J£>-^ 
 
 NARRATIVi 
 
 OF A 
 
 Journey TO MusARD 
 
NARRATIVE 
 
 OF A 
 
 Journey to Mtjsardu, 
 
 THE 
 
 CAPITAL OF THE WESTERN MANDINGOES. 
 
 BY 
 
 BENJAMIN ANDERSON. 
 
 Ueb-gork: 
 W. GREEN, PRINTER, i6 and i8 JACOB STREET. 
 
 1870. 
 
D' 
 
 // 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Smithsonian Institution, January, 1870. 
 It bad long been considered important by tbe friends of Liberia 
 that an exploration should be made of the country east of the 
 Republic. The only difficulty in the way was to find the proper 
 man f<^r the enterprise. President Warner had for a number of 
 years been seeking for such a one, when the author of the accom- 
 panying narrative volunteered to undertake the exploration. He 
 is a young man, educated in Liberia, of pure negro blood, and had 
 previously served as Secretary of the Treasury under President 
 Warner. Tiie narrative is printed without correction from the 
 original manuscript, and the principal portion of the edition has 
 been presented to the Smithsonian Ini<titution by Mr. H. Maunsell 
 Scliit rtelin, for distribution. 
 
 JOSE 1^1 1 IIKNUV, 
 Secretary 8/n ith so u it i n Inittitution . 
 
 Ml93Jeii2 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Leaves Monrovia, 9 
 
 Exploration Obstructed, 11, 17, 47 
 
 Yannswah, 12, 23 
 
 Leopards Numerous, 12 
 
 Bessa's and its Walls, 15, 23 
 
 Iron Ore 14, 105, 111 
 
 Used for Shot, 39 
 
 Polished Walk, 83 
 
 Smelting. 84 
 
 Working, 110 
 
 Boozie Savage Warriors, 17 
 
 Slave Trade, 21,39,109 
 
 •• Insurrection, 41 
 
 Boporu, 22, 26 
 
 Totoquella 28 
 
 Stereoscope, 33, 45 
 
 Salt for Settling Fueds, 30 
 
 Bessa Compelled to Restore, 36 
 
 St. Paul's River Falls, 39 
 
 Momora wants a School, — 45 
 
 Grood for a Mission Station, 45 
 
 Arabic Grammar, 40 
 
 " Reading and Writing, 107 
 
 Fish Plenty, 44,117 
 
 Cotton Weaving and Dyeing, 44, 56, 
 61, 79. 
 
 Agriculture, 85, 105 
 
 Rice, Cotton, Tobacco, etc., 56, 61, 65, 
 105. 
 
 Cane and Plantains, 86 
 
 Zelleki, 50 
 
 Dallazeah, 51 
 
 Zolu's, 53 
 
 Zow Zovv 54 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Markets, 44, 54, 67, 79, 109 
 
 Religion, 4q 
 
 Religious Toleration, 107, 110 
 
 Convent for Women 68 
 
 Handsome Green Stone, 58 
 
 Fissabue, 63 
 
 Bokkasah, 64 
 
 King Dowilnyah, 71 
 
 His Cruelty, 72 
 
 War Dance, 75 
 
 Fear of Instruments, 76 
 
 Ziggah Porrah Zue, 77 
 
 Bridge over St. Paul's, 80 
 
 Elephants plenty, 83 
 
 for Dinner, 117 
 
 Music, 18, 31, 78, 81, 90 
 
 Sheep, Cattle, Horses, 83, 100, 104, 109 
 
 Ballatah, 83 
 
 Vukkah, 85 
 
 Mahommadu, 87 
 
 Musardu, 88 
 
 Healthy and Dry. 91 
 
 Cavalry, (1500;) Military 
 
 Exhibition, 93 
 
 Harmattan Dust, 108 
 
 Musardu Oppressed, 95 
 
 Expecting War, 99 
 
 Gold, 95, 100, 101 
 
 Poison for Arrows, 103 
 
 Hawks and Strange Bird. 106 
 
 Expected Attack, 113 
 
 Population 39, 66, 84, 91, 107, 113 
 
 Mandingo Dress, 91 
 
 Trading Forts Recommeiulcd 100 
 
A Jouejstey to Musaedu. 
 
 This account of a journey to Musardu, tlie capital 
 of the Western Mandingoes, is the result of a propo- 
 sal made by Mr. Henry M. Schieffelin, of New-York, 
 through President D. B. Warner, of Liberia, who for 
 six or eight years had been endeavoring, till now with- 
 out success, to induce the inauguration of an expedition 
 from Liberia, to explore the interior as far as possible. 
 Mr. Schieffelin and Caleb Swan, Esq., of New- York, 
 furnished the means necessary to carry on the explo- 
 ration. 
 
 No especial point was indicated by the promoters of 
 this exploration ; only the general direction was given, 
 east and north-east. The especial point, however, 
 agreed upon by my friends in Monrovia, was Musardu, 
 the capital of the Western Mandingoes. This is the 
 portion of the country of Manding which our citizens 
 Seymore and Ash attempted to visit ; but their travels 
 were unfortunately interrupted in a manner that nearly 
 cost them their lives. 
 
 The Mandingoes have always excited the liveliest 
 interest on account of their superior physical appear- 
 ance, their natural intelligence, their activity, and their 
 
^c: :':.•••/•: Ia jojkkn^y to musardu. 
 
 enterprise. No one lias passed unnoticed these tall 
 black men from the eastern interior, in whose counte- 
 nances spirit and intellect are strongly featured. 
 
 Their diligent journeys from Tallakondah have al- 
 lowed no sea-coast town north-west of the St. Paul's to 
 remain un visited. Their avidity for trade has drawn 
 them from their treeless plains to the Atlantic ocean. 
 Their zeal for Islam has caused the name of Moham- 
 med to be pronounced in this part of Africa, where it 
 otherwise would never have been mentioned. 
 
 Musardu can, by easy journeys, be reached from 
 Monrovia in twenty-five or thirty days. I was obliged, 
 however, from the delays and inconveniences incident 
 to interior traveling in Africa, to occupy thirteen 
 months. 
 
 Sometimes I was compelled to spend considerable 
 lengths of time in one place. I have not on that ac- 
 count burdened this report with insipid recitals of 
 what, every day, nearly repeated itself Whatever 
 struck me as descriptive of the country, or illustrative 
 of the manners of the people, that I have recorded. 
 
 I am sensible that the regions through which I have 
 traveled are capable of yielding vaster stores of infor- 
 mation, in a scientific point of view, than what I have 
 afforded ; but I shall be satisfied if this humble begin- 
 ning succeeds in encouraging others in the same di- 
 rection, and on a more extensive scale. I shall now 
 proceed to narrate the journey from Monrovia to 
 Musardu ; but especially from Boporu to Musardu. 
 
 I shall rapidly march through the two grand divi- 
 sions of the Boozie country. I shall first make the 
 reader acquainted with the Domar Boozie ; introduce 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 7 
 
 him at once to the populous and thriving towns of 
 Zolu, Zow-Zow, Salaghee, Fissahbue, and Bokkasaw. 
 Leaving the Domar country, we shall enter the Wymar 
 country, give time to rest at Ziggah Porrah Zue, in 
 latitude 8° 14' 45', its capital, the vast and noisy mar- 
 ket of which takes place every Sunday, upon the 
 banks of the same river on which Clay Ashland, Loui- 
 siana, Virginia, and Caldwell are seated — the St. Paul's. 
 We shall then cross that river upon a suspension 
 bridge of wicker-work, elevated twenty-five feet from 
 its surface, and come into the territory of one of the 
 most warlike kings in the Wymar country, the bloody 
 Donilnyah. We shall not tarry long in his presence ; 
 but, hastening away, nothing shall stop our progress — 
 not even the Vukkah mountains, a boundary acknow- 
 ledged to divide the fertile hills of Wymar from the 
 almost treeless plains of Manding. Crossing these with 
 the tramp and speed of a soldier, we shall quickly de- 
 scend into the country of the Western Mandingoes; 
 visit their principal cities ; and, finally, take up our 
 abode in their very capital — Musardu. 
 
 The instruments with which observations were made 
 were: One sextant, by E. & Gr. W. Blunt, Kew-Yoik ; 
 one aneroid barometer; two thermometers — 1st, 133°; 
 2d, 140°, by B. Pike, New- York; two small night and 
 day compasses, by II. W. Hunter, New- York ; one 
 tolerably good watch ; one artificial horizon. 
 
 As for the accuracy of these calculations of latitude 
 and longitude, whatever painstaking and the instru- 
 ments enumerated above could do, has not been ne- 
 glected. 
 
 I have not been able to calculate the profile of the 
 
8 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 route according to tlie usual methods, because it was 
 impossible to procure the proper instruments, with 
 which a contemporaneous register ought to have been 
 kept at Monrovia, during my absence. 
 
 Even the barometer with which I was furnished 
 was an aneroid, an instrument that has to be refer- 
 red from time to time to the mercurial barometer for 
 adjustment. 
 
 I can not say that the indications of the instrument 
 were material departures from the truth. It certainly 
 indicated the rise and fall of land in a satisfactory and 
 unmistakable manner, both in going to and returning 
 from Musardu. 
 
 At Totoquella, in latitude 7° 45' 24", and Boporu, 
 June 9th and 13th, it ranged 29.36, 29.34. Upon my 
 return in March it .ranged from 29.14 to 29.24. This 
 difference may be ascribed, partly to difference of sea- 
 sons of rains and dries, and partly to want of accuracy 
 in the instrument itself 
 
 I was not even able to ascertain directly the seve- 
 ral heights of land by means of the boiling point of 
 water, because my thermometers ranged only from 
 133° to 140° Fahrenheit. The highest rise of land was 
 indicated by the aneroid at 27.61 inches; the boil- 
 ing point of which would have been 208° Fahrenheit. 
 See Davies & Peck's Mathematical Dictionary, page 
 338, " Table of barometric heights corresponding to 
 difference of temperature of boiling water." It is 
 from these tables that I have made approximate esti- 
 mates of the elevations of land. 
 
 Taking the indications of the aneroid at the seve- 
 ral places, and ascertaining from the tables the boiling 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 9 
 
 points at each place, (which always rated higher than 
 my two thermometers of 133° and 140° Fahrenheit,) 
 I then made the calculation as if I had ascertained the 
 boiling point directly from the thermometer. For ex- 
 ample, the barometer and thermometer at Ziggah 
 Porrah Zue stood 28.08 and 8G°. 
 
 The boiling point of 28.06 (see Tables) is 208° Fah. 
 
 From Table I. for 208° height, . . 2049 feet. 
 
 Proportional part for 0° 8', deduct . 408 
 
 1641 
 Multiplier from Table IT. for 86°, . . 1112 
 
 Approximate height required, . . 1824 feet. 
 
 The number of longitudes would have been greater, 
 had it not been for the difficulty of reading off the 
 limb of the sextant at night. 
 
 On the 14th of February, 1868, I embarked the 
 effects of the expedition in a large canoe, loaned me 
 by Dr. C. B. Dunbar for the purpose. We reached 
 Virginia, on the St. Paul's, at six o'clock p.m. The 
 next morning we started for Vannswah, a Dey village, 
 four and a half miles in the rear of Virginia. This 
 village was once occupied wholly by the Deys, but 
 their power is fast waning, and more than half the 
 village is now in the hands of Mandingo traders from 
 Boporu. 
 
 Here it was that I had made a previous arrangement 
 for the conduct of the expedition, with a learned Man- 
 dingo, Kaifiil-Kanda, who had lately arrived from his 
 native town Billelah, a place near to, and scarcely 
 second in importance to Musardu itself. 
 
10 A JOUKNEY TO MUSAKDU. 
 
 I was detained here three weeks waiting for him to 
 arrange our departure. In the mean time all my car- 
 riers, who were Kroomen, deserted me, with the 
 exception of their head-man, Ben; being frightened 
 bj what the Dey people told them of the dangers of 
 the road. Kaifal at first proposed to send me direct 
 to Boporu ; but my friends at Monrovia were so ap- 
 prehensive that I should not be able to pass through 
 that country, that I refused to go to Boporu. Subse- 
 quent events proved that their apprehensions were not 
 entirely unfounded. 
 
 Boporu, though the most direct route, or the route 
 most usually traveled, is also the place where the 
 strongest opposition is offered to any one wishing to 
 pass through. It is the place where the policy of non- 
 intercourse originated. Its power and policy domi- 
 nate over the surrounding regions. 
 
 It was upon my refusal to go to Boporu that Kaifal 
 sent me to Bessa's town, which is situated forty miles 
 west of Boporu. And though it is somewhat inde- 
 pendent of the authority of Momoru Son, the king of 
 Boporu, the same practice prevails with respect to pro- 
 hibiting all penetration into the interior. 
 
 Before setting out on this expedition, I made every 
 effort to join another civilized person with me ; but the 
 undertaking was considered of too dangerous a cha- 
 racter. I tried to prevail on some of the young men, 
 who had but little else to do at the time ; but was so 
 entirely unsuccessful, that I fear their reputation for 
 enterprise and hardihood must suffer when I relate 
 how they preferred .the safe, soft, grassy streets of 
 Monrovia to an expedition into the heart of their 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSAEDU. 11 
 
 country, simply because it was said to be perilous. 
 I thereafter received other discouragements, from such 
 a quarter and of such a character that I must forbear 
 to mention them. 
 
 Many stories were rife of the unsettled state of the 
 country : that the roads between us and the interior 
 tribes were infested by banditti, and that war was 
 raging between interior tribes themselves; that be- 
 tween all these jarring forces, it was impossible for the 
 expedition to survive forty miles. And this was the 
 opinion of those who were in a condition to be the 
 best informed. But as the expedition was puslied on 
 in the very localities where these difficulties were said 
 to exist, it was found that there were disturbances, but 
 not of a character to entirely prohibit our progress. 
 
 The practice of exaggerating every petty ajffair into 
 the proportions of a universal war, is used for a pur- 
 pose ; being often an artifice to produce general con- 
 sternation, out of which the more knowing may cull 
 every advantage for themselves. 
 
 Besides, it is the policy of our intervening tribes to 
 get up scare-crow reports, to prevent intercourse be- 
 tween the interior and Liberia. Nothing is more 
 dreaded, and especially by the Boporu Mandingoes, 
 than the penetration of the interior by the Liberians. 
 There is, therefore, a complete line of obstruction, ex- 
 tending east and west, in the rear of Montserrado 
 country, which hinders or inconveniences trade. It 
 deserves the immediate action of government, in order 
 that the interior trade may be completely unfettered 
 from such annoyances. 
 It is along this line that the Boporu Mandingoes 
 
12 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 and others are determined to be the " go-betweens" to 
 the inland trade and Liberian enterprise. They it is 
 who are chiefly engaged in making beef scarce, and 
 country cloths small ; who trammel and clog the Boozie 
 and Barline trade. 
 
 On the 6th of March, having hired eighteen Con- 
 goes, to supply the place of the Kroomen who had 
 deserted me, we started from Yannswah for Bessa's 
 town, under the conduct of two of Kaifal's young 
 men. Bessa's town was the place pitched upon as our 
 starting-point for Musardu, since I had refused to go 
 to Boporu. 
 
 Passing, as rapidly as our burdens would permit, the 
 towns of Yyrmore, Sne, Moah, "Weta, and Bambu, we 
 reached Mann^enah on Thursday, the 12th of March. 
 We had been traveling in a north-eastern direction ; 
 halting here, we saw a large mountain, north-east by 
 east, behind which Boporu is said to lie. We had 
 now to change our course to westward, in order to go 
 to Bessa's town. All the towns and villages through 
 which we had passed, except Weta, Bambu, and Man- 
 neenah, belonged to the Deys. This tribe was once 
 numerous and powerful, but is now scatteringly 
 sprinkled in small and unimportant villages over the 
 face of the country. They have a relic of their old 
 antipathy against Liberians. Slave-trade, war, and 
 their absorption into other tribes have nearly oblite- 
 rated every thing that distinguished them as a tribe. 
 Old Gatumba's town, both in appearance and hospi- 
 tality, is the only redeeming feature in this part of the 
 country. 
 
 In this region leopards are numerous, and sometimes 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 13 
 
 dangerous. The female leopard is particularly danger- 
 ous -when she has the care of her young. It is said 
 that leopards never attack first, and will always shun 
 you whenever they can do so. This rule, like many 
 others, has some exceptions, and sometimes some very 
 fatal ones. A female leopard having her cub with her 
 met a man in a sudden turn of the road ; she flew at 
 him, and came nigh breaking the rule entirely as to 
 him, but for the strength of his lungs and the speed of 
 his legs, all of which had to be brought into desperate 
 requisition. 
 
 At Weta's town an enormous leopard was shot by 
 an old man. As soon as he saw the mammoth cat, he 
 was taken with the trembles ; but, remembering that it 
 was only the matter of a few moments which should 
 have the first chance for life, he leveled his piece at 
 the head of the crouching animal, and in an instant 
 had the satisfaction to see that the object of his fears 
 was stretched helpless on the earth. 
 
 This trophy of the old man's prowess was borne 
 home in triumph, and divided into many parcels. The 
 chine- bone is considered the bone of contention ; and, 
 as soon as it is severed from the rest, it is thrown high 
 in the air, in order that when it comes to the ground — 
 
 " Those may take who liave the power, 
 And those inay keep who can." 
 
 A general scramble ensues, in which it is clearly 
 proved that a part is greater than the whole ; for the 
 chine-bone can produce a greater row, and a bigger 
 fight, than if the whole animal, instinct with its living 
 
14: A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 ferocity, had jumped plump into the middle of the 
 crowd. 
 
 The physical features of the country are roughened 
 by hills, valleys, and small plains ; and similar inequa- 
 lities of surface prevail to what may be seen in the 
 rear of Clay Ashland ; indeed, the Clay Ashland hills 
 are a part of them, and must have been produced by 
 the same physical causes. 
 
 These hills grow bolder and more conspicuous in 
 outline as we advance in the interior. Sometimes 
 linked together by gentle depressions, and sometimes 
 entirely detached from each other, they form no defi- 
 nite range ; rising and running toward every point of 
 the compass, they present all the varieties of figure 
 and direction that hills can assume. 
 
 Their composition, so far as could be discerned from 
 their surface, was the ordinary vegetable mould, with 
 boulders of iron ore, granite, white quartz, and a 
 mixed detritus from these various rocks, charged in 
 many places with thin-leaved mica, similar to that 
 which, is seen in the Clay Ashland hills. 
 
 Before we reached the margin of the Boporu, or 
 Boatswain country, we passed through long and almost 
 unbroken strips of forests, upon a road partaking of 
 the uneven character of the country, and strewn for 
 miles with sharp pebbles and vitreous quartz, render- 
 ing travel painful enough to the unshodden pedestrian. 
 Huge boulders of granite were dispersed here and 
 there, relieving the gloom and monotony of large, 
 shady forest trees. This region is intersected with 
 numerous streams flowing over sandy bottoms or 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 15 
 
 granite beds, with a temperature of 58°, 60°, and 62° 
 Fahrenheit. 
 
 On Saturday, the 13th of March, we left Mann^enah, 
 and after traveling forty miles westward, we reached 
 Bessa's town, at six o'clock p.m. 
 
 Bessa's town is in latitude 7° 3' 19", in the western 
 portion of the Grolah country. It is elevated about 
 four hundred and eighty feet above the level of the 
 sea. This town is located in a small, irregular plain, 
 studded with palm-trees, and hedged in by hills in 
 nearly every direction. It is strongly fortified with a 
 double barricade of large wooden stakes ; in the space 
 between each barricade sharp-pointed stakes, four feet 
 long, are set obliquely in the ground, crossing each 
 other; this is to prevent the defenses from being 
 scaled. The town is of an oval form ; the north and 
 south points resting on the edge of swamps ; the east 
 and west points, which are the points of access, are 
 flanked with a strong quadrilateral stockade, with four 
 intervening gates between the outside gate and the 
 town itself. There are guard-houses to each of these 
 gates, and people constantly in them night and day. 
 To a force without artillery this town would give some 
 trouble. It contains about three hundred and fifty 
 clay dwellings, of various sizes, and between eight 
 hundred and one thousand inhabitants, who may be re- 
 garded as the permanent population. Of the transient 
 traders and visitors it would be difficult to form any 
 estimate. The houses are huddled together in a close 
 and most uncomfortable proximity ; in some parts of 
 the town scarcely two persons can walk abreast. In 
 matters of cleanliness and health. King Bessa can not 
 
16 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 be said to have seriously consulted the interests of his 
 people. 
 
 Bessa himself is a personage well known to one of 
 our best citizens, Mr. Gabriel Moore. He is of Man- 
 dingo extraction. I regret, however, to say that he 
 is deplorably wanting in that sedateness and religious 
 cast of feeling which usually forms the distinguishing 
 characteristic of that tribe. 
 
 I was informed that he had purchased a dispensa- 
 tion from the rigid observances of that creed from some 
 of the Mandingo priests, by paying a large amount of 
 money. This license to do evil so affected our journey 
 to Musardu, that it came nearly breaking up the expe- 
 dition altogether. 
 
 It was on a Friday we arrived in this town — a day 
 said to be always inauspicious. We introduced our- 
 selves as being sent to him by one of his own country- 
 men, Kaifal Kanda, a Mandingo, living at Yannswah, 
 with whom we were going to Musardu. 
 
 He affected to listen with great attention ; spoke of 
 the commotions of the interior, which, as he said, was 
 a great obstacle and hinderance to all traveling just at 
 that time. He also informed me that he would have 
 to consult the other kings behind him before allowing 
 me to pass ; and he kept on creating difficulty after 
 difficulty, all reasonable and fair enough in argument, 
 but point^ank lies in fact. He had no cons ulting to 
 do ; for he was at that time at variance with the princi- 
 pal neighboring chiefs. 
 
 I was not pleased with my first audience, yet I was in- 
 duced to make Bessa the following presents : three bars 
 of tobacco, one double barreled pistol, one large brass 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDtT. 17 
 
 kettle, one piece of fancy handkercliiefs, and one keg of 
 powder. This gift was received with satisfaction, but 
 it was hinted that the king was anxious to trade with 
 me for the rest of my money^ I had, therefore, to dis- 
 tinctly state that I did not wish to trade, as that would 
 prevent me from accomplishing the object for which I 
 had come, namely, to go to Musardu. 
 
 Bessa now began to show how much he disrelished 
 the idea of my passing through his country, and carry- 
 ing so much money "behind him," as he expressed it 
 He offered me his fat bullocks, country cloths, palm- 
 oil, ivory, etc. ; but I steadily refused to trade. Find- 
 ing me inexorable in that respect, he began to grumble 
 about the "dash," or gifts, I had made him. Some 
 mischievous persons had told him that the gifts were 
 insignificant to what it was the custom of Liberians to 
 " dash," or present, kings ; and Jollah, my interpreter, 
 had some difficulty to persuade the king to the con- 
 trary ; besides, he had his own reasons for remaining 
 so incredulous. 
 
 I had now struck the line of obstruction at this 
 point. It was upon my refusal to go to Boporu that 
 Kaifal had sent me to Bessa's town. Bessa, in carry- 
 ing out this policy of non-intercourse with the interior, 
 which is a standing, [well-known, and agreed-upon 
 thing throughout the whole country, now commenced 
 a series of annoyances, his people acting in concert 
 with him. He began with my Congoes. Every means 
 that language and signs could produce was used to 
 frighten and discourage them. They were told of the 
 wars in the path. He also showed some Boozies whom 
 he had in his town, whose faces were disfigured with 
 
18 A JOUKNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 hideous tattoo- marks, and wbose front teeth were filed 
 sharp and pointed, for the purpose of eating people ; their 
 long bows and poisoned arrows; their broad knives 
 and crooked iron hooks,^ with which they (iaught and 
 hewed to pieces those whom they pursued. But 
 what more alarmed mj Congoes than any thing else, 
 was the prospect of being eaten by the Boozies. Bessa, 
 to make this part more vividly horrible, had brought 
 into our presence several of his man-eaters, who were 
 said to delight in that business. He then brought in 
 his war-drums, the heads of which were the skins of 
 human beings, well tanned and corded down, while a 
 dozen grinning human jaw-bones were dangling and 
 rattling against each other with a noise that reminded 
 my Congoes that their jaw-bones too might perform a 
 similar office on some country war-drum. It was by 
 such means that Bessa entirely succeeded in disor- 
 ganizing the whole expedition. He gave the Congoes 
 plainly to understand that they had better not hazard 
 their lives in attempting to follow me to Musardu. 
 
 My carriers, who had hitherto shown willingness 
 and obedience, now began openly to disobey my orders ; 
 and my difficulty was greatly increased from the fact 
 that I had not been able to get a single civilized person 
 to accompany me. I had no one, in consequence, to 
 confer with, or to assist me in watching the movements 
 of my mutinous Congoes. It soon became evident 
 that there was an understanding between my Congoes 
 and Bessa, and that all hands were conspiring together 
 against me. Several times I had detected Bessa and 
 the Congoes in secret consultation. I guessed at once 
 the villainy hatching. I tried every means to induce 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 19 
 
 the Congoes to disregard the idle tales that were told 
 them by Bessa and his people; but neither advice, 
 persuasion, nor the offer of donations above their pay 
 could overcome the impression that had been made 
 upon their minds respecting the dangers of the route. 
 Big Ben, the Krooman, kept himself aloof from the 
 plots of the Congoes, yet he was in favor of returning 
 to Monrovia ; and he made my ears ring with, " 'Spose 
 we no find good path ; we go back now." The Con- 
 goes began to hold secret meetings by themselves, and 
 to talk in a low, muttering tone. Matters were now 
 brewing to some mischievous point; but what their 
 resolves were, I could never learn. With my Congoes 
 in- open rupture, Bessa himself drunk, avaricious, and 
 conspiring, I had now to exercise the greatest vigi- 
 lance. 
 
 One night, exasperated at their mutinous language 
 and conduct, we came to a collision, in which all of 
 us had recourse to our arms, and but for the immediate 
 interference of the town people, things would have 
 certainly ended seriously. I should have been riddled 
 with their balls, there being fifteen of them. King 
 Bessa, attended by some of his people, came to allay 
 the disturbance. lie could not have been furnished 
 with a better opportunity of seemingly protecting me 
 from the very mischiefs he had secretly instigated, lie 
 reproved the Congoes, and imposed a fine for breaking 
 the peace — a gun and a piece of handkerchief being 
 the cost of court. He never used his authority to 
 enforce obedience on the part of the Congoes, which he 
 could have easily done. No; he affected a neutral 
 coarse, which had many by-paths to his own interest, 
 
20 A JOUENEY TO MUSAEDU. 
 
 and through which he managed to transfer many a bar 
 of my tobacco into his own hands, 
 
 Much of Bessa's conduct arose from the defiant and 
 refractory behavior of Prince Manna toward the gov- 
 ernment. The moral effect of this man's conduct has 
 been any thing but beneficial for Liberia. Bessa was 
 continually referring, with pride, to a man who could 
 defy the government with impunity. Unless the gov- 
 ernment shows energy and control, it will always be 
 difficult to visit these parts — almost within the territo- 
 rial limits of Liberia — for any purpose whatever. The 
 fact was but too plainly humiliating, that we had lost 
 prestige and respect. The policy of too much modera- 
 tion and forbearance is often abused or misunderstood 
 by warlike barbarians, whose swords are an appendage 
 of their daily apparel. 
 
 Bessa now, in an advisory manner, repeated over 
 and over again the difficulties of the route, adding to 
 it the determination of my Congo carriers themselves 
 not to go any further. To this he joined a series of 
 petty annoyances — sometimes coming himself, and 
 sometimes sending for me, to talk palavers. Then he 
 would complain that the Congoes endangered the lives 
 of his people by their hunting ; that they would likely 
 set his town on fire by their smoking-pipe, though his 
 own people indulged in this thing not only to a greater 
 degree, but solely through my liberality. But what 
 exasperated me most was his practice of eavesdrop- 
 ping ; his boys and people were continually lurking to 
 bear what was said in my house. I was always ex- 
 pected to conclude his royal visits — which were fre- 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 21 
 
 quent, and which he gave me to understand were con- 
 descensions on his part — with large bars of my tobacco. 
 
 Bessa is naturally avaricious. This vice was un- 
 fortunately worked up to its worst resource; he drank 
 night and day, until he had sufficiently steamed himself 
 up to the courage for downright robbery. Drunk he 
 gets every day ; and after the first two or three hours 
 of excess are over, he finally sobers down to that degree 
 at which his avarice is greatest, and his regard for other 
 people's rights least. There he remains. 
 
 His couch, upon which he reclines, and which is at 
 once his bed and his chair of state, he never quits, but 
 for a drunken carousal in the midst of his women. 
 This bed is stacked head and foot wdth loaded muskets, 
 huge horse-pistols, rusty swords and spears, while sun- 
 dry daggers, with their points stuck in the ground, are 
 ready at hand " for the occasion sudden." He seems 
 to live in perpetual dread of assassination. His peo- 
 ple never come in his presence but in an obsequious 
 stoop, and they never recover an erect posture until 
 they are out of his presence. But when the women 
 came, then you might expect to see humanity go on 
 all fours. It was difficult to know the height of some 
 of the women on account of this servility. 
 
 Bessa is engaged in the slave-trade. Passing one 
 morning through his town, I saw a slave with his liglit 
 hand tied up to his neck, and fifty sticks of salt fastened 
 to his back, about to be sent into the interior to be ex- 
 changed for a bullock. Six slaves, chained together, 
 worked on his farms. He has numerous other slaves, 
 but they were better treated. 
 
 I will not relate all the circumstances of his lashing 
 
22 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 an old slave until his cries drew the tears of all who 
 stood bj, nor his stamping in the breast of one of his 
 slaves until death ensued, on account of some slight 
 offense. His enormities are too many to recount them 
 ail, and would only weary the reader with what they 
 know must be his habits, from what I have already 
 said of him. He regretted to me the interference of 
 the Liberians with the foreign slave-trade. 
 
 It was now the beginning of April, and I had not 
 been able to proceed upon my journey. My Congo 
 carriers refused to go any further. Kaifal, the Man- 
 dingo, still remained at Yannswah. I therefore tried 
 to induce Bessa to hire me some of his people. I 
 offered to pay him liberally if he would honestly en- 
 gage in sending me forward. He accepted the offer, 
 and received an amount of $66.40 in goods. He gave 
 me four persons, to act as interpreters and guides ; but 
 I had no one to carry my luggage, and he took good 
 care that no one should be hired for that purpose. He 
 was continually telling me that my money *'no got 
 feet this time." 
 
 If I could have relied on my Congoes, I would have 
 gone on, despite Bessa's attempts to prevent me ; but 
 their defection paralyzed all movement forward. I 
 could bethink myself of no other resource than to re- 
 turn to Yannswah in quest of Kaifal. Not having any 
 one in whom I could repose confidence enough to place 
 my effects in their care until I returned from Yanns- 
 wah, I had to run the risk of placing them in the hands 
 of the king. On the 5th of April, 1868, taking two of 
 my Congoes with me, I came to Boporu. There I 
 met Seymoru Syyo; Kaifal's relation, a tall, fine-looking 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 23 
 
 Mandingo, but whose very black countenance wore a 
 still blacker cloud of displeasure because I bad not 
 come to him direct, instead of going to Bessa. He 
 scarcely deigned to look at me, especially as I was in 
 no decent plight, having undertaken the journey bare- 
 foot, in order to cross the streams more readily. He at 
 length gave me to understand that, so far as KaifaFs 
 going to Musardu was concerned, it depended entirely 
 upon his (Seymoru Syyo's) pleasure ; muttered some- 
 thing about the war at Musardu ; counted his beads, 
 and then strode off toward the mosque, where they had 
 just been summoned to prayer. 
 
 On the 6th of April, 1868, I started from Boporu, 
 and arrived at Yannswah on the 9th. Kaifal affected 
 regret at having caused me so much delay, telling me 
 that it was owing to his preparation to get ready that 
 he was detained so long. He now promised to march 
 immediately. This he made a show of doing by send- 
 ing his women and scholars forward, telling me to go 
 on with them, while he should remain behind to pray 
 for our success. I consented ; but he managed to lag 
 behind so long, that I never saw him again until May 
 8th, after I liad left Bessa's and come to Boporu. 
 
 I now went back to Bessa's town, persuaded that 
 Kaifal would soon follow. As soon as I arrived at 
 Bessa's, Ben, the Krooman, informed me that the Con- 
 goes bad tried to induce the king to send them home, 
 telling him that he might keep all my goods if he 
 would only permit them to go home. I went straight 
 to the king, and requested him to deliver to me my 
 boxes; he at once hesitated, ntid T could scarcely get 
 him to consent to let me have the box containing my 
 
24 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 clothes. After much contention and wrangling, he 
 delivered up all the boxes, retaining the powder and 
 guns. He then declared that I must pay him for all 
 the Congoes I had placed in his hands ; that I must 
 pay him a piece of cloth and a gun for each one of 
 them, as well as for feeding them while I was gone to 
 Yannswah. He then made some other frivolous de- 
 mands, which he deemed necessary to justify the rob- 
 bery he was about to commit. 
 
 To make the matter worse, the Congoes themselves 
 now began to gather round me like little children, 
 begging me to sacrifice all my goods, if it were neces- 
 sary, to save them. " Daddy, no lose we this country, 
 no lose we," was their continual whine. All spirit for 
 a manly resistance had fled ; nothing but the most 
 abject cowardice prevailed. Before I started on the 
 journey, I had thoroughly armed these Congoes ; but 
 the only use they had made of their arms was to resist 
 my authority. Now a peculiar danger stared them in 
 the face — they had not even courage enough to save 
 themselves from slavery. 
 
 I refused to comply with the demands of the king to 
 pay the boys. I became exasperated ; but I was jammed 
 between the power of the king and the cowardice and 
 unfaithfulness of the Congoes. The king's Boozies, 
 who walked the town with their broad knives to figlit, 
 and their teeth filed sharp to eat their enemies, con- 
 firmed the poltroonery of the Congoes as a standing 
 and immutable fact. 
 
 The king advised the Congoes to talk to me, telling 
 them, ''Your daddy has got the heart of an elephant; 
 you had better talk to him." They attempted to talk 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 25 
 
 to me ; but I was too much angered at their cowardice 
 and his robbery to hsten to any thing. The king ex- 
 torted $130 ; Ben, the Krooman, and Louis, a Congo, 
 negotiating the business. I refused to have any thing 
 to do with it. After he had taken this amount, Ben 
 and Louis begged him to be satisfied. He told them 
 that he would refer the matter to his women ; if they 
 consented, he would rest satisfied. This female assem- 
 bly was consulted, and from the subsequent conduct of 
 the king, they must have resolved that I should pay 
 doubly. The extortions were renewed to an amount 
 of $25. This occurred on Friday and Saturday, the 
 23d and 24th of April. 
 
 The next day I was somewhat able to command my 
 feelings. I resolved to go to Boporu. Nothing was 
 more contrary to Bessa's wishes. He now tried his 
 best to induce me to go on my journey through his 
 country. He declared that unless the Congoes wanted 
 to lose their heads, they should go along with me. He 
 was wilhng to furnish guides and interpreters. But 
 my resolution was taken; I was determined to go to 
 Boporu ; no blandishments nor hollow professions of 
 friendship could lead me to trust him after what I had 
 just experienced at his hands. As he had been visited 
 by some suspicious persons, who even counted the num- 
 ber of my Congo warriors, it might have been agreed 
 on to finish with murder what bad been begun by 
 robbery. We were allowed to depart without further 
 annoyance. The Congoes were overjoyed; for they 
 were sure that I was returning home. Bessa even 
 sent six stalwart slaves to carry me, in order that my 
 feelings might be soothed into some kind of forbearance 
 2 
 
26 A JOURNEY TO MUSAKDU. 
 
 toward him ; for he now began to fear that I might 
 bring him to account, though it seemed he was willing 
 to run the risk rather than restore the goods. I availed 
 myself of the service of his carriers ; but I left the king 
 with the bitter intention to do him all the injury I 
 could as soon as opportunity presented itself. 
 
 I arrived at Eoporu on the 25th of April, 1868, 
 Kaifal had not yet come, and did not arrive until three 
 days afterward. He now appeared indignant at Bes- 
 sa's conduct, and affected the greatest diligence for our 
 setting out immediately for Musardu. But first, he 
 would go to Bessa and influence him to restore what 
 he had unjustly taken from me. He induced me to 
 make considerable presents to his friend and relation, 
 Seymoru Syyo, helping himself also in a manner which 
 nothing but my great anxiety for him to hasten our 
 journey would have allowed me to permit, 
 
 Before he went to Bessa's, the principal Mandingoes 
 in the town, Kaifal, and myself, held a council, in 
 which they strove to induce me to return to Bessa's 
 with Kaifal; but I utterly refused. I would talk of 
 nothing but soldiers, cannon, the burning of Bessa's 
 town, and other furious things ; which so alarmed the 
 Mandingoes, that they begged me not to write to Mon- 
 rovia about the matter until Kaifal had gone and tried 
 to get the money. In this council, the Mandingoes 
 reminded me that, as the Liberians and Mandingoes 
 were one and the same people, I ought not to act with 
 too great a severity ; but I was not inclined to make 
 common stock of my goods on account of that identity, 
 and in a very impatient and unreasonable manner I 
 gave them to understand that all their relationship to 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSAEDU. 27 
 
 me depended solely on the restoration of my goods. If 
 they failed in that, I was prepared to ignore all ties. 
 I was in no humor for cant about kindred ; I wanted 
 my money ; my feelings were sore at my disappoint- 
 ments and losses. 
 
 The expedition was deemed to have fallen in pieces. 
 My interpreter, Jollah, also commenced to show signs 
 of desertion and treachery. I had always suspected 
 him with being implicated in Bessa's villainy ; I was 
 soon to discover that he had not been entirely ignorant 
 nor innocent with respect to Bessas designs. His 
 connivance, or rather the assistance he gave Bessa, 
 was so glaring, that the Mandingoes at Boporu did 
 not fail to upbraid him with it. In his conversation, 
 he plainly showed that he had gone over to Bessa's 
 interest, though he still continued to follow my boxes. 
 The ^Mandingoes contemptuously asked him in whose 
 service he was, whether mine or Bessa's? Bessa, it 
 seemed, had promised him largely if he (Jollah) assisted 
 him successfully in his villainy. Jollah 's crooked ways 
 were such that I could no longer retain his services. 
 Interpreters began to prove a dangerous attachment to 
 the expedition. Owing to Jollah 's double-dealing, I 
 was obliged to have recourse to a Veyman to act as 
 interpreter ; and right in the middle of an important 
 conversation which I was holding with Seymoru Syyo, 
 this man suffered himself to be taken so ill as to become 
 speechless, and he could only be induced to recover by 
 the promise of a large (dash) present. 
 
 Kaifal, it seemed, had greatly offended Seymoru 
 Syyo by sending me to Bessa's instead of sending me 
 direct to Boporu ; but, as I have before shown, it was 
 
28 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 not Kaifal's fault that I did not go directly to Eoporu. 
 However, the fault was imputed to him, and as he 
 could only regain the favor of Seymoru by gifts, it 
 was thought no more than right that I should bestow 
 them, as it was through my persistence in refusing to 
 go to Boporu that he had got into the difficulty with 
 Seymoru. As soon as my boxes arrived at Boporu, 
 Seymoru altered his demeanor toward me. His dark 
 and grumbling countenance immediately changed into 
 a smiling intimacy and friendship. He would fain have 
 posted me on wings to Musardu. 
 
 Though Boporu is the capital of the Boatswain or 
 Condo country, and the usual residence of the king, 
 Momoru Son, the king was at this time residing at a 
 large town called Totoquella, eight miles north-east of 
 Boporu. 
 
 As soon as Kaifal started for Bessa's town, I re- 
 solved to pay my respects to King Momoru. I arrived 
 at Totoquella on May 7th, 1868. I was kindly received, 
 and at once stated to the king that I would have been 
 to see him much sooner, but that I was a stranger in 
 his country, and had supposed that he resided at his 
 reputed capital, Boporu; that when I came to that 
 town, I was informed that he had gone elsewhere. 
 He replied that he was accustomed to divide his time 
 between the two towns ; sometimes residing at Boporu 
 and sometimes staying at Totoquella. I then informed 
 him of the object of my visit; and had to frame such 
 an account of my former proceedings as to show that 
 it had always been my intention to come to his coun- 
 try, but that I had been thwarted by many untoward 
 circumstances. And true it was that I would have 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 29 
 
 preferred, at the first, going direct to Boporu, had it not 
 been for the reasons ah*eady stated. 
 
 Circumstances now forced me in that direction, and I 
 addressed myself to the task of repairing the failures 
 or misfortunes into which the expedition had fallen. 
 The king was intelligent and communicative. He was, 
 however, chagrined that the government — the new ad- 
 ministration of which had just come into power — had 
 not taken any notice of him, and sent him a (book) 
 paper, expressive of its good feelings toward him, as 
 had been the custom of all incoming administrations. 
 He was always referring to a treaty that had been 
 made between him and President Benson, during the 
 inoumbency of the latter. I had, therefore, to console 
 him with the notion that, as soon as the administration 
 had got fairly into operation, it would not fail to draw 
 up an instrument similar to what President Benson had 
 given him ; as well as to make such other arrangement 
 as would satisfy his utmost wishes. The king in- 
 formed me that be was at that moment trying to stop 
 a war between the Boozies and Barlines, two interior 
 tribes ; that he had, in order to promote that purpose, 
 sent five hundred sticks of salt into the Barline coun- 
 try, and the same amount to the Boozies; that he 
 had instructed his messengers to use every argument 
 to incline the parties to peace ; that the war was not 
 only hurtful to themselves, but that it damaged him 
 by interrupting all intercourse between his country 
 and theirs, and even with the natives whose country 
 lay behind them. He had sent, therefore, to beg both 
 parties to desist; but if neither would listen, he in- 
 tended to indemnify himself for such losses as he sus- 
 
30 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 tained by their feuds, by seizing persons and property 
 belonging to them in his country. If only one party 
 was willing to comply with his requests, he intended 
 to assist that side with his own military forces. 
 
 Thus I had to endure the spectacle of a barbarian 
 king practicing a policy which all intelligent and en- 
 terprising persons must think ought to be practiced 
 by the republic itself. No one suspects that we leave 
 to an untutored barbarian the quieting and settling of 
 interior difficulties, while we remain ignorant of their 
 very existence. 
 
 Every one would suppose that, to a source to which 
 we look for a great part of our interior trade, such as 
 country cloths, and bullocks, and ivory, a rational 
 solicitude, at least, would be shown that it be not in- 
 terrupted or broken off. Yet it is a fact that this royal 
 barbarian, without revenue, and without any of the re- 
 sources to which we pretend, by following the policy 
 of interfering in all interior concerns, is better known 
 and has greater influence from Boporu to Musardu, 
 and even beyond, than the civilized Kepublic of Libe- 
 ria; and this is done by sending a few sticks of salt, 
 accompanied by a friendly request or a threatening 
 mandate. 
 
 Salt, in the settling of difficulties, has a peculiar 
 propriety — it is a sign of peace as well as a commodity 
 of value for traffic. If it was the policy of the govern- 
 ment to interfere in these concerns, a hogshead of salt 
 might pacify the whole country from Boporu to Bar- 
 line. The king had also interfered in a matter between 
 the Boozies themselves ; in which it seemed that one 
 of their chiefs, faithless to the common interest, had 
 
. A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 31 
 
 clandestinely given assistance to the Barlines against 
 his own countrymen. This treachery being discovered, 
 he had been seized and confined — or put in stick, as 
 they call it This mode of confinement consists in 
 having the ankle of the right foot bound securely to a 
 heavy log, four or five feet long, by means of an iron 
 band driven deep into the wood. 
 
 The father of this recreant chief, before his death, 
 had placed his children unc^r King Momoru's protec- 
 tion. The king was therefiDre solicitous that this in- 
 discretion should not cost the young prince his liberty, 
 and perhaps his head ; of the former of which he had 
 already been deprived, and the latter was being 
 seriously discussed among the Boozie chiefs. In this 
 affair the king desired that, as I would have to pass 
 through that country, he wished me to assist in plead- 
 ing for the young man. I pledged my best efforts. 
 
 There was also a difficulty between the king and the 
 Boondee people, who live north-west of Boporu. These 
 people hold a nominal fealty to King Momoru, and even 
 this they are slack or remiss in acknowledging. 
 
 The king now chose to remove his court from To- 
 toquella to Boporu. None was more eager for this 
 change than myself; for it carried his person and influ- 
 ence just where I wished to make use of them. He 
 left the town May 10th, 1868, accompanied by his 
 courtiers, warriors, women, servants, and musicians of 
 the last of which there were two kinds : those who per- 
 formed on horns and drums, and those who sang the 
 praises of the king, timing their music with a sort of iron 
 cymbal, one part being fitted to the thumb of the left 
 hand, and beaten with a piece of iron by the right. 
 
32 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 When the king and his retinue had passed the outer 
 gates of the barricade, a Mandingo priest came out 
 and pronounced a benediction on the royal departure. 
 As. soon as this was over, we started ; the king walk- 
 ing all the way : he had but to say the word, and 
 they would have carried him. "We were preceded by 
 the singing men, who, with the clang of their iron cym- 
 bals and their vociferous vocalisms, nearly deafened 
 me. After two or thr c hours spent in traveling, 
 halting, singing, firing muskets, and all sorts of noisy 
 demonstrations, we came to Boporn. The king en- 
 tered the town and went directly to his own resi- 
 dence. Every body came to do homage and welcome 
 his arrival. But nothing appeared more respectful 
 than the Mandingo priests, who came in a bod}^, habited 
 in their white and scarlet robes ; tall, dignified black 
 men, witb countenances solemn and intelligent. It is 
 remarkable how orderly and sociable these gatherings 
 upon such occasions conduct themselves. Nothing of 
 the rowdyism and clamor for which communities 
 highly civilized are sometimes notorious. The day 
 was concluded with dancing, feasting, and warlike ex- 
 ercises. The next day beheld every thing settled 
 down into its usual routine. I was now to discover 
 the character of Kaifal in its true light. He had 
 always affected piety and uprightness ; nothing very 
 material had occurred to alter my opinion. To be 
 sure, he had lately shown intense craving for my large 
 silver spoon, yet I was inclined to be charitable to 
 this human weakness. He went to Bessa's, solemnly 
 assuring me that he would be gone but two or three 
 days; he staid three weeks, which caused my pa- 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 33 
 
 tience, and confidence too, to grow less. I dispatched 
 two of my boys after him. Upon the return of my 
 messengers, I was informed that he had been gene- 
 rously entertained by Bessa, that a sheep had been 
 slain, and other good offices done for him. I became 
 alarmed lest such friendly cheer would lessen his zeal 
 to recover my goods. Bat when I was further in- 
 formed that Kaifal had been engaged in practicing 
 certain rites, such as the interment of beef bones bound 
 round with transcripts from the Koran, which was to 
 be efficacious for Bessa in peace or war, I immediately 
 understood this last act to be directed against myself 
 I therefore lost no time in ingratiating myself with the 
 king. And there was scarcely any thing I had to pro- 
 pose that was not favorably entertained and facilitated. 
 I had strengthened my influence by gifts, as well as by 
 the great amusement my stereoscope afforded him. I 
 had thoroughly instructed him in the purposes of my 
 mission ; and showed liim how discreditable it would 
 be to his name and his honor if any thing should befall 
 me and my effects within the precincts of his domi- 
 nions, so that I should not be able to carry out the 
 wishes of the promoters of the expedition. In this 
 part of my affairs I was particularly blessed by Provi- 
 dence in getting in my interest a near relation of the 
 king's. lie was a Golah man by the civilized name of 
 Chancelor. lie had long resided both at Monrovia and 
 Cape Palmas with one of the best citizens. Dr. S. F. 
 McGill, and could speak English fluently, besides 
 several native tongues. He adhered with unflagging 
 zeal to my interest, and never ceased importuning his 
 royal kinsman night and day respecting my aflairs. 
 
84 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 He was of mild disposition, full of encouragement and 
 sympathy; having nothing to contradict the universal 
 benevolence of his person and character except a huge, 
 antiquated horse-pistol, without which he was never 
 seen, and which became a subject of merriment, as being 
 a burden without a benefit, perfectly innocent in all 
 things except its weight. I had now determined to 
 use all my influence against Kaifal and Bessa. I had 
 been robbed of one part of my goods by the one, 
 and inveigled out of another part by the other. The 
 purposes of the expedition had been baffled, though I 
 had striven to the utmost to accomplish them. 
 
 Momoru might be avaricious, but his avarice was a 
 virtue to Bessa's rapacity and KaifaPs unprincipled 
 dealings. If the king wished me to give him any 
 thing, his requests were always accompanied with 
 politeness and desert, arising from the prospect of his 
 facilitating my journey to Musardu. I made a formal 
 complaint against Kaifal and Bessa; presenting the 
 king a w^ritten list of all the goods they had unfairly 
 gotten from me. He convened the leading Mandin- 
 goes of the town and the principal chiefs. The king 
 himself opened this grand palaver, declaring "that 
 owing to the acts of some of the Mandingoes, many 
 things had been said by the Liberians tending to les- 
 sen his character. Whenever the Liberians lost their 
 money by trade or otherwise, he had always to bear 
 the brunt of their dishonest actions and to suffer all 
 kinds of disparagement of character." Nor did he ne- 
 glect to cite the instances ; mentioning as a particular 
 case that of John B. Jordan, who had traded in that 
 country and lost considerable amounts ; and then he 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 35 
 
 went on in detail, until he became angered. The Man- 
 dingoes found it necessary to appease him by all sorts 
 of condescension ; even the singing men were called 
 in. It was necessary to adjourn, that the royal dis- 
 pleasure might cool off. 
 
 The next day tlie business was resumed. It is the 
 custom for every body taking part in a (palaver) dis- 
 cussion, to deliver his argument or opinion walking up 
 and down in the presence of his audience with a spear 
 in his hands'. 
 
 This mode was observed by all the chiefs who spoke 
 on this occasion. Many of them delivered themselves 
 with such spirit and sense as to draw the frequent ac- 
 clamations of their hearers. They declared that they 
 not only ought to be careful about provoking the 
 Americans against them; but, as the money was for 
 the purpose of (dashing) presenting the chiefs through 
 whose country I might pass, I ought to be allowed to 
 give it to whom I wished ; and that none ought to ac- 
 cept it unless they were willing to accept the conditions 
 of the gift also. 
 
 For the conduct of Bessa and Kaifal, the Mandin- 
 goes at Boporu seemed to have been held as sureties ; 
 certainly not by their own will or consent, but by virtue 
 of their being most conveniently at hand for any purpose 
 of indemnification that might arise. Kaifal, who was 
 still at Bessa's town, was summoned to appear. Bessa 
 was ordered to refund every article according to the 
 list. 
 
 The messenger charged with this business went to 
 Bessa's in the most formal manner, being in complete 
 war-dress. It was, therefore, understood that there was 
 to be no trifling. 
 
36 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 Things began now to conspire in my favor. 
 Just about this time a young man by the name of 
 Sanders Washington, from the settlement of Virginia, 
 went to Bessa's town for the purpose of trading. Here 
 he learned what bad happened between Bessa and my- 
 self He at once advised Bessa to restore the money 
 before the consequences became serious. Bessa, becom- 
 ing more sober than was usual with him, commenced 
 to apprehend a severe cbastising from the government, 
 and right upon the heels of what was to be feared from 
 the Americans came Momoru's no less dreaded de- 
 mands. 
 
 Bessa quickly gave up the things to Mr. Sanders 
 Washington, and consoled himself in a drunken spree. 
 Mr. Washington immediately sent the things to Bo- 
 poru. 
 
 Kaifal now made his appearance. It was the 28th 
 of May, 1868. He came before the king and council 
 dressed in a dark- blue tobe ; a red cap bordered with 
 a white band, the badge of his sacerdotal order, on his 
 head; sandals on his feet; his prayer-beads in his 
 hands; his face and faculties prepared for the worst. 
 He was ordered to account for the manner he had con- 
 ducted my affairs. He commenced defending himself 
 by declaring that what had happened to me was the 
 result of m}^ own obstinacy ; for when he wished to 
 send me directly to Boporu, I had insisted on going 
 elsewhere. He further said that if I could have passed 
 through the country anywhere else, they would have 
 never seen my face at Boporu ; which was indeed true. 
 He caused disagreeable questions to be put to me re- 
 specting that matter : this was his only advantage, and 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 37 
 
 he clung to it. He declared that I had absolutely re- 
 fused to go to Boporu, and that I had maligned the 
 king, and that I had gone to Bessa's, where my indis- 
 cretion had got me into trouble and made me lose my 
 money ; that Bessa had acted in all things honestly. 
 
 His argument was partly true and partly false. All 
 he averred respecting Boporu was indeed true; but 
 borrowing the courage which the truth about Boporu 
 gave him, his assertions about Bessa's conduct were 
 bold and barefaced lies. I replied that it was solely 
 upon his advice that I had gone to Bessa's ; that as to 
 my coming to Boporu, he plainly saw I was there, 
 and that without consulting him. 
 
 He dwelt incessantly on my refusal to go to Boporu, 
 and more than once it was convenient for me to rid 
 myself of his vexing questions by placing the whole 
 blame upon his interpreter. 
 
 We now came to that part in which he had taken 
 my money and gone off to Bessa's, where he had staid 
 so long that it became necessary to send for him. 
 Being questioned why he had done so, his self-posses- 
 sion entirely forsook him, and though he referred the 
 matter to a rapid manipulation of his beads, it brought 
 him no relief. He told them over and over, but they 
 failed to enlighten his mind so as to furnish prompt 
 replies and ready answers. He finally stammered out 
 something about his waiting for the new moon. He 
 had not regarded that luminary when he was getting 
 the goods. 
 
 He was made to restore according to the list. 
 
 I was now in possession of all my goods again, with 
 the prospect of being able to prosecute the exploration 
 with success. 
 
38 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 I was also in a better state of mind to attend to my 
 affairs in that respect, though, as I had all aloug ap- 
 prehended, the season for comfortable traveling, and 
 especially for making astronomical observations, had 
 nearly passed ; indeed, upon every attempt at an obser- 
 vation, clouds and vapor made it a difficult and uncer- 
 tain matter. 
 
 Boporu, tlie capital of the Boatswain country, is in lat- 
 itude 7° 45 03". Its elevation above the level of the sea 
 is about 660 feet. The barometer, in the month of 
 May and June, stands from 29.18 to 29.40; the ther- 
 mometer ranges from 78 to 80 Fahrenheit. It is situ- 
 ated in a small plain near the foot of some high hills E. 
 'N.'E. of it. Yery high hills rise on every side, with 
 an elevation from 300 to 650 feet, coursing along in 
 every direction, some continuing three or four miles in 
 length before their spurs come down into the valleys 
 or plains. The soil of the plains is chiefly white and 
 yellow clay ; but near the base of the hills, it is gene- 
 rally mixed with the detritus of granite and other 
 rocks washed down in the rainy season from their sides. 
 Grranite boulders of various sizes are found on the sides 
 and tops of these hills, and, unlike the granite of our 
 cape, which is of a fine, dark flinty appearance, present 
 many grades of tint and texture. A large piece of 
 this granitic gneiss forms a part of the grave of King 
 Boatswain, the present king's father, broken in such 
 a way as to show the red, white, and gray in beautiful 
 contrast. A little art might have rendered it more 
 worthy to mark so mighty a grave. Every tree, flower, 
 and shrub of our cape repeats itself here, not excepting 
 the water-lilies seen in the creeks as you go to Junk, 
 though not in the same profusion. 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 8d 
 
 At Totoquella, north-east of Boporii, and four hours' 
 walk south-east from the former, the St. Paul's Eiver 
 presents rugged and impassable falls. North-west of 
 Totoquella are beds of specular iron-ore, which the 
 natives break into fragments and use for shot. 
 
 The population of Boporu is of a mixed character, 
 such as war, commerce, and the domestic slave-trade 
 are calculated to produce ; in consequence of which 
 there are as many different languages spoken as there 
 are tribes : Yej, Golah, Mambomah, Mandingo, Pessy, 
 Boozie, Boondee, and the Hurrah languages. The 
 Yey language is used for general communication. The 
 extent and population of these tribes are very variable 
 elements. The population living in the town may be 
 set down at three thousand ; but then there are many 
 outlying villages and hamlets ; and considering these 
 as the suburbs of Boporu, they undoubtedly raise the 
 population to ten thousand. Many of the Mandin- 
 goes themselves, though they reside in the town with 
 their families, have villages of slaves and servants 
 scattered in every direction, wherever the purposes of 
 agriculture invite or encourage. 
 
 The Mandingoes possess strong moral influence. 
 Scarcely any thing is undertaken without consulting 
 their priests, whose prayers, blessings, and other rites 
 are supposed to give a propitious turn to all the affairs 
 of peace and war. They are Mohammedans ; but as 
 the ruder tribes do not addict themselves to the intel- 
 lectual habits of the Mandingoes, it has been found 
 necessaiy to adjust that faith to the necessities of the 
 case ; and to temper some of the mummeries of fetich- 
 ism with the teachings of Islam. Yet are there to 
 
40 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 be found individuals wlio do not prostitute their faith, 
 and wlio are more scrupulous and sincere. It is be- 
 lieved by many persons that the Arabic learning of 
 our Mandingoes, in reading and writing from the 
 Koran, is merely mechanical, or a mere matter of 
 memory. 
 
 Kaifal took a small Arabic grammar given to me by 
 Professor Blyden, and showed himself thoroughly 
 versed in all the distinctions of person, gender, and 
 number, etc., in the conjugation of a verb. How- 
 ever, all are not equally proficient in this respect. 
 
 They have a mosque at Boporu, where nothing en- 
 joined by their religion is omitted. It is attended 
 solely by the Mandingoes, none of the other tribes 
 visiting it; not because they are prohibited, for the 
 Mandingoes would make proselytes of them all if they 
 could. It is sufficient for the "Kaffirs," (unbelievers,) 
 as they are denominated by the Mandingoes, to buy 
 the amulets, necklaces, and belts containing tran- 
 scripts from the Koran sewed up in them, to be worn 
 around the neck, arms, or waist as preservatives from 
 the casualties of war, sickness, or ill luck in trade or 
 love. 
 
 The Mandingoes are scrupulously attentive to their 
 worship. They regularly attend their services three 
 times a day : five o'clock in the morning ; three o'clock 
 in the afternoon ; and seven o'clock in the evening. 
 
 In these services I was particularly attracted by the 
 manner in which they chanted the cardinal article of 
 their creed ; and many a morning have I been re- 
 minded of my own duty, by their solemn musical 
 voices reciting : 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 41 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^e 
 
 4: 1 u = 
 
 
 La il - la -ha il - al - 1ft hu Ma-hamma-du ra- sul il - Ift - hi. 
 
 The Mandingoes living in the Boatswain country 
 have many slaves. The slave population is supposed 
 to treble the number of free persons. Tliey are pur- 
 chased chiefly from the Pessy, Boozie, and other 
 tribes. Many are reduced to the condition of slaves, 
 by being captured in war. Their chief labor is to 
 perform the service of carriers for their masters in the 
 trade of salt and country cloths carried between Bo- 
 poru and Yannswah. 
 
 Inconveniences and troubles frequently arise from 
 this kind of relationship. Sensible of their numbers 
 and strength, the slaves sometimes make a struggle for 
 their liberty. In the latter part of 1866, at the death 
 of Torsu, King Momoru's uncle, it became necessary 
 to settle some debts pertaining to Torsu's estate. His 
 relatives, in order to pay off the claims, attempted to 
 sell some of his slaves. These slaves were staying at 
 a town called Musadalla's town, south-west of Boporu. 
 The attempt was resisted ; some blood was shed ; and 
 a general revolt took place, in which all the slaves in 
 the town determined to defend each other to the last 
 extremity. They took full possession of the town, 
 renewed the barricades, seized upon whatever arms 
 were at hand, and made such other preparations as 
 greatly alarmed their masters. This rebellion had been 
 long purposed on ; the death of Torsu and the attempt 
 to sell some of their number, served as a favorable 
 opportunity to achieve their freedom. 
 
 On the first outbreak, King Momoru sent them word 
 
42 A JOURNEY TO MUSARlDU. 
 
 to return to tlieir former obedience, assuring them that 
 he would overlook all past offenses. But while they 
 were deliberating as to what answer they should re- 
 turn, one of their women publicly harangued them 
 against listening to any proposals for reconciliation ; 
 that King Momoru only wished to induce them to 
 submit, that he might the more easily punish them ; 
 that if their hearts began to quail, they had better 
 give their spears into the hands of the women. 
 
 This speech instantly determined them to stand fast; 
 in their first resolutions. Eefusing all accommodation, 
 they, sought to strengthen their cause by purchasing 
 the assistance of the Boondee people, who were at that 
 time at variance with the people at Boporu. But the 
 Boporu people had also managed, despite their differ- 
 ence with the Boondee people, to engage their services 
 against the slaves. The Boondee war chief received 
 the gifts of both parties; and in two weeks' time re- 
 paid the poor slaves with treachery enough to chop off 
 their heads. 
 
 Arming himself and his people, he set out for Musa- 
 dalla's town, and was admitted by his unsuspecting 
 victims. Afler he had rested from his journey, and 
 refreshed himself and hisfolloweison their generosity, 
 he proposed to review their numbers and their arms. 
 Pretending to be earnestly enlisted in their affairs, he 
 bade them lay their arms on the ground, or, as we 
 term it, "ground arms," that he might the better judge 
 of their efficiency. The poor, credulous fools, by no 
 means suspecting any perfidy, readily did as they were 
 bid. At a given sig-nal from the Boondee chief, his 
 own people instantly drew their swords and bestrode 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 43 
 
 the weapons of the poor slaves as tliey lay on the 
 ground. 
 
 Thus disarmed, they were thus again enslaved, 
 seized, bound, and led out of the gates to the town of 
 their betrayer, who at once sent word to Momoru that 
 he had caught the " slave dogs." He was rewarded? 
 or rather he rewarded himself, by keeping all the wo- 
 men and children, sending to Momoru only the men 
 and our heroine who, by her speech, had so greatly 
 encouraged the matter. It was determined in council 
 that the slaves should suffer the penalty of death. 
 
 On the morning of the execution they were de- 
 manded to say who were the chief instigators of the 
 revolt; the poor creatures had but little to say. They 
 were led out of the eastern gate, two hundred yards 
 from which, and in the same direction, stands a huge 
 cotton-tree (bombax) — the place of execution. They 
 came down the path naked, and in single file, with 
 their hands bound behind them. As the first person 
 came on, the executioner with his broad and gleaming 
 knife ran to meet him, and with dexterous cruelty 
 emasculated him ; after allowing him to bleed and beg 
 awhile, he was snatched down to the foot of the tree, 
 his head hacked off and tossed into a ditch on one side 
 of the road ; while the yet quivering trunk was thrown 
 into a cat-fish pond hard by. 
 
 The woman was executed with circumstances shock- 
 ing to humanity and decency. All the women in Bo- 
 poru were compelled to go oat and witness her fate. 
 
 But to the chief of this revolt it was reserved to be 
 buried alive, heels up and head down, and a sharp 
 stake, eight feet long, driven through his body level 
 
44 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 witli the ground, and a tree planted over him. Their 
 skulls now form a ghastly adornment to the eastern 
 gate ; and I have seen many persons go up to them 
 and recognize an acquaintance. 
 
 It seems to be the practice in every town where the 
 water favors it to have cat-fish pools. The fish are 
 not allowed to be disturbed; they are not only the 
 consumers of the offal of the town, but from their 
 shark-like and snappish manner, a more fearful ofiice 
 can well be suspected. They are from one to three 
 feet long, and will lie with patience and expectation in 
 one spot all day long, their backs raw with scars, 
 which their own ferocity inflicts on each other in the 
 fierce struggle for food. 
 
 Boporu has a small market, held in the north-east 
 suburbs of the town. The bartering is carried on 
 solely by women. There is no established currency ; 
 the exchange takes place of one commodity for an- 
 other, according to their mutual necessities. It is 
 generally attended by one hundred and seventy-five 
 to two hundred persons. The articles are palm-oil, 
 rice, kaffee-seed, shallots — a small species of onion — 
 meat, cotton stripes, tobacco, kola, earthen pots, etc. 
 A great many country cloths are made at Boporu, 
 every family having a small loom. They would eco- 
 nomize both time and labor if they would employ our 
 large loom, instead of the narrow six-inch loom they 
 use. I have no doubt they would do so, if any civi- 
 lized person would interest himself to show them. 
 
 These people are very sensible of the superiority of 
 every thing that comes from (Dru-kau) Monrovia, and 
 they attempt to practice our civilization of themselves. 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 45 
 
 The king has a frame house at Totoquella, with a 
 piazza surrounding it, all of native construction. He 
 also uses chairs, tables, beds, bedsteads, looking-glasses, 
 scented soaps, colognes, etc. He took great interest in 
 examining my sextant, and even the pictures in my 
 books ; but that which afforded him the greatest plea- 
 sure was the stereoscope. He entreated me so earnestly 
 to leave it with him, that I felt myself bound to gratify 
 his wishes in that respect, though I had specially in- 
 tended it for Musardu. 
 
 He was no less satisfied when I flattered him with 
 the prospect of a school for children being established 
 at Boporu, telling me that when John B. Jordan 
 traded there, he was accustomed to get Jordan to 
 teach him. 
 
 The king spells a little, and is somewhat acquainted 
 with numbers. This is the place for the missionary to 
 be of service ; but it seems that, though Mohammed 
 has a small mosque and school at Vannswah, almost 
 in the Virginia settlement, the Christians have neither 
 church nor school at Boporu. 
 
 The king's authority seems to be of a mixed cha- 
 racter. In some things he acts absolutely ; while in 
 others, such as war, he takes the counsel of the subor- 
 dinate chiefs. He is judge or arbiter of all important 
 diflferences between his subjects. He is a most patient 
 hearer of all matters brought before him. 1 have known 
 him to remain in his hammock for whole days, listen- 
 ing to what was to be said by either side, and his de- 
 cisions seemed to be generally satisfactory. 
 
 A very peculiar but advantageous method obtains 
 in the administration of justice. In order to obviate all 
 
4o6 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 further trouble after the decision is given, both plain- 
 tiff and defendant have to advance the cost and ex- 
 penses before the suit begins ; the very articles in 
 which these charges are to be paid are placed in a 
 conspicuous manner in the sight of every body. The 
 presence of the money thereby becomes an incentive 
 and stimulation to strenuous effort. As soon as the 
 case is decided, nothing remains but for the victor to 
 sweep the stakes. These cases between his subjects 
 are frequently taxing and vexatious, yet the king is 
 said to always preside with patience and a well- 
 balanced impartiality. 
 
 But the king sometimes takes recreation from the 
 severe affairs of life, at which time he is apt to enliven 
 the hours of vacation from business with a glass of 
 gin or whisky, and then he goes playfully around the 
 town attended by his people. It happens that his 
 caprice is as innocent then as his gentle disposition is 
 in his sober hours ; for he hurts no one ; only going 
 from house to house, joking with and receiving little 
 presents from his friends. Sometimes he attempts to 
 dance, or to act some warlike feat ; but want of youth 
 and a rather fat body mar the practice. One day he 
 insisted on the performance, to his no small discomfi- 
 ture. He mounted himself upon an earthen hill, with 
 a spear in each hand, in order to charge down in war- 
 like style ; starting in full tilt, he came sprawling to 
 the ground with such violence as to scarify the royal 
 bosom in a most unseemly manner. 
 
 Before I left Boporu for the interior, the king in- 
 formed me that the distance, danger, and hazard were 
 so great, that he must consult the sand-doctor as to 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 47 
 
 the final issues of sucli a journey. He declared that, 
 upon all such important matters, he trusted not to 
 human prudence alone. 
 
 This individual, the sand-doctor, by giving his fin- 
 gers certain motions in a small pile of sand, is supposed 
 to read the events of the future. We were carried into 
 a thatch hut. Our diviner, spreading out a small pile 
 of sand with his right hand, began to invoke the demon 
 of the pile. The whole thing was conducted without 
 thunder, lightning, or any thing else, except the rapid, 
 voluble utterances of our diviner himself. Again and 
 again it was demanded of the flinty wisdoms whether 
 or not the expedition should be successful; the re- 
 sponses indicated by these sandy hieroglyphics bid us 
 begone and prosper. Thus it was that superstition at 
 this time seconded the purposes of a rational inquiry. 
 The king not unfrequently chided me because I was 
 indifferent and incredulous about such matters. 
 
 Every effort was made by the Boporu Mandingoes 
 to prevent my going. It was told to Momoru that ii 
 any thing befell me, he alone would be held responsible 
 to the government. Even old Gatumba sent word to 
 Momoru not to allow me, under any circumstances 
 whatever, to pass and " go behind them ;" for he de- 
 clared that I was going for no other purpose but to 
 ruin their trade. It was the first time, I was informed, 
 that the king had set himself in opposition to the advice 
 and counsel of his chiefs, many of whom were greatly 
 opposed to my passing through their country to go in 
 the interior. I therefore exerted the greatest industry 
 in purchasing their silence or assistance. But to the 
 Boporu Mandingoes I held threatening language, in 
 
48 A JOUKNEY TO MUSAKDU/ 
 
 which I informed them that if I did not succeed in 
 going to their country, 1 would return and break up 
 all their trade at Yannswah. 
 
 Mr. Schieffeliu's money, however, was the most power- 
 ful argument. It prevailed over every obstacle; it 
 reconciled me to prejudices and persons the most diffi- 
 cult to deal with J invoked the blessings of Mohammed 
 on my head ; caiised even the sands to become things 
 of sense in my favor; singularly enlightened minds 
 that before could not see why I wished to go in the 
 interior, and finally reduced the prospect of my going 
 in the interior to the most undoubted moral certainty. 
 
 On the 14th of June, I left Boporu for Totoquella ; 
 and on June 16th, we left Totoquella for the interior, 
 our company consisting of three Congoes — Jim, Alex, 
 and Pickaninny — as carriers ; Chancellor, the Golah, as 
 interpreter, and Beah, the Mandingo, as guide. The 
 rest of my Congoes, numbering fifteen, had returned 
 to Monrovia, giving all kinds of false accounts of our 
 proceedings. 
 
 I had now again to experience the effects of the 
 jealousy of the Mandingoes. They had determined 
 that I should not reach Musardu. They therefore gave 
 secret instructions to the Mandingo guide, Beah, who 
 was to accompany me, to delay and shuffle all along 
 the route, so as to exhaust my means and discourage 
 my perseverance, and thus to finally thwart the expe- 
 dition. It was through this man's tricks that I was 
 compelled to spend six months in going to Musardu, 
 when only one was necessary. 
 
 On Tuesday, the 16th of June, we left Totoquella 
 for the interior, the direction being, with very little 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 49 
 
 deviation, east. The hilly features of the country 
 became more striking ; large granite boulders were 
 scattered here and there ; small creeks, flowing over 
 beds of sand and gravel, drained the country from 
 every direction into the St. Paul's Kiver. About half- 
 past four o'clock P.M., we reached the north-western 
 edge of the Pessy country, and halted at a small ham- 
 let for the night. Here the barometer stood 29.19 ; 
 thermometer, 84^. 
 
 Wednesday, the 17th of June, six A.M., barometer, 
 29.20 ; thermometer, 78° Fahrenheit. We pushed on, 
 and passed through another Pessy village. The Pessys 
 seem to have an abundance of poultry, sheep, and rice; 
 here we halted. 
 
 Thursday, the 18th of June, we started on our jour- 
 ney, the country bearing the same hilly appearance. 
 We halted at a considerable village, called Sellayo, 
 about twelve o'clock. The chief was swinging in his 
 hammock in a half-finished shed ; he was sullen, and 
 scarcely spoke ; he, however, deigned to give us a lit- 
 tle palm-wine. We made him a small (dash) present, 
 at which he was quite displeased ; but we cut short all 
 grumbling by starting off soon in the morning. 
 
 Friday, the 19th, we passed through Nesebcah (red 
 hill) and Pollamah, Pessy villages, and halted at Zel- 
 leki's town at half-past three p.m. This village con- 
 tained 250 houses, built in the usual style ; the body 
 being of clay and of a circular shape, with thatched 
 conical coverings. This village wore an indifferent 
 appearance, showing scarcely any activity in any spe- 
 cies of industry. On account of its sameness, we were 
 3 
 
50 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 glad enough to leave it. Outside of its barricade was 
 a large creek containing cat-fish, as at Boporu. 
 
 The only thing that rendered the idle hours tolerable 
 was King Momoru's daughter, who had married a 
 Mandingo residing in the village. She very much 
 resembled her father, and was of the same jovial dis- 
 position ; and when I left the village, she marched 
 out before me, with my musket at shoulder-arms, at a 
 military pace, imitating what she had seen at Mon- 
 rovia the last time she was down there with her father. 
 
 Saturday, June 20th, 1868, we reached Barkomah, 
 the largest Pessy town in this direction. King Pato 
 is not stamped by nature for a king, and his town is 
 neither commendable for cleanliness nor industry. It 
 contains 300 dilapidated houses, half a dozen cows, 
 some large Mandingo dogs, about 800 inhabitants, and 
 is surrounded on all sides by impenetrable jungle, 
 which is considered a sufficient barrier from all attacks. 
 It is difficult to conceive whether this plan of defense 
 was suggested by cowardice or laziness. We were 
 lodged in a miserable little hut, about twelve feet long 
 by eight feet wide, and five feet high. We had to en- 
 dure this bamboo cage for ten days, because our guide 
 had friends, who made him as comfortable as we were 
 wretched. We were delayed under various pretexts, 
 the chief of which was that, as my boys had almost 
 given out, assistance had to be procured for carrying 
 our luggage. 
 
 On the 1st of July, we started from Barkomah, and 
 crossed a considerable tributary of the St. Paul's Kiver, 
 seventy-five feet wide, running in the direction of 
 south-west between banks of clay, eight feet on one 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 51 
 
 side and fifteen feet on the other, with a velocity of 
 forty feet in fifteen seconds. The stream is ten feet 
 deep in this place, and is known to overflow its banks 
 on the eight-foot side in the depths of the rains. It is 
 crossed on slender poles tied together. Only one per- 
 son can cross at ^a time; and just as the burdened 
 traveler reaches the middle, he is* arrested by a tick- 
 lish swaying that threatens to unbalance him into the 
 waters below ; here lie dares not move until the res- 
 tive poles regain their quiet. It has blighted many a 
 prospect, or rather melted many a basket of salt. In days 
 gone by, it was crossed by a suspension-bridge of wicker 
 work, elevated fifteen feet above the surface, as appeared 
 by the remains of logs and withes. This stream sepa- 
 rates the Pessy country at this point firom the Deh 
 country. 
 
 The Deh people are a small tribe intervening be- 
 tween the Pessy and Bonsie people. They seem to be 
 a distinct people, and speak a strong, rough, guttural 
 language, similar to our Kroo tribe on the coast, whom 
 they resemble in many other particulars. They have 
 more fire in their eyes than the Pessy people, and are 
 said to eat their enemies in war. After a half-hour's 
 walk, we passed through the Dey villages of Mue Zue 
 and Yalah, and halted at Dallazeah. The Deh people, 
 in proffering their hospitalities, offered us dog for din- 
 ner, which was politely declined. 
 
 On Thursday, the 2d of July, we started from Dalla- 
 zeah. Farms of rice, com, cotton, and tobacco suc- 
 ceeded each other in an order truly pleasing to look at 
 The people are very industrious. The women, on 
 seeing me, began to tremble with fear ; and though 
 
52 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 some of my people, with whom thej were well ac- 
 quainted, tried to assure them, thej could not be 
 persuaded to approach me. Keeping the direction 
 east, we passed another Deh village — Malung, (water.) 
 From here we came to the site of a large Deh town — 
 Gellabonda, (lightning) — which had been completely 
 destroyed by a civil war. It was so elevated that we 
 had but to look E. S. E. to see a large part of the Bar- 
 line country, and the very parts in which war was then 
 raging. Indeed, we had hitherto followed the Barline 
 route ; but at two o'clock p.m. our guide, Beah, changed 
 the direction, remarking, as he did so, powder and ball 
 were in the path he had left. "We halted at Mahfatah, 
 a small Deh village. At night, one of their houses 
 caught on fire, and but for the activity of our people 
 the whole of their frail bamboo dwellings would have 
 been consumed. These people travel very little, and 
 are consequently ruder, and, as I then supposed, less 
 hospitable than the other tribes. We passed the 4th 
 of July here, the barometer standing at 28.89, ther- 
 mometer 80° ; ten o'clock a.m., weather cloudy. 
 
 Friday, the 5th of July, we started on our journey, 
 passing through several Deh villages. We also crossed 
 a small falls called Gawboah, with water rushing over 
 granite beds colored red and gray, with seams of white 
 quartz and red feldspar ramifying the bed in many 
 directions. We halted at Zolaghee, the largest and 
 last town of the Deh people. This town contained 
 800 houses, more or less in a state of dilapidation. 
 Nothing is more disagreeable than to be obliged to 
 take quarters in these decaying clay-built towns, espe- 
 cially in the rainy season^ when the mud, trash, and 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 53 
 
 all the soil, frogs, and vermin of the town dissolve, 
 crumble, and creep too near not to annoy sensibilities 
 accustomed to cleanliness. We managed to tolerate 
 this town one day, in order to rest ourselves. 
 
 On the 7th, we reached the Bonsie country, or the 
 Domar division of the Bonsies. We passed through 
 Powlazue, Unzugahzeah, Kaulibodah, and halted at 
 Yahwahzue. These towns are large and densely peo- 
 pled, surrounded with high and massive walls of clay 
 and earth. It was here that the Barline people had 
 been lately making reprisals, capturing the women and 
 slaves on the farms. It was therefore necessary that 
 our Bonsie friends should exercise constant vigilance, 
 and be ready to sally forth from their walls at a mo- 
 ment's warning to repel these incursions. 
 
 You no sooner arrive in the Bonsie countr}', than 
 a contrast of cleanliness, order, and industry strikes 
 you. That tribe, continually represented to us as sav- 
 age, fierce, and intractable, at once invites you into its 
 large walled towns with all the hospitalities and cour- 
 tesy that the minds of this simple, untutored people 
 can think of. 
 
 I arrived at Zolu's town on the 8th of July, 1868, 
 at four o'clock P.M. The walls of this town are from 
 oii'-litccn to twenty feet hijrh, consisting of clay, and 
 VI r\ thick. A regular salvo oi" nuiskctry announced 
 my entrance, and quickly a band of music made its 
 appearance, consisting of twelve large and small ivory 
 horns, and a half-dozen drums of various sizes and 
 sounds. I was conducted to the market space, in the 
 centre of the town, and there welcomed amidst the 
 
54 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 blast and flourish of Bonsie music and the firing of 
 muskets. 
 
 Thej were astonished and overjoyed that (a Weegee) 
 an American should come so far to visit them in their 
 own country. A thousand strange faces, whom I had 
 never before seen, were gazing at me. After their 
 curiosity and wonder had been satisfied, they gave me 
 spacious and comfortable lodgings, and commenced a 
 series of hospitalities which, from mere quantity alone, 
 became oppressive. 
 
 The next day, my friends would have me put on 
 American cloth ; to please them, I did so. I had not 
 shaved for three months, and when I made my appear- 
 ance in the 'Merican cloth, together with an unshaven 
 face, the women and children fled in every direction 
 from the frightfully -bearded Weegee. Many a Bonsie 
 child was hushed to silence or sleep by being threat- 
 ened with the Weegee. I annoyed the women and 
 children at such a rate, that I soon deemed it necessary 
 to take off the American cloth and the beard also. 
 
 This part of Africa likes a clean face, and especially 
 a full-flowing gown, which is not only a more graceful 
 attire, but more comfortable and healthy than the tight- 
 fitting pieces which we call civilized clothing. This 
 town, like Boporu, has its small daily market ; but 
 the large weekly market, which is held every Thurs- 
 day, and to which the neighboring towns usually re- 
 sort, is held at Zow-Zow, a very large town fifteen 
 miles E. N. E. of Zolu. I visited this market. The 
 hum of voices could be heard in the distance like 
 the noise of a waterfall. It is attended by five or six 
 thousand people. The bargaining is generally con- 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 55 
 
 ducted by the -women, except the country cloth trade, 
 which is carried on by the men. The exchange is 
 generally a barter — one article is exchanged for an 
 other, according to the mutual wants of the buyer and 
 seller. Salt and kola, however, have the character of 
 a currency, and large bargains are generally valued in 
 these articles. They are the expression of prices in 
 all important bargains. Kola usually performs the 
 same service our coppers do in small bargains. These 
 markets also have the character of holiday or pleasure- 
 days. Every one appears in bis or her best attire. 
 The women wear blue and colored country cloths 
 girded tastefully around their waists, their heads bound 
 round with a large three-cornered handkerchief of the 
 same material. Blue beads, intermixed with their fa- 
 vorite "pateriki," (brass buttons,) encircle their necks, 
 their faces ornamented with blue pigment and smiles. 
 
 In going around the market, and even on the road 
 as you go to the market, you are sure to be loaded 
 with ground-nuts, bananas, and rice-bread. Kice forms 
 the chief breadstuff; cassavas and potatoes next. Pota- 
 toes grow to an enormous size, and will weigh from six 
 to eight pounds. My Congo carriers were greatly 
 elated when they bought a bushel of white rice for 
 four brass buttons and a few needles. Considering the 
 large farms and the quantities of old rice from the 
 previous crop which must remain imconsumed, rice 
 can never be a source of profit to these people until 
 they have a road and conveyance to cart it down to 
 some civilized settlement. 
 
 The two great farming staples in the Boozie country 
 are rice and cotton. Sometimes the rice and cotton are 
 
66 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 planted together, but most of the cotton-farms succeed 
 the rice-farms. The cotton forms bear no proportion 
 in size to the rice-farms, yet they are large ; for they 
 have to clothe a country densely populated, where men, 
 women, and children all go clothed, and no foreign 
 manufactures scarcely reach them. Cotton-gins would 
 be a blessing to these people; for the manner in which 
 they are obliged to prepare cotton for spinning is pain- 
 ful and tedious to the last degree of labor. This part 
 of the labor is done by the w^omen ; the men do the 
 weaving. The spindle is in the hands of every woman, 
 from the princess to the slave. The dyeing of cloth is 
 also done by the women, at which the Man dingoes are 
 the most expert; and they know how to impart various 
 shades of blue in a permanent and beautiful manner. 
 Though they have abundance of camwood, I have never 
 seen them use it for the purposes of dyeing. The chief 
 colors used are blue and yellow^ ; the latter color is ex- 
 tracted from bark. Taking into account that these peo- 
 ple not only clothe themselves, but furnish the vast 
 number of cloths that are brought to the coast to be 
 used in the leeward trade," it shows what the cotton- 
 producing power of the country would become if this 
 primitive, barbarian industry were only assisted by some 
 labor-saving machinery. 
 
 On the second day after my arrival, I had a musical 
 compliment paid to me. A dozen young ladies, from 
 ten to eighteen years of age, serenaded me in the fol- 
 lowing manner: A large mat being spread on the 
 ground before my door, the young ladies seated them- 
 selves and commenced singing one of the songs of their 
 country, marking the time, as well as accompanying 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 67 
 
 the music, by means of hollow wooden pipes four and 
 a half inches long, through which the wind is forced 
 by beating one end with the palm of the hand. "When 
 this compliment is paid to a friend, one of the young 
 ladies who has tact and talent improvises a solo as to 
 his good qualities, his bravery, his good looks, his 
 generosity, etc., at the conclusion of which all join the 
 chorus, repeating the words, "Emmamow," ''Emma- 
 mow " — Thank you, thank you. It is also a very deli- 
 cate way of insinuation, when your liberality does not 
 always satisfy their expectations. My liberality in some 
 cases "becoming small by degrees and beautifully less," 
 a young lady revenged herself on me by singing that I 
 had a " giving face but a stingy heart," at which they 
 all responded, ''Kella? Kella?"— Is it so? Is it so? 
 "Well, thank you ; thank you. This is indeed a very 
 delicate way of insinuation ; but the ungenerous little 
 rogue ought to have remembered that it was through 
 my liberality that they were enabled to have all the 
 fine brass buttons which they sported around their 
 necks at the Zow Zow market. However, I hope it 
 will be considered that I have done the state some ser- 
 vice, when I announce that I have labeled nearly all 
 the pretty women in the Boozie country as the property 
 of the Republic of Liberia, with its military brass but- 
 tons, (pateriki.) 
 
 The Boozies are a very polite people ; the slightest 
 favor is repaid with an *' Emmamo vv " — Thank you. Do 
 you dance or afford any amusement whatever, you re- 
 ceive the "Emmamow." Are you engaged in any 
 labor or business for yourself or others, you are as 
 heartily " thanked" by those whom it does not in the 
 3* 
 
58 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 least concern as if it were for themselves. If you are 
 carrying a heavy burden on the road, and happen to 
 meet a friend, he thanks you as if you were doing it 
 for him. My Congo carriers, who were nearly fagged 
 out with the weight of their burdens, used to be an- 
 noyed with this kind of civility, that contained all 
 thanks and no assistance, and the Bonsie "Emmamow" 
 was often exchanged for the Congo " Konapembo," (Go 
 to the devil,) an exhortation not unreasonable where 
 misery is prolonged by politeness, and where one having 
 his back bent, burdened, and almost broke, has to be 
 stopped to be thanked and to snap fingers half a dozen 
 times. 
 
 The soil of Zolu is chiefly a red sandstone, and the 
 eastern road, worn down three feet by constant travel- 
 ing and the successive washings of the rains, exhibits 
 to this depth its internal peculiarities — red sandstone, 
 consolidated in proportion as the depth increases, but 
 of crude and crumbling consistence at the surface, with 
 ramifications of clear and distinct veins of white quartz 
 from one to two and a half inches wide. On some of 
 the hills there are large boulders of granite, and some 
 of them have markings crossing each other nearly in 
 parallels, in a direction from N. W. to S. E. and N. E. 
 to S. W. The markings seem deeply ingrained, and 
 are not so much sensible to the touch as visible to the 
 eye. There is also in this country a stone of a very 
 beautiful green color, capable of receiving a high polish, 
 a large piece of which was placed at the eastern gate 
 of the town for a stepping-stone, and which, in that 
 position, from the frequent treadings it receives, had a 
 finely polished surface. The character of the soil of 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU, 59 
 
 the plains is principally clay and sand. The red sand- 
 stone at Zolu begins in the south-western portion of 
 the Pessy country, at the town called N'essebeah, (red 
 hill ;) and it is in this vicinity that the soil, changing 
 from a mixture of clay and sand and granite pebbles, 
 forms a red clayey and sandy composition. Nessebeah 
 is located upon a very elevated hill of red clay and 
 sand, which presents every grade of condensation, from 
 a loose soil to solid rock. In the town were huge 
 granite rocks resting upon, elevated beds of this red 
 soil, as if they had been purposely placed there by 
 human effort ; but they owe their position to some for- 
 mer power of nature and the subsequent washings of 
 the rains. The elevation and position of these rocks 
 serve to show what vast quantities of soil have been 
 washed down in the plains and valleys below. Yery 
 extensive views are had from this site. The sides of 
 the hills being rather steep, the soil, on this account, 
 is inclined to shelve down, and to lay bare entirely its 
 color and composition from the top to the bottom. 
 These red slopes form a curious contrast to the abun- 
 dant green vegetation with whicli their summits and 
 the plains below are clothed. 
 
 I arrived at Zolu on the 8th of July. Here it was 
 that the Mandingo guide, Beah, according to the in- 
 structions that had been given to him by King Mo- 
 moru, was to spend a couple of weeks in trying to 
 reconcile the differences between the Bonsies and the 
 Barline people. Zolu was also the town belonging 
 to the young chief who had covertly assisted the Bar- 
 line people, and who was now suffering the penalty of 
 his perfidy. He was confined at Salaghce, a largo 
 
60 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 town fifteen miles east of-Zolu, by a chief called Daffah- 
 borrah. 
 
 Three days after our arrival, Beah went to Sala- 
 ghee, in order to open negotiations, both for the release 
 of the young prince, Cavvea, and to stop the war be- 
 tween the Bonsies and Barlines. King Momoru had 
 already sent the same proposals for reconciliation to 
 the Barline people by some Mandingoes, who were to 
 act in concert with Beah in bringing about peace. 
 'Nor was Daffahborrah disinclined to entertain these 
 proposals for peace. His town being on the confines 
 of the Boozie and Barline territory, was more subject, 
 on this account, to the incursions of the latter, and in- 
 deed on his town had fallen most of the brunt of the 
 war. 
 
 Beah, after two days' absence at Salaghee, returned. 
 He informed me that Daffahborrah had requested him 
 not to bring me to his town, as he was afraid of the 
 great war-medicine which his people had told him I 
 had in my possession. This war- medicine was a bottle 
 of nitric acid, given me by Dr. Dunbar for the purpose 
 of trying gold. My Congoes having witnessed some 
 of its effects on cloth, metal, etc., had given it a fearful 
 reputation : A table-spoonful scattered in a crowd would 
 kill a hundred men ; the least bit on a thatch house 
 would burn up a whole town ; I had but to stand out- 
 side the walls and throw it in the air to cause destruc- 
 tion to any town. This bottle of " medicine " began 
 to give me great inconvenience ; every body refused to 
 carry it. A big bandage of rags and thatch housed 
 the fiery spirit ; great was the ceremony in assigning 
 it its place wherever I happened to stop. Daffah- 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 61 
 
 borrali could not be blamed for refusing to see me. 
 Beali returned to Salagbee, and remained three weeks. 
 
 It was now about tbe beginning of August, and the 
 depth of the rains; I therefore determined to shun 
 all exposure from the weather. "What I particularly 
 dreaded was the losing or damaging my instruments 
 in crossing the creeks, with which a country rugged 
 with every feature of hill and dale is everywhere inter- 
 sected. In the dries, many of them scarcely contain 
 water enougli to cover the foot; but in the rains, they 
 become torrents, eight and ten feet deep, with a swift 
 and destructive current, being, in fact, drains or gul- 
 lies tilted toward the main reservoirs, the St. Paul's 
 and Little Cape Mount rivers. The rains had fairly 
 set in ; yet the quantity of water is much less than what 
 I have been accustomed to experience on the seaboard 
 at Monrovia. 
 
 The country is every variety of hill, plain, and val- 
 ley. Standing upon an elevation, it seemed to me that 
 the people had attempted to cover the whole country 
 with their rice- fields. Toward the west could be seen 
 the rice-hills enveloped in showers ; succeeding that, 
 whole mountain-sides of rice partly buried in vapor ; 
 next to that could be seen a brilliant sunlight, spread 
 over the brown and ripening plains of rice below. 
 
 It would be difficult to describe into how many 
 scenes sunshine, showers, clouds, and vapor can vary 
 a locality, itself an expression of every variety of 
 change. Only here and there could be seen patches 
 of large forest-trees. So completely had this section 
 of the country been farmed over and over, that only 
 saplings of three or four years* growth covered the 
 
62 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 uncultivated parts. Kor will they be allowed to 
 attain a greater age or size before tlie requirements of 
 agriculture will clear them for rice and cotton-fields. 
 
 This is the chief reason why all the barricades, or 
 walls of towns, in this section of the country, are formed 
 of earth and clay, instead of the large stakes that are 
 used by the natives living in the vicinity of Liberia. 
 
 The Bonsie people have very tractable disposi- 
 tions, and are wedded to no particular species of error. 
 Fetichism has no strong hold on them. They be- 
 lieve in that thing most that manifests K^the greatest 
 visible superiority or power. They are greatly duped 
 by the fraud and chicanery of the Mohammedan Man- 
 dingo priests. 
 
 In general physical appearance the Boozies are well 
 built, generally from five and a half to six feet high in 
 stature, with stoutly developed bodies, of sufiicient 
 muscular strength to hold a United States musket, 
 bayonet fixed, at full arm's length in one hand. They 
 are an exceedingly healthy people, and of very clean 
 habits. They bathe regularly twice a day, night and 
 morning, in warm water, besides the intermediate cold 
 water baths they are sure to take at whatever creek 
 they happen to cross in their daily walking. For 
 cleaning the teeth, they use a brush made of ratan, 
 admirably adapted to the purpose. 
 
 Paring the finger and toe-nails is carried to excess. 
 And the women at Zolu are foolish enough to pluck 
 away part of their eyebrows and eyelashes, things 
 which nature had not too lavishly furnished them 
 from the first. 
 
 Many of the women are very pretty ; and for the 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 63 
 
 many faces with which I am acquainted at Monrovia 
 resemblances, and close resemblances, are to be found 
 among the Boozies. Most of our people at Monrovia 
 are fond of deriving themselves from the Mandingoes. 
 I am sorry to say that this Boozie type of resemblance 
 does not confirm an *origin so noble and consoling. 
 We must therefore rest satisfied with humbler antece- 
 dents. 
 
 As soon as the weather permitted traveling, I in- 
 sisted on Beah resuming the journey. But he framed 
 many excuses, and finally, to rid himself of my impor- 
 tunities, ran off to Bokkasah, where his family resided. 
 Thither I dispatched one of my boys, demanding his 
 return ; but he refused to come. Beah was trying to 
 carry out the secret instructions he had received from 
 the Boporu Mandingoes. To trammel and obstruct 
 my going still more, he sent word to the Boozies at 
 Zolu that they were not to allow me to go anywhere; 
 for if any thing befell Momoru's American man, they 
 alone would be held responsible for it. Three times I 
 endeavored to leave this town ; but the people, by en- 
 treaties, presents, and every means of persuasion they 
 could think of, compelled me to relinquish my inten- 
 tions. 
 
 Beah had duped them as to the real reasons of delay. 
 Finally, it was appointed that if Beah should not 
 return in two weeks, I was to go anywhere I chose. 
 The time expired without Bcah's making his appear- 
 ance. 
 
 On Monday, September 21st, 1868, I left Zolu, and 
 went to Fissahbue, a town in latitude 7° 56' 09' N., 
 and longitude 9° 50' 43" VV. I was now entirely 
 
64 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 abandoned by my Mandingo guide, to grope my way 
 to Musardu by inquiry or instinct. 
 
 Fissahbue is a double town, or a town partitioned 
 into two parts ; occupied in one by the Mandingoes, 
 and in the other by the Boozies. It is well built and 
 clean in appearance, with a population of three thou- 
 sand inhabitants. The king, MuUebar, is a fine-look- 
 ing old gentleman of fifty years, very generous-hearted ; 
 and who was the more interesting to me because he 
 had an equal dislike to Beab. 
 
 On Saturday, September 26th, we left Fissahbue 
 for Bokkasah. The rough features of the country 
 moderated into extensive plains of long fields of grass, 
 ferns, and tall palms; the hills w^ere at a short distance, 
 trending along in a direction west and north-west. They 
 had also changed the character of their formation from 
 red sandstone to granite, and I was struck to see these 
 round and bossy masses, with their water-courses shin- 
 ing and trickling down their slopes. Some of their 
 tops were thickly wooded, while small tufts or patches 
 of grass were thinly scattered on their sides ; but its 
 brownish appearance showed that the sun had parched 
 it in its stony bed at the first approach of the dries. 
 West of Bokkasah, granite hills rose one above another, 
 crowned with a dense forest. Whenever it rained, a 
 noise resembling distant thunder was always heard. 
 In the months of July and August, these hills are the 
 site of a roaring cascade. 
 
 On the road, we fell in with people from all the 
 neighboring towns, going to market. Sitting on the 
 road-side were numbers of young women, with baskets 
 of ground-nuts already shelled, offering them for sale. 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 65 
 
 Our pockets and every other available place were im- 
 mediately filled, gratis. Such is their custom to stran- 
 gers ; and their gift was particularly enhanced by the 
 repeated liberality with which both hands went down 
 into the basket, and came up piling full, to be emptied 
 with a gracious smile into the capacious pockets of our 
 country coats. Then followed an exchange of compli- 
 ments; and the three languages — Boozie, Mandingo, 
 and English — got into a confusion from which smiles 
 and brass buttons alone could deliver us. 
 
 On we went, munching ground-nuts and receiving 
 ground-nuts, snapping fingers and making friends, and 
 occasionally consigning Beah to evil destinies. At 
 last the road suddenly widened, broad and clean ; and 
 the din of human voices assured us that we had come 
 upon the market and the town. 
 
 Bokkasah is in latitude 8° 10' 02^ It is a double 
 town, similar to Fissahbue, one part of which is Boozie, 
 and the other Mandingo. The walls that contain the 
 Boozie portion of the inhabitants make a circuit com- 
 pletely oval. That which comprises the Mandingoes 
 butts up against and flanks the eastern side of the 
 Boozie walls, and is also half oval in shape. 
 
 On entering the town, we were shown Beah's rcsi- 
 drncc. Astonished at our arrival, he forthwith tried 
 to make some slight atonement for his former short- 
 comings by the diligence with which he procured us 
 comfortable lodgings. AVe were soon domesticated in 
 the town, kindling up friendships on all sides. The 
 Mandingoes made it a point to be foremost in all these 
 alliances. Since I was going to their country, they took 
 me in their special charge. Among the many attentions 
 
66 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 paid me, I was invited by a young Mandingo lady to 
 go with her to see her mother. We had no sooner 
 arrived at the house, than she commenced calling out, 
 " Ma, ma !" ' I waited to hear what would follow ; but 
 the next words were in musical Mandingo, informing 
 her mother that she had brought the Tibbabue (Ameri- 
 can man) to see her. The Mandingoes use the same 
 words in calling mother that we do. This interview 
 ended satisfactorily in a large bowl of rice, with fried 
 chicken, palm-wine, etc., together with a standing 
 invitation to come to her house every day while I re- 
 mained in Bokkasah. 
 
 The young lady was married to a young Mandingo 
 by the name ofFatomah, whose father, Phillakahmah, 
 resided at Boporu, but was then in the Barline coun- 
 try. The kindness and good office of this family were 
 untiring. I also had many friends in the eastern part 
 of the town, who were constant in their attention to me. 
 
 Bokkasah contains about fifteen hundred houses, and 
 about seven thousand inhabitants. It is very perplex- 
 ing on the first entrance of a stranger to find his way 
 in these towns ; for the houses seem to be dropped by 
 accident into their places, rather than placed after any 
 organized method. Chancellor, my interpreter, though 
 well accustomed to these kind of towns, was not at all 
 times assured of his own whereabouts. A woman gave 
 him water to bathe; after he had performed his ablu- 
 tions, he found himself naked, lost, and ashamed to 
 ask where he was. He wandered over the town with 
 the vessel in his hand, until some one, guessing the 
 truth, brought him home. One does not lose his way 
 on account of the size of these towns, but on account 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 67 
 
 of tliG manner in wbich the houses are sprinkled about. 
 You can march up to your house without knowing it, 
 so completely does similarity and confusion repeat 
 itself. 
 
 The market of Bokkasah, which is held every 
 Saturday, is one of the principal markets in the 
 Domar country. It is attended by six or seven 
 thousand people. The articles of exchange are nume- 
 rous. It is also a great country cloth market. In all 
 these markets throughout the Boozie and Barline 
 countries, the small country cloth known among us 
 as the trade country cloth is not to be seen. It is 
 owing to the mischievous industry of our friends at 
 Boporu and its vicinity that these country cloths are 
 reduced to so small a size. It is the business of these 
 interlopers in trade to take large country cloths to 
 pieces, and make them smaller. Similar is their deal- 
 ing with every species of trade, to its great diminution 
 and discouragement. If the interior trade amounted 
 to millions of dollars in value to the republic, it could 
 never reach our seaport towns while the border of our 
 influence has been removed by tribal interference and 
 war, and confined to the very scacoast settlements 
 themselves. These obstructions can only be removed 
 by the energetic action of government. 
 
 Ik)kkasah is a town very convenient and cheap for 
 living. Abundance of vegetables, rice, beans, potatoes, 
 plantains, bananas, ground-nuts, etc., are to be had at 
 all times at the daily market. 
 
 While I was staying here, I dispatched one of ray 
 Congoes to Begby, a Mandingo chief, living at a town 
 called Bokkadu, near the Boondee country, in a west- 
 
68 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 ward direction. As he was anxious to see some one 
 who had come from an American town, and in Ameri- 
 can dress, I tried to gratify him in that respect. This 
 Congo, before lie reached Bokkadu, crossed the St. 
 Paul's Eiver on a bridge of wicker-work, and the Cape 
 Mount Eiver, which was much wider, on a^ corkwood 
 float. This journey occupied three days. Both of 
 these rivers flow from the north-east. 
 
 Among some of the singular institutions that prevail in 
 this country, is a kind of convent for women, in the mys- 
 teries of which every woman has to be instructed. 
 What these mysteries are I have never been fully in- 
 formed. They consist in the main of a peculiar kind 
 of circumcision and of certain other practices neces- 
 sary for health. Attached to the outer wall of the 
 town are the houses, fenced in on all sides from the 
 gaze of passers-by, and especially excluded against the 
 entrance of men. It is death to any man to be caught 
 within the precincts, which is instantly inflicted with- 
 out reprieve by the women themselves. 
 
 There are, however, holidays in which the rigid 
 rules of the institution are relaxed, and every body is 
 permitted to go in and see their friends without dis- 
 tinction of sex. During my stay here, one of these 
 holidays occurred, and I was invited to visit the sacred 
 grounds of this female mysticism. It consisted of 
 rows of long huts built low to the ground, the lodgings 
 of the devotees. Each complement belonging to a 
 hut were seated in a line, in front of their dwellings, 
 on a mat. Their heads were wound round with enor- 
 mous turbans, and their bodies decked out in all the 
 finery their friends in town could afford. They kept 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 69 
 
 their heads hanging down in a solemn manner. Even 
 children, six or seven years of age, were included in 
 this moping, surly observance. Their friends from 
 town crowded around, delighted at the sight, and with 
 unfeigned pleasure asked me if it was not fine. I 
 should have been more pleased to have heard these 
 women and children laughing and singing in their rice 
 and cotton-farms, than to have seen them tormenting 
 themselves with a senseless, morose custom. I was 
 carried into one of their establishments, and made to 
 shake hands with my moody sisters. 
 
 As I have before related, this was the town in which 
 my Mandingo guide, Beah, and all his family resided. 
 Three days after my arrival, he disappeared, pretending 
 lie had immediate business at Salaghee, leaving word 
 with the town-people not to allow me to go anywhere 
 until he returned. I was determined to free myself 
 from his tricks, and I exposed to his friends his deal- 
 ings with me when I was at Zolu. His friends, and 
 especially his mother and sisters, besought me to wait 
 for him. After a week had expired, I grew impatient 
 to start ; but the whole family of women came, cross- 
 ing their hands, and placing themselves in the most 
 suppliant attitudes, crying, "Ejung, Ejung"— I beg 
 you ! I beg you ! These poor women were honest, 
 and knew nothing of their relation's crooked dealings. 
 They made use of various ways to reconcile me to 
 further delay. I had now been at Bokkasah three 
 weeks, and had been foiled in every attempt to get 
 away. The sort of hinderances through which I had 
 now to struggle were not downright tyrannical opposi- 
 
70 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 tion ; they were of a more powerful and moral kind ; 
 supplications based upon kindness and generosity. 
 
 About this time an old Mandingo priest whom I had 
 met at Bessa's town arrived. After he had been in 
 town two days, he sent for me, and appeared glad 
 to see me. I related to him the difficulties I experi- 
 enced from Beah's actions. He advised me to be care- 
 ful, and not to force my way through the country, as 
 there had been a plot made to hurt me ; and he went 
 on to make many dark and pregnant insinuations. 
 He exhorted me to patience and prayer, the contraries 
 of which I had been provoked to by the artifices of 
 Beah, and the consequent delays he had occasioned 
 me. The next day the Mandingo priest told me that 
 I had better make a " Sallikah," which is an offering 
 to good luck. This offering was dictated by the priest 
 himself. It was to be a sheep, a penknife, a white 
 country cloth, and ten white kola. Not knowing what 
 divinity was to be appeased, I refused to make the 
 sacrifice or oblation ; for this priest was subsisting on 
 a dry vegetable diet, the hospitality of his stingy breth- 
 ren, and he was poor, very poor. The sacrifice or 
 offering was to be delivered to him to be buried in the 
 ground. But who could not see the crafty old priest 
 and his hungry students in a congratulatory chuckle 
 over a fat sheep, a penknife, a country cloth, and a fool 
 of a Tibbabue ? 
 
 This sort of priest is numerous, needy, cunning, 
 and mischievous ; they distribute themselves in all the 
 towns between Musardu and Boporu ; and they did 
 not fail to present themselves to me throughout the 
 journey as " god-men." But I gave them plainly to 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 71 
 
 understand that I was not to be gulled by their prac- 
 tices. 
 
 I now dissembled my anxiety to depart, putting on 
 a semblance of cheerfulness to abide where I was, 
 and a perfect indifference about going anywhere. 
 Every afternoon I would dress myself in my Mandin- 
 go toga, and go in the eastern part of the town to 
 visit my friends. Here we would fritter away the time 
 in talking and singing, and I musically entertained 
 several of my Mandingo friends with the beauties of 
 " Dixie." AVe would then clap into our prayers, they 
 repeating the Fatiha, and I reciting the Lord's Prayer. 
 A young lady begged that I would write off this 
 prayer for her, in order that she might have it to wear 
 around her neck, as well as to have fillets made of it 
 to bind around her temples, as she was sometimes 
 troubled with the headache. I wrote it off for her ; but 
 I made her understand, at the same time, that its effi- 
 cacy consisted in healing the ailments of the soul, and 
 not of the body. While we were thus handsomely 
 enjoying ourselves, the terrible Dowilnyah sent his 
 messengers for me to come and see him. 
 
 Dowilnyah is the king of the Wymar Boozies. His 
 messengers were tall black men, with red and restless 
 eyes, tattooed faces, filed teeth, huge spears, and six feet 
 bows. They also had a reputation which remarkably 
 corresponded with their appearance. 
 
 A discussion arose as to the safety of my going, and 
 it caused a disagreement that ended in the return of 
 the messengers without me. In a week's time the mes- 
 sengers returned again. I had resolved to go with 
 them. But my friends did all they could to dissuade 
 
72 A JOURNEY TO MUSAEDU. 
 
 me. Many of Do wilny all's atrocities were repeated to 
 me; Low, wbeii he had suspected the fidelity of one of 
 his wives, he compelled her to pound the child of her 
 supposed illicit connection in a mortar ; how he had 
 wantonly shot one of his wives, remarking, as he did 
 so, that he had only shot a dog ; his terrible cruelty to 
 his prisoners whom he captured in war ; and even his 
 cruelty to his own children, one of whom he threw 
 among the drivers, {termites hellicosi^) and which was so 
 mutilated by these voracious insects that the child lost 
 one of its arms. He had no peer in cruelty and wick- 
 edness except Comma, who was now dead, but who, 
 when living, went hand in hand with him in evil 
 deeds. Comma's town, it must be remembered, was 
 the place where Seymore had his right hand nearly 
 slashed off. 
 
 I, however, left Bokkasah for Dowilnyah's on Mon- 
 day, the 2d of November, 1868, and arrived at Uk- 
 baw-Wavolo, a village at which he was residing, on 
 Thursday, the 5th of I^ovember, 1868. 
 
 Before reaching this village, we halted in our journey 
 at Nubbewah's town. It was well built, clean, and 
 strongly fortified. We were brought into the presence 
 of Nubbewah, the chief. He was an old man ; tall, or 
 rather long — as he was lying down — thin, and looked 
 to be much emaciated by sickness. It was difficult to 
 arouse him from the lethargic insensibility into which 
 he had fallen. His attendants, however, succeeded in 
 awakening him to the fact of our presence ; but, as we 
 still seemed to be regarded as a dream, I thought pro- 
 per to quicken his consciousness by blazing away with 
 my revolver against his earthen walls. This act per-. 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 73 
 
 fectlj startled him into a proper regard for our dignity 
 and welfare, and thereupon we were well fed, comfort- 
 ablj lodged, and liberally presented with mats and 
 country cloths, etc. 
 
 On Wednesday, we traveled until we reached Boe, 
 a very large town belonging to the Wymar Boozies. 
 This town, with some outlying villages, is the begin- 
 ning of the Wymar country, which is separated from 
 the Domar by a narrow creek, acknowledged as a 
 boundary. The village where the king was staying is 
 E.N.E. of Boe, and about two and a half hours' walk 
 from tbat town. 
 
 A temporary misunderstanding between the king 
 and some of his chiefs had caused him to reside in 
 this secluded hamlet. 
 
 It appears that Boe had been threatened with an 
 attack from the Domar Boozies. Succor was immedi- 
 ately requested from Dowilnyah, who quickjy marched 
 from his capital, Gubbewallab, to the defense of Boe. 
 He succeeded in defeating the Domars. But during 
 his residence at Boe, so overshadowing was his influ- 
 ence and power, that the subordinate chiefs found 
 themselves nearly stripped of the authority they were 
 accustomed to exercise. A general dissatisfaction en- 
 sued, on which the king became so indignant that ho 
 withdrew from Boe, drawing in his train every thing 
 that rendered that town attractive and important. 
 He remained deaf to every solicitation to return. 
 And here, at this village, he held his court, giving au- 
 dience to the messengers of interior chiefs, granting 
 fiivors, adjusting disputes. The village was aliye with 
 4 
 
74 A JOUKNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 the chiefs of other towns, messengers going and coming, 
 fine-looking women, warriors, etc. 
 
 When we drew near the village, we were requested 
 by our guides to discharge our pieces, in order to in- 
 form the king of our arrival. This being done, we en- 
 tered. The king, seated on a mat, was dressed in a 
 gaudy- figured country robe ; on his head was a large 
 blue and red cloth cap, stuck all over with the talons 
 of large birds. At his side was seated his chief coun- 
 selor, whose name was Jebbue, a man of very large 
 proportions, but of a mild and gentle countenance. 
 The king was surrounded by his people, all various- 
 ly dressed in white, blue, striped, and yellow country 
 coats. 
 
 His countenance assured us that he had not been 
 misrepresented, notwithstanding his effort to compose 
 it in a peaceful manner. It was one of the most 
 threatening and the blackest visages I had seen for 
 some time. He bade me welcome. A mat was then 
 spread, upon which we seated ourselves. Suddenly his 
 iron horns and drums sounded, bis warriors rushed 
 forth from their concealed places, performing all the 
 evolutions of a savage and barbarous warfare. The 
 thundering plaudits of the people themselves increased 
 the din. After this tremendous flourish had subsided, 
 the king arose, and stepping forward, he waved his 
 right hand in all directions, announcing by that ges- 
 ture the uncontrolled authority with which he reigned 
 in his dominions. Being welcomed again and again to 
 his country, we were shown to our lodgings, which, 
 though just temporarily erected, were comfortable. 
 
 Friday, 6th of November, 1868, I visited the 
 
A JOUKNEY TO MUSARDU. 75 
 
 king. Stating that we had come to see his country, 
 and to make ourselves well acquainted with him and 
 all his people, we then delivered our presents, which 
 consisted of a piece of calico ; a music-box, with which 
 he was especially pleased ; two pocket handkerchiefs, 
 one pair epaulets, two bottles cologne, one clasped 
 knife, three papers needles, one large brass kettle. He 
 was delighted ; he told me that I should not regret my 
 visit to his country ; and come who would after me, I 
 should always hold the first place in his estimation ; 
 that he had been informed of all that had been said 
 against him to prevent my coming to see him; but 
 as I had disregarded these reports, he would show me 
 that my confidence had not been misplaced. 
 
 He was anxious to see my revolvers, the fearful re- 
 putation of which preceded me everywhere I went. 
 They were shown ; their use explained, and their 
 effect exaggerated. When he had also seen the astro- 
 nomical instruments, his courage entirely forsook him. 
 He requested me to give him some medicine to pre- 
 vent his enemies from poisoning him. I replied that I 
 had no such medicine; that by exercising the proper 
 precaution in eating and drinking, he might be able to 
 escape the evil intention of his enemies. 
 
 He next requested me to fire my muskets, that he 
 might see the mysteries of a cap-gun ; and he caused 
 all the broken pieces of the exploded caps to be 
 gathered and preserved. I had to take some pains to 
 dismiss his apprehensions that I would hurt him in any 
 way. 
 
 He celebrated my visit to his country by a war- 
 dance. He commenced it with some of his old habits, 
 
76 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 in which, however, palm-wine flowed instead of blood. 
 After he had supped off about a quart of that beverage, 
 he retired to his residence, and in the lapse of fifteen min- 
 utes, the clamor of his people and his war-drums sig- 
 nified his reappearance. He came forth with wild and 
 prodigious leaps; a war-cap of leopard-skin, plumed 
 with horse-hair, covered his head; he was naked to 
 the waist, but wore a pair of Turkish-shaped trowsers. 
 He had a large spear in his right hand. His dress 
 and enthusiasm had completely metamorphosed him. 
 His black and lowering countenance had undergone a 
 terrible change, which was heightened by the savage 
 grin which his white teeth imparted to it. The most 
 frantic gestures now took place, amid the stunning 
 plaudits of the whole town. 
 
 This being ended, the king called upon his women 
 to give the finishing stroke to this happy business. 
 
 The ladies of Wymar are fond of dancing, and they 
 spend much of their time in this amusement : they are 
 not acquainted with the polite and delicate paces of 
 their sisters at Monrovia; but for downright solid- 
 footed dancing, they can not be surpassed. They are 
 all fine, large, robust women, and have the happiest- 
 looking countenances in the world. 
 
 African rulers in these parts travel very leisurely 
 from one point to another, and at every intermediate 
 place where they may halt, are sure to spend as much 
 time as would be necessary to carry them to their final 
 destination. This careless, lounging habit of wasting 
 time is an incurable one; arguments or persuasion 
 strengthened by gifts can not overcome it. 
 
 The king had infqrmed me of his intention to leave 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 77 
 
 this village for his own town ; the very day was ap- 
 pointed He did not leave, however, until two days 
 afterward. On Tuesday, 10th November, the king re- 
 quested me to fire my muskets, in order to announce 
 to the neighboring towns and villages his departure. 
 
 He preferred my guns, because their report was 
 louder than the cracking of his little English fusees, 
 many of which I was assured had come to him by the 
 way of Musardu through the Mandingoes. 
 
 At ten o'clock we started, the king being attended 
 by his friends, body-guard, musicians, and women. 
 Happily the town to which we were going lay on the 
 road direct to Musardu. About three o'clock we came 
 to Ziggah Porrah Zue, the largest town and the capi- 
 tal of the Wymar country. The king before entering 
 the town made a halt to put on his robes. Every body 
 dressed themselves. I was even requested to put on 
 my uniform, which I did. After much firing and 
 music, we entered, amid the applause and gaze of the 
 whole town. After we had passed the gate and tra- 
 versed the town some distance, we found ourselves en- 
 countered by another gate and wall ; this contained the 
 middle town. We passed on, and soon arrived at the 
 gate and wall of the central town. Thus there are 
 three towns, with their walls concentrically arranged. 
 The inner walls were, however, much dilapidated, and 
 served only to show in what manner the whole town 
 had been successively enlarged ; for as soon as an out- 
 side wall had been built around the new outside town, 
 the inner wall was suffered to decay. The exterior or 
 outside wall, though of great extent, was in good re- 
 pair. We were conducted to the market-space in the 
 
78 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 central town, which was spacious and convenient for 
 holding large crowds. Some arrangement and order 
 being introduced, a speech of welcome was delivered 
 by the old chief of the town, Dowilnyah's uncle. At 
 the conclusion, every trumpet, consistingof forty pieces, 
 sounded. The band of ivory and wood belonged to 
 the town ; and it must be confessed that though the 
 execution was simple, in effect it was really fine. 
 Many speeches were made, the end of which was al- 
 waj^s concluded with music from the bands. These 
 three bands did not all play at the same time, but suc- 
 cessively, one after another, the king's band being 
 allowed the precedence. 
 
 After speech-making came the war-dances of the 
 principal chiefs, the women cheering them on. Each 
 chief, as soon as he had performed his part, was imme- 
 diately saluted by the king's body-guard, who, march- 
 ing forward to meet him, acknowledged by that act his 
 valor and achievements. Dowilnyah closed the fes- 
 tivities by exhibiting his own warlike prowess. We 
 were assigned our lodgings. Every day we passed in 
 this town was given to festivity and enjoyment. 
 
 One of their chief amusements was a "jack upon 
 stilts," a fellow fantastically dressed, w^earing a false face, 
 and mounted upon stilts ten feet high fitted to the soles 
 of his feet — with which he danced, leaped, and even 
 climbed upon the houses. He was full of clownish 
 tricks and sayings, and made much sport for the 
 crowds; he belonged to the king's train, a sort of king's 
 fool. The women are really the industrious part of 
 the population ; for while their lords are wholly de- 
 voted to pleasure, palavers, and wars, the women are 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. T9 
 
 engaged in numerous domestic duties, and especially in 
 spinning cotton. Here, also, as in the Domar country, 
 the spindle is in the bands of every woman, from the 
 princess to the slave. The women, however, enjoy 
 themselves, particularly on market-days, which at this 
 town takes place every Sunday. 
 
 This market is seated on the banks of the St. Paul's 
 Eiver, and is carried on under the shade of large cotton 
 (bombax) and acacia-trees. The commodities of ex- 
 change are country cloths, cotton stripes, raw cotton 
 iron, soap, palm-oil, palm-butter, ground-nuts, rice, 
 plantains, bananas, dried fish, dried meat, peas, beans, 
 sweet potatoes, onions, (chalots,) snuff, tobacco, pipes, 
 salt, earthen pots or vessels for holding water and for 
 cooking purposes, large quantities of Kola slaves, and 
 bullocks. The bullocks are generally brought by the 
 Mandingoes to the market. Palm-wine is not allowed 
 to be sold in the market. Peace and order are secured 
 by persons especially appointed for that purpose. 
 After every body has assembled on the ground, these 
 preservers of the peace with long staves in their hands 
 go through the market, ordering every body to sit 
 down; they then admonish the people to carry on 
 their bargains peacefully and without contention. 
 This preliminary being gone through with, the market 
 is opened. It is generally attended by six or seven 
 thousand people. There are several large markets held 
 in the Wymar country ; the one at Comma's town is 
 larger than this. The daily market held in the cen- 
 tral town is very convenient for making small pur- 
 chases. 
 
 On Saturdays, sitting under the shade of large 
 
< 
 
 80 A JOUKNEY TO MUSAEDU. 
 
 acacia-trees, I have watched the almost uninterrupted 
 stream of people with their bundles and packs coming 
 from every neighboring town and village to market. 
 The bridge crossing the St. Paul's Eiver would be 
 laden or occupied from one end to the other, for 
 hours, but it proved equal to the purpose for which it 
 was built. When the Mandingoes would arrive with 
 their cattle, they would swim them across, but always 
 experience difficulty in getting them up this side of the 
 bank, on account of its steepness. No one seemed to 
 think of remedying this inconvenience by sloping a 
 pathway for the animals. 
 
 The bridge is a simple structure of wicker-work. 
 From each side of the river the ends of the bridge 
 depend from a stout branch of an acacia-tree. The 
 roadway is of plaited ratan, two feet wide, and worked 
 up on both sides about four and a half feet, to 
 prevent falling over. It is further steadied and sup- 
 ported by a great number of strong and flexible twigs, 
 which connect the bottom and the sides to every 
 available limb of the trees growing on each bank. It 
 is ascended by ladders ; its elevation is from twenty- 
 three to twenty-five feet from the surface of the river, 
 and spans a length of eighty-five feet. 
 
 Ziggah Porrah Zue, the capital of the Wymar coun- 
 try, is in latitude 8° 14' 45''; longitude, 9° 31'. Its 
 elevation is about 1650 feet above the level of the sea. 
 The barometer standing from 28.08 to 28.12. Ther- 
 mometer ranging from 67° to 92° from November 14th 
 to November 30th. It is seated on the St. Paul's Eiver. 
 The large market is held between the river and the 
 wall of the town. I am informed that this river runs 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 81 
 
 N. E. by E. into the Mandingo country, and that it 
 takes its rise at the foot of some hills in that country. 
 The Little Cape Mount Eiver takes a similar direction ; 
 but in point of size, and in the number of its tributary 
 creeks, it is superior to the St. Paul's. 
 
 The highest point of the slope or declivity of land 
 from Monrovia to Ziggah Porrah Zue is from 1600 to 
 1700 feet above the level of the sea for a distance of 
 latitude 116 miles. It is impossible that rivers thus sit- 
 uated should be any thing else but the drains of a 
 country, and their course a series of cataracts and falls. 
 
 Every afternoon the king's body-guard performed 
 their military evolutions. They had three war-drums, 
 one of which was bound around with three tiers of 
 human jaw-bones. A double-quick was beaten, to 
 which they kept time for about half an hour, without 
 tiring. They would then enter upon more violent 
 motions, which were more of an athletic than a military 
 kind. They were armed with English fusees, and heavy 
 iron cutlasses of native manufacture. Their war-dress 
 consisted of leopard-skins. 
 
 The Bonsie country is densely populated. The 
 difference between the Domar and Wymar Boozie 
 is, that the latter marks his face from his temple to 
 his chin with an indelible blue stain, while the former 
 does not practice tattooing of any kind. This tribe 
 extends from the south-west portion of the Pessy 
 country to the western border of the Mandingo 
 country. 
 
 Dowilnyah now proposed to forward me on to 
 Musardu under his protection — and a more power- 
 ful protection could not bo obtaiocd. Ilis own nephew 
 4* 
 
82 A JOUEXEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 was to accompany'me. We left Ziggah Porrah Zae 
 JSTovember 30th, 1868, taking a direction E.KE. The 
 country was open and covered with tall grass, cane- 
 brake, and wild rice. In an hour's walk we came to 
 the town where the king formerly resided, Grubbewal- 
 lah, meaning Sassa-wood tree, referring to a large old 
 tree that grew in the middle of the town. 
 
 We passed on, and halted at Pellezarrah — meaning 
 several paths, because several paths crossed each other 
 near the town. 
 
 Several large cotton-trees grew at the junction of 
 these roads. The features of the country are hilly, but 
 the slopes are longer and more gentle. One large hill 
 had a gradual slope of nearly two miles, while its oppo- 
 site side came down in a perpendicular line. Trees now 
 indeed began to be scarce, the country being covered with 
 cane-brake, wild rice, and very tall palm-trees. Some 
 trees of that short, stunted species which grow on our 
 beach at the Cape, were seen sparsely scattered here and 
 there. We traveled over a hard soil of red clay, pebbles, 
 and iron ore. The tall grass and treeless slopes, plains, 
 and hills led my Congoes to declare that I had missed the 
 route, and walked into the Congo country ; and they 
 commenced to thank me for returning them into their 
 country Mesumbe. We halted at Pezarrah at six 
 o'clock F.Vy.^ This town had suffered from fire in one 
 part, and wtis being rebuilt. The whole direction tra- 
 veled was E.KE. Tuesday, 1st December, 1868, we 
 started from Pellazarrah. After a walk of a quar- 
 ter of an hour, the road led through a district which 
 was a solid mass of iron ore. A short reddish grass 
 struggled for existence on this extensive plain of metal. 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 83 
 
 The iron was so pure that the road leading through it 
 was a polished metal pathway, smoothed over by the 
 constant treading of travelers. It is said to be hardly 
 treadable in the dries, it becomes so thoroughly heated. 
 
 We occupied three and a half hours in passing over 
 these hills and plains of metal. We afterward came 
 to high grass, through which some elephants had just 
 passed. The palm-trees entirely cease. We halted at 
 Ballatah at three o'clock p.m. 
 
 Wednesday, 2d December, 1868, at Ballatah. This 
 is one of the most pleasantly situated of all the Boozie 
 towns we had visited. The people insisted on our 
 spending a day with them, that they might have some 
 time to look at us. They killed a sheep, and furnished 
 rice and other things in abundance. They then tried 
 to prevail on me to undertake an elephant-hunt with 
 them. Elephants are plentiful and large in this portion 
 of the country, and every night they could be heard 
 making a noise, while regaling themselves on the ten- 
 der cotton-plants growing in the farms of the Ballatah 
 people. 
 
 Artemus Ward declares that " Every man has his 
 fort." It is not mine to hunt elephants — especially to 
 hunt elephants going in herds of ten or twelve, and 
 that in an open country like Ballatah. I therefore de- 
 clined the invitation to go on an elephan-Vunt, telling 
 my friends that I would postpone the pleasure to be 
 dei-ived from such amusements until I returned from 
 Musardu. 
 
 Ballatah is in latitude 8° 17' 51\ Its approximate 
 elevation is about two thousand feet above the level of 
 the sea ; barometer standing 27.172. It is not so large 
 
84 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 as the other Boozie towns, but far better laid out. 
 The houses are not crammed so closely together. It 
 contains about twenty-five hundred people ; it is seat- 
 ed in a plain, and is commanded by very high and 
 abrupt hills on its western side, while the land rolls off 
 in gentle undulations toward the east. We were car- 
 ried to some outlying villages north-west of Ballatah, 
 situated at the foot of the same high hills that overlook 
 that town. Here they were busy smelting iron. The 
 furnaces were built of clay, and of a conical shape, from 
 ^ve and a half to six feet high, having clay pipes or 
 vents close to the bottom, arranged in groups of two 
 and three, for the purpose of draught. The charcoal and 
 iron ore are put in at the top. At the bottom is an 
 opening through which tbe slag and other impurities 
 are withdrawn. 
 
 Thursday, December 3d, 1868, we started from 
 Ballatah. The direction was N.E., and parallel to a 
 range of very high hills, called the Yukkah hills. 
 These hills are from seven hundred to one thousand 
 feet high, and are variously composed of granite, iron 
 ore, and a reddish clay which, from the steep slopes 
 near the top, had shelved down in many places. The 
 whole country, hill and plain, was covered with long 
 grass and canebrake, interspersed with a short, dwarfish 
 tree. The bark of this tree is rough and corru- 
 gated, the trunk is a foot in circumference, eight or ten 
 feet high ; and has an excessive branching top. The 
 leaves small, and of an oval shape. Clumps of 
 large trees occupied the sides and knolls of the hills. 
 
 These bills are of all sizes, and run in every direc- 
 tion. Toward the N. and IST.E., a line of hills towers 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDUJ 85 
 
 above the rest, the ridge of which makes a variety of 
 outline against the sky. These hills are not so rug- 
 gedly disposed as those in the Domar country. The 
 slopes are gentler ; only near the summit they some- 
 times change feature, taper off to a point, or go right up 
 perpendicularly. To these hills and fastnesses the na- 
 tives resort in time of war, carrying all their effects, 
 their wives and children, to the most inaccessible parts. 
 Judging from a hill which was shown me as being 
 used for that purpose, some of them must be very safe 
 retreats. 
 
 Agriculture in this country must be a very simple 
 and easy process. N"o "cutting farm," as we call it, by 
 felling trees and cutting undergowth. The soil, though 
 covered with tall grass and canebrake, is one of the 
 highest fertility.*^ When the sun has sufficiently parched 
 the tall grass, it is sometimes burnt off, sometimes cut 
 down and hoed in for manure. Farms of hundreds of 
 acres can be prepared in a very short time ; and the 
 natives, with their small hoes, can wellafford to have 
 the large plantations of rice, cotton, and millet, which 
 we saw. 
 
 Friday, 4th of December, 1868, we rested at Vukkah. 
 This town stands at the foot of a range of high hills 
 of the same name. It is the last Boozie town, and the 
 nearest to the Mandingo country. These hills, called 
 " Vukkah" by the Boozies, and " Fomah" by the Man- 
 dingoes, take a definite direction N.E. They are the 
 highest range, and form a marked and acknowledged 
 boundary between the Boozie and Mandingo territo- 
 ries. At the foot of this range are seated a number of 
 towns, Boozie and Mandingo. 
 
86 A JOUENEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 The town of Vukkah was overgrown with wild cane 
 and piantain-trees. The houses were dilapidated, pre- 
 senting a disagreeable contrast to the usual neatness of 
 the Boozie towns. The inhabitants are the most ill- 
 favored of all the Boozies. This town is also notorious 
 for the mischief and trouble it gives thorough farers ; 
 and but for our coming under the protection of Dowil- 
 nyah, it soon fell out what would have happened. We 
 had not been in the town an hour before we had a 
 row with one of the principal men of the place. He 
 requested me to fire my musket, which I did a number 
 of times, sufficient, as I thought, to please every body ; 
 but he insisted on several more rounds. I refused ; he 
 then told me to go on to Musardu, but when I returned 
 I would find that my way home would not lie through 
 that town. I was, however, under too powerful a pro- 
 tection to be disturbed. Dowilnyah was not to be trifled 
 with. To take a head from a shoulder was mere pas- 
 time with him. 
 
 Much allowance, however, must be made for these 
 African rulers. Tyrannical and bloodthirsty they 
 sometimes appear ; but this character is artificial, and 
 practiced in many instances to inspire terror and re- 
 spect, without which they could not hold their authority 
 a single hour. 
 
 Beset by rivalships and conspiracies, they are forced, 
 from the boisterous circumstances of their situation, to 
 employ every means conservative of their authority 
 and their lives. 
 
 Saturday, 5tli of December, we started from Yukkah. 
 We had now crossed the Yukkah. hills, and were fairly 
 in the Mandingo country. Many of the plains of this 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 87 
 
 section of the country are terraced, one above another. 
 Amends is made for a simple vegetation, by the ever- 
 varying forms of relief the country presents, the farther 
 you advance into it. 
 
 At three o'clock p.m., we were met on the road by 
 several Mandingoes, who accompanied us to their town, 
 Ku-Somadu, or Mahommadu. The walls of this town 
 are quadrilateral in shape, each side being a series of 
 bastions, which at a distance looks like some old forti- 
 fied front. The walls, however, are so thin that a four- 
 pounder could demolish them in a very little time. 
 
 We entered the town, and were entertained in a very 
 hospitable manner. A house was given to us, small 
 indeed in its dimensions to what we had been accus- 
 tomed to in the Boozie country, but convenient and com- 
 fortable. Being wearied with the journey, I threw my- 
 self into a hammock, and commenced surveying altera- 
 tions and arrangements which a change in the charac- 
 ter of the country had introduced. The house was a 
 circular structure of clay, with a conical roof made en- 
 tirely of large canebrake and long grass. In looking 
 around the walls, our eyes rested on a saddle, stirrups, 
 bridle, with leather leggings, and a tremendous tower 
 gun. 
 
 Sunday, the Gth of December, we attempted to pur- 
 sue our journey ; but the chief refused to allow us to 
 depart before he had demonstrated his good-will and 
 hospitality. He killed a heifer, and cooked it with f^^^ 
 onions. We satisfied our appetites, and made him an 
 appropriate present "We then departed ; arrived at 
 Naalah late in the afternoon. In the morning, a 
 trooper was at once dispatched to Musardu, to inform 
 
88 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 them that the Tibbabue (American) had come. la 
 two hours he returned, telling me that the Musardu 
 people requested that I would remain at Naalah until 
 they had made preparations for my reception. I im- 
 mediately sent them word that I had been so long com- 
 ing to see their country that I would rather forego any 
 public demonstration than be delayed any farther. I 
 was then answered to come on ; they would gladly re- 
 ceive me. 
 
 Accompanied by several Mandingoes from Naalah 
 and Mahommadu, we started for Musardu. Our inte- 
 rest in the journey was enlivened by the novel features 
 of the country. In passing through the Boozie coun- 
 try, extensive views were frequently obstructed by a 
 dense vegetation that hemmed in the sight on each side 
 of a narrow foot-path. Here the peculiar features of 
 the country are visible for miles. The towns and vil- 
 lages seated in the plains, people on foot and people on 
 horseback can be seen at a great distance, and have 
 more the air of light, life, and activity, than many 
 parts of the Boozie country, where the sombre gloom 
 of immense forests conceals all such things. The large 
 town of Du Quirlelah lay on our right, in the bosom of 
 some small hills. It lay on our right ; but from our 
 elevated position, it might well be said to lie under us. 
 Going on, we descried a long, whitish border, raised a 
 little above the height of a gentle slope. On drawing 
 nearer, it proved to be the top of the south-western 
 wall of Musardu. We fired our muskets, and entered 
 the town. We were led up a street, or narrow lane, 
 that brought us into the square in which the mosque 
 was situated. Here were gathered the king, Yomfee- 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 89 
 
 dolLa, and the principal men of the town, to receive 
 us. My Mandingo friends from Mahommadu opened 
 the civilities of introduction with an elaborate speech ; 
 stating where I had come from, and for what I had 
 come ; the power, learning, and wealth of the Tibba- 
 bues. One of my friends, Barki, from Mahommadu, 
 then engaged to swear for me, that I had come for 
 no ill purpose whatever, but that I was moved entirely 
 by an intelligent curiosity and friendly intercourse. 
 Dowilnyah's messengers then spoke in flattering terms 
 of my demeanor and liberality in their country, and 
 the wishes of the king, in consequence, that I should be 
 treated in every way befitting an illustrious stranger 
 and his particular guest. I had never before been so 
 complimented, and I became uneasy at the high impor- 
 tance attached to the Tibbabue visit, fearing that great 
 expectations in the way of dashes or presents might 
 be disappointed. For my bundles, bulky and preten- 
 tious in appearance, contained books, instruments, and 
 clothes, more than the means upon w4iich many hopes 
 were then founding and growing. After the speeches 
 were over, the king and his people gave me repeated 
 welcomes, with the peculiar privilege of doing at Mu- 
 sardu whatever I was accustomed to do at Monrovia, 
 a large liberty, granted only to distinguished strangers. 
 An infinite number of salaams and snapping of fingers 
 then followed. I was soon disposed of, with luggage and 
 carriers, in the king's court-yard, with a house similar 
 in structure and accommodation to the one at Maliom- 
 madu. We bad learned the art of domiciling ourselves 
 in these towns, and in fifteen minutes every thing wore 
 the appearance of our having lived there for years. A 
 
90 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 number of Mandingo girls came to sing and dance for 
 us, and we wasted some powder bj way of returning 
 the compliment. 
 
 As soon as night came on, we retired to rest ; but our 
 slumbers were disturbed bj a harper, who, in a tremu- 
 lous minor key, improvised that since Musardu had 
 been founded such a stranger had never visited it 
 The harp itself was a huge gourd, and a most unmusi- 
 cal " shell" it proved to be. It had three strings, the 
 thrummings of which disquieted me on two accounts. 
 First, the noise, intrinsically disagreeable. Secondly, 
 the expectations which that noise might be raising, as 
 the bard in his nocturne declared my many gracious 
 qualities, my courage, my wealth, and my liberality ; 
 upon the last two he dwelt with loud and repeated effort. 
 
 King Yomfeedolla in appearance has a mild, gentle 
 countenance. His features would please those who are 
 fond of a straight nose, broad forehead, thin lips, large 
 and intelligent eyes, and an oval chin. Like all the 
 Mandingoes, his skin is a smooth, glossy black. In 
 stature he is rather below the general towering height 
 of this tribe. He does not possess the fiery energy of, 
 his royal Boozie brother, Dowilnyah, who, though 
 many years his senior, far excels him in that respect. 
 
 In all councils Yomfeedolla seems to be entirely a 
 listener, and to be directed and influenced by the older 
 members of the royal family. He is said to be a great 
 warrior ; but the evidences around Musardu prove that 
 if he is, he must belong to the unfortunate class of that 
 profession. 
 
 The usaal apparel or dress of the Mandingoes con- 
 sists of four pieces — two pieces as a shirt and vest, an 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 91 
 
 one large coat or toga worn over all ; one pair of 
 Turkish-shaped trowsers coming a little below the 
 knees : sandals for the feet, which are sometimes beau- 
 tifully worked ; and a three-cornered cap for the head. 
 These articles, made and worn as a Mandingo only can 
 make and wear them, leave nothing to be desired, 
 either as to taste and utility. This is said so far as the 
 men are concerned. But I must deplore a fashion ob- 
 served by the women, in wrapping up their faces and 
 bodies in a manner truly ungraceful, and unhealthy, 
 too. 
 
 Musardu is an exceedingly healthy place ; there was 
 not one prostrate, sickly person in the town. There 
 is, however, a disease which sometimes attacks indivi- 
 duals in a peculiar way ; it is an affection of the throat, 
 causing a protuberance almost similar to what is called 
 the "kings evil." I inquired the cause, and they 
 imputed it to something that impregnates the water 
 during the height of the dry season, being the time 
 when it mostly seizes persons. 
 
 The atmosphei^ of Musardu is very dry, and had a 
 very favorable effect upon my watches, which were 
 declared at Monrovia to be out of order; but as soon as 
 I reached Musardu, every one of them began to tick 
 away in a clear and ringing manner. 
 
 Musardu, the capital of the Western Mandingoes, is 
 in latitude 8° 27' 11' N., longitude 8° 24' 30" W. ; it 
 is elevated two thousand feet above the level of the sea, 
 and is situated amid gentle hills and slopes. North 
 and north-east two very high hills tower above the rest 
 several hundred feet The population is between seven 
 and eight thousand, but the many villages and hamlets 
 
92 A JOUENEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 increase it to a greater proportion. In the days of its 
 prosperity, and before it had suffered from the damag- 
 ing effects of war, it had occupied a larger space, and 
 was not surrounded by any wall. Though it has lost 
 its former importance, Musardu is still considered as the 
 capital of the "Western Mandingoes, and its name is 
 never mentioned but in terms of patriotism and respect. 
 I often heard the old men of the town regret its past 
 power and wealth. They told me that what I then 
 saw of Musardu was only the ruins of a former pros- 
 perity. The town is laid off irregularly, with very 
 narrow and sometimes winding lanes or streets. These 
 lanes or streets cross each other in such a way as to 
 give access to any part of the town. The houses are 
 built facing the lanes, and the rear space is used as a 
 yard for horses and cattle. In the south-western part 
 of the town is the mosque. The walls having been 
 injured by the weather, they had commenced to repair 
 it. It is a quadrilateral building, surrounded by an 
 oval -shaped wall, which is carried up eight feet, and 
 upon which rest the rafters of a large [conical thatch- 
 roof. The interior space is thirty-two feet long and 
 twenty -two feet wide, and nine feet high. It is laid off 
 in four compartments, by three intermediate walls run- 
 ning the length of the building. These separate spaces 
 communicate with each other by three doors or open- 
 ings in each intermediate wall. I do not know the 
 purpose of the divisions, unless it is to grade the faith- 
 ful. It can scarcely accommodate more than one hun- 
 dred and twenty 'persons, and must therefore be devoted 
 to the most pious, or the leaders or teachers of Islam. 
 On Monday, the 14th of December, 1868, the King 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 93 
 
 Vomfeedolla held a military demonstration. He had 
 summoned his infantry and cavalry from the nearest 
 towns of Billelah, Yokkadu, Naalah, and Mahommadu. 
 The exercises commenced about two o'clock p.m., in 
 the large square of the town. The spectators and mu- 
 sicians had already assembled. All at once a trooper 
 dashed past at full speed, as if he was reconnoitring 
 the enemy. Several others followed, dispersing in 
 different directions. The position of the enemy seem- 
 ing to be determined, they soon returned. The trum- 
 pet then sounded, and a grand cavalry charge took place. 
 Eiding up in line, with musket in hand, they would 
 deliver their fire, and canter off to the right and left, 
 in order to allow the rear lines to do the same. As 
 soon as the firing was over, they slung their muskets, 
 and, rising in the saddle, drew their long knives in one 
 hand and their crooked swords in the other ; the horse, 
 now urged to a headlong gallop by the voice, carries 
 his rider, standing in the stirrups, with furious velocity 
 into the heat of the battle. Such are the evolutions of 
 the Mandingo cavalry. Their equipment is quite com- 
 plete. They use saddles and bridles, and a peculiar and 
 powerful bit ; short stirrups ; leather leggings, to which 
 iron spurs are attached. The cavalry from all the 
 towns, according to various reports, ought to amount 
 to fifteen hundred. 
 
 In their open country, where the action of cavalry 
 is greatly facilitated by the long, gentle slopes, and 
 wide, treeless plains, they would be no mean enemy. 
 They often dismount, in order to act on foot. Each 
 horse has a boy attendant to take care of him while 
 his master is thus engaged. In real action, I have 
 
94: A JOUKNEY TO MUSAEDU. 
 
 been informed, the little boys of the defeated party 
 often suffer the penalty of their participation. Yet 
 these dangers do not deter the little fellows from going ; 
 for they are frequently able to ride off the field as soon 
 as any symptoms of defeat are perceived. 
 
 The king seems to act for the most part with the in- 
 fantry, for he rode in front and led them on. They 
 came in deep array, and with great clamor, but with- 
 out organization, being directed solely by a flag or 
 ensign of blue cloth. I was sorry that I had no flag 
 of ours to present them. 
 
 After their exercises were over, they requested us to 
 fire our muskets ; upon which we delivered regular 
 volleys with bayonets fixed, both to their astonishment 
 and delight, caused by the quickness with which we 
 loaded our pieces, our certainty of fire — unlike their 
 fusees, which were continually snapping — and the 
 deeper report of our guns. As soon as all the exer- 
 cises were finished, the king then distributed the pre- 
 sents I had given him to the chiefs of the several mili- 
 tary divisions. 
 
 Tuesday, the 15th of December, 1868. My Man- 
 dingo friends began to press me to trade with them. 
 I informed them that I had nothing to trade with ; 
 that my gifts to the king and the principal men of the 
 town had exhausted my means so closely as to scarcely 
 leave me sufficient to enable me to return home. No- 
 thing could convince them that I had not pieces of 
 handkerchiefs and calicoes concealed in my bundles. 
 They tried every method to induce me to trade; they 
 carried me to their houses and would get out their 
 small leathern bags ; these bagsi^contained from ten to 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 95 
 
 fifteen large twisted gold rings, ("sannue.'') They 
 then offered me horses, and finally concluded by offer- 
 ing to sell me some pretty female slaves. I informed 
 them that the Tibbabues did not keep slaves ; that I 
 had not come to trade, but merely to visit their coun- 
 try ; that upon my return home I would persuade 
 my people to come and trade with them. At the pros- 
 pect of a number of Tibbabues coming to their coun- 
 try to trade, they were exceedingly satisfied. 
 
 From trade we passed to war and politics, and 
 having satisfied all their inquiries in these two parti- 
 cular points with respect to the Tibbabues, they made 
 me acquainted with some of their wars and feuds. 
 They had a special cause of grievance against a certain 
 Mandingo chief whose name was Ibrahima, or Blamer 
 Sissa, and who lived north-east, and three days' walk 
 from Musardu, at a large town called Madina. 
 
 It appears that Blamer Sissa came from Madina to 
 visit his uncle, Amalah, who was then residing at 
 Musardu, and that he was treated with great civility 
 and distinction by the Musardu people ; that being a 
 powerful young prince, they solicited his aid against 
 some Kaffres, or unbelievers, living over the eastern 
 hills ; that in compliance with their solicitation he 
 went back to Madina, and soon returned to Musardu, 
 bringing with him his cavalry and infantry, a nume- 
 rous and forn^able mass, who, in the end, came nigh 
 doing their friends at Musardu as much evil as they 
 had done the Kaffres, whom they had mutually agreed 
 to plunder. 
 
 Blamer Sissa stripped Musardu of every thing valu- 
 
96 A JOURNEY- TO MUSARDU. 
 
 able, and even carried off nearly all the pretty young 
 women of that town. 
 
 On Thursday, the 16th of December, 1868, at seven 
 o'clock P.M., Chancellor came running to my house to 
 inform me that several suspicious persons, with their 
 horses or jackasses, were lurking about the north-west- 
 ern side of the town ; that they had sought admit- 
 tance, but it had been refused them ; that they had re- 
 ported themselves traders, but the town people were 
 on the alert, believing them to be Blamer Sissa's spies, 
 who were only skulking around in order to gain all 
 the intelligence they could, and carry it to their friends, 
 who were supposed to be in strong force behind the 
 north-eastern hills. Next morning, Friday, the 17th. 
 of December, the strange people were indeed seen on 
 a hill north-west of the town, and cold must have 
 been the sleep they had of it the previous night, for 
 the thermometer stood at 52° at four a.m. A council 
 was held to decide how to act. Some proposed to send 
 the young men out to kill them. Afterward it was 
 more wisely determined to go out and order them to 
 take their traffic and depart with it at once. 
 
 We accordingly went out, and after the usual saluta- 
 tions, they were given plainly to understand that neither 
 they nor their trade could enter Musardu, and that they 
 must depart without delay. But our strange merchants 
 were not to be frightened off in that n^nner. They 
 insisted that they had come for no evil purpose what- 
 ever, but simply to prosecute their trade. The con- 
 ferences were prolonged until midday. While the 
 conversation was going on, I had an opportunity to 
 survey the suspicious group of new-comers. It con- 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 97 
 
 sisted of two sturdy little jackasses, with enormous 
 packs, containing what looked like, and afterward 
 proved to be French blue baft, and five men. The 
 one who acted as guide and interpreter was one of 
 Blamer Sissa's people, and he alone served to confirm 
 our suspicions. The other four were tall, black, good- 
 featured people. One of them had his face and head 
 bound up with a piece of white cotton, after the pecu- 
 liar manner of some of the Arabs of the desert. They 
 were all Mohammedans. I learned that they had come 
 from the Senegal, had been to Futtah, passed through 
 Kanghkah, and had obtained this guide from Madina, 
 to show them to Musardu. I began to be interested ia 
 them. The Musardu people, however, remained deaf 
 to every argument, and the Senegal merchants were 
 compelled to pack their bundles on their asses, and go. 
 Nay, the town people, to assure themselves of their 
 going, followed them some distance. But the sight of 
 such large bundles in such a time of need and self-in- 
 terest, had sown the seeds of discord ; and there was 
 much contention now among the Musardu people them- 
 selves. Some were for allowing the merchants to 
 enter the town. Others opposed it, alleging that such 
 were always the artifices of Blamer Sissa when he 
 wished to take a strong town ; that he always sent 
 some of his people ahead, who, under pretext of wish- 
 ing to trade, introduced themselves into the town in 
 order to open the gates at night to his forces. The 
 contention grew so warm that they even came to 
 blows. 
 
 On Saturday, the 19th of December, about nine 
 o'clock A.U., pewsjjap^e to the town that the merchants 
 5 
 
98 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 had returned. We went out and found it really so ; and 
 when the order was repeated to them to go away, they 
 absolutely refused, declaring that they had come to 
 trade ; that having left neither mother nor wife behind, 
 the Musardu people might kill them if they wished to 
 do so. Their firmness overcame the first determination 
 of the Musardu people, who, after nearly having an- 
 other quarrel among themselves, gave the merchants 
 leave to trade outside of the town — a permission 
 with which our Senegal friends seemed to be quite 
 satisfied. It was difficult at the first to make out who 
 our merchants were 'No one could understand their 
 language except the Mandingo interpreter from Ma- 
 dina, and it was this man who caused them to be se- 
 riously suspected, for he was one of Blamer Sissa's 
 soldiers. These poor merchants, therefore, might have 
 been subserving Blamer Sissa's purposes, without the 
 least knowledge of it themselves. It was solely their 
 interpreter that marked them as suspected persons. 
 
 On Monday, the 21st of December, our Musardu 
 friends, after all their blustering determination against 
 the merchants, admitted them into the town. Interest 
 and avarice overcame all their patriotism and caution. 
 The two jackass-loads of goods, not unlike the Trojan 
 horse, were dragged into the town, and if Blamer Sissa 
 had any designs on Musardu, they were accomplished. 
 
 Both in policy and energy Blamer Sissa seemed su- 
 perior to the Musardu people ; for in addition to the 
 trouble he had already given them, and even the re- 
 cent threats he had made, he knew how to introduce 
 his own people in the town, who could give any 
 intelligence with respect to Musardu he might desire. 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 99 
 
 He is not the first prince who has taken a city by 
 means of a jackass-load of merchandise. The Musardu 
 people sent a thundering message of defiance and in- 
 sult to Blamer Sissa, making the largest use of me to 
 back it up. They sent him word that they were not 
 at all dependent on him for trade or any thing else ; 
 that the Tibbabues were about to open trade with 
 them, and would be their fi:iends in peace and war ; 
 that even then a Tibbabue was negotiating that parti- 
 cular business in Musardu. They then took pains to 
 exhibit the arms and means with which the destruction 
 of Madina might sooner or later be accomplished. My 
 muskets with their bayonets, my revolvers, and my 
 person, were severally shown as designed for that espe- 
 cial object. 
 
 I was purposely questioned aloud as to the military 
 resources of the Tibbabues : the little guns that fired 
 any number of times without loading, and the big guns 
 that burnt up cities at the distance of miles. I gave 
 such answers as I hope will make Blamer Sissa less 
 troublesome to Musardu for the future. 
 
 It might be thought impolitic that I did not refrain 
 from expressing myself as being in either party's favor. 
 In this part of Africa, if hostilities are lukewarm, neu- 
 trality is possible; but where it burns with the flame 
 of recent and bitter injuries, you are absorbed by cither 
 one side or the other, or torn in pieces by both. 
 
 The Musardu people are unfortunately situated. On 
 the north they expect war with Blamer Sissa, and on 
 the east hostilities have never ceased; the west and 
 south-west are still open to them. It is the latter direc- 
 tion that opens itself to our enterprise, and promises 
 
100 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 raucli to our commercial prosperitj. The chief articles 
 of trade are gold, bullocks, hides, horses, and country 
 cloths of every variety of dye and texture. Gold is 
 worn extravagantly by the Man dingo ladies of Mu- 
 sardu. Their earrings are so large and weighty as to 
 require a narrow piece of leather to brace them up to 
 their head-bands, so that the part of the ring in the 
 ear may not make an unseemly hole, as sometimes 
 happens when this necessary support is neglected. 
 Gold is certainly abundant, and would form a lucrative 
 trade between Musardu and Liberia. I gave twelve 
 sheets of writing-paper (kahtahsee) and four yards of 
 calico for a large gold twist ring. Had I came pur- 
 posely to trade, and had gone through the usual prac- 
 tice of "jewing down," I could have purchased it for 
 less. These rings are perfectly pure, the natives never 
 mixing any kind of alloy in the manufacturing of them. 
 Many of my friends wondered at my maKing presents 
 of watches, music-boxes, and calicoes when the articles 
 might have been exchanged for gold or slaves ; but as 
 I was determined that the money should be religiously 
 appropriated to the purpose for which it was sent out, 
 I steadily refused every proffer, excepting such few 
 things as I could conveniently bring back as samples 
 of the production and industry of the country. 
 
 To carry on trade safely, free from the risks and 
 interruptions incident to a country peopled by bar- 
 barians and semi-barbarians, and divided into so many 
 jarring interests, it would be necessary to establish four 
 trading forts — two in the Boozie and Barline countries, 
 whicb would purchase country cloths, raw cotton, cam- 
 wood, rice, palm-oil, etc. ; and two in the Mandingo coun- 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 101 
 
 try,where gold, bullocks, country cloths, and horses could 
 be purchased at such rates as would amply remunerate 
 for all the trouble, expense, and consumption of time 
 necessary in such traffic. The individuals living in the 
 forts would be abundantly supplied with food, as rice 
 is produced in surplus quantities in the Boozie and 
 Barline countries. Even the expense of clothing would 
 be trifling, if they would use the cloth of the country. 
 The natives declare that they would be glad to have 
 such establishments among them. These forts would 
 also second and strengthen any missionary effort that 
 might be made out there ; indeed, the two establish- 
 ments could be made to work admirably together. 
 The support, protection, and moral and material influ- 
 ence which would be exerted in the respective opera- 
 tions of each, would insure permanence and success. 
 We would do well to commence the use of jackasses ; 
 indeed, it would be indispensable for the portage or 
 transportation of luggage. The Senegal traders at 
 Musardu carried very large packs of blue cotton on 
 their two sturdy little animals. Horses and bullocks 
 would form no unimportant part of the trade. Ma- 
 hommadu is a regular beef-market. 
 
 The auriferous or gold district of this part of Man- 
 ding is said to be principally at Buley. Upon my first 
 inquiry, I was told that Buley was a week's journey 
 eastward; but upon my continuing to prosecute my 
 inquiries respecting that country, Buley was imme- 
 diately removed one week's walk further, making it 
 two weeks' walk, and through hostile and dangerous 
 districts, the people of which, as my Musardu friends 
 informed me, would exact toll from me for passing 
 
102 A JOURNEY TO MUSAKDU. 
 
 through their countr3^ Every difficulty was conjured 
 up that was conceived to be sufficient to extinguish all 
 interest for further inquiry, or to intimidate my going 
 in that direction. 
 
 However, my Mandingo cousins have no doubt mis- 
 represented the whole matter ; for gold not only exists 
 at Buley, but right there in their own country — other- 
 wise I do not think it could be so plentiful among 
 themselves, since they have little or no communication 
 with the east. 
 
 At Buley, it is found mixed iti fine grains with the 
 superficial deposit. No one is allowed to sweep or 
 pick up any thing in another's yard. The gold is 
 separated by fanning and washing ; it is then smelted 
 and twisted, and ready for sale or use. They show 
 some skill and taste in the preparation of these rings, 
 and they are really worth their weight in gold. Our 
 friends are sometimes equally skillful in preparing coun- 
 terfeits, as my nitric acid had several occasions to prove. 
 Impositions of this kind are generally punished by heavy 
 fines. 
 
 In going to Buley, you pass successively Bendalah — 
 where a very fine species of country cloth is made, of 
 striped figure, and usually worn by the women — Tan- 
 galah, Tutah, and Grehway. Now, if these towns are 
 situated from each other at the usual distance of Afri- 
 cans — namely, a day's walk — Buley is but four days' 
 walk east from Musardu, which I take to be the fact, 
 despite the industry of my friends to prove to the con- 
 trary. Unlike Musardu, it is a wooded country. This 
 fact may give us some idea of the extent of those tree- 
 less hills and plains eastward. They are said to extend 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 103 
 
 further north than in any other direction, where, indeed, 
 cow-dung is used for fuel. The population of Buley 
 is] Mandingo. Gold is also obtained north of Blamer 
 Sissa's town, at Wasalah. 
 
 My friends now tried again to provoke me to trade, 
 offering the same articles they had offered before — gold, 
 horses, and female slaves. Indeed, this is all the Man- 
 dingoes of Musardu had to offer by way of trade. Not 
 a bullock or a country cloth was to be seen, though, 
 these things are notoriously the articles of merchandise 
 belonging to Musardu. Every thing liable to be seized 
 in war, from its being too bulky to be quickly removed 
 or concealed, sad experience has taught them to keep 
 out of reach, in some jfriendly Boozie town in the rear 
 of the Yukkah hills ; while nothing but the war-horse, 
 and articles easy to be hid or carried off, are kept at 
 Musardu. At every house can be seen muskets, cut- 
 lasses, powder-horns, war-belts, and war-coats, a power- 
 ful large bow, and four or five large quivers filled with 
 poisoned arrows. I have seen them prepare the poi- 
 son with which the points of the arrows are smeared 
 over. It is a vegetable poison, consisting of one bul- 
 bous root twice as large as an onion, and two different 
 kinds of small vines. It is boiled in a pot to a thick 
 or gummy consistence, the color of which is black. It 
 is said to be so fatal that if it wounds so much as the 
 tip end of the fingers, it is certain death. The preparers 
 of this fearful means of savage warfare but too clearly 
 explained to me its effects before death completely en- 
 sues: the bleeding at the nose and ears; its nauseous 
 attack on the stomach, and consequent spitting; the 
 final despair of the individual in lying down, with his 
 
104 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 eyes set in a vacant death-stare — all of which was imi- 
 tated with a terrible fidelity to the truth, and as one 
 of the most horrible means of barbarous warfare. 
 
 This part of Mandingo is the country of the horse. 
 There are two sizes : the large horse, used for show and 
 parade, and the small horse, used for war. The latter 
 is a hardy, strong little animal, capable, in his country, 
 of bearing great fatigue. In battle, I am informed, be 
 kicks and bites in a furious manner, and that when his 
 master makes a capture of a fine young lady, he will- 
 ingly receives the additional burden, and gallops off 
 faster than ever. These horses are certainly well treated 
 and cared for ; and if Musardu is not characteristic for 
 cleanliness, it is because the horse and his master equally 
 occupy and almost equally litter up that capital. 
 
 I tried my best to obtain some data by which an ap- 
 proximate notion might be formed of the age of the 
 city ; but in matters of chronology our friends have 
 been sadly careless. None of them could give the least 
 intelligent hint. They said that the grandfather of the 
 oldest man in the town declared that the town was 
 there when he was born, and that all the other towns 
 sprang from this one. Its antiquity is an undoubted 
 matter among themselves. I was shown their large 
 market-place outside of the town, a few hundred yards 
 from the south-western gate. From the space it occu- 
 pied, it would easily have contained eight or ten thou- 
 sand people. The respective places where each com- 
 modity was exhibited for sale was pointed out : country 
 cloths, cattle, gold, (dust and manufactured,) slaves,, 
 grain, salt, of which there were two kinds — the slab or 
 rock-salt, which came on camels from the north-east, 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 105 
 
 and our fine salt, gotten from the coast ; ostrich feathers ; 
 leather, in the beautiful and soft tanning of which the 
 Mandingoes are particularly expert ; ivory, cotton, to- 
 bacco, and an infinite variety of domestic articles were 
 all named, and the different places where they were 
 sold designated. 
 
 But war has abolished every sign of this commercial 
 activity and life, and has introduced in its stead a barren 
 space filled with weeds, grass, and the broken skulls 
 and skeletons of enemies — a desperate battle having 
 been fought there between the Musardu people, aided 
 by Blamer Sissa, and the eastern Mandingoes. 
 
 The soil of the hills of Musardu is composed of red- 
 dish clay and sand, with boulders of iron ore intermixed. 
 On the north-eastern side of the town are some large 
 masses of black and gray granite. The plains are a 
 whitish clay, and the very soil for a plow, being free 
 from almost every obstruction. The light tillage of 
 the natives never goes more than four or five inches, 
 with their little short-handled hoes. 
 
 About February or March, and sometimes sooner, 
 the high grass and wild cane are cut down, to rot and 
 manure the soil. Near the planting season, these vege- 
 table fertilizers are turned in with the hoe ; and from 
 the crops of rice, of which there are three kinds, pota- 
 toes, groundnuts, onions, peas and beans, large gourds, 
 corn, pumpkins, etc., it must answer abundantly the 
 purposes of agriculture. Tobacco is grown in plots, 
 wherever a stream of water offers itself for frequent 
 irrigation. The rubbish and ashes of the town form 
 excellent beds for this plant. They are generally laid 
 out with great care, and watered three times a day. 
 5* 
 
106 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 The Mandingoes are the great tobacco-raisers and snuff- 
 makers of the country. They supply both themselves 
 and the Boozies. 
 
 Musardu is singularly free from grasshoppers, rats, 
 and mice, owing to the number of hawks that crowd 
 the limbs of a solitary tree that may be standing here 
 and there. Want of trees compels them to perch them- 
 selves on rocks, and when these are all occupied, they 
 may be seen to cover the ground in dark patches. 
 There are also large birds that particularly belong to 
 the grassy plains of Musardu. They go in flocks of 
 eight or twelve. In size, they are as large as American 
 geese, and, on account of their weight, do not fly very 
 high, nor do they make long passages at a time. When 
 they alight on the ground, they are enabled, by the 
 length of their necks, to discover you before you can get 
 within gunshot of them. Their hearing, however, is not 
 very acute ; for we have often crept up the brow of the 
 hill, and come upon them suddenly. They are a very 
 sagacious and shy bird ; and though I and my Congoes 
 tried our marksmanship many times, we were entirely 
 unable to procure one of them. The Mandingoes are 
 scarcely ever able to kill them. Their color is white, 
 with a black band across their back and wings; and 
 when flying, their leader never ceases to make a cawing 
 noise. They are very gawky in their movements when 
 walking on the ground, caused by their long necks, 
 giving their heads a deliberative nod with every step 
 they take. 
 
 The Mandingoes are very attentive to their farming 
 interests. They are, however, more given to trade 
 than to manual labor. The leading vice of a Mandingo 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 107 
 
 is avarice, which, by however much it is stimulated, the 
 present state of the country affords him but little means 
 to gratify. Nothing can be accumulated among them- 
 selves that war does not instantly dissipate. JSTever- 
 theless, they arc quick and intelligent, easy to be 
 managed by persuasion, and they offer to Liberia a 
 more speedy prospect of assimilation and union than 
 any other tribe with which I am acquainted. A strong 
 moral advantage is already gained, from their being a 
 reading and writing people, practicing a communication 
 of ideas and an interchange of thought by means of the 
 Arabic. They have a natural reverence for learning 
 and mental superiority, and they never fail to respect 
 it, whether it accords with their belief or not. No 
 rudeness, no indecent and wrangling intolerance, was 
 ever shown me during my stay among them. No differ- 
 ence of religion ever made them diminish the respect, 
 attention, and hospitality which they conceived were 
 due me. One of my Congo carriers is of the Baptist 
 persuasion, and he used to make himself heard every 
 morning, even to my own annoyance, by loud orisons. 
 Still, our Mohammedan Mandingoes said nothing. It 
 was respected as a prayer, and it was known to be a 
 Christian prayer. 
 
 On the 19th of December, I visited Billelah Kaifal, 
 Kandah's native town. In size it is nearly as large as 
 Musardu. The houses are in a better condition ; but 
 in all other respects it resembles the parent city — the 
 narrow lanes, horse stables, gardens, etc. The town 
 seemed densely populated, at least with children. 
 
 The next day we started from Billelah for our homo, 
 Musardu, visiting on our way another town, Yockkadu. 
 
108 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 This town is about a quarter of tlie size of Musardu, 
 and similar in its arrangements, customs, and habits. 
 The chief of this town, Yawfulla, proved to be very 
 hospitable. 
 
 On Sunday, the 21st of December, my Boozie atten- 
 dants grew impatient to return home, and even prepared 
 to leave me. I gave them full liberty to go if they 
 wished, since I did not intend to make the least move 
 until I had finished my business. The sky had been so 
 hazy as to prevent my taking any observations. The 
 fine dust of the Harmattans, together with the vast 
 volumes of smoke and cinders from the grassy hills and 
 plains that were burning, rendered it a difficult matter 
 to take observations. This was the cause of my delay- 
 ing to return, and the consequent dissatisfaction of my 
 Boozies, a people who are not willing to be kept from 
 their homes any length of time. Cliancellor, however, 
 was enabled to appease their impatience by three yards 
 of calico. 
 
 Having now exhausted the time, as well as almost 
 all the means which had been assigned to carry out 
 this expedition, I began to think of returning home ; 
 yet I must confess there was nothing more contrary to 
 my wishes. Had it not been that family responsibilities 
 demanded my return home, I should have still, with 
 or without means, prosecuted my journey eastward — 
 a direction which I have always had the presentiment 
 contains the prosperity and welfare of Liberia. 
 
 On Friday, the 25th of December, at eight A.M., we 
 bade farewell to Musardu, and arrived at Mahommadu at 
 six P.M. Here we passed several days, in order to take 
 
A JOURNEY 'JO MUSARDU. 109 
 
 observations and to see the market. This market is 
 held every Wednesday, outside of the eastern wall. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 30tb, this market took place. It 
 contained three hundred head of cattle, which were 
 offered at three or four dollars a head in our money. 
 The usual articles of rice, onions, palm-oil, cotton, coun- 
 try cloths, tobacco, and iron were present. There were 
 a number of slaves for sale, especially children. A 
 pretty little Mandingo girl, about nine years of age, 
 was sent to my house with one of my boys, in order 
 that I might purchase her. She cost 9000 kolu, or 
 about $15 in our money. I was curious to know how 
 she became a slave, as Mandingoes are seldom ever 
 enslaved. I declined to buy her, on the ground that 
 Tibbabues never held slaves. The child herself seemed 
 to be disappointed ; for she showed that she preferred 
 falling into my hands in preference to her own people. 
 The Mandingoes are harsher with their slaves than the 
 Boozies. Among the Boozies it is difficult to distin- 
 guish the slaves by any mark of dress or usage ; but 
 the Mandingoes, though not excessively cruel, have 
 drawn the lines of difference in so strong a manner 
 that you can not fail to perceive them. 
 
 A great many cattle remained unsold. The season 
 of the dries is very severe on them, and they some- 
 times die from overdriving. Several died the next 
 day after the market was over. They are the large, 
 reddish, long-horned cattle, which we usually buy 
 from the interior. The highlands, from which they 
 come, explains why they do not thrive so well as the 
 black, short-homed, and sturdy cattle of the coast, 
 known among us as the " leeward cattle." 
 
110 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 It was at this town that I first experienced the hos- 
 pitality of these people in their own country. Our 
 Mandingoes are Mohammedans ; but they have an in- 
 vincible partiality for Tibbabues, who are known to 
 be Christians, and the people of the book. It is also 
 well known that there is some difference in the creeds 
 or beliefs ; yet the nnbelieving Tibbabue is sure to be 
 housed, fed, and befriended in a manner that is not 
 always practiced among the faithful themselves. 
 
 While they were repairing the wall of Mahommadu, 
 I was requested to carry some of the mortar and place 
 it in the wall, that it might be said that " a Tibbabue 
 helped to build these walls." I contributed all I could 
 to make them impregnable. 
 
 During our stay there, we were also taken to their 
 foundry, where they were busily engaged in preparing 
 iron for the market. The pieces of pure iron taken 
 from the furnaces are again heated ; they are then re- 
 duced to a long triangular shape by pounding them 
 with large, heavy stones — a process simple and laborious 
 enough, and a work which is entirely left for the slaves. 
 
 Blacksmithing, such as the making of stirrups, bits, 
 spurs, etc., is done by the Mandingoes themselves, as 
 being a mechanical art too noble to be performed by 
 slaves. 
 
 On Thursday, the 31st of December, we left Mahom- 
 madu, and reached Vukkah at half-past four o'clock 
 P.M. We were now among the Boozies again. The 
 Vukkah hills run N. E. and S.W. The towns of Ma- 
 hommadu and Yukkah stand at the very foot of the 
 south-eastern slope. I am informed that many other 
 Mandingo and Boozie towns are situated on the same 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. Ill 
 
 side of this range. At Mahommadu, the plain, in a 
 south-east direction, is only interrupted by swells and 
 rolling hills, rising and running in every direction, and 
 marked by no particular feature, except the reddish 
 color of the soil, and their summits ridged with the 
 dwarfish prairie tree before mentioned. The plains are 
 white clay, mixed with beds of iron ore. At Mahom- 
 madu, the south-east slope strikes the plain at a great 
 angle ; but at Yukkah, it rests upon a series of small 
 table-lands that extend out a half mile before they 
 finally come down into the plains. The vast spaces of 
 grass and reddish soil are relieved by patches of dense 
 vegetation, marking the gullies and ravines. Heavy 
 blocks of granite are set in the sides of the Vukkah 
 hills, awaiting only to be loosened by the rains to roll 
 from their places to the bottom. At night, the whole 
 country ^ems on fire, from the burning of the grass. 
 
 On January 1st, 1869, we left Vukkah, and reached 
 Ballatah at two P.M. On the road, we passed several 
 streams of water, flowing over granite beds, with a 
 temperature of 58° to G0°, Fahrenheit. We had also 
 passed over three plains, rising one above another, in 
 which lines of trees traced off curious plots and divi- 
 sions, as if they were purposely laid out for farming. 
 The spaces were filled in with green grass and scatter- 
 ing clumps of trees. 
 
 January 2d. From Ballatah, we traveled to the vil- 
 lage of Gazzahbue. 
 
 January 3d, 1869. From Gazzahbue, we reached 
 Gubbewallah, Dowilnyah's residence. The king was 
 still tt Ziggah Porrah Zue; but in three days he re- 
 turned to his own town. Here, though anxious to 
 
112 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 hasten home, I was obliged to spend some time ; since 
 it is contrary to politeness to hurrj away from the 
 town of a great chief without having resided with him 
 two or three weeks. All my friends who had arrived 
 from Ziggah Porrah Zue were delighted to see me, and 
 they began to grow solicitous about my returning to 
 their country again. Promises of all kinds were made 
 if I would return ; promises of a very peculiar kind 
 were made by the king if I would only return. 
 
 The ladies of Wymar seemed no less anxious respect- 
 ing me ; and they frequently asked me why, since I 
 possessed the means of making so many presents, I 
 did not have a number of women to sing and clap 
 hands and proclaim my importance, after the fashion 
 of their great men. To which I replied that such was 
 not the custom of '' Weegees," or Americans. They 
 were, however, unwilling that I should g(f through 
 their country " unhonored and unsung ;" they therefore 
 proposed to compliment me with this custom, and 
 merrily fell to clapping and singing ; then raising their 
 rigbt hands to the sky, rent the air with their acclama- 
 tions of praise and flattery. 
 
 On Monday, the 25th of January, we took leave of King 
 Dowilnyah. The king presented us with several large 
 country cloths, and a very large and heavy ivory. 
 He had also sent for a korse ; but we declined receiving 
 the presents, as we had no one to carry them. He would 
 have furnished us carriers, had it not been that they 
 would have to pass through the Domars, with whom 
 they were not on friendly terms. 
 
 About four o'clock p.m., we reached Boe. Here we 
 spent a day to rest. On Wednesday, the 27th Janu- 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 113 
 
 ary, at four o'clock p.m., we came to ISTubbewah's town. 
 King Nubbewah was not at home when we arrived ; 
 but late in the afternoon this sick and feeble old man 
 came stalking into the town, followed by his head war- 
 rior, and a number of young men, all armed. 
 
 In the evening they held a council, and Nubbewah 
 himself delivered a speech with a violence of gesture 
 and voice that little corresponded with the languid, 
 sickly frame from which it came. Mischief was brew- 
 ing ; but where or on whom it would first light, no one 
 of our party could conjecture. We only hoped that it 
 would keep to its first purposes, and not fall on us. 
 
 It was a very clear moonlight. About twelve o'clock, 
 Chancellor, who was generally very vigilant whenever 
 there happened to be an unusual stir among the na- 
 tives, detected one of the young men, with his cutlass 
 gleaming in the moonlight, stealthily lifting up our 
 door-mat. He was suddenlj^ questioned as to what he 
 wanted, which threw him into such confusion that he 
 was only able to stammer out something about fire, and 
 quickly withdrew. Several persons were then seen pass- 
 ing and repassing in the king's court-yard. We imme- 
 diately concluded that such movements boded no good 
 to us. We aroused our party, and prepared for a gene- 
 ral onslaught, which we every moment expected ; such 
 being the usual method of these people's attacks. 
 Nubbewah's town contains three thousand people, 
 men, women, and children. The houses are crowded 
 together. The king's own department is shut off fronri 
 the rest of the town by high fences, and strongly 
 guarded with a number of large Mandingo dogs. It 
 is every way so situated that a petty wickedness can be 
 
114 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 committed covertly and conveniently enough, and no- 
 body be the wiser. 
 
 All the houses are bamboo, and would burn like tin- 
 der. I therefore instructed my people that, should 
 Nubbewah attack us, we must immediately set fire to 
 the house we were in, and discharge our muskets into 
 those who came at us first ; that amid the hubbub of 
 fire, smoke, and fighting, our chances for escape would 
 be as good as any one else's ; that we must make for 
 the gate nearest to our house, and march all night for 
 Bokkasah. Our knapsacks were strapped on, our 
 muskets in hand, and the torches blazing in the fire. 
 There was more passing and repassing and distinct 
 whisperings. Success with these people depends upon 
 surprise; our bustling preparation placed a surprise 
 entirely out of the question. In fifteen minutes all 
 was quiet. Every one instinctively felt that the dan- 
 gerous moment had passed ; yet we kept on our guard. 
 
 The next morning we went to the king, who put on 
 a most intelligent innocence. We made him a small 
 present and immediately left his town. We arrived at 
 Bokkasah at four o'clock p.m. 
 
 So far as the matter of carrying arms is concerned, it 
 is always better to observe the usage of the natives. 
 Arms always form a part of the dress of barbarians. 
 The more formidable you can make yourself appear, 
 the better for your peace and safety on these highways 
 of African travel. To seem harmless does not always 
 invoke forbearance; it sometimes suggests plots and 
 attempts on life and property. It was that too much 
 reliance on the simple-heartedness and good feelings of 
 untutored barbarians that got Seymore's right hand 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 115 
 
 nearly slashed off. It is preferable to try every way 
 to induce their good-will, and at the same time to ap- 
 pear to be ready to resist their ill-will. Every person 
 I met on the road was girded with a heavy iron sword, 
 a quiver thrown over the shoulders full of poisoned 
 arrows, and a powerful bow. Adopting this example, 
 I became a moving arsenal. I walked through the 
 whole Boozie country with my bayonet fixed to my 
 musket, my revolvers belted so as to be seen and 
 feared at the same time, my sword swinging and clang- 
 ing at my side; and when, to prove my pt^estige in 
 arms, I was asked to fire my revolvers, I would draw 
 and blaze away, several barrels going off almost at the 
 same time — a serious defect, to be sure, but regarded in a 
 very different light by my friends. The bulging full- 
 ness of my country coat was attributed to the conceal- 
 ment of similar arms, ready to go off at all points. 
 This swaggering style was not without effect ; for it was 
 said that I had money to give my friends and arms to 
 fight my enemies. I had almost forgotten to mention 
 that I was informed by Dowilnyah that five principal 
 chiefs were concerned in the assault on Seymore; that 
 not one of them was now living; that their death was 
 accounted as the punishment of God for this act of 
 wickedness. 
 
 Seymore, relaxing all caution on account of the uni- 
 form good treatment he had received from the natives, 
 thought them incapable of a different conduct. He was 
 seriously convinced to the contrary. When villainy of 
 this kind Is to be perpetrated, the greatest secrecy 
 among those who are privy to it is preserved. It is 
 always the act of a few ; for the feelings of the mass 
 
116 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 seem to be averse to such doings. Seymore's affair was 
 mentioned in terms of reprobation by all who convers- 
 ed with me about the matter. Comma's own son 
 strenuously denied to me that his father had any part 
 in the matter ; though it is a fact notorious through- 
 out the country that his father was a principal actor, 
 and that the whole plot was concocted at the town of 
 Boe. 
 
 From Bokkasah we came to Fissahbue, on Monday, 
 the 8th of February, 1869. On Tuesday, the 9th, we 
 arrived at Zolu. King Momoru had not, up to this time, 
 been able to effect a reconciliation between the parties. 
 Every day they made reprisals on each other. "While I 
 was there, the Boozies succeeded in capturing several per- 
 sons belonging to the Barline people. The wars of these 
 people are, however, not attended with any sanguinary 
 results. They consist mostly in surprising a few in- 
 dividuals where they can be suddenly come upon. 
 Sometimes the roads are waylaid wherever their re- 
 spective traders are supposed to pass. These, toge- 
 ther with some other petty annoyances, constitute their 
 principal mode of warfare. The large walled towns 
 are seldom taken. Pitched battles are seldom fought ; 
 and even when these people may be said to take the 
 open field, most is done by some war chief by way of 
 displaying his individual prowess. If they were to 
 indulge too much in war, they could never have the 
 numerous and large markets with which their country 
 is everywhere dotted. 
 
 Tuesday, the 16th of February, 1869, we started from 
 Zolu, passed through the Boozie towns of Yahwuzue, 
 Kaulitodah, Wuzugahzeah. On the road we met Beah, 
 
A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 117 
 
 our Mandingo guide, with some Bokkasah traders, who 
 informed that the Americans had carried war against 
 Manna. We halted at Powlazue. Wednesday, the 
 17th of February, we passed Zolaghee and its large 
 creek, running over a bed of red feldspar granite. 
 Thousands offish, known among us as "bonies," were 
 swimming close to shore, not at all annoyed by the 
 people who were bathing in the same water. 
 
 We halted at MofFotah. Thursday, the 18th of Feb- 
 ruary, we passed Malang, Ballah, and Dahtazue, and 
 halted at a small village. On Friday, the 19th of Febru- 
 ary, we reached Barkomah. Saturday, the 20th, leav- 
 ing Barkomah, we passed through several villages and 
 the town of Nessahbeah. We halted at Sellayo, at six 
 o'clock P.M. 
 
 Sunday, the 21st, starting from Sellayo, we passed 
 Barpellum, where we saw a man who had been wounded 
 in four places with a cutlass. He bad been beset in 
 the road by some unknown persons ; showing, after all, 
 the danger and insecurity of the roads, as well as the 
 folly of traveling unarmed. At four p.m., we reached 
 Totoquella, the residence of King Momoru, where we 
 were received with every demonstration of joy and 
 hospitality. Ilere we spent some time, in order to avail 
 ourselves of the opportunity of completing calculations 
 of longitude, which, when we were at Boporu, we had 
 been unable to do on account of the weather. 
 
 While we were staying at Totoquella, some of the 
 king's people killed an elephant; and instead of beef 
 we had elephant for dinner. The part regarded as a 
 delicacy, and upon which we dined heartily, was the 
 proboscis. He had not yielded his life in a tame, un- 
 
118 A JOURNEY TO MUSARDU. 
 
 becoming manner ; his death was attended with the 
 flight of his enemies, the smashing np of gun-stocks, 
 the stamping and rending of saplings. One musket 
 had its barrel literally bent to an angle of ninety de- 
 grees. The narrow escape of the hunters themselves 
 suggested to me what might have happened, had I at- 
 tacked the herd of elephants feeding in the cotton-fields 
 of Ballatah. There the country is open and exposed; 
 here the friendly woods and jungle offer the hunter im- 
 mediate concealment and protection. The elephants 
 upon the highlands pertinaciously go in herds, and 
 scarcely ever allow themselves to be separated. In- 
 trepid elephant-hunters, accustomed to display firmness 
 and certainty within six paces of a furious charge, are 
 invited to try their prowess with the Ballatah elephants. 
 
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