaves. e
The highest authority among them is vested in
the Sultan of Sokatoo, the “Emir el Mumenin,” as
he is called, or “Commander of the Faithful;” and
it is, generally speaking, from him that the inferior
* The Fellatahs must not be confounded with some people
whom the Haussas call “Bature,”—white men, or “strangers,”
who occasionally come from the east as far as the banks of the
Niger for purposes of trade, and who are supposed to be either
Egyptians or Abyssinians. The probability of their being the
latter is greatly strengthened by information given by Bishop
Gobat during his late visit to England. He mentioned that
when he was in Abyssinia, he found there were persons from
Darmoot and Gengira, in the south-west part of the country,
who traded across the continent, and who reported that after
three months' journey they arrived within a fortnight's dis-
tance of the salt sea, with large ships. They gave a curious
statement as to a country called Sidama, two months from
Abyssinia, where they affirmed the people were Christians,
and that they had the Gospels and churches, and where the
men wore long hair and braided. There were two Sidama
boys in Abyssinia, whom the Bishop met with, but they had
left their country at too early an age to be able to give much
information, w
12 CHAPTER II.
Sultans receive their investiture as governors of the
different provinces. The present Emir is Ali ben
Bello, son of the Sultan Bello visited by Clapperton,
and the direct descendant of the founder of this vast
empire, Danfodio. The great boast of the Fellatahs
has been, that their power will soon extend to the
sea; and, from Dr. Barth's account, we find that
their boast has so far been accomplished, as that the
Sultan of Tchamba, near the Tchadda, about three
years ago, succeeded in a “razzia” on the country
between himself and the Bight of Biafra, reached
the Iboe country near the mouth of the Niger,
plundered the whole neighbourhood, and laid it
under a tribute of “slaves, salt, and cowries.”
But, notwithstanding this and other partial suc-
cesses, there is reason to hope and believe that the
power of the Fellatahs is on the wane. We learn
from Dr. Barth that the whole landisso impoverished,
that the Emir can only maintain the expenses of his
government by the large tribute he receives from
the caravans that pass through his territories; while
Lander, as long ago as 1830, speaks of their losing
one town after another in the country of Haussa;
and later accounts tell us of the Nufi people having
in a great degree recovered their independence.
But we must go back to the palmy days of their
* See Mission to Central Africa, in Journal of Royal Geo-
graphical Society for 1851. -
THE FELLATAHS. i8
greatest power, when all the nations on the north and
eastern side of the Niger were subjected to them, and
only a few on its western banks had been able to resist
their inroads. The most important of these was the
heathen kingdom of Yoruba, a country lying inland
from the Bight of Benin, and stretching from two to
three hundred miles in length, and nearly the same
in breadth. Its northern and north-eastern bounda-
ries are the kingdom of Borgoo, the Niger, and part
of the Nufi country; the territories of Kakanda and
Benin skirt it on the east and South-eastern quarters;
the fierce Dahomians border on its western limit;
while on the south it is only separated from the sea
by a strip of land belonging to the Popos. Divided
from the Fellatahs by the broad streams of the
friendly Niger, and powerful enough to check
aggression from any less formidable enemy, Yoruba
enjoyed a comparative peace and prosperity unknown
to most of the neighbouring states.
The towns were numerous and populous (the
larger ones containing sometimes 60,000 or 70,000
inhabitants), and were generally surrounded by triple
walls of wood or mud, and an outside ditch. Wil-
lages of 3,000 or 4,000 were thickly scattered over
the country, and many persons resided on their own
separate farms.
The soil was productive, the climate healthy, the
14 CHAPTER II.
people industrious, honest,” and affectionate, and in
their own simple way they lived in external ease and
comfort.
The nation was composed of several different
tribes, all owing allegiance and paying tribute to
the king of Yoruba, whose residence was at Oyo, or
Eyeo, near the Niger; and though feuds and jea-
lousies among the tribes occasionally led to affrays+
between them, yet nothing had occurred sufficiently
serious to affect the integrity of the kingdom.
But about forty years ago a disastrous change
took place in the social condition of Yoruba, brought
about by a combination of circumstances.
In the southern part of the kingdom very serious
disputes had broken out, not only among the dif-
ferent tribes, but also between the smaller subdi-
visions; and a quarrel in the market of the little
town of Aponi, as to the value of a trifling quantity
of pepper, was the spark to kindle a flame that had
nearly depopulated the surrounding country. The
* The unusual honesty of the Yoruba people is particularly
noticed by Capt. Clapperton.
f The captives taken on such occasions were condemned
to domestic slavery, but it was of the mildest kind. The
slave was then, and still is, considered as part of the family,
is often called “my son,” and a stranger would scarcely
discern the difference between the freeman and the bond-
slave.
TEIE FELLATAHS. 15
towns of Ifé, Ikija, Kesi, the Ijebbus, Owus, and
many others, were in arms against each other, and
now for the first time” did they learn from their
barbarous neighbours to send their unfortunate pri-
soners to the slave-markets on the coast.
In the north the disasters were from a different
Source, and commenced in the ambition of a young
man named Afonja, the chief of Illorin. He had
heard the fame of the Fellatah war-towns beyond
the Niger, and was filled with a passionate desire to
emulate them. Intent only on the accomplishment
of his own will, and regardless of the consequences
to his country, he invited a Fellatah chief named
Alimi from Sokatoo, and another called Alif from
Haussa, to share the government with him. The
offer was eagerly accepted; the door which had been
so long closed was now opened, and the Fellatah
scourge began to be felt in Yoruba.
The two chiefs invited their countrymen to join
them; many of the Yorubans were prevailed on to
embrace their religion; and open hostilities and
* There were few or no Yorubans brought to Sierra Leone
till the year 1822, so that the internal slave-wars could not
have begun much earlier. The labours and the blessed suc-
cesses of Mr. Johnson and the earlier missionaries in the
colony were among the less hopeful tribes.
f We may judge somewhat of the character of Ali, when
we are told that he had at one time 20,000 slaves working
in chains upon his farm.
16 . CHAPTER II.,
secret artifices were but too successfully employed
against this unhappy people. It is calculated that
there were not less than twenty thousand men in
Yoruba whose sole occupation was rapine and slave-
hunting.
At first single farms were attacked, then villages
were destroyed, till, emboldened by success, large
towns fell before them, and massacre, fire, and
misery marked their progress. One of these towns
was Oshogtin, situated in the western part of the
country, beyond the Kong mountains; its wooden
walls were nearly four miles in circuit, and it num-
bered 12,000 as its population.
The people dwelt secure, they were far from the
lands that had hitherto suffered from Fellatah
avarice and cruelty;” they anticipated no attack, and
should an unexpected enemy arrive, their walls were
strong, their men were brave, and what cause had they
to fear? They were soon fatally undeceived. One
morning in the early spring of 1821 the people had
* The progress of the Fellatahs was far less rapid here than
it had been on the further shore of the Niger, for as late as
1825, Capt. Clapperton speaks of that part of the country
through which he travelled as being well cultivated, peaceful
and prosperous ; and Lander, in 1830, only heard of their
distant ravages. It appears too that the early settlers in the
country (see p. 9) did not join their warlike countrymen ;
for the same traveller frequently fell in with Fellatah villages
where the inhabitants were living peacefully and quietly, and
engaged in tending their flocks and herds. #
THE FELLATAHS. 17
risen as usual in peace and security, the women were
busy preparing the morning meal, the men were
following their various avocations, when suddenly
the cry was heard, “The Mohammedans are coming!”
The men rushed to the walls, bidding their wives
and children flee into the bush. It was too late |
So well had the enemy laid his plans, that the gates
were already secured, and escape was impossible.
The men fought as those who were fighting for their
all, but in vain; they were overpowered by numbers;
the troops entered the town, set fire to the houses,
chained together all who would bring them profit,
and massacred the rest. The same Sun that had
risen in tropical splendour on the busy flourishing
town of Oshogtin, shed its setting rays on a mass of
burning ruins, where many a blackened corpse told
of desperate and unavailing struggles. But what
human tongue shall tell of the cries, the groans, the
wailings of suffering and despair that throughout
that weary night entered into the ears of the
“Lord of Sabaoth” from the multitude of widows
and orphans that were led like sheep from 0-
shogtin
One of these was a boy of twelve years old, of the
name of Adjai, who, with his mother and sisters,
was bound in chains and sold into slavery. We
shall not enter into the particulars of this boy's suf-
C
18 CHAPTER II.
ferings; they are already before the public;” we
shall only state that, after having been several times
sold and resold, dragged from place to place, and en-
during almost intolerable hardships and sorrows, he
was, early in 1822, with one hundred and eighty-
seven unfortunate companions, shipped on board a
Portuguese slaver at Lagos, where the treatment he
met with corresponded but too well with the fright-
ful accounts detailed in the Parliamentary Papers.
Happily it was but of short duration, for on the very
next evening, by God’s good Providence, the slaver
fell in with two English cruisers, and was captured
by them. The poor captives were now in greater des-
pair than before, for the Portuguese had succeeded in
making these simple-hearted people believe that the
English thus watched for and seized the slave-ships,
that they might use the blood of the negroes to dye
their scarlet cloth, and their flesh as baits for cow-
ries 1 Adjai and a few other boys were taken on
board one of the English ships; but here their
terror was wound up to its highest pitch by Seeing
a number of cannon-balls piled upon the deck,
which they took for the heads of some of their com-
panions, while they concluded that some joints of
pork hanging up to dry were their limbs. They
were soon, however, re-assured; and when we tell
* “Adjai, or Good out of Evil,” Nisbet and Co.; “ The
African Slave Boy,” Wertheim; and C. M. Record for 1837.
THE FELLATAHS, 19
our readers that the ship on board which our young
friend was now taken was the “Myrmidon,” and the
commander was Captain Leeke, they will have no
difficulty in recognising the heathen Adjai under the
Christian name of Samuel Crowther. •
But our object is history, not biography; we shall
not follow Adjai in the events of his next few years,
except to say that, on his arrival at Sierra Leone, he
was placed under the care of an European catechist
and his wife, who showed him, every kindness; that
he grew in grace as in years, was baptised, and be-
came first a student, and then a teacher in the
Fourah Bay Institution for the education of young
men as teachers and catechists.
Years rolled on in Yoruba, but brought with them
no return of peace or prosperity; the Fellatahs still
gained ground; the slave-wars were still carried on,
and the king, driven from his capital, was forced to
take up his abode in the town of Aggo-Ojá. The
whole country was disorganised, and the inferior
chiefs, throwing off their allegiance to their sove-
reign, left him in possession of but a small part of
his former dominions.”
Adjai's town was rebuilt, and again destroyed;
* Now called Yoruba Proper.
20 - CHAPTER II. .
and not a vestige now remains of what has twice
been Oshogtin. Large districts were depopulated,”
the land in consequence was left untilled, fields of .
waving corn were supplanted by the tangled wood
and impenetrable jungle; the chatter of the monkey,
and the shrill scream of the parrot, took the
place of the busy hum of active human life; while
the roar of the lion proclaimed that he had re-
asserted his ancient rights, and was once more the
monarch of the forest.
* Judges v. 6, 7.
CHAPTER III.
Yoruba AND ITS PEOPLE.
“Who maketh thee to differ; and what hast thou, that thou didst not
receive 2"—1 Cor. iv. 7.
THERE was mercy in store for Yoruba, though she
knew it not ; and while she appeared to be sinking
lower and lower in darkness and in misery, the God
of all grace was, by his Providence, preparing the
way by which the day-spring from on high should
visit her, and guide the feet of many of her children
into the paths of peace. But it will make the
succeeding history more intelligible, if we devote a
few pages to a description of the land, and of its
people.
For many miles from the coast, the country,
though fertile, is low and swampy; but as you jour-
ney on towards the interior, it becomes diversified
with hill and plain; and, from the descriptions given
of it by the Landers, as well as by our own mission-
aries, it must be very picturesque and beautiful.
Deep and fertile valleys lie among the hills;
granite rocks, some lofty, bold, and bare, others
clothed with trees or verdure to their summits; and
22 CHAPTER III.
clear streams, tumbling over their rocky bed, add to
the beauty of the scenery.
The appearance of the towns, from a distance, is
often imposing; the walls enclose a large extent of
land, and fields and trees are interspersed among the
thatched roofs of the lowly dwellings. It is strange,
that in a tropical climate the natives should take
such pains to exclude the air; but the African hut,
like that of the Hindoo, is without windows or any
opening but the low door, while the roof projects so
far beyond the walls, that but little air can find its
way even here. The houses of the better classes are
built round a quadrangle, into which the separate
dwellings open, while a rude piazza runs along the
whole interior. The head of the family occupies
the largest of these dwellings, and round him are
gathered children and grandchildren, and any other
members of his family for whom a separate habitation
can be found. The court in the centre is often
planted, and is the common place of resort for all the
inmates, where, shut in among themselves, they can,
without fear of interruption, talk over any subject of
family interest; and where, on the bright moonlight
mights of that southern clime, the whole party are
frequently collected. Here they will remain for
hours, seated on the ground, and listening with fixed
attention, while one and another relates some passing
incident, or amuses his hearers with some legend or
YORUBA AND ITS PEOPLE. 23
fairy tale, of which these people are passionately
fond.” It is the hour of calm enjoyment, and the
eye of even a Christian Yoruban will glisten at the
thought of these moonlight scenes, though now his
conversation would be of a higher and holier tone.
* We cannot refrain from inserting one of these for the
amusement of our younger readers—it will remind them of
the Arabian Nights; but we must preface it by mentioning
that the character of cunning which we attribute to the fox
is by the Yorubans ascribed to the land tortoise. The tale
runs thus, and is rehearsed in parts, some of it being sung,
and the rest in recitative. There was once a town that was
harassed by the frequent visits of a monstrous and mischievous
bird, with a very large and strong bill, with which he seized
on any living being that struck his fancy. When they had
reason to expect his approach, the people would shut them-
selves up in their houses, and not stir out till the danger was
over. But they seldom had any warning, and the visits of
their winged enemy became so frequent and so fatal, that
many consultations were held as to the best mode of averting
the evil. No effectual means could be devised till the tortoise
came forward and proposed a scheme, which he assured them
would be infallible. “Get,” said he, “three large brass
mortars, and set them upside down, one upon the other, in
the market place; shut yourselves up in your houses, and
leave the rest to me, only do not stir out till I call you.” The
people adopted the advice of the tortoise, procured the largest
mortars the town afforded, placed them according to the direc-
tions, and retired to their own dwellings, while the tortoise
quietly crept under the lowest mortar of the three. Presently
the well-known sound of wings was heard, the bird came, and
was surprised at the unusual appearance of the market, in
which nothing was to be seen but the three brass mortars,
There is some trick in this, thought he, and I doubt not the
24 : ÖHAPTER III,
The people are industrious, and the soil freely yields
them yams, cassada, and the various other grains that
are in use among them, Cotton, too, is grown in con-
siderable quantities, and the women spin, and men
and women weave it into the cloth which is worn
by all. They are generally well clothed in this
their native manufacture; the colour is often blue,
dyed with indigo, and checked with red cotton pro-
cured from Haussa, and which, it is said, is naturally
of that colour. There is a greaty taste for dress
among them, and independently of any religious
motive, some of the gay young men affect the Moham-
tortoise is at the bottom of it. So he began to sing, “I am
the great bird, I am the bird of birds, what have I to do with
that ugly tortoise!” As soon as he had ceased, the tortoise
began to imitate him, singing the same tune, only in a Squeak-
ing voice, and travestying the words, “I am the great tor-
toise, I am the tortoise of tortoises, what have I to do with
that ugly bird?” The bird, enraged at the audacity of the
tortoise, dashed down upon the mortars, and striking the
upper one with his beak, shattered it into atoms; then soar-
fng aloft repeated his song, but in a tone of increasing anger.
The tortoise answered as before, but in a trembling voice, as
if very much alarmed. Again the bird darted down, shattered
the second mortar, and again rose high in the air to repeat
the strain for the third time. The tortoise again responded,
but in a still more trembling voice. The fury of the bird now
knew no bounds; darting down with greater vehemence than
before, he struck his bill into the remaining mortar with such
force that it stuck fast in it, and while endeavouring to extri-
cate himself the tortoise crept out, and calling the people
round, they soon demolished their long-dreaded enemy.
A
YORUBA AND ITS PEOPLE. 25
medan costume, and wear wide sack-like trowsers,
much embroidered, and confined close round the
ankle, with a loose upper garment, and turban; or if
unable to procure this last appendage, they roll a
long piece of cotton round the head. Some of them
are beginning to adopt the English dress; but all
this is to be regretted, as any change of national
costume necessarily involves some degree of change
in the national character, and their present dress is
very becoming. - -
Knives, axes, and implements of husbandry are
made from the iron ore which is very abundant, and
which they have learnt to smelt. Osier baskets and
grassmats are also among their native manufactures.
The red earthenware in common use is made by
women, and burnt by being stacked together, with
layers of wood between the rows, as bricks are baked
in England. One of their most useful domestic utensils
has been provided for them by nature; this is the
calabash, a kind of pumpkin. When the fruit begins
to ripen, a hole is cut in the small end to admit the
air, and thus the pulp decays without injuring the
rind. Sometimes the incision is made round the
fruit, at about one-third from the smaller end, and
a vessel with a neatly fitting lid is produced without
further trouble. These calabashes are of various
sizes, some are smaller than a tea-cup, while others
will hold three or four gallons.
26 CHAPTER III,
A good deal of internal traffic is carried on among
them; markets are held morning and evening in
every town and village, and in the towns there is a
larger one every fifth day, which is attended by all
the neighbourhood. Their only current money is
the white cowry,” forty of which are of the value of an
English penny. They are strung, and tied up in
“heads,” as they are called, each head containing
2,000 shells, equal to 4s. 2d.; and at this rate of
reckoning, we shall not be surprised at £2 or £3
worth being as much as a man can carry, nor wonder
at the expense and difficulty of conveying money
from Badagry to Abbeokuta. -
One of their domestic habits is, we believe, pecu-
liar to themselves. None of the people take their
first morning meal in their own houses, but all, both
men and women, about seven o'clock in the morning,
pay a visit to a cook's shop, and make their first
breakfast on a bowl of gruel of Indian corn. The
women then proceed to the market to purchase ma-
terials for a more substantial repast, which is taken
about ten o'clock. This consists of balls of Indian
corn, called “dengé,” served up in a kind of strong
sauce made of beef, mutton, fish, or fowl, with various
vegetables, and seasoned with salt procured from
* The Cypraea moneta of Linnaeus. These shells are not
found on the neighbouring coasts, but are brought from India
or the Eastern coast of Africa.
YORUBA AND ITS PEOPLE. 27
the Popos, and with Cayenne pepper, which grows
in the country; the whole forming a very nutritious
and palatable food. The family do not generally
collect together for this meal, but each one takes it
when so inclined. In cases, however, where there is
only one wife, she and her children usually join the
husband and any friends he may have invited.
When about to partake of the food, a large earthen
bowl is placed on the ground, containing the dengé
and the sauce; and the party sit down round it. The
balls of Indian corn are taken out of the bowl,
broken and distributed to the different persons, each
of whom dips his portion into the sauce as he eats it.
There is a good deal of animal food consumed in this
way, but it is never eaten solid. One of their chief
articles of food is also the yam.
With regard to the mental and moral character of
the people, the concurring testimony of those who
have had the best means of judging is, that, as a
nation, the Yorubans are far above the generality of
their neighbours.”
The missionaries at Sierra Leone speak of the
greater degree of intelligence and energy apparent
in the people there since the year 1822, before which
time, as we have already stated, there were scarcely
* Lander speaks of the people of Boossa and Kiami, to the
north of Yoruba, as in some respects superior to them, but
these districts are small and comparatively unimportant.
28 CHAPTER III,
any Yorubans in the colony, though afterwards they
were brought in in such numbers, that at present
more than half the population is Yoruban. And
on the other side of the Atlantic, Lord Harris, the
present governor of Trinidad, has spoken of the
superiority of the Yorubans in that island over the
other emancipated negroes. Their minds are in-
genious and acute, and many of their common pro-
verbs, with which Mr. Crowther has enriched his
Vocabulary,” show a quickness of observation, and a
knowledge of human nature, which even their friends
in this country were not prepared to expect, Their
natural disposition is very lively; the children are
full of mirth and play, and are particularly fond of
riddles. You may often hear their merry laugh as,
sitting on a shady bank, they endeavour to puzzle
each other with questions such as these: “What is
that little steep hill that nobody can climb?” or,
“What is it that any one can divide, but no one can
see where it has been divided?” H. Sometimes these
riddles are the current ones of the neighbourhood,
but they often seem to be impromptu.
Considering the mental gifts with which the
Yorubans are evidently endowed, we cannot account
* Some of these will be found in the Appendix.
t Perhaps our young readers will find out, without our
help, that the answer to the first of these is an egg, and to
the second, water.
YORUBA AND ITS PEOPLE. 29
for the small progress they have made in the arts of
civilized life. Many are the accurate and bright
opinions and ideas you may often hear from them
in conversation, yet they have never invented any
written mode of conveying or recording them;
and some of the simplest mechanical powers have
been till lately entirely unknown in the country.*
There is a spirit of independence and generosity
among the Yorubans that, if sanctified by Christian
principle, will make them a fine and noble nation.
It is a remarkable circumstance, that whereas at
Badagry, and generally on the coast, the people
continually ask the missionaries to give them money
for coming to listen to them, or for sending their
children to school, at Abbeokuta the missionaries
often find it difficult to resist being paid for their
preaching. There are very frequent instances of
this in their journals. A missionary will have been
preaching to an attentive and eager crowd in a
market, or under a spreading tree, and at the con-
clusion one of the party, generally a woman, will
* A few years ago, Mr. Crowther procured a cart from
Sierra Leone; the body of it was unfortunately too heavy to
be carried through the swamps and forests, and was left at
Badagry; but the wheels and shafts were conveyed to
Abbeokuta, and excited the utmost astonishment among all
classes. Not only children, but grown-up people, crowded into
his compound, and were delighted with drawing one another
round and round, seated upon planks laid across the shafts.
30 ‘CHAPTER III.
beg him to wait a few minutes, when she will return
with a handful of cowries and some Kola” nuts, and
insist on his accepting them. The cowries of course
are positively refused, but the missionary generally
accepts some of the Kola nuts, and shares them with
those who may happen to be standing next him.
Mr. Smith has told us of a striking instance of
this that occurred to himself. While spending a
few days at Osielle, he visited Malaka, a consider-
able town eight or ten miles to the north. Mr.
Smith here preached the way of salvation through
Jesus Christ alone to a large party assembled under
the fine Aka tree in the middle of the town, and was
listened to with the greatest attention. No European
had been there before, and Mr. Smith, to prevent
any misconception, took an opportunity of telling
them, in the course of his address, that he could not
receive any presents. But notwithstanding this
warning, no sooner had he ceased, than the people
brought him a goat and some Kola nuts, pressing
him most earnestly to accept them. When he re-
fused, they said they could not consider him as their
friend, if he would not accept their presents, and he
* The Kola nuts are in size and appearance very like our
English horse-chesnut ; the flavour is a pleasant bitter, and
they are slightly tonic. Few, if any, grow in that part of the
country, which makes them expensive, and the offering them
is considered a special token of respect.
YORUBA AND ITS PEOPLE, 31
was obliged to compromise the matter by taking the
nuts. And it is pleasant to know that these presents
are made without any expectation of a return. “It
is,” said the generous Ogubonna upon one occasion,
“the custom of our country.”
We will not here omit an instance of noble and
generous daring, tinctured perhaps with something
of wild enthusiasm, that was mentioned by Mr. Hin-
derer when lately in England. A young man of
Ibadan heard that a chief named Pimi, of Ede, a
town at some little distance, had imitated the cruelty
of the Haussa Ali,” in obliging his farm servants to
work in chains. Filled with indignation at this de-
parture from the usual conduct of the Yorubans
towards their domestic slaves, I he resolved to
rescue them, and calling together some of his com-
panions, so passionately urged their accompanying
him, that they readily consented. They set off for
Ede; none dared to oppose their bold and deter-
mined bearing; and the mind of the cruel and
cowardly chief was filled with terror at their ap-
proach. Proceeding to the farm, they knocked off
with their own hands the chains from the astonished
and grateful slaves, and bade them return in peace
to their own homes. This story has a melancholy
sequel, for not long after this exploit, this young
• Page 15. + Page 14, Note.
32 - CHAPTER III.
man's undisguised hatred of tyranny drew down
upon him the suspicion of Some of the chiefs, and he
was secretly put to death. -
And now we must turn to a darker side of the
picture of Yoruba and its people; one in which no ray
of hope could be discovered to lessen the dismal gloom
—we mean its state as to spiritual things; and as if
to give another proof that the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, we find that not-
withstanding their superiority in lower things to
those around them, they were as far from the true
knowledge of God as any of their neighbours.
They have, indeed, an idea of one Supreme Being,
whom they call Olorin, and who, as they believe,
is the Creator of all things; and will often express
their good wishes by “God bless you,” or “I praise
God for your health,” &c.; but they virtually deny
him, by believing that he takes little or no cogni-
zance of things on earth. They offer him, there-
fore no sacrifices, and pay him no homage; all their
worship is reserved for those divinities of their own
invention, to whom they imagine he has delegated
his power, and to whom alone they look for help.”
* These gods are not emanations from or personifications
of the attributes of the one God, as Apollo, Minerva, &c.,
among the ancients, but distinct beings acting as mediators.
When the Yorubans are reproved for idolatry, they will main-
tain that they worship God (Olorin), but that they worship
YORUBA AND ITS PEOPLE. - 33
One of the principal of these is Ifa, the god of
palm-nuts, to whom they ascribe the power of heal-
ing, and to whose priests they apply in times of
sickness. On these occasions the friends of the
sufferer procure a sheep or a goat for sacrifice, and
send for the babbalawo or priest, who begins the cere-
mony by tracing a number of uncouth devices with
chalk upon the wall. Then taking a calabash, he
puts into it some cowries or some palm-nuts, and
placing it in front of the figures he has made, per-
forms his incantations, which are supposed to pre-
wail on the god to enter the palm-nuts or the cowries.
The sacrifice, is then brought in, its throat is cut,
and the priest sprinkles some of the blood on the cala-
bash and on the wall. He then smears it across
the sick man's forehead—thus, as they imagine,
conveying the life of the creature into the patient.
The priest and family afterwards feast on the flesh
of the sacrifice, only reserving a portion to be ex-
posed on the outside of the house for the buzzards;
him through Orisha, who will pray to God for them, and
obtain the blessings they desire. Well may Mr. Townsend
compare their religion with that of the Roman Catholics, and
add, “These sin only against the light of nature—Rome
against that revelation which tells of the one only Mediator.
One evil spirit rules over the darkness of the whole world.
Who can be surprised that the white slave-dealers at Lagos
(Roman Catholics), consult Ifa before sending their ships to
sea. ? It is all the same god!”
D
34 - CHAPTER III.
and if this is quickly devoured by them, the omen
is considered favourable.
Should the sacrifice prove unavailing, and no signs
of recovery appear, it is repeated again and again,
according to the means of the family, or their affec-
tion for the sufferer; and not unfrequently, among
the poorer classes, heavy debts are incurred in the
purchase of animals for the purpose. If all prove to
be in vain, the patient is left to himself; he is not
actually neglected, for food is given him in the
morning and evening, but during the day the family
pursue their usual avocations, and he is left to pass
through the last sorrowful days of his earthly exist-
ence, without one kind hand to minister to his
necessities, with no tender parent or affectionate
child to sympathise in his bodily sufferings, far less
to speak words of comfort to his soul.
They worship, also, the god of thunder and light-
ning; and it is affecting to see how men, women,
and children will, in their mistaken zeal, brave the
fury of the elements, and in the most tremendous
storm, by day or by night, will rush out of their
dwellings, regardless of the pealing thunder, the
vivid lightning, or the pelting rain. Shango is
offended, sacrifices must be offered, and woe to the
individual who should dare to be absent They,
also, like most other heathen nations, adore the
manes of their ancestors, whom they call “Egun-
YORUBA AND ITS PEOPLE. 35
gun, ’ and once in the year offer sacrifices, and hold
a feast in their honour; but it is remarkable that
no trace of serpent-worship has been found among
them; and this is the more curious, as two or three
species of large Snakes receive the peculiar adoration
of their neighbours, the Popos.
They have a singular idea relating to the souls of
their children, believing them to be inhabited and
influenced by the spirit of some one of their ancestors.
When a child is born, a priest is sent for, and inquiry
is made of the favourite deity of the family, as
to which of the deceased forefathers intends to dwell
in the present infant, and a name is given to it
accordingly. This does not seem to be at all the
metempsychosis of Eastern nations, for the spirit
of the departed may at the same time dwell in
many of his descendants, and is evidently considered
as accompanying, not superseding the individual
soul.
The Yorubans are not wholly free from the addi-
tional guilt of human sacrifices. They are far less
frequent in Yoruba than at Badagry; but even here
they are occasionally offered in cases of emergency.
In a time, for instance, of continual drought some
poor slave will be seized, adorned as for a festival,
and thrown into the river, to propitiate the goddess
of the waters, and to serve as food to her attendants,
the alligators and crocodiles. And our missionaries
36 CHAPTER III.
record more than one instance in Abbeokuta itself,
where the unhappy, unconscious victims, after being
paraded through the streets, has been strangled in
the fatal Orisha grove.
They have many other objects of worship in addi-
tion to those we have enumerated; indeed, anything
that can either assist or injure them receives some
kind of adoration. Large trees, red-sandstone, iron,
cowries, the hills of the bug-bugs, or African ant,
(in which they imagine some superior being to
reside), all receive their share, and sometimes they
will worship parts of their own body, their forehead,”
* Mr. Hinderer mentioned, that when he was at Ibadan,
he was visited by a man who had just returned from Abbeo-
kuta, whither he had been sent on business by his master.
He had, it seems, been to our schools there, had seen boys
and girls learning their “book,” and came to tell Mr. Hinderer
that if he would “sit down” at Ibadan and establish a school,
he would be the first to attend it. It was Saturday, and Mr.
Hinderer invited him to come to him on the following day,
and join a few Sunday scholars he had collected round him.
The man excused himself, as he should be busy. “What
have you so much to do to-morrow !” inquired our missionary.
“I must worship my forehead.” “How do you mean?” “As
I came out of Abbeokuta,” replied the man, “the soldiers at
the custom-house ill-treated me, broke a calabash of rum be-
onging to my master, and would have killed me had it not
been for my forehead, so now I must worship it.” “How can
this be?” inquired Mr. Hinderer, “I thought you before said
that God always preserved you.” “Do you white men,” was
the indignant reply, “think us so foolish as to suppose our
forehead itself can save us? No, but God made my forehead,
YORUBA AND ITS PEOPLE. 37
or their foot, especially before they set out upon a
journey.
Every fifth day is reserved by the priests and
devotees for a special worship of their several
deities, but the mass of the people do not seem to
take any part in it. One of the ceremonies that is
gone through upon these sacred days, is the fetching
water for the gods from some neighbouring holy
fountain; and on these occasions long lines of priests
and priestesses, and their immediate followers, are
seen walking in procession with their calabashes
on their heads, and often preserving the most pro-
found silence.* Some of the water is poured out as
a libation to the idol, and the remainder reserved for
UIS6.
Their idols are of clay, or wood, or metal, and
several are generally placed in one particular room
in the house, where they receive some kind of
adoration morning and evening. It can, of course,
and he saved me through my forehead, and so I worship it.”
We find from Mr. Smith that this worship of the forehead con-
sisted in slaying some animal, a goat, or a sheep, the blood of
which is sprinkled on the idols in the house, and streaked
across the forehead of the offerer. The sacrifice is cut into
pieces, and distributed among the friends, a sufficient portion
being reserved for a feast for the family themselves.
* These days are called Osse days, from a word signifying
silence, and in Sierra Leone the Yorubans have very naturally
transferred the term to the Christian Sabbath, which they
call Osse.
38 CHAPTER III.
be no spiritual worship that is offered to their
imaginary deities; no confession of sin, no prayer
for pardon, no supplication for the Holy Spirit,
and no thanksgiving for redemption can come
from their hearts or lips, for of these things they
have never heard. “Make me rich,” “Make me
healthy,” “Give me children,” “Avenge me of
my enemies,” are the only petitions that a poor
Yoruban ever offers to his god. -
Lord, what is man when left to himself, that thou
shouldst ever be mindful of him, or the son of
man that thou shouldst ever visit him And may
we not add, “Who maketh thee, O believer, to
differ?”
C HAPTER IV.
FOUNDATION OF ABBEOKUTA—SIERRA LEONE
EMIGRANTs. -
“O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and
be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.”—
Jer, xlviii. 28.
WHEN we look back on our own personal history,
or on that of the church of Christ, how continually
do we find that our heavenly Father, in his provi-
dential dealings with us, has brought about some
important result by indirect, and, perhaps, unlikely
means. It has been so in the case of Yoruba; the
circumstances that have worked together for her
good appeared at the time to have no connection
with each other, though now we see they were all
linked together by the golden chain of God's
sovereign will and determinate counsel.
Part of this determinate counsel of God was to
bring together people of rival tribes and jarring
interests into close connection and mutual depen-
dence; and as none but Infinite Wisdom could have
accomplished this, so it is profitable for us to trace
out the mode of its accomplishment.
In the south-western part of the kingdom of
40 CHAPTER IV.
Yoruba, amidst rocks and hills of primitive forma-
tion, there stands near the eastern margin of the
river Ogün, a huge porphyritic rock called Olumo,
or the hiding-place, from the concealment it used to
afford to a band of robbers. The summit is com-
posed of large rounded masses of stone; and at One
spot the intervening space forms a kind of deep, but
low cavern, capable of giving shelter to a considerable
number of persons. It was deserted by these robbers
some short time before the year 1825; and in that
year became the refuge of a few poor people, who had
fled from the merciless hands of the slave-hunters,
and knew not where else they could be so secure.
The party who first took possession of the cavern
was soon joined by others, who, like themselves, had
been driven from their homes and friends; and here
they dwelt secure, though exposed to many hard-
ships; often in want of food, and still oftener obliged
to subsist on the leaves of the pepper plant, wild.
roots, or any animals that came within their reach.
At length a few, more courageous than the rest,
ventured to cross the river that lay beneath them, to
purchase a little seed-corn at the nearest village, and
cultivation now began among the rocky hills.
Meanwhile the desolation we spoke of in a preceding
chapter” was rapidly spreading in all the surround-
ing country; town after town was destroyed, and
* Page 20.
FOUNDATION OF ABBEOKUTA. 41
the inhabitants captured; while the comparatively
few that escaped wandered about the country in
search of a resting-place.
The attention of some of these was attracted,
after a time, to Olumo, and by degrees many a small
and feeble band established themselves among the
hills, and the forest gave way to human habitations.
The different parties settled themselves down in
small, but separate, communities; each under its
own laws; each with its own chief and judge, and
war-captain, and with its own council-house; and
each fondly giving to this new-found home the name
of the town or village from which it had been driven.”
To the whole they gave the name of Abbeokuta, or
Understone, partly in memory of the original cavern,
and referring also to the rocks on which most of it
'was built. Fresh parties continued to join them, till
the remnant of one hundred and thirty towns had
found refuge in Abbeokuta; and the spot in which,
thirty years ago, a robber's cave was the only human
habitation, now, in 1853, numbers eighty thousand+
as its population. f
* These townships are still entirely distinct from each
other; but there is no visible separation or boundary, either
natural or artificial. The whole is surrounded by a common
wall, the circuit of which is not less than fifteen miles.
f This is the lowest computation. Several English gentle-
men, who have visited it, speak of 100,000 as nearer the real
amount.
42 CHAPTER IV.
All belonged to the Egba tribe of Yorubans; and
for a time the joy of a common deliverance, and the
sense of a common danger, were sufficient to keep
down any heart-burnings and disputes between the
different townships. It is more than probable, how-
ever, that as a feeling of security returned, the old.
jealousies would have revived and led to disastrous
consequences, had they not in 1829 been joined by a
chief named Shodeke, of the town of Aké, who by
his judicious conduct succeeded in consolidating the
hitherto heterogeneous mass.
Shodeke was a man of a superior mind; wise in
council, and brave in war, he gradually gained an
ascendancy over all the other chiefs, which, instead
of using for his own aggrandisement, he employed for
the advantage of the whole community. Each town-
ship still retained its own local government; but all
matters of general interest were discussed and settled
in a public council, composed of the civil governors
of each town, called Ogbonis, and the war-chiefs, or
Baloguns. This general council was always held in
Shodeke's township of Aké ; and it proves the respect
with which his memory is even now cherished, that
there it is still holden, though Sagbua, who is the
senior chief, belongs to another town. -
Thus have discordant interests been knit to-
gether; and the people of Owu, and of Kesi, and of
Ikija, and of many other towns, have learnt to forget
FOUNDATION OF ABBEOKUTA. 43
their former animosities, and to live side by side in
peace and friendship.
Their union has been their strength; they have
more than once been attacked, first by Ijebbus, then
by Yorubans, and lately by the king of Dahomey;
but they have proved themselves strong enough to
repulse them all; or rather, He who had designs of
mercy for Abbeokuta, has thrown around her the
shield of his Almighty strength.
How little did the Egbas know or think by whom
it was that their steps had been thus directed, and
their hearts turned to each other! The cave of
Olumo had not revealed to them that better “hiding- |
place” from a still greater danger to which they
were unconsciously exposed. The granite hills con-
veyed to them no thought of the “Rock of Ages;”
nor did the river Ogün, as its bright streams danced
over their rocky bed, bring them tidings of that
“River of Life,” of which they would hereafter be
invited to partake. God “hides his bright designs”
in the unfathomable depths of Infinite Wisdom and
Love; and leads the blind in a way that they know
not.
And now, leaving Abbeokuta in peace and Se-
curity, let us pass on to another of those means
which God was pleased to employ for its lasting
benefit, and turn to Sierra Leone.
We would that some able pen would trace the
44 - CHAPTER IV.
entire history of this remarkable colony, in which
the records of bare realities are more romantic than
the day-dreams “that float in soft visions round the
poet's head,” but it would be beside our purpose
were we even to attempt it, and we shall therefore
only briefly allude to it in its relation to our present
subject. -
The devoted missionaries had laboured long and
anxiously in Sierra Leone, many of them even
unto death, among the thousands rescued from the
slave-ships; and abundantly had God blessed their
labours. Education and civilisation had changed
nubmers of the enslaved and degraded negroes into
men of enterprise and intelligence; the preaching of
the Gospel had turned them from idols to serve the
living God,” and, by His grace, the missionaries could
thankfully rejoice over many of these as fellow-heirs
with themselves of the kingdom of their Lord.
This progress was the most rapid among the
natives of Yoruba, many of whom by degrees ac-
Quired a little independent property; and in the
year 1839 we find a few of them actually embarking
their small capital in the establishment of a trade
with those very shores from which they had been sold
as slaves. They purchased from the Government
* Some still remained enslaved to former habits of in-
dolence, recklessness, and heathenism, but those were com-
paratively a small proportion.
SIERRA LEONE EMIGRANTS. 45
a small captured slave vessel; freighted her with
European and Sierra Leone productions; selected
for the crew African freedmen like themselves;*
and, encouraged by the presence of British cruisers
in the Bights, (for they had become British subjects,)
set sail for Badagry. What a picture for us to
contemplate with feelings of adoring gratitude 1 A
vessel, whose only cargo had hitherto been human
beings led forth to perpetual misery, now laden
with articles of lawful commerce, and manned by
some of those very people whose souls and bodies
had once been its only freight ! Praised be God
who put it into the hearts of his servants to esta-
blish the colony of Sierra Leone l
These spirited adventurers succeeded admirably;
they were well received at Badagry, easily disposed
of their goods, and returned with palm-oil and other
native produce. Others of their countrymen were
encouraged to follow their example; two more con-
demned slave-ships were purchased, manned, and
freighted like the first; and it was not long before a
small but brisk trade commenced between Sierra
Leone and Badagry.
And now the thought arose among the colonists,
whether it would be possible to return abidingly to
their native lands, and be again united to friends
* The only white man on board was the master, who was
needed to navigate the ship.
46 - CHAPTER IV.
from whom they had been, as they had believed,
separated for ever. There were serious obstacles to
their attempting this; the difficulties of the journey
inland, and the great danger of being again enslaved,
might have deterred less sanguine spirits; but the
heathen at Sierra Leone longed to escape from the
presence of true religion; and many unestablished
Christians could not resist the temptation of return-
ing to their fatherland, for they thought not of the
danger to which they would be exposed by ven-
turing among their heathen relations without any
outward means of grace.*
Various parties thus emigrated back into their own
lands; and between the years 1839 and 1842 no less
than five hundred had left the colony for this purpose.
We may imagine the excitement and interest which
these departures would occasion, and the eager pre-
parations made by the people themselves. They
were for the most part Yorubans, and bound for
Abbeokuta, of which some vague uncertain rumours
had reached them through the traders. They could
know but little of what they should find there, but
they were well assured that European manufactures
could seldom reach that distant market. They must
* The more established Christians felt this to be an insu-
perable impediment; and no love of kindred or of country
could induce them to quit the colony, unless accompanied by
one of their present ministers. • *
‘SIERRA LEONE EMIGRANTS. 47
therefore take with them clothing for themselves and
their children, for they had adopted the European
dress; they must carry the implements of their
various trades, for these would probably be unknown
there; and to these they added various little articles
as presents and curiosities for their friends in the
interior. All this, added to the passage-money, which
was something considerable, made the undertaking
an expensive one, and prevented many from joining
them who would otherwise have rejoiced to go.
Some of these parties landed at Lagos, at the
mouth of the river Ogün, as being the easiest and
most direct route to Abbeokuta, but they soon had
reason Sorely to repent of the course they had taken.
Lagos was in great measure inhabited by Popos,
ywhose naturally ferocious dispositions had been ren-
dered still more cruel by constant intercourse with
slave-dealers. One would have supposed that the
sight of these people, rescued as they all had been
by a far-distant and independent nation, and now
returning home after years of exile, would have
softened even their obdurate hearts. But cherished
sin, of whatever kind, gradually chokes every kind-
lier feeling, and leaves the heart wrapped up in its
own selfishness. --
The various articles of property the emigrants had
brought with them roused the cupidity of the chiefs
and people; and as each different party reached
48 CHAPTER IV,
Lagos, they seized and robbed them of all they had,
save the clothes they wore, and sent them away a
four days’ journey into the interior, without money
or provisions, tauntingly bidding them rejoice that
they had not again been seized and sold.
It fared far better with those who had taken the
safer, though more difficult route, by Badagry.
Though a slave-port, like Lagos, and chiefly belong-
ing to the Popos, part of the town is occupied by
Yorubans, and they, as well as the chief of this
quarter, Wawu (who, though a Popo, is good-natured
and friendly) welcomed this return of their country-
men, prevailed on some few to settle among them,
and helped the others forward on their journey.
Before the end of 1842, nearly 300 of these
liberated negroes, from Sierra Leone, had thus arrived
at Badagry, most of whom proceeded on to Abbe-
okuta ; and it may be well to follow, in imagination,
some of these people, as they landed from the trading
vessels, in parties of fifty or sixty, and took their
course to the interior. There would be young, and
old, and middle-aged in the company—some Christ-
ians, some still heathen, but all with hearts beating
high with hope and expectation. All probably were
strangers to the actual road by which they travelled,
for the slaves were generally brought down to the
coast by very circuitous routes, but the general
aspect of the country, the birds, the flowers, the very
YORUBA AND ITS PEOPLE. 49
air they breathed, would be to them instinct with
life of other days, and would bring back, with
increasing force, the associations of their childhood.
For many miles, they would travel through a flat,
alluvial country, where no stone of any size is to be
seen, but the ground is sometimes swampy, and at
others coveréd with almost impenetrable jungle.
On leaving this level land, they would enter on an
undulating and picturesque country, where the plains
shone bright with buddhleas and hibiscus of various
colours, while beautiful groves of palm and other
trees invited the weary traveller to rest beneath
their shade, and here and there a sparkling stream
supplied them with delicious water.
But the hand of the spoiler had been here, and
had marred the pleasant prospect; the untilled
ground, and the ruined villages, told of depopulating
slave-wars;* and the beautiful cocoa-nut, banana,
and other trees, laden with fruit, that lingered among
the ruins, stood in mournful contrast with the scene
around.
As our travellers advanced into the more hilly
country, and came within eight or ten miles of
Abbeokuta, the aspect of things greatly improved;
the land was well cultivated; fields of Guinea and
* Mr. King, at a later period, mentions, that in the course
of one day's journey, between Badagry and Abbeokuta, he
passed not less than twenty ruined towns and villages.
E
50 CHAPTER IV.
Indian corn were interspersed with pastures in which
cattle, sheep, and goats were feeding; farm-villages
were scattered here and there, where pigeons and
poultry were seen round almost every dwelling, the
people were busy at their various occupations, and
all wore the appearance of cheerful industry.
As they still proceeded, the narrow path widened
into somewhat of a road; the number of passers to
and fro told of their approach to Abbeokuta ; already
they discerned the picturesque rocks that surmount its
eastern quarter, and could trace the river Ogun by the
luxuriant foliage that marks its course; and how must
every heart have throbbed and every eye been strained
to catch the first glimpse of the longed-for spot!
At last it burst upon them in all its beauty of
situation, and with all the bold romantic scenery
that has called forth such admiration from even the
passing visitor.” *
The town of Abbeokuta, more than three miles in
length, and nearly as much in breadth, stands, as
we have said, amidst a group of granite rocks on the
eastern bank of the river Ogun, and its native dwell-
ings have a singularly picturesque effect as they are
seen rising one above another on the rocky heights, or
clustering in the intervening hollows, and every-
* See Journal of Rev. T. B. Freeman, in “Missionary
Register” for 1843. Later English travellers speak of it in the
Same terms.
FOUNDATION OF ABBEOKUTA. 5i
where interspersed with trees of various forms and
hues. Here the lowly roofs are half concealed by the
orange, the lime, the plantain, and the banana, with
their pleasant fruits; there the broad umbrella-tree
spreads its grateful shade; and there are seen the
tall and handsome cotton-trees overtopping all the
rest. Huge blocks of uncovered granite are tower-
ing higher still, and in the midst of all, the eye
rests with peculiar interest on that broad flat rock
that covers the cave of Olumo.
Our minds involuntarily turn to Tasso's descrip-
tion of the army's approach to Jerusalem, and their
first sight of the desired city, where he says:—
“Ali ha ciascuno al core, ed ali al piede,
Ni del Suo ratto andar però s'accorge ;
Ma quando il sol gli aridi campi fiede
Con raggi assai ferventi, ed in alto sorge,
Ecco apparir Gerusalem si vide,
Ecco additar Gerusalem si scorge,
Ecco da mille voci unitamente,
Gerusalemme salutar si sente.”
Far different thoughts, however, from those of the
heroic but mistaken Crusaders, occupied the minds
* “One would have thought each heart and foot had wings,
For now, unconscious how the gushing springs
Of nearer hope unwonted strength supply,
Swift and more swift o'er hill and plain they fly.
When lo l Jerusalem before them stands,-
Jerusalem they pause—a thousand hands
Are raised on high-a thousand tongues proclaim
Jerusalem Jerusalem thy hallowed name !”
52 e CHAPTER IV.
of our pilgrims. No dreams of earthly conquest were
theirs, but every heart swelled with the hope of
again embracing the beloved ones who had so long
been lost to them, and with the joy of being once
more the denizens of their own cherished land.
Doubtless, thoughts of future victory arose in some
of those hearts, but it was a victory not over
Saracens and earthly enemies, but over idolatry and
sin; they cared not to regain the long-forsaken
tomb of Him they loved, but to lead others to know
and love Him as the Resurrection and the Life.
Many a heart-stirring recognition, and many a joy-
ful re-union awaited their arrival in the town; and
the people heard with wonder the tale they had to
tell. Hitherto all that the tribes in the interior had
known of Europeans was from the Portuguese, who
had spared no pains in endeavouring to persuade
them that God created the black man to be slave to
the white; and so entirely had these simple-minded
people believed the assertion of their betrayers, that
they actually invented a fable to account for it.
But now, when their friends and countrymen related
their strange adventures, and they listened to the
history of their sufferings at the barracoon, and in
the slave ship; of their rescue by the English; of
their settlement at Sierra Leone as free men; and of
all the kindness shown them there, the truth broke
in upon them, and their astonishment and admiration
FOUNDATION OF ABBEOKUTA. 53
of the English nation were unbounded. And when
their Christian brethren told them, not only of the
love of English Christians, but of the source from
which it flowed, the conviction forced itself on some
of their hearts that the English religion must be the
right one. * *
The emigrants, on their part, must have been
agreeably surprised at the prosperity and compara-
tive civilisation of Abbeokuta. The houses, though
of clay and thatched, were better built and more
commodious than is usual in Africa. The people
were well clad, industrious, cheerful, and contented,
the markets were numerous and well supplied. Indian
and Guinea corn, beans of various kinds, sugar-
canes, yams cooked and uncooked, fresh meat, beef,
pork, and mutton; fish, fowls, pigeons, and dried
rats (of which the people are very fond), were all to
be purchased there. Pepper, ginger, pine-apples,
oranges, plantains, and bananas, apples, papaws,
limes, ground-nuts, ready-made soup, palm-wine,
beer made from Guinea corn or from maize, and
palm-oil, were in abundance; while various articles of
domestic use—such as cotton, raw or in reels, cloths,
some of rich texture and woven with the red cotton
from Haussa, Moorish caps, sandals, leather bags
and embroidered leather cushions, saddles, stirrups
and bits of native manufacture, bill-hooks, and hoes,
knives and cutlasses, earthen bowls and dishes, cala-
54 CHAPTER IV.
bashes, ropes and lines, are all enumerated as among
the articles for sale. All, or most of these were of
home manufacture, and one sighs to observe, that the
only articles that Europe furnished were tobacco and
gunpowder. * -
But many of those Christian emigrants, who, while
enjoying the means of grace at Sierra Leone, had
thought they could do without them here, soon dis-
covered their mistake, and how important it was to
them to have a regular ministry, and stated times
for public worship. Their former indifference was
changed into anxiety, and they seized on every
opportunity of intercourse with Sierra Leone, to send
the most urgent intreaties to their friends and former
ministers to use all the means in their power, that
missionaries might be sent to Abbeokuta. The
child-like confidence of these simple-hearted people
in the love of English Christians, is very touching,
for they felt so sure of an answer to their appeal,
that they did not hesitate to assure Shodeke, the king,
that “White man would soon come.”
We shall only speak of one more of the many
means that God made use of for the deliverance of
Yoruba; and this, though less direct in its effects,
has not been less important in its bearing on the
destinies, not only of Yoruba, but of nations far
beyond it; we mean the Niger Expedition, which we
shall reserve for the following chapter.
CHAPTE R. W.
THE NIGER EXPEDITION.
“Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the Unmgs
of others.”—Phil. ii. 4.
THE Niger How strange the mystery that hung
for centuries over this celebrated river ! Its source,
its termination, and even the direction in which it
flowed, were all unknown l Herodotus mentioned it
between two and three thousand years ago, and he,
as well as succeeding geographers of the ancient
world, spoke of it as flowing from west to east :
though, while some considered it as a tributary of
the Nile, others supposed that it lost itself in a lake
or deep morass in the centre of the continent.
The Arab writers of the middle ages, and the
European geographers down to the middle of the
last century (with scarcely an exception*) main-
tained that it rose near the sources of the Nile, and,
after flowing across the continent in a westerly
direction, emptied itself into the Atlantic; asserting
that there was no river that ran towards the east.
It was not to be wondered at that amidst all these

* We believe only D'Anville and Rennell.
56 CEIAPTER V.
conflicting opinions the very existence of the river
of Herodotus began to be considered as a fable, but
towards the end of the century a spirit of inquiry was
again aroused, and in 1788 the African Association
was formed, one of the first attempts of which was to
trace the Niger from its source to its termination, -
and its ultimate object was to introduce Christianity
and civilisation into the heart of Africa. We shall
pass over its earlier proceedings and disappointments,
and only refer to the discoveries made by Mungo
Park. How, as we write his name, do the recollec-
tions from early years come vividly before us! the
eagerness with which we read his journal; our sym-
pathy with all his hardships and sufferings;* our
admiration of his unflinching courage, his gentleness,
and patience; how we rejoiced with him when he
attained the object of his search, and found himself
standing on the brink of that river which had for so
many ages eluded the researches and perplexed the
* Especially were we moved by the touching incident of
the piece of moss near Kooma, and Park's own description of
it. “I saw myself,” he says, “in the midst of a vast wilder-
ness, in the depth of the rainy season, naked and alone,
surrounded by savage animals and men still more savage, I
was five hundred miles from any European settlement. My
spirits began to fail me, and I thought I had no alternative
but to lie down and perish. The influence of religion, how-
ever, supported me, for I was still under the protecting eye of
God. At this moment, painful as my reflections were, the
extraordinary beauty of a small moss in fructification caugh
THE NIGER EXPEDITION. 57
minds of all the learned—“the long-sought majestic
Niger, glittering in the morning sum, as broad as
the Thames at Westminster, and flowing slowly to
the eastward. I hastened,” he goes on to say, “to
the brink, and having drunk of the water, lifted up
my fervent thanks to the Great Ruler of all things,
for having thus far crowned my endeavours with
success.” Sickness, suffering, and want soon com-
pelled the traveller to retrace his steps, but one great
point had been gained, and the direction of the river
was placed beyond a doubt.
Then came his second journey, his attempt to fol-
low the river throughout its course till it should
reach the Sea, and the melancholy event of his death
at Boossa. Conflicting opinions again arose as to
its termination, some reviving the old opinion of its
being lost in the interior; others, among whom was
Mr. Park himself, supposing that it joined the Congo;
while a very few adopted the idea that perhaps it
might flow into the Gulf of Guinea. Among the
my eye. The whole plant was not larger than the tip of one
of my fingers, but I could not contemplate the delicate con-
formation of its roots, leaves, and capsule without admiration.
Can He, thought I, who planted, watered, and brought to
perfection, in this obscure part of the world, a thing which
appears of so small importance, look with unconcern on the
situation and sufferings of creatures formed after His own
image % Surely not. I could no longer despair. I started up,
and disregarding both hunger and fatigue, travelled forwards,
assured that relief was at hand, and I was not disappointed.”
58 CHAPTER V.
last was the lamented Captain Clapperton, who had,
however, no means of confirming his belief. But
we shall not stop to cross the river with him in 1825,
or to accompany the intrepid Landers, in 1830, in
their adventurous passage down its stream from
Yaoorie to the sea; we shall only remind our readers
that the discoveries of the latter set the question at
rest for ever, as they found that it did really flow
into the Gulf of Guinea; but that, long ere it reached
the sea, it was, like its Northern sister, divided into
a number of Smaller streams, forming what is now
called the Delta of the Niger.”
Thus far had the objects of science been attained;
and it remained to apply the discovery to a higher end,
and to make it subservient to the cause of religion and
humanity. We need not recall to our readers the
origin of the Niger Expedition; how the conviction
by degrees forced itself on the minds of the friends
yf Africa, and especially on that of Sir Fowell
Buxton, that, important and even necessary as our
cruisers were to check the slave-trade on the Coast,
yet the remedy, to be effectual, must be applied to
the source of the evil; and that Christianity and
civilisation, carried into the heart of Africa, would
* The existence of this Delta removed the chief difficulty
in the supposition of the river taking this course, for there
was no single stream along this well-known coast that could
at all correspond in size with the upper portion of the Niger,
where it is occasionally five or six miles across. . . . .
THE NIGER EXPEDITION. 59
alone avail for its deliverance.* Nor need we tell
them of these convictions resulting in the plan of
sending an exploring expedition up this mighty river
to obtain accurate information of its hitherto almost
unknown shores, and to make any arrangements that
might be practicable.
The scheme was taken up by persons of all ranks
and parties; the Prince Consort strongly favoured it;
and the Government, with Lord John Russell at its
head, consented to make it a national undertaking.
Bold and hazardous as was the enterprise, from the
known unhealthiness of the climate, and the very
doubtful disposition of the natives, it commended
itself to many British and Christian hearts; and
there was no want of either officers or men to enter
on this service.
Captains Trotter, William Allen, and Bird Allen,
were placed in command of the three new steam
vessels, the Albert, the Wilberforce, and the Soudan;
and, in conjunction with 'Captain Cook,+ were
appointed Her Majesty's Commissioners for the
management of the whole undertaking. The com-
missioners, and most, if not all, the officers, were men
of decided Christian piety; many of the crew partook
of their views and feelings; a valuable chaplain ac-
* See Sir T. F. Buxton's Memoirs.
† Well known as commanding the Cambria, when, in 1825,
she so gallantly and generously rescued the passengers and
crew of the Kent. -
60 CHAPTER W.
companied the vessels, and a general union for prayer
was entered into for a blessing on the enterprise.
The vessels sailed in April, 1841, and never
surely did any expedition leave the shores of Britain
with a more single-minded aim, or with brighter
prospects. Its object was not one of public or of
private aggrandizement; no love of lucre was min-
gled in this generous effort to rescue Africa from
degradation, misery, and bloodshed, and to intro-
duce Christianity, civilisation, and peace; while the
character of those to whom it was entrusted gave an
earnest of the manner in which all would be con-
ducted. The language of many a heart was:–
“Heaven speed the canvass, gallantly unfurled '
To rescue and to renovate a world;
Soft airs and gentle heavings of the wave
Impel the fleet whose errand is to save.
Let nothing adverse, nothing unforeseen,
Impede the bark that ploughs the deep serene,
Charged with a freight, transcending in its worth
The gems of India, nature's rarest birth;
That flies like Gabriel at his Lord’s commands,
A herald of God’s love to pagan lands !” -
On June 24, the vessels entered the harbour of
Sierra Leone, where, as might be expected, their
arrival awakened the liveliest interest. “The whole
colony,” we are told, “was in a state of excitement;
nothing else was talked of among either Europeans
or natives; the latter of whom began eagerly to
speculate on the facilities it might open to them of
* Cowper's Poems.
NIGER EXPEDITION. • 61
returning to their own land, if only they could be
accompanied by an European missionary.
Twelve young Christian natives were taken as
interpreters to the various tribes with whom the
party might come into contact—such as the Brass,
the Iboe, the Egarra, Kakanda, Yoruba, Haussa,
Fellatah, Nufi, and Bournou people. Mr. Thomas
King, a Yoruban, went as Schoolmaster and cate-
chist. The Rev. J. F. Schön, one of the mission-
aries of the Church Missionary Society, was received
on board the Albert, and Mr. Samuel Crowther, who
at this time was a teacher in the Fourah Bay Insti-
tution, sailed in the Soudan. {
During the week of their stay at Free Town,
much prayer for the safety and success of the expe-
dition was offered up by Christians of various deno-
minations; and on one occasion, at the invitation of
the chaplain of the colony, the Rev. D. F. Morgan,
no less than 1,500 Negroes assembled for Divine
service in the Free Town church.
On the 2nd of July, the ships again set forward,
and the prayers and blessings that had risen from so
many British hearts on their departure from England,
were now repeated again and again from the min-
gled tribes of Africans at Sierra Leone—
the vessels, and their noble-minded crews |
We shall pass over the incidents of the vöyage to
Cape Palmas, and along the coast of the Gülf of


62 CHAPTER W.
Guinea; we will not even dwell upon the landing at
Cape Coast of the two converted Ashantee princes,
who had been brought to England by a Wesleyan
missionary, and were now returning with the hope
of benefiting their native land.
But we shall take the opportunity of giving our
readers a more definite idea of the principal objects
aimed at in this expedition, and which the Com-
missioners were to further as far as possible. The
most simple of these was to obtain a knowledge of
the climate, soil, and inhabitants of the countries
bordering the Niger, and to inspire the people with
confidence in our friendly intentions towards them.
The more important object was to prevail on the
native chiefs to enter into a treaty with Great Bri-
tain to suppress the slave-trade in their own domi-
nions, and discourage it in others; to abolish human
sacrifices; to enter into commercial relations with
us, and to allow missionaries and merchants to
reside among them. And there would be the less
difficulty, it was hoped, in forming these treaties, as
it would only be necessary to conclude them with the
three principal chiefs—the kings of Iboe, on the
western bank, of Egarra on the east, and of Rabba,
500 miles from the sea, which it was intended
should be their final point of destination. The two
first of these were heathen, but the last was a Fella-
tah; and if our readers remember what we said of
NIGER EXPEDITION. 63
the Fellatahs in our second chapter, they will be
aware that more difficulty in making these arrange-
ments was to be expected from him than from the
others. And, if it should be found practicable, land
was to be purchased on some convenient spot for the
establishment of a model farm.
The ships were safely brought to the mouth of
the river Nun, and on August the 13th, they crossed
the dangerous Bar. Steaming rapidly up the river,
they soon left behind them the swamps and man-
groves of the Delta; and on entering the main
stream found themselves in a better peopled and
better cultivated country.
The period of the annual rising of the river had
been chosen as likely to be less unfavourable to the
constitutions of the Europeans, but it added much to
the difficulty of intercourse with the people, as many
of the villages were inundated, and the inhabitants
had removed for a time to higher ground. The
communication among themselves was not, however,
at all suspended; boats were continually passing
and re-passing; and it was curious to see the
surprise awakened by the sight of the steamers.
They had evidently, in this part of the river, been
accustomed to the sight of white men, though their
constant inquiry for “rum” showed too plainly what
had been the character of their intercourse.” But
* Capt. Cook, in a kind communication lately made by him,
64 CHAPTER v.
a steamer they had never seen; and they stared with
astonishment as the apparently self-moving monster
floated on against the stream, and in some cases they
expressed their delight by dancing to the movement of
the paddles. One of the chiefs, higher up the river,
gravely inquired whether the English always lived
on the water, or whether they had lands and houses
like other people.
Yams, and the few other vegetables this part of
the country produced, were readily brought to the
ships to barter for trifles of European manufacture;
and a little incident occurred on One of these occa-
sions which we will not pass over. It was soon
after they entered the river, and a number of canoes
had crowded round the “Albert,” when the Brass
interpreter was, struck with the countenance of a
man in one of them, whose features he thought he
recognised. Many years had passed since the inter-
preter had been an exile from his native country;
all recollections of the scenery around had been
effaced from his memory, and the man he thus
singled out had passed from middle life to declining
says, “We found the character of the natives improve as
we advanced into the interior ; they were more straight-
forward, simple and honest in their dealings, and careless
about rum or tobacco, for which the natives near the coast
were incessantly asking,-an evident proof how much the
moral character of the people near the sea-coast had been
deteriorated by their intercourse with Europeans.”
NIGER IXPEDITION. 65
age; yet his heart beat truly when it suggested to
him that he knew him.
The village on the bank was Anya, where the
interpreter had passed the first years of his cap-
tivity; and this man had been his faithful nurse and
doctor through a long and suffering illness. We may
imagine the astonishment of the man at being thus
recognised; he knew that his young friend had been
taken to the coast and sold to the white men, by
whom he believed he had been killed and eaten, and
now to see him standing before him in European
dress, and with much of European manner and in-
telligence, and to hear his narrative of all that had
befallen him, was almost too much for the old man
to bear. “If God himself,” said he, “had told me
this, I could not have believed it, but now I see it
with my own eyes.”-r
The first place of any importance that they came
to was Aboh, the capital of the Iboe country, on the
western bank; and a deputation was sent to the
king, Obi, explaining to him the objects of the expe-
dition, and inviting him to come on board the
steamer the following day.
Simon Jonas was the Iboe interpreter, and when
* See page 32.
# Several incidents of this kind occurred during the passage
up the river, and must have left a favourable impression on
the minds of the natives.
F.
66 - CHAPTER V.
he explained to him that one of the articles of the
treaty would be the suppression of the slave-trade,
Obi hesitated, saying, “That is a hard thing to do.”
With great readiness, Jonas acknowledged that it
was a hard thing to give it up, but asserted that it
was harder still to continue it. He drew a vivid
picture of the misery it was even then causing
in the Iboe ºº:: desolating wars, the
and children, the ruined vil-
lages, the uncultivated fields, the want of confidence
between man and man; then referring to his own

separation of paren
experience, he described the sufferings of himself and
two hundred other boys on their way from the inte-
rior to the coast; told of many that had died from
hunger and fatigue, of others that had been offered
up as sacrifices by the king of Bonny, and of some
among these poor lads who had committed Suicide.
He spoke of the slave-ship in which he had been
embarked, of the bad provisions, the want of water,
the crowded hold, the deaths of many, and the
throwing overboard of some still alive, who were
considered past recovery; and wound up his fright-
ful narrative with the thrilling question, “Is it not
harder to continue it than to give it up?”
During all this time Obi listened with the deepest
attention, and when the interpreter went on to speak
of his liberation, of Sierra Leone, of the English,
and of the love of Christians towards the Africans,
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NIGER EXPEDITION. 67
he appeared much moved; he rose up and shook
hands with all the Europeans present, as if to tell
them how much he felt their kindness to his people.
He readily agreed to go on board the Albert on the
following morning, when the Commissioners entered
fully into the objects of the expedition, and the
terms of the proposed treaty. When it was about
to be signed, Obi was told that it was the custom
of Christians to ask the blessing of God before they
proceeded to any important undertaking; and the
whole party present knelt down, while the chaplain
offered up a suitable prayer. They were quite unpre-
pared, however, for the effect this had on the Chief;
he had knelt down with the rest, but hearing a prayer
in a strange tongue offered up with earnestness and de-
votion, he became dreadfully alarmed, imagining that
they were using some incantations against himself
or his people. When they rose from their knees,
they found him trembling like an aspen leaf, and
with the perspiration rolling down his cheeks from
agony of mind;’ he called out loudly for his “arrisi,”
or charm; and his head-man, who was on deck,
hearing his cry, hastened down to his succour, and
was about to commence the performance of some
counteracting heathen rites in the cabin. He was
* Mr. Schön, in relating this, mentions it as not an unfre-
quent occurrence at Sierra Leone, when a newly arrived
African enters a place of worship for the first time. -
68 CHAPTER W.
however stopped, and the interpreter with some
difficulty Succeeded in quieting his mind.
By degrees Obiquite recovered his serenity, entered
into friendly conversation with the party present,
and finally signed the treaty with evident sincerity.
Captain Trotter, whose views rose far above even
the most important temporal advantages, lost no
fitting opportunity of bringing forward the subject of
Christianity. Obi, with great simplicity, confessed
his utter ignorance of God, and expressed a strong
desire that teachers should be sent to himself and his
people. No promise could be made to him that any
white men could be sent, but a hope was held out
that he might perhaps be visited by some black
people from Sierra Leone, who had learnt to know
and love God. -
Mr. Schön then desired Jonas to read a few verses
from the English Bible, and translate them into
Iboe. The portion selected was the beginning of
the fifth chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel, and Mr.
Schön adds: “Obi was uncommonly taken with
this. That a white man should read and write was
a matter of course, but that a black man, an Iboe
man, one who had been a slave in times past, should
Rnow these wonderful things, was more than he
could have anticipated. He seized Jonas's hand,
squeezed it most heartily, saying, ‘You must stop
with me; you must teach me and my people; the
NIGER EXPEDITION. 69
white people can go up the river without you, they
must leave you here till they come back, or till other
people come.’”
Jonas could not be left behind just then, but a
few days afterwards, when his services as interpreter
were no longer needed, he went back to Aboh, and
remained there till the expedition returned down the
river.
This request of Obi's was doubly satisfactory, as
it not only proved the sincerity with which he had
promised to proclaim the abolition of the slave-trade
throughout all his dominions, but as it showed that
Negroes are not unwilling to receive instruction
from their own people, as has sometimes been Sup-
posed.
The next important place they arrived at was
Iddah on the eastern bank, the capital of Egarra,
(or Igalla,) and the residence of the Attah, (or king,)
whose dominions extend northward to the confluence
of the Tchadda and Niger, and who claims also the
country of Kakanda, on the opposite side of the
river.
The Attah of Egarra showed the same friendly
disposition as Obi had done, the same willingness to
enter into the treaty, and the same desire for reli-
gious teachers to be sent to him. He had, however,
a much higher sense of his own importance; for
when the deputation waited upon him as they had
70. & CHAPTER V.
done upon Obi, and invited him on board the steamer
to receive a message from the Queen of England, he
peremptorily refused, as being beneath his dignity.
“I am a king,” he exclaimed, “and the king never
puts his foot into a canoe. If the captain of the
canoe wishes to see me, he must come on shore, or
not see me at all; the king follows nobody. God
made the king to be like himself, and it was never
known that the king went into a canoe.” He com-
plained of the presents not being good enough, for as
“he was like God, the present ought to be worthy of
him and of God!” &c. And this from a man who
could neither read nor write, who appeared in state
with bells round his legs, a quantity of glass beads
round his neck, and “a pair of carpet slippers large
enough for an elephant,” and whose only really good
article of clothing was a red velvet tobe that had
been given him by some previous traveller But
pride is never at a loss for materials on which to
build a temple to itself!
Captain Trotter and his friends did not think it
worth their while to contend this matter with the
great man; they went on shore, and this homage
being paid to his dignity, he signed the treaty as
readily as Obi had done.
The Attah also very readily agreed to the pur-
chase of land on which to form an English settle-
ment, and to commence a model farm; and a tract of
NIGER EXPEDITION. 71
twenty miles along the banks was formally taken
possession of for these purposes in the name of the
Queen. A few Europeans and several Africans,
with Mr. T. King from Sierra Leone, were landed as
quickly as possible with provisions and implements
of various kinds, and it was very encouraging to see
with what joy the inhabitants of the newly-purchased
land welcomed the prospect of having white men for
their neighbours and protectors.”
* They had suffered much from the inroads of the Fellatahs,
and within the limits of the newly-purchased land there still
remained the ruins of what had evidently not long before
been a large and populous town—Addu Kuddu.
CHAPTER WI.
THE NIGER EXPEDITION.
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”—Psalm
cxvi. 15,
SEPTEMBER had now arrived, and as its earlier
days passed on, they left our party near the con-
fluence of the rivers, full of hope, and thankfully
encouraged by the success that had hitherto attended
them. Satisfactory treaties had been concluded
with the only two native chiefs with whom they had
yet communicated; wherever they had landed, the
chiefs and people had expressed a wish for English
to settle among them; and the attah had permitted
them to purchase the land they desired for the pro-
posed model farm near Addu Kuddu.
The unhealthy portions of the river had now been
passed, and no sickness had appeared among them ;
and they were entering a country with hills and
fantastic rocks that reminded Mr. Schön of the
ruined castles on the Rhine, and where there was
every prospect of an increase of health and vigour.
There was no reason to doubt their reaching Rabbah
before the river began to fall; and if they could
NIGER EXPEDITION. 73
prevail upon its king also to sign the treaty, the
principal objects of the expedition would be effected.
But God, whose thoughts are not our thoughts,
had willed it otherwise; dark clouds gathered round,
and overcast their bright prospects; and there are
few narratives more touchingly painful than the
Subsequent history of this expedition, especially
when we consider its object and its aims. We must
only glance at it.
A malignant fever broke out in one of the ships,
baffling the skill of the medical officers to arrest its
progress, till, on Sept. 17, we read of fifty-five on the
sick-list, some of whom were officers, and almost all
were Europeans. Six of these died in the course of
the next two days, and were buried in the ground
just purchased for a model farm; and thus a ceme-
tery was formed where it had been hoped to lay the
foundation of a living temple.”
The sickness increased; Captain W. Allen and
Captain Cook were both taken ill; and as there ap-
peared no hope of amendment while they remained
in that part of the river, it was decided that the
Wilberforce+ and Soudan should take the invalids
* See Dr. Krapff's letter in Church Missionary Intelli-
gencer for February, 1852, page 29.
+ Speaking of the Wilberforce at this time, Mr. Schön says,
“It is more like an hospital than a man-of-war. Quarter-
deck, forecastle, and cabins full of patients. The sight is
enough to melt a heart of stone.” -
74. CHAPTER VI.
on board and return immediately to the sea; while
Captain Trotter and Captain B. Allen should still
prosecute the original design, and, if possible, get up
to Rabbah in the Albert. The ships parted com-
pany on the 21st of September; and as the Albert
ascended the river, the spirits of all revived, the air
felt fresh and clear, and they hoped they had left all
malaria behind them. This was a delusive hope.
Before night Captain B. Allen was laid low; and as
they proceeded, another and another was added to
the melancholy list. Nor was the aspect of the
country through which they were passing calculated
to raise their spirits. It was inhabited by the Nuft
people, whose capital had formerly been Rabbah,
but the Fellatahs had taken Rabbah and overrun
the country, and Sumo Sariki, the present Fellatah
king, was frequently sending his soldiers to the
towns and villages to exact money or to seize the
people.
There were some Nufi people from Sierra Leone
on board the Albert, and their hearts ached at the
sad condition of their countrymen; they spoke to
them of the English, of Sierra Leone, and of Chris-
tianity; and the oppressed people anxiously intreated
to be taken under British protection. In a few days
the party reached the Nufi town of Egga, containing
7000 inhabitants. It was the best built and largest
place they had yet seen, and as it had hitherto been
NIGER EXPEDITION. 75
comparatively free from Fellatah exactions, the
people were industrious and thriving.
Rogang, the chief, was an intelligent and well-
disposed man, and professed himself willing to join
in the treaty, were it not that he feared the dis-
pleasure of his master at Rabbah, who claimed from
him allegiance and tribute. He had not himself
embraced the religion of his oppressors, but many of
his people had done so, and its baneful influence was
very visible among them. The Albert was now 320
miles from the coast, the river was beginning to fall,
the sickness continued, and Captain Trotter had
begun to doubt whether it would not be necessary
to give up Rabbah, and return at once to the sea.
But at this juncture all doubt was removed, for he
was himself seized with the fever, and only one officer
remained who was able to take any duty.
But though he felt it impossible to proceed, yet
neither illness of body nor prostration of mental
power could divert Capt. Trotter from the great
objects he had in view; and before he would give
the order to return, he arranged a communication
with the king of Rabbah through the friendly chief
of Egga. Rogang readily undertook to convey to
his master a friendly message from the Commis-
sioners, stating the objects of the expedition, and
their hope of reaching his capital in the course of
the following year. The message was accompanied
76 CHAPTER WI.
by the present of a rich velvet tobe and a hand-
somely bound Arabic Bible.
We wish we could tell our readers what had
become of this Bible. We know that it reached the
king, and was, with the other present, graciously
received by him. We know too that, a few years
later, the Nufi tribes combined against their oppres-
sor, made war on Rabbah, and destroyed it; and
drove Sumo Seriki to take refuge in Sokatu. Beyond
this we know nothing; but we can scarcely think
that this solitary copy of God's Holy Word was
suffered to perish in the flames that consumed the
capital. ;
Perhaps the conqueror seized it, and now in the
new capital of Ladi, on the opposite bank of the
Niger, the ear of Dasaba, the present Nufi king, may
sometimes catch a word of truth from its sacred
pages. Or perhaps it was carried away by the van-
quished; and is it not possible that it may have fallen
into the hands of some poor pilgrim bound for
Mecca, and may even now, as he journeys through
the burning desert, be refreshing his soul with its
life-giving streams, and gradually leading his heart
from Mahomet to Christ?
One thing we do know—that Jehovah himself
has said, “My Word shall not return unto me void,”
and we trust he may have granted that this blessed
volume, sent by a Christian heart from the couch of
NIGER EXPEDITION. 77
sickness, sorrow, and anxiety, shall have prospered
“in the thing whereunto it was sent,” and have led
some perishing sinner to Him who came to seek and
to save that which is lost.
It was on the 4th of October that the unwelcome
order passed along the ship : “Draw up the anchor,
, and return quickly to the Sea.” The anchor was
duly heaved, and the ship's head turned round, but
the latter part of the order was not so easily com-
plied with. The engineers had fallen sick; for two
anxious days and nights no steam could be got up ;
and the only progress the vessel made was slowly
drifting with the stream. What would have become
of them we cannot think, had not Dr. Stanger, who
had accompanied the expedition for scientific pur-
poses, made a determined effort, and by means of a
treatise on engineering, and with the feeble help of
one of the engineers who was beginning to recover,
succeeded at last in getting the engines to work.
It was still, however, a time of intense anxiety,
for the navigation became every day more difficult
as the waters fell, and discovered shoals and sand-
banks over which they had passed safely on their
upward course. The greatest watchfulness was
needed to prevent the vessel from running aground;
for had she done so, there was not strength left
among the whole crew to get her off again.
Death continued to thin their numbers; the two
78 CHAPTER VI.
commanders were still dangerously ill, and now Mr.
Willie, who had for some days been the only efficient
officer on board, was seized with what proved to be
his last illness. We cannot wonder to find Mr.
Schön at this time, October the 8th, writing thus:
“I have endured personal sufferings, family afflic-
tions sore and grievous, and have witnessed and
shared in the calamities of others during my eight
years' residence at Sierra Leone; but nothing that I
have hitherto seen or felt can be compared with our
present condition. Pain of body, distress of mind,
weakness, Sorrow, sobbing and crying, surround us
on all sides. The healthy, if so they can be called,
are more like walking shadows than men of enter-
prise. All human skill is baffled, all human means
fall short. Forgive us, O God, if on them we have
too much depended, and been forgetful of thee; and
let the light of thy countenance again shine upon us
that we may be healed.”
But these “walking shadows” had hearts of
British strength and Christian energy; and it was
owing, under God, to their unflinching exertions,
that the ‘Albert’ and any of those on board were
saved.
Mr. Willie's illness left no one to navigate the
ship along its dangerous course; but this important
office was undertaken by Dr. MacWilliam, in addi-
tion to the constant attention required by his now
|NIGER EXPEDITION. 79
twenty-six patients; while Dr. Stanger, whose days
were still devoted to working the engines, gave up
part of every night to the assisting Dr. MacWilliam
in his medical duties. Mr. Schön and Mr. Crowther
watched by the beds of the sick and dying, and
found ample employment in ministering to their
bodily and spiritual necessities.
And yet how brightly in those dark days shone
out the lustre of Divine grace | Some who had
thought but little on salvation, were now led to cry
in earnest, “What must I do to be saved?” while in
those who had already given their hearts to God,
this fiery trial served but to purify “the fine gold.”
Captain Trotter, in the prospect of a speedy dissolu-
tion, was calm and collected; his mind indeed set
on heavenly things, but alive to all that was going
on around him; and, as far as strength would allow,
aiding by his valuable counsel and advice. Mr.
Schön had to rejoice, though with weeping, over the
dying beds of several; of Captain Bird Allen in
particular, he says: “All the Christian graces shine
out in him. He feels with the Apostle, “To me to
live is Christ, to die is gain;' and if there be a pre-
vailing desire in his mind, it is to be absent from the
body and present with the Lord.”
It is consoling, too, to find Mr. Schön afterwards
adding: “There has not been one whom I have at-
tended in their sickness and at their death, who did
80 CHAPTER VI.
not know perfectly well that the climate was dan-
gerous in the extreme, and had counted the cost,
before engaging in the hazardous undertaking. And,
to their hēnour be it spoken, no expressions of dis-
appointment or regret did I ever hear ; on the con-
trary, they appeared in general to derive no small
consolation from the conscious purity of their mo-
tives, and the goodness of the cause in which they
"had voluntarily embarked.”
In a few days they again reached the model
farm, but to their grief, found that all the Euro-
peans who had been left there were ill also, and that
it was necessary to take them on board. The pros-
pects of the farm itself were most encouraging, but
as it was found necessary to relinquish the under-
taking altogether in the course of the next year, we
shall not enter into any particulars.
As they pursued their melancholy voyage down
the river, they felt it was a token for good to them,
that on their anchoring again off the town of Aboh
they received, notwithstanding their altered cir-
cumstances, the same ready kindness from Obi and
his people as they had experienced before. They did
all in their power to help them, bringing wood, goats,
fowls, yams and plantains, “Obi's prompt assist-
ance,” says Dr. MacWilliam, “was of the highest
importance. He is a fine character, and assuredly
did not discredit the high opinion we had formed of

NIGER EXPEDITION. 81
him. He was melted into pity when he saw the
two captains sick in their cabins.”
At this time only one white sailor remained to
assist Dr. MacWilliam in the navigation of the ship;
Dr. Stanger's hard work and constant exposure had
considerably affected his health; they were still 100
miles from the mouth of the river, and when they
should reach it there would be the bar to be passed,
which in their disabled state seemed scarcely pos-
sible; and we may imagine what gloomy forebodings
must have filled the minds of all, when suddenly
the unexpected and joyful cry was heard — “A
steamer in sight !” It proved to be the Ethiope,
commanded by Mr. Beecroft, ever active and ever
ready to give assistance wherever assistance is
needed. He came on board with his own engineer,
and now the Albert passed so swiftly down the stream,
* At Aboh they took again on board Simon Jonas, who had,
it will be remembered, been sent back at the desire of
the chief (page 69). He gave a very encouraging account
of all that had passed during the three weeks he had
sojourned there. The treaty had been faithfully adhered to
in Aboh itself, and had been proclaimed in all the distant
towns. Jonas had been most kindly treated by Obi ; had
spoken of Christianity to willing listeners among old and
young, and had begun to teach English to the children, who
flocked to him every day in great numbers. He was quite
delighted with all that occurred, and would willingly have
remained there. Obi again and again repeated his wish for
teachers, and for a regular trade with England. Alas! his
wishes are not yet complied with.
G
82 CHAPTER WI.
that on the evening of October the 14th, she reached
the sea, and was safely carried across the dreaded
bar. “On Mr. Beecroft,” says Mr. Schön, “and
on his exertions, our safety and the safety of the
Albert, under God, depended.” The Albert re-
mained at Fernando Po some little time, and many
of the invalids regained their health and strength,
but Captain Bird Allen, and several other officers
and men died soon after their arrival: out of the
190 Europeans who embarked in this service, 41
fell victims to the fever.”
Thus ended the Niger Expedition. By some it
was spoken of as a failure; and to those who look
only on the surface of things, it might possibly at
the time have appeared so; but those who love to
trace the developments of God's purposes of mercy
will look on it as the germ of spiritual and tem-
poral blessings to Central Africa.H.
In the Yoruba mission, the Christian sees with
thankfulness one plant of vigorous growth that
promises to spread its branches far and wide over
the lands on the western border of the river; and
* There were, besides the Europeans, 108 Africans on board,
and not one of these suffered severely.
f The immediate advantages of the expedition were also
very important; it brought us into friendly intercourse with
the people of three hundred miles of country, inspired them
with confidence in the English, and showed them practically
the fruits of Christianity.
NIGER EXPEDITION. 83
surely we may believe that it will not be long before,
on its eastern side, another slip shall be planted of
that “Tree of Life,” whose leaves are for the healing
of the nations, beneath whose shadow not only the
kings of Iboe and Egarra” may find a “sure resting
place,” but whose boughs may stretch over those
populous nations of whose existence we are only be-
ginning to be acquainted.:
The banks of the Niger have, as it were, already
been taken possession of for Christ by the bodies of
his faithful people who sleep beneath them; while
the record of all who lost their lives in this noble
enterprise is with Him in whose sight the death and
sufferings of His saints are “precious.” And we
would praise His name that He is permitting the
survivors to see, even in this life, His acceptance
and blessing of their labour of disinterested love for
His name's sake.
* Pages 68, 69.
f Through Drs. Barth, Overweg, &c.
CHAPTER WII.
REV. H. TownsenD's VISIT TO ARBEOIKUTA.
“Get you up, and see the land what it is, and the people that dwelleth
therein—and be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land.”—
Num. xiii. I7—20.
“Let us go up at once and possess it; for we are well able to overcome
it.”—Ibid. xiii. 30.
THE return of Mr. Schön, Mr. Crowther, and their
companions from their expedition up the Niger, was
hailed with delight at Sierra Leone; and the report
they brought of the friendly disposition of the people
they had met with, and their anxiety for intercourse
with the English, quickened the intense desire
already felt by the Christian Negroes of various
tribes that missionaries should be sent to their own
different countries.
This, however, was impossible, and the Church
Missionary Society was obliged to refuse even the
pressing intreaties of the Nuft people, who, though
few in number in the colony, had been so distressed
at the account their brethren gave of the misery and
degradation of their country,” that they held meet-
ings among themselves, subscribed to the amount of
* Page 74.
REv. H. TownsenD's VISIT TO ABBEOKUTA. 85
£10, and sent the money with an urgent appeal to
the Society that they would not delay to send a
missionary to Rabbah, which, though then in the
hands of the Fellatahs,” they still considered the
capital of their own land.
But the more the Committee heard of the Yoruba
country, the more encouraged they were as to the prac-
ticability and desirableness of establishing a mission
within its limits; and as the circumstances we have
mentioned seemed to point out Abbeokuta as the
most eligible spot, it was decided that Mr. Town-
send, one of the Society’s catechists at Sierra Leone,
should immediately proceed thither to obtain the
necessary information. We may conceive the joy
with which the Christian Yorubans heard of this
decision. It seemed to them now beyond a doubt
that a mission would be formed; they knew the de-
light it would give to their brethren already returned
thither, and they anticipated the time when all spiri-
tual hindrances being removed, they might them-
selves return to their fatherland without risk to their
own souls.
It had been arranged that Andrew Wilhelm and
John M'Cormack,t both of them of the Egba tribe
* Page 74.
+ An interesting circumstance is related of M*Cormack.
When taken captive he had been torn from a wife and two
children, and of course never expected to see either of them
again. He had been many years in Sierra Leone, when, walk-
86 - CHAPTER VII.
of Yorubans, and both valuable members of Mr.
Graf's congregation at Hastings, should accompany
Mr. Townsend, and many hearts and hands were at
work to provide some little article of use or comfort
for the travellers. & *
Afree passage to Badagry was given by three native
young men who had lately purchased a small slaver,
and were about to make their first trading voyage,
and who thus, as it were, consecrated the first fruits
of their labour to the good of their country. Often,
as Mr. Townsend passed along the streets, he saw
the people pointing him out as—“There is the
white man going to our country;” and when he and
his party embarked on November 14, 1842, it was
amidst many a hearty “God bless you, Massa, and
go with you!” -
They landed at Badagry on December 19, and
found that they had already been preceded by other
messengers of peace. The earliest emigrants from
Sierra Leone to Badagry, in 1839–40, had been so
y
ing one day with a friend from Hastings to Waterloo, they
met a young woman of whom the friend happened to remark,
“She is from your country.” M'Cormack doubted it, and
merely to satisfy his friend, went after her, and began to ask
her some questions, when to his inexpressible delight and
astonishment, he found she was one of his own daughters, who
had, like himself, been captured and recaptured and brought to
Sierra Leone some years later than her father. She had em-
braced Christianity and had married, and was actually living
close to her father without their having recognised each other.
REv. H. Towns CND’s VISIT To ABPEOKUTA. 87
kindly received by Wawu, chief of part of the town
called the English Town, that some of them de-
termined to remain there instead of going on into
the interior.” A few of these were Christians belong-
ing to the Wesleyan congregation at Sierra Leone,
and their intreaties for spiritual help had led to a
visit from the Rev. T. B. Freeman, so well known
as the active Wesleyan missionary among the
Ashantees.
When Mr. Townsend arrived at Badagry, Mr.
Freeman had just returned from a visit to Abbeo-
kuta, and the account he gave of his reception was
of the most encouraging description. Wonderfully,
indeed, had God disposed the hearts of Shodeke:
and his people towards the English, and as Mr.
Freeman drew near to Abbeokuta, he received a
very unexpected proof of respect by the appearance
of a party of horsemen sent to escort him into the
town. Some of these were Sierra Leone Christians,
and “I shall never,” writes Mr. Freeman, “forget
the joy that beamed in their countenances as they
seized me by the hand and bade me welcome. ‘Ah!'
said they, “we told our king that the English people
loved us, and that missionaries would be sure to
follow us to Abbeokuta; but he would hardly believe
that any one would come so very far to do us good.
Now what we told our king is really come to pass!
O Massa, you are welcome, welcome, welcome l’”
* Page 48. f Page 42.
88 CHAPTER VI.
His entrance into the town was as gratifying as
his welcome from these Christians had been. This
was the first time an European had ever been seen
there; the narrow streets were lined with crowds of
natives, shouting out “Aku, Aku !” as he passed
along, recognising in him the representative of a
nation and of a religion, to which they owed so
many of their long-lost relatives. - -
Shodeke's reception of him was as cordial as that
of his people; he seemed overjoyed at his arrival,
showed him every attention; and on one occasion,
as they were walking together, clasped him in his
arms in a transport of delight. $ -
Mr. Townsend visited Abbeokuta very soon after
Mr. Freeman's return to Badagry, and his welcome
was as hearty and as warm as that of his predecessor
had been. The same friendly escort came to meet him,
there were the same eagersalutations from the crowded
streets, only that some among the mass had taught
their tongues to give him an English greeting, and
shouted aloud as he passed along, “How do you do,
white man? how do you do, you that are coming?”
Mr. Townsend found Shodeke a man of an evi-
dently Superior mind, and able to appreciate in no
ordinary degree the benefits of civilisation and
Christianity. He warmly expressed his sense of
gratitude to the British Government for all it had
* A native salutation, meaning, “How do you do? How do
you do?” &
REv. H. TownsenD's VISIT TO ABBEOKUTA. 89
done for his people, declared his determination to
suppress slave-dealing in his own dominions, and to
use his influence with surrounding tribes, and spoke
of the earnest desire he had for English missionaries
and merchants to settle at Abbeokuta. He even
offered to give Mr. Townsend any site that he
thought most eligible for future mission-premises,
but this offer Mr. Townsend did not feel himself at
that time at liberty to accept.
Several touching instances of the re-union of
relations occurred during Mr. Townsend's short stay
here. Andrew Wilhelm discovered several members
of his own family, although it was twenty years
since he had been enslaved. John M'Cormack one
day went into the market to make some purchases,
and fancying he could recognise the features of the
woman who was serving him, ventured to address
her by the name of a sister from whom he had been
so long separated. She replied to it, wondering to
hear the sound from the lips of a stranger, when an
explanation took place, and she proved to be indeed
the beloved one from whom he had been torn. She
introduced him to many others of his family; he
talked to them of CHRIST and of his Gospel, and
they promised to attend the instruction of the mis-
sionary should one be sent to them.*
* Another of Mr. Townsend's companions came to him one
day in great delight, bringing with him a woman whom
he introduced with the exclamation, “I done find my wife!”
90 CIIAPTER VII.
One visitor gave Mr. Townsend great pain, it
was an aged woman, who had heard a rumour of her
son being among the rescued ones at Sierra Leone,
and who came to inquire about him. But she knew
only his country heathen name, and neither Mr.
Townsend nor any one with him could trace him
out by that. Day after day did she thus come,
with what she hoped might prove some fresh clue,
and every day was she obliged to return unsatisfied.
The report of Mr. Townsend, after his return to
Sierra Leone, was so favourable, that the Parent
Committee of the Church Missionary Society deter-
mined to establish a mission at Abbeokuta with as
little delay as possible. Mr. Townsend was invited
home to be presented for ordination, and it was
arranged that he should afterwards proceed to his
destination in company with the Rev. C. A. Gollmer,
and Mr. Crowther, who had already been to England
for the same purpose, and had been, what the
people called, “crowned a minister,” in June of
this same year, 1843.
During Mr. Townsend's absence, the tide of
emigration continued to flow towards Abbeokuta,
and, in the prospect of a mission being soon estab-
lished there, Mr. Graf was again induced to part
with Andrew Wilhelm, that he might act as cate-
chist till a regular ministry could be established.
The letters of the Sierra Leone missionaries, about
REv. H. TownsBND'S VISIT TO ABBEOKUTA. 91
this time, contain some very pleasing instances of
the gratitude felt by some of these emigrants towards
the Church Missionary Society; but the only one we
shall mention, was the following, as related by one of
them —“This morning, one of my school-boys, an
interesting little fellow, called to see me. On my
asking him what he wanted, he replied, that he only
came to take leave of me, as he was going with his
father to the Yoruba country. I asked him if he
was glad to go. He answered, ‘I should have been
more glad if you were going too, for there are plenty
of people who would be too much glad to see you
there.' I said, “the people do not know me, and how
is it that they would be glad to see me?' To which
he answered, ‘Sir, you know the plenty of people
who have left for that country, and they all prayed
much before they went, that white missionary may
come and teach them God's Book.’ I told him that
I believed God would very soon send black and
white ministers, who would teach them the way of
salvation. The little fellow was very pleased to hear
this, and when I asked him what he intended to do
till they should arrive there, answered, ‘I will teach
the children to read and to sew, and will do all I can
to make them good.' I desired him never to forget
the lessons he had himself learnt in the school and in
church, which he promised not to do, and on taking .
leave he said, ‘Sir, will you please to take this for
92 CHAPTER VII.
the Church Missionary Society? it is all I have got,’
holding out to me a penny, while the large tears were
'rolling down his jet black cheeks.”
While waiting for Mr. Townsend's return from
England, Mr. Crowther was engaged in ministering
to his own countrymen in Free Town; it is in-
teresting to see what were his feelings of joy and
thankfulness, and deep self-abasement, when in Ja-
nuary 1844, he stood forth the first ordained native .
minister of Western Africa, to proclaim the Gospel
of salvation, in their own tongue, to the hundreds
around him, rescued like himself from slavery of
body and soul, and invited them to enter into the
glorious liberty of the sons of God. Yorubans,
Iboes and Calabars, were among his congregation;
often had they listened to the glad tidings in the
language of their deliverers, and the English tongue
was dear to them from many associations; but hi-
therto the Gospel had never been declared to them
in the beloved accents of their own Yoruba,” and we
do not wonder at the emotions of which Mr. Crow-
ther speaks. “Although,” he says, “the language
was my own native one, with which I am well ac-
quainted, yet on this occasion, it appeared as if I
were a babe just learning to utter my mother-
tongue. The work in which I was engaged, the
The neighbouring countries generally can speak Yoruba,
though it is not their native language.
REv. H. TownsenD's VISIT To ABBEOKUTA. 93
place where I stood, and the congregation before
me, were altogether so new and strange, the whole
seemed to me like a dream. But the Lord helped
me.”
Some of the prayers were not yet translated, and
those he read in English; the rest of the service, and
the sermon, which was from Luke i. 35, were in
Yoruba, and after the blessing, the whole church
rang with “Ke oh sheh, Ke oh sheh (" So let it
be, so let it bel
Mr. Townsend arrived at Sierra Leone in De-
cember 1844, and now the day arrived, so long
looked for and prayed for by the Christian Yoru-
bans, when missionaries should be sent to their be-
loved country. On the 18th of the same month the
party sailed, consisting of Mr. Gollmer, Mr. Towns-
end, and Mr. Crowther, with their wives and
children; William Marsh and Edward Philips, na-
five catechists; Mark Willoughby, interpreter; and
several carpenters and labourers. Crowds were as-
sembled on the beach to take leave of them, and the
farewells on both sides were very affecting. The
emigrants scarcely, when the moment came, knew
how to tear themselves from their long-tried friends
and their adopted country, and they were at last
hurried into the boats amidst the benedictions and
the prayers of thousands. -
CHAPTER VIII.
T3AIDAGRY.
“It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”
ALONG the northern coast of the Gulf of Guinea
there runs a kind of “backwater,” called by Euro-
peans the Lagoon, and by the natives the river
Ossa. It begins near Cape St. Paul on the west,
and after receiving a few tributary streams from the
north, falls into the river Ogün at Lagos. It varies
very much in breadth, now spreading out into a lake,
and now contracted to half a mile across, but always
So gentle, smooth, and clear, and so adorned on
either side with trees of luxuriant foliage, that “the
beautiful Ossa” has become its frequent epithet, even
among the European residents.
The space between the Lagoon and the sea is of
various breadths, and in some parts thickly studded
with towns and villages, and adorned with trees.
Opposite Badagry it is a strip of sandy soil, with
grass and bushes, about a mile across, against which
the sea dashes with such impetuous fury that the
landing is generally dangerous, and at Some seasons
of the year scarcely practicable.
BADAGRY. 95
Like the surf on the Coromandel coast of India, it
rolls towards the shore in three successive ridges,
separated from each other by deep troughs. Flat-
bottomed canoes take the place of the massouli boat
of Madras, and as the little vessel shoots up the
watery ascent, its prow may sometimes be seen
several feet beyond and above the summit of the
wave before it dashes down into the channel below,
again and again to rise and fall with the same impe-
tuosity. Should it unhappily not have reached the
crest of the wave before it begins to arch, its doom
is certain; it is instantly filled with water or upset,
and if the cargo is saved at all, it generally is
severely injured.” But not so the canoe-men them-
selves; they care little for the accident; flinging
their paddles from them, they may be seen floating,
like some inhabitant of the ocean, amid the foam of
the broken surf, till they can reach the boat, and,
clinging tightly to it, are carried by succeeding
waves safe to shore. Here our missionary party,
consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Gollmer, Mr. and Mrs.
Townsend, Mr. and Mrs. Crowther, and their com-
panions, landed in safety in January 1845, and were
kindly welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Annear, of the
Wesleyan Missionary Society.
* The readers of the Children's Missionary Magazine will
doubtless remember that it was here that the Abbeokuta bell,
sent out by Miss Barber's youthful contributors, was lost.
96 CHAPTER VIII.
They were full of hope and energy; and their first
business was to send off a messenger to Abbeokuta
to inform Shodeke of their arrival, and their inten-
tion of proceeding thither in a few days. But God's
ways are not our ways; and in a moment their
plans were disconcerted and their spirits damped by
the news of the death of Shodeke. The authority
which this chief held over the others, the superiority
of his mind, the steadfast desire he had always
manifested to have a mission established among his
people, and Mr. Townsend's previous acquaintance
with him,” had all combined to give them a confi-
dence in him which they could not feel towards the
other chiefs till they should have the opportunity of
becoming better acquainted with them, and they
feared that this event would prove a severe blow to
the proposed mission. They found too that the
roads from Badagry to Abbeokuta were very unsafe
in consequence of disputes with the people of Adu,
a town nearly in the direct route, and who were
continually lying in wait for travellers either to
plunder or to kidnap them; and this helped to per-
plex their plans. When their messenger returned
from Abbeokuta, he brought very friendly messages
from the chiefs, with assurances that their desire for
them to reside among them continued as stedfast as
in the life-time of Shodeke, but urging them strongly
* Page 88.
BADAGRY. 97
to delay coming for the present, till they should hear
from them that it was advisable. The fresh accounts
their messenger brought of the danger of the roads,
and of the unsettled state of things in Abbeokuta
itself, confirmed the message of the chiefs, and plainly
showed the missionaries that they had no alternative
but to remain for the present where they were.
Badagry is a good-sized town, standing on the
northern shore of the Lagoon, and numbering about
11,000 inhabitants. These are almost all Popos,”
and are in a fearfully demoralized state; but there
are a few Yorubans, and among them some Sierra
emigrants, who, as we have said, have settled in the
eastern quarter of the town, H and are much less
degraded than the rest of the population. The
English factory is in this part, and also the Wes-
leyan mission-premises; and here our missionaries
determined likewise to take up their abode.
There were several circumstances that concurred
to make Badagry appear a desirable place for a
permanent mission-station—not only on account of
its own population, but as being the resort of
strangers from all quarters, and as affording, by
Imeans of the Lagoon, ready access to the numerous
and well-peopled towns and villages in its neighbour-
hood. It would also facilitate the transmission of
* The same tribe as the Dahomians.
i Page 87.
H
98 CHAPTER VIII.
stores to the interior. It was finally settled, there-
fore, that Mr. Gollmer should take up his abode
there, and that Mr. Townsend and Mr. Crowther
should proceed to Abbeokuta as soon as the way
should be again open.
Badagry was anything but a pleasant or a pro-
mising station. The slave-trade, and the unlimited
indulgence in rum supplied to them by the European
slave-ships, had led the people far deeper into bru-
tality and vice, than those of the surrounding smaller
towns. They seemed swallowed up in sensual en-
joyments, and their selfish avarice rendered it very
difficult for the missionary to obtain an intelligent
| listener. -
- The idolatry of the Popos is of the most debasing
character. They have Ifa and Sango, and the other
deities of the Yorubans, but have added others to
them ; their national deity is a black, venomous
, snake, to whom they pay great respect, and they
avowedly worship the evil spirit himself.
Human sacrifices are not unfrequent, and the
bones scattered round the fetish-houses, tell of many
such deeds of darkness. These sacrifices are gener-
ally carefully concealed from the eyes of Europeans;
but on one occasion Mr. Smith" suddenly came upon
one that had been lately offered up. It was in a
beautiful grove at Ajido, on the banks of the Ossa,
* The Rev. Isaac Smith, who joined the mission in 1848.
BAD AGRY. 99
and the contrast of the loveliness of the scene, as
God had made it, with the deep depravity of man,
that was now defiling it, increased the painfulness
of the sight. -
The people of Badagry are slaves to superstitious
fear, and not even their sordid love of money hinders
them from lavishing it on swarms of priests and
priestesses, who have little difficulty in turning the
fears and credulity of their neighbours to their own
advantage. - * *
Like many other barbarous people, the Badagrians
have a great dread of witchcraft, and many a poor,
helpless, aged woman fell a victim to this fear while
our missionaries were residing there. No sooner is
a suspicion imagined against any one, than she is
seized and dragged by the feet through the streets,
amidst the cries and invectives of an excited mob,
till death terminates her sufferings, and the body
is then thrown into the fetish-grove. -
The feeling of personal insecurity added much to
the trials of the missionaries. Soon after their arri-
val at Badagry, Akitoye, the chief (or, as he is called,
king) of Lagos, was conspired against by his nephew
Kosoko, and obliged to flee, first taking refuge at
Abbeokuta, and then at Badagry. Kosoko was a
determined slave-dealer, of fierce ungoverned pas-
sions, and little scrupulous as to the means he took
to gratify them. The burning down of great part
100 CHAPTER VIII.
of Lagos, and the wholesale massacres, by his order,
at the time of his uncle's expulsion, showed the
cruelty of his disposition; and no sooner had he
obtained the authority at Lagos, than he endeavoured
to gain dominion over the whole of the Ossa, that
the slave-trade might be carried on with less
hindrance from the cruisers. To accomplish this, he
formed alliances with the king of Dahomey, the
Porto Novians, and some of the Badagry chiefs,
against the Abbeokutans and Akitoye, and the town
was kept in continued alarm. But neither the sense
of personal danger, nor the unpromising nature of the
soil on which they were working, could lead Mr.
Gollmer or his fellow-labourers to quit the spot as
long as it seemed the will of God that they should
remain there. -
It was only three months after their arrival that
the small band sustained a heavy loss in the death of
Mrs. Gollmer, who fell asleep in Jesus in April 1845;
and this blow made the detention of Mr. Townsend
and Mr. Crowther additionally welcome to the heart
of her bereaved husband.
Their detention was not without its use in other
respects. It afforded Mr. Townsend the opportunity
of becoming in some degree acquainted with the
Yoruban language, with its accents and intonations,
which are so difficult for a foreigner to acquire, and
yet are of so much importance; and it gave Mr.
BADAGRY. 101
Crowther time to continue his translations, and to
commence a vocabulary, which would, it was hoped,
assist in reducing the language to a more systematic
order.
The work of the mission, too, was carried on far
more efficiently than it could otherwise have been.
A church and dwelling-house were built; a day and
boarding-school for boys and a Sunday school for
adults were established, and the streets, the markets,
the palm-wine sheds, all heard the glad tidings of
Salvation through a crucified Redeemer. Visits too
were paid to the chiefs at their own houses, and no
means were left untried to awaken the people from
their sleep of death. One of the most constant resorts
of the missionaries was a large umbrella tree in
the town, where a number of listeners often col-
lected; but here, as indeed was generally the case,
the cry, “We are hungry, we are hungry !” at the
close of some searching appeal to their consciences,
or of some touching declaration of the love of Christ,
would painfully discourage the messenger of glad
tidings, and show how the seed had only fallen on
the way-side.* -
Mr. Gollmer was also set at liberty to visit some
of the neighbouring towns. One of these was Poka,
nine miles from Badagry, with a population of 4,000.
* They frequently asked to be paid for coming to church,
and sometimes for sending their children to school.
|02 CHAPTER VIII.
Here Mr. Gollmer and Mr. Crowther were courte-
ously received; the chief, wrapped in a red cotton
cloth, covered with beads of all colours, and with a
crown and sceptre, came out of his house, and seated
himself in the piazza to receive them. Having heard
the purport of their visit, he exclaimed, “I praise
you,” and his words of welcome were echoed in a
kind of chorus by a number of his wives and all the
people present. The missionaries had a very in-
teresting interview with the twelve elders of the
town. They had more than once been deceived by
white men, and were therefore at first very shy of
entering into conversation; but when they found
that the object of the missionaries was to declare to
them the way of salvation, they replied that God
himself must have sent them that message, and how
could they do otherwise than attend to it. They
did not care for presents, but begged for another
visit, and hoped the travellers would proceed to the
towns beyond them. -
Another of the towns visited by Mr. Gollmer was
Ajido, on the Ossa, towards Lagos. The chief here
also was very friendly, and promised to send one of
This sons to a boarding-school, which Mr. Gollmer
had lately established in the mission-premises. Mr.
Gollmer was accompanied in this visit by a Sierra
Leone Christian, who with unspeakable thankful-
ness pointed out to him the barracoon in which he
BADAGRY. 103
had eighteen years before been confined for three
months, and from which he had been shipped by his
Portuguese purchasers.
But these recognitions of places and of persons,
deeply affecting as each case was, individually consi-
dered, were of such frequent occurrence that we
shall not attempt to record them, except in any
special instance that may throw light on the general
subject.
We do not intend to enter with any degree of
fulness into the details of the missionary work at
Badagry: the Popos have neglected their opportuni-
ties, and the station is now removed. We shall
only return to it in a future chapter, to lay before
our readers some few particulars which will enable
them to have a clearer view of the whole.
CHAPTER IX.
ARRIVAL AT ABBEOKUTA.—COMMENCEMENT OF WORK
THERE.-MR. CROWTHER's REUNION WITH
HIS MOTHER AND SISTERS.
“Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring
it to pass.”—Psalm xxxvii. 5.
SEVENTEEN months had now passed since our
missionaries landed at Badagry, in the full persuasion
that in not more than as many days they should be
on their road to Abbeokuta. But days, and weeks,
and months, had come and gone, and still they could
not move. They had from time to time received
very friendly messages from the chiefs there, ex-
pressing their unchanged desire to see them, but
still assuring them that it was not yet safe to ven-
ture; and “hope deferred” was beginning to sadden
the hearts of our friends, when it pleased God to
open a way for them through a very unlikely chan-
nel, and to make the slave-trade itself the means of
introducing the Gospel to the interior.
Domingo, the great slave-dealer at Porto Novo,
found that the continued warfare between the Ab-
beokutans and the people of Adu injured his trade,
by making the conveyance of slaves to the coast
ARRIVAL AT ABBEORUTA. 105
more difficult and insecure than formerly, and he
set about to effect a reconciliation. By means of
some of his agents at Badagry, he succeeded in ac-
complishing this; peace was once more restored
between Abbeokuta, Adu, and Badagry, and the
road was again open.
The missionaries had taken advantage of the final
embassy from Badagry to send with it one of their
own people, charged with a message to the Abbeoku-
tan chiefs, stating their unabated wish to settle among
them, and their readiness to set out without delay.
Domingo, well aware that the introduction of
'Christianity and civilisation would interfere with
his traffic, would gladly have prevented this mes-
sage from being sent, but not being able to do this,
he instructed his Badagrian friends to give so evil
a report of the missionaries, as would, he hoped,
effectually prevent their being invited to Abbeokuta.
But his scheme turned to his own discomfiture;
the chiefs had too much discernment to be so easily
deceived, and their reply must have grated harshly
on the ears of the Badagrian messengers. “We can
ourselves,” said they, “tell who are our best friends—
those who rescue our children from captivity and
send them freely to us again, or those who bring
goods to purchase them for perpetual slavery and
misery. The English are our friends; and you,
people of Badagry, take care; for if any wrong is
106 CHAPTER IX.
done to them in your town, you must answer to us
for it.” After this spirited reply, they summoned the
missionaries' messenger, told him what had passed,
and sent by him a cordial invitation that the mission-
aries themselves would come as soon as they could. -
It was the middle of the rainy season, when tra-
velling is scarcely possible in that African wilder-
ness; yet they feared to delay, lest some fresh in-
trigue of Domingo or Kosoko should again impede
their progress, and they started late in the day on
July 27th, 1846. That night they passed at Mo,” a
small town eight miles from Badagry, where they
received a kind and hearty welcome from the chief
Mewu, their unvarying friend, and whence they set
out the next morning in good earnest upon their jour-
ney: Mr. and Mrs. Townsend and Mr. Crowther
on ponies, Mrs. Crowther in a kind of litter borne by
men, and the children on the backs of some of the
attendants. * g”
At first their spirits flagged; the rain fell fast, the
road was a pool of water up to the horses' knees, so
* Some of the principal towns in this part of Africa have
established a sort of out-stations on the most frequented
roads, to serve as rendezvous for the departing, and halting-
places for the approaching caravans; and every traveller is
expected to wait here till he has sent notice of his arrival.
They are generally eight or ten miles from the town itself.
Mo is in this way an out-station to Badagry. Abbeokuta has
Awoyade on the Badagry road, and Atade on that to Ibadan
for the same purpose. * -º
ARRIVAL AT ABBEOKUTA. 107
slippery that both men and horses could hardly keep
their footing, and so narrow as to be scarcely passable
on horseback. First one foot and then the other was
entangled in a briar; then the bough of a tree
caught the head or sometimes the neck of the rider;
their clothes were torn, and themselves were bruised.
We may suppose how glad they were to reach the
halting-place for the night, to pitch their tent, though
on the cold wet ground, and light a fire and dry
their dripping clothes; for the path had been too
narrow for an umbrella to be carried, and they were
wet to the skin. Mrs. Townsend had with difficulty
kept her seat, as her horse stumbled over roots and
trunks of trees, or sunk deep into a Swamp. But
Mrs. Crowther fared still worse—there was no firm
treading for her bearers, and she was obliged to
walk nearly all the way.
But far beyond these outward discouragements,
the solemn feeling weighed upon their minds of the
importance and yet the danger of their present
undertaking. They were journeying farther and
farther from all civilized society, from all European
influence; they were going to settle in a land of
strangers, friendly indeed at present, but of whose
constancy they had had no proof; their very purpose
was to assault the dominions of the prince of dark-
mess, who had, through unnumbered ages, exercised
undisputed sovereignty over this people. Would he
108 - CHAPTER IX. f
tamely yield to their aggressions? would he not stir
up the native chiefs against them? and if so, where
could they look for help ?
Thoughts such as these hung upon their minds,
and we do not wonder at the depression we are told
they felt at first. Soon, however, their faith and
courage rose again; they believed and felt that their
covenant God was guiding them; and, confiding in
his loving-kindness and tender mercies, their spirits
revived, and they set out again with hope and alacrity.
They had spent the night on the bank of the
Mojuba, generally a little stream, forded without
difficulty, but now so swollen with the rains as to
have been impassable, but for the kind forethought
of Mr. Gollmer, who had provided them with a large
tub to serve as a boat, and in which they safely
crossed.* -
They knew that they should meet with no human
* The circumstances that attended the conveyance of this
tub, gave them a specimen of the difficulty they would here-
after find in procuring supplies of any kind from Badagry.
Mr. Gollmer had had some difficulty in finding carriers for
their goods, but at last supposed he had succeeded; just as
they were starting, the men who were to have carried the
tub, changed their minds, and would not stir, and the tub
was left behind. Their indefatigable friend would not, how-
ever, be so easily daunted; with much trouble he procured
other carriers, sent them by another road, and to the
agreeable surprise of the travellers, they found their newly-
invented boat ready for them. •
ARRIVAL AT ABBEOKUTA. 109
habitation for three days,” and that probably they
would not see a human face; but to their great
delight, soon after crossing the Mojuba, they saw a
friendly party approaching, and found it was Andrew
Wilhelm, t and some messengers from the Abbeoku-
tan chiefs to welcome them.
The rain still fell fast, and the road grew worse
and worse, but they cheerfully went on ; again they
halted in the bush, and again proceeded on their
journey, till on the third night after their leaving
Mo, they reached a farm, where they were hospit-
ably received, and on the Saturday, fatigued and
exhausted, arrived at AWoyade, about eight miles
from Abbeokuta. Here they passed their Sunday,
and on the next day were ferried across the Ogün,
which the rain had swollen into a deep and rapid
stream, navigable for large canoes. At the river
they were met by a number of Sierra Leone emi-
grants, well mounted and dressed in English clothes,
and we can imagine how hearty were the mutual
greetings, and how numerous the mutual inquiries.
Thus attended, they entered Abbeokuta; and º
it was raining heavily, they found they must yield
* Two busy and thriving towns through which Mr. town.
send passed in 1842, were now in ruins ; in one of them, which
only affords shelter to a solitary hunter, he had then spent
the Sabbath, and had preached a crucified Saviour to two
hundred attentive hearers. May it not have been a word of
life to some among them : + See page 90.
110 CHAPTER IX.
to the desire of the people, and be led about the
town” before they visited the chief. The warmth
of their reception soon made them forget the toils
and discouragements of the journey; the people had
learnt to love the English; and the chiefs were
especially proud of the honour of Abbeokuta being
the first town in which white people intended to
reside, and exclaimed that the news of their arrival
“would fly from Lagos to Illorin, and excite the envy
of all the chiefs!” It appeared that the public crier +
had been sent round the town to make proclamation
that no one was to rob or insult the expected tra-
vellers, and they found too that the preceding day
had been spent in warmly discussing who should
have the honour of receiving them as guests.
This was at last awarded to Sagbua, the senior
chief, and who, though not possessed of the talents
of Shodeke, has ever proved himself a constant
* Mrs. Townsend and her side-saddle were the chief objects
of attention, no white lady having been there before.
+ We have been kindly favoured with a sketch of this man
taken from the life, and are thus enabled to give our readers
some idea of his wild yet not unpicturesque appearance. He
is tall and large, and the peculiarity of his costume is increased
by a head-dress of black monkey's skin, Zornamented with
metal rings and a coin. The cloths that are folded round him
are of native manufacture, and striped with various colours.
In one hand he holds his bell and the stick with which
he strikes it, and in the other is a very suspicious-looking
axe.
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ARRIVAL AT ABBEOKUTA. 111
and true friend to the white man; and the mission-
aries were accordingly lodged in the house of Oso
Ligregere, one of his relatives and his most confi-
dential adviser. Sagbua, on this occasion, showed a
degree of tact and good sense, and freedom from
covetousness, very rare among these nations; for on
being presented by the missionaries with a large
mirror they had brought with them for the purpose,
he made it over to the public council-room, to pre-
vent any feeling of jealousy in the other chiefs at his
possessing so great a treasure.
A public meeting of the chiefs was summoned, at
which the missionaries entered into an explanation
of their motives and intentions; and all present
united in one common expression of satisfaction and
delight. They promised to send their children to
learn, and perhaps would come themselves; they
would throw no hindrance in the way of their
preaching to the people; and would assist them in
building their houses. When the missionaries with-
drew, the expressions of approbation and gratitude
were repeated among themselves; “and no wonder,”
adds Mr. Crowther, “some of the chiefs had liberated.
relatives of their own sitting by them at the very
time !”
A piece of land, about three acres in extent, was,
without delay, presented to them on which to build;
and to prevent dissatisfaction, the town of Aké had
112 t CHAPTER IX.
been fixed upon, as being the “royal town,” i.e.,
that in which Shodeke had resided, and in which, as
we have said, the general councils are still held.
The missionaries lost no time in beginning their
operations. The walls of their houses were to be,
like all the rest in Abbeokuta, of clay, and they
expected they should have to seek for labourers.
But no sooner was their wish known, than the
women came forward to fetch the material from the
pit. The first day there were thirty of these willing
people, to whom they gave at the rate of three pence
each; but finding, towards evening, that they were
likely to have more hands than they should need,
they lowered the future pay to two pence. Instead,
however, of losing any of their labourers, the num-
ber on the second day increased to between 300 and
400. Again they reduced their wages to a penny,
but in vain, for on the third day, to their dismay, no
less than 670 presented themselves for employment
They then tried to lessen the number, by sending
away any that loitered at their work, but all was of
no avail, the number still increased, and they were
at last obliged to apply to the chiefs to disperse
them. They complied, but full of astonishment at
the unwonted industry and diligence of the women,
exclaimed, “God is great, white men have sense !”
—probably thinking that they had exercised some
magical power over their minds. The water to mix
ARRIVAL AT ABBEOKUTA. 113
the clay was procured by the same ready hands, and
the house progressed as fast as could be expected.
Chiefs and people would spend hours in looking on;
—the walls were mud like their own, the roofs too
were thatched like theirs, with grass, but the doors,
seven feet high, and the glass windows, were strange
sights in Abbeokuta. The boards were from the
neighbouring woods, sawn by Sierra Leone men; the
nails were of native iron, smelted in the town; and
the people could but feel that the inferiority of their
own dwellings arose solely from their own want of
skill. The pickaxes in particular delighted them,
and they wondered they had not themselves thought
of inventing such things, often crying out, “Ah
white men foresee something.”
Nor did the missionaries lose any time in entering
upon the special work that had brought them to
Abbeokuta. They found that many of the Christian
emigrants, who had so earnestly desired that mission-
aries might be sent there, and who had received
them with such unfeigned delight, had, notwith-
standing, more or less fallen from their stedfastness.
Some had yielded to the solicitations of their friends,
in adding the worship of idols to that of the true
God; while others, following the evil custom of the
country, had a plurality of wives. Some, how-
ever, had stood firm and faithful, and these were
greatly strengthened by the example and exhortations
I
114 CHAPTER IX.
of Andrew Wilhelm, who, as it will be remembered,
had arrived here in 1843, and had throughout main-
tained an upright and consistent conduct, which had
won for him the esteem and respect of all. He held
Divine service regularly on the Sundays, and on
week-days took every opportunity of drawing sinners
from the evil of their ways. He had had much to
contend with, and met with many discouragements,
but he persevered. A few gathered round him, like-
minded with himself, and to others he was made the
means of awakening their consciences and preparing
them for further progress.
Two of those who had remained firm and faithful
to their God, notwithstanding the opposition and ill-
treatment of their relations, were called to their rest
soon after the arrival of the missionaries; and it
almost seems as if their departure had been delayed
that they might have the comfort of their ministry
on their dying beds. They died, declaring their
entire dependence on the blood of Christ, and their
peace in the prospect of approaching death.
Mr. Townsend and Mr. Crowther began their
public ministry immediately on their arrival. The
only available place for their regular Sunday ser-
vice was a rude piazza; but here the people assem-
bled, some under shelter, and some in the open air,
and listened attentively while Mr. Crowther spoke to
them in their native tongue, or while Mr. Townsend
ARRIVAL AT ABBEOKUTA. 115
preached, and Andrew Wilhelm translated to them
the words of eternal life. The number of hearers
increased every Sabbath-day; and the chiefs Ogu-
bonna and Shumoi were among the listeners. On
the afternoons of Sunday, and on week-days, the
missionaries often addressed the people in the streets,
or in the markets, and sometimes in the houses of
the chiefs, and were everywhere received with
interest and attention. On one occasion, Ogubonna
having given them permission to preach in his
district of Ikija, not only attended himself, but col-
lected together all the principal men of the neigh-
bourhood, who, with the rest of the people, made up
a congregation of between four and five hundred.
And here we shall interrupt our recital of missionary
proceedings, and give our readers, somewhat in de-
tail, an account of one of those affecting re-unions,
which were continually occurring in Abbeokuta, but
of so few of which we know anything more than the
bare facts.
As we have already said, Mr. Crowther (or Adjai,
as was then his name,) was kidnapped in 1821
together with his mother and two sisters. Though
sold to different masters, they had for some months
occasional opportunities of intercourse, till, early in
1822, Adjai was again sold, and sent down to the
coast, and put on board the slaver. From that time
he heard nothing of his family; but we need not
116 CHAPTER IX.
attempt to describe the yearnings of his heart towards
them. How often, when a captured slave-vessel was
brought into Sierra Leone, he had hurried down to
the landing-place, in the hope that among the rescued
ones, he might see some well-remembered face,” or
catch the sound of some familiar voice, or might at
least hear tidings of those he loved. But it had
been in vain, and for twenty-five years no rumour
of them had reached his ears, till he had given them
up as lost.H. We are not told what his feelings were
when appointed to be a missionary in his native
land, but doubtless hope again revived, though
mixed with fear and misgiving; and his detention on
the coast must have been additionally trying to him
on this account.
But, even while at Badagry, God was ordering
events to his future happiness. One day, a Sierra
Leone man came to Mr. Gollmer, to tell him that
some slaves had just been brought from the interior,
in order to be sold to Domingo, among whom there
was one who said he was a relation of Mr. Crowther's.
* This was very frequently the case; and parents and chil-
dren, brothers and sisters, were thus unexpectedly restored to
each other. -
f In a letter written some time afterwards, he says, “When
I was a boy at Sierra Leone, the history of Joseph was my
favourite reading. I had no thoughts of ever returning to my
native land, nor of seeing my relations, but it led me to lie
passive in God's hands, and to follow the leadings of Provi-
dence as my safest guide.”
ARRIVAL AT ABBEOKUTA. 117
Mr. Gollmer requested the man might be brought to
him, in order to ascertain the truth of the statement;
but the poor captive, who had never before seen
white men, and had only known of them by the bar-
barities of the slave-traders, was so alarmed, that it
was difficult to obtain any coherent account of him-
self. By degrees, however, it appeared certain that
he was an uncle of Mr. Crowther's, of the name of
Shano, and that having escaped from the destruction
of Oshogiin, he had fled far into the interior, where
he had resided till now. By some means he had
heard of his nephew's return to the country, and, in
company with six others, had set off in search of him;
but when within two days of reaching Abbeokuta, a
band of men-stealers rushed out upon them, and,
after a severe struggle, succeeded in Securing them
all. He was again sold and resold several times,
and at last had been brought hither. Forty-one
heads of cowries (or £10, 5s.) were demanded for his
ransom; and the liberality of the emigrants left not
more than one-third of this sum to be paid by Mr.
Crowther and his brother missionaries. What joy
for the uncle and nephew thus to recognise each
other, and to the latter, to hear that his mother and
sisters had been alive, and in freedom, five years
before Twenty years were thus in a moment
swept away from the long interval of dreary dark-
ness; and though five still remained of doubt and
118 CHAPTER IX.
uncertainty, yet oh! how short they seemed, com-
pared with the whole amount! His uncle would
have had later intelligence to give him, but the
country had been so unsettled, he had not ventured -
to go so far from home.
As soon as Mr. Crowther arrived at Abbeokuta,
he followed up the clue his uncle had given him, and
soon found that his mother and sisters were residing
in the neighbouring town of Abäkä. He sent to tell
them of his arrival, but the news seemed impossible,
and they could not believe the messengers.” The
mother's heart, however, could not rest, and in
company with a half-brother of Mr. Crowther's,
she set out at once for Abbeokuta. The account
of the visit we shall give in Mr. Crowther's own
words:— - * ,
“Aug. 21. The text for to-day in the Christian
almanac is, ‘Thou art the helper of the fatherless.’
I have never felt the force of this text more than I
did this day, as I have to relate that my mother,
from whom I was torn away about five-and-twenty
years ago, came, with my brother, in quest of me.
When she saw me she trembled. She could not
believe her own eyes. We grasped one another,
looking at each other in silence and great astonish-
ment, while the big tears rolled down her emaciated
cheeks. She trembled as she held me by the hand,
* Gen. xlv. 26.
ARRIVAL AT ABBEOKUTA. 119
and called me by the familiar names, which I well
remembered I used to be called by my grandmother,
who has since died in slavery. We could not say
much, but sat still, casting many an affectionate look
towards each other;” a look which violence and
oppression had long checked; an affection which
twenty-five years had not extinguished. My two
sisters who were captured with me, and their chil-
dren, are all residing with my mother. I cannot
describe my feelings; I had given up all hope; and
now, after a separation of twenty-five years, without
any plan or device of mine, we are brought together
again!”
It appears, that some time after Mr. Crowther
was taken down to the coast, his mother and sisters
regained their liberty by the exertions of the above-
mentioned half-brother, who was very kind to them,
and brought them to Abākā to reside with him. A
fruitless search was made in every direction for the
missing Adjai, and after two or three years the hope
of finding him was given up. The sisters married,
* “Un tacer havvi,
Figlio d’amor, che tutte esprime; e dice
Più che lingua nonpuote,” &c.
Agamemnone—Tragedia del Conte Alfieri.
There is a silence,
Offspring of fondest love, that does more strongly speak,
Than words can do, the full heart's deep emotion.
120 - CHAPTER IX.
and all lived for some years in peace and comfort.
But one day, as the mother and elder sister were
going to a market in the neighbourhood, they were
kidnapped and again separated. The sister was
soon discovered and ransomed by her husband ; but
the poor mother was taken about from place to place,
exposed for sale in the market, and as, on account
of her advancing age, no purchaser was found for
her, she was made a domestic slave. Her mistress
having sent her on some business to Abbeokuta, she -
was, for the third time, captured on the road, and
brought into the town. Here she was in hard bon-
dage for several years, till her daughters at last,
hearing of her fate, collected together all the cowries
they possessed, and purchased her for 18 heads, or
about £4, 10s. of our money. “Thus,” adds Mr.
Crowther, “has my poor mother been suffering since
I left the country; and this is only one case among
thousands of similar ones. Could the friends of the
Africans witness the happy meetings of those who
have by their means been restored to each other;
could they hear, at this moment, how many thanks
are given to them by parents, whose declining years
are now cheered by the return of their children from
Sierra Leone, they would thank God, and take
courage to go on in that work which God has so
signally blessed, and the effect of which is being felt
far in the interior.”
ARRIVAL AT ABBEOKUTA. 121
The sisters with their children soon paid Mr.
Crowther a visit, and returned to Abākā; but his
mother, unable to tear herself from the son who had
thus been lost and was found again, consented to
take up her residence with him.”
In the course of a few weeks, Mr. Crowther's
anxiety for the safety of his sisters was again awakened.
Suffering and danger had indeed united the people
of Abbeokuta among themselves, but they had not
yet learnt sympathy or consideration for others.
Mohammedan slave-dealers had gained great in-
fluence over some of the principal men; the slave-
trade was carried on by indºw duals among them,
and too often some of the chiefs were instigated by
the love of gain to join them, and to take advantage
of a real or imagined offence to make war on one or
other of the neighbouring towns.
Abäkä was now their object; a strong party sud-
denly attacked it, hoping to find it an easy prey,
but the inhabitants were prepared for resistance, and
repulsed the enemy. Provoked by their disappoint-
ment, the Abbeokutans, assisted by Porto Novians,
* Mr. Marsh, a liberated African, now at Badagry, had,
during a visit to Abbeokuta, some months before, also found
his mother; and now these two happy parents were seen
“sitting together, talking over past sorrows and captivities,
and present joys.” As yet, however, they knew not to whom
they owed these joys. “May God open their eyes I’’ exclaims
Mr. Crowther, “but they must be led like little children.”
122 CHAPTER IX. .
surrounded the town so as to prevent the possibility
of escape; and, after bravely defending themselves
for four months, famine and the poisoned arrows of
the enemies obliged the people of Abäkä to surrender
themselves. They were all brought as prisoners to
Abbeokuta, and how did the hearts of our missionaries
mourn over this melancholy proof of the misery of
slave-wars! Mr. Townsend writes, “Another town
is swept off from the face of the earth ! it was full
of life and activity; now all is silent and desolate.
And wherefore? That a few Brazilian merchants
may more quickly fill their coffers; that the luxuries
of civilized nations may be a little cheaper, and that
war-chiefs with their rabble train may gratify their
love of display and applause. This whole country
is filled with the sighs and groans of the helpless,
and the soil is moistened with the blood of the slain.”
We may imagine the anxiety of Mr. Crowther; he
sent persons to watch the trains of captives as they
were led into the town; and to his great joy found
his brother, his two sisters, and their children among
the number, all of whom he gladly ransomed at the
expense of 150 dollars. They were all nearly
starved, and his brother was wounded and very ill,
but covered all over with some charmed mixture
that was to preserve him against musket balls or
poisoned arrows!
CHAPTER X.
PROGRESS OF THE WORK-BAPTISM OF FIRST
CONVERTs.
“The Lord added to the church au, such as should be saved.”—
Acts ii. 47.
IT was with no small satisfaction that the mis-
sionaries took possession of their own dwellings” in
December of this same year (1846); for the hos-
pitable Oso Ligregere had it not in his power to
afford them much accommodation; and a single room,
13 feet by 6, for each of the two families, was all
they had for every purpose. This new home was
Soon made good use of Divine service was regu-
larly held there, an adult Sunday school was opened,
and a weekly meeting was established for prayer
and reading the Scriptures with the Sierra Leone
people.
* The kind-hearted Sagbua was much distressed at their
removing into their new premises before the accustomed
ceremonies had been performed, as he was persuaded some
harm would happen to them. According to the notions of
the country, the demon of the soil ought to have been pro-
pitiated by a sacrifice; and two slaves ought to have pre-
viously slept on the ground, lest any hurtful charm should
have been buried there by an enemy.
124 CHAPTER X.
In the mean time, the interest excited by the
intention of Mr. Townsend and Mr. Crowther to
take up their abode at Abbeokuta, had spread
beyond its immediate neighbourhood. Messengers
arrived from Ketu, a large town, three days’ jour-
ney to the west, and on the confines of Dahomey,
to inquire about them; and the chiefs of Ijaye”
and Aggo-Ojai had sent privately to one of the
Abbeokuta chiefs, for they had heard an extra-
ordinary report, through some Sierra Leone emi-
grants. This was no other than that a white man
and his wife had come to live at Abbeokutal but
this seemed so incredible, that the messenger was
charged to see them with his own eyes, that, if true,
it might be placed beyond the possibility of doubt.
The year 1847 was one of quiet steady progress
in the Abbeokuta mission. On March 21st, a
church was opened for Divine service in the Aké
district, near the mission compound, and humble
and unpretending as it was in its material frame,
with its walls, its floor, and its seats of mud, and its
roof of thatch, yet within it were gathered together,
from week to week, from 150 to 200 immortal souls,
to whom the word of life was regularly preached,
and to some of whom it gradually became the savour
of life unto life. Inferior also as it was to our sim-
* Another large town two days north of Abbeokuta.
f The residence of the king, three days to the north-east.
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 125
plest English churches, it excited the admiration of
the people around, who frequently visited it, though,
as they knew it was intended for the worship of
God, they were extremely surprised at finding no
idol or symbol to which adoration was to be paid.
The Sierra Leone people were delighted, “Who,”
they exclaimed, “would ever have expected to see
a church-house in our own landſ" -
Application was soon after made to different
chiefs for permission to erect some kind of building
in their respective districts, that would afford the
missionaries and their hearers shelter during the
heavy rains that so often fall; and would secure
more regular services, and, as it was hoped, a more
regular attendance. The request was readily com-
plied with, and before Christmas-day 1847, four of
these sheds had been erected, and thus, in addition
to the church at Akë, the banner of the cross was
unfurled on Sundays, and on week-days, in the dis-
tricts of Igbein in the south, of Owu in the south-
western quarter, of Itoku near the centre, and of
Ikija in the north-west. Ogubonna, the chief of
the last-mentioned town, was particularly kind and
friendly; the spot fixed upon was in front of his own
house, of which he offered to pull down a part if
more space was required for the chapel. He with
his own hands assisted in measuring the ground, and
upon being reminded, while so employed, that a
126 - CHAPTER X.
fetish-house had formerly stood there, he angrily
reproved the man who spoke, saying, that if any
wished to rebuild the fetish-house, they must do so
somewhere else. The 12th of August was appointed
for opening it, and though much perplexed just at -
the time with some political affairs, he did not forget
either the day or hour; he was the first to enter,
bringing with him two little boys, one of them his
own child, and the other a little captive from Abākā,
both dressed in new cotton cloths in honour of the
occasion. • . -
Ogubonna showed also a great desire for the
general improvement of his people, and proposed to
the missionaries to send a young relation of his own,
Madarikan,” to Sierra Leone, to learn English car-
* A very interesting circumstance occurred to Madarikan
after his arrival at Sierra Leone. He had made his passage
in a native trading vessel, manned by liberated Africans.
Many months after his arrival one of the crew came to him,
and told him that he was persuaded that among some boys
lately captured, and now at the barracks, enlisted for soldiers,
was a brother of his. Madarikan, who had been placed in the
grammar school at Freetown, seized the first opportunity
that presented itself, of going to the barracks at the time of
parade, and, anxiously watching the recruits, was not long in
recognising his brother, though in so different a costume. We
may imagine the overflowing of mutual joy on the occasion.
It appeared that some months after Madarikan had quitted
Abbeokuta, this lad had been sent by his father to pay his
respects to the chief of Aji, a neighbouring town, who, in
revenge for some injury he had received from some other Ab-
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 127
pentering. His proposal was accepted, and the
young man soon after sailed for the colony, accom-
panied by a youth from Mr. Gollmer's school at
Badagry. The confidence thus reposed by Ogu-
bonna in his English friends was shared by most of
the chiefs; “and if,” says Mr. Townsend, “a suspi-
cion of our good intentions, suggested by the design-
ing agents of Domingo, at any time arises in their
minds, the very sight of a Sierra Leone emigrant
suffices to remove it, and their conduct towards us is
marked by kindness and confidence.”
Another very hopeful sign of the influence that
Divine truth was silently gaining among the people
was, that their former idolatry was evidently losing its
hold upon their minds. Many were convinced of its
folly and vanity, and would have thrown away their
“Ifas,” had it not been from fear of their own families.
One striking instance of this insensible influence is
beokutan, detained him and sold him as a slave. He was, as
usual, sold and resold, and shipped on board a Brazilian
slaver, then happily captured by a British cruiser and brought
to Sierra Leone. It was feared that as he was regularly en-
listed there would be some difficulty in procuring his discharge,
but as soon as the circumstances were known at home, Major
Straith (the lay secretary of the Church Missionary Society)
wrote an official letter to the adjutant-general of the army,
requesting him to submit the case to the Commander-in-chief,
the Duke of Wellington; he did so, and the Duke imme-
diately gave authority for the discharge of the young man
from the regiment.
128 CHAPTER X.
mentioned by Mr. Crowther, in his journal of Nov.
17, 1847. It seems that on the preceding night a
large party had gone as usual into the bush to make
Oro, as it is called, that is, to call up some of their
deceased relatives from the world of spirits. When
all was ready, the men looked at each other to see
who would begin the incantation. There was no
response, all seemed conscience-stricken, when one
of the party broke silence by referring to a lecture of
Mr. Crowther's a few Sundays before at Itoku
chapel, at which many of the party had been present.
The subject had been Judges vi. 25–27: they
remembered how the preacher had spoken of the
conduct of Gideon, how he had appealed to their
own consciousness of truth and error; and the
thought pressed upon their minds, “Will not these
words rise up in judgment against us?” They could
no longer remain in what they had hitherto considered
the sacred grove; but, though it was midnight, went
to the house of a lay helper in the mission, called
him up, opened their minds to him, and talked with
him till break of day. “May the Sun of Righteous-
ness, indeed,” Mr. Crowther adds, “rise upon their
souls l’’
The chiefs were not slow to acknowledge the in-
fluence the missionaries had over them. One day
Mr. Townsend was talking to Sagbua about the
chief of Ijaye, who had lately kidnapped some Sierra
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 129
Leone men. Sagbua made excuses for him : “Ikumi
has not heard from white man the words we have ;
we did so in Abbeokuta before we knew better, but
now we dare not. Softly, softly,” added he, “when
Ikumi hears, he too will forsake these ways.” Ogü-
bonna afterwards used nearly the same expressions.
And it was an encouraging proof of the truth of this.
assertion, that as early as April 1847, a public
meeting was held, at which above a thousand per-
sons were present, when a law was passed against
kidnapping under pain of death from Oro.”
The adult Sunday school had fifty-two scholars,
all making more or less progress in the art of read-
ing, though the want of an elementary book in their
own language added greatly to their difficulties.
They were taught in an English primer, and had
thus to acquire a new language as well as a new art.
* The supreme authority of the town seems to be vested in
this mysterious and undefined power. When any public
business is to be considered, a meeting is convened in the
name of “Oro;” and sentences against criminals are pro-
nounced under the same sanction. He is often supposed to
perambulate the town for hours or even days together, and
during his visits no woman is suffered to appear in the streets,
or to be seen at the door of a house. Upon the present occa-
sion Oro had convened the meeting for Sunday, but at Mr.
Townsend's request the day was changed to Saturday, that
the women of the congregation might not be prevented from
attending public worship. The same thing occurred some
time afterwards; Oro was again put off, nor has he been
called out since, on a Sunday.
K
130 CHAPTER X.
The average attendance at each of the four new
places of worship was about one hundred and fifty on
Sunday, and from forty to fifty on the week-day; .
and often would the people wait after the service to
ask the missionaries questions on the truths that had
been brought before them. A new centre of light
and influence was also formed by the removal of
Mr. Crowther and his family to the Igbein district,
In November of this same year, and it was pleasant
to hear the regret expressed by Shomolu, a man of
influence in Akë, at thus losing him from his town,
and his fears lest Mr. Townsend should also leave
him. Sagbua and himself, he said, had narrowly
watched them for the last twelve months, and now
that they were beginning to feel entire confidence in
them, they were going to leave them. Mr. Town-
send, however, soon reassured him as to any inten-
tions of his own to remove.
The close of the year found the missionaries with
thirty-two communicants from among the Sierra
Leone people, so greatly had God blessed their la-
bours among this portion of their flock. The con-
gregations continued to increase, not only at the
church but at the chapels, where Andrew Wilhelm
and William Goodwill assisted by taking the ser-
vices in turn, and the missionaries thanked God who
had given them such devoted and efficient helpers.
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 131
A schoolmaster, Charles Philips,” had arrived from
Sierra Leone, and the desire for instruction seemed
increasing. There were no less than forty candi-
dates for baptism, of whom six or seven were Sierra
Leone people, and the rest were natives.H.
Could the individual history of these candidates be
* \.
laid open before us, what cause should we find to adore
the God of all grace in the means he had used for their
conversion I We know, however, but little of them,
but we will not withhold that little from our readers.
One of the first applicants was a woman of the
name of Ijé, formerly a priestess, but now having
received the message of God into her heart, she had
thrown away her country gods and sought for salvation
through Christ alone. Mr. Crowther's attention had
first been drawn towards her in November, 1846,
* The arrival of Charles Philips gave Ogubonna a fresh
opportunity of showing his kindness and anxiety to promote
the happiness of others. Mr. Townsend had taken Philips
with him on the week-day evening to Ikijä chapel. Ogubonna:
saw him there, sent for him, and inquired carefully of him as
to the connections he had left behind when taken captive.
He set his people to work in all directions, and in a few days
found an aged woman who might, he thought, be his mother.
He sent her to the mission-house, the conjecture proved to
be right, and mother and son were restored to each other
after a hopeless absence of twenty-one years. -
f The missionaries often use the word “native” in contra-
distinction to the emigrants from Sierra Leone, to denote
those who had never left the country.
132 : CHAPTER x.
when he accidentally overheard part of a conversa-
tion between her and a man who was at work on the
Aké church. The poor woman was telling the man
of her troubles, her poverty, her ill-health, her want
of children, of the number of sacrifices she had
made, and of the inefficiency of them all, adding,
that she had heard of this new religion, and wondered
if it would do her any good. Her companion
answered her that he was very much in the same
case himself; he was dissatisfied with the old reli-
gion, and knew very little of the new ; but he was
determined to learn it, and advised her to do the
same. He then urged her to attend regularly the
Sunday services, where she would “hear wonderful
things such as their forefathers had never known,”
and exhorted her on no account to be unstable, or
to go back to her former ways, but to go straight on
till she found the right path. She followed his advice,
and was soon observed as one of the most regular
and attentive listeners to the word of God.
After this she had two serious illnesses, from one
of which she was not expected to recover; and her
friends, concluding that she was suffering from the
displeasure of the deity she had forsaken, pressed
her, with the greatest earnestness, to return to her
“country fashion.” Her faith, though of such recent
date, was firm and unwavering; no superstitious
ears hung upon her mind, and she steadfastly refused
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 133
to comply, resolved, if it should be the will of
God, that she would die in Christ, if she were not
permitted to live for him.
She recovered, and soon after joined the class of
candidates, employing herself more strenuously than
ever in bringing others to the truth she had her-
self embraced.
But the most interesting of the early candidates
for baptism was Afala, the aged mother of Mr.
Crowther. When she was first restored to him his
heart had been deeply, though not unexpectedly,
pained by her ascribing his return to the influence
of his deceased father in the unseen world; but by
degrees her mind became enlightened, and she also
joined Mr. Townsend's class of candidates. Soon
after this she was very ill, but instead of returning
to her old customs, she quietly told her son, “Had
I been left alone I should have attributed my sick-
mess to this or that deity, and should have made
Sacrifices accordingly, but now I have seen the folly
of so doing; all my hopes are in the Lord Jesus
Christ, whom now I serve.” • *.
We may easily suppose with what joyful anxiety
Mr. Crowther watched the progress of divine truth
in his mother's heart, and with what overflowing
thankfulness he witnessed her baptism by Mr.
Townsend on February 5, 1848, after above a
year's instruction.
134 er CHAPTER X.
The ceremony was a deeply affecting one.” Two
other women and two men had been selected as the
most advanced among the candidates; and as these,
the first fruits of the mission, surrounded by their
heathen friends and relations, boldly confessed their
faith in Christ crucified, and received the sign and
seal of their adoption, must not the feeling of every
Christian heart then present have been, “What hath
God wrought !”
One of these newly baptised was Ijë, whose little
history we have just given, and who now received
the Christian name of Susan ; and the other woman,
now Sarah Ibikotan, was the wife of Oso Ligregere,
under whose hospitable roof the missionaries had
been sheltered for the first five months of their resi-
dence in Abbeokuta. Ibikotan was a woman of an
eager and inquiring mind; and the words of Divine
truth from the lips of her husband's guests fell upon
her heart as good seed sown in good soil. When
Mr. Crowther's mother came to reside with him, her
affections were strongly drawn out towards her; and
often might she be seen sitting with her aged friend,
talking of the new world which was begiºning to
open before them both.
One of the men was Bankole, who had been
awakened to a concern for his soul by a relation
* The baptismal service had been translated into the
Yoruban anguage expressly for this occasion.
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 135
of his, one of the earliest emigrants from Sierra
Leone, and who had, before the arrival of the mis-
sionaries, been under the instruction of Andrew
Wilhelm. He was, probably, the very first inquirer
among the native population.
The other was Aina, who had suffered much
from domestic persecution. His wife and his mother-
in-law were bigotted idolaters; they had long tried
in vain to withdraw him from attending the public
services, but when, in addition to this, he threw
away his Ifa, their anger knew no bounds; and they
summoned him before the elders of his town to
answer for his conduct in forsaking the gods of his
fathers. The man stood firm, and quietly but man-
fully asserted his right to worship according to his
own convictions. The elders acknowledged the
justice of his claim, and his wife, finding that neither
entreaties nor reproaches had any effect, left him,
taking with her their only child. He often visited
the missionaries for comfort and advice. “Commit
thy way unto the Lord,” was the counsel they gave
him; and so it was, that before long his wife, doubt-
less influenced by the gentleness and patience he had
invariably exhibited, returned, bringing the child
with her. She afterwards attended the services at
the church, but we are not aware whether any
further accounts of her have been received. The
two men, thus the first baptised in Abbeokuta,
136 CHAPTER X.
received the names of Thomas and Edward, in re-
membrance of two of Africa's most faithful friends,
Sir Thomas Acland, and Sir Edward Buxton.
When the adult baptisms were ended, Mr. Crow-
ther had the pleasure of baptizing his own four
nieces, the children of his two sisters, who, though
not yet themselves prepared to take this decided
step, desired that their little ones should be admitted
into Christ's fold; and it must have been very
touching to see Hannah, the aged grandmother, and
the almost infant grandchildren, thus at the same
time made members of the visible church.
A few weeks after this interesting event, Mr. and
Mrs. Townsend were obliged to leave Abbeokuta,
and return to England, on account of the failure of
Mrs. Townsend's health. Happily the Rev. J. C.
Müller had just arrived, and Mr. Townsend rejoiced
in being able to place the district of Aké in his
hands.
Sagbua and the other chiefs greatly lamented the
departure of our missionaries, but they took advan-
tage of it to send a letter to the Queen of England,
accompanied by a present of country cloth. A
meeting was held for the purpose, which Mr. Town-
send attended, accompanied by Philips and Morgan,
schoolmaster and catechist from Sierra Leone.
Sagbua dictated the letter, which Mr. Townsend
wrote down in Yoruban, and read over to the party
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. .A. 137
for correction and approval. The letter, when trans-
lated, is as follows:—“The words which Sagbua
and other chiefs of Abbeokuta send to the Queen of .
England. May God preserve the Queen in life for
ever ! Shodeke, who communicated with the Queen
before, is no more. It will be four or five years
before another takes his office. We have seen your
servants, the missionaries, whom you have sent to
us in this country. What they have done is agree-
able to us. They have built a house of God. They
have taught the people the Word of God, and our
children besides. We begin to understand them.
There is a matter of great importance that troubles
us, what shall we do that it may be removed? We
do not understand the doings of the people of Lagos
and other people on the coast. They are not pleased
that you should deliver our country people from
slavery. They wish that the road may be closed,
that we may never have any intercourse with you.
What shall we do that the road may be opened, that
we may navigate the river Ogun to the river Ossa?
The laws that you have in your country we wish to
follow—the slave-trade, that it may be abolished.
We wish it to be so. The Lagos people will not
permit; they are supporting the slave-traders. We
wish for lawful traders to trade with us. We want
also those who will teach our children mechanical
arts, agriculture, and how things are prepared, as
138 CHAPTER X.
tobacco, Tum, and sugar. If such a teacher should
come to us, do not let it be known, for the Lagos
people, and the people on the coast, are not pleased
at the friendship you show us. We thank the Queen
of England for the good she has done in delivering
our people from slavery. Respecting the road that
it should not be closed, there remains yet much to
speak with each other.” -
It was very gratifying to Mr. Townsend to have
this unsought-for testimony of the good feelings of
the chiefs towards himself and his fellow-labourers,
and not less so to have this fresh assurance of the
anxious desire of the principal people in Abbeokuta
for the entire abolition of the slave-trade.
He was also very much pleased with a farewell
address to himself from thirty-nine Sierra Leone
communicants, acknowledging their obligations to
the Church Missionary Society for sending mission-
aries to Abbeokuta, and expressing their personal
gratitude to Mr. Townsend, through whose ministry
they had been rescued or preserved from falling into
the evil practices around them.
Mr. and Mrs. Townsend left Abbeokuta on March
24, 1848. :
CHAPTER XI.
THE REW. J. C. MULLER.
“Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth. Yea,
saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do
follow them.”—Revelation xiv. 13.
THE course of the Rev. J. C. Müller was so short,
and yet so bright, and his journals give us so inter-
esting a specimen of missionary work, that we are
tempted to devote this chapter to a separate account
of his labours.
He had landed at Badagry in January 1848,
accompanied by one whose heart, like his own,
glowed with love to God and man, and whose sym-
pathy and help, in weal and in woe, he fondly hoped
to have enjoyed for many years. But God, in His
wisdom, saw fit to take her from him; and on
the 26th of February, a month after their landing,
Mrs. Müller was carried off by fever, leaving her
husband alone, yet not alone; cast down, but not
forsaken. This loss of his earthly treasure, far from
paralysing his energies, or damping his zeal, only
quickened his intense desire that the name of Jesus
might be known among the heathen; and, ripening
fast as he was himself for glory, he was the more stirred
140 CHAPTER XI.
up to work while yet it was called day. He set off
immediately for Abbeokuta; and when Mr. Townsend
left it in May 1848, he took the charge of the district
of Akë, while Mr. Crowther continued in that of
Igbein, in the southern part of the town.
At Akë, Mr. Müller proved himself a faithful
pastor to the congregation Mr. Townsend had left
behind; but his predominant desire was to bring
other sheep into the fold; and his delight was to
tread in the steps of his Divine Master, and go from
town to town,"preaching and shewing the gladtidings
of the kingdom of God.” Taking with him one or
other of those faithful men, Andrew Wilhelm and
William Goodwill, as interpreters, he would set out
early in the morning; and, returning home in the
middle of the day for rest and refreshment, would
again take up his favourite employment, and walk
and teach again till evening.
The northern part of Abbeokuta was included in
his district; and day after day, the hills of Ikija, or
of Bagura, the narrow streets of the lower towns,
or the banks of the different winding streams that
flow into the Ogün, heard the joyful sound of sal-
vation by a merciful Redeemer. His zeal and holy
boldness were quickened by the sights and sounds
that continually met him. Now, in long procession,
the people were carrying idols on their heads, and
* Luke viii. 1.
º
:
;
|
MISSIONARY PREACE ING THE GOSPEL.

• THE REW. J. C. MULLER. 141
shouting in honour of the deities; at another time,
a company of women were drumming, dancing, and
uttering hideous cries, as their religious worship.
Here two Babbalawos", were dispensing blessings to
those who would purchase, them for cowries; and
there a woman, with an image of the devil, promised
happiness to whoever touched it. Priests and priest-
esses of the different deities abounded; and if he
entered the house of a chief, the figures of Orisha and
of Obbafulo showed that earthly riches, and success.
in war, were the objects of supreme desire.
He followed too, the example of his Lord in his
mode of teaching, and in taking the subjects of his
addresses from the spot on which he stood, or the
objects with which he was surrounded. A project-
ing rock at Ijemmo served him for a pulpit, as
he unfolded to the numbers seated at its base
the infinite value of the true “shadow of a great rock
in a weary land.” The spreading tree under which
he sometimes rested, while a company gathered
round him, furnished him with an illustration of
the tree of life, whose leaves are for the healing of
the nations. At one time, crossing the little stream
that divides Ilugun from its neighbouring township,
he stopped and drew attention to the cleansing power
of its waters, and led his hearers to the blood of
Jesus, that cleanseth from all sin. At another
* Priests of Ifa.
142 - CHAPTER XI.
place, he met above a hundred people coming up
from the river, with calabashes of water, and arrested
their steps, and fixed their attention, by crying out
in the words of the prophet, “Ho, every one that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters!” and then spoke
to them of that salvation which is indeed as “wine
and milk, without money and without price.”
The markets afforded him abundant opportunities;
sometimes thousands were to be found congregated
together; and no sooner did he stand still among
them, than a group, sometimes more and sometimes
fewer, would gather round him, while the corn, the
salt, the dry wood, exposed for sale, supplied him
with topics for instruction and solemn warning.
There seems to have been an earnestness and holy
unction about his preaching, that peculiarly attract-
ed the people; they often literally thronged him,
and some among his listeners would occasionally
follow him from place to place, that they might
hear more of those wonderful things of which he
spoke. They were almost always serious and atten-
tive; though now and then a Mohammedan or a
babbalawo would begin to cavil; but even in such
cases, generally speaking, Mr. Müller had no need
to answer the objectors; some one among the crowd
would of his own accord do it for him. On one
occasion, as he and his interpreter were walking
along, they heard voices calling to them to stop, ,
REV. J. C. MULLER. 143
and asking why they should have been passed by.
They stood still, and soon a number was collected,
to whom, as usual, they declared the gospel. Some
of those present began to talk in praise of their
Orisha, when a young man, a stranger, silenced
them by saying, “If the missionary carried about
some strange image, you would fall down and wor-
ship it; but it is his speaking the truth that offends
you. Truth is always bitter. You know that
country fashions are folly; he speaks the truth, let
us submit to it.” And sometimes on a second visit
to a spot, they received a friendly welcome from
some of those very people who had before been
angry. Many were evidently, at least for a time,
seriously impressed; among other instances, we may
notice that of a woman, bearing with her the figure
of the devil, who happening to pass along, while Mr.
Müller was speaking, stayed to listen, when presently
she was seen to throw the image to the ground.
Another time, while preaching to the people Christ
Jesus, and him crucified, they exclaimed with one
voice, “We will serve him whom you preach to us.”
The mere fact of the missionaries coming so far
for their benefit struck them much. “Is it true,”
said one of a company of women whom he stopped,
as they were drumming and making country fashion,
“Is it true that white men walk over the sea?”
“Yes,” was the answer, “and only that we may
144 CHAPTER XI.
declare unto you that gospel whereby ye may be
saved;” and they quietly listened while he went on
to tell them the words of eternal truth. Another
day, when preaching to a large number, a man in-
terrupted him by saying something in praise of Ifa.
He was immediately answered by a young man,
who exclaimed that if they had no other proof of the
truth of God’s word, than that the missionaries had
left their own country, and all that was dear to them,
and had come over the sea to declare it to them,
this alone ought to be enough to lead them to be-
lieve it. It was upon this occasion that Mr. Müller
was particularly struck with one young woman, who,
indifferent and insensible to all around, appeared
absorbed in what she heard; her eyes were rivetted.
on the messenger of good tidings, and she seemed,
like Mary, to ponder them in her heart; for when he
ceased to speak, she anxiously inquired of him,
“How.can I pray to God?” and went on to ask
how she might find peace and happiness for her
soul. •
It was encouraging to hear the testimony of the
people, and even of some of the chiefs, as to the
general improvement in Abbeokuta since anything of
Christianity had been known there. Even one of
the babbalawos, in conversation with Mr. Müller,
volunteered an observation to the same effect, saying,
that the town had formerly been notorious for rapine
REV. J. C. MULLER. 145
and cruelty, but that now persons and property
were tolerably secure. “We old men,” he con-
tinued, “are sure that good will come from preach-
ing God's Word here. Preach, preach—do not mind
what some say, but persevere. God will do his
work in his own time.” So spake this friendly bab-
balawo, but Mr. Müller could not let him go without
a serious warning—not to turn a deaf ear himself to
that Word of God, lest it should be said of him, and
others like himself, Woe unto thee, Abbeokutal for
if the mighty words that have been spoken in thee
had been spoken in cities beyond thee, they would
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
Our readers will not be surprised at the blessing
that attended these evangelising labours of Mr.
Müller, and the more pastoral ones of Mr. Crowther.
On December 24, 1848, Mr. Müller reports, “A
crowded congregation, many standing,” and on
Christmas-day: “Divine worship exceedingly well
attended; the people flocked in from all quarters,
and the attention was marked throughout the whole
service. The novelty and curiosity of our preaching
have nearly passed away, and I hope and believe
they come from a desire to hear the truth. It has
been the same at Igbein for the two last Sabbaths;
I believe our heavenly Father is powerfully drawing
myriads of this people to His Son. Even now is He
shaking the Abbeokuta heaven and earth; He that
L
146 CHAPTER XI.
is the desire of this people is come, and Jehovah is
about to fill this land with glory.” There was not
much Christmas feasting at Aké on that day; for so
many persons came into the compound that they
might spend the day more quietly than they could
do at home, and the opportunity of talking to them
was so inviting, that Mr. Müller and his assistants
“had not time so much as to eat.”
For eighteen months Mr. Müller thus continued
his work, never relaxing in it, except when pre-
vented by ministerial work at home, or when inca-
pacitated by illness and over-fatigue. In the course
of those eighteen months, the thirty candidates for
baptism who had been left in his charge, had increased
to one hundred and thirty-nine, besides more than
thirty whom he had had the privilege of baptising.
Speaking of those whom he had thus baptised,
Mr. Müller says, “They are all stedfast people, and
know what they are about; they have experienced
the vanity and evil of the world, and have tasted
that the Lord is gracious. There is much personal
piety among the baptised and the candidates. They
are exposed to Sun and rain, to storms and calms, but
they are not exposed to European influence; and at
present, they take it for granted, that every English-
man must be a good man.”
Among the candidates at this time was a balogun,
or war-chief, who, on his first visit to Mr. Müller,
REV. J. C. MULLER. 147
told him that he had long been dissatisfied with
country-fashion, and had thought of embracing
Mahommedanism, but having one day heard the
Word of God when working at his farm, he desired
to hear it also at church; he came, and was so deeply
interested, that from that time he determined to
serve the true and living God.
There were several interesting cases of inquirers
of whom it is not related whether they were ever
baptised, or even became candidates for baptism,
though most probably they did so. One of these
was a soldier and kidnapper, who one day came to
Mr. Müller, saying that when he awoke that morn-
ing the thought came across his mind that his ways
were not good, and that he would go to the white
man and ask about the ways of God. The missionary
had some conversation with him, and he was evidently
much impressed.
There was also another kidnapper who had, by
seizing a man belonging to Ijaye, occasioned hostili-
ties between that place and Abbeokuta. He was,
according to the recent law, sentenced to death, but
was spared at the intercession of Sagbua; and,
struck with astonishment at his unexpected deliver-
ance, acknowledged that it was God who had
rescued him, and became a regular attendant at the
Sunday-school, and at church. Another time Mr.
Müller was visited by a young man who came to him
148 CHAPTER XI.
with twenty of his companions. “I heard,” said he,
“that God's messenger lives here, and I am come to
ask the will of God.” After some earnest conversa-
tion, the question of the Philippian jailer was again
asked in Abbeokuta in nearly the same words; and
the same reply was given. The next day the young
man was at church and much interested in what he
heard. -
There was one very painful case of backsliding
that occurred among the candidates. This was
a babbalawo of the name of Olishido; he was a
venerable old man who heard the word with wonder
and with joy, and appeared to receive it to his soul's
salvation; but his fellow-priests could not bear to lose
him thus, and one day when Mr. Müller, having
missed him from church, went to seek him, he found
a host of these men gathered round him and preparing
a sacrifice, of which they compelled Olishido to
partake. His, heart wept for the poor man, who
evidently joined them against his convictions and
his inclinations. The shepherd did not give up
this straying sheep; he continued to visit him,
though we fear without any satisfactory result, for
the last we hear of him is that he was convinced of
his guilt, but still afraid to confess Christ openly.
This fear of man kept back another person from
becoming a candidate. It was a priestess, who had
formerly been a violent opponent, but who was
REV. J. C. MULLER. 149
pricked in her heart, and became anxious and uneasy.
She had not, however, courage to come forward
openly, because as she had long deceived so many
persons by her pretended enchantments, she feared
lest if it were known she had embraced the new reli-
gion she should in revenge be given to Oro, or in
other words, be murdered.
One of those whom Mr. Müller baptised was Mary
Ijé, the mother of Mr. Thomas King,” a catechist at
Sierra Leone. She was a very aged woman, and
had found it impossible to learn the creed or the ten
commandments; but the general state of her mind,
her consistent conduct, and the simple earnestness
with which, in answer to some question, she replied,
“I look to Jesus alone for the saving of my soul,”
were satisfactory evidences of a meetness for the rite.
Another of the baptised was Susanna Kuté. While
yet only a candidate she had suffered much for her
faith in Christ, and had been seized and put in
chains on no other ground than her attendance at
church and at the classes. Mr. Müller obtained her
release through thefriendly intervention of Ogubonna,
and the patience and gentleness of her conduct during
her trial so moved the heart of her persecutor, that
very soon afterwards she had the satisfaction of seeing
him become a regular attendant at church and at the
Sunday school. -
* Page 61.
150 CHAPTER XI,
Several similar instances occurred about this time;
they were the precursors of the violent persecutions
that broke out in October of this same year (1849),
but as we intend to reserve the particulars of this for
a separate chapter, we shall here only state that
although these individual cases occurred in the dis-
trict, and though Mr. Müller was greatly hindered in
his visits to the distant quarters of the town, yet, on
the whole, the converts and congregation of Akë
remained throughout unmolested. *
But before the persecution ceased, our missionary's
health became the Source of great uneasiness to his
friends; frequent attacks of illness laid him aside
for days together, and these illnesses were increased
by the impossibility of his having the food he
required. Yams, plantains, and Indian corn were
unfit for him; neither rice, flour, nor biscuits could
at this time be procured from Badagry; and he was
reduced to meat or fowls as his only nourishment.
He had been much interested in building the mis-
sion-house and church at the new station of Ikija at
the north-west extremity of the town, two miles from
Akë, and three from Igbein. The church was
erected by the contributions of friends in England,
through that faithful friend of missionary work, Miss
Barber, of Brighton; and stands on rising ground,
the property of the mission, in the open road, and
not within the compound.
REV. J. C. MULLER. 15}
Mr. Müller moved into his new residence in April;
and for a time, the change appeared to benefit him,
but his attacks soon returned again.”
It is very affecting to read his journals during this
spring of 1850, to mark how every respite from pain
and sickness was seized upon to resume his Sunday-
work in the church and in the schools, and, when
possible, to return again to his preaching in the
streets. The last entry in his journal is on May
26, when he speaks of a good attendance at the
services, but that he himself was too ill to take any
part in them. Mr. Hinderer, who was now residing
at Akè, found him on the 7th of June so ill that he
determined not to leave him again; and except
when kindly relieved by Mr. Crowther, watched
him unceasingly by day and night. It was a period
of severe trial to them both ; and during the last
night more especially, for Mr. Müller's weakness
prevented him from speaking so as to be understood,
and the anxiety and fatigue of the nine preceding
days and nights had so shaken the nerves of Mr.
Hinderer, that when he attempted to speak words
of consolation to his dying brother, he found his
sentences were so incoherent that he was obliged to
* There seems little doubt but that these attacks were
sometimes brought on by over-exertion, or by exposure to
heavy rains. But it seemed as if he could not do enough for
what he called his “beloved Abbeokuta.” #
152 CHAPTER XI.
desist. “We could,” he says, “do no more than
look at one another, but why art thou troubled at
this, O my soul? The Sun of righteousness, when
lighting a happy soul through the valley of theshadow
of death to its future home above, needs not thy
smóking flax to increase his brightness.” .*
The spirit of this man of God fled at day-brea
of June 16, 1850, and it adds another to the many
touching incidents of his history, that the church in
which he had hoped to proclaim the tidings of salva-
tion by a crucified Redeemer, was first opened for
Divine service on the Sunday after his death.
CEIAPTIER XII.
PROGRESS OF THE WORK–THE QUEEN'S AND PRINCE
ALBERT's PRESENTS TO THE CHIEFs.
“And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists,
and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”—Eph. iv. 11, 12.
WHILE Mr. Müller was thus, as we have seen,
honoured in his more especial work of an évangelist,
Mr. Crowther was equally blessed in his more
pastoral labours.
He was now settled in the newly erected mission-
premises in Igbein, in the southern quarter of the
town, and about two miles from Aké; and here, in
April 1848, he was permitted to open another
church for Divine worship. It was of the same
rude materials as that at Akë, but when filled with
between 200 and 300 worshippers, he felt that if
only a portion of these were indeed made “lively
stones” of the spiritual temple, it mattered little that
the walls of the earthly building were of mud and
its roof of thatch.”
*The circumstances attending the erection of this church
were particularly gratifying to Mr. Crowther. The requisite
funds (£42) had, at the suggestion of Mr. Townsend, been
154 CHAPTER XII.
Mr. Crowther, and his catechist Morgan, also
held regular services in the so-called chapels of Owu
and Itoku, but the latter was burnt down by a de-
structive fire; in the beginning of this same year, and
the services were suspended for some months. A
donation from the widow of that devoted servant of
God whose name had been given him at his baptism,
enabled him at last to rebuild it; and the manner
in which the site was given was another proof of
the influence the missionaries were gradually gain-
ing. As the former situation had not been found a
convenient one, Lajoyé, the war-chief of Itoku,
accompanied Mr. Crowther in search of another, and
coming to a piece of land belonging to himself,
Lajoyé advised him to build it there, as it was the
place of greatest resort in the whole town. Mr.
Crowther pointed out to him that the spot was so
contributed by his Christian fellow-countrymen at Sierra
Leone ; the congregation gave the labour; and as it was care-
fully built, it was a tolerably substantial structure. The
women too had improved the appearance of the interior by
washing it over with ochre.
# These fires are so frequent and so destructive in Abbeo-
kuta, as to cause the missionaries considerable anxiety. Once
Mr. Crowther's house was injured ; and on another occasion,
when the fire swept for between one and two miles across the
town till it was stopped by the river, both his own house and
that at Aké were only saved by a providential change of wind.
Partly from terror and partly from superstition the people make
very little attempt to extinguish them.
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 155
near a fetish grove belonging to the people of
Igbore, that they would object to it; but Lajoyé
overruled all objections by saying that it was the
most suitable for his purpose, and he had only to do
as he bade him. Mr. Crowther was but too glad to
do so, and though the people of Igbore were very
angry, and reviled the workmen while building it,
yet they were obliged to submit to Lajoyé's decision.
The chief had judged rightly as to the situation;
the chapel was quickly thronged, and on one occa-
sion, soon after it was finished, the numbers so
increased, that Mr. Crowther was obliged to dismiss
one congregation, and begin afresh with a new one.
We have mentioned that before Mr. Crowther left
Sierra Leone,” he had translated part of the Liturgy
into the Yoruban language; this he now used, and
found how suitable it was to the wants and feelings
of his people. The comprehensiveness of the prayers
in the Litany particularly struck them; and even
bigotted idolaters, if they happened to come in at
that part of the service, were astonished at Chris-
tians praying for their enemies. Our missionaries
longed to receive printed copies of it from England,
that the congregations might join more effectually
in the service.H.
* Page 93.
f In 1850 they had their wish, and they speak with joy of
the way in which the responses resounded through the
churches. *
156 : CHAPTER XII,
The “interpretation of tongues” was among Mr.
Crowther's most important occupations, and he had
already sent home the Gospel of St. Luke, the Acts
of the Apostles, and the Epistle to the Romans, be-
sides a translation of Watts' First Catechism. He
had also revised a Yoruban primer, which had been
prepared by Mr. Townsend and Mr. Gollmer in
England, and its reappearance at Abbeokuta in print
was hailed with delight by his hundred-and-eight
Sunday adult scholars. Half their difficulties* va-
nished when they found that the strange characters
now conveyed to them some familiar sound; they
were never tired of reading it; several of them com-
mitted the whole to memory; and they were parti-
cularly interested in comparing the passages of
Scripture it contained with the corresponding ones
in their English Testaments. The thirst of these
people for instruction was most encouraging; and
could it have been given them for three hours in the
morning, and as much in the afternoon, they would
still have thought the time too short.
Mr. Crowther had established a school for boys,
and Mrs. Crowther one for girls, and they seemed
likely to prosper. Ogubonna regularly sent some of
his household, though the distance was considerable,
and they had to come over a rocky road; and two
* See page 129.
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 157
even of the babbalawos brought their little girls to
Mrs. Crowther. “What shall I sacrifice?” said one
of them, “a pig or a fowl? or what shall I pay?”
adding, “if you do not like their heathen names,
change them for some of your own.” When assured
that no sacrifice was needed, that there was nothing
to pay, and that there was no wish to change their
names, he could not sufficiently express his sur-
prise; nor was his astonishment lessened when he
was conducted into the room where Mrs. Crowther
was teaching her twenty pupils to sew; for in Yoruba
the men alone are considered worthy of being ini-
tiated into the mysteries of needlework |
The attention paid by the people to the observance
of the Sabbath-day was a token of the sincerity of
their professions, and Mr. Crowther mentions one
instance in particular that shows a strength of faith
We should hardly have expected from such recent
converts.
It appears that some of the Christians supported
themselves by trading at the Lagos market, which
was held once in seventeen days, and consequently
occasionally involved the necessity of either travel-
ling or trading on the Lord's-day. The rivers were
unsafe except for large parties; for the Ijebbus
often lay in ambush on the banks, ready to catch and
plunder any who were not strong enough to resist
them. The question among the converts was,
158 - CHAPTER XII.
whether when the market occurred at such times,
they should, as a case of necessity, travel with the
rest of the traders on Sunday, or whether they should
on these occasions refrain altogether. Neither of
these alternatives satisfied the minds of our friends;
and after much deliberation and prayer, they re-
solved at all risks to keep the Sabbath holy; but as
they were not well able to relinquish their attendance
at the market, they determined to trust in the good
providence of their God, and when necessary, to
travel with only their own small party. And God
honoured their courage and their confidence in Him, .
for no instance has occurred of their being molested,
while the larger parties have more than once been
attacked and plundered, and some of the people
seized as slaves. .
Mr. Crowther was anxious to promote in every
way the temporal as well as spiritual welfare of his
people, especially to encourage agriculture among
them. He planted rice in his own compound, and
induced others to do the same; and took advantage
of a liberal present, sent him by the Dowager Lady
Buxton, to bestow trifling gratuities on the small
cultivators, according to their skill; and it was plea-
sant to find that “half-a-crown or five shillings thus
given was more valued than gallons of rum would
have been.”
There was evidently an increasing activity and
PRESENTS TO CHIEFS. 159
desire for improvement, generally, among the people,
in which Ogubonna took the lead. A new house he
was building had doors and glass windows,” in imi-
tation of the missionaries' dwellings; and even
before Mr. and Mrs. Townsend left Abbeokuta, he
had prevailed on them to accompany him on a visit
to his farm. They were very much pleased with
this little excursion. The farm lay a short distance
from the town, and was very picturesquely situated
on the side of a rocky hill. Much care had evidently
been taken in its cultivation, according to their
native fashion, and it was with some degree of
pride that the chief led his visitors through fields of
cotton, of ginger, and of ground pepper, H which he
had planted in the sanguine, though undefined hope,
that they might some day obtain a place in the
English market.f Ogubonna was much gratified by
this visit from Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, and as they
were passing through a plantation of yams, they
heard him say to the overseer of the farm, “No
Osha, however famous, would have been believed,
* The windows had been taken out by Mr. Townsend.
t A trailing plant that produces a kind of pepper.
† When Mr. Crowther came to England, in 1851, he
brought some African cotton with him as a sample, and it was
so much approved of by some of the great Manchester manu-
facturers, that there is good reason to hope, that with an im-
proved cultivation, it will become a staple article of trade
between Abbeokuta and England.
160 CHAPTER XII.
had it foretold that Europeans would ever visit the
!” ending by an exhortation to the man to be
more than ever diligent, that it might always be in
a fit state to be seen. -
We mentioned in our tenth chapter, the letter
sent by Sagbua and his colleagues to the Queen,
when Mr. Townsend returned to England, in 1848;
farm
and the arrival of an answer in May, 1849, is too
memorable an event in the annals of this people, to
be passed over in silence. Her Majesty had been
pleased very graciously to receive the letter from the
Abbeokutan chiefs, with the present of country
cloth that accompanied it, and authorised the Earl
of Chichester, as President of the Church Missionary
Society, to return the following reply.
“I have had the honour of presenting to the
Queen the letter of Sagbua and other chiefs of
Abbeokuta, and also their present of a piece of
cloth.
“The Queen has commanded me to convey her
thanks to Sagbua and the chiefs, and her best
wishes for their true and lasting happiness, and for
the peace and prosperity of the Yoruba nation.
“The Queen hopes that arrangements may be
made for affording to the Yoruba natives the free use
of the river Ossa, so as to give them opportunities for
commerce with this and other countries.
“The commerce between nations, in exchanging
PRESENTS TO CHIEFS. 161
the fruits of the earth, and of each other's industry,
is blessed by God. Not so the commerce in slaves,
which makes poor and miserable the nation that
sells them, and brings neither wealth nor the bless-
ing of God to the nation that buys them, but the
contrary. -
“The Queen and people of England are very glad
to know that Sagbua and the chiefs think as they
do upon this subject of commerce. But commerce
alone will not make a nation great and happy like
England. England has become great and happy
by the knowledge of the true God and Jesus Christ.
“The Queen is therefore very glad to hear that
Sagbua and the chiefs have so kindly received the
missionaries, who carry with them the Word of
God, and that so many of the people are willing to
hear it.
“In order to show how much the Queen values
God's Word, she sends with this, as a present to
Sagbua, a copy of this Word in two languages, one
the Arabic, the other the English.
“The Church Missionary Society wish all happi-
mess and the blessing of eternal life to Sagbua and
all the people of Abbeokuta. They are very thankful
to the chiefs for the kindness and protection afforded
to their missionaries; and they will not cease to
pray for the spread of God's truth, and of all other
blessings, in Abbeokuta and throughout Africa, in
M
162 CHAPTER XII.
the name and for the sake of our only Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.
(Signed) “CHICHESTER.”
The Bibles were handsomely bound in red morocco,
and Prince Albert added the valuable present of a
steel mill for the grinding of their Indian corn. The
Rev. D. Hinderer, who was just then proceeding to
Abbeokuta as a missionary, was entrusted with the
letter and the presents: at Badagry he was joined
by the Rev. I. Smith, then stationed there, and they,
arrived at Abbeokuta on May 14th.
Sagbua immediately sent round the crier to sum-
mon the chiefs for the 23rd, when Mr. Crowther,
Mr. Müller, Mr. Smith, Mr. Hinderer, and a number
of converts were invited to meet them in the outer
court of the council-house at Aké. There was a
large assembly, and Mr. Crowther read and trans-
lated the letter, paragraph by paragraph; the Bibles
and corn-mill were then presented to them, and Mr.
Crowther addressed them. He drew their attention
to that portion of Lord Chichester's letter in which
the Queen so gracefully acknowledges that it is not
commerce alone that can make a nation great or
happy, but the knowledge of the true God and Jesus
Christ; and then, with the Bibles in his hand, spoke
of the prosperous reigns of David, of Jehoshaphat,
and of other kings of Judea who feared God, and led
their people to serve Him; and then referred to the
PRESENTS TO CHIEFS. 163
unhappy state of the Jewish nation when prince and
people turned from Him to idolatry and wickedness.
The other missionaries followed, and, as it was not
often that they had the opportunity of speaking to
so many chiefs, they endeavoured to turn the occasion
to good account.
The mill was then brought forward, some Indian
corn was put into it, and the chiefs were taken quite
by surprise, when they found that by merely turning
the handle of the mill, it came out as fine flour. They
all crowded round, each begging for a little of the
flour to take home to show his people.
Sagbua and his brother chiefs were very much
gratified by all the proceedings; they evidently felt
that a great honour had been conferred upon them,
and there is reason to believe that a powerful effect
was produced by the whole transaction. The friendly
Sagbua showed his appreciation of the Queen's
present in a way that, though natural, was painful
to the missionaries. Mr. Crowther happened to call
on him a few days after, when he inquired whether
he ought not to offer some sort of sacrifice to the
things that had been sent, Mr. Crowther asked,
“What thing? the corn-mill or the Bibles?” “The
Bibles, ’’ was the reply, and our missionary, opening
the Bible, and reading from it the first and second
commandments, endeavoured to show the chief how
contrary to that very book such an act would be.
164 CHAPTER XII.
Ogubonna afterwards spoke of the deep impres-
sions that had been made altogether upon the meet-
ing, and added that it was his firm persuasion that
in six years Christianity would become the national
faith of Abbeokuta.
We shall close this chapter with an account of
one or two of Mr. Crowther's communicants.
The first we will mention is a man of the name
of Kāshi. He was a carpenter and a carver of
wooden idols. Observing the superior skill of the
workmen from Sierra Leone, and anxious to improve
in his art, he frequently visited a carpenter who
worked for Mr. Townsend. Happily for Kāshi this
man was a Christian, and, while instructing him in
his work, often spoke to him on the concerns of his
soul. Kāshi became in some degree impressed,
gave up working on the Sabbath day, and attended
public worship. One Sunday, the missionary was
led to read and explain Isaiah xliv, 13–17. The
man was astonished, he could hardly believe the
passage was in the Bible; it seemed as if written ou
purpose to describe himself. He returned home, but
the words followed him; he walked out to a neigh-
bouring plantation, and looked at the trees of his
own planting:—“He planteth an ash and the rain
doth nourish it; he taketh an oak which he strength-
eneth for himself among the trees of the forest;”—
how true of himself!—“The carpenter stretcheth
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 165
out his rule, he marketh it out with a line, he fitteth
it with planes, and marketh it out with a compass.”
—how accurate the description “Then he will
take thereof and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it
and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god and
worshippeth it.” * • ‘
Thus did his mind run over the whole passage;
the Holy Spirit brought it home to his conscience;
he reflected that while the tree was alive and brought
forth fruit it was nothing thought of; how then when
it is dead can it become an object of adoration? He
gave up idol worship, determined to examine more
closely into Christianity, and became a regular
attendant on the means of grace. Some of the
chiefs observed the change and became alarmed;
for his abilities had procured for him the headship of
the artisans in Abbeokuta, and he had great influ-
ence among the people. They tried to bribe him to
relinquish his new opinions, and to identify himself
with them; but he had already learnt too much of
Christianity to be so moved, and continued to main-
tain his ground. He gave up, of course, the carving
of images; and had it not been for Mr. Crowther's
persuasion, would have laid aside also his occupation
as carpenter, lest it should prove a temptation to
him.
His wives now deserted him, and soon his two
children were also taken away; and thus, in time of
166 CHAPTER XII.
his greatest need, when his struggling soul was seek-
ing for an answer to the inquiry, “What must I do
to be saved?” he was left alone without one of his
friends to sympathise with, or to care for him. But
none of these things moved him; he steadily ad-
vanced in knowledge and in grace, and was in
February 1851 baptised, and soon after admitted to
the table of the Lord.
The Dahomian attack, of which we shall give the
account in a future chapter, occurred very soon after
his baptism, and he was called upon to assist in the
defence of his country. A watchful, and perhaps
suspicious, eye, was kept upon the converts during
the conflict, and an observation of one of the war-
chiefs was therefore the more satisfactory, when,
happening to meet Kāshi in the very heat of the
battle, he exclaimed, “Ah, Kāshi, if all fought like
you, they might follow what religion they liked!”
The other case we will relate is that of a young
woman named Oteshade. She was engaged in mar-
riage to one of the babbalawos, when, by the
instrumentality of her grandmother, who had been
baptised some time before, her heart was opened to
the influences of real religion, and she began to
attend the instructions of the missionaries. Her
convictions and desire to become a Christian increased
continually, and she begged to be baptised. Her
engagement to the priest prevented Mr. Crowther
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 167
from acceding to her request, and her way seemed
hedged up, for the engagement could not be broken
through on her side. The only course that seemed
open to her was to endeavour to make conditions
with her future husband that she might continue to
attend the services of the church, and to keep the
Sabbath day holy; requesting him, if he disapproved
of this, to go to one of the services and hear and
judge for himself.
This proposal stirred up the most angry passions;
he put her in the stocks, and used other severe
measures in the hope of inducing her to yield. But
all his ill-treatment was of no avail; she remained
stedfast, and at the end of nine days of this ill-
treatment, one of the chiefs, heathen though he was,
interceded for her. The babbalawo then concerted
other measures with her own family, and she was
treated with the greatest kindness. But, when Sun-
day came, she found that she was expected to give
up her religion, for they put a basket into her hand
and bade her go to a distant field and bring home
Some cassada. Her resolution was promptly taken,
she quietly received the basket, and without making
any observation, set off in the direction of the field;
but after a while turned round and making a long
circuit, reached the mission-premises just as the
Service was commencing. Her feelings were over-
Come, and setting down her basket, she joined the
168 CHAPTER XII.
congregation. Afraid of returning home, she lin-
gered on till evening, when her family, finding she
did not come back from the field, set out in search
of her. We may imagine their rage, when at last
they found her in the mission-premises; they re-
proved and threatened her, but she continued
stedfast; and finding that they could make no
impression on her, they at length returned home,
leaving her under the care of Mr. Crowther. There
she remained for some time, receiving instruction
as a candidate, was baptised, and afterwards married
a Christian young man. She still continues to walk
stedfastly in the fear of the Lord.
CHAPTER XIII.
PERSECUTION.
“The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel
together, against the Lord, and against His anointed”—Psalm ii. 2.
THE persecution of the converts at Abbeokuta
forms so important a feature in the early history of
this church, that we have decided, instead of inter-
weaving the details of it with the more general account
of the missions, to reserve them for a separate chap-
ter, so that, extending as it did over a year and a
half, it may yet be presented to the readers as a
whole. -
We must, therefore, ask them to go back with us
to the early part of the year 1848, when the seed of
Divine truth, which had been so freely scattered
among the people, and was gradually taking root in
many hearts, had as yet scarcely appeared above the
surface of the ground. A few had come out from
the heathen around them, and publicly confessed
that Jesus was the Saviour; and some had under-
gone much domestic trial from members of their own
families, but the number was not sufficiently large
to excite general attention, and the congregations
170 CHAPTER XIII.
were allowed to assemble, and the classes to meet
for instruction, without being molested by any per-
son in authority.
But as time went on, the effects of the gospel
became more apparent; the churches of Akë and of
Igbein were filled to overflowing, the chapels multi-
plied, and were attended by hundreds, while wherever
a missionary stopped to preach in the streets he was
immediately surrounded by a crowd of eager listeners.
Increasing numbers had become candidates for Christ-
ian baptism; and it was well known that many more,
who were not prepared to take this decided step,
had yet left off their idolatry, and were seeking for
the truth.
The priests and priestesses of the various gods
could not see and know all this without perceiving
that if things went on thus, they should lose their
influence and their gains; and they set themselves
in good earnest to stop the progress of this new
religion. There were other parties in the town
who participated in their views and feelings—the
dealers in goats and fowls feared that as the number
of sacrifices diminished, their sales would diminish
also; the Mohammedan slave-dealers were shrewd
enough to know that their iniquitous traffic could
not stand side by side with Christianity; and,
sadder than any of these, there were some among
the Sierra Leone emigrants who had either never
PERSECUTION. 171
embraced Christianity, or had apostatised from it,
who felt that the consistent conduct of their Christian
countrymen was a tacit reflection on themselves,
and would rejoice in their being drawn back into
idolatry ; while the usurping Kosoko of Lagos,
who hated Christianity and civilisation as interfering
with his wicked gains, assisted the movement in
every way that he could, and helped to unite the
others in their attempts upon the converts.
At first the babbalawos did not venture upon any
active measures: they began by using persuasions
and arguments, not unmixed with threats, and by
privately exciting the heads of families against any
of the younger members who attended the instruc-
tion of the missionaries. But finding these measures
had no effect, they had recourse to a plan which
they confidently hoped would detach some at least
from the religion they dreaded.
Many of Mr. Crowther's candidates were young
unmarriéd men, some of them were already betrothed
totheir intended wives, and the babbalawos persuaded
the fathers of the young women to withhold their
daughters from any who would not worship Ifa and
promise to purchase “Osha” for their brides. As
Soon as the young men heard of this, they met
together and determined not only that they would
not submit to these conditions, but that they would
* Osha means the household gods of the wives.
172 CHAPTER XIII.
not marry any person who would not join with them
in reading the Word of God. This resolution was
soon put to the test. The father of one of these
affianced young women was a babbalawo, and he
sent to his intended son-in-law to propose that the
marriage should no longer be delayed, but mentioning
also the above condition. The young man returned
for answer that he had made up his mind never to
worship Ifa, nor to purchase Osha, but that he
wished to marry according to the law of God, and
that if the father did not approve of this he might
return the two bags of cowries he had given him at
the time of the betrothment, and he would seek a
wife elsewhere. He ended by saying, that if no
one in Abbeokuta would give him one of their
daughters, he should, when he felt disposed, redeem
a slave, and marry her. Nor was he moved from
his purpose by being brought before the chief and
head men of Igbore, who were however obliged to dis-
miss the case, finding no pretext for punishing him.
The rest of the young men stood equally firm,
and thus this scheme fell to the ground.
The next idea was to poison Some among the can-
didates, that the others might be alarmed, and return
to Ifa ; and with this view some of the babbalawos
of Igbore purchased poison at Ibara, and hid it in
the bush till a fitting time should come. They sent
a spy to Igbein church to watch who were the most
PERSECUTION. 173
<n
regular attendants there, and the plot seemed ripe
for execution, when the spy was taken ill and died;
the eldest daughter of the head babbalawo died also ;
all were frightened from their purpose, and the in-
tended victims were delivered from a danger of
which they knew nothing till it was past !
With the female candidates they took a different
course, and hoped to intimidate them by “Oro.”
This mysterious power is an object of the greatest
dread to the women of Abbeokuta, who are forbidden
to appear in the streets during any of his visits,
under pain of death. Notice was publicly given
that “Oro” would take possession of the town for
four days and nights, and steps were taken to make
it believed that the Christians were the objects of his
severest displeasure. The song usually sung was
altered to suit the occasion, and the “Lion of the
book-people” was invoked to execute vengeance
upon them. -
One poor woman, who was alone in the house
with her two little boys when the tumultuous pro-
cession passed along, was very much alarmed. It
stopped before the house; and above the deafening
noise of drums and shouts, rose the shrill song, or
rather gry, “Lion of the book-people, seize her,
!” while the roof of her dwelling was
shaken so violently as if to bring it down. The
frightened children clung to their scarcely less
seize her
174 CHAPTER XIII.
frightened mother, who, that she might at least see
the danger, lighted a lamp, but was instantly ordered
to extinguish it, and the roof was shaken still more
violently. Then, scarcely knowing what she did,
she bade the children sing the alphabet as loudly as .
they could. They obeyed, and to her surprise and
infinite relief, the drumming and shouting suddenly
ceased, and she heard the crowd move quickly off,
doubtless supposing that this was some counter-
charm against them.
The summer of 1848 had now passed away, and
no impressions had been made upon the converts,
but with autumn came stronger measures against
them. The first person seized was Susannah Kuté,
the member of Mr. Müller's congregation at Akë, of
whose sufferings we have spoken before.” The next
was a convert of the Wesleyan missionary, who,
after three days' imprisonment, was released through
Mr. Crowther's influence with Oluſoko, the war.
chief. Soon after the blow fell upon one of Mr.
Crowther's own people, named Oguntolla. He had
been a man of a fierce and violent disposition, ready
to avenge the slightest injury; but the grace of God
had wrought upon his heart, and the tiger was
changed into a lamb. Knowing his natural temper,
the persons who were sent to apprehend him thought
to entrap him by offering a razor with which to kill
* Page 149.
PERSECUTION. 175
either himself or one of those who had come to take
him. But Oguntolla quietly answered that he had
two knives, which, if he wished it, would answer the
same purpose, but that he had learnt “Thou shalt
do no murder.” He was led away without making
any resistance, taken to the council-house, and had
his feet made fast in the stocks by being thrust
through a perforated wall. Mr. Crowther thought
it better not to interfere in this case as he had done
in others, that it might be seen that the strength of
the sufferers lay not in man, but in God. He sent
him therefore a message to this effect, exhorting him
at the same time to perseverance; and the noble-
minded man, instead of being discouraged at what
might have appeared a desertion of him in the time
of his greatest need, replied by begging Mr. Crowther
not to be afraid about him, his mind was made up
to live or die for Christ. He remained thus for five
days, his legs and feet swollen and very painful;
while the babbalawos gathered round him like bees,”
using every method to induce him to recant. At
the end of this time he was summoned before the
Ogboni, or council of elders of the town, F who,
* Psalm crviii. 12.
t It must be remembered that though all matters of general
interest are settled in the general council of Akë, each town-
ship has its own council, and keeps the government of all
local affairs in its own hands. And it was owing to this in-
dependence of action, that, while the persecution raged so
176 CHAPTER XIII.
finding they could not frighten him into submission,
and knowing the voice of the people was in his
favour, dismissed him, after forcing him to become
a member of their secret council. ->
All these attempts against the converts served to
strengthen rather than weaken them. . Six of the
candidates indeed forsook Mr. Crowther from fear of
the consequences; but the remainder stood firmer
than before—the timid were encouraged, and the
weak were strengthened; the churches were fuller
than ever, and fresh candidates were continually
coming forward.” Frustrated in their attempts, the
persecutors desisted for a time. “The churches had
rest, and were edified, and walking in the fear of
the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost,
were multiplied.” s -
God was thus fitting them for further trials; and
few Christian communities probably have been
better prepared than this was for the fire of persecu-
tion. “Unity, life, energy, and courage,” writes
Mr. Müller at the time, “are the characteristics of
the infant church of Abbeokuta.” Their sense of the
atonement was so strong, that we are told tears
fiercely in some of the towns, others were entirely exempt
from it, as we shall presently see.
* At this time Mr. Crowther had fifty communicants, and
forty-eight candidates for baptism, in addition to Mr. Müller's
fifty-two of the former, and one hundred and thirty-nine of
the latter.
PERSECUTION. 177

would run down their cheeks when the subject was
specially dwelt upon; and subsequent events have
shown that to Mr. Müller's list of Christian graces
was to be added constancy in confessing Christ
before men.
Individual cases of ill-treatment again occurred
in the summer of 1849, but these did not satisfy the
enemies of the gospel, who only waited for some
favourable opportunity of commencing a more sys-
tematic persecution; and the burial of a native”
convert in the autumn of that year afforded them a
pretext of which they were but too ready to avail
themselves.
Idini was a man who had suffered the loss of all
things for the sake of Christ; he had been forsaken
by his relations and deprived of his employment.
Mr. Hinderer took him as horsekeeper, and, after
some months of faithful service, the poor man died
in the Aké mission-house. His master, knowing
what his own wishes would have been, obtained the
consent of his relations, and buried him in the Chris-
tian burying-ground.
But neither he nor his fellow-missionaries were
prepared for the consequences of this step. It was
the first case of the death of a native convert; and
* In speaking of the converts the missionaries often apply
the term native to those who have never left their country, to
distinguish them from the Sierra Leone emigrants.
N
178 CHAPTER XIII,
the Ogboni, who have by law, it appeared, the
arrangement and the profits of all the funerals, con-
sidered their rights were infringed upon, and lost no
time in taking advantage of the alleged misde-
meanour.” Six of the converts were seized and
confined in the council-house of Itoku; but the re-
monstrances of Mr. Hinderer, and the decision with
which he acted, procured their release after five days
of suffering; not however without severe scourging,
and such heavy fines that some of them will hardly
be free from during their life-time. They were also
strictly prohibited from attending the instructions of
the missionaries, and the chiefs of Itoku still con-
tinued to seize and imprison others. In a few days,
the missionaries received intelligence from the Ob-
bashorun (or principal war-chief), who was unvarying
in the friendliness of his conduct towards them, that
the chiefs of Igbore were intending to follow the
example of Itoku, and to seize as many as they
could of their own townspeople who were converts.
Accordingly, on the 20th of October, the storm
again burst out with redoubled fury. “Nothing,”
writes Mr. Crowther, “was omitted that could make
the circumstances appalling to the poor sufferers;
‘Oro' was called out in Igbore town, the Ogboni
* There had been several deaths among the Sierra Leone
people; but in those cases the governments never interfered
—they were considered as rightfully belonging to the English.
PERSECUTION. 179
drums were beating furiously, and a great multitude,
armed with bill-hooks, clubs and whips, were catch-
ing and dragging our poor converts to the council-
house. Here they were unmercifully beaten, and
then the feet of each of the men were thrust into
holes in the walls and made fast on the other side in
stocks—some of the holes being two feet from the
ground. There they lay for five days, exposed to.
the scorching sun by day and floods of rain by night.
Food was also denied them, and many must have
died under their accumulated sufferings, had there
not been some among the council who, like Nicode-
mus and Joseph of Arimathea, would not consent to
the persecution.” These men succoured the prison-
ers as far as it was possible, privately sending them
provisions and words of comfort.” “The women
were cruelly scourged and pinioned, without regard
to age or sickness; and while all this was going on
in the council-house, the houses of the imprisoned
were being plundered, their household utensils de-
stroyed, their doors unhinged and carried away.”
Nor were the sufferers left unmolested in their
imprisonment; repeated attempts were made to in-
duce them to recant; and finding they would not
* There is reason to believe that, had it not been for this
influence, the whole number, amounting (inclusive of the
Wesleyan converts) to nearly a hundred, would have been put
to death.
180 CHAPTER XIII.
yield, their tormentors shaved the heads of all, in
order, as they said, to shave off baptism; and on the
heads of the women they wrung out the blood of a
pigeon, setting before them the figure of an idol for
them to worship. All their attempts were vain;
baptised and unbaptised stood stedfast in their new
faith, and comforted each other with the example of
their Lord. Several times they sent messengers to
Mr. Crowther, begging him “not to be cast down
on their account,” for that their “only fear was that
he would have over-much sorrow for them.” “Won-
derful manifestation,” exclaims Mr. Hinderer, “of
the power of the Word and Spirit of God! A young
and tender flock, tormented by wolves and lions,
send to comfort their shepherd ſ” The persecutors
were perplexed. “Day after day,” said they, “we
torment them, but they still say, “we will die rather
than recant.’” “What is it,” they asked some of
the prisoners, “what is it that Oiboº gives you to
reat that makes your hearts so strong?”H They
would have been still more puzzled, could they have
penetrated deeper, and have known that these very
men, somef of whom were not long ago the plague
* The white man.
f They knew not that they were eating of the tree of life,
and that they were “strengthened with all might, according
to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering
with joyfulness.”—Col. i. 11. . -
Í 1 Cor. vi. 11.
PERSECUTION. 18]
of the town—thieves, kidnappers, incendiaries,
adulterers, and murderers—were now often en-
gaged in prayer for these their enemies, and “Fa-
ther, forgive them, for they know not what they
do,” many times ascended from the council-house of
Igbore.
The fierce attack by the Igbore chiefs was the
signal for a similar course of action in other towns.
In Igbein, in Itori, in Imo, the converts were sought
for and seized; but there were very few in any of
these places, and several of the most influential
chiefs of other towns refused to take any part in the
matter. Sagbua, Ogubonna, Sokenu, and the Ob-
bashorun, protected the Christians in their own
towns,” and sent repeatedly to the missionaries to
beg them not to be discouraged. They endeavoured
to prevail upon the persecutors to relent, and so far
succeeded, that at the end of the five days they were
set free, but like those of Itoku, they had heavy fines
to pay, and were forbidden under pain of death to
attend church, or go to white man's house.
For a time the converts submitted to the restric-
tion, saying they had “the Bible in their hearts, and
for the present would keep church at home.” By
degrees, however, they began to feel the want of
intercourse with their ministers, and notwithstanding
the spies that were set to watch the mission-house,
* The congregation at Akë church was not disturbed.
182 CHAPTER XIII.
would pay Mr. Crowther visits by stealth, coming
through byways and unfrequented paths.
Things continued thus for some weeks. Mr.
Crowther's church at Igbein was attended only by
Sierra Leone people, and a few natives from some of
the quieter districts; for the road to it was watched,
and neither the Itoku nor the Igbore people dared to
venture. At last the influential Obbashorun, whom
we have had several times occasion to mention, in-
terfered on their behalf with so much determination,
that the persecutors were obliged to yield, and the
prohibition was withdrawn. Various means were,
however, still made use of to prevent the Christians
from attending public worship, and though some of
the most courageous forced their way thither on
Christmas day, it was not till the end of February
that Mr. Crowther's congregation assembled in their
former numbers. In this instance, as in many others,
the wicked fell into their own trap, and Satan was
defeated by his own weapons. The general feeling
among the people of Abbeokuta was strongly in favour
of the sufferers; they shuddered at the torments that
had been inflicted on them, and wondered at the spirit
in which they had been enabled to endure them.
Some of the chiefs, who had at first taken part with
the persecutors, were disgusted at the lengths to
which they had carried their measures, and withdrew
from any further participation in their scheme; and
PERSECUTION. 183
the converts themselves clung still more closely to
Him who had been with them in the fiery furnace.
One of the prisoners, of the name of Anoke, had,
in addition to his other sufferings, been compelled to
swallow poison. In his distress he appealed solemnly
to God, intreating Him, if he had done wrong in
this matter, to give him strength to bear it as a
punishment due to him; but if not, it was in His
power to deliver him from so dreadful a death, and
beseeching Him to do it. When released, he re-
turned home and took some medicine, threw off the
poison, and felt no harm.
A similar attempt was made upon a woman, a
communicant, of the name of Agola, who almost
lost the use of one side, from its having been rubbed
with poison. She had suffered dreadfully from its
effects, had been flogged, and nearly starved; “but,”
said she to Mr. Müller, “no man can ever take out
of my heart the Word of God you have taught me.”
Another of these sufferers was Olu Walla, a man
of a fierce, impetuous temper, well fitted to be the
confidential agent of the principal slave-dealer in
Abbeokuta. Had any poor slave made his escape,
or was any deed of violence to be perpetrated, Olu
Walla was the man to do it; and the life of a fellow-
creature was of little account in his eyes, if it stood
in the way of any of his designs.
On one occasion, his master had been brought
184 CHAPTER XIII.
before the council, on some charge of violence or in-
justice; he told Olu Walla of the circumstance, and
desired him to manage his affairs for him. The
too-ready agent collected a band of men nearly as
desperate as himself, armed them with Swords, and
took his place with them in some open space near
the chiefs, as if merely spectators of the proceedings.
The cause came on ; arguments were heard on
either side; the chiefs were preparing to give their
judgment, when Olu Walla, seeing that it was
going against his master, started up, and calling out
they were all wrong, rushed forward with his men,
sword in hand, and so thoroughly frightened the
whole assembly, that they all ran away in a most
undignified manner, and the poor plaintiff lost his
cause. -
About the time of the missionaries' arrival at
Abbeokuta, Olu Walla went to Illorin on some
business of his own, and remained there a consider-
able time. During his absence, some of his com-
panions had begun to inquire after truth, and to attend
the church and the Sunday-school; but they forbore
to mention it to their former comrade on his return,
fearing to excite his anger. One day he saw some of
them with their primers in their hands, and inquired
what they were doing; they told him, and his
interest was so awakened, that he determined to go
to church, and hear what went on there. The next
IPERSECUTION. 185
Sunday he made his appearance. The congregation
were astonished, and the whisper went round—
“What! Olu Walla here? He will not come again,
for this will not suit him.” But he did come again,
yes, again and again, and soon begged for more
regular instruction. The blessing of God rested on
the teaching; and the fierce and desperate Olu
Walla, once the terror of the neighbourhood, is now
the patient, quiet Matthew, sitting at the feet of his
teacher, and learning the way of eternal life.
The rage of his former master, at thus losing one
who had been so valuable an assistant in all his
wicked projects, knew no bounds, and he urged on
with all his might the persecution which was then
beginning. Matthew was more severely dealt with
than the rest, but he was enabled to stand firm, and
has ever since continued faithfully attached to the
mission, to which the natural energy of his charac-
ter renders him a valuable acquisition.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE REW. D. HINDERER—EXTENSION OF MISSION.
"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains
of thy habitation; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy
stakes.”—Isaiah liv. 2.
THE Rev. David Hinderer joined the mission, as
we have said, in May, 1849, and, during the re-
mainder of Mr. Müller's earthly sojourn, was asso-
ciated with him in the care of the congregations at
Akë and at Ikija, as well as in his preaching in
“the streets and lanes of the city.” -
But the return of Mr. and Mrs. Townsend in
March, 1850, and the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Smith
in August of the same year,” set Mr. Hinderer free
for a work to which his inclination strongly prompted
him, and for which he seemed peculiarly qualified—
the lengthening of the mission cords; and, after
dwelling for a few pages on the history of Abbeokuta
for the year 1850, we shall devote the rest of the
chapter to an account of some of Mr. Hinderer's
visits to distant places.
* Mr. and Mrs. Smith had been at Badagry since January,
1848,
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THE REW. D. HINDERER. 187
The feelings of Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, upon this
their return to Abbeokuta, were very different from
those on their first journey hither in 1846, and, to
those of our readers who remember the account we
then gave, the following extract from one of Mr.
Townsend's letters of 1850 will not be unacceptable:
“How different is our present journey from our
former one! Then what anxious mights I passed,
full of fear at the prospect before us! We were
strangers in a strange land; Andrew Wilhelm indeed
was working for God in Abbeokuta; but we knew
of no one but himself who would help or welcome
us there. Now we return, no longer as strangers,
but to meet a goodly band of helpers, to a friendly
people, and to a settled home.” The people on
their part were delighted to see them back again;
different parties of Sierra Leone emiºns. of native
converts, and of school children went out to welcome
them, they were soon comfortably settled in their
old place again, and Mr. Townsend rejoiced to be
again permitted to minister to his overflowing con-
gregations in the church of Akë.
Mr. Townsend was accompanied by Mr. T. King,
whom our readers already are acquainted with as
having accompanied the Niger Expedition; another
native catechist, Mr. Barber, and several Sierra
Leone emigrants; and the next day, which was
Easter Sunday, was one of peculiar joy and thank-
188 CHAPTER XIV.
fulness in the Abbeokuta congregations; for several
of the women received as from the dead their long-
lost children. One of these was Mary Ijë, the
mother of Mr. King; and their mutual joy was
deepened by their mutual hopes as fellow-heirs of
the kingdom of Christ.* Not so Mr. King's com-
panion, Mr. Barber; he too was restored to his aged
and attached father, but, poor man, he was still a
heathen ; and though his heart overflowed with gra-
titude to England for the restoration of his son, it
was impossible to , make him understand that his
chief thanks were due to an infinitely higher Power.
Mr. and Mrs. Smith were appointed to what had
been intended for Mr. Müller, the station at Ikija,
and the change from the discouraging and apparently
fruitless labour at Badagry to a sphere where all was
full of hope and promise filled them with thankful-
ness. It was no small comfort to them also to have
the friendly Ogubonna as the chief of their district,
for they knew that from him they were sire of re-
ceiving every kindness and assistance he could render
them. And among the minor advantages of Ikija
was the situation of their house. It stands on a
rising ground, the air is free and healthy, and the
view is very interesting. The eye traverses the
towns of Ikija, Lao, Ilugun, and part of Bagura,
till it crosses the bright and beautiful Ogün, which
* Page 149.
THE REW, D, HINDERER. 189
is here 400 or 500 yards wide at its fullest time, and
rests at length on the opposite bank, where the un-
even ground is carefully and richly cultivated with
maize and Indian corn, interspersed with pasture
land, and where the plantations of yams, trained up
the low poles, almost made Mrs. Smith fancy she
was looking on a newly planted Kentish hop-garden.
The adult Sunday-school was an object of Mr.
Smith's special interest. It was held in the church,
which stands near the mission-compound, but in
the open street, that passers by may feel they are at
liberty to enter.” Here, on the morning and after-
noon of every Lord's Day, eighty persons were as-
sembled to learn to read, in their own tongue, “the
wonderful works of God.” They were divided
into classes, in which the primer, Watts' first Cate-
chism, the Liturgy, all in Yoruba, were the subjects
of instruction, while the more advanced were reading
the Yoruban translation of the epistle to the Romans,
and entering into St. Paul's descriptions and reason-
ings in a way which showed how truly they must
have been taught by the Spirit of God. But per-
haps the most interesting of all the classes was the
lowest, where, with a large alphabet board, a little
boy belonging to Mr. Smith's day-school, would be
endeavouring to impress on the memories of his
scholars, some of whom were old enough to have
* This is also the case at Akë and at Igbein.
190 CHAPTER XIV.
been the father or mother of his own parents, the
mysterious connection between the forms and sounds
of the various letters. - -
One event, in the summer of 1850, gave the mis-
sionaries great pain : it was the death of Oso
Ligregere, who had been, it will be remembered, \
Mr. Townsend's and Mr. Crowther's host, for the
first five months of their residence in Abbeokuta.
He had always shown a sincere attachment to them,
and, as the confidential friend and agent of Sagbua,
had rendered them much assistance. His wife was
Sarah Ibikotan, of whom we have spoken” as
among the earliest who were baptized; his only
child was entrusted to Mr. Crowther's care, and he
had lost all confidence in idols. But the fear of man
kept him back from a full reception of the gospel,
and all that Mr. Townsend, who visited him in his
last sickness, could say of him was, that he was
almost a Christian. -
And now, turning for a little while from Abbeokuta
itself, we shall fulfil our promise of accompanying
Mr. Hinderer in some of his pioneering expeditions.
It was arranged that he should begin by visiting
some of the towns that lie to the west of Abbeokuta;
and he accordingly set out on the 18th of July,
taking with him Mr. Phillips, as interpreter, and
proceeded to the Abaka gate, at the north-western
* Page 134.
THE REW. D. HINDERER. 191
extremity of the town. Here, after addressing a
number of people who, like himself, were waiting
on the bank for canoes, he crossed the river, and
rode on across a wide plain, partly cultivated and part-
ly grassland, for ten miles, when he reached a small
farm town called Ibára. At first, the chief was dis-
pleased, because he had not sent him notice of his
intention, that he might have made suitable pre-
parations; but upon Mr. Hinderer assuring him that
as he was no great man no great preparations were
required, his good-humour returned, and he treated
the missionary with the most friendly kindness.
Mr. Hinderer was soon surrounded by a host of
people, to whom he explained the objects of the
white men in coming to Abbeokuta, and preached
the way of salvation. They listened with the great-
est attention, only that now and then while he was
speaking, one and another would exclaim, “Amin |
God helps the English people to do all this;” and
then a general “Amin” would burst from the assem-
bled crowd. The next day was the market, when
the surrounding farmers bring in their produce; and
these men, to whom the slave-trade brings only
misery and ruin, lent a willing ear, while, stand-
ing on the broken mud walls of a ruinous house,
* “Amin,” though now become a common Yoruba word,
has evidently been derived from the Arabic, through the
Mohammedans, and is less characteristic than their own native
expression—“Ke oh sheh,” “So be it.”
192 CHAPTER XIV.
Mr. Hinderer told them of the efforts of the Queen
and people of England to suppress it, and went on
to speak of a heavier bondage, and a far more blessed
deliverance. . -
From Ibára Mr. Hinderer proceeded to Isagga,
seven miles farther to the west; the country resem-
bled that which he had already passed, except that *
it was diversified with groves of tall trees; and as
he journeyed on, the undulating ground gradually
swelled into hills, apparently the outlying spurs of
the not very distant Kong mountains. The same
friendly greeting awaited him here as he had expe-
rienced at Ibára. The chief sent for the elders of
the town, and the people thronged round him to
khow why he had come among them. He told them
of all England had done and was doing for their
country; and spoke to them of a crucified and risen
Saviour. When he ceased, the chief and elders
bowed their heads, and rubbed their hands together
in token of approbation, while some were heard
praising God,” and invoking blessings on their bene-
factors. Mr. Hinderer exclaims—“What an inex-
pressible cause of thankfulness to missionaries in -
this benighted land is it to be thus received The
* “Olorián,” which means, “the Lord of Orwn, or Heaven.”
This instance is another of the many proofs, that though these
people have “gods many and lords many,” yet that they have
an idea of one supreme Being, the original author of all good.
See remarks on same subject in chapter iii.
THE REW. D. HINDERER. 193
tidings of a Saviour dying for sinners” always fall
on willing ears, except when addressed to Moham-
medans.”
In the evening, many of the surrounding farmers
came into the town, telling Mr. Hinderer that they
were working on their farms far away, when all at
once they heard that white man was come for good
and not for evil, for he spoke good words. So
“their hearts would no more sit down, they must
come and see for themselves, and now they saw, and
heard, and were glad.”
The following morning Mr. Hinderer again
preached a crucified Saviour to the people; and
again the hearty farmer chief thanked him for his
visit, and for a small present he had made him the
day before, and asked his elders to help him to
express the joy they felt at his having visited them.
“Never,” says Mr. Hinderer, “did I experience
more African affection than at Isagga and Ibára.
Would to God that these two towns, containing not
less than 5,000 souls, might soon have a missionary
placed among them; there are many villages round
to which he would also have access.”
* The missionaries frequently speak of the effect which
the declaration of the atonement has upon the people. It fills
them with astonishment, as too good and too wonderful to be
believed ; and when enabled at all to realise it, they are
melted and humbled before that glorious truth, which even
in our own days, is “to the Greeks foolishness.”
O
194 CHAPTER XIV.
The first out-station from Abbeokuta was not
however formed either at Ibára or Isagga, but at
Osielle, a town about eight miles to the north-east
of Abbeokuta. Mr. Hinderer had paid it two or
three passing visits early in 1850, and was received
with the greatest friendliness both by chiefs and
people. They afterwards sent him repeated mes-
sages begging him to come and “sit down" there;
for that they would do all in their power to make
him comfortable; and he found that some of the
people delayed cutting down their best timber trees,
till they should ascertain whether they would be of
use to him in building his house amongst them. . It
was therefore settled that he should take up his
abode there for a time; and on October 16th he set
out for his new temporary home, leaving Mr. King
to carry on his work of “highway ” preaching.
Osielle, though not so populous, is nearly as large
3.S Badagry, andbeautifully situated on unevenground.
On one side an impenetrable bush protects it from
attack, on the other three a small stream adds to
the beauty as well as security of the place; and a
good substantial wall completes its defences. The
country around is very picturesque; and one of the
most attractive spots is a farm belonging to Sagbua.
It lies on the slope of a hill, and commands an exten-
sive view. Towards the south-east the eye ranges
over the country of the Ijebbus, and far off to the
TEIE REW. D., HINDERER. 195
south-west is seen the high land near Awoyade.
Abbeokuta lies between, but is hidden by intervening
hills, and only the high bare rocks near Ikija are
visible; while looking nearer home, the villages and
well cultivated fields show an industrious and
thriving population.
The Osielle chief readily gave Mr. Hinderer two
rooms within his own compound. In one of these
his idols and charms had hitherto been kept, and
here he had daily worshipped; but he had not the
slightest hesitation in removing them, “for,” said
he, “it is all the same to them where they are put,
and I can find them some other room.” After they
were removed, it was with some degree of satisfac-
tion that Mr. Hinderer with his own hands demo-
lished the altar near the wall.
The two rooms together measured only fifteen
feet by six, yet when windows were cut out, and two
smaller rooms were afterwards added for stores, it
made a very tolerably comfortable abode.
But before Mr. Hinderer would complete his own
house, he obtained from the chief a piece of ground
for a church; and though the difficulty in obtaining
labourers greatly hindered him, and obliged him
often to work at it with his own hands, yet before
very long it was finished;" and the services were
* The funds for the erection of this church also were col-
lected by Miss Barber.
196 CHAPTER XIV.
regularly attended by a goodly number, among whom
might generally be seen the chief himself.
One of the helpers in building this church must
not be passed over without mentioning a few parti-
culars about him. His name was Tombarchi; like
Olu Walla,” he lived by plunder and violence, and
was the terror of the Abbeokuta markets. He was
a man of a very diminutive stature, and was com-
monly known by the soubriquet of Akerikora,
“Little-but-bitter.” The cry that Akerikora was
coming was enough to spread dismay through the
ranks of the market-women, for they knew it was
the signal for insult and robbery; and his character
had also become notorious in the neighbouring vil-
lages. It was therefore with the greatest astonish-
ment that some of the people at Osielle saw him pa-
tiently helping Mr. Hinderer to rear the walls of his
little mud church. “What! you,” they exclaimed,
“you Akerikora, you Little-but-bitter we never ex-
pected to see you here.” “You may well say so,”
was the reply, “but I will tell you the reason; it is
very different with me now from what it was when
you last saw me. All that you say of me was true
once; but I have since got ‘ikonigba,” the gift of the
knees; and the gift of a new heart, only to be
gained by kneeling for it to the great King of
kings.”
* Page 183.
THE REW. D. HINDERER. 197
Mr. Hinderer opened also a Sunday-school for
adults, and the people seemed very pleased to at-
tend it, and were delighted with the books in their
own language; but there was not among the people
of Osielle so much of that eager desire for instruc-
tion that had been so remarkable at Abbeokuta.
Occasionally, Mr. Hinderer made excursions to the
neighbouring villages, and everywhere found the
same friendly greeting, and the same desire that a
white man would “sit down” among them. But
in those excursions he too plainly saw the perpetual
dread in which these poor people were living from
fear of the slave-hunters. “It sometimes happens,”
he writes, “when I ride out to the more remote
farms, that I meet a man working behind a bush or
a tree. On hearing my horse's steps, he starts up
with a hoe or a cutlass in his hand, ready to run
away or to prepare for self-defence. But, on seeing
it is a white man, his terrified countenance assumes
a cheerful smile, and he exclaims: “Oh, I thought
it was a warrior; but no l you are our real friend—
you will never do us harm; you come for good, for
peace.’” - -
And now, while Mr. Hinderer is prosecuting his
Master's work at Osielle, encouraged by the general
kindness of the people, by the conduct of the chief,
who was beginning to reverence the Lord's day and
refusing to hold palavers, saying, “It is white man's
j9S CHAPTER XIV.
holy day, and, therefore, I wish to be left alone,”
and especially encouraged by the hopeful evidences
given by some of the people that they were earnestly
caring for their souls. While he is thus engaged,
we shall return to Abbeokuta, for the purpose of re-
lating one or two circumstances that occurred there
in the end of 1850 and the beginning of the year
is31. .*
The first of these was a renewal of the persecution
of 1849; it was, as before, chiefly confined to the
' town of Igbore, and stirred up by the same enemy
to Christianity and civilization, the great slave-
dealer, Akigbogun, or, as was his usual appellation
among the converts, Pharaoh of Igbore. He was
in league with Kosoko, and, fancying that the
missionaries received money from their converts,
imagined that by lessening their number, and con-
sequently decreasing the gains of the white men,
they would be obliged to leave the place, and there
would no longer be any check upon the slave-trade.
He again, therefore, prevailed on the chiefs of Igbore
to renew the prohibition to attend public worship
OI). pain of death, and to forbid any to buy or
sell in the market unless they would worship Ifa.
There were many instances of noble suffering, as on
the preceding occasions, but we must refer our
readers to the Society's periodicals for further parti-
culars. By Sagbua's intervention, it was again
THE REW. D. HINDERER. 199
stopped,” and a visit paid to Abbeokuta by Mr.
Beecroft, Her Majesty's Consul in the Bights, in
January, 1851, had a very salutary effect. -
Mr. Beecroft arrived on the 10th of January, and
was astonished at the size and population of the
town, which he thought had been considerably
underrated by the missionaries. The chiefs felt
themselves greatly honoured by this official recog-
nition of Abbeokuta, and prepared to give him an
honourable reception. The town-crier was sent
round to proclaim the 14th as the day for a public
audience; and in the morning drums were heard, and
chiefs, with their gaudy native umbrellas, were seen
gathering in the great square of Akë, where the
meeting was to be held. Chairs and benches had
been prepared for the consul and the missionaries
under the shade of a large tree; the war-chiefs were
Seated on the ground on the right, Sagbua and the
Ogbonis on the left, under the verandah of the
council-house, and a host of spectators occupied the
rest of the space. Mr. Beecroft, who was in full
uniform, read his commission from the Queen, which
was interpreted by Mr. Crowther; and the consul
then, after thanking the chiefs for the protection
* It would seem as though Sagbua desired to identify
himself with the Christians, for he took this opportunity of
requesting Mr. Townsend to re-admit one of his wives into the
class of candidates for baptism.
200 CHAPTER XIV.
they had afforded to the missionaries, and reminding
them that the English were the only people who had
endeavoured to benefit them, and to remove “from
Africa the awful darkness that overshadows her,”
proceeded to recount to them a visit he had made in
the preceding year to Abomey, the capital of Da-
homey, and to set before them the danger they were
in from Gezo the tyrant king. He then spoke of the
desire of the Queen, of England for the welfare of
Abbeokuta, of the importance of lawful commerce,
and the necessity of suppressing the slave-trade, if
they ever hoped for peace or prosperity. All this
was warmly responded to by the chiefs, both now
and at a subsequent meeting; they assured the
consul they had not words to express their feelings
of gratitude to the Queen for sending him, or to him-
self for taking the trouble of coming so far; and
spoke very strongly of their earnest desire for the
removal of the usurping Kosoko from Lagos, being
well assured that no peace could be expected as long
as he was there. The consul then represented to
them in strong language the injustice as well as im-
policy of suffering a few designing and interested
men to stir up persecution of the converts, when they
themselves were, with perhaps one or two exceptions,
opposed to it; and the chiefs gave a proof of their
assent to all he said, by sending for three women
THE REW. D. EIINDERER. 201
who had taken refuge from their persecutors in the
Aké mission-premises, and telling them they were
free to go where they would.
Mr. Beecroft left Abbeokuta on the 22nd of Jan-
uary, carrying with him the good wishes and blessings
of all. Doubtless his own venerable and dignified
appearance contributed to the effect of his visit; for,
they said, “if the messenger is so great a man, what
must the Queen be who sent him P”
The chiefs gave him a fine pony and a goat, and
Ogubonna supplied him with some of the produce of
his own farm, viz. a large bale of cotton, a bag of
ginger, and another of fine red pepper. He had
also an opportunity, of which he was not slow to
avail himself, of showing the natural generosity and
delicacy of his mind, by another present that he
made him. The evening before the consul’s depar-
ture, Ogubonna paid him a visit at Mr. Townsend's,
and in the course of the conversation Mr. Beecroft
took hold of a very handsome country cloth that the
chief had on, and admiring its colours and texture,
asked him what he gave for it. Ogubonna answered,
with an indifferent tone and manner, that he believed
about twelve dollars. Here the matter dropped, and
Mr. Beecroft thought no more of the cloth or of the
price. Not so, however, the chief himself; for, on
Mr. Beecroft's calling on him the next morning to
202 CHAPTER XIV.
bid him farewell, he found the cloth had been neatly
folded and pressed, and Ogubonna now insisted on
his accepting it.
The next event of importance to Abbeokuta was
the Dahomian attack, and of this our readers will
find a full account in the next chapter.
CHAPTER XV.
THE DAHOMIAN ATTACK.
“Hitherto shalt thou come but no further, and here shall thy proud waves
be stayed.”—Job xxxviii. 11.
IT was Sunday, March 2, 1851; but the Sabbath
at Abbeokuta was far from being one of peace and
tranquillity. All was excitement in the town; the
congregations indeed met as usual, but care and
anxiety were marked on every brow; and it seemed
as if the petition, “From battle, and murder, and
from sudden death, good Lord deliver us,” had on
this day a peculiar emphasis.
As night approached, the noise and confusion in
the town increased; horsemen who had been sent
out in the morning were returning at full speed; war-
gongs were beating in every township; war-chiefs
and their soldiers were hurrying to the walls; while
women and children ran wildly about the streets,
screaming, crying, and exciting the men to courage.
Evidently an enemy was at hand; and we shall
turn from Abbeokuta to tell our readers who that
enemy was, and what cause the Egbas had for fear.
204 CHAPTER XV.
When we used to read in ancient history of the
Amazons, and shuddered at their unfeminine delight
in war and carnage, we little thought that even now
there could be a stern reality of what we then be-
lieved to be a fable. But the last few years have
taught us differently; and wenow know thatamong the
daughters of Africa, for the most part so affectionate
and full of pity,” there exists at this present time
a band of women, who, treading under foot every
tender feeling, and setting at nought the ties of
nature and of home, have enrolled themselves as an
army of blood-thirsty female warriors. And we
know too there is a nation that is not ashamed to
suffer them to fight its battles, and a king who
shrinks not from leading them to the conflictſ
* Every body knows the story of the African woman of
Bambarra, who, when Mungo Park, weary, destitute, neg-
lected, and almost exhausted from want of food, was one
evening sitting under a tree, with a heavy storm coming on,
and in fear of wild beasts at night, looked on him with pity as
she passed along, and invited him to her house. Here she
supplied him with food, spread a mat for him to sleep on, and
when she had prevailed on him to lie down, she called to the
female part of her family to resume their spinning. As they
spun, they sung, and one of their songs was an extempore
kind of ballad on himself; it was sung by one of the young
women, and the others joined in chorus. The melody was
simple and plaintive, and the words ran thus: “The winds
roared and the rains fell. The poor white man, faint and
weary, came and sat under our tree. He has no mother to
bring him milk, no wife to grind his corn.”—Chorus—“Let
us pity the white man; no mother has he,” &c. *
TEIE DAHOMIAN ATTACK. - 205
Our readers will know that we are speaking of
the fierce Dahomians and their cruel king; a people
whose occupation is war; whose delight is in blood-
shed and rapine ; whose favourite ornaments are
the skulls of their slaughtered enemies; and whose
religion chiefly consists in offering a daily human
sacrifice to the manes of their ancestors, and annu-
ally “watering their graves” with the blood of
hundreds of their fellow-creatures.”
Gezo, their king, derives his large revenues from
the slave-trade, both by kidnapping and selling
slaves on his own account, and by the tax he im-
poses on every slave exported from his dominions.
Neither agriculture nor lawful commerce would, he
thinks, yield him so rich a harvest, and hence he
does all in his power to repress them, and takes
every means of encouraging the profitable slave-
wars. All the country round is depopulated and
laid waste, as one town after another has fallen be-
neath his murderous sword; and the dreadful history
* It is needful that such things should be known, that we
may see how debased our nature can become, when left to its
own ungoverned will, and that we may be moved the more
earnestly to pity and to care for the souls of those who care
not for their own. But we may be spared the pain of enter-
ing into further details ourselves, as this has been done in the
Church Missionary Intelligencer of May 1851, and more fully
by Commander Forbes himself in his “Dahomey and the
Dahomians.”
206 CHAPTER XV. .*
of Okeadan” is only one among the many others that,
were the earth to disclose her slain, would rise up
to the condemnation of the tyrant. Abbeokuta, as
likely to become the seat of civilization and industry
in this part of Africa, was particularly hateful to
him and to his troops; and when the late Com-
mander Forbes and Mr. Beecroft, her Majesty's
consul, visited Abomey, the capital, in May, 1850,
and 5000 female warriors were paraded before them,
the fierce cry went up from these unhappy women,
“Give us Abbeokuta! Attahpahm is destroyed! give
us Abbeokuta!”
The two English gentlemen well knew that this
tyrant king dared not refuse a demand thrice made
by this portion of his army; yet they endeavoured
to avert the threatened blow by representing to the
king that the Egbas of Abbeokuta were our allies,
that several English people were residing there, and
that even the emigrants returned from Sierra Leone
* Okeådan was a large town inhabited by Ottas; they
were at peace with Dahomey, and were actually entertaining
some Dahomian messengers when intelligence was brought
that the army was coming against them. At first they dis.
believed such treachery from their allies, and, when convinced
of its truth, it was too late to make any effectual resistance.
The chief and large numbers of the people were slain, the
town burnt, and 20,000 captives led to Abomey, some to be
sacrificed, the rest to be sold for slaves | A few escaped to
the bush, and afterwards settled themselves again near their
former homes.
THE DAHOMIAN ATTACK. 207
were British subjects. The only answer they could
obtain was, to advise them to remove the white men
from the place, for that he should certainly visit it
in his next campaign.
Mr. Beecroft lost no time in sending the mis-
sionaries notice of their danger, and they imme-
diately communicated the intelligence to the chiefs.
But few, however, of these took any heed to it. The
Dahomians had threatened Abbeokuta before, but
had changed their purpose, and doubtless it would be
so now. There were some, however, who attended
to the advice of the missionaries, among whom were
Sagbua and Ogubonna, and these set about the repair
of the walls, which were in a most ruinous state, as
far as their jurisdiction extended. They had great
difficulty in persuading the people to assist them,
and it was not till they saw their chief going himself
to the wall with basket and implements that they
were effectually roused. -
Much of the wall remained untouched, and this
of course added to the anxiety of the missionaries.
But they determined at all risks to remain at their
posts, and we are not quite sure whether their re-
peated assurances to the people that, come what
would, they intended to cast in their lot with them,
might not in some degree have lulled their appre-
hensions. Heathens can little understand the self-
forgetting heroism of Christianity; and it is not
208 CHAPTER XV.
improbable that they attributed this determination
to a secret disbelief of the real danger.
Under these trying circumstances the missionaries
had no resource but to place themselves and their
whole concerns in the hands of that God who had
brought them thither, and whose almighty power could
preserve them from harm if He saw fit. “This,”
said Mr. Crowther, “is the only place where the
light of the Gospel shines. Surely God will not let
it be quenched, nor will He permit the labours of
England for the destruction of the slave-trade and
the conversion of Africa to be thwarted by a blood-
thirsty tyrant l” They knew, too, how many prayers
were continually ascending for themselves and for
their mission; and thus as the time drew near and
their anxiety increased, they endeavoured to comfort
one another with these thoughts of peace.
The visit of the consul to Abbeokuta in January
1851,” and the kindness with which he entered into
their dangers and difficulties, was a great relief to
the minds of our friends. As we mentioned in the
preceding chapter, he narrated to the chiefs the
visit he had paid to Abomey,+ and the imminent
danger which that visit had convinced him they were
in, and urgently pressed them to take immediate
steps to put their town in as strong a position of self-
defence as possible. The result was the repair of
* Page 199. † Page 200.
THE DAHOMIAN ATTACK. 209
another small portion of the wall (which afterwards
proved of great importance), and now the western
and South-western quarters were effectually strength-
ened, though the north-western remained as exposed
as before.
And here we again trace the hand of God over-
ruling events for the welfare and preservation of His
people: “Touch not mine anointed, and do my pro-
phets no harm.”
Our readers will remember a visit that Mr. Hin-
derer some months before paid to Isagga, a town
Seventeen miles to the west of Abbeokuta, and the
friendly kindness with which he was received. The
Isaggans were not Egbas, but all their sympathies
were with them, and they took advantage of an un-
expected opportunity, to render them a most im-
portant service.
Their town lay in the direct road to Abbeokuta;
and the natural and shortest course for the Daho-
mian army to have taken, after passing Isagga,
would have been to have gone straight to the Abaka
gate at the north-west extremity of the town. But
they were ignorant of the local details of the country,
and when they reached Isagga, instead of destroying
it, as doubtless they would otherwise have done,
they endeavoured to make use of the people by pro-
posing a treaty of peace. The Isaggans, afraid to
P
210 CHAPTER XV.
refuse, consented; a sacrifice was killed, and the two
parties sat down to feast upon it.
During the repast, the Dahomians made various
inquiries about Abbeokuta, stating that they pro-
posed to make the attack on the north-western
portion. “On no account attack it there,” ex-
claimed the Tsaggans, who well knew the state of
the Abbeokutan defences, “the people in that quarter
are the bravest of any ; they will not even have a
wall for their protection, but depend on their own
prowess and valour. No, go to the south-west,
where the people are so cowardly, that hearing of
your coming, they have built a high wall that they
may hide themselves behind it. Trust yourselves to
us, we will guide you the right way. And at what
time of the day,” they continued, “do you think of
falling upon them?” “In the night,” was the
answer. “You are again mistaken,” replied the
Isaggans, “in the night the men are all in the town,
and will give you a great deal of trouble. Wait till
noon; the men will then most of them be at their
farms, and the few that remain will be asleep under
the palm-wine sheds.”
While this conversation was going on, the Isaggans
dispatched some trusty messengers to Abbeokuta
with the bones of the sacrifice, and a message to the
Abbeokutan chiefs that the Isaggans had made a
treaty with the Dahomians, and intended to lead
THE DAHOMIAN ATTACK. 211
them the next day by the best way to their town.
The Abbeokutan chiefs understood the meaning of
this enigmatical message; and it was this that
gave rise to the anxiety and dismay we spoke of at
the beginning of this chapter.
The suspense of that Sunday, and that Sunday
night, are not to be forgotten. The Dahomians
were almost at their gates, their well-trained army
was 16,000 strong, 10,000 men, and 6,000 women,
all animated by a ferocity and recklessness of danger
that very rarely failed to secure them an easy victory.
In Abbeokuta there were only 8,000 fighting men,
and none of these had been regularly disciplined. The
odds were fearful. Yet a determined spirit animated
the Egbas; they knew the conflict would be for life, and
liberty, and all that was dear to them; and the sober
yet courageous bearing of the people showed they
expected and were prepared for a desperate struggle.
When the morning of Monday dawned, fresh
accounts arrived of the enemy's advance; and at
noon a heavy fire of musketry proclaimed that the
work of destruction had begun. Mr. Crowther's
house was too near the south-west wall to be a place
of safety; and Mrs. Crowther was prevailed on to
take refuge at Mr. Townsend's less exposed abode at
Akë, while he himself remained behind to minister
help and comfort to his agitated people. Mr. and
Mrs. Smith had gone that morning from Ikija to
212 CHAPTER XV.
Akë, to spend some time with Mr. and Mrs. Towns-
end, but when the mid-day firing began, Mr. Smith
returned immediately to his station, adoring the
sparing mercy of his covenant God. Had the Daho-
mians followed out their first intentions, and assailed
the town on the north-west, nothing could have saved
himself, and all that belonged to him, from destruc-
tion; for the Ikija mission-house is near the Abākā.
gate, and there is only the church between it and the
wall. As it was, he saw, from the western side of
his house, Ogubonna's portion of the army with
desperate courage defending the wall that lies beyond
the river.”
Mr. and Mrs. Townsend, Mrs. Smith, and Mr.
Bowen, + ascended a rock that stands in the Akë
mission-premises, and took a survey of the sorrowful
scene around. It was sad to see the throngs of
frightened fugitives; the old and the very young,
the sick and the infirm, women and children wending
their way as fast as their feeble steps would carry
them, to the north-eastern gates, hoping to find
* As Mr. Smith passed from Aké to Ikija, it was very dis-
tressing to hear the terrified people calling out for help, some
to Ifa, some to Sango, and some to their revered and departed
Shodeke; while many, when they saw him approaching,
changed their cry into “O white man, and white man's God,
save us !”
tº An American missionary, who was endeavouring to pe.
netrate into the interior,
THE DAHOMIAN ATTACK. 213
shelter in the neighbouring towns. Some were
leading a sheep, some a goat, others bore with them
all they could collect of their household goods; but
the excitement and distress in all was too great for
utterance, and they moved on in silence under the
scorching glare of a tropical moonday sun.”
There was no silence in the opposite quarters of
the town. Here, as the missionaries from their dif-
ferent positions look to the south or the south-west,
they See the Dahomians come on in compact and well-
ordered masses. They hear the tremendous fire
poured upon them from the wall; the progress of the
enemy is arrested;—they expected not so stout a re-
sistance, and they change their mode of assault.
Now they extend their line in front of the wall.
The soldiers within make a similar movement, and
the firing recommences. A fresh party of Dahomians
is coming up; there is a narrow space between the
river and the wall, and here they make a desperate
assault, but they are as desperately resisted, and are
repulsed with dreadful slaughter.{ Again the Daho-
* Poor people many of them had not been beyond the
walls for years, some perhaps never; and so great was the
agitation, that Mr. Hinderer, who met hundreds of them as he
came in from Osielle, mentions that many were fainting, and
some were even lying dead by the side of the road. 4.
f The next day Mr. Crowther counted eighty dead bodies of
Dahomians within the space of a few yards on this spot, all of
whom, eaccept five, were women / -
214 - CHAPTER XV.
mians extend their line, till more than a mile is
occupied; but the Egbas do the same, and at last
outflank them. For six hours the murderous strife
has lasted, and evening is coming on. The enemy
seems to waver. Can it be that they are giving way?
Yes—for see how the Egbas are pouring out from
those gates; the Dahomians are retreating, and
they are in hot pursuit—God has indeed heard the
prayers of His people, and has sent them deliver-
ance 1 -
Could the Abbeokutans have continued the pursuit,
there is little doubt that the Dahomian army would
have been destroyed or dispersed. But they were
exhausted with fatigue and hunger, and they re-
turned to the town, leaving the enemy about two
miles from the walls, where it was supposed they
would take up their position for the night. .
The Egbas rose at early dawn, and, encouraged by
success, set off to meet the Dahomians again in
combat. To their surprise they were nowhere to be
seen, they had fled, and the only traces they had
left behind were the headless bodies of near a hun-
dred poor farming people, men, women and children,
whom they had seized as they advanced on the pre-
ceding day, and had now mercilessly beheaded, that
they might carry the heads away as trophies!
It afterwards appeared that when the Dahomians
reckoned up at night those who were missing, they
THE DAHOMIAN ATTACK. 215
were alarmed at the unusual loss they had sustained,”
and feared to risk a second battle.
The Egbas followed them to Isagga, which they
were preparing to attack and destroy, in revenge for
the evil counsel they had given them.H. Another
battle ensued, more deadly, it was said, than before;
the Egbas were again victorious, and rejoiced in
thus delivering the Isaggans from a danger they had
incurred for them; while the discomfited Dahomians
hastened back to their own country, mortified and
enraged, and determined to embrace the first oppor-
tunity of avenging themselves on Abbeokuta.
The loss they sustained cannot be accurately
known, but it is supposed that it must have been
more than 3,000 killed and 1,000 taken prisoners.
What a frightful loss of human life Well might
Mr. Hinderer say, “my heart is bleeding for bleeding
* There could scarcely have been less than eighteen hun-
dred Dahomians left slain before the walls of Abbeokuta.
They were the flower of the army, and were chiefly women,
who are always placed in the foremost of their battles as more
to be depended on. The Abbeokutans had heard that women
fought in the Dahomian army, but would not believe it; and
now when they found it really was so, their indignation knew
no bounds, and doubtless helped to urge them on to the pur-
suit and to the second battle before Isagga.
f Not only had the Tsaggans misled the Dahomians as to
the best point and time of attack, but had purposely led them
to cross the river at a spot much deeper than the proper
fording place, so that some of the soldiers lost their muskets
in the river, and much of the ammunition was spoilt.
216 4 CHAPTER XV.
Africa! Thus to see Satan snatching away théu-
sands of immortal Souls to a hopeless eternity; and
yet this is only one of Africa's many scenes 1”
And all to satisfy the avarice of Gezo and the
savage bravery of his army ſ” Oh that the gospel
of peace might soon be proclaimed in Dahomey !
that the grace of God might change the hearts of
this fierce people, that the men might bow their
necks to the King of kings, and that the women,
turning with horror from their present ornaments, H:
might adorn themselves with that “meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great
price.”
The women of Abbeokuta showed upon this occa-
sion that they were not behind their Amazonian
neighbours in the courage that belongs to woman.
Not a few of them, during the hottest of the fight,
regardless of the bullets that were flying in every
direction, employed themselves in carrying water to
the thirsty soldiers on the walls, and two of them had
the satisfaction of thus relieving a man who, at the
* Gezo was also urged on by Kosoko of Lagos, and the
other principal slave-dealers, from whom he received large
presents and assistance in various ways. Kosoko was so de-
lighted at the prospect of driving the white men away, and
of destroying Abbeokuta, that, never doubting the issue of
the conflict, he actually had salutes fired when he found the
Dahomians were approaching Abbeokuta.
f The very drinking cups which the ladies of the royal
harem carry at their girdles are polished human skulls.
THE DAPIOMIAN ATTACK. 217
time of the persecution, had been one of the bitterest
of their foes.
Mr. Hinderer, who was engaged in the same
errand of mercy, and was conveying refreshment to
the exhausted chiefs at the south-west extremity of
the town, told us that as he approached the wall, he
found the road lined with women. One had a cala-
bash of water, another some palm-wine, a third some
country beer, and others were provided with some
substantial food. As he drew near, a soldier was
coming up from the walls. “Where are you going?”
cried the women : “Into the town,” was the answer.
“I am hungry and thirsty, and tired of fighting.”
“What,” they exclaimed, “turn your back upon the
enemy here is food for you, eat and drink, and go
back to your post; but if not, leave your musket
behind you, and we will find some one to take your
place.” Once and again did this happen, as Mr.
Hinderer rode along. The soldiers ate and drank,
and, refreshed and encouraged, returned to drive the
invaders from the walls.
What a day had that day of battle been for the
missionaries 1 In the morning, the remembrance of
the fate of other towns, and the thought that this
might be the last day of Abbeokuta; as the hours
passed on, the agitation of the actual combat, the
imminent danger to themselves and to their children,
the crowding of terrified people into the mission-
218 CHAPTER XV.
compound for succour they had no means of giving
them, and the bringing in of wounded soldiers'
And then the evening, bringing the consciousness of
a deliverance almost too great to be believed; a
confused sense of joy and thankfulness scarcely
realized, mingled with deep distress for the sufferings
of others. We do not wonder at the excitement
they speak of, from which it took them days to
TěCOWeI’. -
We may imagine the joy of the Abbeokutans at
this preservation from misery and ruin. Even the
heathen openly acknowledged that they owed it to
the God of the Christians; and they all felt the mis-
sionaries to be their truest friends. They often also
spoke with gratitude of the consul’s visit: “Had it
not been he who told us of our danger, we should
have taken less notice of it, nor should we have
repaired that small portion of the wall that did us so
much service.”
The conduct of the Dahomian prisoners, especially
of the women,” was so violent that the chiefs talked
of putting them to death; but the missionaries inter-
ceded, and they were spared.
With what different feelings did the Christians of
Abbeokuta meet on the following Sunday, the 9th of
March The anxiety and dismay of the preceding
* Two of these Amazons killed the persons who brought
their food,
THE DAHOMIAN ATTACK. 219
Sabbath were changed into joy and gladness; and
the Psalms must have appeared as though purposely
selected. How thankfully could they exclaim, “God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in
trouble,” and how feelingly acknowledge “I will
not trust in my bow, neither is it my sword that
shall help, but it is Thou that hast saved us from
our enemies, and puttest them to confusion that hate
us. We make our boast in God all day long, and
will praise Thy name for ever.””
And it was a happy coincidence, that by a previous
arrangement no less than twenty-four adults were
on that day baptised in the church of Akë—twenty-
four men and women—who had so lately seen what
earthly warfare was, and were now professing them-
selves “not ashamed manfully to fight under the
banner of Christ crucified” against all their spiritual
foes, “and to continue Christ's faithful soldiers and
servants unto their life's end.”
But in the church of Igbein a note of sorrow
mingled with the hallelujahs; for one was missing
from among them, and they believed him numbered
with the dead. This was John Baptist, a com-
municant whose history must not be passed over;
but as it is too long to be inserted here, we will
reserve it for the next chapter,
* Psalm xlvi. 1; xliv,
CHAPTER XVI.
JOHN BAPTIST DASALU.
“The darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the
day; the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.”—Ps. cxxxix. 12.
WE promised our readers that in this chapter we
would give them some account of John Baptist, and
we have the greater reason for making it a separate
history, as we have more particulars to relate of him
than we have been able to collect of the other converts.
His heathen name was Dasalu, and his heathen
occupation was the purchase of slaves in the interior,
and the sale of them again to the regular dealers at
Lagos. But even the trader in his fellow-men is
not beyond the reach of Divine grace; and before the
regular establishment of the mission in 1846, this
man's attention had been drawn to Christianity,
either by Andrew Wilhelm, or by some of the other
emigrants.
When the missionaries arrived at Abbeokuta in
1846, Dasalu was among the earliest of those who
applied for instruction, and notwithstanding the re-
proaches and opposition of his family, he soon became
a candidate for baptism.
JOHN BAPTIST DASALU. 221
-
God and Belial could not reign together in his
heart, but he was not long in deciding which he
would serve. His former trade was now hateful in
his sight, and he determined to substitute the sale of
provisions at Lagos market for that of his fellow-
men. This decision involved a considerable peeu-
niary sacrifice; for slaves were at that time fetching
3, high price upon the coast, while in order to keep
up the supply, the Lagos merchants had agreed
among themselves to allow no one to purchase to-
bacco (the chief article of trade in the interior) till
all the slave-dealers had taken as much as they
wished. As this was generally the whole quantity
in the market, Dasalu seldom could procure any,
and was obliged to content himself with less pro-
fitable merchandise. But he had learned that
“godliness with contentment is great gain,” and
with a heart at ease, could listen to the taunts of
his travelling companions with a smile; and, when
they deridingly asked him where were his slaves,
would point to his sheep and goats, and thank-
fully rejoice in the exchange he had been enabled
to make.
But, after a time, the tide most unexpectedly
turned; in consequence of the vigilance of our
cruisers, the demand for slaves rapidly decreased,
and the Abbeokutan dealers being unable to dispose
of those they carried to Lagos, were equally unable
222 * CHAPTER XVI,
to purchase tobacco as heretofore. Dasalu had now
in great measure the command of the market, and
the merchants were glad to dispose of their tobacco
to him upon fair and reasonable terms.
It was in vain that the angry slave-dealers remon-
strated with them on this point, the only answer
they gave was, “We cannot buy your slaves, for we
cannot seil them again; but food we must have, and
we are glad now to give tobacco for it.” Dasalu
began to prosper more than in proportion to his
former losses, the slave-dealers of Abbeokuta, par-
ticularly the Mohammedans, were increasingly exas-
perated against him, and by bribes, and threats and
misrepresentations, they, after some time, prevailed
on the chiefs to close the markets in their respective
towns to any who would not worship Ifa. It was
one of the first public trials of the new converts, but
they were enabled to stand firm, though some of
them, who were only beginners in the school of
Christ, would have resented this act of injustice, had
not Mr. Crowther's Christian arguments and persua-
sion brought them to a better mind. By degrees the
chiefs relented, and the Christians were allowed to
take their places in the markets as usual.
At the end of two years from his becoming a can-
didate, Dasalu was baptised, and it was by his own
request that he received the name of John Baptist.
He had great admiration for the character of the
JOHN BAPTIST DASALU. 223
Baptist, and probably his choice of the name was
connected with some undefined feeling that similarity
of name produces similarity of disposition.* His
wife, who had followed in her husband's footsteps,
received the name of Martha. -
About this time his father, who was a chief, died,
and John, fearful lest his conscience should be
entangled, declined succeeding him in his office.
His enemies, who continued to watch his every step,
took advantage of his refusal, and when the perse-
cution broke out in the autumn of 1849 they
Summoned him before the council on a charge of
contempt for his father and ancestors. He was
heavily fined, and forced to become a member of the
Ogboni or secret council, but they seem to have
been afraid of taking any stronger measures, and he
was spared the sufferings which so many endured.
He made good use of his liberty and of the prospe-
rity with which God had blessed him, and spent a
considerable sum in the succour of those who were
“hungry” and “in prison.” He would not set at
nought the orders of the local authorities, and, until
they were rescinded, H: refrained from attending
public worship; but he was one of that small band
* See page 35. It was on this account that one of the first
baptised objected to the name of “Thomas,” lest he should
partake of the incredulity of the apostle.
f Page 182.
224. CHAPTER XVI.
who privately visited the Igbein mission-house, and
the tearful nights he passed there in conversation
with Mr. Crowther were times of refreshment and
support. As soon as the public edict was withdrawn,
at the instance of the Obbashorun, he determined to
brave all the unauthorised attempts against himself
and his fellow-believers; and he was the first to
force his way to Igbein church on that Christmas
day when Mr. Crowther's flock began to re-assemble.*
When the Dahomians appeared before the town,
in March, 1851, John Baptist was summoned to
assist in its defence. He was seen to fight bravely,
but was among the missing ones when the fight was
over. Mr. Crowther, who was greatly attached to
him, went out into the battle-field to search for him
among the slain, but without success. His brother,
however, thought he recognised his body among
those headless ones left by the Dahomians in the
bush, and he was mourned for as dead.
In the following May, when Mr. Crowther was at
Badagry, in his way to England, he met with some
of the Abbeokutans who had been taken prisoners
by the Dahomians, but who, having been redeemed,
were on their way home. To his surprise and joy
he found from them that John was still alive, though
shut up with eighty or ninety others as a captive at
Abomey. Mr. Crowther made all the inquiry he
* Page 182.
JOHN BAPTIST DASALU. 225
could about him, and rejoiced in the voluntary tes-
timony borne by these heathen, that had it not been
for John's Christian example and exhortation, speak-
ing to them of God, and begging them to put their
trust in Him, they would all have sunk into utter
despair. This is not the first time that the Gospel
has been preached within the walls of a prison
Poor Martha was all this time in great distress;
she had not only, as she believed, lost her husband,
but was unkindly treated by his family. The eldest
brother went so far as, after possessing himself of all
John's property, to give Martha notice to leave the
premises, as he did not wish to have any “book-
people” there. Her own family were equally op-
posed, and the missionaries were endeavouring to
arrange some plan,for her, when the joyful tidings
of her husband's being yet alive reached her, and
she hurried to Badagry, in the hope of being able to
facilitate his release. She went directly to Mr.
Gollmer, who, knowing that a woman of some im-
portance named Tinuba (a sister of Akitoye's), then
residing in the town, was likely to have influence
with the king of Dahomey, requested her to use any
means that lay in her power to procure John's re-
demption. She promised to do so, and it would
appear that she kept this promise; for, some time
after, an English gentleman unexpectedly met John
at Whydah, and heard from him that he had been
Q
226 CHAPTER XVI.
liberated by Gezo, because of some supposed con-
nection with Tinuba; that he had been sent down
to Whydah, with the assurance of his being perfectly
free; but that he could not leave the place till a
canoe was sent for him. One was accordingly sent
the next day, at the hour and to the spot appointed
by John himself; but, when it arrived, he was no-
where to be seen, and the search for him by the
canoe-men was fruitless.
Since that time Mr. Gollmer has made repeated
application to the proper authorities, and has used
every means in his power to discover where he is,
but hitherto without success. The only intelligence
that has since been received of him has been a sym-
'bolical letter, sent to his poor wife, who still lingers
at Badagry, consisting of a stone, a piece of charcoal,
a pepper-pod, a grain of parched corn, and a piece of
rag. All were tied up in a small piece of cloth, and
were interpreted by the messenger as follows: That
he was as strong as a stone, but his prospects were
dark as charcoal, that he was so feverish with anxiety
that his skin was as hot as pepper, and corn might
be parched upon it, and that his clothing was nothing
but a rag. The only other information that Martha
seems to have been able to gain from the messenger
was, that he certainly was still at Whydah; but
whether, though nominally free, the poor man is
detained there in the hope of a large ransom, or
THE BACKSLIDER RESTORED. 227
whether his enemies are administering to him some
slow poison gradually to destroy the powers of mind
and body, we know not. We do know, however,
that God's servants, whether at Lagos or Badagry,
will not leave him uncared for and unsought for;
and we know that while his enemies may be saying
that “surely darkness shall cover" him, He to whom
“the darkness and light are both alike,” can by His
blessed presence, make “the night to be light about ’’
His afflicted servant.
We shall end this chapter by a short notice of a
young woman of Igbore, who was almost drawn
aside again into heathenism by that same closing of
the market to Christians of which we have just
spoken. She seems to have been the only one of
her family who had been awakened to any religious
concern, and she herself was but a young disciple,
for at the time the order was issued, it was only
three weeks since she had made up her mind to re-
mounce idolatry, and had cleared her house of all
the imagined deities. Akigbogum or Pharaoh,” as he
was called by the converts, the great slave-dealer of
Igbore, who was also the “master of the market,”
hoped to find her an easy prey, and went to talk with
her on the subject. He reminded her of the loss of
livelihood which would, as he said, inevitably follow
from her persisting in her present course, and, insi-
* Page 198.
228 CHAPTER XVI.
diously representing to her that she could still wor-
ship the God of the Christians in her heart, urged
her to set up the idols in her house, and to offer
pigeons to them as an outward service. The poor
young woman fell into the Snare, and thought she
could compromise the matter with her own conscience
by borrowing a god for the occasion. She went to
her sister, who was still a heathen, and, without
telling her her purpose, procured from her one of the
sacred calabashes, carried it home, and set it up in
her house. But God had mercy on His weak and
backsliding servant: the sister, suspecting that all
was not right, went to Akigbogun, and told him what
had occurred. Akigbogun immediately proceeded to
the young woman's house, and, telling her that he
had discovered that the idol was not her own, in-
sisted on her purchasing some for herself, and on her
expiating her offence by offering a sheep instead of
the pigeons. But the tormentor had miscalculated
the effects of this severity. The young woman re-
called to mind what some of her friends had said of
the danger of the first downward step, and He who
looked on the backsliding Peter melted her heart
also into penitence, and gave her courage to retrace
her wandering steps. Afraid of remaining in her
own house, she placed the few articles of property
she possessed in the hands of Christian friends, and
herself took refuge with an uncle, who, though still
THE BACKSLIDER RESTORED. 229
a heathen, always treated her with kindness. Here
Akigbogun again visited her, and tried to bring her
over, but the only answer he received was, in the
figurative language of the Egbas, “Pharaoh, if you
try to make me go where your father went,” I shall
leave your town.” She did so, settled in another
district, put herself under regular instruction, and,
growing in grace and strengthened in spirit, is now
among the candidates for baptism.
* This woman seems to have considered the Red Sea as an
emblem of eternal punishment.
C HAPTER XVII.
IBADAN.
“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good,
that publisheth salvation.”—Isaiah lii, 7.
A FURTHER advance into the interior had long
been the aim of the Committee at home, and the en-
deavour of the missionaries themselves, but, hitherto,
every application to the Abbeokutan chiefs for per-
mission to proceed thither, had been met with so
decided a refusal, that the only course seemed to be
to wait quietly till, in the providence of God, some
way should be opened for the accomplishment of
their wishes. The Dahomian attack unexpectedly
opened this way. The conduct of the missionaries
at that critical time, and under those trying circum-
stances, had so won the admiration and confidence
of the chiefs, that they were evidently more inclined
to listen to their requests; and advantage was taken
of this favourable disposition to renew the proposal
that Mr. Hinderer should pay a visit to Ibadan.
The two principal persons whose consent it was
necessary to obtain, were Sagbua, as senior chief,
and the war-chief Sokenu, who was “master of the
IBADAN. 231
road” to Ibadan. When the chiefs received this
renewed message from the missionaries they at first,
as usual, objected, on the ground that the road was
not safe,” and what would the English people think
if they should consent to his going, and any harm
should happen to him? With some adroitness the
messenger met this difficulty by suggesting another,
and reminding them that it was “his fathers in
England ’’ who had bade him go, and what answer
could the chiefs send to them if they put any obstacle
in the way? adding, “and, besides, you know that
when white men set their minds upon a thing, they
will do it.”
This reasoning succeeded, and the chiefs consented
that a messenger should be dispatched to Ibadan, to
propose a visit from Mr. Hinderer to the chief there,
secretly hoping and believing that the proposal would
be declined. Contrary to their expectations and their
wishes, the messenger brought back a very cordial
invitation; and as there was now no alternative, the
chiefs courteously did all in their power to make the
journey safe, and the reception favourable. Each of
the two chiefs appointed special messengers of their
* This consideration doubtless weighed strongly with them,
but there was another cogent reason for their wishing the
missionaries not to proceed into the interior, viz. the un-
willingness that any of their neighbours should share with
them in the honour of having white men residing among them.
232 CHAPTER XVII.
own to accompany him, and those from Sagbua took
with them the Aké staff of office, as a symbol that
Mr. Hinderer's expedition was sanctioned by the
government.
A caravan was on the point of starting for Ibadan,
and though Mr. Hinderer would have greatly pre-
ferred travelling with only his own attendants, he
thought it better to submit to the delay” and incon-
venience of a caravan, than to run the risk of
encountering the Ijebbus, who were, he knew, roam-
ing about that part of the country in search of
plunder.
Mr. Hinderer could not leave Osielle without
great regret; he had become much attached to the
people, and they to him; but it was evidently his
work to push on farther, and he knew that Osielle
would be well taken care of, for Mr. Moore, a native
catechist from Sierra Leone, was to reside there, and
it would be occasionally visited by Mr. Townsend
and Mr. Smith. w
He started on May 16th, 1851, and the next day,
at Atade, the Abbeokutan halting-place+ on the
Ibadan road, he joined the caravan of travelling
merchants, who, with a number of “rough soldiers”
as an escort, made up a party of about four thou-
* A person travelling on horseback might reach Ibadan in
two days, but a caravan takes four or five days to accomplish
the journey.
f Page 106—note.
IBADAN. 233
sand. On the 18th they came to a place called
Otere, where the soldiers became very troublesome,
drinking and quarrelling, and exacting money from
the travellers. The next day, finding the soldiers
still in the same state, and knowing that their con-
duct would involve delay and other serious inconve-
niences, Mr. Hinderer resolved to risk the perils of
the road, and to start by himself, trusting to God for
protection. His determination gave courage to
some of the traders, who joined him, and they left
Otere tolerably strong in numbers, but entirely
unprotected. As they travelled through forest and
bush, over hill and dale, “I must confess,” says Mr.
Hinderer, “that I sometimes felt uneasy, ahead of
all the caravan in the midst of the dark lurking-
places of our sworn enemies the Ijebbus; but my
trust was in the Lord on whose errand I was thus
exposed. About noon we halted, and soon the head.
man with some soldiers made his appearance. He
advised us not to continue in the direct road, as he
had had fresh intelligence of the Ijebbus, but to turn
aside into the intricate paths of the hunters. He
gave me six soldiers as a guard, and I proceeded
onward with them, leaving him and the rest of the
caravan to follow. After we had travelled about an
hour, the soldiers slackened their pace, looked mys-
terious, and I found they were frightened by the
sight of one of the robbers on our right. But he
234 CHAPTER XVII.
was frightened also, and crept into the bush. The
trouble I had hitherto had in forcing my horse
through the entangled bush, and over logs of wood,
was nothing to what I now met with from the ex-
ceeding narrowness of the path, the straggling under-
wood, and the overhanging shrubs and branches, for
which however I was sometimes compensated by the
delicious fragrance of the flowers of this forest.
About four p.m. the soldiers sat down and refused to
go any farther. I proceeded with the carriers of my
goods, hoping to reach some of the Ibadan farms
before night-fall. But we found it would be impos-
sible, and only went on in search of water, for we
could scarcely lie down without quenching our thirst.
It was not till dark that we met with a large dried-
up watercourse in the midst of a gloomy forest, where
however we found a little of last night's rain in a
small hollow rock in the channel. It was so dark
that we could scarcely see each other, and we had
no means of striking a light or making a fire. My
tent also was behind, and we had no alternative but
to lay ourselves down under the canopy of heaven,
imploring the gracious protection of our Almighty
Preserver. My situation was very dismal all night;
all were fast asleep except myself, and the doleful
yelling of the wild beasts of the forest, by which the
silence of the dark night was every now and then
interrupted, added not a little to the awful lone-
IBADAN. 235
liness. But He with whom is no darkness was near.
After midnight the moon made her appearance, but
her pale lamp could find little or no admittance into
the darkness of the forest.”
At daybreak the party started again, and by nine
o'clock a.m. reached the ferry over the little river
Onna, four miles from Ibadan. Here they halted
till the chief should send his messengers to conduct
them into the town. These soon arrived, and as the
party proceeded through the streets, they were joined
by numbers who saluted them with cheers, and with
cries of “Oku ewa onna!" a salutation at having
escaped the dangers of a journey. And Mr. Hin-
derer found that his anxieties had not been un-
founded, for the Ijebbus were really in the bush.
He was very kindly received, and Abere the head
chief, lodged him in a small dwelling belonging to
one of his own people.
Ibadan, like most of the towns in Yoruba, stands
on rising ground, on the declivity of a range of hills
that run from north-west to south-east. It is a large
and important town, though not so large or so popu-
lous as Abbeokuta; its mud walls being not more than
ten miles in circuit, and its population being about
60,000.* Its inhabitants are Yorubans, specially so
called, H and are very different from the Egbas of
* See page 41—notes, f See page 19—note.
236 CHAPTER XVII.
Abbeokuta and its neighbourhood. They are less
inclined to agriculture, and their delight is in war;
almost all the chiefs are war-chiefs, and the fierce
boldness of the soldiery has procured for them the
unenviable name of “the mad dogs of Ibadan.” The
late chief was almost as ferocious as Gezo of Daho-
mey; human sacrifices were continually offered by
him, and at his death seventy unhappy victims were
slaughtered on his grave. Happily for the cause of
religion and humanity, he had died about two years
before Mr. Hinderer's visit, and his successor, Abere,
was of a less barbarous disposition. But all the
higher classes, including Abere himself, were cruel
and demoralised, and the chiefs were so frequently
intoxicated, that when Mr. Hinderer visited the
council on any matter of business, they sometimes
were not able to give him a rational answer.
There was one exception however to this in an
elderly chief of the name of Agbaki. He was very
superior to all the rest in morals and in ability, and
had consequently obtained so much influence that
even Abere would seldom take any step in opposition
to this faithful counsellor. At Mr. Hinderer's first
coming to Ibadan, Agbaki had received him with an
unexpected and gratifying warmth of affection, as if
he had a kind of instinctive feeling that he was one
of those “who bringeth good tidings,” though pro-
bably he had no idea whatever of the nature of those
IBADAN. 237
“tidings;” and during his abode there he rendered
him essential service in various ways. On one occa-
sion, not long after his arrival, some Mohammedan
slave-dealers, who were in great favour with Abere,
appealed to the council to have him sent out of the
place, on the plea that “the white men had made
the people of Abbeokuta like women,” so that they
no more went out to war.” When the matter began
to be discussed, Agbaki rose, and boldly answered,
“White man shall stop, but you (addressing the
Mohammedans) may leave the town as soon as you
please, the sooner the better; but if you stay, learn
at least not again to slander a good man.”
But it was not all the population of Ibadan that
were fond of war; the lower classes, the few farmers,
and indeed all but the chiefs and the soldiers were
crying out for peace, and longing for some change
in their present oppressed condition. The ears and
heart of our missionary, as he passed along, were
often saluted by such exclamations as these, “God
bless you and help you ! You always speak words
of peace, but our headmen are for war. You must
come and help us, white man, for though they will
not attend to us, they will listen to you.”
Not however all the oppressions under which they
* This was rather an unfortunate time for a remark of this
kind, as it was not three months since the repulse of the
Dahomians !
238 CHAPTER XVII.
groaned could destroy the gaiety of heart that is so
matural to the children of Yoruba, and we must here
relate a little incident that not only shows the
buoyancy of their youthful spirits, but gives token
of a liveliness of imagination that, when sanctified
by the grace of God, will shine with attractive
brightness. &
Mr. Hinderer's abode at Ibadan consisted of one
small low room, about six feet long and five feet
wide, without any window, and with the door open-
ing into the usual low piazza, of which a piece was
parted off for his use about the same size as the
inner room. This inner apartment served him for
bedroom, study, eating-room and store-room, and
the piazza was occupied by his servant and his
horse. One day as his servant was opening a
bundle of grass in the little compound, the seeds
were scattered on the ground and were instantly
attacked by birds of different kind and plumage.
Some were of an almost dazzling blue, Some were a
brilliant red, and among the rest was one little active
busy bird that fluttered here and there, now darting
down among the others, and Snatching up a seed or
two, and instantly springing up and fluttering again
over its companions.
There had often been some little bright eyes
peeping over the low wall that divided Mr. Hinderer's
premises from those of his neighbours, observing the
IBAD AN. 239
movements of the white man; but these birds were
more attractive even than the stranger, and the
children, clambering to the top of the wall, were
eagerly watching the pretty group of feathered in-
truders, when they caught sight of Mr. Hinderer,
and suddenly disappeared. In a minute after they
began to sing; it was a playful merry ditty, and as
the birds were the subject of it, Mr. Hinderer went
out to listen. The children were frightened and
ran away, but he overtook them, and when he had
succeeded in quieting their fears, he persuaded them
to repeat the little impromptu song several times
over that he might write it down. We have not
the words in Yoruba, nor if we had, could we con-
vey them to our readers with the spirit and anima-
tion with which they were repeated to us, but the
following is a rough version of the meaning:—
There's the bird of dazzling blue
That stole from indigo its hue ;
And there's the bird that seeks to vie
With the cam-wood's brilliant dye ;
But there's the one we love the best,
Better far than all the rest;
Now it howers overhead,
Now it darts upon the seed,
Then again it upward springs,
Fluttering on its buoyant wings,
The Sunbeams glancing on its breast—
Oh that's the bird we love the best.
During Mr. Hinderer's residence of three months
240 CHAPTER XVII.
at Ibadan, he was three times visited by messengers
from the chief of Ede,” a town two days farther to
the north-east. The name of the chief was Temi,
and the purport of his repeated messages was to urge
the white man to come to his town. Mr. Hinderer
would very much have liked to have visited him,
particularly as he understood that he was the only
ruler in all that part of the country that had reso-
lutely set his face against kidnapping. Under any
circumstances he would not have been able to do
- this, but during the greatest part of the time he was
at Ibadan he was laid aside with illness, and all the
answer he could send to Temi was a promise that if
he returned there, as he hoped to do, he would use
his best endeavours to visit him.
Mr. Hinderer left Ibadan on the 2d of October
1851, to the great regret of all the people, and, as
our readers will readily believe, especially of Agbaki.
The chiefs and headmen were unanimous in their
expressions of earnest hope that he would soon return
and “sit down” among them ; and even Oso, the
fiercest of the war-chiefs, spoke of his great disap-
pointment that they could not “hold him fast now.”
Mr. Hinderer on his part could not leave them
without sorrow. The vice and wickedness he had
seen and heard while residing there had painfully
distressed him, yet to himself they had shown unva-
* Page 31,
IBADAN. 241
rying love and kindness, and, as he himself says,
“African affection binds very closely.”
Soon after this Mr. Hinderer was obliged to come
home to England on account of health; he has now
returned to Africa; and we hope soon to hear that
he has been permitted to take up his abode again at
Ibadan. We shall be looking out to hear of the
reception of the “good tidings” there; and especially
to find that the affectionate and faithful Agbaki may
indeed have accepted the message of “peace” and
“salvation” that Mr. Hinderer is privileged to
“publish.”
R
CIHAPTER XVIII.
ABBEOKUTA SCHOOLS-MESSAGES FROM DISTANT
CHIEFS-VISIT OF COMMANDER FORBES.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”—Eccles. ix. 10.
THE permission given to Mr. Hinderer to visit
Ibadan, was not the only fruit of the increased con-
fidence felt at Abbeokuta in the white men. It
seemed as if the chiefs had suddenly been awakened
to the importance of having their children properly
educated, and no sooner had the excitement of the
Dahomian attack a little subsided, than they came
forward, intreating the missionaries to take both sons
and daughters to live entirely with them. Mr.
Townsend already had several children living in his
house, whose expenses were paid by friends in Eng-
land, but so urgently did the chiefs press him to
admit/their own children, and so important did he
feeſ the matter to be, that he was induced to increase
his number to twenty-four, trusting that He who
had thus so evidently influenced the hearts of the
chiefs to send their children, would not fail to supply
him with means for their support.
In the same spirit and with the same confidence,
ABBEOKUTA SCHOOLS. 243
Mr. and Mrs. Smith received twelve into their own
house at Ikija, and we will not doubt that in both
cases our missionaries will find that their confidence
has not been in vain.
There were some interesting children in the Ikija
School. One of these was Temiwanome, the same
little captive boy from Abākā that we spoke of in a
former chapter,” as brought by Ogubonna, in his
new white cloth to the chapel at Ikija, when first
opened in 1847. The little fellow had for some time
attended Mr. Townsend's day-school at Akë, but
having met with an accident and becoming seriously
ill, Ogubonna prevailed on Mr. Smith to receive
him. He soon recovered, and is become a nice lively
intelligent boy, making good progress in learning,
and is generally the teacher of the alphabet class in
the adult Sunday school.i.
One of the little girls is Ommaniye ; she is Ogu-
bonna's own daughter, but her mother having died
some time before, she had been living at one of her
father's farms, and having no one to control her,
had become half wild. It required a little manage-
ment to bring her into regular habits, and to accus-
tom her to some degree of restraint; but by degrees
Mrs. Smith succeeded, and found her to be a clever
and amiable child. She was eleven years old when
first admitted, and during the nine months that
* Page 126. f Page 189.
244 CHAPTER XVIII.
elapsed, before Mr. and Mrs. Smith left for England,
she had learned to sew very neatly, could read with
fluency all the books translated into her own tongue,
including the epistle to the Romans, some of which
she appeared to understand, and had so far mastered
the English language as to be able to read her own
verse when a chapter in the English New Testament
was read in turn, at the morning family worship.”
Her great ambition was to possess an English Bible,
and she worked so hard at her lessons to gain the
required proficiency, that for a time her health was
affected.
When, early in 1852, Mr. and Mrs. Smith were
preparing to visit England, Ogubonna one day came
to the mission-house, evidently with his mind full of
some subject of great interest. This proved to be
an earnest request that they would take his little
Ommaniye to England with them. It was in vain
to tell him, in general terms, that the thing was im-
possible; he must know the separate reasons. The
child's discomfort in a foreign land, the embarrass-
ment and responsibility of the charge, the expense
that the scheme would involve, were all mentioned
to him; but some he could not enter into, and the
others were of no account in his eyes. Mr. Smith
then mentioned the probability of the climate being
too cold for her, and of her not surviving the severity.
* In the evening the Bible was read in Yoruba.
ABBEOKUTA SCHOOLS. 245
of a northern winter. This staggered him for a
moment, but after a short pause he replied that not
even this would alter his wish, that his child must
die somewhere, and it mattered little whether it
should be in England or in Abbeokuta. At last
Mr. Smith told him plainly that such a step would
be contrary to the rules of the Church Missionary
Society. This silenced the chief, though it did not
satisfy him, and as a sort of compensation it was
agréed that during Mr. and Mrs. Smith's absence
the child should remain in the mission-house under
the care of Mrs. King, whose husband has the charge
of the district as catechist, till Mr. Smith's return.
Three other children are also, at the urgent request
of their friends, left under the charge of Mr. and
Mrs. King; one is our young friend Temiwanome;
another is Temi, son of the war-chief Sokenu; and
the third is a daughter of Atamballa, the chief of
Ikreeku.
Before we leave the district of Ikija, we must
mention an interesting instance of that eager desire
manifested generally by the converts to bring others
to the knowledge of God. Our readers will re-
member Susannah Kuté,” one of Mr. Müller's early
converts, who so meekly and stedfastly endured as
seeing Him who is invisible. She lived in the town
of Ikija, and consequently belonged to Mr. Smith's
* * Pages 149 and 174.
246 CHAPTER XVIII.
congregation. One Sunday morning a heathen
woman came to her to ask some questions about the
market. Susannah replied that as it was the Lord's
day, she could not enter upon worldly business, but
begged her to call again the next morning. The
woman turned to go away, when Susannah, Suddenly
recollecting herself, said “Suppose you stop and go
with me to God’s house.” The woman hesitated for
a moment, but then replied that she could not go to
God’s house with all the heathen ornaments and
charms with which her arms and feet were covered.
“Do not mind them,” answered Susannah, “they
need not hinder you, nobody will observe them.”
While this discussion was going on, another Christian
woman came up, and exclaiming, “You cannot go
to God's house with all those things upon you,” so
discouraged the poor woman, that she decided not to
go. But Susannah would not be so easily con-
quered. She returned again to the charge, and at
last succeeded in prevailing on the woman to accom-
pany her to church. She was astonished at all she
saw and heard—the attention and devout behaviour
of the people, and the words of our beautiful Liturgy,
struck her with admiration; but when Mr. Smith
commenced his sermon, her attention was rivetted,
and, as he proceeded, she was seen to loosen first
one ornament and then another, and gently drop
them on the floor, till, before the service was ended,
MESSAGES FROM DISTANT CHIEFS. 247
she had disencumbered herself from all. Within a
fortnight she became a candidate for baptism and a
regular attendant at the Sunday-school. Some little
time after this, Mrs. Smith, observing her to be much
depressed, inquired into her family and her circum-
stances, and found that her depression arose from
having, while yet a heathen, pawned her little girl.
This is a very common practice among the heathen,
and it was not till Christian truth began to influence
her mind that she felt the evil or the sin of such a
practice. It appeared that some time before, having
an unexpected demand for a sum equal to about five
shillings of our money, she attempted to borrow it,
but could only do so by putting her child in pawn.
From that time she had continued to pay as much
as threepence a week as interest, and had in this
way repaid the original sum over and over again,
but she could not raise the required amount in one
sum, and thus the poor child remained in pawn, and
the interest continued to be paid. We need scarcely
add that Mrs. Smith soon took measures for her
daughter to be restored to her.
The estimation in which the white men were
already held at Abbeokuta continued to extend in
, the countries round. In the summer of 1851 the
chief of Ifé, a town three days to the east of Abbeo-
kuta, sent to propose an union between himself and
the Abbeokutans with their English allies, and to
248. CHAPTER XVIII.
request that missionaries might go and reside there.
And this request was the more remarkable, as Ifé
has always been the stronghold of idolatry. All the
deities are said to have come from thence; the sun
and the moon rise there again after having been
buried in the earth; and all the human race, white
as well as black, were originally created at Ifé. It
must then have been a strong impulse that led this
chief to send for Christian teachers. Later than this,
the chief of Ketu, a large town with a population of
10,000, sixty or seventy miles to the south-west of
Abbeokuta, requested a visit from Mr. Crowther;”
and the intreaties of the chief of Ijaye, two days to
the north, containing 40,000 inhabitants, were so
urgent, that in August 1852 Mr. Townsend visited
the place, met with a very cordial reception, and
made arrangements for the future establishment of a
mission there.
Mr. Crowther had returned to Abbeokuta about a
month before, to the delight of “a host of friends”
who came out to welcome him; and to the thankful
joy of his own heart for preservation and many bless-
ings since he had left it in April 1851. He was
accompanied by his son, Mr. Samuel Crowther, and
by Mr. Macauley, a catechist from Sierra Leone; and
the medical knowledge the former of these had
* Later accounts mention that Mr. Crowther has visited
Ketu, and been very favourably received there.
VISIT OF CAPTAIN FORBES. 249
acquired in England was no small comfort to the
converts, who hitherto in times of sickness had been
precluded from seeking any advice, except that of
the missionaries, as the babbalawos were the only
persons among the natives who understood anything
of medicine, and they of course mingled with it their
own heathen charms and ceremonies.
We must not omit to speak of a visit paid to
Abbeokuta at the end of 1851 by the late lamented
Commander Forbes. He was sent by Her Majesty's
Government to make a treaty with the chiefs, and to
render them any assistance which his superior know-
ledge and experience would enable him to do, in the
expectation of a renewed attack from the Dahomians,
which Gezo had positively threatened. Capt. Forbes
threw his whole mind into the business, and his own
descriptions are so animated, that in giving an
account of his proceedings we shall chiefly make use
of his own words. He writes:—
“Akè, Abbeokuta, Nov. 16, 1851.
“I arrived here on Thursday the 13th instant;
having been met at Awoyade by the Rev. Messrs.
Townsend and Smith, and the gentlemen of the
Wesleyan mission, at the head of at least one hundred
and fifty Africans in European costume, and many
of them on horseback. The scene was most interest-
ing, and exceeded my most sanguine expectations.
250 CHAPTER XVIII.
On Friday, Sagbua and several other chiefs called on
me.”
“On Saturday, a gathering of the horsemen and
soldiers came to perform the ceremony of ‘meeting,’
and a most interesting sight it was, being parti-
cularly novel in this part of Africa. Horsemen in
gaudy dresses, on horses showily caparisoned, were
gallopping about in a confused manner; the whole
art of the rider being displayed in making his horse
kick, rear, and demi-volt as often and in as-Small a
space as possible. Meanwhile the chiefs assembled,
and at noon came to the house.”
Captain Forbes then goes on to state the proceed-
ings of this meeting between himself and the chiefs.
He told them that the Queen of England, desirous to
assist those who had given protection to her subjects,
had sent him to Abbeokuta to teach them how to
protect themselves. He went on to give them some
advice on this point, and ended by saying; “Abbeo-
kuta must not be destroyed. Let the Egbas fight
well; your country is under the protection of God;
thanks to the missionaries who have taught many of
you the power of God. Egbas, protect yourselves,
and the Almighty God will guard you.”
The chiefs were, as may be supposed, delighted
with this address, they warmly thanked him and de-
clared their intention to comply with all his advice.
“In their reply,” Captain Forbes observes, “there
VISIT OF CAPTAIN FORBES. 251
was no bravado, no gesticulation, no useless expres-
sions, but they evidently said what they intended,
and nothing more.” He afterwards observes, “I
cannot of course describe Abbeokuta ; but I am
perfectly surprised at all I see. The surrounding
country is beautiful and cultivated; the town im-
mense and picturesque, scattered and clustered
among granite hills. The walls, none of the best,
—of mud, and extending over a circumference of
fifteen miles, are impossible to fortify.”
“The Egbas are a nation of farmers, and with the
blessings of peace would become traders; but that
which calls on Great Britain to make a bold attempt
to save Abbeokuta is, that within its walls are
several hundred people who are Christians. Indeed,
the missionary accounts I have read did not convey
to me so sufficient a reason as my own eyes have
witnessed.”
There could not have been a more fitting person
for this embassy than Captain Forbes; the warmth
and energy of his character gained for him an
influence over the chiefs, which he was able to turn
to their own best advantage. He threw his whole
heart into the matter, procured some field-pieces
from the men-of-war on the coast, had them mounted
in the best way that was possible with the scanty
means within his reach, and organised a body of men
to act as gunners, to the utter astonishment of the
252 CHAPTER XVIII.
Abbeokutans, who had never seen anything of the
kind before. He superintended the repair of the
walls as far as was practicable, instructed the people
in several other arts, and by his kindness, energy,
and zeal, won from them all, we are told, “a respect
almost amounting to adoration.”
He was very anxious to remain with them till the
question of conquest or defeat should be decided;
but was summoned to other duties on the coast; and
it was not long before his friends in England were
called upon to mingle their own regrets with those
of the Abbeokutans at his untimely death.
Whether the king of Dahomey was moved by the
remonstrances sent to him from England, or alarmed
at hearing of the preparations thus made by the
Egbas to receive him, or whether any other cause
prevented him, we do not know; but after having
been kept in anxious suspense for several months,
the Abbeokutans found that Gezo had, at least for
that year, relinquished his intention of attacking
them, and we trust he will never be permitted to
put his threat into execution.
CHAPTER XIX.
BAD AGRY AND LAGOS.
“Blessed are they that sow beside all waters.”—Isaiah xxxii. 20.
THIS passage was quoted by Mr. Van Cooten in
one of his letters when speaking of the discourage-
ments at Badagry, and it is so appropriate to the
whole course of the missions there, that we have
placed it at the head of this chapter.
The Badagry missionaries had, indeed, need to
remember that the blessing is promised to the faith-
ful sower, for while at Abbeokuta every attempt at
cultivation seemed to prosper, at Badagry. it has
pleased God to withhold the increase, and it has
continued as to spiritual things in the same barren
unproductive condition as when we left it in 1846;
and neither Mr. Gollmer, Mr. Smith, nor Mr. Van
Cooten, who, either alone or conjointly, have
laboured there from that time, have been permitted
to see any satisfactory fruit of their spiritual labours.
In external things there has been an evident im-
provement through the influence of the missionaries.
Their steadfast and consistent conduct won for them
the attachment of some and the respect of all the
254 CHAPTER XIX.
chiefs, while the people generally have from the
first considered them as their friends, and have
always deprecated their removal as the greatest
misfortune to the place. A taste for agriculture,
too, has been awakened among some of the people.
Hitherto, though the soil is productive, cultivation
had been wholly neglected: the slave-trade seemed
to many a more easy and profitable way of living,
and some Sierra Leone emigrants who had attempted
to plant their land were discouraged by their crops
being stolen. But the garden the missionaries made
in their own compound, their persuasion, and the
distribution of small prizes, had an extraordinary
effect. Woods, in which many an unhappy fugitive
had been hunted and kidnapped, were cleared and
planted; some of the heretofore neglected plains
were now covered with beautiful cattle, and the
neighbourhood of the town began to assume quite a
different appearance.
Among the chiefs by whom the missionaries were
received with the most kindness was Akitoye, the
ex-king of Lagos, who was now residing at Badagry,
and his friend Mewu the chief of Mo, who with
a constancy not often found among uncivilised
people, had for twenty-three years clung to him in
weal and in woe, and never deserted him, even when
his fortune appeared at the lowest ebb. Mewu had
also come to reside at Badagry: he was as unvary-
BADAGRY AND LAGOS. 255
ing in his kindness to the missionaries as in his
attachment to Akitoye, he was regular in his attend-
ance at Divine worship, often remained behind to
talk over the subjects that had been brought before
him, and seemed not far from the kingdom of God.”
But Superstition and early prejudices, and perhaps
the fear of man, keep him still in chains. Four of
his young relations have been in turn committed to
the missionary's care, and received into the boarding-
School; and perhaps, through their means, strength
may yet be given to this kind and friendly chief to
burst through every bond and throw himself at the
foot of the cross. Akitoye now and then attended
the Sunday services, as did several of the other
chiefs, and even Possu, who for a long time showed
himself most unfriendly to the mission, was latterly
often to be seen there. The average attendance
was about 150, including the Sierra Leone people,
and 30 boys in the boarding-school; but the number
always was considerably increased when a caravan
from Abbeokuta happened to be in the town; and it
often refreshed the missionary to observe the intelli-
gent countenances of some of these people and their
* At the time of the Church Missionary Jubilee in 1849,
Mewu was at Mo, and could not attend the services, but
having been at church on the preceding Sunday, when Mr.
Smith gave notice of it and explained its purport, he sent in
a head of cowries as a contribution to the Jubilee Fund.
256 CHAPTER XIX.
devout attention to the service, and to see them at
every leisure moment studying their primers, which
were their inseparable companions on a journey as
well as at home. -
The boarding-school was the most encouraging
portion of the mission. Besides Mewu's four boys,
Possu had sent his son, and Akibode, the chief priest
of Ifa, also had two there. All were tractable, well-
behaved, and intelligent; but more than this we
cannot as yet say of any of them. Jº
Mr. and Mrs. Smith landed at Badagry in January,
1848, and Mr. Gollmer, whose health had for some
time required a change of climate, took advantage of
their arrival to pay a visit to England. Neither
the chiefs nor people were of course able to appre-
ciate the value of his indefatigable spiritual labours
among them, but their conduct at his departure and
on his return showed in a very gratifying manner
the estimation in which he was personally held. On
the morning of his embarkation in April, 1848, several
chiefs came to pay him a visit, and to wish him a safe
voyage, bringing a sheep or fowls or yams as presents,
and among others was his former opponent Possu.
Mewu brought him a bullock and a bag of yams,
“to make,” as he said, “soup on the salt water, that
he might not forget him.” Akitoye sent his mes-
senger with his gilt-headed staff of office to bid him
farewell, and the still more friendly chief of Ajeido
BAD AGRY AND LAGOS. 257
had three days before sent a confidential agent with
a silver-headed staff, and with orders not to return
till he had seen Mr. Gollmer and Mr. and Mrs.
Townsend (who were going with him to England)
safe on board. The man, on his arrival, delivered
up his badge of office to Mr. Gollmer, and only re-
sumed it in order to attend him to the beach in
proper form.
The greeting was as warm when he returned in
March, 1850. The people crowded down to the
beach to welcome him ; some of them insisted on
lifting him out of the canoe, and on the heads of
some and on the hands of others he was carried a
good way up the beach.
But the missionaries longed to see some signs of
spiritual life among those for whom they were spend-
ing their strength. A few of the Yorubans gave
some evidence of this, and about twenty were at
different times baptised,” but among the Popo part
of the population all continued dark and dead.
* One of the baptised was a wife of Akibode, the chief priest
of Ifa. She had diligently worshipped the twenty-one palm
nuts, and the sixteen pieces of iron, which, suspended on a
piece of wire, represented the god Ifa ; and as diligently had
she endeavoured to propitiate Yemaja, the goddess of brooks
and rivers, but found no satisfaction from either. She had
heard of Olorin, the god of heaven, and had listened earnestly
to Mr. Gollmer, while he declared God’s punishment on the
impenitent, and His willingness to receive sinners. When
Mr. Smith came, she watched to see if he said the same things,
S
258 CHAPTER XIX.
During Mr. Gollmer's absence, Mr. Smith's anxiety
was most strongly excited by the question brought
before the House of Commons in 1849 as to the con-
tinuance of the cruising squadron in the Bights, for he
knew that if it should be withdrawn, there would no
longer be any safety for himself and his brother mis-
sionaries, nor the English merchants, nor even for
the Sierra Leone emigrants, of whom there are seve-
ral thousands” in the country, and who, as British
subjects, have a just claim to British protection.
None but those on the spot can fully estimate the
important Service that squadron has rendered to
European missionaries and merchants, to the emi-
grants, and to the natives themselves. The happy
decision of the question on the side of justice, hu-
manity, and sound policy, was received with joy and
—she found he did, her heart was melted, and after due instruc-
tion she was baptised, as well as her mother, and the two sons
of her husband, who were in the school. Akibode himself
appeared to be seriously seeking the way of Salvation; he gave
up sacrificing to Ifa, regularly attended the Sunday services,
talked with some earnestness on the subject, and it had been
at his special request that Mr. Smith had baptised his boys at
the same time as the wife. But Satan held him fast, and at
the destruction of the town he resumed his sacrifices, privately
removed his wife and children from the mission-premises,
where he had placed them for security, and took them we
know not whither, for he has never been heard of since.
* There are 3000 of these emigrants in Abbeokuta, several
hundreds in Badagry, and many others in Lagos and in most
of the large towns.
BAD AGRY AND LAGOS. 259
thankfulness not only by Europeans, but by the
people of Abbeokuta and the neighbouring towns,
and even by the more peaceable of the inhabitants
of Badagry. Kosoko, Gezo, Domingo, and their
slave-dealing allies, would of course have rejoiced in
a contrary result.
Even as it was, the Badagry missionaries con-
tinued to be frequently exposed to alarm and danger
from the conflicting elements both within and with-
out the town. On these occasions, they used their
utmost endeavours to restrain the angry passions of
the opponents, and although sometimes a whole day
would thus be consumed in a “palaver,” they had
the comfort of being generally successful, and of
thus preventing the effusion of blood.
One of the disputes of this kind that occurred
while Mr. Smith was residing there, arose between
Akitoye and some of the Badagrian chiefs. Mr.
Smith, hearing of it, went to Akitoye, and found
him sitting in state among his troops. The main
road that led to his house was lined with warriors
seated on the ground on either side, with their mus-
kets in their hands, and so close to each other that
Mr. Smith had some difficulty in making his way
between the rows. The narrow streets that crossed
this road were filled with women and girls, dancing,
shouting, and exciting the men to war by extempore
songs in praise of Akitoye and his allies, and re-
260 CHAPTER XIX.
counting their former deeds of valour. It was a
strange and stirring scene, not often to be witnessed
by an European. Mr. Smith's mediation had the
desired effect, and the gong that was to have been
employed in summoning to war, now gave out the
notes of peace, to the joy not only of Mr. Smith him-
self, but of the great majority of the inhabitants.
Such things were continually occurring, too often
for us to specify; but our friends were enabled to
commit themselves and all their concerns into the
hands of Him who had placed them there; they
knew that Jehovah reigneth, and that if God were
for them, it mattered little who were against them.
Twice in the autumn of 1850, the significant
token of a faggot, bound up in a particular way, was
sent to Mr. Gollmer to warn him that his house was
to be set on fire; and during the latter part of 1850
and the beginning of 1851, he and Mrs. Gollmer
were subject to continued alarms of war and con-
flagration.
At last, in June, 1851, the long smothered enmity
between Akitoye and Mewu on the one side, and
Kosoko and his allies on the other, burst forth afresh,
and Mr. Gollmer's attempts at mediation proved
unavailing. The town was attacked, and the scenes
that followed cannot be described. The firing of the
opposing parties close to the mission-house—the
town itself in flames—the screams of the women and
BAD AGRY AND LAGOS. 261
children, who ran about in all directions, and several
hundreds of whom took refuge in the mission-com-
pound,-were enough to appal the stoutest heart.
Some of the poor people crowded into their canoes
and tried to cross the Ossa to the opposite shore, but
many of the overladen boats were upset. In the
afternoon a quantity of gunpowder exploded with a
terrific noise, and had not the mission-house been
strengthened with new timber during the preceding
week, it must have been shaken to the ground.
Before night the greatest part of the town was burnt
to the ground. In the morning the fight was re-
mewed, the eastern part of the town was set fire to,
and nothing escaped the devouring element but the
two mission-premises, and the chief part of Mr.
Hutton's factory. All this time Mr. Gollmer was ill
and unable to walk or even to stand, and could only
give instructions from the window. The catechists
and others connected with the mission were greatly
frightened, and urged him to retire to the beach for
safety, but he felt, as he says, “that I was at the
post where God had placed me, and I must not
desert it without plain and special orders. He knows
I am here, and I know and believe His arm is not
shortened. So in faith I committed myself to our
covenant God, and resolved to await the issue.
Blessed be God for His faithfulness in giving me, in
this time of need, grace sufficient for the day !”
262 CHAPTER XIX.
During the remainder of 1851 all was confusion
and ruin. The Abbeokutans sent eight hundred
men under Sumoi, the Obbashorum, to the succour of
Akitoye, and, by one party or the other, towns and
villages on either side of the Ossa were destroyed
without mercy.
The affair at Lagos, on the 26th of December,
1851, and the restoration of Akitoye to his lawful
authority there, happily put an end to this miserable
state of things, and there seems to be some hope that
the peace which was then established with the
neighbouring tribes may be a permanent one. Even
the restless and marauding Ijebbus, of whom we
have so often had occasion to speak, sent to the
English resident at Lagos to propose a treaty of
peace. The symbolical letter by which this pro-
posal was conveyed is so curious that we shall pre-
sent our readers with an engraving and a description
of it. Certainly we should not have discovered the
meaning of the symbols unless we had had the
explanation, and we doubt whether any of our readers
would have done so either.
1st. The cowries—there are four times two; this
mean that there are four corners of the earth
all peopled, and that among them the Ijebbus
and Lagos people are closely united.
2nd. The round stone-like kernel is used in the
game called “ware,” which is universal in
º tº cºs Sºssº
*... * |
>~~$4% º 4.
º Žº
ºs
§. h * * º
*
SYM ROLICAL LETTER FROM THE CHIEF OF THE IJEEBUS
Page S62,



BAD AGRY AND LAGOS. 263
those parts, and means that the Ijebbus and
Lagos people used to be friends and play toge-
ther.
3rd. The next two cowries complete the first
sentence, of being one.
4th. The plum-like kernel of the fruit called
“ossan” means, “What is good for me is good
for you.”
5th. The long black bean is a kind of spice called
“eree” and means, “Do not make a fool of me,
and I will not make a fool of you.”
6th. The rest of the cowries, with their faces
the same way, and the two other kernels,
mean, “Let us go on straight; let us play
together, and what is good for you is good for
me.”
The proposal was gladly accepted, peace was
established, and we earnestly hope that it will not
be of so fragile a nature as the rice-straw on which
the letter was strung. -
The advantages of peace with the Ijebbus are
immense to the whole of the interior; the Ogün is
open, the roads are unmolested, and traders and
travellers can safely pass and repass. Christians
should arise and take advantage of this favourable
moment for carrying the light of the gospel far and
wide.
In March, 1852, Mr. Gollmer removed to Lagos,
264 CHAPTER XIX.
which is now the chief missionary station on the
coast. Badagry remains nearly in ruins; a few of
its inhabitants have returned and rebuilt their
houses, but it is a mere village, and there is only a
catechist residing there.
We must not finally leave Badagry without a
short tribute to the memory of one of the most
devoted of God’s servants that have ever left their
native land on a message of mercy to a fallen world.
We mean Mr. Van Cooten. He arrived at Badagry
in March, 1850, with Mrs. Van Cooten, but like Mr.
Müller, of whom his course strongly reminds us,
had been called to part with her a few weeks after
their arrival. The whole of the missionary party
at Badagry were attacked with fever in that spring;
Mr. Van Cooten himself suffered severely with it,
and while he was too ill to minister to her, Mrs. Van
Cooten was, on May 13, taken from the evil to
come, leaving behind her the testimony from all who
knew her, that “she indeed walked with God.”
It was some time before Mr. Van Cooten reco-
vered from his illness, and from the shock this
unexpected loss had been to him; but as soon as he
was able to go out, he set about the work God had
given him to do. His knowledge of medicine gave
him access into houses which might otherwise have
been closed against him, and he never failed to use
every opportunity of proclaiming to others the Sa-
BADAGRY AND LAGOS. 265
viour whom he loved. For a time, his earnest
appeals, coming as they did warm from his own
heart, seemed often to reach the hearts of others;
but as far as the human eye can see, all these
impressions were as the early dew that passeth
away, and we have no evidence that any soul in
Badagry was converted to God by his instrumenta-
lity. His principal work, however, was among the
towns and villages around, both on the north and on
the south of the Ossa. Though the people are
chiefly Popos, they are far less degraded than those
of Badagry. He was always courteously, and gene-
rally kindly received, and it was seldom that his
affectionate and tender appeals were listened to
without emotion. They often told him they had
never heard such things before, and begged him to
come again and tell them more, and he says, “It
pains my heart to think it may be months or even
years before they again hear the message of Salva-
tion. I cannot tell you the deep sorrow that fills
my heart when they ask, as many do, “How can
we find the way if we have none to tell us?’”
Mr. Van Cooten's last excursion was along the
southern shore of the Ossa, where, as we have before
said, there are many towns and large villages between
the river and the sea. He was not well when he set
out ; but the more than usual earnestness of the
people, arising probably from his own unconscious
266 CHAPTER XIX.
fervency of manner, beguiled him on from village to
village, till his strength entirely gave way, and after
a day of acute suffering at Porto Novo, he returned
in a canoe to Badagry. Here, on the 13th of March
1851, he fell asleep, full of “thanksgiving to God for
having permitted him during the few months of his
sojourn in Africa to make His name known to thou-
’ Some of whom, we trust, though unknown
sands;’
to man, may yet be his crown of rejoicing in-the day
of the Lord Jesus.
A few extracts from the letters of this devoted man
of God will be acceptable to our readers.
Writing soon after the death of his wife, he says:
“I am now alone, and I desire to give myself to the
work before me, and to have the void that is left in
my heart filled with supreme love to God and to His
work. I feel I am unworthy of the high and holy
trust reposed in me by the Committee, but it will be
my aim to carry out their views as far as I have grace
and ability to do so.”
In a later letter he says, “Dr. Krapff's letter to
the Committee warmed my heart; I pray that the
Christian public may respond to his appeal, and fur-
nish men and means for so noble and glorious a
work. I should like to go half way and meet him.
I have afresh dedicated myself and all I have to this
work. Africa is henceforth my only home on earth;
and I desire not to dwell in houses, but to be a
BADAGRY AND LAGOS. 267
stranger and a pilgrim from day to day. I have one
great object at heart—the salvation of the sons of
Ham. So that I may but be used in this work, I
am content to be like my Saviour, and not have
where to lay my head.”
And in a letter written only four days before he
set out on his last expedition, and when he was
ripening fast for glory, he says, “I can truly say I
praise God for putting the desire into my heart thus
to spend and be spent in His service. Now I see
why I was left alone, why I was tried in the furnace.
Silver to be fit for use must first be purified, and the
vessels for the Lord's house must be made meet for
the Master's work. Oh! how much I needed, and
still need, the refining process, the cleansing of the
blood of Jesus, the sanctifying influences of the Holy
Spirit ! I am unworthy of this great work; but
God uses “the weak things of the world to confound
the things that are mighty.” In myself I can do
nothing, in Christ much.”
CHAPTE R XX,
CONCLUSION.
“The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down
in their dens.”—Psal. civ. 22.
WE must now bid farewell to Abbeokuta, with a
thankful heart for all the blessings that have been
vouchsafed to her. The rapid” progress of the Gos-
pel among the benighted Egbas has been like the
dayspring in their own sunny land, like the “Sunrise
within the tropics,” where, as our readers know,
there is none of that lengthened dawn of our northern
clime, which is so wearying to those who watch for
the morning; but scarcely is the eastern sky tinged
with the early beams of roseate light, than the Sun
himself appears, rejoicing “as a strong man to run
a race.”
In the summer of 1846, when Mr. Townsend and
Mr. Crowther first arrived at Abbeokuta, the only
persons who could be called Christians there were
* Compared with most other missions, it has been very
rapid. Here and there, there has been some more striking
instance, such as the work at Sierra Leone, under the ministry
of Messrs. Johnson, Düring, &c. (See Memoir of Rev. W. B.
Johnson.)
CONCLUSION. 269
Andrew Wilhelm, and the very few who like him-
self were “faithful found among the faithless,”
unstable emigrants from Sierra Leone. Since that
time up to the latest reports of 1852, (i.e. in six
years and a half) the numbers that have been bap-
tised from the native population may be counted by
hundreds;* there are now three hundred and thirty-
three candidates for baptism, three hundred and fifty
adults attend the Sunday schools, and two hundred
and thirty-three have been admitted to the table of
the Lord.
iWe believe too that there is a hidden work going
on in the hearts of many, who as yet only venture to
believe “secretly, for fear of the Jews,” and that
there is among the people generally a consciousness
of the vanity of idolatry. The only cloud that dims
our bright prospects for Abbeokuta is, that none of
the chiefs have yet embraced the Gospel. All of
them are kind and friendly to the missionaries, and
a few are evidently sincerely attached to them ;
most of the principal ones send their children to our
Christian schools, and there are those among them
who frequently attend public worship. But neither
the mild and amiable Sagbua, nor the friendly Sumoi
and Sokenu, nor even the generous and intelligent
Ogubonna, have as yet submitted themselves to the
* We have not been able to ascertain the exact number.
270 CHAPTER XX.
yoke of Christ. It is true that they are placed in diffi-
cult circumstances—their position as chiefs necessarily
obliges them to the performance of various idolatrous
ceremonies, and the omission of these would not
only be attended with their own loss of authority,
but would probably involve the disorganisation of
their own local government, and be the signal for
confusion and lawlessness among their own people.
We can scarcely believe but that there are hearts
and minds among them, upon which some conviction
of the truth and vital importance of Christianity
must have forced itself, and in this belief we would
desire earnestly to implore for them that the Holy
Spirit may be sent into their hearts with power, that
their eyes may be so enlightened to see the excel-
lency of Christ Jesus, that they may count all things
but loss for His sake, may be enabled boldly to
confess Him before men, and to leave the conse-
quences with Him who has the hearts of all under
His control.
Within the last few months the Yoruba Mission
has been strengthened by the return of Mr. Hin-
derer with Mrs. Hinderer, and by the arrival of the
Rev. A. Mann, the Rev. R. C. Paley and Mrs. Paley,
with an infant school mistress. Three German
missionaries—Messrs. G. T. E. Gerst, J. T. Kefer,
and A. Maser—are also gone out as candidates for
ordination by the Bishop of Sierra Leone, and we
CONCLUSION. 271
believe the arrangements for the whole mission will
be as follows: Mr. Gollmer will continue at Lagos
with his catechist Mr. White, and is to be joined,
if God permits, by one of the newly ordained Ger-
man missionaries. He has two out-stations—Bada-
gry, where a catechist is to be placed; and Otta, a town
between Lagos and Abbeokuta, whither Mr. Morgan,
a Sierra Leone catechist, has been sent from Abbeo-
kuta. At Abbeokuta itself, there are Mr. Townsend,
Mr. Crowther, and Mr. Paley, as missionaries, the
latter of whom will especially direct his attention to
education, and, as soon as practicable, form an insti-
tution for the training of catechists, school-masters,
and, as it is hoped, eventually for the raising up of
mative missionaries. Mr. King, Mr. Samuel Crow-
ther, and Mr. Macaulay, are there as catechists,
besides the other valuable assistants whose names
we have so frequently mentioned. Early in next
year, too, we hope that Mr. and Mrs. Smith will
have returned to their station at Ikija.
Mr. Moore is still labouring with diligence and
acceptance at Osielle; and we rejoice to find that he
speaks of several there who are candidates for baptism.
Mr. Hinderer, we trust, has by this time returned
to Ibadan, where he is to be assisted by another of
the new German missionaries; and Mr. Mann,
accompanied by Mr. Charles Phillips, as catechist,
is appointed to the new out-station at Ijaye.
272 CHAPTER XX.
We thankfully rejoice at this, yet when we re-
member that the earnest éntreaties of the chiefs of
Ifé, of Ede, of Ketu, of our old friends the Isaggans,
and of many Smaller places near the coast, cannot
yet be complied with, when we hear of the number
of populous towns beyond our present stations which
would, there is no doubt, now be accessible,” could
our missionaries leave their present posts; and then
turn our thoughts to the hundreds of thousands still
beyond, among whom our friends desire to penetrate
if they could; when we consider these things, we
feel how great need there is for a far more plentiful
out-pouring of the Spirit upon the churches at home,
that fitting men and adequate means-H may be
supplied.
* At different distances from Abbeokuta, varying from two
days’ journey to six, we find the following places specified,
besides those we have mentioned above. To the north, and
north-east, are Ogbomoso, with 45,000 souls, and Isehin,
with 70,000, neither of which have ever been captured;
Aggo-oja, the residence of the king of Yoruba ; Awaye, twice
as large as Badagry; Berekodo, not so large ; Erewa, Balo-
run-polla, Erin, Iwawoom, and the noted Illorin, whence
three days will take you to Rabba and the Niger. On the
west, and north-west, there are Igboko, a very large town ;
Ilewo, Ilugo, Aibo, Isala, Itobdo, Efia, and other smaller
ones; while to the south-east, the country is still unexplored.
t How thankful should we be if this little volume were to be
made the instrument of stirring up any of its readers to a
warmer interest, and more earnest endeavours, in this blessed
cause ! There are none, be their sphere ever so small, who
CONCLUSION. 273
Still we bless God for what has been done, and
we look forward in believing hope, that the Sun of
Righteousness, that has risen on Abbeokuta, will
speedily extend His bright beams to the tribes and
nations all around her. Then will the fierce forms
of idolatry, slavery, and cruelty “gather themselves
together and lay them down in their dens;” there
we trust to abide in chains of darkness till that more
glorious day-spring shall arise, when every enemy
shall be destroyed “at the brightness of His coming,”
12,
who is “King of kings, and Lord of lords!
Amin—Ke oh sheh-So be it !
cannot be in some way fellow-labourers in this work. Like
the members of the body, the feeblest can add to the general
usefulness. Those who cannot contribute even occasionally,
may collect small sums from others, or speak on the subject to
those who are unacquainted with it, or distribute papers that
supply information; and for their encouragement there are
very few, if any, neighbourhoods in which some friend of the
Church Missionary Society may not be found to advise and
assist them. Above all, there are none who are excluded
from that privilege, as well as command—“Pray ye, there-
fore, the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth
labourers into His harvest.”
APPENDIX.
I. (Page 10.)
SINCE the preceding pages were printed, we have had
the opportunity of hearing a few more particulars about
the Fellatahs, and as their sudden awakening to war and
conquest seems to be the last effort of the Mohammedan
power to recover somewhat of its former glory, anything
relating to them becomes the more interesting. It ap-
pears that the meaning of their name, whether Fellatah,
Foulah, or Fellani, is yellow, which has probably been
adopted to distinguish them from the whole negro race,
from whom, as we have said, they entirely differ in fea-
ture, complexion, and hair. They were roused from
their quiet pastoral life by, it is said, a vision, in which
Mahomet himself appeared to one of their priests, and
reproached the people with their sloth and supineness
in thus remaining quiet among the Kafirs, by whom they
were surrounded, and commanded them to arise and take
the sword, and save the souls of the infidels by converting
them to the true faith. Messengers were immediately
dispatched to Timbuctu, and to all the countries in which
the Fellatahs had spread themselves, and the numbers
that responded to the call enabled Danfodio to commence
276 APPENDIX.
his operations without delay. The town he built in the
“woods of Ader” was Sokatu, which has ever since been
the capital of the Fellatah empire. But here, as in
other countries, the crescent is waning, coming, as we
believe, “to his end, and none shall help him.”
II. (Page 28.)
The following are some of the Yoruba proverbs, given
by Mr. Crowther in his vocabulary of the language:*
“There is,” says the Bishop of Sierra Leone in his
introductory remarks, “a degree of moral light in them
which renders them peculiarly interesting, presenting us
with a lively comment on the words of St. Paul concern-
ing the Gentiles, ‘which show the work of the law written
in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and
their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing
one another.” These proverbs, in many instances, display
ideas concerning the providence of God, the moral recti-
tude of actions, or the practice of social virtues, which
(to say the least) we should hardly have expected to find
in a people so wholly separated from the influences,
direct or indirect, of that revelation which God was
pleased to make of Himself to man.”
For example:—
He who injures another, injures himself.
* Vocabulary of the Yoruba language, compiled by Rev.
S. Crowther, with introductory remarks by the Bishop of
Sierra Leone,—Seeleys, Fleet Street.
APPENDIX. 277
The time may be very long, but a lie will be detected
at last.
He to whom kindness is shown, and he does not return
thanks, you may do him ill, and he will not feel that
either. -
He who has done you a kindness should never be ill
used.
Ear, hear the other side before you decide.
Anger does nobody good. Patience is the best dis-
position. Anger draws arrows from the quiver. Good
words draw kola-nuts from the bag.
He who despises another despises himself.
Contempt should never be shown to a fellow-man.
A sick person should never be laughed at ; for what
happens to him to-day, may happen to you to-morrow.
Disobedience is the father of insolence.
He who sees another's fault knows well how to talk
about it, but he covers his own with a potsherd.
He who claps hands for a fool to dance, is himself no
- better than a fool.
If you have no money to give to a person in distress,
you may pay frequent visits; if you cannot visit, you
may send good words of the mouth.
He who cannot take up an ant, and yet tries to take
up an elephant, will find out his folly.
Every thing has its price; but who can set a price on
blood
A slave is not a block of wood. When a slave dies, his
mother hears nothing of it; but when a child dies, there
is lamentation; yet the slave was once a child in his
mother’s house.
278 APPENDIX.
You may say that it is only a gentle stroke, but you do
not recollect that it hurts the smail.
He who boasts much, can do very little.
A thing that cannot be accomplished should never be
undertaken.
No one should ask the fish what is done in the plain,
nor should the rat be asked of what takes place in the
Water.
The dawn does not come twice to wake a man.
He who possesses patience, possesses all things.
Covetousness is the father of unsatisfied desire.
A proverb is the horse of conversation: when conver-
sation flags, a proverb revives it.
T H E E N D .
LoN oon : C. RICHARDS, PRINTER, 100 ST, MARTIN's LAN.E.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR,
In Foolscap 8vo. with Illustrations, price 3s.6d. cloth,
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A
P
R 27 2000
TIT
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