3 i E 31 < 3' v/MAIW t ^~ V/H0AIM! ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS WEST COAST OF AFRICA, AND ITS ISLANDS. HISTOBICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE SKETCHES OF MADEIRA, CANARY, AND CAPE VERD ISLANDS ; THEIR CLIMATES, INHABITANTS, AND PRODUCTIONS ; ACCOUNTS OP PLACES, PEOPLES, CUSTOMS, TRADE, ETC., ETC., ETC. REV. CHAS. W. THOMAS, M.A., CHAPLAIN TO THE AFRICAN SQUADRON IN 1855, 1856, AND 1857. LONDON: BINNS & GOODWIN ; E. MARLBOROUGH & CO. ; HOULSTON & WRIGHT. Binns and Goodwin (of Bath), Gloucester Street, Regent's Park, London, N W DT H7J |lij|l>t THE COUNTESS OF DUNEAVEN. MADAM, It devolves upon me to carry out the intention of my brother, and dedicate this, the English edition of his work, to your Ladyship. Your Ladyship will remember that my brother's adventurous spirit led him abroad early in life ; and while yet a mere boy, he determined to make his home amongst the gentle, warm-hearted and, as events prove, brave-spirited people of the Southern (now Confederate) States of America. He graduated at a Southern University, and a few years afterwards accepted the chaplaincy of a squadron about to cruise off the coast of Africa. On his return, he published a book of " Adventures and Observations," which passed through many editions in America this volume is an abridgment of that work. My brother's residence, if he still live, is in the State of Georgia. With his country beleaguered, society broken up, and men fighting or fleeing for their lives, it is not to be wondered at that I receive but few letters from him. He desires me to edit and republish his work, and to dedicate it to your Ladyship, who has kindly allowed him that honour. iv DEDICATION. He alludes to the time when he and I, as boys, received so many proofs of your Ladyship's goodness of heart at Dnnraven Castle previously to his leaving his native land perhaps for ever, and assures me that the remembrance of your Ladyship's gentle bearing, and constant endeavours to do good in the Sunday School, the Church choir, and wherever influence and example could reach, has helped to keep warm his heart to the Church of his childhood while he sojourned in foreign lands and among strange folds. For my own part, I trust your Ladyship will not scan the work to question whether it quite deserve to be inscribed to your Ladyship but that you will accept the dedication of it as the offering of a grateful heart. I have to add that pressure of clerical duties has delayed the performance of my editorial task, and I have the honour to remain, MADAM, Your Ladyship's most obedient And very humble Servant, W. MATHEW THOMAS. ETON COTTAOE, MICKLZT, RIPON, December 1, I8G4. CONTENTS, CHAPTER I. Morocco Obscure History Indomitable Unchanging Romance of the Moorish Character Beating np for Gibraltar Bay and City of Tangier American Consul Moorish Boats and Sailors Moorish Guides Hamed The Mosque Market Jews Moorish Women Camp Outside the Wall Make an Acquaintance Prepare fen a Row Saluting the Flag of Morocco A Cheerful Company Shopping in Tangier Jewish Women Civil and Social Condition of the Jews Moorish Soldiers Palace of the Bashaw a Dis- appointment A Caravan, Moorish Muskets, and Wheat Taming a young Camul. ...... 1 CHAPTER II. Rough Sailing An African Pilot Mungo Park and other Explorers Gambia River Trade of the Gambia Bathurst Missionaries and Mission Stations Tribes on the Banks An Old Acquaintance Civilization advancing. ..... 33 CHAPTER III. Green Waters again Entrance of the Sierra Leone Ashore on the Bar The Sailor's Love for his Ship Sabbath Morning in Sierra Leone Freetown " De Church ob Hingland" Congregations of Natives Native Preachers Good Reading Disappointment No. 3 An Intelligent Congregation A Troublesome Nose Good Singing Christian Sympathy superior to Prejudice Mrs. Stowe in Africa. ....... 47 CHAPTER IV. Coast of Liberia Visitors Kroomen Their Employment, Villages, etc. Tom Pepper and Ben Coffee Names of Kroomen Domestic System Their Extraordinary Strength Religious Ideas Super- VI CONTENTS. stitiona Their First Parent Tradition respecting the Origin of the White and Black Races Comparative Intelligence, etc. Why are not the Kroos more Civilized ? Commerce and Civiliza- tion. ....... 69 CHAPTER V. Questions concerning Liberia Bowen and other Travellers Friends of the Colonization Enterprises Two Classes of Opponents A Meeting-place of Extremists of the North and South How Ex- tremists Reason The " Capacity for Sjlf-government" Question The Position of Conservative Southerners Monrovia. . 70 CHAPTER VI. L. E. L. and Cape Coast Castle Her Marriage Arrival on the Coast Reception Employment Her Death Inquest Verdict Im- pressions in England regarding her Death Death of Governor Maclean Epitaph of Mrs. Maclean Miss Staunton and L. E, L. Points of Comparison and Contrast, etc. . . 145 CHAPTER VII. Accra in Sight Come to an Anchor Canoes and Traders A word for Pets Forts Exports Filibustering English Civilization Dress Houses Missions " The Service " Mr. Bowen Things to be Regretted Governor Bannerman Gold Rings A Native Goldsmith Indian Corn A Primitive Mill The Gazelle. 155 CHAPTER VIII. A Dull Morning Tropical Philosophizing Bay of Loando Scenery Harbours and Commerce A Pleasant Evening A Glorious Sun- set Thoughts of Home Going Ashore Fishing and Water Boats The Pier The Bishop's Chair Suggestions by the Chair St. Paul Native Market The Biter Bitten Sir George Jackson Population Loando Religion Exports and Imports. . 171 CHAPTER IX. Land Close Calculation The Island as seen in the Distance Nearer and more Enchanting View Loo Rock, Brazen Head and Pontinha Distinguished Visitors The Anchorage Going Ashore The Landing Beggars American Consulate Panoramic View of Funchal and its Surroundings Convents Burying-grounds, etc. . 218 ADYEXTUBES AND OBSEBYATIONS ON THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA. CHAPTER L TANGIER. " Shadows, clouds, nd darkness rest upon it" Morocco Obscure History Indomitable Unchanging Romance of the Moorish Character Beating up for Gibraltar Bay and City of Tangier American Consul Moorish Boats and Sailors Moorish. Guides Hamed The Mosque Market Jews Moorish Women Camp Outside the Wall Make an Acquaintance Prepare for a Row Saluting the Flag of Morocco A Cheerful Company Shopping in Tangier Jewish Women Civil and Social Condition of the Jews Moorish Soldiers Palace of the Bashaw A Dis- appointment A Caravan, Moorish Muskets, and Wheat Taking a young Camel. IT may not be expected that Sketches of the West Coast of Africa will contain descriptions of places and life on the Atlantic shores of Morocco ; yet a chapter of notes, historical and descriptive, of the ancient and classic city of Tangier and its people, -may not be unac- ceptable to the reader. Few empires, ancient or modern, have exerted so great an influence over the destinies of civilized man, as the half-civilized empire of Morocco; and of none, since the decline of Rome, has the influence been so long and so generally felt. Commanding many leagues of coast B 2 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. on the shores of the Mediterranean and Atlantic, her daring pirates have for centuries infested those waters in pursuit of blood or treasure, bringing the commerce of all nations under contribution ; and to this day, the proudest nations of Europe, England and France, buy exemption from her depredations by annual contribu- tions of black mail. Defended by the dangerous rocks and shoals which line her seaward borders, she is safe from the attacks of naval forces. Secure in the fast- nesses of her vast deserts, where the fleet barb and the unequalled horseman can tire the strength, and, by slow hunting warfare, waste the spirit and the numbers of disciplined armies, she is beyond the reach of punish- ment, and may be approached only on her own terms. Spain, Portugal, England, France, have at various times possessed themselves of her accessible sea-coast towns ; but they found them profitless possessions, and too dear at the price of constant warfare. The relin- quishment has been speedy, and the indomitable children of the soil have returned to their natural possessions, like the locusts of their own deserts, refreshed by the sleep of the plains, and increased in numbers. Situated, geographically, where her mountains have looked for ages into the- very lap of civilization and ad- vancement, she is herself unchanged. Even Chris- tianity, after eighteen centuries, has not a single temple in her towns ; and the Pillars of Hercules may mark to-day, as they are said to have marked thousands of years ago, the limits of civilization in that direction. But though known for three thousand years under the names Ethiopians, Mauri, Barbarians, Mauritanians and Moors, the inhabitants of Morocco are perhaps less TANGIER. 3 known than any of the peoples of Europe or Asia. The sailor, wisely., gives a wide berth to her shores, where shipwreck, even in this age, would be followed by death or slavery. The traveller liketh not the shadow of her walls and tents ; and hence it is that so little is known of the mixed and united tribes known to Europe and America under the general name of Moor. My first impressions of the Moors were gathered from the " Arabian Nights," and stories of shipwreck and adventure among them by Adams ; sobered somewhat, in later boyhood, by " Jackson's Account of the Empire of Morocco." My boyish imagination loved to revel in the mists of Moorish history, and the wildness of Moorish scenery and character. It was to me a land of exhaustless legend and romance; in whose people, cruelty and hospitality, treachery and platonic friend- ship, strangely harmonized. I was early fired with the desire of seeing with my own eyes her majestic moun- tains and magnificent plains; and many a delightful day-dream have I had, (over an uninteresting Latin grammar,) full of wild adventure, passing from castle to tent, under the shadow of a friendly turban, before whose " sesame " curtains and doors flew open. In the latter part of July '56, we were beating to windward of the Madeiras, when the secret transpired in the ward-room that we were bound for Tangier. Here it may be necessary to inform the reader that, for good reason in time of war, and no reason in time of peace, the destination of a man-of-war is generally kept a secret from the officers, non-commanding, for a few days. The authority is found in the lex -non scripta of the navy, called " usage" a budget, by the way, which 4 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. contains all sorts of funny things ; among others, lots of affirmative proof on the vexed question as to whether a thing can be all black and all white at the same time ; alias, that black is white, and white is black. The news brought to mind my boyhood's dreams of Morocco ; and they were to be realized in part, for I should, at least, look upon her shores, and shake hands with her sun-burnt children ; but how far my romantic ideas of the half-civilized character had been modified, judge ye, who have had two years of contact with the ugliness of man's savage condition on the shores of Africa ; and how far my ardour for adventure had been cooled, ye can imagine, who have spent a year on that dreary station, away from country and friends, and wife and little ones. There is, however, a degree of romance inseparable from the Moorish character ; so we rejoiced in the pros- pect of breaking in on the monotony of our cruise, by spending a day with the Barbarians. After a week of most unpleasant sailing, we made the coast of Europe at Cape St. Vincent, and that night and the following day continued our course toward the Gut of Gibraltar, along the coast of Spain ; and over those waters where Nelson immortalized himself, and England was crowned "Mistress of the Seas." The morning of the tenth day out brought us within sight of the Moorish coast, and at noon we dropped anchor in the bay of Tangier, a mile from the town. Our consul, Mr. Brown, was soon alongside, to pay his respects to the Commodore, and gave the officers some excellent advice as to the prudence necessary in intercourse with the natives, which had a very fine effect in the way of TANGIEE. 5 exciting our curiosity. After some hesitation on the part of the Commodore, a few of us obtained permission to visit the shore, and at three o'clock we were off for an evening's stroll among the Moors. The city, built in a narrow valley, and stretching up the hills on both sides, is surrounded by a high castellated wall of solid ma- sonry, and defended on the water side by forts of con- siderable strength which rest on the native rock. As seen from the bay, it looks like a city of prisons. The houses which appear above the walls are square, flat- roofed, white, and without ornament, having but few windows, and these quite small. We passed among /^//Mcca-rigged schooners at anchor, and others under weigh ; their broad yet graceful sails hauled almost fore~ and-aft, and sailing, with the swiftness of a seagull, into the very eye of the wind. The dark-complexioned and turbaned sailors smiled at us as we passed, and we could imagine one piratical-looking crew saying to themselves, " What fine slaves those fellows would make !" They have learned, however, in their occasional encounters with English and other sailors, that gentlemen who wear brass buttons are rather ugly customers to handle. We directed our boat for the water gate, the only entrance on this side, and landed in the midst of half a dozen bare-legged, slip-shod, turbaned and sashed gentlemen, who represented as many colours, from copper and chestnut-brown to ashy black. In French and broken English they offered their services as guides, but with a degree of hauteur which led some of our company to suppose that they were dignitaries, or at least gentlemen, of the city who had come to offer us hospitalities. A gentleman wearing a 6 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. fez cap, ornamented with a tassel of red silk, half a yard in length, and who spoke French very fluently, told us that he had just returned from the Crimea; offered to show us round the city, and was quite un- Moorish in politeness. I didn't like the cut of his jib. Casting a glance over the group as I jumped ashore, my attention was arrested by a sprightly face of nut- brown colour, in which the amiable and savage were blended, set off by the perpetual smile of a hare lip. " Ah," said I, " there he is ; the old man of my dreams in boyhood I've seen that face, full of contradictions, and that snow-white turban, in my visions of Moor- land." His burnous a garment made like a smock or shirt, having loose, flowing sleeves was of mottled brown and white ; his white full drawers, fastened above the knee, contrasted pleasantly with his brown legs and bright yellow slippers ; and, excepting the long scarf thrown over one shoulder and brought round the waist, he was in full Moorish dress. " Come here, old gentleman," said I, beckoning toward him. He came up with a dignified step and manner, which 1 thought to be assumed for the occasion. " Want me, sat" " What is your name t" Hamed, sa." " Speak English, Hamed t" " Yes, sa." " Hamed, are you an honest man, or a scoundrel I" " Hamed good man, sa," with an air of injured innocence. " No doubt ; but how am I to know that t" " Everybody know Hamed, sa." TANGIER. 7 " Well, that accounts for it ! I was just thinking that you looked like an old acquaintance." "Oh, yes, sa! Hamed see you when you here before." " Very likely, Hamed, considering that this is my first visit." Hamed lifted his eyebrows and smiled, as if he had perpetrated a joke. " Where did you learn to tell lies, Hamed ?" " He no lie, sa ; me tink so I see you." By this time we had passed the water gate and were ascending the steep and narrow street, inclosed by high buildings, almost destitute of windows and doors, at least on the street side, which leads to the centre of the city. Here our company separated, some for the Con- sulate, and others to look at the curiosities, under the guidance of the Crimean. " Hamed," said 1, " hold on to me, and by night we'll be better acquainted." " Very good, sa ; Hamed good man, sa." " Let us take a look in here/' said I, as we reached the spacious gateway of a large building, surmounted by turrets, and a tall spire or tower, handsomely orna- mented. " No, sa ; no, sa P' said Hamed, with a face of terror. " He be mosque can't go." " Oh, don't be afraid." tl Ah ! s'pose I take you dare, he cut off my hands." " Well, that being the case, Fll go alone." " No, sa ; must no go," and here he gave me to understand that if I went in they would likely cut off my head as well as my hands. ' That being the case," said I, "we'll defer our visit 8 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. In the meantime, old fellow, stir up the contents of your turban, and contrive me a way to take a peep at the inside to-morrow, and I will give you an extra ounce." 1 saw from his face that it was a hopeless prospect. He shrugged his shoulders, and we continued our walk. " Hamed," said I, as we continued up the street, " when you come to my country, you may go into our mosques and welcome : why can't I go into yours "?" " We no like Christian in dis country." " Do you know anything of the Christian religion, Hamed?" " O yes, sa ! I read bout him one book." "What book T " Arabic book.'' " Do these people read Arabic ?" " Great many." Here Hamed revealed an intelligence on the subject that surprised me ; and in broken accents made a beau- tiful compliment to the religion and character of Jesus they won't speak of him by any other name that touched my heart. " But you prefer Mahomet," said I. " May be J esus so good, like Mah-o-med ; Mali- o-med more strong" He seemed disposed to drop the subject, and so was I, for the comparison instituted touched a tender chord within. Hamed fairly represented the Moorish idea of the comparative merits of Christ and Mahomet. We passed along the central and largest street of the city ; but most of the shops and stalls were closed for the evening; yet the poultry and fruit markets, which occupy a portion of this street, were still brisk and noisy TANGIER. 9 Before passing into the crowd, I called a halt. " Now Hamed," said I, " talk fast, for time is pre- cious. Who are those fair-complexioned gentlemen, buttoned up in long coats which reach from the throat to the feet ; wearing ordinary cloth caps, instead of fez caps or turbans, like you coffee-coloured gentlemen ? " The old fellow curled up his lip with a sneer that Byron might envy, as he said : " Humph ! he be Jews." " Do they all dress alike ?" " Yes, he all be make like dat he not can wear like this," lifting his burnous and a faded sash that had lately made its appearance around his waist. "Are they compelled to dress so?" "Bashaw do it." "Why sol" Hamed shrugged his shoulders, looked puzzled, and muttered, " So be." " So be," with Hamed, was a finale, beyond w r hich was a sullen silence, and the boundless unknown. " What do they do, Hamed?" " He be merchand." Here he hailed one in a very authoritative tone, and as the gentleman advanced, Hamed said, " He be good man he sell sheep " cheap. There was something mercenary in his face, and a subdued air in his manner, that told the story of his wrongs, and the vile oppression which his race suffers among an inferior people ; yet there was also something noble in his bearing, and intellect and enterprise beamed from his black eye. He invited us to call at his shop, which we promised to do. 10 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. "Who are those covered up in shawls of white flannel, peeping out through a hole over the left eye ?" " He be omen." " Why don't they show their faces ?" " So be " and a shrug of the shoulder. "Are they pretty, Hamed?" " No be, he be old." " Where are the young women ?" "In house" harem "mind children." " Don't they come out sometimes f ' " No sometimes." "Why not?" " So be," and a shrug, with faint symptoms of a smile the only insobriety of the evening. In the poultry market there were great numbers of those Barbary pigeons, so famous for their size and beauty. The common barn-yard fowls were ordinary in appearance, and very cheap. Pigeon fanciers in the States would be glad to give twenty or thirty dollars a pair for pigeons that we bought for ten cents each. Fresh dates were abundant, and more delicious in flavour than can be imagined by those who know only the dried dates of commerce. Those still adhering to the stems hung in clusters from the stalls, the riper were packed in neatly-woven baskets of palm-leaf. I gave Hamed a quarter, with which he purchased a basket containing half a peck, and brought me back a handful of change, much resembling old brass buttons, minus shanks. The coins were flat on one side, and slightly convex on the other, which contained a character denoting the value. I judged them to be worth a mill each; I estimated them at a much lower rate. The dates were not cleanly in ap- TANGIER. 11 pearance. I told Hamed to throw them away, but he preferred to deposit them in the labyrinthian folds of his capacious shirt burnous, I should have said. We con- tinued our way along the paved street, and passed out at the eastern gate of the city. Outside the grey and moss-covered walls, besprinkled with cryptogamous plants, we found a number of donkeys and camels ' that seemed to be waiting for the return of their owners ; and a camp of Moors, lately arrived from the interior with poultry, fruits, pieces of valuable wood, and other marketable commodities. I tried to scrape an acquaintance with them through Hamed, but they seemed surly and distant. I be- thought me of an expedient. Pulling out a case of cigars, giving one to Hamed, and putting another in my mouth, I advanced towards the oldest of the crowd, who was sitting almost between the legs of his camel, smoking a pipe of opium I asked him for a light, and as that was a degree of hospitality that a follower of Mahomet might not refuse, he extended his pipe and I lit my cigar. Then, offering fire to Hamed, L told him to ask the gentleman if he would accept an American cigar. He grunted assent, and I gave him half a dozen. Then, taking a seat beside him, with a sang froid air, though in reality in great fear that the camel at my back might take a nib at my Christian shoulder for camels are faithful servants of the Prophet I began to gather the information I wanted; for I now realized the justice of my preconceived ideas as to the connection of tobacco with fraternity. Behold its mar- vellous effects on this Ishmaelite ! He became quite communicative, and seemed as 12 PERSONAL ADVENTURES. AND OBSERVATIONS. much interested in answering raj questions, as I was in asking them. As I arose to depart, he inquired why I asked so many questions. I answered, with a very honest face, that I had from boyhood admired the Moorish character, and wanted to find out all I could about them. He returned the compliment, by saying, that I was "an honest man, and that I ought to take a horse and go out to his country he would bring me back." It may have been a bait : they do such things sometimes ; but I believe that he was sincere. I shook hands with him, and, to my surprise, those who seemed suspicious on my approach, readily accepted my hand when I bid them good evening. Honesty, tobacco, and a little ingenuity, are available helps in getting through the world. To accomplish an object sufficiently worthy of the labour, I would engage to reach the city of Morocco on foot without convoy, if some one would guarantee a supply of tobacco by the way. The beautiful garden of the Swedish Consul is a quarter of a mile beyond the eastern gate. We entered and went around its shady walks, but had not time to make note of its luxuriant flora. Re-entering the town, I followed Hamed through streets of less than six feet in width, lanes still more narrow, open courts and ruined buildings, a perfect wilderness of stone and mortar, turbans and fez caps ; and I thought at one time that, like Milton's debatants of foreknowledge, we should find no end, and be " In wandering mazes lost." Hamed disappeared up a dark and stony stair, above TANGIER. 13 which we heard loud talking. I darted after him, in- stinctively clutching my walking-stick, and fumbling in my pocket for my pen-knife, the only weapon of defence on my person. They were familiar voices, and in a moment I stood in the presence of two of my shipmates, who, under the guidance of our Crimean hero, had found their way to the house and shop of my friend the lew, where they were buying ottar of rose, and other little valuables. All hands were talking at once, and the progress in trade was very noisy and very slow. It was now near sunset, and fearing to be shut in, we hastened to the water gate and our boats. We tossed Hamed half a dollar, with which he was quite satisfied, and engaging his services for the morrow, we bade him good evening. As a parting request, he wanted me to tell him if Hamed was not a good man. I answered, " So far so good, but I'll tell Hamed more about it to- morrow evening." At eight o'clock on the following morning the red en- sign of Morocco appeared above the walls of the city ; a corresponding flag was immediately hoisted at our "fore," and saluted with a brisk round of twenty-one guns. The compliment was speedily returned from the forts, and the loud-sounding and well-timed twenty-one assured us that the Moors' knowledge of the use of gunpowder is not confined to small arms. While the boatswain's mate was calling " away the third cutters," to take the officers ashore, I swept the beach with a telescope, and at the landing descried my friend Hamed and his fez- capped brother, awaiting our arrival. The calm and balmy morning gave me a favourable impression of the climate of Tangier, and inspired all hands with cheer- 14 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. fulness and good will. The officers stepped into the boat without waiting for the order of " rank," even the first-lieutenant, whose duty it is, according to " usage," to find fault wherever he goes, seemed to forget his criticism and wore a cheerful countenance; our lads sprang their oars " with a will," and in a few minutes Hamed and company were bidding us good morning. My companion for the forenoon stroll was our worthy first-lieutenant, T. H. P., whose excellent father, Com- modore Patterson, bore arms in our war with the Moors of Algiers a war which they have riot yet forgotten, and that brought them to a treaty which thenceforth exempted our nation from the heavy tributes of black mail, previously paid, to secure for our com- merce immunity from the pirates of these waters. It is not alone to this treaty, however, that we are indebted for freedom from their ravages, but also to that respect which, from various causes, is entertained by half- civilized and other nations for the United States. But the morning is too fine, and space too precious for moralizing. As we followed in the steps of Hamed, on a trinket- hunting expedition among the stores and bazaars of the city, I suggested to my companion that if he wished a free passage to the interior, and taste of Christian slavery among the Moors, he would be accommodated at once on letting them know that he was the son of a gentleman who helped to pepper them with hot shot at Algiers. He replied, that if he had any assurance that they would not send him on a three years' cruise, he might be disposed to try it. Arriving at the mosque, I asked Hamed if he had yet TANGIER. 15 procured us a pass to the establishment ; to which the old fellow replied, with a degree of indignation that showed some personal feeling on the subject : " No, sa ! he be no use talk 'bout dat. S'pose Christian go dare, he be spoil for dis people." " Well done old chap !" said I, lf you have more pluck and more sincerity than I have been giving you credit for ; but in the meantime what are all these slippers about the steps f " People leave him when he go in." There were so many, and Moorish slippers are so much alike in size, shape and colour generally yellow that I was puzzled to know how the owners could identify them ; but while I was thinking on the subject, a gentleman of burnt-coffee complexion came* out, and casting a single glance at us, and another at the shoal of slippers, walked right into a pair, and went on with- out stooping to take a second look. The operation was performed so quickly, that I do not yet know whether he knew his own slippers by their location, or some mark invisible to Christian eyes ; or whether by some unusual instinct the toes were led to their own houses, or whether the gentleman considered it a matter of no importance whose morocco covered his unsightly mem- bers, so long as it was orthodox in shape. The articles are worn slip- shod, and as they come no higher than the lower part of the instep, there is not much variety in size. " Hamed, are such things never stolen ?" " Oh no, sa !" with a significant grunt, and a shrug of the left shoulder. "Never, Hamed ?" 10 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. " No, nevar, sa ! S'pose he steal him, he cut off he hand !" Travellers, especially those who try to depreciate the claims of Christianity by comparing it with inferior systems of religion, are fond of commenting on the honesty of Turks, Arabs, and other followers of the Prophet, and attribute it to the teachings and " moral force" of the Koran. The injunctions of the Koran on this subject are, so far as they go, very sound ; but we think it likely that the fear of losing a hand, for the first serious neglect of this virtue in transactions among themselves, has a good deal to do in giving "moral force" to the precepts of Mohammed. That his fol- lowers have no great regard for the abstract virtue of honesty, may be seen in the fact, that, where the fear of serious penalty was not before their eyes, Arabs, Moors, and other mussulmans have been for centuries the most daring and cruel robbers in the world. Honesty would become a very common virtue in Christendom if we were to chop off the " itching palms" of our light- fingered gentry. Two-handed property would go up at the south. Through a side door in the vestibule we caught a glimpse of a part of the interior of a mosque. It is a spacious, unornamented circular apartment; the floor of which is tesselated, and without furniture. The posture which the Moors assume in offering their prayers, bringing the knees, elbows and forehead to the floor, is significantly appropriate to rebel suppliants. I imagined that Hained had visions of bastinado before him, for he was quite restless while we remained near the door, and several times invited us to "come on." TANGIER. 17 We found our market-made acquaintance, "the Jew," in his shop, an apartment on the second floor of his spacious house. His stock in trade consisted, mainly, in those round cushions which in this country supply the place of chairs ; morocco slippers ; gaudy and coarse silks and velvets; ready-made Moorish garments; sandal wood ; ottar of rose, and other perfumes ; amber and other beads, used by Mahommedans in telling their prayers ; pipes of many shapes and sizes, and earthen jars. The cushions, made of richly-coloured morocco leather, are ornamented profusely with figures in gold and silver tinsel, and bright silks. Slippers are orna- mented in the same way, to which are added, sometimes, jewels of glass, or precious stones. We visited other Jewish establishments, but the stock in trade presented but little variety. Cushions, coarse silks, slippers, pipes, and amber beads, were the staple articles. Along the main street the Moorish bazaars hung out their miscellaneous wares, inviting custom; making up in variety what they lacked in quality. Stalls of candies, old iron, hot coffee, native drugs, gun-smiths' shops, and blacksmiths' shops succeeded each other in noisy disorder. Clouds of opium smoke, loud talking and small sales, seemed to be the order of the day with them ; and we soon found that if we wanted anything valuable, we must get it from the Jews, for the trade of Tangier is in their hands. We returned to the house of " the Jew," and after much talking and jewing, on the part of both Jew and Gentile, purchased half a dozen cushions, at two dollars each ; as many pairs of slippers, the plain at a dollar, and the tinsel-embroidered at two dollars a pair; and as many vials of ottar of rose, 18 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. containing thirty drops each, at forty-eight cents apiece. The Jewish women, who are very beautiful, walk the streets unveiled. Their costume, though two or three thousand years behind the age, is, to my taste, more beautiful, and more appropriate to the sex, than any of the styles which the beau monde has produced in many centuries. The outer garment, or gown, is generally of rich velvet or heavy silk, close fitting body, flowing sleeves, and open in front, a la robe de chambre ; bordered around and in front with gold or silver lace, turned back at the corners with some brightly-coloured silk, displaying an underskirt of elaborate needle-work. " She maketh herself coverings of tapestry ; her clothing is silk and purple." The luxuriant tresses for which Jewish women are everywhere celebrated, are with these supported in silken nets which hang down the back, often reaching the waist. The head and shoulders are generally covered with an ample veil of lace, or other light fabric, fastened to the hair by brilliant pins. The upper angle of this head-dress is brought to a point on the centre of the forehead, where it terminates in a rosette, containing ornaments of gold and jewels in proportion to the taste and means of the wearer. Solo- mon recommends that certain excellent qualities be as prominent in the character " as frontlets between thine eyes." Anglo-Saxon women have a considerable advance yet to make, in refinement of taste, before they can equal those chaste and attractive styles of personal adornment which the daughters of Judah have possessed for lo these thousands of years ! Indeed it requires an eye disciplined in the beauty of lines and harmony of TANGIER. 19 colours, to appreciate their taste ; and this discipline the women of England and America never can have while they are content to be imitators of the tawdry and novelty-loving milliners of Paris. The style of features among the Jewesses of Tangier is purely Jewish : in complexion they are generally brunette. The Jews resident in Morocco are confined to the towns, where they occupy a degraded position, civilly and socially. Though natives of the country, orderly members of society, and generally men of education and intelligence, they are debarred all civil honours and privileges; their grievances seldom receive redress, indeed seldom a hearing; they are enormously taxed; and when, by dint of enterprise and industry, they amass wealth, it is often taken from them under false pretexts. The dress and the pursuits of the males are prescribed by tyrannical officials ; the most abject Moor is the social superior of the most wealthy Jew; yet, despite all these embarrassments, they are the most thrifty portion of the communities where they reside, and the main supporters of the treasury of the Empire. Like the Jews of other countries where they are much oppressed, they are quite religious, and, so far as allowed, observe their feasts and Sabbaths. The "London Jews' Society" supports an ordained mis- sionary here. Occasionally a zealous Moor showo some desire to proselyte by stealing a child, and submitting it to a certain Mahommedan rite in the presence of witnesses, makes a convert nolens volens. The child may then be taken from its parents, on plea that it is " a believer." The Roman Catholics in parts of Europe make converts in the same way. I was told an interest- 20 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. ing story of a little girl who was stolen in this way from her pnrents in Tangier, but I have no room for a story at present. I left my friend at a Jew's shop admiring some amber beads of unusual size, and two pretty Jewesses who, strange to say, seemed to have business, wherever we went among their class. They were, no doubt, pleased with the fine figure arid neat uniform of my companion. He said something when he went aboard about the attraction of the chaplain's spectacles ; but I am inclined to think that spectacled gentlemen are not generally popular with the ladies. At the consulate I found Dr. C., Capt. S. and Lieut. A., all about to start for the palace of the Bashaw, under guidance of Mr. Brown. Before leaving his pre- mises, Mr. B. took us to his stables to show us his " fine barb," a pretty creature of five years of age, in excellent condition and full of life, yet gentle as a fawn. The horse of Barbary is too well known among us to need description in detail here. Those that we saw in the streets of Tangier were not generally larger than our Texan mustangs, though somewhat taller. Like the mustangs, they seemed better formed for endurance than speed, yet, in long races, they are said to be superior to the English race-horse. Barbs of average qualities may be bought here for one hundred dollars each. Before reaching the top of the hill on which the palace of the Bashaw is built, we passed a guard of soldiers, among whom were some bond fide Africans. The Moorish soldiers are distinguished from the common people by the side arms, powder-horns and bullet- pouches which they wear constantly ; and by the head- TANGIER. 21 dress, which is a close fitting jockey cap, having a cape behind to protect the back of the neck from the sun. They are savage, but very unmilitary looking fellows. We had a hot but interesting walk around the outer wall of the palace and garden. How much the gentle- men of our party desired to stroll in those shady paths, and walk around that interesting harem all harems are interesting to Americans is not for me to say ; but the Bashaw was absent and there was no one else who had the authority to admit us. The palace is an enormous collection of stone and mortar, thrown together in Moorish style, but without ornament. It is sur- rounded by a high wall, which gives it the appearance of a penitentiary, and such, doubtless, many an unfor- tunate lass has found it. Its chief characteristic is white wall, and its defect, "excess of characteristic." Descending toward the lower part of the town, Mr. Brown left us, and we continued our walk. I was sorry that my engagement to take a walk in the country with Hamed in the evening prevented my accepting his invitation to dinner ; but our flag did not lack worthy representatives on that occasion. Under the guidance of Hamed we now turned our steps towards the residence of our Consular agent for Mogadore, to pay our respects to his family he was absent and more particularly to see his daughter Hadra, said to be the most beautiful and accomplished Jewess in Tangier. Think of it, reader ! these grave and dig- nified representatives of the various departments in our squadron, a fleet surgeon, a captain of marines, a flag lieutenant, a watch-officer Lieut. R., whom we picked up on the way a purser, if I remember rightly, and a 22 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. chaplain, posting through dusty streets and breezeless lanes, with the thermometer at 90 in the shade, to see what I A pretty girl. However, we were ashore to see things beautiful and interesting why not go to see a lady who was both ? " Dis him," said Earned, halting before the gateway of a large house. We passed through the arch, and, led by a porter, entered the open court in the centre of the building. A fountain, playing in the centre of the court, cooled the air ; flowers in pots and beds sent up delightful odours ; and all the appointments around indi- cated the luxury, oriental taste, and wealth of the occupants. We were shown into a richly furnished apartment on the second floor, where Jewish tapestry, Turkish carpets, French plate-glass mirrors, Moorish cushions, and English chairs, united in making a gor- geous and elegant display. The lady of the house was too sensible and well-bred to keep her visitors waiting ; she appeared before we had taken our seats, and, though quite in dishabille, as an American lady would think, made no apology. She did not understand English, but spoke French and Spanish fluently. We asked for the young lady, but she answered that the Miss was indisposed, and could not be seen. Miser os nos ! The captain twisted his moustache ; A. felt for his tobacco ; R. smoothed his beard, and looked wondrous funny, and taken altogether, we would have made an interesting group for a comic almanac. However, in the interesting conversation of the noble lady of our Jewish representative, we were amply repaid for our walk. I left my shipmates in the street, and, after taking a TANGIER. 23 luncheon of " bread and cheese and beer" at an hotel kept by an English lady, proceeded with Hamed for a country walk. The country around Tangier is for miles uninhabited. It is hilly ; the hills are covered with grass and bramble, but woodless, and the scenery is uninteresting. The road was dusty and lonely, and before we reached the end of the second mile I began to think that I was not acting very prudently in thus exposing myself among a treacherous people. I was about to speak my thoughts when Hamed said : " He betta stop, sa." "Why so?" " So be, sa ! " u I'd like to know, Hamed, whether you are afraid to go further, or too lazy to walk ? " Hamed's shrug, as I emphasised the last words, showed me that I struck the true reason. " Look sa ! people come." A caravan of camels, donkeys, and Moors was coming round the foot of a hill, half a mile distant; we sat down, and when they came up, joined in with them to return to the city. Hamed spoke a good word for me, and one of them became quite communicative. I asked him to show me his musket a Moor never goes a mile from home without a gun which he did, after shaking the powder from the pan. Those muskets are remark- able for their length, the thinness of the barrel, and the lightness of the stock. The butt of the stock is made to fit the shoulder like the head of a crutch. This, like others that I noticed, was profusely mounted with figures in brass and ivory. I asked permission to dis- 24 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. charge it, but he shook his head. The camels were "nine day" in the interior, laden with grain, wax, black soap, and hides or leather, I could not understand which. The wheat of Morocco, known among us as the Barbary wheat, is a large and full grain of red husk, much like the wheat of Madeira and the Canaries, but larger. I procured a peck of it, but before I reached America it was entirely destroyed by weevil. 1 asked the Moor how they preserved wheat from this insect in his country. He said, by burying it in the ground ; and that, in that condition, it would keep for years. These camels are the Arabian, or one-humped species, commonly called dromedaries. I told Hamed to catch me one of the young camels that followed in the cara- van, that I might take a near survey of his mouse - coloured coat. The little creature seemed quite willing for Hamed to touch him, but when I, an infidel, put my hand on his prophet- consecrated shoulder, the beast made a sudden spring, knocked me down, and ran over me, to the great delight of the Moors. His dam took after Hamed with pricked ears and open mouth, and the way that gentleman's slippers and turban disappeared over the hill was interesting even to me. As I brushed the dust from my clothes I bethought me of a popular individual in the land of Washington, who figures largely in stump and temperance speeches, under the name of " the boy that the calf ran over." " The Jew " was standing at his door as we passed, and invited me in to drink a little arraltee. Pleased with an opportunity of tasting that classic beverage, I consented, and drank his health in a glass a little larger than a thimble. If, in attempting to describe it, I should TANGIER. 25 say that it is not precisely like gin, you would infer that I am acquainted with gin ; and if I were to add neither is it like whisky, you might say that I am a judge of that vulgar drink ; and if I were, still further, to add that it bears some resemblance to a mixture of both, with a dash of orgeat cordial, you would say, the gentleman is quite a connoisseur in liquors ; and this would be a poor compliment to my cloth ; so I will say nothing about it. I took leave of Hamed on the beach, after trusting him to go back to the city with a sovereign to change it. As I stepped into the boat he said: " You think Hamed good man, sa? " "Yes," said I, "Hamed is a good man and honest." He went away satisfied, muttering to himself the words in which he recommended his services : " Hamed good man eberybody know Hamed ! " The Moors of this vicinity are a mixed race, repre senting the blood of the Arab, the Berber, and the African. They call themselves Mooslim, or believers, to distinguish them from those tribes of the country who have not so fully embraced Mahometanism. Their hair is straight and dark ; their skin is of every shade from blonde to black ; features small, and generally of aquilline tendency. Their eyes and teeth are beautiful, and in figure they are tall and slender and well proportioned. They are indolent, taciturn, selfish, and treacherous. The city contains about twelve thousand. Tangier is supposed to have been founded by Sophax, who was believed to have been the son of Hercules and 26 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. Tinga; the city he named after his mother. In the Greek of Plutarch it is called Tingene ; and, according to Strabo, it has been called Tinga, Linga, and Lixus Some believe the city to have been built by Antasus, the first husband of Tinga. It is certain that it was rebuilt by Julius Ca3sar as the centre of a Roman colony planted by him. A few ruins, a short distance to the north-east of the present city, mark the site of the old town. It was besieged and taken by Sertorius, who, hearing the natives speak of the giant size of Antaeus, to gratify his curiosity opened his tomb, and was so overwhelmed at the proportions of the skeleton, that he offered sacrifice to it and restored it to its place. Henry of Portugal possessed himself of Tangier in the fifteenth century ; and since that time it has been held for short periods by many European powers. It was given to England as a marriage portion with Catherine when she became the wife of Charles the Second, but in 1684 she demolished its forts and aban- doned it. The commerce of Tangier is insignificant, but an ac- tive trade in poultry, meats, and vegetables is kept up between it and Gibraltar. Grain, beeswax, and leather are the chief articles of exportation. The insecurity of property in this country, where the will of the emperor is the only law, is, perhaps, the chief reason why foreign merchants do not form establishments here. It was the opinion of our enterprising consul, Mr. Brown, that he would be able to make such terms with the emperor as would place American trade with Tangier on a sure footing. It is backed by a healthy and productive country, and may one day be a commercial port of great TANGIER. 27 importance. Not, however, till the crescent wanes, and the day-spring dawns. Africa is, in all respects, a land of deep shades. As the voyager approaches the western shores of its inter- tropical regions, he beholds them enveloped in a dense haze, and beneath this gloomy pall his imagination spreads the -wild charms, the bloody rites, and the exu- berant deformities of savage life. As he enters the mysterious borders he beholds turbid rivers, deep and sombre forests, impenetrable jungles and offensive swamps, and a race of beings upon whom night has set her ineffaceable signet. The physical aspects which Nature here presents are to him symbolic, and their many-voiced utterances tell of the moral and intellectual darkness which covers the people. Yet Africa is a land of sunshine, and, without a paradox, the light and darkness dwell together. Above the Harmattan fog, which generally disappears before noon, the sky is clear and cloudless, and the sun shines in his strength ; and the bosom of the dense forests, be- neath whose luxuriant foliage men walk in deep shadows, glistens in the light of eternal summer. Why may we not regard these facts also as symbols which nature has hung out to speak the present or the future of intellec- tual and spiritual Africa? Symbols, and significant symbols they are ; but as we read the former and nearer as descriptive of the present, we must read the latter and more remote as prophetic. An intellectual and spiritual dust fog, gloomy and death-bearing, now reigns over Africa ; but when the noon of the race shall have come, the increasing light will dissipate the clouds. Ig- norance and superstition, like the thick foliage of her 28 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. forests, spread abroad a deadly shade, but when the hands of Religion and Science have torn away and rooted out these natural growths, the unobstructed rays of the Sun of Righteousness, beaming spiritual and in- tellectual light, shall fall upon the long-shaded race ; and when these obstructions are removed, her light may be as bright and enduring as her darkness has been deep and hideous. But if darkness is the characteristic of the moral aspect which Africa presents, we may safely say that thick darkness covers the origin and the history of her hundred tribes, their many languages, and reli- gious rites. Did the Phoenicians circumnavigate this continent ? If they did not, how did they find out that beyond certain latitudes "the sun is on the right hand," or north, " casting shadows to the left," or south ; and that Africa is not connected with any other continent than that of Asia, by the isthmus of Suez ? If they did, how in their tiny barks did they survive the stormy waters of the Cape of Good Hope, and the tempestuous waves which roll continually on the southern and western shores ? How did they provision themselves 1 If they landed at intervals and sowed and reaped crops of grain, as is claimed for them, how did they escape the pesti- lences of the coast, so fatal to the unacclimated ? Con- sidering their ignorance of geography, navigation, and the astronomy of southern skies, by what laws did they find their way ? To attempt to follow the line of the coast would be fatal, even in these days of giant ships and accurate navigation. These are questions which will likely remain for ever unanswered. TANGIER. 29 Polybius tells us, that in his time it was not known whether Africa was united to another continent at the south, or surrounded by the sea, Strabo makes no pre- tension to knowledge on the subject ; and Ptolemy, the most learned of ancient geographers, describes it as be- coming " broader and broader toward the south," and " reaching the south pole." Cape Non, or Nun, was long the non plus ultra of the ancients on the West Coast; but there is reason for believing that the Carthaginian fleet under Hanno doubled that stormy cape and explored the shores as far as Sherbro Sound ; and also, that, in their trading expeditions, they pene- trated far into Central Africa. It is evident, from certain remains found on the banks of the Niger, that the Egyptians once had commerce with the tribes of the interior, but it is not likely that they ever reached the shores or tribes of the West Coast. The Africa of the moderns is entirely to the south of the Sahara ; and their Ethiopia is a large interior dis- trict, not very accurately defined, extending some seven degrees on each side of the equator. But we have said enough of the distant and dubious. In the early part of the seventeenth century, the de- mand for labourers in the rich and widening fields of the West Indies and Spanish America suggested the idea of making a profitable trade, by buying negroes in Africa and selling them in the markets of the new world. The Portuguese, who had already entered the slave trade between the coast and the markets of Europe, now established lines of slavers between the towns of Guinea and St. Domingo. The profitableness of this trade soon attracted the attention of the Dutch, who were 30 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. then in the height of their maritime glory. With such an appeal to their cupidity, and the growing disposition of the age to question the authority of popes in things temporal, Martin's grant of exclusive possession and right of trade to Portugal was no longer heeded. They anchored their vessels off the trading settlements, entered the forts by force, and so completely took the trade into their own hands, that, at the close of 1637, there was not a Portuguese trading station on the Gold Coast. The English followed the example of the Dutch, drove them in turn from several of their forts, of which we shall speak more particularly under appropriate heads, and for many years the British lion fattened himself on the lion's share of the African slave trade. His conscience did not then interfere with his digestion ; he hunted, ate, and slept well ; and his coat became smooth and glossy. Some will have it that he was a grown lion then that the relative positions of conscience and stomach were per- manently fixed that they are now in statu quo and that if his peptic strength is not now what it was then, something other than moral sensibility interferes with the capacity of his powerful organs to assimilate such food. We are disposed, however, to attribute only the best of qualities to the noble and venerable brute ; and to hope that he has been blessed with an increase of conscientious sensibility in his old age. In the year 1637 the French made a settlement on an island in the mouth of the Senegal, and there subse- quently built a town, which, in honour of Louis XIV., they called Saint Louis. This town was taken by the British in 1756, but was recovered by the French in 1779. During the French TANGIER. 31 Revolution it fell again into the hands of the British, but was ceded to France at the restoration of the Bour- bons. By treaty with the natives France has possessed herself of extensive tracts on each side of the river, and for many years has enjoyed exclusively the trade of an immense district. This trade has always been profitable. Among the natives they found ready pur- chasers for guinea cloth, coloured cottons, beads and trinkets of French manufacture, for which they receive in return ivory, gold dust, cloves, and gum Senegal gum of the acacia. The first named article they con- tinue to gather in large quantities, for which they give, in trade, five cents a pound. Ivory and gold are not so abundant as formerly, but beeswax and hides have come into market, and the pea-nut (ground pea of the south) being found valuable in commerce, is so extensively produced by the natives on the banks of the river that it is now the staple article. The present value of the trade on this one river, its rapid increase, and the readiness with which, as in the case of the pea-nut, an insignificant article, has been made a staple article in agriculture and commerce, will surprise many readers. The gum Senegal is gathered by the tribes of the neighbouring Sahara, who, at a certain season, repair in vast caravans, men, women, and children, on camels and horses, to the vast acacia forests which cover the lands of the upper waters of the Senegal. Here they spend several weeks gathering the gum, which is found on the exterior bark of the tree, in hard globules the size of a pigeon's egg. When they have laden themselves and their beasts, they descend to a town on the lower waters, 32 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. at which an annual fair is held, and where they are met by the French merchants. At a given signal the fair is opened, and lying on the part of the natives, cheating on the part of the French, noise, broils, and merriment are kept up for several days. The country near the Atlantic partakes of the charac- ter of the neighbouring desert; it is flat, sandy, and barren. A French officer, who surveyed and explored the river for several hundred miles into the interior, in- forms us that in the lower sixty leagues the inclination of the river bed is but two feet. St. Louis and its vicinity are said to be more healthy for Europeans than most places farther south. But even here the life of the European is short; dysentery and African fever prevail, at times carrying off almost the entire white population. The tribes in the vicinity are of mixed blood, representing the Negro and " the Moors (Berbers most likely) of the desert." They are Mohammedans in then* religion. They have had Jesuit missionaries and schools among them half a century, conducted with the wisdom, scheming, and zeal which characterize everywhere the operations of that order, but little has been done in the way of giving them a favourable im- pression of Christianity. 33 CHAPTEE II. GAMBIA RIVER. " Here lofty trees to ancient song unknown, The noble sons of potent heat, and floods Prone-rushing from the clouds, rear high to Heav'n Their thorny stems, and broad around them throw Meridian gloom." Rough Sailing An African Pilot Mungo Park and other Explorers Gambia Biver Trade of the Gambia Bathnrst Missionaries and Mission Stations Tribes of the Banks An old Acquaintance Civilization advancing. SEVERAL days spent in cruising over the restless waters which divide the Cape Verd Islands from the African coast, gave us an intense appetite for land breezes, and brought us to that point of humility in the eyes of Nep- tune which accepts of " any port in a storm." They were terrible days, followed by still more terrible nights. Days and nights of "close-hauled" sailing, angry seas, closed ports, wet decks, fearful pitching, terrific rolling ; bilious headaches, desponding hearts, sour looks, cross answers ; ennui, nausea, and general discontent ; but as we ploughed our wide way into greener waters, and the soundings indicated our approach to land, faces grew brighter; and as the seas subsided, our spirits rose. This is certainly the most restless and unpleasant por- tion of the Atlantic ; it is swept by the North-east D 34 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. Trades, which here attain their maximum force, and for at least nine months of the year the boisterous winds and foam-crested waves take no repose. Woe to the poor cruiser who has to beat against them on his wind- ward course ; let him expect days of darkness, for they shall be many ! In my memoranda of those cheerless times I find the following: "Feb. 16th. Sick to-day sea-sick, head- sick, heart-sick, home-sick ! Mem. Never go to sea again I Take the Black-jack Ridge, or the Alligator Swamp Missions in preference ! On the morning of the 17th of February, 1857, we were near the bar of the mouth of the Gambia river, and twenty miles from the land, which was obscured by a deep haze. We hove to, and made signal for a pilot by firing a gun. At noon, a stout little vessel of Eng- lish rig came alongside, and a naked gentleman, tall, dignified, and black, made his appearance on the quarter deck. Advancing to the commander, he introduced himself with a low bow and a scrape of his right foot, saying " I'se de pilit, sir." " Do you speak English 1" said the captain. " Oh ya, sa ! I'se b'long to de English town." "Don't pilots wear clothes in your country?" said the officer, as he made deliberate survey of the ebony Adonis before him. " Oh ya, sa !" he replied, casting a glance at a small bundle under his arm, " I'se tend to him bim by," and without further ceremony he mounted the horse-block with the air of an admiral, saying, "S'pose you fill- away, Cap'n, de tide be flood." GAMBIA RIVER. 35 He was the lion of the hour ; a fine specimen of the half-civilized African ; nor was there any mistaking the type of his civilization. With all the self-possession of the Englishman and the pomposity of the African, he played the cockney well, in spite of his breechless ex- terior, and gave us a favourable impression of the young England of the Gambia. While the officer of the deck was "making sail," he went to the main gangway, where he unrolled his bundle of rags, and after several attempts to get his head and arms through the proper holes, worked himself into a shirt that had evidently seen better days ! and then drew on three-quarters of a pair of breeches, composed of a front, a waist-band, a leg and a half, and two pockets. He completed his toilet, which I was unpolite enough to witness with a great deal of interest, by putting on the topless crown of a straw hat. I handed him the spy-glass, with which I had been trying to find the land, and which he put under his arm, a la militaire, and now, in the full dress of a run-away scarecrow, presented the most interesting union of the dignified and ridiculous that mortal eyes ever beheld. But I found him interesting in other respects. He was well acquainted with the trade of the river, the officers and missionaries of the station, and informed me, with much pride of manner, that he had received all his education from the missionaries. On learning my office on board, he became quite communicative ; and from his conversation I doubt not that he read his Bible with profit, that he was a humble Chris- tian, and that within that dark casket and ungainly exterior there was a precious jewel, even a ransomed 36 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. and regenerated soul. We shall see, in our further acquaintance with African humanity, that a good degree of Scriptural intelligence and personal religion is not incompatible with the half-civilized state. We advanced slowly up the smooth and sunlit waters of the majestic Gambia, and an hour before sunset dropped anchor off the island of St. Mary's, and abreast of the pretty town of Bathurst. The English flag was saluted with twenty- one guns, and the compliment was speedily returned. The flag-lieutenant visited the governor with the respects of the commodore, and a party of English officers from the garrison came off and spent the evening in our ward- room in a jolly way. I remained on the quarter-deck until a late hour, enjoying the soft breath of evening and the clear moonlight. The stillness of the night, the glistening, quiet river, the silvery voice of the gentle ripple, the slumbering woods, all contrasted so favour- ably with the scenery and discomfort of the previous evening, that I was loth to retire to my dark little room. Cheerfulness and gratitude had succeeded to self-re- proach and discontent, and visions of my loved home far away, scenes and persons from the histoiy of the Gambia mingled with fancies born of the wild forest around, all blending softly yet obscurely, as the deep shadow of the woods blent with the dark bosom of the river. Who has not read "Mungo Park's Travels in Africa f and who that has read them can fail to asso- ciate his name with the Gambia ? Long as its mighty floods shall roll to the Atlantic, the music of the wave on its shores shall sound requiems in the ears of civilized men to the memories of Thompson and Park. The GAMBIA RIVER. 37 Portuguese established defences for the protection of their traders on this river in the early part of the 16th century, and for more than a hundred years reaped golden harvests from the trade in ivory and gold dust which they carried on with the tribes of its banks. But though it is likely that they penetrated far into the interior, their observations contributed but little toward unfolding the geography or ethnography of Africa. Gold was the debasing object of their pursuit, until they entered that trade which is, of all others, the most degrading to the feelings and intellect of those who pursue it namely, slave hunting. With such objects before them, their eyes were closed to the majestic forms, and brilliant garb, and varied life, which nature here presents. It is claimed for commercial men and trading ad- venturers that they have contributed most toward extending our knowledge of geography and mankind, and in promoting civilization. We grant that they have done much ; but be it remembered that they have performed only a secondary part in these works. In the tropical as in frigid zones, the most successful explorers have been men who were actuated by nobler motives than the pursuit of gain. Prince Henry of Portugal, Mungo Park, the Landers, Wilson, Bowen, Livingstone, Earth, Franklin, and Kane, were men whose adventures were prompted by incentives to which the mere trader is a stranger. In 1618 a company was formed in England for the purpose of exploring the Gambia. Richard Thompson was sent out at the head of a small party, and furnished 38 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. with ten thousand dollars' worth of goods and trinkets, by distributing which he hoped to obtain the goodwill of the natives, and pursue his course to the headwaters of the river. He arrived safely on the coast in a vessel called the Catherine, and proceeded up the river as far as Kissan, a fortified town occupied by Portuguese traders. The traders, who considered themselves the rightful owners of all western Africa, received him with coolness, and watched his movements with jealousy. Here he left his vessel and most of her crew, and pushed up the river in small boats ; but soon after his departure his men in the vessel were murdered by the natives, urged on by the Portuguese. Thompson never re- turned, and his fate is unknown. Two years after his departure, Richard Jobson was sent out, and at the head of a small party sailed up the Gambia, in small boats, to a point more than a hundred miles above the falls of Baraconda, now the head of navigation, and three hundred and fifty miles from the coast. He was the first to give any reliable account of the country on the upper waters, the people and their habits. The natives told him that Thompson had been murdered by his own crew ; but as none of that crew were ever after found, it is likely that they were all massacred by the natives at the instigation of the traders. He was informed by one Buchar Sano, a native mer- chant, that far up the stream there was a country of much gold, but after continuing his course three months he returned without seeing the Beulah of his hopes. Hearing of this land of gold, Yermuyden, a merchant who had resided some time on the rivei'j led another GAMBIA RIVER. 39 expedition up the stream in 1615, but did not advance more than a hundred miles beyond the falls. Nothing more was done by the English until 1723, when Cap- tain Stibbs was sent out, by a company, in command of a small party. The idea now prevailed in Europe that the Gambia was a branch of the Niger, and by continu- ing upward Stibbs hoped to enter that stream. Sickness and other mishaps attended his expedition, and after going sixty miles beyond the falls he was compelled to return. In 1791, under the patronage of the African Company, Major Houghton, a gentleman of rank, in- telligence, and sanguine spirit, undertook the hopeless task of exploring the Gambia, by travelling along its banks on foot and alone. Don Quixote's charge on the windmill was wisdom compared with this undertaking. The noble man was lured from his course by a party of Moors, who, after robbing him of his last gar- ment, left him to perish in the forest. Mungo Park entered these waters in 1795, but after going some distance up stream, pursued his journey over- land, and by dint of a brazen constitution and unusual common sense, worked his way among the natives until he reached the cool waters of the Niger at a point near a thousand milesfrom the mouth of the Gambia. He saw the great river flowing eastward, and satisfied with the result of his adventure, and full of thrilling ex- periences of life among the negroes he returned to England, where he was received as one from the dead. The source of the Gambia, and the country on its head- waters, are not yet accurately known, but enough is ascertained to dissipate the idea of its connection with 40 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. the Niger, and the romantic accounts of cities of gold glittering on its upper banks. There are several islands in this river. St. James was settled by the African Company English in 1724, and Joar, a hundred miles from the sea, about the same time. On Macarthy's Island, two hundred miles up the river, there is a large trading town, a fort, a Methodist " church," and a schoolhouse. To this point the river is navigable for vessels of large draught, and a small war steamer plies between here and Bathurst, superintending the interests of England. The Portuguese, long ago, retired from its banks, the French have lately resigned their forts here, and the trade is now entirely in the hands of the English. To their liberality, however, be it said, that they give every facility and encouragement to the shipping of the United States. Their forts and possessions at Bathurst, and on Cape St. Mary's, com- mand the west side of the river ; and on the eastern shore they have lately purchased from the Barras a tract one mile wide and thirty miles long. Here, as at Senegal, the cultivation of the pea-nut has been encou- raged, and the crop may now be estimated at two mil- lions and a-half of bushels. Of this quantity a million bushels are purchased for the French markets, and the remainder are exported to England, Germany, and America. The American traders who visit this river deal mostly in hides, horns, and beeswax ; but with them, also, the pea-nut will soon become the staple article. Wild honey is brought down the river in considerable quanti- ties, and is bought for the German markets. These articles are all brought to Bathurst in canoes ; and GAMBIA EIVEK. 41 some idea of the value of labour in Africa may be formed by considering that half-a-dozen men will spend five or six days in bringing ten bushels of these nuts to market, and then exchange them for articles on which the merchant makes two or three hundred per cent, profit, at the rate of sixty cents a bushel. We say no- thing of the labour bestowed to produce them. Bathurst was settled in the year 1816, called after Earl Bathurst, a gentleman whose virtues Pope thought fit to immortalize in verse. The island on which it stands, St Mary's, is four miles long and one broad ; it is a delta of the Gambia, raised on the inland side by the alluvium of the river, and on the seaward side by sand thrown up by the action of the waves. A man- grove swamp occupies a large portion of it, and the vast quantity of mud which is exposed to the action of the sun at low water, must contribute greatly to the known unhealthiness of the island. In this mud, along the water's edge, 1 found quantities of those delicious bivales of the genus ostrea, known in America as cockles or scallops. The town presents a neat and business-like aspect. The houses occupied by the traders, missionaries, and govern- ment officials, are built of stone, and are tasty and sub- stantial. In the business, or dry season, canoes throng the beach, and negroes of twenty tribes, keep the streets in an uproar with their noisy chattering. The native residents on the island represent six or eight tribes, and speak as many languages, each language comprising several dialects. They number five thousand. On the morning of the 18th, in company with Dr. C, I called on the Rev. John Bridgart, and his co- 42 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. labourer, Rev. Alex. F. Gurney. These gentlemen received us with much cordiality ; showed us through the mission premises and school-house, all comfort- able and substantial buildings of stone, and kept in good order. The school, which has an average attendance of three hundred, is conducted on sound, common-sense prin- ciples ; and the instruction imparted, in English, is of a practical character. The teachers are native converts, themselves graduates of this school, modest and in- telligent men. Most of the scholars have forsaken the religion of their fathers, many of them are worthy members of the "church," and will soon return as missionaries to their several tribes. This mission field, is in a most promising condition, and though young, the fruits are now visible. The climate of the Gambia is in all respects tropical. There are but two seasons the wet and the dry. The rainy season commences in June and ends in December ; then it is that fatal fevers prevail, and missionaries fall in the midst of their labours. There are stations on the coast more unhealthy than this, but, even here, the strongest constitution may not hope to survive more than four or five years. It is an occasion of gratitude and encouragement that so much has been accomplished in view of the constant changes and fearful mortality among the missionaries. What but an intelligent sense O * of duty, and that sense how strong ! could sustain men in such arduous labours, staring death in the face con- tinually, exiled from civilisation and most of its bless- ings, looking forward to a grave among strangers, and a tomb which the tears of affection may not consecrate GAMBIA RIVER. 43 to the slumbers of the beloved : arid all this without hope of any earthly reward or honour ! Truly such men are heroes ; but, because their motives are too high for the appreciation of the multitude, their names will not mark the fading annals of worldly greatness. The most important and influential of the surround- ing tribes, are the Jollifs and Barras. In physical ap- pearance and in manners the former resemble the Man- dingoes, the most intelligent people of the western coast, and the roots of their language indicate a common origin. They are above medium height, erect and bony, and perhaps a shade darker than the Mandingoes. Their features are regular, feet and hands small, and but for the wool, might pass for black Moors. They are mure industrious and intelligent than many of the neighbouring tribes, owing doubtless to the fact, that, centuries ago, they embraced Mohammedanism. Per- haps this fact will also account for their more intellectual ast of countenance. Although professed followers of the Prophet, they retain many of the superstitions of their more barbarous estate ; particularly their love of charms or amulets, which they believe possess power to resist evil spirits and evil influences. These are of various forms carved teeth of certain animals, small leathern pouches handsomely embroidered, containing texts from the Koran, etc. I have seen as many as a dozen of these on one person, suspended from the neck and wrists, and worked into the hair. The missionaries do not find them so accessible as their less intelligent neighbours, but the qualities which make them firm in their present religion, will, when they are converted, make them zealous and consistent Christians. A few of 44 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. these are, however, numbered in the triumphs of the missions. We met several Jollifs and others from some of the semi-Mohammedanized tribes, in full Moorish costume, but they were dignitaries. The dress which a majority of the Jollifs wear, is a cool garb even for Africa, con- sisting of a turban, amulets, a shirt, and a pair of sandals. The residents and natives of St. Mary's imi- tate the European style of dress, and progress in it as they advance in intelligence, so that in a given case one might estimate the degree of civilization by the amount of breeches. The huts are built of cane or other wicker-work, are covered with palm leaf, and generally enjoy the shade of the palm or plantain. While stroll- ing in the outskirts of Bathurst, we were invited into a hut of unusual neatness, surrounded by a garden in- closed by a bamboo fence. We entered the low door and seated ourselves on stools placed in the centre of the apartment for our accommodation, and one of the three female occupants brought us some excellent palm wine in clean, fresh-looking gourds. They seemed pleased that we enjoyed their wine, thanked us for the visit, and told us that thev were members of the mission / V chapel. We finished our day's walk by visiting the graveyard of the whites a grassy hill over-looking the sea. Here the gold-hunter, the explorer, the slave- hunter, the soldier and the missionary, sleep side by sine, awaiting the day of revelation and the rewards of their toil. Which will be called " the fanatic" then ? Who then " the fool ?" Who will then be pronounced wise ? blessed are they, for they shall shine as the stars in the firmament for ever and ever ! GAMBIA EIVER. 45 In passing through the native market next morning in company with Lieut. M., our attention was arrested by a stand of ginger cakes and beer, behind which sat an old black woman in a neat calico dress and white head- kerchief, with the unmistakeable tie and set of the low country house-girl of the Southern States. " This reminds me of Georgia," said one of the party. " I come from dare !" exclaimed the old lady, rising to her feet. " From where ?" asked Lieut. M. " From Sawanna." " What is your name ?" " Catherine.-" " Where did you live ?" " At de * Our House," mossa." " Did you know Col. M. ?" said I, referring to the father of my companion, an old and distinguished citizen of Savannah/' " Oh, yes, Mossa !" said she, mentioning at the same time the names of several of his family. " Would you know Julian now ?" said I, casting a glance at my friend. " Dunno, mossa ; Jule be little boy, den." " Look at this man," said I. She gazed a moment, and grasping his hand, ex- claimed " De Lord help my poor soul, if this aint moss Jule ! Tank de Lord ! Praise de Lord ! I see some my people one time more !" Then followed many inquiries after old friends, a sketch of her life since she left Georgia, and the touch- ing question 46 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. " Can't you take a-me back to my people ?" He explained that this was impossible, and emptying the contents of his purse into her hands, bid her good- bye with a softened voice. " Tell my broder and sister of Andrew Marshall church," said she, " that I have been see heap trouble ; but my Jesus been wid me, and I try meet um ober yonder." Poor woman ! she had been set free at the age of forty, and sent to Liberia ; but her husband becoming dissatisfied, came to this place, where he died, leaving her helpless : but the white residents buy her cakes, and she makes a scanty living. That evening the missionaries visited our ship, and I enjoyed sweet com- munion with them for several hours. Noble men ! sincere Christians ! Intelligent gentlemen ! God spare them and bless them in their loved employ ! Next morning, our beautiful ship unfolded her white wings to the wind, and as if refreshed by her repose in the quiet river, dashed swiftly on toward the spray and the wave. Civilization is advancing even in Africa. The roar of cannon, the plunging of heavy anchors, the rush of the paddle-wheel, have disturbed the gambols of the hippopotami, and the river-horse no longer rolls in the lower floods of the Gambia. The lion, the leopard, and the stately elephant are disappearing from its banks ; the mimicking parrot has already carried the echoes of the steam-whistle into the deep forests of the interior the voice of a bird telling the dawn of a coming day and after them shall follow, with slow but steady tread, the heralds of religion and the sons of trade. 47 CHAPTER III. SIERRA LEONE. Green Waters Again Entrance of the Sierra Leone Ashore on the Bar The Sailor's Love for his Ship Sabbath Morning in Sierra Leone Freetown " De Church ob Hingland" Congregations of Natives Native Preachers Good Reading Disappointment No. 3 An Intelligent Congregation A Troublesome Nose Good Sing- ing Christian Sympathy superior to Prejudice Mrs. Stowe in Africa. " GREEN waters again !" said the officer, just relieved from the morning watch, as he passed through the ward-room to his berth. In a moment we imagined that our ship pitched more lightly, and persuading our feet into a pair of India-rubber overalls, ascended to the quarter-deck for a mouthful of fresh air. An hoiir of ter we made signal for a pilot, and early in the after- noon another breechesless Anglo- African, venerable and greyheaded, crawled over the gangway with a bundle of clothes under his arm and the credentials of a pilot be- tween his teeth. The mist and fog began to clear away, and soon the high mountains of Sierra Leone made their appearance above the clouds, like islands floating in the air. Night overtook us on the bar, and the pilot, becoming a little confused in his bearings, and not making sufficient allowance for our draught of water, ran us aground on a submerged sand-bank. 48 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. Then followed a scene of excitement, but without con- fusion. The commander, J. H. W., who has always been equal to his emergencies, sprung to the horse-block, all hands were on deck in a moment, orders were passed and executed with the rapidity of thought, boats were lowered and kedges were carried out without delay. The tide was still rising, and after fifteen minutes of hard bumping to the ship, and hard work to her men, we floated off into deep water without the slightest injury. An hour after, we dropped anchor in the smooth Sierra Leone, now the broad mirror of a thou- sand stars. A hundred lights were shining from the windows of Freetown, and, feeling grateful that we were once 'more among the habitations of men, we slept that night unrocked by the tossings of the deep. We occasionally find in our life-experiences that those indefinable and self-willed creatures of our being, called affections, often cling with strong attachment to things inanimate ; nor is it an abuse of language to say that we may love such things, as we may love persons or qualities. The farmer loves the tree that he has planted and trained ; the soldier loves the blade that has served him in battle ; the sailor loves the ship that has borne him safely through storms. We felt the stirrings of this latent affection that night, as our good ship struck heavily with each fall of the wave on that shallow bar, and the possibility of a wreck glanced through our minds. From the number of our boats, the proximity of the shore and the smoothness of the sea, there was no danger of loss of life, or personal property, and in- deed such a wreck would have terminated an un- pleasant cruise ; yet we felt that we could weep to see SIERRA LEONE. 49 the good timbers of our faithful ship bleaching on a foreign shore ; and the possibility that she that had carried us safely over a thousand angry waves, and proudly waved our flag among strangers, as if conscious herself of the dignity of her mission, should come to so ignoble an end, touched every heart with pity and strained every nerve to her assistance. Phrenologists call this love "local attachment," and I suppose that its presence would be indicated by a " bump " but bump or no bump, it exists in all good sailors, and is often, in degree and kind, similar to the love which they bear for persons or principles. The sailor needs no naturalization, oath of fealty, threatening or reward to attach him to his ship ; so long as she bears him safely through the gale, and furnishes him with a hammock and a home, he will fight for her safety and honour, bear what flag she may. Next morning, the bright sun of an October Sabbath revealed the flourishing city of Freetown ; resting on the northern part of the high ridge called Sierra Leone Lion's Ridge and stretching along the shore a mile and a half. The blue hills still mantled in the mists of morning, the deep and sombre valleys now changing with the silvery light to more cheerful hues, the solemn forests and the silent shore, the majestic river in its noiseless flow, and the waveless bay, unruffled by an oar, the quiet city and the cheerful fields, all seemed conscious that a holy day had come a day of rest, and silent adoration. The music of the church-bells carried us far over the wave, and we mingled unseen in the worships of our own hearths and altars; but another glance, and the tall cotton woods on the beach, the R 50 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. graceful palms, waving in the light winds on the hill- side, the clustering cocoanut trees, which shaded the streets of the city, reminded us that we were in the climes of the sun ! in Africa, savage Africa, but Africa waking up with a smile on her face, to welcome the blessings of the Christian Sabbath. I went ashore in the first boat, and, landing at a sub- stantial stone pier, accepted the services of a well- dressed negro, who proposed to " show Massa Kapting anywhere for sixpence," and turned my steps to find church. A few seconds' walk brought us to the heart of the city, where, in the centre of a square, stands a large stone church in the Gothic style, which may be considered as the cathedral of the place. " Dis de church ob Hingland," said my guide, and with the hope that his sixpence was gained, proposed that I should go to church there, assuring me that they had "Mighty good white people preaching, Kapting, and plenty prayers ! " I was struck with the size and neat appearance of the houses, and the cleanliness of the streets. The houses of the government officials are large and well built : so are the various public buildings ; and beside these, there are a great number of briee, stone, and frame- houses, occupied by natives, which display taste and means. From these down to the huts of wattle-work, daubed with mud and thatched with palm-grass, the same attention to order and cleanliness was manifest, and that in an extraordinary degree for an African town. The suburbs are occupied by thousands of these huts, attached to each of which there is generally a SIERRA LEONE. 51 small garden, and among them cocoanut trees, affording both fruit and shade in abundance. The streets were thronged with well-dressed negroes, on their way to church, and had it not been for the tropical shade trees, and the occasional appearance of an untamed African, in shirt and old hat, or a turbaned Mandingo, I could have fancied myself in the suburbs of a southern city. After walking a quarter of a mile or more, we stopped at another church, where a native preacher, in surplice and bands, was commencing the service of the Church of England. He was followed by a large congregation, who, with prayer-books in hands, read the responses with a great deal of unction. " This is not the place, sir ?" I said to my guide ; " I begin to fear that you don't know where the church is." " O yes, Kapting, a little furder!" Another quarter of a mile, and a large, white stone building shone through the cocoanuts ; rural English, in every feature ; such a one, doubtless, as casts its shadow on the " aged thorne," which Gray hath written into immortality. A little nearer, and I heard the congrega- tion singing the Gloria in Excelsis, but as English Methodists have had the good sense to retain this in- imitable hymn in their " Sunday Service," I thought it worth while to look in ; but, behold two black gentle- men in surplices and bands. " Wrong again, sir," said I to Tobias, my guide, who, like myself, was in a glow from hard walking and the hot sun. He touched his hat very respectfully, saying : " Thar be plenty more, sa, s'pose dis no suit Mas Kapting." 52 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. " How far to the next ?" "'Bout half a mile, Kapting." I sat down on the belfry steps, and listened to the deacon reading the first lesson. He read well-, enunci- ating distinctly the final syllable of preterits ending in "ed;" a practice which English scholars observe every- where, but in some of the southern and western States, and which raises the dignity of Scripture language above the vulgar abbreviations of the common collo- quial. But the poor fellow made terrible work with his "h's"; and had that defect in the pronunciation of "r " like a broad which is peculiar to the affected English- man and the American snob. He was English in his religion, his education, with its excellences and defects, and in everything else but colour. The congregation, numbering near two hundred, were neatly dressed in European style, except a few Sabbath-school children, and were attentive and devotional. "Now," said I to Tobais, "you have deceived me thrice, you may go about your business, and I'll hold on to the sixpence." , (( If you please, Massa Kapting, I take you to one more church." " How far !" " 'Bout mile ; other side town." We had a very long walk, the sun was hot, and, as usual when I needed one, I had no umbrella. We arrived just in time to hear the concluding prayers of the morning service. The preacher officiating was a black man. He read as only spiritually-minded men can read, and his re- spectable looking audience responded as those only can SIERRA LEONE. 53 respond who understand and feel what they say. A polite sexton, out of respect to my brass buttons, 1 sup- pose, led me to the farthest seat in the amen corner. It was cushioned comfortably, and supplied with books a Bible, a prayer book, and a hymn book. A vener- able black gentleman, in the uniform of an English army officer, was the only occupant of the seat beside myself, and after my long and hot walk, I found the ample and soft cushion a pleasant resting place. There was but one element of discomfort; my unfortunate olfactories would keep reminding me that there were certain odoriferous particles afloat in the atmosphere not exactly to their liking. But this was not as bad as it might have been, for I had the advantage of a window ; yet I could not help thinking sometimes that there was a very large flock of goats from Mount Gilead, or some other fragrant place, out in the garden ; or a great many swamp-rabbits under the house, with, perhaps, a musk rat or two. The Africans are fond of perfumes ! The preacher gave out a hymn in short measure, which was sung to Cranbrook ; the music was led by the teachers and scholars of the Sabbath-school, who occupied the front seats. They sang well. In attain- ing a good knowledge of the science, they had not lost the spirit ; and to the spirit of music was added the soul of prayer. The congregation generally followed ; they stood while they sang, although this was the second or third singing, and I doubt not but the sacri- fice was accepted before the Throne. Deep in my own consciousness I found a sympathy that claimed brotherhood with those who expressed their wants and hopesi nthe songs and prayers that expressed mine 54 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. a sympathy that is superior to questions of original unity or diversity of races, intellectual comparisons, or social caste. Memory, too, was busy. The singing carried me back to Savannah, to camp grounds in Middle Georgia, where " the darkeys " make night melodious with their simple songs and inimitable music ; and with camp-meetings came the friends and labours, successes and sorrows, of other days ; the spiritual and sympathetic in me were aroused in unison, and the better part of my nature was soon thousands of miles away, revelling somewhere between Griffin, Georgia, and the third heavens. When I came to myself, I alone was standing, and the preacher was taking his text, my handkerchief was at my eyes, and my spec- tacles were dim with moisture. I felt ashamed of myself. The text was, " My people do not consider," of which the preacher made good use, as illustrating his topic, which was The Sin of Ingratitude. His remarks were plain, in good grammar and excellent sense. I felt especially interested in the latter portion of his discourse, where he touchingly and beautifully reminded his hearers, of the darkness and death in which the mis- sionaries found him and them. He compared their condition, temporally and spiritually, with that of their fathers, with that of their brethren still in barbarism, and finally with that of their race in America, " where they lived on roots, and do the work of brute beasts." " Ah, stupid !" said I to myself, " why go beyond your depth, and spoil all?" I thought that if it were every way convenient, I should have been glad of the privilege of enlightening both preacher and people on this point. SIERRA LEONE. 55 After service, I introduced myself, as a southerner, to the preacher, and enjoyed half an hour's chat with him. I intimated that his description of the condition of the coloured race in the United States was new to me. Imagine my surprise, when the gentleman quoted from the " Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin." and asked me if I did not admire Mrs. Stowe. I replied, that " as a writer, I admired her ; that the most ardent admirers of her intellect were Southern men." "How is that, sir?" " Why, out of the South she is complimented in that she possesses an imagination which can form a beautiful and attractive story out of a few plain characters, acts of cruelty and pictures of suffering. In the South we know that not only did her imagination supply the dressing and paint, but even the characters, and the so- called ' facts,' and that, therefore, as a creative genius, which is the highest order of genius, we consider her gigantic. Thus is abolitionism spreading, even in Africa, the vemon of falsehood, and engendering strife. The extensive and fertile tract called Sierra Leone was purchased from the natives by the English govern- ment, and here, in 1787, they established a colony. For more than a century previous to this, Sierra Leone had been an important trading station, where the Eng- lish maintained a fort for the protection of their traders, and whence they exported thousands of slaves annually. The original settlers of the colony were blacks, stolen from the Americans during the War of Independence. To these, in 1792, were added a few hundred free negroes from Nova Scotia. Many of these poor 56 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. creatures died in the acclimating fever, but their places were supplied by thousands of Africans taken from slave- ships captured by the English men-of-war ; for at this time the English had become almost as zealous in capturing slavers, as they had previously been in sup- plying them. The natives of the colony are, for the most part, children of re-captured slaves; and this population is annually increased by the cargoes of the slave vessels which the British cruisers continue to capture along the "Western Coast. In thinking over the scenes of that day, as I sat in my room that night, I could hardly realize that I was in Africa. Yet, this is Africa ; Africa under the control of the British mind, and the influence of the Christian religion. Through these, behold what God hath wrought ! Before leaving Mr. Teale, on Sunday evening he fur- nished me with a note of introduction to his co-labourer, the Rev. Mr. Dillon, who was then residing at the village of Wilberforce, two miles from Freetown, in charge of the missions and schools at that place. This note I sent by a native to Mr. Dillon, that evening, with another informing him that I would do myself the pleasure of breakfasting with him next morning. The grey dawn found me at the landing, and sunrise overtook me on the broad and smooth turnpike road lying between Freetown and Wilberforce. Bright mornings are exhilarating to the spirits, and excite an appreciation of the beautiful wherever we may be ; but here, where nature reigns in wildest majesty, the ideas which the scenery excites are those of the sublime rather than the beautiful. The high mountains still SIEREA LEONE. 57 gathered round them the clouds of night; the deep forest, where the lion and leopard prowl, stretched away till it seemed lost in the sky, presenting many shades of red light and struggling darkness ; the broad river, rolling in solemn grandeur from the mysterious depths of the unknown wilds of the interior, reflected the warm hues of the morning sun like a sea of molten brass ; and the recollection that I was gazing on the abodes of wild beasts, poisonous reptiles, and savage men ; added the charm of wildness to the sublime picture. The gay plumage and unmusical notes of the numer- ous wild birds, the countless forms of insect and animal life, the endless variety of luxuriant weeds, and flowers, and trees, serve here to remind the traveller, unstudied in nature's tropical aspects, that he is a stranger and in a strange land. Yet not entirely a stranger, for though the fauna and flora be not those of his own soil and sun, in the igneous, and stratified formations, and fer- ruginous clays, which form the rock and surface of this district, he may find combinations which in their elements, relative positions and arrangements are the same, and obey the same laws, as the surface of the fields and quarries of his own home ; so that in mother earth, at least he has an old acquaintance. The geolo- gical effects of climate are comparatively trifling, and, therefore, the practical geologist may be as much at home, and apply his principles with equal confidence in the uniformity of the results, on the banks of the Niger or Nile, as on the banks of the Potomac or Mississippi. I met a great many natives on their way to market, carrying fruits, poultry, and baked fish. Fish, when, baked, will keep for a long time, even in this climate, 58 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. and they form here an important article of trade among the negroes. Sitting down to rest under the shade of a palm tree, I amused myself in asking questions of those who passed along the road, and in guessing, from the expression of the face, whether they were Maho- metans, Christians, or heathens. The Mahometan is unmistakeable ; conscious of his superiority over his savage brethren, he is erect, dignified and sullen. He must be blind indeed, who, in going from the southern States to the West Coast of Africa, or, in comparing the Christianized with the heathen African, will not be persuaded that civilization shows its effects in the increased intelligence and beauty of the human face. If the reader is now impatient for his breakfast, let us remind him that Gordon Cumming's "wait a-bit thorns" are very abundant in Sierra Leone, and that we are now taking a by-path through " the bush ; " as if he has not nine hundred lives to spare, and cannot afford to be harrowed to death with thorns two or three times a day, as was that gentleman, he had better be patient. The birds along our path were very numerous. My guide, an intelligent boy of the church mission school, whom I picked up on the road, called my attention to a little fellow about the size of a wren, in a jet black plumage, which he exchanged in the rainy season for one of pure white. In a tree, not far off, a number of parraquets, in brilliant green and red, and not larger than a lark, which he called love birds, were keeping up a very unmusical conversation, tumbling, swinging, and pirouetting the while, like a set of young mountebanks at a rehearsal. In an old field close by, where a number SIERRA LEONE. 59 of cows were grazing, a flock of long-legged white birds, resembling pigeons, seemed to be amusing themselves in hopping from the ground to the backs of the cattle, with whom they seemed on very familiar terms. My guide said they were gathering insects. In the palm trees over-head, palm-birds, of a bright yellow and black plumage, were chattering around their ingeniously- wrought nests, which swung from the branches. Half a dozen varieties of ants were pursuing their labours at our feet. Insects and lizards sported in the rank grass around, and the earth, the woods, the air, in every direction, stirred with animal life. We reached the village and the mission-house where we found Mr. Dillon awaiting our arrival, with a cheer- ful and hearty greeting ; and when I say that he is a Christian, a man of taste and letters, and a Welshman, what further guaranty can be asked for a warm wel- come, a good breakfast, and a pleasant day? The early part of the forenoon was quite close and sultry, but at ten o'clock a cool breeze from the sea rustled among the palm leaves near the cottage, and, provided with umbrellas, we sallied forth to visit the mission school, and the summer residence of an English officer of the colony. In going through the village we passed several very neat cottages, surrounded by paw-paw, banana, and palm trees, and furnished with well and tastefully cultivated gardens, which contained fine heads of cab- bage, and culinary vegetables familiar to American eyes. Chickens, goats and pigs strolled about the streets, and everything gave the evidence of the advance of civilization. The occupants of these houses are generally persons who have grown up in the colony, and 60 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. after receiving the rudiments of an English education, pursue some trade or mechanical art. Most of them belong to some " church, 1 ' and all seem aspiring after a higher civilization and a more liberal education for themselves and their children. In what striking contrast stands beside these, the squalid, smoky, and filthy mud hut of the recently arrived and re-captured slave, or the unyielding savage. What an unanswerable argument, and constant appeal do these natives present to their savage brethren, in the comfortable appearance of their homes and persons, their superior intelligence, and the respect which they enjoy as members or the civil community. In the school we found about fifty scholars, between the age of five and fifteen, under the superintendence of a coloured teacher, himself a graduate of the school, and a good English scholar, assisted by his wife, a sensible looking woman. When I was introduced, the scholars rose to their feet, exclaiming, " Good morning, sir." A few of the better scholars, boys and girls, were called to the front seats, where the teacher examined hem in arithmetic, and at the request of Mr. Dillon I gave them a few questions in geography, grammar, and sacred history. They acquitted themselves well, and showed that they not only memorized rules but under- stood their application. After attaining the age of fifteen, and learning the rudiments of an English education, they are generally apprenticed to some trade in the colony. Here, as in some other communities, many of the natives are too poor to support their children at school, although the schooling costs them nothing, and the children are sent SIEBKA LEONE. 61 forth at an early age to pick up a living as best they can ; these, contracting habits of idleness, grow up use- less members of society. Those who are of good character, studious habits, and intelligence, are transferred to the high-school, where they are supported by the Church, and prepared for teaching, or the ministry. It is to be regretted that here, as everywhere else among the missions of civiliz- ation and religion on the coast, so little attention has been paid to the cultivation of the soil, and that so few of these children are brought up to pursue agriculture as a means of living. It is sometimes the case that when these young people, after receiving some education, and some know- ledge of a trade or art, are thrown upon their own resources, and cannot find constant employment in their proper calling, they become discouraged, and, yielding to those temptations to idleness, so powerful over the African temperament, presented by a warn climate, where enough to sustain life may be gathered with little labour, and public opinion tolerates a shirt and a hat as full dress, they relapse into a state of comparative heathenism. Yet the fact stands confessed that these are ex- ceptional cases. A very large majority of those who had been trained at the schools, brought into the "churches," and taught that idleness is sinful and labour virtuous, continue attached to the ideas and pursue the practices of civilized life. The children of such are growing up with wants and tastes, some of them not very commendable, which the civilized estate alone can supply. They form a taste for the dress, the meats and drinks, the luxuries, the manners of white 62 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. men, they aspire heartily after position in society, and to gratify themselves, they must labour. These wants, to those brought up in them, are in a sense natural, and, therefore, to relapse into barbarism and forego all these would be to them unnatural. True, the African is " peculiarly lazy," whether bond or free, that is, as compared with the Gaul, the Celt, or the Anglo-Saxon, and from this fact it is predicted that he will not retain even a low degree of civilization when left to himself. Those who have studied the character of the negro, whether at their own firesides in tha Southern States, or in the woods of Africa, are aware that nature, just in her compensations, has given him counterbalancing qualities. Who has not laughed at the assumed dignity of Uncle Ned, who carries his master's keys, or the imitativeness of Jim, the house- boy, in putting on his master's airs'? These qualities then, which in the African are peculiarly developed, pride or personal importance and imitation, will counter- balance his peculiar indolence ; and while he has a superior being to imitate, or a position of importance open to his aspirations, and these I presume he always will have, he will be as likely to labour as most other men. The principle will apply to the civilized African in his civil as well as in his social character and relations. In Sierra Leone there is rapidly growing up in the public mind, a respect for those who live and dress in the European styles, and an abhorrence of all things heathenish. Offices in the civil and military depart- ments of the government are open to educated natives. Education is creating wants which civilization alone can supply ; Christianity is enlightening and elevating, and STERKA LEONE. 63 mnking the darkness of heathenism visible and hideous. With these influences directed by British minds, it would seem that civilization has a permanent foothold in Western Africa. I must not forget my friend Mr. Dillon, with whom in walking and talking, and eating and drinking, I spent a day which surpassed in realization the delightful anticipations of the morning. The present population of Sierra Leone is 47,000, of whom less than 20,000 are females. This inequality is owing to the fact that a majority of the recaptured slaves have been males ; they being more valuable in the trade. The towns of the colony are Freetown, Kissy, Waterloo, Wilberforce, and Kent. The population of Freetown is 16,022. This population embraces three istinct classes. The natives of the colony are English subjects, to whom may be added the freed slaves who have resided a dozen years in the colony. The English with the peculiar accent of our low countries and a dash of cockney, is their language. I found great difficulty in understanding those who were born on other parts of the coast, even when they had resided in the colony, and had been speaking English ten or fifteen years; but they understood me distinctly, even in lecturing. The colonists represent more than two hundred tribes; indeed, I suppose that there is scarcely a tribe on the West Coast, or a hundred miles from it, which has not a representative here : and here, though English is the language of the colony, and understood by a majority of the residents, one hundred African languages are spoken. A vocabiilary has been compiled and published, lately, 64 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. containing three thousand words in one hundred dialects. How many interesting biographies might be gathered here, full of wild-adventure in states of life with which civilized men have no acquaintance ! Many of these people before entering the slave-ship had never seen the face of a white man. Taken as captives, in the wars which are constantly occurring between the tribes of the interior, or stolen from their huts at night, or sold by their own parents or masters, they were hurried to the coast and exchanged for a trifling sum of money or European clothes and guns. Then came the fetters and hand-cuffs, and close quarters of the " white man cun- noo," where they lay side by side in the apartments or decks but three feet high, with but little air and no light. Then came sea-sickness, and then ship-fever, thinning out their thronged ranks. Then the man-of-war heaves in sight, and they hear cannons and see the excitement of their keepers ; they are overtaken ; white men who put on their fetters knock them of, transfer them to another vessel, and land them in a strange country, though it be Africa. How they wonder at all this ; and without interpreters to explain, they often remain in the colony for years before they understand it. An intelligent Fan tee, who had been in the colony a dozen years or so, gave me in substance this account of himself. "Our people de make war; I be stout boy; I go make war. We go six day in the country ; we see war people come ; we fight heap our people be kill. Night come, we sleep in de woods. In de night war people SIERRA LEONE. 65 come'; he make no noise ; he take we knife an' we gun ; den some we people see him an' make noise. Me an' twenty my people be tie by the neck, an' he drag um to de bash and we see we people no more. De trade man cariy me to de barracoon (a house where slaves are kept) a' sell to white man in ship ; heap we people be dare heap die. Man-war ship come : take we people dis country. He say, dis be your country (Sierra Leone) ; I say, no, dis no be like a my country ; dis people no de talk my people plaver. I no like um ; I want see my people long time. Missionary tell me, go school, go chapel ; I go ; some my people be dare ; he tell me 'bout God an' Jesus. I like hear um. Mission- ary teach me heap. Me pray long time; den Jesus come ; I tink I see de Lord. Me feels so good. I say dis country be betta an my country. Tank de Lord I come see dis people." " Don't you want to go back to your country now T' said I. " Please the Lord, I like a tell a me people 'bout dis ear 'ligion an de blessed Jesus ; but I no kin go ; I pray de Lord he send dem missionary people for tell my people how for do." Similar to this is the experience of many of those who have become religious, and by industry make a comfort- able living ; but many others there are upon whom con- tact with civilization has had no more effect than upon monkeys. They learn a few of the tricks or vices of civilized men, and, indolent and unhappy, are always pining for the greater freedom of their previous state. The judicial law of the colony is the common law of England, administered by petty magistrates, a chief F 66 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. justice, and a chief magistrate. Criminal cases, as with us, are tried by a jury. The legislative body is a council chamber, of which the governor is president, and of which the bishop, colonial secretary, collector of cus- toms, chief magistrates, and the chief of the police are permanent members. The Mandingoes, to whom we referred in the last chapter, are the representatives of a large and powerful tribe of the interior. They are tall and erect in person, regular in features, dignified and taciturn, and charac- terized by mental and physical activity, industry, and intelligence. In their village, on the eastern suburbs of Freetown, they have several schools, where, under Mo- hammedan priests of their own tribes, their children are taught to read and write Arabic, and study the Koran. The Mandingoes wear turbans or fez caps, and those who can afford it sport gaily coloured togas, and strong leathern sandals. Their houses are larger and more cleanly than those of the more barbarous tribes. The walls are generally eight or ten feet in height, and about two feet in thickness, being built of a red tena- cious clay. They are often supplied with window sashes, and well-made doors ; in the windows, oiled paper generally supplies the place of glass. We visited one of their blacksmith shops, where they were engaged in making dirks and rough swords from old iron. They told us that in the interior they prepared their own iron, which they dig out of the mountains. The primitive and ingenious construction of the blacksmith's bellows attracted our attention. It is a bifurcated tube; the extremities of the forks are supplied with two bags of kid-skin, a boy sits between these, holding the I ags by SIERRA LEONE. 67 the necks, one in each hand ; as he raises them, he open his hands so as to admit the air into each sack, then closing them tightly and pressing down, forces the air through the tube into the burning coals. By work- ing his hands alternately he produces a continuous and strong stream of air. They have some idea of casting, also, and showed us rings, little birds, and other orna- ments moulded in brass. In leather work they are very ingenious ; and have looms for the manufacture of coarse cloths and matting commonly grass-cloth, pre- pared from the inner bark of certain trees. The market of Sierra Leone presents many objects of interest to the American, such, for example, as monkeys, baked bats, and pounded locusts, as articles of food. Here, however, as everywhere else in the colony, Euro- pean commodities and styles are driving out the hea- thenish and African. To see an African market in full character we must go further South. On the morning of the last day of our stay in Sierra Leone, the Rev. Messrs. Teal and Dillon visited our ship and breakfasted with the ward-room mess. In the afternoon, the commander and commissioned officers went ashore and dined at the hospitable cottage of our worthy consul, Mr. Taylor, and late in the day visited the beautiful garden of the Church Collegiate Institute. Here we met again our respected friend, Mr. Jones, who took much pleasure in pointing out to us the luxu- riant beauties of tropical vegetation, flourishing in the well-kept grounds of his delightful residence. Next day we laid in a good supply of stores, here readily ob- tained, and spreading our canvas to the breeze, turned to the open sea. Having made many pleasant acquaint- 68 1-EKSO.NAJL, ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. ances among the government officers, missionaries, and other residents, we left with the hope of returning before the end of the cruise ; but that evening, as the red hues of sunset lingered on the "chariot of the gods,"* we saw Sierra Leone for the last time. * D'Anville supposed the mountains of Sierre Leone to be those which were denominated by the ancients the " Chariot of the guds." 69 CHAPTER IV. KROOMEN. Coast of Liberia Visitors Kroomen Their Employment, Villages, etc. Tom Pepper and Ben Coffee Names of Kroomen Domestic System Their Extraordinary Strength Eeligious Ideas Super- stitions Their First Parent Tradition respecting the Origin of the White and Black Rac ^s Comparative Intelligence, etc. Why are not the Kroos more Civilized ? Commerce and Civilization. LAND-HO! sounded from the main-top, and an hour after, Cape Mount, on the coast of Liberia, was visible from the quarter deck. Black specks were descried on the distant waves, bounding from crest to crest on their way to meet us, like things of life. We were soon among them, and what seemed to be gulls, or other sea-birds, in the distance, turned out to be canoes, or what we familiarly term dug-outs, gene- rally eighteen inches wide, and from twelve to twenty feet long, each carrying from one to four naked savages. Not entirely naked, however, for each had on an old hat or a handkerchief about his head, and rings of ivory, tin, or brass on his ankles and wrists, besides charms or gris-gris pronounced gree-grees round the neck. We were twenty miles from shore, and the sea ran very high ; yet these venturers turned and manoeuvred their light crafts with as much ease and confidence as if they 70 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. were floating on a lake, and kept close alongside, although we were going at the rate of eight knots an hour. Several were permitted to come on board, where they made some alterations in toilet, by transferring the kerchief from the head to the loins, and thus equipped, proceeded to present their testimonials and letters of re- commendation, which they carried in leathern or tin cases suspended froni the neck, or folded in the head- dress, to the commander, and to ask for employment. These are the Kroomen so frequently mentioned by African voyagers, and so favourably known to our traders and cruisers. They generally speak a little broken English, and from their acquaintance with the tribes and harbours of the coast, are very useful as pilots and interpreters. They occupy several villages along the coasts of Sierra Leone and Liberia, where, though mixed with other tribes, they preserve their own forms of government and religion. When a vessel ap- pears on the horizon, they launch their canoes and go out to meet her ; the head men, or leaders of gangs, go on board, and he who can make the best palaver gene- rally finds employment for himself and gang. Traders and men-of-war find these men very useful in rowing boats and other work which involves an exposure to the sun, such as white men cannot stand on the coast with- out great risk of life, especially on the rivers. They engage themselves for the cruise, at rates which vary from four to ten dollars per month, and always on the condition that they shall be returned, at the end of it, to the port where they were shipped. These wages seem small, but when they have made a few cruises on men-of-war, and saved their money, they have enough KROOMEN. 71 to make them independent for life. The young and single men, at the end of a cruise, after supplying them- selves with gay kerchiefs and trinkets, and reserving a little for pocket-money, deposit their earnings with some aged relative, who, after supplying his own wants, divides the remainder among the needy relations. Cases of extraordinary liberality in this direction are numerous among them, and secure to the giver the favour of his tribe. Those who are matrimonially inclined invest their funds in wives, and are important and independent in proportion to the number they own. Here I must anticipate myself a little, and introduce two -gentlemen, who, with a dozen others, we shipped at Monrovia Tom Pepper and Ben Coffee. I enjoyed the confidence of these intelligent leaders of our Kroo company, and in the course of the cruise gathered a great deal of information from them respecting their own and other tribes. Their names are not half so dig- nified as their manners, but, like the names of all Kroo- men, are given at the caprice of fun-loving sailors, and though sometimes changed by new employers, generally stick to them for life. The following are fair samples of some of them, and familiar to the coast cruiser : Ben Jumbo, Jim Crow, Lilly White, Beef Steak, Bottle o' Beer, Ginger Pop. " Tom,'' said I to Pepper one day, near the end of the cruise, and after making out his account, which amounted to something like a hundred dollars, " what are you going to do with all this money when you get home ?" " Buy wife/' " You just now told me that you had three already ?" 72 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. " Yes, sa, but I want tree mo." " What, six ! Plow can you support so many ?" f( O, he s'port he self, sa." " Who supports the children f ' " He s'port dem too ; and s'pose I no want for go sea no more, he work for me too." " Whom do you buy your wives from ?' " He fader ; s'pose he got no fader, I dash make a present he 'lation, an' he sell um." " How much is a nice young wife worth I" " S'pose he people be poor, he sell for twenty dollar ; s'pose he no want to sell much, he be price fiftee dollar, an' heap dash." This law of estimate applies among fairer maidens than the dusky daughters of the Kroos. I tried to convince Tom that such a state of things was wrong, impolitic, and unnatural : but when I closed the argu- ment, Tom replied, with a grin of good-natured in- credulity : " You no like him, but he be berry good for we people." The Kroos are at present insignificant, in point of numbers, and the only territory which they now claim as their own, is a small district in the vicinity of Cape Palmas; but physically and mentally they are in advance of most of the non-Mohammedized tribes, and are believed by traders to be faithful, brave, and honest, above all their brethren. There is a tradition among them which I am inclined to believe, namely, that they are descended from a people who once possessed many hundred miles of sea-coast; who were the most powerful of the tribes of west Africa, but who have been reduced KROOMEN. < 3 by surrounding tribes, allied against them in war, and that this tribe was not originally called Kroo. They pride themselves in the belief that none of their people were ever sold as slaves ; yet they themselves have ever been active abettors of slaving, and it is likely that their numbers were much reduced by stealage, during the prevalence of the trade. They admit that after loading the slavers, the Krooinen were sometimes carried off with the cargo; but will not admit that they were afterwards sold. They were, no doubt, lured off with the promise of being sent back, but the good price offered for such fine-looking fellows was a bait that English and Spanish traders could not resist. It is a fact, however, that they are not to be found as slaves among the surrounding peoples. As evidence of their muscular development, we state, that he is con- sidered a weak man among them, who cannot hold a barrel of beef 200 Ibs. at arm's length above his head, and walk with it through a heavy surf to a boat two hundred yards from shore. In features they are less coarse that the Guinea-man, have more beard than many others, and in colour are of a dark chocolate rather than black. One of our Kroomen died of cholera while we were cruising off the Cape Verd Islands in 1856, and was buried in the sea. Next morning one of the mess-mates of the deceased reported himself sick, but without showing any particular symptoms. " What is the matter with that Kroo boy in the sick bay f said I to Torn Pepper. " He be skeere, sa." " Scared of what !" 74 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. "He tink he been see de dead man on deck las' night." " Nonsense, Tom! You don't believe that, do you?" I supposed that Tom was too intelligent for that, but he undeceived me, saying, with a thoughtful face : " I dun no, sa -I tink may be so, he see um." I made Tom act as interpreter, while I tried to explain to the poor fellow, that if such an appearance were possible, it could do him no harm. The talk didn't convince Tom, but an hour after I saw the sick man on deck laughing and talking with his com- panions. They hold that their first parent on coming from heaven landed near a large lake in their countiy, and that a canoe and equipment were provided for him ; that, therefore they are fond of sea-going as a profession, and that they are less liable to accidents on water than others. I imagine that the present name of this race is a corruption of Crewman, they having been employed as portions of the crews of traders on the coast for many centuries. They have an interesting tradition relating to the origin of the white and black races and their comparative merits. The internal evidence will not sustain the antiquity claimed for it, but we may suppose that the instruments of modern science referred to in it are mere interpolations, employed to express the idea more forcibly. It recognizes black and white as original distinctions, yet gives to the two races a com- mon origin in point of time. Ben Coffee, who is the most intelligent Kroo that I have seen, a man of character, intelligence, and well versed in the customs and traditions of his tribe, and who withal speaks quite KROOMEN. 75 understandable English, must be allowed to tell his own story. " Let us call up Ben, and ask him some questions," said the officer of the deck, with whom I had been discussing the peculiarities of our black shipmates. " Ben Coffee," said I, " do your people believe that there is a God ?" "No, sir." " What do they suppose made the sea, the sun, and the moon I" " Neahswah make him." " Who, or what is Neahswah ?" " He what make me, and all dem tings. Mos same what you call Jesa Chrise." " Very good, Ben ; I think we understand each other. Can Neahswah die, Ben 1" * No, he lib all time." " Can he do everything f " Yes." " Is he in every place ?" " Yes, all place same time." "Is he good?" "I tink so sometime" " What do your people think ?" " He tink he good sometimes" " Poor Ben ! " said I, " the unassisted reason of a Plato could say no more. Tell me again," said I, ''what your people say about the beginning of the black and white men V Pepper came up as a listener ; and Ben, clearing his throat and hitching up his pants, proceeded, with a solemn face, as follows : 76 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. "Neahswah, after he make land and sea, make a brack man and white boy. He make um same time brack man fus, leetle bit. Den he make big house, an' in de house make big chop (a feast) hab rice, cassada, fish, palm wine, plantain, and heap we people wittles ; an he hab roast meat, sof tak (wheaten bread), white people wine, and heap ting. Den in same place wid de chop he put calabash, wine glass, fish hook, knife an fork, watch, compass, and heap strange ting ; an den on de sea, by de house, he put cunnoo and paddle, and big ship an all de rope an sail fix. Neahswah say, ' Brack man go in dat chop, eat, an den take what ting you like. I want see which be smarter, you nor dis white boy.' Brack man go in, he tase de roas meat, de sof tak, de wine ; he say, * me no like dis.' He tase de palm wine, de fish, de rice, de cassada ; he say, fc I like dis,' and he eat lot of um. Den he look at de tings, de compass, de watch, de knife an fork, he say, ' I no saby dis,' (saby or sava is used on the whole coast as syno- nymous with understand). He look at de calabash, at de fish hook an line, he say, ' me saby dis.' He take um an go to de beach ; he see de big ship, he no like um he feared. He see de cunnoo, he say, ' dis do for me catch fish ;' he take um. " Neahswah say l White boy go in chop ; eat, an take what ting you like.' He eat de nice ivittle, but no eat much, like brack man. He look at de watch, compass, an all strange ting ; he say, ' me saby dis, he be good for me, show me ebery place. He see big ship, he no fear, he clim up an fix sail, he say, * I like um, he take me far country.' He no like rice, palm wine, cassada ; he no want for fish, he say, ' sun be too hot ;' he no like KROOMEN. 77 cunnoo, cause he turn over wid him. Neahswah see all dis ; he call um up ; he say, ' Brack man, dis yea white boy got heap more sense, but he no can work : you good for work.' He say, ' White boy, you no can work like dis yea man, but you hab more sense.' So brack man hab rice, an fish, cassada, and heap good ting for eat ; white people good for make big war ship, have compass, and all dem strange ting. He can make book, but he no can work good." It may be asked here, why are not these people more civilized, considering that for so many generations they have been in intimate contact with civilized men. We answer First, it is not the business of traders and cruisers to teach the principles and arts of civilization. Secondly, traders do not desire to civilize. Nine- tenths of them believe that it is to their advantage to keep the people with whom they trade in ignorance ; and hence it is that, as a class, these men are not favourable to missionary enterprises. Be it remembered however, that among American and English traders there are noble exceptions. Let us say to you, dear reader, that the talk of which we hear so much now-a-days, from secular and religious men, about the civilizing influence of commerce, is only talk nothing more ! That, when accompanied by the efforts of the schoolmaster and the missionary, trade may give an impetus and permanency to the work of civilization we grant. That of itself it is calculated to elevate, in any sense, those brought within its in- fluence, we deny. Nay, where traders have preceded the teachers of civilization, the very name of Christi- anity is in disrepute ; and the teacher of it is received 78 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. with an opposition and distrust that years of zealous disinterested labours may not suffice to dissipate ; for with the name Christian the heathens have learned to associate lying, injustice, and inhumanity. But we must not forget that we are aboard ship. The Jamestown has dropped anchor within half a mile of Cape Mesurado, which rises 250 feet above the level of the sea, and is surmounted by a light-house. It is a calm, sunny evening ; the land of the palm is before us, clothed in its changeless green. The Kroo huts on the beach, the roofs and spires of Monrovia, are glistening above the green foliage of the virgin forest. When morning comes we shall take a nearer view of much- abused, extravagantly-praised Liberia. 79 CHAPTER V. LIBERIA. Questions concerning 1 Liberia Bowen and other Travellers Friends of the Colonization Enterprises Two Classes of Opponents A Meeting-place of Extremists of the North and South How Ex- tremists Reason The "Capacity for Self-government" Question The Position of Conservative Southerners Monrovia, LIBERIA has not been always fairly represented by those who have undertaken to describe her and her people to the world; she has been traduced by her enemies, and what is worse in effect, excessively praised by her friends. To this we may add the fact complained of by emigrants, by mis- sionaries, traders, naval officers, and other visitors, namely, the want of plain, unprejudiced statements of the present condition of the country and its people. What is the country in its climate, soil, and productions; what the advantages and difficulties in agricultural pursuits? What are the people socially, morally, nationally ? What do they eat, and drink, and wear, and how do they get these indispensable things ? Are they poor or rich, and what are the chances of being either? Are they playing government, or are they truly and happily governed, having law, and power to maintain it? If so, how and by whom are they 80 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. governed? Are they entirely independent, or capable of so being? Are they progressing in intelligence, morals and wealth as a nation ? If so, will they con- tinue to progress ? If not, how long before they get back to the bush? These are questions asked daily, and to which, as we have said, the answers have been doubtful and various. We would not be understood as attributing any unworthy motive to the zealous friends of the Americo- African in Liberia ; they are noble and liberal men ; but we wish to intimate that in looking at or describing the condition of their long cherished scheme, their desires too often colour their statements. Among the traducers of this young and struggling nation, there are two classes, who are stone-blind and adder-deaf in their prejudices, and unsparing in their abuse. These are the abolitionists of the North, and the extremists of the South. We congratulate these gentlemen on finding at last, a ground of common sympathy ! The abolitionists, as a class, have ever been opposed to colonizing the free blacks of America in Africa, professing to believe certainly they have never acted their belief that the black man, born in America, is entitled to all the rights and privileges, social and civil, of a free man here. I imagine, however, that if they had no other argument, the fact that colonization is a southern-born enterprise, would be sufficient to excite their implacable opposition. There is a class of men in the South, happily a very small class, who talk very sceptically on such questions as the unity of the human race, the expediency of LIBERIA. 81 Christian missions among slaves, or negroes in any condition, the immortality of the black man's soul, or, indeed, as to whether he has a soul at all who regard him as having no connection with the genus homo, but rather as a development of the monkey, say the ourang- outang or chimpanzee, whose tail, from constantly be- ing sat upon, has at length taken the hint to stay " close aboard." These gentlemen seem to live in constant dread that the negroes in Liberia or elsewhere will demon- strate capacity for self government ; that, as a result, the slaves will be freed, their plantations left without labourers, and their halls without servants. It is scarcely to be expected that these will be friendly to colonization enterprises ; much less is it to be expected that they can see any good in Liberia, or Liberians. I have a friend of this class, an officer in the navy, and a most excellent fellow in his way. I met him not long ago in St. Jago, on his return from Monrovia. After the usual salutations passed, " Well," said I, " what is the news from below ?" " Famine, sir, among the colonists natives have quit bringing in rice, and there is nothing else to live on. Saw several of the Liberians in Krootown. Large numbers had quit town, and hired themselves out to the natives. No doubt of it, sir ! All over. It's a failure ! Bet a month's pay that before two years the last man will throw away his pants and take to the woods." Another acquaintance of ours, from the snowy side of Mason and Dixon, came to a similar conclusion, but from very different premises. He landed at Monrovia iu the usual way, viz., leaving the boat beyond the surf, and reaching the beach on the shoulders of a Krooman. His bearer bumped him G 82 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. down rather heavily, and much to the discomfort of a very gouty toe, the pain from which disturbed his Faneuil Hall philanthropy. " Sir," continued he, " they call this a government a republic ! A pretty republic, where a gentleman has to land on the back of a darkey, and at the risk of breaking his his his his neck. Why don't they build a pier, docks, wharves, or other conveniences for landing? But I see, they are good-for-nothing fellows, sir !" " Haven't the means," suggested his companion. " A million dollars would make but a small show on this shifting sand and open sea, towards building piers; and besides, when it is not rough on the bar, boats may enter the river, where there are good landings." "Means millions open sea, indeed! Nonsense! It's all laziness, sir! I am satisfied, sir, they'll never do anything, sir. Never, sir ; that is here! Fools for coming, sir !" Nor was this conclusion, formed even before Monrovia had been visited, ever changed. If there appeared the decimal of a hope for the con- version of this class of men, we would read them a short chapter on the enormity of their inconsistencies, and the nakedness of their hypocrisy ; but the decimal is wanting. To the southern extremist, who fears that the successful establishment of Liberia will in some way or other affect the value of his bills of sale, we would suggest, for his comfort, that it is by no means a settled question among the statesmen and philosophers of the world, whether the Anglo-Saxon is capable of self-government or not. If the capacity LIBERIA. 83 for self-government is still in debate in regard to the race which occupies the summit of modern civilization, when shall it be determined in regard to those who, confessedly, occupy the lowest place in the scale of human intelligence ? It is claimed for England, by Englishmen, that her government answers all the ends of government, extending to its people security of life and property, and protection in the lawful pursuits of wealth and happiness. France, in her numberless rebellions and revolutions, gives evidence that, heretofore, she has possessed no form of government adequate to the wants of her citizens. The question asked by one of her modern infidel philosophers, expresses an idea entertained now in the high places of France: "If men be incapable of govern- ing themselves as individuals, how can they govern themselves as nations'?" It is scarcely necessary to refer to Spain and Portugal, and the older kingdoms and states of Europe, in all of which government is effete, and statesmen are still hopelessly pursuing the secret of equitable and permanent civil government. If, according to European statesmen and philosophers, the capacity of man for self-government is not yet demonstrated in Europe we Americans are merely experimenting is the problem likely to be solved in Africa ? We have once seen, and only once, where this ques- tion of " capacity " was used to advantage. In, 1855, one of Georgia's shrewdest sons was called on to address an assembly in Boston on "the all-absorbing topic of slavery." Among other good things, he told the house that, " when the negro clearly demonstrated his capacity 81 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. for self-government, the South would doubtless give up her slaves." The ladies waved their cambrics in appro- bation of the liberal sentiment, the good-natured senator laughed in his sleeve, and the assembly applauded out- right ! It was oil on the troubled waters. Not so at the South, however. A few village politicians and news- papers thought it "a ruinous admission," and discharged the thunder of their fire-crackers at the head of the honourable gentleman. We here submit to the reader a question in mensuration, which has puzzled us much : Which of the parties have the longer ears, his applauders North, or his abusers South ? Having disabused our minds of foolish prejudices, if we ever had any, we are prepared to take a survey of Liberia and its people, duly estimating the evil and appreciate the good. We are ashore and without wet feet, thanks to the calm day and smooth sea ; and without being bumped from the shoulders of a native. We pass through the village of the Kroos, remarking that their square, low huts, built of sticks and mud, and thatched with grass, are as dark inside, from smoke, as the women and children who inhabit them. On the little plain beyond, the humble-bee and blue-bottle are making noon-tide melodious, as they sport in the clustering wild flowers, to us strangers and nameless. We ascend the trap- formed ridge, or cape, called Cape Mesurado, aud reach- ing the highest point, which is the site of the light-house, obtain a fine view of the parallel streets and green squares of Monrovia. Here there are no brown stone fronts, marble colonnades, gilded domes or sky-piercing spires. The two or three hundred buildings of the city LIBEUIA. 85 are without ornament and pretensionless ; and if not always neat, are perhaps generally comfortable. This, however, is not the character of all the houses. The presidential mansion, the residences of Dr. Roberts, Mr. McGill, Dr. McGill, Hon. Mr. Roy, and several others, are substantial buildings of stone or brick, which are tasty in appearance and even luxurious in furniture. The public buildings are of a size and taste scarcely to be expected in so young a capital. The neatly paint- ed white cottages, in the style of the southern States, look a little out of place in their surroundings of banana and orange, yet they are no doubt cool and comfortable to the occupants. We have called on the notables of the church and state, but we must reserve our sketches of them for another place. To the American Colonization Society belongs the honour of establishing in Western Africa the second community of civilized and Christianized people. Liberia was planted and nourished by this organiza- tion, until she expressed her desire to be independent, and declared herself capable of providing for her own wants. The subject of providing the freed blacks of America with a home in Africa, the West Indies, or on our own southwestern frontier, was first agitated in this country by Thomas Jefferson, and as early as 1776. Jefferson and Monroe were warm advocates of this cause, and directed public attention to Africa as the natural home of the black man. The law of Congress of 1807, prohibiting the slave- trade, was producing effect in increasing the free coloured population of the States with the cargoes of captured 86 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. slaves. This gave urgency and point to the subject of colonization ; but, strange to say, the General Govern- ment could not be prevailed on to take any step in the matter, and to this day it stands timidly aloof. In 1819, Wm. H. Crawford, of Georgia, procured the passage of an act in Congress, by which the society has been justly relieved of the burden of sending out and supporting the slaves taken from slave-ships by American men-of-war. In August of the same year, Mr. Ashmun, the newly- appointed governor, arrived with a company of thirty- seven emigrants. He found the infant colony in a most unsettled state, and threatened with destruction by the surrounding natives, who had already repented of their bargain. There were but thirty-five of the colonists capable of "bearing arms ; and the only weapons in their possession were a few old muskets, two or three iron guns of small calibre, a long nine, and a field-piece well mounted. His first care was to drill the men in the use of these ; and scarcely had he accomplished his task when the natives commenced, as they avowed, a war of extermination. On the llth of November, an attack was made by eight hundred native warriors. The colonists fought with the desperation which the prospects of immediate destruction to themselves and families inspired ; and after an engagement of two hours, the natives were driven back with the loss of at least one hundred and fifty men. The loss of the emigrants, killed and wounded, was fifteen, besides a few children carried off by the natives. Fearing another attack, the colonists set to work preparing fortifications and planting their LIBERIA. 87 guns ; and scarcely had they completed their work, when their worst fears were realized. On the morning of December 2nd, the Deys, reinforced by hundreds of Golahs, and exasperated by the previous defeat, came rushing on to the fortifications, and, with a wild shout, commenced at once an attack on three sides of the defence. The colonists were prepared for them ; they had the advantage of the ground; and the heavy charges of their guns told with fearful effect on the thick ranks of the enemy. It was again a struggle for dear life ; they stood firmly to their posts, even when wounded, promptly obeying the orders of Mr. Ashmun. Every shot from the field-piece, the long nine and the other cannon, ploughed wide furrows of death among the natives, and soon the savages, confused by the deadly fire, and fearing to enter the defence, raised a wild shout of despair, and made a hasty retreat through the blood-stained palms. Thus, by an exhibition of more than Spartan valour, the colonists remained, and still continued to be, the acknowledged masters of the natives. The neighbouring kings came in, and signed a treaty of peace drawn up by Mr. Ashmun, agreeing to refer all their disputes with the colonists to the governor of Sierra Leone. Occasionally, since that time, the " Americans " have found it necessary to chastise some of the neighbouring tribes, and to keep alive the respect due to their military superiority ; but the engagement of the 2nd December was the decisive battle, and the day is still celebrated with much enthusiasm by the people of Liberia. I was present at the celebration of this festival in 1856. Every house and hut in Monrovia displayed a flag ; 88 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. guns were fired, bells rang, volunteers paraded the streets in neat uniform and tolerable discipline, orations were delivered at the Methodist " church," which seems to be the popular establishment of the town, and very appropriate prayers were made, and songs sung by the choir to most excellent music. I walked with a friend to the site of the old fortifica- tion, about which the faithful old guns are now rusting, and remembering that, had the first attack of the natives been made a few weeks earlier, they would have found the emigrants undrilled; and that, had the second attack been continued a few minutes longer, three rounds more would have exhausted the magazine of the fortification I clearly saw the Divine interposi- tion in their behalf, and came away convinced that God had a mission for these people to fulfil, and that they will be invincible until it is accomplished. The Constitution of Liberia, was modelled after our own, but the republic differs from ours in this, that it is composed of but one State, and has but one legislature. Discordant elements are gradually de- veloping in the body politic. The savage and the civilized Liberians have but few ideas in common, and contempt on one part, and envy on the other, have weakened the bonds of these ; the question of colour black or yellow is gradually indicating its existence ; and judging from its character in Hayti, it is a question tenacious of life, and regardless of the most sacred ties. Nativism, as practically opposed to the rights of foreign born blacks to hold offices of honour or profit, is in process of incubation ; and abolitionism is there sowing many seeds of strife. LIBEKIA. 89 Liberia came into the family of nations with a national debt upon her head, a family mark which should entitle her to the sympathy and fraternity of the republics and kingdoms of the present century. This she has in common with the proudest and freest ; but fortunately for her and her creditors, the debt is not large, and not more than ten thousand dollars of it is owed to foreigners. As a nation, she is in a defenceless condition. Her extensive sea-coast is without forts or other defences ; she has no navy worth mentioning, nor the means of supplying one, and, therefore, a war with the most insignificant of the civil powers of the world would result in her humiliation. She has, and justly claims, rank and right among the civilized nations, yet she has no power to maintain either ; and to expect that these will be always duly respected and accorded, is expecting too much from human nature. At present, her people are patriotic and obedient to law, and, therefore, the executive is at neither trouble nor expense to enforce law and maintain its dignity; but to hope that this will continue to be the case with- out interruption, is hoping against the experience of republics. Separated from these severe struggles to form and maintain a national existence, which so at- tached the hearts of the founders of the government to the institutions and laws of their own creation, the next generation will likely be less loyal and self-sacrificing. Ambitious men will rise up, and attempts at revolution and dismemberment are to be expected. The two hundred thousand savages within her bounds are to be brought into the body politic, and to presume 90 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. that they will not bring with them much of the ignorance and depravity of the barbaric state, is to presume without authority of history or philosophy; and troubles are to be expected from this source which will demand for their arrest great strength in the executive arm. A consideration of these facts will lead to the conclusion, that the condition and prospects of Liberia, as a nation, are not what her too sanguine friends have supposed, nor what any of her friends desire ; yet, perhaps, quite as good as reasonable men should expect. The continuance of her existence rests on two conditions ; peace in her relations without, obedience to law within. To secure the former she must be blind to petty insults and injuries, humble, yet honourable; to secure the latter, she must be diligent in furthering religion and education, and slow in in- corporating the savage element. The climate of Liberia is equatorial. Pensive autumn and gloomy winter are strangers to her fertile plains, seed-time and harvest embrace each other in perpetual wedlock, and fruitful summer presides over the circling year. Seeds ripen, and leaves grow sere, and fall there, as everywhere, but decay and reproduction are ceaseless in their operations, and claim all seasons as their own. The same soft breeze which shakes the withered palm stem and the ripened orange to the ground, brings freedom to the swelling corn shoot, and bears the pollen of the full-blown flower to its hymeneal cell ; and the same rays which brown the rough cheeks of the full- grown cocoa-nut, paint in delicate tints the expanding guava. Nature here takes no rest, but with beneficent hands scatters buds, and leaves, and flowers, and LIBERIA. 91 fruits with each morning's sun, and each evening's dew. The year is divided by two seasons, the wet and the dry, familiarly termed the rains and the dries. The former beginning with June, ends with October. This is the cooler, or perhaps we should say the less warm of the seasons, and is therefore sometimes styled " winter." Certainly the season brings with it none of the circum- stances which attend winter in temperate latitudes ; yet to the emigrant and the missionary the name has a pleasant sound, and brings with it associations bright in memory and dear to the heart. It must not be supposed that during the rainy season the earth receives a cease- less baptism of showers, nor that the dry season is one unrelieved drought. Clear skies, and successive days of fine weather, occur in the rains in the months of July and August, and in the other months an unbroken shower of a week's continuance is unusual. It must be admitted, however, that on the whole this season is more agreeable to young ducks, than to human beings. Light rains fall frequently in "the dries." The month of January is usually very dry, yet I have seen heavy showers in this month. The average heat of the year in Monrovia is 80 Fahr., the main temperature of the rains is 76 and of the dries 84. The mercury seldom rises above 90 in the shade, exposed to the wind, and we have never heard of its falling below 68. These extremes are noted as occurring in the same month; yet, as compared with the climate of the southern States, the climate of Liberia may be described as very equable, for the daily 92 PERSONAL ADVENTURKS AND OBSERVATIONS. variation seldom exceeds 10. June is the coolest month, and January the hottest, yet I have walked the roads and woods about Monrovia in the latter month with- out suffering as much from the effects of heat as I have suffered in Georgia, or Florida, in the month of July. During the hottest season, January, February, and March, the effects of the almost vertical rays of the sun are mitigated by the constancy of the winds. The land breeze, or harmattan, prevails from midnight until near midday, and the sea breeze, from midday until near midnight. Occasionally there is a lull between these winds, and while it continues, whether at noon or night, the heat is intense. The rains and dries are ushered in by those fierce tornadoes which are the terror of the African cruiser, but which, by a gracious provision of Providence, give timely warning of their approach. The climate of Liberia, whether interior or coast-wise, is deadly to the white man ; nor would it be wise to hide the fact, that it is formidable to those persons of colour who have attained the meridian of life in tempe- rate zones. The cause of this unhealthiness, as we see from the figures before us, is not to be found in the degree of heat, frequency or suddenness of the changes in the temperature of the atmosphere, nor yet in the continuance of the heat, for the first fever, called accli- mating, which is the severest ordeal through which the stranger passes, generally comes on in the course of the first month's residence. The cause is to be looked for in those miasmata which throng the air, but of which, as to their origin and character, we have no certain knowledge. This sick- ness indicates its approach by headache, pains in the LIBERIA. 93 back, loss of appetite, and more or less gastric derange- ment, and rapidly develops into bilious remittent fever. This sometimes yields to a mild medical treatment, and the patient, if young and of good constitution, without further initiatory physical penalties is prepared to endure ordinary exposure to his adopted climate. Generally, however, this disease assumes the tertiary or other form of intermittent fever, accompanied by bilious vomiting, furred tongue, a dull expression of the eye, and in the febrile paroxysms intense headache and delirium. This is the African fever. It sometimes passes into the inflammatory type, and death follows from the congestion of some vital organ. The sheet- anchor of the profession in the treatment of the accli- mating fever, is quinine. Skilful physicians, though not numerous nor equal to the demands of the population, are not entirely wanting in Liberia. Dr. Roberts, of Monrovia, brother of ex- president Roberts, is a coloured gentleman of high pro- fessional attainments, and could take respectable rank among medical men in any country. Several well- educated young men from Liberia are now in America, completing their medical education, and the prospect is that there, as with us, doctors and lawyers will soon be excessively abundant. As physicians and nurses are becoming acquainted with the fever referred to, the mortality among coloured emigrants is decreasing, and at this time may be estimated at ten per cent. It has been as high as forty per cent. The fever leaves the system peculiarly liable to attacks of chill and fever, sometimes leaves the liver permanently deranged. Among those who had emi- 94 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. grated late in life, I have seen several cases where no health had been enjoyed since their arrival on the coast many years ago. Their constitutions shattered and spirits wasted, without means or ability to labour, dependant on the charities of their brethren or strangers, yet sustained by the comforts of the religion learned and found in the homes they shall visit no more, they are patiently awaiting their transfer to the healthful shore purchased for the outcasts by a Saviour's blood. To the white man there is no acclimation in Liberia, or elsewhere on the West Coast. The so-called accli- mating attack secures to him no immunity from a second or a third, but the period of the first bilious intermittent is perhaps the most critical. It is utterly out of the question for the Anglo-Saxon or Celt to enjoy robust health here, or in any other tropical climate ; but while he lives on the coast, the price of his life is ceaseless and precise attention to clothing and diet, the strictest temperance in his habits, and as far as possible non-exposure to the sun, the dews and night air. I suppose that the mortuary statistics of missions in Liberia will differ but little from those of Sierra Leone, and there the average missionary life has been under three years ! Think of this ye who complain of the hardships of missionary work among the rice fields of the South, and ye who dream of the charming novelty and romance of the missionary life in foreign lands ; nor overlook it ye who ignobly sneer at these immolations of self on the altar of Christian love, and question the paramount power of the religious motives over wise and enlightened minds. In reading this description of the climate of Liberia, r LIBERIA. 95 the stand-point must be borne in mind. To the natives it is a good climate ; many of the Veys and Golhas live to a great age, and have but few diseases, and we doubt not, that the children of the Americo-Africans, if properly trained, will be a robust and long-lived race. The soil of Liberia, if we may judge from the native growths, is rich and strong. This exuberant vegetation, forests of giant timbers and almost impenetrable under- growth, is, however, largely due to the warmth and humidity of the atmosphere. So far as we saw and could learn, the general character of the soil is argil- laceous ; yet there is no lack of variety, and the soils that in our latitude would be considered harsh and unproductive, are here richly fruitful. Owing to the quantity of vegetation which for unnumbered centuries has waved and scattered over these lands, the surface bears vegetable mould in large quantities, and for its exhaustion will require years of continuous cultivation. The low lands in the vicinity of Monrovia, and I suppose elsewhere, are composed of alluvium and marls. The mountains and bold promontories on the coast, like those of Sierra Leone, are related in their origin, or perhaps we should say in their elevation, to that vol- canic system of which the Madeiras, Canaries, Cape Yerds, and other islands not yet mentioned are a part. Cape Mesurado, on which the town of Monrovia stands, is composed of hornblends, basalt, and other igneous rocks, and ferruginous clays. In a "pocket full of rocks," which a friend brought us from the interior, we have limestone, two or three varieties of sandstone, quartz rock, and iron ore. The ore is peculiarly rich. 96 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. Copper and other valuable metals are said to abound in the interior. The productions of Liberia are almost endless, certainly countless, in their variety. Some of the more important native productions are rosewood, teak, maho- gany, hickory, poplar, brimstone-wood, so called from its yellow colour, sassa-wood, and many others, valuable in ship-building and cabinet work. Cam-wood and other valuable dye-woods, some ebony, in parts of the interior the acacia, which yields the gum-arabic of commerce, and the copal tree. Of the palm tree there are several varieties, and all highly useful. The nut- bearing palm is the most valuable of these, and will some day prove a source of immense wealth to the people of the West Coast. The palm oil, so valuable in com- merce and African trade, is expressed from the soft pulpy rind which surrounds the nut. When fresh it is of a clear red colour, is used by the natives as an article of food, and white men find it a most delicious salad oil. We shah 1 refer to it again. The gums of Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Liberia, are more valuable and more important in commerce than Mr. Bowen and other travellers suppose. At Sierra Leone, we procured some excellent specimens of copal and arabic gums brought from a distance in the interior. The arabic of Senegal is esteemed of the highest value in the French markets. Among the grains, the more important are Indian corn, of several varieties, and rice of an excellent quality. By an experiment lately made at the new settlement, fifty miles in the interior, called Careysburg, it has been ascertained that wheat, barley, and oats may LIBERIA. 97 be produced on the high lands, yielding average harvests. Cotton flourishes in every part of Western Africa, and is claimed by some to be indigenous. The many samples of African cotton I have seen do not come up to the descriptions given of it by travellers. The best that came under my notice, classed with the middling fair of our uplands. Coffee of superior quality and sugar cane, may be produced with little labour. The fruits are numerous and delicious. Those with which we are familiar are the mango, lemon, lime, orange, guava, tamarind and pomegranate ; the cocoa- nut, plantain, banana, the sweet and sour sops, rose- apple, African cherry, pine-apple, avocado-pear, and the African peach. We shall refer to some of these more particularly from some part of the coast, where there is not so much of more importance to demand our attention as we find in Liberia. The esculent and farinaceous roots are in great variety ; those most commonly cultivated are the sweet potato of several varieties, the cassada, from which the cassava farina of commerce is prepared, the West Indian yam, the tania, which in flavour resembles the Irish potato, and the arrow root. The common garden vegetables of America flourish in Liberia when planted in the proper season, which seems to be March or April. We saw at Monrovia excellent cabbages, snaps and lima beans, field peas, tomatoes, cucumbers and beets. If the African cruizers would remain long enough at Monrovia to send up the St. Paul's for supplies, they would have less reason to complain of the want of vege- tables on the coast. Our domestic fouls thrive in 98 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. Liberia, but the cattle are inferior. The sheep, being covered with hair instead of wool, much resemble the goat, and the mutton is indifferent. Oxen are too small to be of much value as beasts of draught or burden, and the beef is seldom very good. Pigs and goats thrive well, and the former, with a laudable in- dependence, make their own living. They are of the true republican stripe lean and lank, and somewhat care-worn in the face. Here, as in Sierra Leone, horses do not last, even with care and skilful treatment, more than three or four years. Wild animals are becoming scarce. The elephant, hippopotamus, leopard, crocodile, boa-constrictor, and deer, formerly abundant, are receding before the advancing civilisation. Monkeys, guanas, chameleons, lizards and ants, in great variety, still infest the woods. The driver ants, of which so many interesting stories may be told, are a useful annoyance. In their migra- tions they travel in companies of countless thousands, and with the order of a well drilled army. In crossing a path the advance guard forms into a perfect arch, under which the army passes, and then the bridgemen form into line in the rear. They do not turn out of the line of their course for any obstruction which they can surmount or remove. Beasts and insects of all kinds fear them, and when they come down on a dwelling the inmates retire, and the visitors, acting as a scavenger police, soon clear it of insects and vermin of every kind. Their visits, therefore, are hailed with welcome. (Wish a few companies could be brought over for the benefit of some of our western hotels, as a standing army for the defence of bed-rooms.) They are LIBERIA. 99 accompanied by birds which prey upon the insects that fly before them. In this sketch we have necessarily omitted many things of interest regarding the climate, soil and pro- ductions of Liberia ; but we trust that enough has been said to give the reader a general idea of the character of each. We have only to add that, not- withstanding the prodigality of nature in the bestow- ment of animal and vegetable food for man, labour is quite as necessary to procure the comforts of life there as here, and toil is more irksome : that, therefore, the sluggard begs amidst perpetual harvests, and the poor are often hungry amidst fulness of bread. The providence of God is marvellously varied ; yet, in the distribution of good and ill to man, the balance hangs with an even beam. As yet, the Liberians have done but little in the way of agriculture, and until they become a producing people they cannot be wealthy, nor in any high sense independent. They do nothing in the way of manu- factures, if we except the little sugar that is produced on the farms of the St. Paul's River ; their main business is traffic, and though this is carried on in a small-sale way, it furnishes employment to the capital of the country, and to many of the people. Young Africa, pattering after Young America, has a penchant for merchandising and the professions. The petty merchants buy palm oil, rice, camwood, skins, and a few other unimportant articles, in small quantities from the natives ; for which they give tobacco, powder, cheap cutlery, and cotton cloths. The more wealthy merchants buy from these, and sell again to the English and 100 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. American merchant vessels, or ship directly to the States. There are several men, of considerable wealth in Monrovia. They keep large, well-assorted stocks of dry goods, and find ready purchasers among their own people. Many of the Liberians are mechanics carpenters principally and these find work, at rather moderate wages, about the towns and settlements. Shoe- makers, masons, tinners and blacksmiths are abundant, but steady work in their departments is rather scarce. Those who have no trade nor the means of "keeping store," are driven to farming, and, in the end, if at all industrious, are the most comfortable. When immigrants, who are sent out passage free by the Colonization Society, arrive in Liberia, they are transferred to the Receptacle House, where for six months they are provided with good board and excel- lent medical attention. In the course of this time most of the immigrants pass through the acclimating fever, and are restored to health sufficiently to be able to pro- vide for themselves. The republic offers to each adult person a piece of land containing five acres, or a lot in town. Farming and cooking utensils are furnished by the Society ; and thus, brought through the fever, and furnished with tools to work, a home and some- thing to put in it, the initiated stranger is left to himself. Such is the beginning which a majority of the immigrants have made; but there are many others who at the end of six months are far from being rid of the effects of the fever, and, entirely incapable of Droviding for themselves, are sent forth to beg, or make LIBERIA. 101 a living otherwise, as best they may. It is desirable that the Society should extend its aid in such cases, but at present we suppose that it is not able. These are the beggars who hang about the landing-places in Monrovia, crying for a penny from visitors, and praying to be taken back to America. Among these beggars are many too lazy to learn to work barbers, waiters, coachmen from our northern cities, and others who, because of bad character, cannot find employment; yet truth commands us to say, that we have seen in Monrovia many cases of real and blameless poverty. There are scores there who would be blest, indeed, if transferred to some plantation in the South. The same may be said, however, of many in our own cities. Liberians have been much censured for their neglect of agriculture, and not without some reason ; but words are cheap. In Liberia there are no horses, no mules, nor even donkeys, and the oxen are too small to be of much service ; nor have the people the means of procuring beasts of labour. Farming by hand is slow business where grass grows so rapidly as to require the constant labour of one hand to keep an acre or two clear enough to make corn and potatoes for a family. The very fertility of the soil is a disadvantage, with the present means of husbandry. Rice is the staple article of food among both Liberians and natives. It requires less labour in its production than any other bread-stuff; but this is brought in by the natives in such quantities, and sold at so low a rate, that farmers cannot compete with them. This supply, however, does not keep pace with the demands of the increasing 102 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. population, and, therefore, the time is not distant when the Liberians will find it both profitable and necessary to produce it for themselves. Coffee may be produced in Liberia with but little labour, and it is growing in importance as an article of exportation. The culti- vation of sugar-cane is also attracting much attention. Several mills for grinding the cane have lately been introduced, two or three of which are steam mills. There are many good farms on the St. Paul's River, and other interior settlements. Citizens of Monrovia have invested capital in lands and good farming imple- ments, have employed natives to work, and are doing a good service to their country in developing its resources. Nature has designed the people and country of Liberia to be producers rather than manufacturers, and the sooner circumstances compel them to their plainly indicated mission, the better for them. But the means for beginning must be first given, or acquired by the present slow process ; after that, progress will be easy and natural, and her fertile plains will unbosom a vast and. an exhaustless wealth. Society in Liberia is as good as can be reasonably expected ; indeed, we found a degree of refinement and taste for which we were not prepared. The people desire to live in comfortable and pretty houses, the ladies and beaux dress in the fashion, and an aris- tocracy of means and education is already set up. The people generally dress above their means, extra- vagantly so, and the quantity of kid gloves and umbrellas displayed on all occasions does not promise well for a nation whose hope rests on hard hands arid well-used and well-developed muscles. The TANGIER. 103 Virginians are said to be the leaders of the aristocracy ; and here we must add, as the result of our observation, that those who came originally from Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia, as a class, are more 'intelligent, more industrious, and more worthy than those who hail from points further north. Thanks to the missionary societies which have fol- lowed the emigrants with teachers and preachers, the people are in a good degree intelligent and religious, and remarkably moral. As a people, they are proud, very much puffed up, and offensively boastful. This seems to be the lot alike of young nations and young gentle- men just turned loose from school. Time and experi- ence will generally cure both. The only danger is that some suicidal act may be committed before self-know- ledge comes. Already the Liberians evince a degree of antipathy to those who assume superiority to them, by coining among them as teachers. They would be independent of missionaries if they could, but there are sane men enough among them, we trust, to keep this morbidly-sensitive and foolish spirit in abeyance until the people are capable of providing for their own edu- cational and religious wants. By that time they will have learned, among many other things, to esteem such agencies more highly. The government is making some provision for country schools, but I do not understand exactly what. There is one school in Monrovia, and that a very respectable one, called the Academy, I believe, that is self-support- ing. I was present at one of the examinations, and was much pleased with the intelligence and proficiency of the scholars, young Africans, as we have seen in our 104 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. Sunday-schools in southern cities, commit to memory readily and correctly, and as we have seen here and elsewhere on the coast, comprehend with nearly as much readiness as other youths. The deficiency seems to be in the practical application. But the African race is yet in its infancy, and the mental character undeveloped. At present they seem to be deficient in the reflective faculties, particularly in causality, but what they may develop, when for generations they have been under the influence of a high degree of civilization, is yet to be seen. They possess many of those qualities which give excellence in the fine arts, and are by no means deficient in the superior sentiments. I regret to say that a college has been lately estab- lished in Liberia, the presidency of which has been con- ferred on ex-President Roberts. I regret it, because it will involve an outlay that might be better used in common schools. It will send out, for years, at least, men imperfectly learned, with the idea that they are scholars, and create a false standard of education. At present the natives are prejudiced against, and bitterly jealous of, their Christian brethren, and, like the wild monkeys that will pick a tame Jocko to pieces if he go among them in gay clothes and cocked] hat, for getting above his kin, they would destroy the Liberians if they could. But this prejudice will soon wear away, and they will become the willing disciples of their more exalted brethren. Those living in the territory of the republic are forced into a degree of civilization, by the laws which require the abandonment of certain cruel rites, and the reference of disputes to the constituted authorities. LIBERIA. 105 The Liberians, and for them their friends in America, are anxious for a union with Sierra Leone. The nations cherish and keep prominent those social and political peculiarities which distinguish English and American civilization, and, both being uncompromising, they are farther apart than America and England. When Canada is annexed to the United States, Sierra Leone may be joined to Liberia ! Considering the interests of Sierra Leone, I cannot say that it would be wise in her to detach herself from the protection and assistance of Great Britain, for the sake of uniting with a young and struggling republic. The British lion may be very stern, and his paw at times very heavy, but it would hardly be prudent to desert his protection for that of an unfledged eaglet discarded by its parent. On a bright morning in January, 1857, I accom- panied Commander Ward in an official visit to the President of Liberia. We were shown into a com- fortably and tastefully furnished parlour of the presi- dential mansion, and Mr. Benson soon made his appear- ance, dressed, as all officials dress here, except those of the military commission, in the habit of a private citizen. He received us with a good deal of cordiality, and the ease and dignity of a refined gentleman of the Old Virginia School. It was evident that he knew himself to be the President, and the lion of the occa- sion, yet there was an entire absence of the patronizing airs so common to high officials, and throughout our interview his deportment was cheerful and faultless, and worthy of the president of a republic. He spoke of the pleasure it afforded him to meet with American gentlemen, and of the increasing good disposition of the 106 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. Americans toward his government by sending them a commercial agent. Knowing, by previous acquaintance for I had the pleasure of breakfasting with him on the morning of his inauguration that I was from the South, he asked several questions regarding southern interests, and showed, by subsequent remarks, an ac- quaintance with our institutions, laws, and history, and an expansiveness of view in regard to our peculiar institutions, which would do credit to any foreign states- man. In person, Mr. Benson is tall and well propor- tioned, is about forty-five years of age, and as black as charcoal. Judging from the following, it seems that the intensity of his colour had not a little to do with his election. Captain W., of Virginia, in taking a walk through Monrovia, met a person whom he had known many years ago as a very respectable and intelligent slave in the Old Dominion. There was a mutual recognition, and the following dialogue ensued : " Why, howd'y, Buck ? I hardly expected to see you here." Buck, with an air of dignity " How do you do, Captain ? I glad to see you ; but they don't call me Buck here !" " What do they call you ?'* " Oh, I keep the old family name, of course, but they call me Colonel Brown, if you please !" " Well, tell me, Buck or Colonel, I should say excuse me !" Colonel (relentingly) " My old friends can call me what they please, Cap'n." LIBERIA. 107 " Very good lad ! Tell me how you and our Virginia people are doing here?" An answer followed, in which the Colonel forgot that he was a Colonel, and throwing off his studied language and manner, gave a description of life in Liberia which ended thus : " So, take altogether, we've been doin' right tollable smart. Heap o' ups an' downs ; but things is getting better, an' we are gettin' sort o' use to um like." " Which of the candidates for the presidency are you going to vote for ?" " Oh, Benson, sir !" " Has not Roberts made you a good President ?" " Oh, yes." " He is a very smart man," continued the Captain, " and much respected abroad. I think you had better vote for him." " That's all true !" Colonel becomes quite animated " But the fac's just this, Mass Whit' : the folks say as how we darkies ain't fitten to take care o' ourselves ain't capable. Roberts is very fine gentleman, but he's more white than black, an' Mr. Benson's coloured people all over ! There's no use talking government, an' mak- ing laws, an' that kind o' things, if they ain't going to keep um up. I vote for Benson, sir, case I wants to know if we's going to stay nigger or turn monkey /" Certainly a purer representative of the African race than Mr. Benson could hardly be found, and beyond expectation he has met the wishes of his people in exe- cuting the functions of the presidential office. Prudence and sound judgment characterise him as an officer ; and his messages, though often too long and unnecessarily 108 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. comprehensive, and sometimes a little pedantic, are marked by strength and clearness. Of their genuine- ness, those who know him have no doubt. He has lived in the colony and republic from his infancy ; was edu- cated at the mission schools, and has had but little op- portunity for travel and observation abroad. Politics he studied from American text-books, but without practical examples, in his own country, of much value ; yet he is, in many respects, a model President. We called on Ex-President Roberts and family. Mrs. and Miss Roberts are most intelligent and interesting personages, speak English and French fluently, and are, in all respects, well-bred and refined. I suppose that they have coloured blood enough in them to swear by, but they might travel through every State in the Union without ever being suspected of having any connection with the sable progeny of Ham. Miss Roberts is a blue- eyed blonde, having light brown hair and rosy cheeks ; yet she- is a genuine African, in the Know Nothing sense of genuineness, having been born in the woods of Liberia. The Ex- President is tall and well proportioned, colourless in complexion hope the reader can tolerate a paradox but plainly indicating his African extraction by a very kinky head of wool, of which, his friends say, he is very proud. In intellect and moral integrity he is a superior man ; and in the interview of that morning displayed much of that excellence in con- versation and elegance of manner that have rendered him so popular in the courts of France and England. The best evidence of his practical good sense was dis- played in a visit which he made, a few years ago, to his coloured relatives and white friends in his native State, LIBERIA. 109 Virginia. In every circle he knew his place, and con- ducted himself in such a manner as to win great favour among bond and free. In my strolls about Monrovia, I dropped occasionally into the Senate Chamber to hear the debates. They are conducted in a very unrepublican manner, namely, with great gravity and dignity, and without noise and per- sonalities. Othello might address them in truth as " potent, grave, and reverend signiors." Senators Yates, Lewis, Warner, and Russell, are men of commanding talents. The last named is a superior debatant. There was an Uncle Ned among them (will the Honourable Mr. Day pardon our familia- rity for the sake of auld lang syne), who, whenever he spoke, afforded me some of those hearty laughs which are so scarce and so beneficial among African cruisers. When I saw him last on the floor, he had on a long- tailed, brass-buttoned, two-story-collared blue coat, such as " Dandy Jim" is said to have worn, and on a nose of ample latitude, but deficient altitude, he had mounted a very substantial broad-shafted pair of brass spectacles. His useful-looking feet were as firmly planted on the floor as was his mind on the position he had taken, and after proving, from the Proverbs of Solomon, that his view of the case pending was the only one in the least degree reasonable, or consistent with the laws of the land, he called for the vengeance of Heaven on the Senate if they would not decide in favour of his side of the question. Yet Uncle Ned was by no means a sim- pleton ; and despite the " dees " and " dens " so abun- dant in his speech, it was not without wit and point. Liberia has not yet produced authors worthy of atten- 110 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. tion, but there are two newspapers published in Mon- rovia, which often contain very respectable original contributions and editorials. We are inclined to think that the Liberians, as well as ourselves, have made a mistake in the unqualified liberty given to the press. Surely, in its moral tone, an engine of such power cannot be too powerfully guarded. Among the pulpit celebrities, Herring, of the Presby- terian " Church ; " Crummel, who is an A.B. of Cam- bridge, England, of the Episcopal Church ; and Crocker, Matthews, and Burns, of the Methodist " Church," are the most prominent. They are all men of strength, professional attainments, and unquestioned integrity. Francis Burns has lately been in America, where he was ordained bishop of the " Methodist Episcopal Church," and appointed to Liberia as a permanent diocesan. He is a sweet-spirited, noble-minded, intelli- gent, and intellectual man. His heart is as white as his skin is black and that is saying a good deal for the ace of spades is but a shade deeper and with his intelli- gence, moderation, sound judgment, and piety, the friends of the " Church" may be sure that her interests are safe in his hands. Our officers who have heard him preach, speak in high terms of his pulpit perform- ances. " Tell our southern brethren," said he, as we took an affectionate farewell of him, " not to forget us. We are their people by sacred ties. A missionary, a teacher, or whatever form of help they may be disposed to give us, will find appreciation and welcome." Accompanying the Rev. Messrs. Wilson and Williams in a walk to the lighthouse one evening, I met with an LIBERIA. Ill old friend, formerly a slave in Georgia, Sherman, who will be remembered by some of my readers as the re- spected and polite sexton of Dr. Preston's church in Savannah, recognised me in a moment, but so emaciated and altered in his appearance was he, that I was some moments in calling him to mind, though I once knew him intimately. He and his wife have lost their health, I fear for ever, but he is able to work a little. His chil- dren are industrious, and he makes a comfortable living. I called on his family, and after conversing awhile, I asked him what I should tell his friends in Georgia about his prospects in Liberia. Sherman is a sensible man, and I therefore took particular note of his answer. " Tell them," said he, " that so far as myself and wife are concerned, w r e can never be as well off and comfort- able, in worldly things, as we were in Savannah ; but I am satisfied that our children can do better here than they could have done there." I mentioned several persons in Savannah who spoke of emigrating. He said : "Tell Democ and Molly servants of James Kerr, Esq. that they have lived too long and too well to come to this country. C. and M. are young and industrious they may come ; but tell them not to expect to be gen- tlemen and do nothing." 1 saw G. W. Ellis in Monrovia. He was bought by the Synod of the Presbyterian "Church" in Alabama, and sent out as missionary in 1847. When sent out he was a good preacher, a fair theologian, and knew a little about Latin and Greek. He went to Liberia with an excessive idea of his own attainments, and when he came in contact with scholars of his own colour in Monrovia, 112 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. he was made to feel that his acquirements were mere smatterings. He did not reach the position he expected to occupy, became discouraged, neglected his " church," and, as a natural consequence, fell into sin. The afflic- tions through which he has lately passed have humbled him, and the Rev. Mr. Wilson has hopes that he will yet be restored and made useful. To many, " a little learn- ing is a dangerous thing." I have introduced these persons to throw some light on a question asked by hundreds in the South in regard to free persons of colour, or those about to be made free. " Shall we send them to Liberia ? " I am not pre- pared to give an unqualified affirmative answer to this question. Mr. B. has a few servants, none the younger for having seen from forty to fifty cotton pickings, and none the stronger for having breakfasted so often by moonlight, and danced so many jubas in the fence cor- ners while waiting for day-dawn, to whom he has offered freedom. He asked me if he ought to send them to Liberia, assuring me that they wanted to go, and that he was willing to be rid of them. I answered : " If they wish to go, by all means send them ; but let me recommend that, if you have any interest in their future happiness and comfort, or any respect at all for humanity, you send them embalmed." What shall we do with our free population is becom- ing a serious question. To permit them to remain and in- crease in the Southern States , where they are often made the dupes and tools of bad white men from abroad, and where too often their influence over the slave population is anything but wholesome, is not to be thought of by .the friends of the black man, or the friends of the LIBERIA. 113 South. Those southerners who know the social and moral condition of black people in the northern States, have, I trust, too much humanity to send them there ; but if they would, many of the free States have enacted laws prohibiting the influx of such foreigners. What shall we do, then ? I answer, with the following qualifications, send them to Africa, their original natural home. Send none who are known to be of vicious habits, none who are decrepit or in any way disqualified for active labour, none who are over thirty-five years of age. Let all the southern States do as Maryland and Virginia have done : provide by law for the transfer of such persons to Liberia, and for their comfortable establishment there. Liberia has in her the elements of success. England has presented the republic with a vessel of war ; France has made her valuable presents, and pro- poses to add another vessel to her little navy. A rail- road would be an appropriate present from America, and one which would be of permanent use in missionary operations. Our beloved brethren, Wilson and Williams, accom- panied us to the beach as we embarked for the last time, and their prayers and blessings went with us to the land of their homes and their love. We left our old coloured acquaintances and friends in Liberia with a degree of sadness and anxiety such feelings as those have who part company with a frail and feebly- manned boat far out at sea, praying that He whose paths are on the deep, and who ricleth upon the wings of the wind, will hold the storms in His hand, and bid I 114 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. the waves be still, until they have gained a safe and quiet haven. The cape, from which this settlement takes its name, is a rocky promontory, one hundred feet high, which extends into the Atlantic some three-quarters of a mile beyond the line of the coast. To the southward of the cape, and a few hundred yards distant, stands an island of barren rock, an acre or two in extent. This is called Dead Island by the traders of the coast ; and here, until a few years, the adjacent tribes deposited their dead, without tomb or covering. The abolition of this mode of disposing of the dead, and many other inhumanities, has attended the labours of the mis- sionaries. Commencing at the base of the landward slope of the cape, and tending in an easterly direction, is a lagoon of fresh water, half a mile wide and six miles long, which receives several small streams, and is separated from the ocean by a bank of red sand, thrown up by the action of the waves. In this lake, as it may be termed, fish are abundant ; and when, in the evening, it is dotted over with the canoes of fishermen, and reflects the golden hues of the declining sun, and the lowing herds gather upon its banks, it presents a charming picture. In the course of December 1856, Governor Dayton received information that the natives were secretly pre- paring for a descent on the colonists, and that the time was set, and assistance called in. He promptly called on the prince, Yellow Will, and held a palaver with him and his head men, in which the governor was given to understand that such an attack had been in contemplation, but was now abandoned. In the early LIBERIA. 1 1 5 part of January, 1857, the governor thought it advisable to call another palaver, but Yellow Will refused to attend, after three invitations followed by threats. The colonists received this as evidence of his unfriendly intentions, and a sufficient cause for war. They ar- ranged a plan of attack, and, ere the natives were aware, were upon them with fire and sword. Torches were thrown among the thickly clustered huts, which being composed of bamboo and palm-leaf thatch, burnt like dry stubble. The warriors fled without their arms, and were received by volleys of musketry from men in ambush. The women and children were suffered to escape unmolested, but it is said that several children and old persons perished in the flames. Not satisfied with routing the natives and destroying their village, the colonists, flushed with victory, pro- ceeded, after resting a few days, to carry the war into Africa, by attacking the natives at Half Grehwey, a village at which they had encamped, some six miles from Harper. The former took their two field-pieces, and divided into companies one of twenty-five men in a large canoe, taking one of the guns, while the other, of seventy men, dragged their gun and pro- ceeded along the beach of the lagoon. Before arriving at the expected scene of action, they were surprised and surrounded by an ambushed party of several hundred natives. The men from the boat had, I sup- pose from the effect, fixed their gun athwart ships, and, forgetting to allow for the recoil, fired it off in that situation. The narrow boat capsized, of course, and those who were not drowned were shot in the water by the natives. 116 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. The party on shore was in great disorder, and remem- bering the adage that " He who fights and runs away, May live to fight another day," took to their heels, leaving the field pieces to the enemy, and went into town at the rate of a great many miles per hour ! Here they remained in a state of defence, until the arrival of further aid. Commodore Crabbe received a request, by a runner, who came up in a canoe, while at Monrovia, to send a vessel for the pro- tection of the American missionaries at Cape Palmas. On arriving at Porto Praya, he despatched the U. S. sloop St. Louis to their assistance. The arrival of the St. Louis, together with other forces, so awed the natives, that they sent in to sue for peace. A palaver was held, conducted by Commander Livingston and Ex-President Roberts on the part of the colonists, and by Prince Yellow Will and his chiefs on the part of the natives. A treaty was concluded, which, like most treatises in such cases made and provided, required the natives to submit quietly to their chastisement, pledge themselves to preserve peace for the future, and to pay several hundred measures of rice in a given time to compensate for a mission church, and other American premises, which they destroyed by fire in their flight. So closed a fair specimen of the colonial wars on the West Coast. This war has produced two good results. It hastened the annexation of Maryland to Liberia, and removed the nitive village from the place which it occupied in LIBERIA. 117 the midst of the principal town of the State ; but its moral effects on the natives must be bad indeed. They consider the destruction of their town an infraction of the treaty between them and the colonists ; and the destruction of the children and infirm persons who perished in the flames will be cherished with feelings of resentment for many generations. The chiefs claim that they hold Bishop Payne and his white brethren in great respect, and that the burning of the mission premises was done without authority from them. On entering the settlement of Cape Palmas, we were struck with the number and the cultivation of the gardens, the neat and cleanly aspect of the houses, and the comfortable appearance of the people. Evidences of thrift and industry are abundant ; and though there are here no large private dwellings to compare favour- ably, in point of taste and convenience, with a few of the better class in Monrovia, the houses are generally more comfortable ; and, what is still better, the town is entirely free from beggars, and such whining idlers as are often met with in the capital of Liberia. Justice to the Liberians requires us to say, however, that they are more industrious than the appearance of persons and things in Monrovia would indicate. Most of the industrious and enterprising people of the republic are in the country on their farms, or pursuing some craft in the village of the interior, while in Mon- rovia the poor congregate, or rather remain ; and the barbers and fiddlers and banjo-players of northern cities, who cannot bring their delicate fingers to handle the hoe or the axe ; loiter about the streets doing " chores" as they are compelled by hunger, steal fruit 118 PERSONAL ADVENTDRES AND OBSERVATIONS. from the gardens, or compose tales of woe to pour into the ears of visitors to excite small-change sympathy. It is a great pity that such cattle should be sent to the colonies. When the sable Beau Brummell gets here, he finds that, like Othello, "his occupation's gone," but, unlike Othello, he has no desire to learn any other. He soon becomes more ragged than any of FalstafF s recruits ever were, and finds himself per- fectly "free" to choose between work and starvation. He splits the difference, and returning to original prin- ciples, bare head, bare feet, and fig leaf apron, takes a few lessons from his friends, the monkeys, and seeks his daily bread among the palm and cocoa-nut trees of the neighbouring woods. The very worthy author of " Africa and the American Flag" concluded a priori, that coloured persons originally from the slave States are not so industrious as persons of the same colour who have always been free. Our observations in Liberia led us to the opposite conclusion, and we were confirmed in the correctness of that opinion by our observations at Cape Palmas. The communities of the republic were made up of persons from both free and slave States ; this colony was formed by persons of the slave States exclusively, yet I doubt if there is a community in Liberia of the size and means of the Maryland colony that can show more evidences of industry. I am aware that freed slaves are not very industrious, as a class ; and I am aware also that, as a class, the free coloured persons of the North and East are not industrious. Mr. Chambers, of Edinburgh, in his " Notes of a Tour in the United States and Canada," says of them that they are the most LIBERIA. 119 improvident, indolent, and wretched people in America. The difference, as presented in the colonies, between the freed slave and the negro who has grown up after the manner of his kind in the free States, without a trade or habits of labour, is this : the former knows how to work, and will stoop to it rather than suffer, and that, too, without .considering it much of a hardship ; the latter knows but little, generally nothing, about such labour as is profitable here, and if he understood the modes, such has been the character of his physical education, that he but seldom has the strength to endure it. Again : Whatever may be the occasion of it, the coloured man of the South has in him a degree of personal pride and ambition, such as the coloured man brought up in communities where he is told that he is free, and yet shut out from respectable society and in every respect degraded socially, has not. In obedience to the promptings of these principles, the former may work, but the latter cannot dig, and alas ! to beg he is not ashamed. The great obstacle to improvement among all the transplanted people on the coast, has been the idea, brought with them from America, that, when they reached Africa, they should become ladies and gentle- men, doctors, lawyers and senators, merchants, and so on, at once ; and, oh delectable vision ! all without work. Experience, that successful instructress, has tried to enlighten them on this subject, and, by hard knocks, has succeeded in several instances ; but there are some hopeless scholars left yet, who, intent upon realizing their dreams, are going through the motions; and I verily believe that, often against the testimony 120 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. of their stomachs and backs, many have almost per- suaded themselves that they are all they expected to be rich, grand, wise and great. But our hope is in the next generation ; and that hope is not without some rational basis. The climate of Cape Palmas, as indicated by meteo- rological observations, is like that of Monrovia, but, though nearer the equator, I think it is more healthy than Monrovia, and that the mortality among mis- sionaries and emigrants here has been less than at that place. The soil in this vicinity is on the elevations, argillaceous, tophaceous and ferruginous ; loamy allu- vium on the bottoms ; and bearing everywhere, except on the steeper ridges, a good surface of vegetable mould. Sugar-cane, the arundo saccharifera, thrives well here, as it does in most places on the West Coast. It is generally twelve feet in length, averaging seven or eight inches in the joint, and two inches in diameter. The statement will seem incredible to many of our Louisiana planters, but we make it on the authority of a most respectable white missionary, himself once a West India planter (Rev. John Seys), that on the average land of Liberia 8,000 pounds of sugar per acre may be produced. The cane matures, bearing seed tassel, in nine months. The same variety in the West Indies requires twelve months for full maturity. Coffee is here fast becoming a grand staple in agriculture and trade. The Rev. Mr. Scott of the Episcopal Mission, formerly of Virginia, and who is by no means a visionary, has suggested that it would be profitable to American planters to take lease on lands out here LIBERIA. 121 (white men cannot purchase real estate in the republic), plant them in coffee, furnish agricultural imple- ments, &c., employ colonists and natives to work, and visit the coast annually to sell the crop. The quality of this coffee has been fully tested, and is found superior to any produced in South America. I doubt not that a company formed for the above-named pur- pose, or for the production of sugar, would realize handsome returns for their investments. There are intelligent and reliable coloured men leaving the States every year fully competent to take charge of such plantations ; and besides, the planting and crop-gather- ing seasons are sufficiently healthy to allow of the residence of white superintendents without serious risk of life. The dominant religious influence here is Episcopa- lianism. Perhaps among the colonists, the Methodists are most numerous, but with the natives the Episco- palians have been more successful. They have reduced the prevailing language, Grebo, to writing, and have translated into it many excellent works, including portions of the Scriptures, some hymns, and portions of the liturgy. We give below a specimen of this euphonious tongue.* Their schools are numerous, and are conducted on principles which promise permanent * " Nenh Dade dada Gyule, a pofna '1 nyene ne mia nyama beh mua Babo, Blioranh, Bnbli, Sible ke Babo ah orenh nonh we, kba gedie, oh mu nah nyine na te. Boh po na, oh ye na te, nenh oh mu no ma hwanh." Then Dade called Gynle and said, " to-morrow morning go to Blioranh, Bnbli Sible, and all the Babo towns, and hire them to get your wife for yon. If she is not obtained we will make war." Cavalla Messenger, W. Africa. 122 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. results to the church and civilization in Africa. With such persons as Bishop Payne, Rev. Mr. Hoffman and his noble lady, the missionary martyr,* who, though dead, yet speaketh, Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Scott, of Virginia, our beloved friend, Rev. J. Rambo and his accomplished wife, and Miss Williford, from Savannah, the episcopal church of America may consider her- self well and ably represented in this land of deep shadows. Let us say to our episcopalian friends, that this and all other institutions of their African Mission are worthy of their sympathies and charitable assistance. Nothing that they have given to Africa has been spent in vain ; nothing that they may give shall be lost. Every missionary sent, every dollar expended, will tell on the future of Afriqa for good. Missionaries may fall, and means seem to perish with the handling, yet good results will follow. Our first visit to Cape Palmas was in December 1855. We brought with us from Monrovia three passengers, the Rev. J. Rambo, of the Episcopal mis- sion, and the Misses Staunton and Brown, teachers in the Methodist mission. Our kind-hearted com- modore gave up his cabin to the ladies, and I resigned my state-room to the gentleman. Miss Staunton was in the last stage of consumption ; and Miss Brown was suffering from effects of the acclimating fever, which at length carried her to the grave. Miss S. had been tenderly brought up, and twelve months * The Rev. Geo. Cummings, D.D., has given us an interesting bio- graphy of this estimable lady. We commend it to all interested in African or other missions. Lindsay and Blackiston, Philadelphia. LIBERIA. 123 before left a comfortable home for a mission school in Africa. Never can I forget the day of our landing at the Cape. Lieut. Williams and myself walked with the ladies from the landing to the school-house where they were to reside, a mile distant. As we stopped to rest under the shade of a cocoanut-tree in the Grebo village, and the disgusting natives, men, women and children, in a state of almost entire nudity, gathered around us to gaze at the white women, one of the ladies exclaimed I "realize for the first time that I am in Africa. Oh, what a work is before us !" The Greboes are the most degraded of the tribes that we have yet seen. They live in low, circular, bamboo huts, having long conical roofs of palm leaves and grass. They are superstitious, treacherous and unin- telligent. Yet among them there are many who have been won by the attractions of the Cross to the faith and hopes of a better life. Miss Staunton died on the 17th of April, 1856, at the setting of the sun. She was one of the purest, noblest women that I have ever met. Young, cheerful, child-like, affectionate, yet devoted soul and body to her Master's work. She sleeps among rustling palms, in the blessed hope of a glorious resur- rection, and thither she went, cheered by the conscious assurance that they who sleep in Jesus " shall awake in his likeness." Our first visit to Elmina was made in December 1855. We came to anchor in the open roadstead, a mile from the shore, late in the afternoon of the llth. The sea was rough, as it generally is on this part of "he coast, but the evening was calm and pleasant, and 124 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. the sun went down in a clear sky. The forts of St. George and St. Jago, the houses of the traders, and the compactly-built native town which surrounds them, were fully in view. I climbed into the mizzen top to take an outline sketch of them, and succeeded, after a sort, notwithstanding the rolling of the ship. Our decks were scarcely cleared when the quarter-master reported " a large boat coming off bearing Dutch colours." Said boat, which was a huge dug-out canoe, was soon along- side, and being the first of the Gold Coast boats that we had seen, attracted no little attention. She was twenty-five or thirty feet in length, four in width, and two and a half in depth. A space in her bows, eight feet long, was surrounded by a plank rail two feet above the gunwale, inside of which sat a white officer in uniform and feathers. She was propelled by twelve naked paddlers, who kept up a full voiced jabber, and as they n eared the ship commenced bowing and gesti- culating to the men in the ports as if they were recog- nizing old acquaintances. The officer came on board and presented to the commodore the compliments of his excellency Governor Derx, of Elmina Castle. He was quite an intelligent young gentleman ; spoke French and broken English quite fluently, and in the course of an hour's chat in the ward-room, gave us a great deal of information respecting the station and the latest news from Europe. It was quite dark when he left the ship, but his lusty crew, keeping time to their paddles with a song, the chorus of which was a simultaneous grunt, dashed the canoe over the heavy-sea as fearlessly as if it had been high noon. At eight o'clock the following morning we fired a LIBERIA. 125 salute of twenty-one guns with the Dutch ensign at the fore ; and soon after a goodly company of us took boat for the shore. When within a few hundred yards of the beach we were met by a number of native surf- boats, such as the one already described, one of which we employed to take us ashore. We felt some hesitancy in committing ourselves to the savage navigation of these unshirted gentlemen, but, believing the nonsense that it is always dangerous to attempt a landing in ship- boats, we trusted ; and very cleverly did they carry us through the heavy rollers to the mouth of a little river which empties near the larger fort. Such boats as men-of-war carry are certainly safer when skilfully managed than these shapeless hulks. True, accidents have happened in ship-boats, but acci- dents have happened in native canoes also. In all our subsequent landings we staid in our own boat, and went through the surf comfortably. Skill and judgment, however, are quite necessary in such waters. Sharks are as numerous here as minnows in Flint River, and a capsize would be fatal to all hands. After calling on the governor we spent the forenoon in strolling through the native town, and at two o'clock repaired by invitation to the castle to dine with his excellency and suite. Elmina, formerly written El Mina, derives its name from a mine in this vicinity, which tradition says was once fruitful in gold. It is the principal Dutch station on the coast, and soon will be the only one ; for these stations, though profitable to Dutch merchants, have long since ceased to yield any direct revenue to the government, and are kept up by heavj expenditures and great sacrifice of life. The 126 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. larger and more noticeable of the two forts here located, originally called St. Jago, now Koenzandsburg, was commenced by the Portuguese in 1481, under the patronage of King John II. The object of this esta- blishment and similar ones on the African shore, was to afford protection to the vessels and persons of traders who visited the coast for the purpose of trafficking with the natives. Early in the year referred to, Don Diego d'Azambuja arrived on the coast at the head of 500 soldiers, 200 labourers, a priest or two, and several artisans. They landed with pomp and ceremony, marched to the native village which stood on the banks of the river, there hoisted the royal standard of Portu- gal on a high tree, built an altar under it at which they celebrated high mass in gratitude for their safe voyage, and offered prayers for the success of the settlement about to be established, and the speedy conversion of the heathen. The native king, Camainca, was not pleased with the proposal to establish a permanent settlement in his terri- tory, but seeing that it was about to be done, with or without his consent, he accepted the offered presents, and ceded the tract of land on which the town and its suburbs now stand. A few days after he had signed the deed of sale (?), and while he was still in the deep blues of peni- tence for the fool's bargain which he had made, the workmen commenced quarrying stone for their build- ings, and attacked a large rock which the natives re- garded as a fetish ; that is, something sacred. This was too much for the good king, and he showed his zeal for the idols of his fathers by attacking in person and severely wounding the profane pickaxe man. The cry LIBERIA. 127 of war was immediately raised; both invaders and natives flew to arms ; but the prudent Azambuja called for a council with the king, and by presents, threats, and aquardiente, so soothed the ruffled feelings of his mud- bedaubed, war-painted highness, that he promised to keep peace for the future, and to forgive the sins of the pickaxe, on condition that the said fetish rock should be exempt from attacks of profane pickaxes for ever. The stone was pointed out to me on the bank of the river ; and an intelligent native who accompanied one of the Dutch officers and myself in a tour of observation, assured us that it still bore its sacred character, as it had done since its creation, and would, until the end of the world, unless and he scratched his head as he put in the proviso " the white man put powder to it." How long the Portuguese were in building this im- mense pile of stone and mortar, the castle, I could not learn ; but it was certainly completed before the middle of the sixteenth century. It is surrounded by a high wall, pierced by musket ports, and to native warriors is impregnable. A deep trench divides it from the native town, and it can be entered on the side only by a draw- bridge. We have already referred to the commencement of the trade of the Dutch on the coast. Paying but little respect to the grant of the pope, which secured to Por- tugal, for her enterprise in discovery, the whole of the Western Coast, they established themselves wherever they thought a profitable trade could be driven ; and in the early part of the seventeenth century drove the Por- tuguese from all their establishments on the Gold Coast. They attacked Elmina Castle in the year 1637. It fell 128 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. into their hands after a brief siege ; and with it fell the last vestige of Portuguese power on the golden sands. It is remarkable that African fever seldom makes its appearance on this part of the coast, but at certain seasons of the year a form of dysentery prevails, which is as fatal to the white man as the fever. Our second visit to Elmina, was in December, 1856, and of the ten white officers whom we met at the dinner-table in 1855, seven had fallen victims to this disease. The pay of Dutch officers on this station is very small, that of the governor being but 2,000 dollars ; but when they have served twelve years here, they are privileged to retire for life on a pension equal to two-thirds of the full pay. It is estimated that about one in fifteen of those who come here lives to return. But hope springs eternal in the human breast. Those that we met in 1855, notwithstanding the fearful odds against them, were sanguine of living through their exile. Every man had his argument; one rested his hopes on his youth ; another on the great strength of his constitu- tion ; another on his temperance ; another on the lon- gevity of his progenitors, and so on ; but alas ! how sadly were these hopes disappointed ; and that, too, when, with many, the trying ordeal was almost past. Our hospitable and worthy friend, Governor Derx, after thirteen years' absence from his family and his country, died on the homeward passage. The schoolmaster of the Castle, who was employed in driving about fifty young Africans into the mysteries of Low Dutch and civilization, by means of a few spelling-books and a great many bamboo switches, spoke and acted very sen- sibly on this subject. In furnishing me the figures on LIBERIA. 129 the mortality of the fort given above, I congratulated him on having lived so long, and expressed the hope that he might again see his father land. He replied he was a licentiate in the Lutheran ministry, and a de- cided Calvinist : " Vore dat, moine fren, I shall dye ven moine dime komsh." " Then," said I, " allow me to hope that your ' dime' will be a long time in coming." " Ash vore dat, moine fren," said he, " dish dime be vixed ; he ash no kan kome more quvicker an " Here his English gave out, and he concluded the sen- tence in the coffee-mill accents of his mother tongue, " Dish dime ish vixed." Elmina contains 10,000 inhabitants, mostly members of the Fantee tribe. Their houses are larger than those of the tribes hitherto described, and are generally built of mud, thatched with long grass, and contain from two to six rooms. Several of them are built of stone, and two stories high, and contain, in some instances, many good articles of European furniture. They are all badly venti- lated, however, and owing to the fact that the chimney is generally but a hole in the roof, are black and dirty. Surely the style and furniture of these houses indicate progress in the people, but not a moral progress. The concubinage, and other vices indulged in by a majority of the white residents here, who, away from home and the restraints of public opinion, are realizing the truth of Virgil's line, Facilis descensus avemi, has had a sad effect in counteracting the missionary labour bestowed on the natives. Yet, the mission established on the Gold Coast, is not without fruit, even in this ante- 130 PERSJNAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. chamber of hell. The natives wear more clothes than some others. The men generally wear shirts, and some- times a long scarf, in the shape of ten or fifteen yards of calico, thrown over the shoulder and wound several times around the waist and hips. Here we saw the original of that once popular article of civilized woman's dress, the bustle. The native ladies wear a petticoat ex- tending from the waist to the knees, and under this, on the small of the back, a camel-like bump or bustle. (The surgeon of the fort assured me that it was not a natural protuberance /) This is made to answer a use- ful purpose as a saddle for the younger children. The style of female head-dress is remarkable. The hair, which, though kinky, is quite long, is well greased with pomatum or tallow, and gathered on the head in the shape, and generally in the dimensions, of a sugar-loaf ; and this is often bespangled with ornaments of gold, in the making of which the natives are quite expert. Beads on the neck, and bracelets on the wrists, are in- dispensable articles of full dress. In our walk through town, we entered a house in which there was a corpse, a wife of the tenant. The chief mourners, who were slaves, were painted all over with white mud, literally whitewashed, and the remaining wives of the landlord were seated on the dirt floor of the room entertaining the company. Near the deceased, and on the mat on which she lay, was a plate of boiled rice and fowl, and a bottle containing a little rum. These, they said, afforded her nourishment on her journey, and were very acceptable. Two old hags sat at the feet of the corpse, . beating time on pieces of iron hoop, and to this music LIBERIA. 131 two women were dancing in a space near the bed. The scene reminded me of an Irish wake that I attended many years ago, near Wexford, Ireland : all hands, in both instances, were making a jolly time of it, and were more or less drunk. " Why," I asked, through the interpreter, " do you dance and laugh on such an occasion ?" They replied, " Because she is gone to a better place." A worse place than Elmina I can hardly imagine. But how strongly, deeply fixed in human nature, thought I, is the conviction of another state of existence. There are but few tribes, if any, in Africa, and none out of it, more debased and ignorant than this people, yet here, though vaguely, and without shadow of reason, is held and cherished one of the foundation truths of all religion. Cape Coast Castle, eight miles from Elmina, is widely known as the headquarters of the English establish- ments on the Gold Coast. Here reside the governor and other officers who compose the council, or govern- ment, and a large military force for the protection of British subjects and trade. It is also the centre of the missionary operations in Upper Guinea. The name Cape Coast was long used to denote the large " castle," or fort, which stands on this cape ; but for many years it has been applied to a small territory, extending a few miles coastwise and inward, over which the English claim and exercise control. The Castle, which was built by the Portuguese, and taken by the Dutch in the six- teenth century, fell into the hands of the British in 1666, in whose possession it is likely to remain while the king- 132 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. dom of England endures. It will one day be the head- quarters of the British possession in Africa ; and that possession is destined to embrace the whole of the Gold Coast country, with its hundred tribes. The fort, com- monly called " The Castle " which stands on the solid rock, is an immense and well-fortified building of stone, forming two sides of a square, defended toward the sea by a high wall, which, connecting the outer ends of the building, forms within a large rectangular court. In this court repose, in their last sleep, the remains of several distinguished personages, once connected with the castle, among whom is Mrs. Maclean, that gifted daughter of song, who will live for ever in the poetry of the nine- teenth century, as " L. E. L." More of these living dead hereafter. We visited Cape Coast Castle in December, 1856, and spent a few days there very pleasantly. The Eng- lish officers of the Castle are always glad of a visit from civilized men ; and, if we allow them to speak for them- selves, which they do in act and word, " from Americans in particular." Navy officers are always glad of a run on shore ; and to the African cruiser, the sight of white faces, and the accents of his own tongue, are always re- freshing. Such visits are profitable in giving influence to our flag abroad, and in furthering the objects of cruising. After paying our respects to his excellency, Lieutenant-Governor Connor, a most agreeable and worthy gentleman, we visited the officers of the garri- son ; chatted of the wars which accompanied the esta- blishment of civilization here, the distinguished dead, and above all, the tragic end of Mrs. Maclean. In the afternoon, Dr. C., Captain S., and myself, LIBERIA. 133 dined by invitation at the mission-house, with the Rev. Mr. Freeman, the African missionary, whose praise is in all the churches. There we met Rev. William West, who, with his wife, was on his way to a mission station farther south ; and the distinguished, but now lamented, Daniel West, who was on a tour of inspection among the African mission stations. We sat down that day to a table such as seldom greets the eye of the African mis- sionary. Potted mutton from Wales, beef from Eng- land, ale from Scotland, claret from France, sweetmeats from the West Indies, pastry made from American flour (and, by the w r ay, flour of the southern States brings, in tropical countries, two dollars a barrel more than any other, for the reason that it keeps better), vegetables from Mr. Freeman 's model farm near the Cape, and last, though not least, wine from Madeira. Can w r e ever forget the three hours spent in the so- ciety of that great man, that catholic-spirited, devoted, humble Christian, Daniel West ? Never ! After he had accomplished the objects of his commis- sion, as only a wise, influential, and faithful man could have accomplished them, he closed his labours and his life on the passage to England, and while off the mouth of the Gambia. In the evening, we visited the school on the mission premises, at which over a hundred scholars, of both sexes, and all ages between three years and twenty, re- ceive instruction in English, and also in Fantee, the native tongue. The children, accompanied by a sera- phina, which was played skilfully by a native teacher, sang the hymn beginning " Jesus, thy blood and righteousness." 134 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. What a scene was that to be witnessed on the dark shores of the Gulf of Guinea. What Christian, not daily familiar with such exhibi- tions, could have witnessed the joy beaming from many of those upturned faces, and heard the saving truths of our holy religion understandingly and so sweetly uttered by these children of savage tribes, without grateful emotions ? It was our intention to visit some of the other schools in the town, but when we reached the sum- mit of a hill near the mission-house, we saw the sunset signal flying from our fort. The effect of such visits upon candid minds may be seen in the following speech of our worthy Saldado captain, delivered at the mess-table a few days after. I hope that that benevolent gentleman will pardon me for telling this familiarly- expressed "tale out of school," but truth demands it. " I tell you what it is, gentlemen ; I have often ques- tioned the usefulness and the good sense of missions in Africa ; but when I heard them little Guinea niggers, Cape at Coast, singing those old hymns, that I used to hear in Long Island when I was a boy that wasn't yesterday I thought, ' Well, the Christian religion is bound to go over the whole earth !' Chaplain, I give in ! I apologize. There's no use talking !" The population of Cape Town is between six and eight thousand natives ; resident traders, officers, and missionaries, all English, about fifty. In the colony or district of Cape Coast, and now subjects of the British crown, there are families of many tribes ; Commendahs, Winnebahs, Ashantees, and others ; but a large majo- rity of the people here and about Elmina are Fantees. LIBERIA. 135 They have, in a great measure, neglected the peculiar costumes of their tribes, but a few here dress (?) like the Elmina people, who retain largely their distinguish- ing customs. Time was, and that within the period of authentic African history, when the Fantees were the most powerful tribe on the Gold Coast : but after re- peated and bloody wars, in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, they were conquered by the Ashantees, and lost their national existence. The Fantees language is, however, the language of the Gold Coast; for although each tribe has its own dialect, or patois^this seems to be the root of most of them, and is generally under- stood. It is the language of trade, and missionary com- munications ; and though, from its complicateness, much difficulty has been experienced in reducing it to writing, the missionaries have reduced it to grammatical construction, and have printed in it many useful books. Of the languages of the coast, and the obstruction which they present to the progress of truth and civiliza- tion, we shall speak hereafter. The kingdom of Ashantee, the seaward borders of which are one with the inland line of the territory over which the English exercise control, is one of the most powerful kingdoms in Africa, but little, if at all, inferior to the kingdom of Dahomey, with which on one side it joins. The kings of Ashantee have regarded with jealousy from the first, establishment of European forts on the shores of the Gold Coast. This jealousy has been increased and embittered by the interference of the British at Cape Coast and other stations, in the wars which the Ashantees carried on with other tribes. The frequent assistance given by 136 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. the British forts to their sworn enemies the Fantees, is still cherished with bitterness, and the closing of the slave-trade as an unpardonable sin. Deadly engage- ments have taken place between the Ashantees and the forces at Cape Coast Castle; but the fear of savage multitudes on one side, and respect for bullets and bomb- shells on the other, have led to the establishment of well-defined treaties of permanent peace. The Ashan- tees enjoy right of passage to the sea-shore through English territory, and the privilege of legal traffic there ; and English merchants, missionaries, and other subjects of the British crown, are allowed to reside, and pursue their callings, anywhere in Ashantee. In our walks through Cape Town, we met many of the Ashantee people, who had brought with them from the interior palm-oil, gold-dust, gold rings of native manufacture, monkey and other skins of considerable value. Those that we have seen of them are a more proud and intelligent-looking people than the Fantees, or any other that we have thus far described, except the Man- dingoes. Our missionaries represent them as industri- ous and shrewd. Cape Coast Town has a fine, conspicuous location. It is built on the sides and the summit of a hill which slopes gradually in every direction. These houses of the foreigners are generally tasteful and large, and occupy the western acclivity. Many of the native houses are two stories high, built of adobes or sun-dried bricks, and thatched with palm-leaves or long grass. Most of the native houses, however, are built without any reference to light or air. They are huddled together on the east- ern side of the hill, like so many pigsties, are offensively LIBERIA. 137 unclean, and the creatures that inhabit them seem to be in love with dirt. An improvement in personal and domiciliary cleanliness marks the progress of civiliza- tion among them. The cottages of the Christians may be disti nguished from the huts of the heathen by the air of comfort which they present, the tilled garden, and other evidences of industry without, and rude imi- tations of European furniture within : but with both Christians and heathens, there is room for improve- ment. But the sunset cornet is waving from the mast-head ; we jump into a native surf-canoe, and dashing through the rollers breaking on the beach, get wet jackets, and reaching our own bonny boat, glide over the heavy swell to our floating-home, a mile and a half from the shore. Lights are kindling along the beach. Africa is waking up from her afternoon's sleep to her nightly festivities of music and dancing. But pale concluding evening comes at last And shuts the scene." Who has not sung, or read, or heard of " Afric's golden sands ?" The lovely Heber has celebrated them in that incomparable hymn to the strains of which the missionary host has been marshalled for more than a quarter of a century, and which has done more in in- fusing missionary zeal into the Protestant church than any other uninspired composition. In the imaginings of our boyhood we often pictured to ourselves the golden sands of Guinea, glittering with particles of the precious ore, and longed " to be a man," that we might go there 138 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. and pick up "millions;" but we have not found the reality to correspond with the brightly-coloured pictures of youthful fancy. There is gold in Africa enough to build palaces, no doubt but it is not to be found on the surf-washed beach. The pura silex which there glistens with the salt spray of Old Ocean, crystallized by burning suns, is guiltless of possessing sordid dust at least, we never could find any of it, though w r e prospected in several places. Nor, as some European adventurers have learned to their sorrow, and at the cost of life, is it to be picked up in " nuggets " among the gravel of the hillsides of the interior ; but where the " sunny foun- tains" roll down the hills and vales, it is to be found, scattered in particles like hoar-frost, but not by any means easily gathered. Practical and experienced miners, from England, France, and Germany, have visited the Gold Coast, furnished with picks, pans, pounding machines, cruci- bles, mercury, and other implements of gold-getting; but in all their " prospectings " no " placers " or " streaks" have as yet been found sufficiently rich to repay the labours of Europeans. The natives, with whom time is but of little value, can afford to " wash out" at the rate of a few cents a day, but civilized men require dollars where savages require but mills. The system of gold-getting among the tribes who inhabit the gold country, as described to us by an officer at Elmina, is by washing the earth which contains it in wooden or other bowls. The particles of gold by their weight sink to the bottom of the vessel when the contents are agi- tated, and are picked out, morsel by morsel, from the LIBERIA. 139 grains of sand or other heavy matter which accompanies them. The labour is performed chiefly by women, most of whom are -slaves; a heavy percentage is paid to the king who claims the territory, and the remainder is bought up by petty merchants, who give cotton goods and trinkets in exchange ; and by them is carried to the coast, where it is bought by Europeans for like commodities. Our informant told us that, in the richer valleys of the interior thousands of these women may be seen in company, each furnished with a bowl and a bunch of switches, with which to stir up the earth in the vessels, and a small spade for digging. He described as " very interesting " the scuffles and woolings which daily take place at the washings between the dusky competitors for fortune. Laying aside all implements, they go through the operations with such weapons as nature has given them. Gold dust is used in Elmina and at Cape Coast Town as a circulating medium. The vendors in the native markets are furnished with small scales, and so skilled are they in the use of them and the value of the metal, that gold is given and received in exchange for a few cents' worth of fish, eggs, or roasted lizards. Two cen- turies ago large fortunes were frequently made by Por- tuguese and other traders in a single voyage to this coast in purchasing gold. Then a jack-knife, a piece of brightly-coloured silk, or a brass or tin ornament for the person, would bring half its weight in gold. In later days Manchester goods have brought fifty times their cost ; New England rum has been sold at the rate of twenty dollars a gallon, and Virginia tobacco at the rate 140 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. of five dollars a pound. Those celebrated Yankee mus- kets that can shoot round a corner, and do as much damage at the breech as at the muzzle, once brought fifty dollars apiece ; but the palmy days of such trade have gone by for ever. The civilizing influence of commerce has dissipated that ignorance of the value of goods; and the trader of this age has to deal with men who estimate their gold at the rate of sixteen dollars an ounce, and who are as good judges of cottons and silks as most ladies in Ame- rica. We do not mean to say that they are not cheated now, by no means I When they get too keen for Yankee ingenuity Sambo will have changed his com- plexion. But Cape Coast Town, with its background of green- crested hills, is before us ; the morning sun shines softly over ship and shore, and while the harmattan dust-fog shades us from the equatorial brightness of his rays, we'll hasten to the landing for another stroll. There is no creek or river for us to run into, as there is at Elmina, and as Uncle Sam's boats are not built for beaching, we have to trust ourselves again to a big dug-out and a dozen noisy paddlers to bear us through the surf ; for which we pay an English shilling, or an American quarter, each. To make exorbitant charges and to take advantage of the necessities of others, these rascals think evidence of intelligence, and to do this successfully is the summum bonum, in their idea, of civilization. " I want for learn read and make book" (write), said an intelligent Krooman to me. "What for?" said I. LIBERIA. 141 " So I can know how for cheat dis yeah foolish nigger." Whilst we were on the coast an instance came under our observation of a head-man or prince going a hundred miles to a mission-station to ask for a teacher for his village. When questioned as to the reason for such a request, he said that he and several of his people wanted to learn how to trade with white men so that the cheating might not be all on one side. On the coast cheating and trade are in fact and name synonymous. Such are the ideas gathered from centuries of intercourse with com- mercial men. Yet commerce is called the " great civi- lizer." What a humbug ! " The apparel oft bespeaks the man," quoth Pollonius. What, then is to be our estimate of Mr. John Paxton Wilberforce, a dark gentleman in rags and tags, who proposes to become our cicerone this morning "? John has a pleasant face, he speaks very good English, his wool is done up in very tight corkscrews, he sports a massive seal ring, and there floats in his rear a dusky white flag, as evidence of his peaceful intentions. John claims to be a Christian, although " not a member, and not 'ligious ;'' says he is a Queen's man, and at the same time a Fantee. " Have you been to school, John ?" " Oh yes, sir, been to Mr. Freeman's school mose two year." " Why did you not remain longer T' " I get tire." " What do you think of the missionaries, John f " Be very fine people, sir ; but I don't like white 142 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. people fash (manners) ; he want work and learn too much. I like dis country people fash better." According to his own showing, John is in the transi- tion, or half-civilized state, and is the type of a large class in this, the territory of Cape Coast. This is the conclusion that we should have arrived at, judging from the "apparel." With John Paxton Wilber- force before our eyes, we give the following as an example : straw hat, minus crown and half the brim ; plus an old uniform coat, minus sleeves ; plus white shirt, white worn off ; plus pantaloons, minus dor sum and one leg ; equal half a suit of clothes, shows half- civilized condition. The broad and macadamized road which runs through the centre of the town, and which is used as a parade- ground by the soldiers of the fort, affords a pleasant walk in the forenoon or evening. It is lined by good- sized houses, many of which are built of stone and used as stores. It is shaded by handsome trees, here called umbrella trees, but which, Mr. Freeman assures us, are those which produce gamboge. In size and shape they resemble the morus multicaulis, or silk-worm mulberry ; the leaves are heart-shaped, smooth, glossy, and of a dark green colour on the superior surface, rough and whitish on the inferior. The seed capsules are short, six-sided pods, containing six cells. It is from these pods, and the seeds which they contain, while in a green state, that the resinous matter is obtained. Those that we gathered and cut open contained a large quantity of a bright yellow matter, of the consistency of cream. It dried rapidly when exposed to the sun, forming a tena- cious, bright yellow gum. The flowers resemble those LIBERIA. 143 of the cotton plant, and like them are white on opening, but soon turn red. So little is known of this tree, that I regret the loss of the leaves, blooms and seed vessels, which I carefully gathered and preserved, and from which I hoped to give a more minute description. Women, half-civilized and barbarous, sat in the shade of these trees, offering for sale the usual commodities of African markets dried fish, eggs, fowls, glass beads, bananas and other fruits, ground peas, corn, rice, and cotton handkerchiefs. The road to Fort William, a mile from the landing, affords a pleasant walk to those who are fond of walk- ing when the mercury is at eighty-five in the shade. Comfortable-looking cottages, handsome shade-trees, and limpid streams vary the scenery ; and early in the morning the chattering of the market-women makes music for you by the way. I say not how pleasant such music may be, but to gentlemen who have been cooped up on board a man-of-war for months together, the screamings of the most untameable shrew, or the cry of the most squally brat, is a pleasant variation to the rough monotone of masculine voices heard on board ship. Fort William occupies one of the two high conical hills that stand in the rear of Cape Town, and Fort Victoria the other. These we found carefully guarded by gentlemen who wore a the shadowed livery of the burnished sun," and the red coats of her Majesty Vic- toria. Meridian observations were formerly taken daily at one of these forts, and at the second of zenith a gilt ball was dropped from the top of the flag-staff. This signal was of value to navigators as enabling them to 144 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. correct their chronometers, but for some reason or other it has been abandoned. We continued our walk to the shores of the lagoon, half a mile from the town. The English residents call it a lake, and here often amuse themselves in boat-racing and other aquatic sports. It is a pretty sheet of water, surrounded by grassy banks and overhanging ever- greens, and enlivened by the wild notes of the sea birds that sport above its mirrored face. Along its shores was the favourite evening walk of Mrs. Maclean (L. E. L.), and from its cool breezes and sunset glories she gathered inspiration for the sweet productions of her later life. In passing through the native portion of the town late in the evening we were attracted to a low and very dirty mud hut by groans of suffering, and the laughter of a crowd that stood about the door. Expecting to see something worth putting in a book describing life in Africa, we forced our way into the hut, where, stretched on a bamboo mat on the floor, lay a very hearty- looking negro, who was undergoing, by the hands of a native doctor, an operation for Guinea-worm. If the noise he made and the large drops of perspiration that stood on his body may be taken as evidence of pain, the subject suffered a great deal ; and no won- der, for the operator was cutting into his legs at an unmerciful rate, and with a very unprofessional scalpel an old razor, with a very rough edge. We were quite anxious to witness the operation, but the atmo- sphere was too fragrant, and having neither cologne nor assafoetida to better it, we found out-door air in- dispensable after ten seconds' absence from it. 145 CHAPTER VI. GULF OF GUINEA. L. E. L. and Cape Coast Castle Her Marriage Arrival on the Coast Reception Employment Her Death Inquest Verdict Im- pressions in England regarding her Death Death of Governor Maclean Epitaph of Mrs. Maclean Miss Staunton and L. E. L. Points of Comparison and Contrast, etc. DEAR READER : While the winds and waves are waft- ing us on to Accra, descend with me to my little room and, if not already tired of my talk, hear my notes and memories of Cape Coast Castle relating to the life and death of that gifted daughter of song, L. E. L. Governor Maclean, of Cape Coast Castle, while on a visit to England, in the winter of 1837-8, made the ac- quaintance of Miss Landon at the house of Mr. Foster, the member of Parliament for Berwick. He addressed her ; after a short acquaintance, they were married ; they sailed for Airica, and arrived at Cape Coast on the loth of August, 1 838. She met with a hearty welcome from the officers and merchants of the place ; and while she lived, by the brilliancy of her wit and the amiability and benevolence of her character, she continued to be the great attraction of the Castle to residents and visitors. The report of her coming was received with incredulity, but her works were immediately and eagerly sought for 14G PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. and read, and that, too, by persons who till then had never read a volume of poetry in their lives. The people of the town could scarcely realize that one so distin- guished was to become a resident in a place so obscure ; they felt honoured by the event when she came, and when the pale messenger carried her away, after a resi- dence of two months, her new, but warmly attached friends felt that her visit had been like the visit of an angel sent from heaven to cheer and charm them for a while ; and they mourned for her as for the purest, the tenderest, the loveliest of their little circle. She entered upon her domestic duties with cheerful- ness; the novelties and inconveniences of garrison life in Africa amused rather than annoyed her. She was surprised to find " in such an out-of-the-way corner of the world so many agreeable and well-educated men ;" in the new aspects which nature presented on every side she found matter of constant interest ; and though she often spoke of her home and friends in England, with a tone of sadness, she seemed generally cheerful, and sometimes even gay, to the last evening of her life. She was found dead in her room, on the morning of the 16th of October. A pall of mystery enshrouds that event which may never be raised. She left Mr. Mac- lean's room for her own, which was separated from his by a landing three feet wide, at seven o'clock ; a few minutes after she sent her nurse, Mrs. Bailey, to her store-room for a pot of pomatum. When the nurse re- turned she found, on attempting to re-enter the room, something against the door ; she forced it open, and found Mrs. Maclean on the floor, in the agonies of GULF OF GUINEA. 147 death. Dr. Cobbold was immediately called, and was soon on the spot ; but before he arrived, every symptom of life had disappeared. A post mortem inquest was held, but nothing was elicited, except that, on testimony of Mrs. Bailey, a vial which had contained Scheele's preparation of prussic acid was found in her hand. The verdict of the coroner's inquest was " death by an over-dose of Scheele's preparation of prussic acid, taken inadvertently." She had been in the habit of taking this medicine as a preventive of spasms, to which she was subject. It was currently reported and believed in England, at the time of her death, that her later letters to intimate friends contained intimations of unkindness toward her on the part of Mr. Maclean ; and this gave rise to the supposition that she had put an end to her life by her own hands. We can scarcely imagine that a man who had resided many years in Africa, and who had degraded himself by living in concubinage with a native woman, would make a congenial partner for so sensitive and refined a spirit as was L. E. L. True, he explained before their mar- riage the state of his previous life, but not until she came to Africa, and beheld the creatures of such attach- ments, and witnessed in others the debasing effects of such alliances, could she realise the degradation of such a life. Who knows but that in the object of her tender affections she may have discovered a divided heart ; or, at least that, as the effects of his previous habits, she found not in him that pure and delicate affection for which her nature pined ? Under such circumstances the prospects of a life in Africa, to one who had received praise and 148 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. admiration in the most brilliant and gifted circles of England, must have been gloomy indeed. On the other hand, the testimony of many letters to friends at home, in which she speaks pleasantly of her surroundings in Africa, and that of Mr. Cruikshank and others who knew her at the Castle, that she was generally cheerful and seemed happy in her domestic relations, are not to be esteemed lightly. Yet such testimony may be fully admitted without removing the impression, common in England and America at the time of her death, that she was unhappily married. If disappointed in her hopes of happiness in that relation, in which her sanguine and confiding nature taught her to expect her highest happiness, her pride would have kept the secret of that disappointment in the inmost sanctum of her soul, to be divulged but to the nearest and dearest, or to be buried with her among the arcana of the tomb. This is the darkest side of the picture ; charity, and perhaps justice, to one who can no longer speak for himself, demands that we shall seek some other solution of the mystery. May she not have died from the effects of one of those spasms * which she so much dreaded ? or, as her physician thought, " by an over-dose" of the deadly preparation, taken perhaps to prevent such an attack ? An old negro, who was valet to Mr. Maclean when the death took place, was with us when we visited the room and the grave of L. E. L. ; but he refused to answer any questions regarding her death. Governor Maclean is represented as having been an * That this was the case is the unhesitating belief of all L. E. L.'s friends in England. ED. GULF OF GUINEA. 149 indefatigable, prudent, and honest man. He fulfilled the functions of his office to the satisfaction of his go- vernment, and with advantage to the cause of civili- zation ; but with his character and the habits of his life before us, we are compelled to admit the conclusion that he lacked the qualities necessary to render him a suit- able companion and husband for so tender, confiding, and affectionate a person as was Miss Landon. Governor Maclean died at the Castle in 1847, much lamented by the natives and European residents. The natives sus- pended their usual employments, and made a mourning for him which lasted for several days. Chiefs from a distance continued to come in for weeks after his death, to discharge their muskets near his grave, in token of their respect for his memory, and " to speak words of praise." He was buried beside his wife, in a stone vault of the court of the Castle. There, in the sleep that is dreamless, and deaf alike to the adulations and reproaches of men, they await the day when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, and God shall judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ. From a small marble tablet, let into the wall of the main building, and ten paces from her grave, we copied the following inscription, to which we add a free trans- lation : Hicjacet sepultum Omne quod mortale fuit LETITIJE ELIZABETHS MACLEAN. Quain egregia ornatam indole Musis unice amatam, Omniumque amores secum trahentem In ipso setatis flore, Mors imtnatura rapuit, 150 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. Die Octobris XV. A.D. MDCCCXXXVIII. Mi&i. XXXVI. Quod spectas, viator, manner, Vanum hen doloria inonumeutum Conjux moerena erexit." Here lies buried All that was mortal . Of Letitia Elizabeth Maclean ; Whom, end wed with rare genius, Singularly favoured by the Muses, Attracting to herself the love of all, Death prematurely snatched away In the flower of her age, On the 15th of October, 1838, Aged 36 years. O Traveller ! the marble which thou beholdest, Vain memorial of his grief, A sorrowing husband has erected. Ten days before our arrival at Cape Coast Castle we were at Cape Palmas, and there learned the particulars relating to the death of Miss Staunton, the American missionary. That sad event was, therefore, prominently in mind when we visited the grave of Mrs. Maclean, and, without intending it, we found ourselves making a few striking points of resemblance and contrast between these remarkable women. The points of similarity in character or circumstances are few. They were both in the prime of life ; they had been reared tenderly ; they were loved by all who knew them ; they were in intellect cultivated, and in taste refined ; GULF OF GUINEA. 151 both possessed largely the graces of person and manner which adorn virtuous and lovely women ; they went to Africa ; they died there. How different the motives which led them to that dis- tant shore ! One went in obedience to conjugal love a heroine truly to be with her husband was her choice, to render him happy her end. The other, in obedience to the promptings of that heart of universal charity .which religion giveth to her children, went for the love of souls ; to win men to righteousness, her employment ; to glorify her Saviour, her end. How different were their engagements while they lived there ! One, though devoted to her husband's wishes, and careful in the dis- charge of every domestic duty, was not so unselfish as to forget her reputation in the literary world. The flattery received had given thirst for more, and amid the duties of her new sphere she found time and inclination to pre- pare sketches of Walter Scott's heroines for the millions who delighted in the productions of her fruitful mind. The other, while battling with a disease which, like a thirsty vampire, sat constantly at her heart, drinking up the life-current as it flowed from its pure fountain, de- voted her time to the school-house, and her thoughts to teaching savage children the way to Christ and to heaven. How differently, and inconsistently, did men speak of their going to Africa ! Of one they said, " She has made a good match ; she ought to go with her husband ! by that means she will secure, after her return, a com- fortable establishment." Of the other they said, with feigned sympathy, " Poor, misguided girl !" (t She is throwing herself away !" " She is a fanatic !" Aye, 152 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. and harsher things than these were said, which we may not write, but with which the ears of missionaries are familiar. But they died ! The life of one may be compared to the course of the moon, which, after walking in beauty through the heavens, receiving the admiration of mil- lions and charming them with the brightness of her shining, goes down amid clouds of murky darkness. That of the other to the modest glimmering of a tiny star, which, after attracting the gaze of a thoughtful few by the pure serenity of her beaming, fades away in the bright light of morning. Shall we pursue them further? We would not rush " where angels fear to tread ;" but in life so pure, and to the last so strong was the faith, so clear the mental vision of things eternal, so bright the hopes of heaven, so ample the testimony to the sus- taining power of grace of the missionary girl, that we may rest assured that she has passed to a glorious inheri- tance. The eyes that closed so gently on that couch of pain to scenes of African depravity and wretchedness, are now gazing on the beauties of the Lamb and the glories of the upper sky. " Thou'rt at rest having taught them what rock to rely on And hast doft the fair robes which to virgins belong, But the next robe for thee was the white robe of Zion The next sound thou heard'st was the Seraphim's song !" L. E. L. sleeps on a desolate rock beside the sea, on a lonely shore ; and there the heavy surf, in deep-voiced moans, shall chant her wild, sad requiem, until the earth and the sea shall give up their dead. Her name shall GULF OF GUINEA. 153 live while the English language endures ; her grave shall be guarded as a sacred thing while the British flag floats over African soil. It will be visited by curious travel- lers, and wondering savages, for ages to come. Her praise shall be spoken by generations yet unborn but she is dead to flattery and to fame ! If these were her objects, she has her reward ; but how poor in the posses- sion ! How deserving of human sympathy ! If, as we strongly hope, she aspired to honours more enduring than those of earth, God, who knoweth the heart, will fulfil all her desires ; and in the fair paradise where the disembodied pure abide, her capacious powers may revel in the noontide of bliss and knowledge. The name and the resting-place of Miss Staunton will be forgotten by the next generation ; but angel guards shall keep watch and ward beside that silent tomb; and when the missionary martyrs are called to be par- takers in the last resurrection, she shall rise with those w r ho have turned many to righteousness, and a bright star in the firmament of God's own dwelling-place she shall shine for ever and for ever. As we stood at the grave of Mrs. Maclean, we remem- bered a few lines of her own sweet verse> peculiarly applicable to the occasion. They are from " The Her- mit's Grave." How far was it from the thoughts of the fair composer that strangers from another hemisphere would find them appropriate to her own last home and final resting-place. " It was a scene where faith would take Lessons from all it saw, And feel amid its depths that hope Was God's and Nature's law. 154 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. The past might here be swept away, The future might renew Its early confidence in heaven, When years and sins were few : Till, in the strength of penitence, To the worst sinner given, The grave would seem a resting-place Between this world and heaven." CHAPTER VII. ACCRA. Accra in Sight Come to an Anchor Canoes and Traders A word for Pets Forts Exports Filibustering English Civilization Dress Houses Missions " The Service " Mr. Bowen Things to be Regretted Governor Bannerman Gold Rings A Native Goldsmith Indian Corn A Primitive Mill The Gazelle. "Now for the gold rings, leopard claws, and grey monkey skins !" exclaimed one of the master's mates, as he came rattling down the steerage ladder. " What's the matter, Charley f said one of his com- panions, suddenly waking from a nap that he had been taking on a camp-stool, with the bulkhead for a pillow. "Accra's in sight, and the commodore has given orders to stand in and come to anchor." Two hours later (3.30 P.M., December 22, 1856), we were anchored within three-quarters of a mile of the forts and town of Accra, and in the open sea. We were soon surrounded by a fleet of canoes, con- taining nude Guinea-men, eager and most noisy compe- titors in the sale of live monkeys, pigs, parrots, yams, bananas, and pine-apples. These gentlemen are content to do business on a very small scale. Here is a craft containing four men, who have come off to sell a small and very lean pig, for which they ask a dollar, but will 156 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. take less. There's another, containing two men and a boy, whose stock in trade consists of a bunch of plan- tains, for which they ask a dollar, but will take anything, in silver, as large as a dime. Yonder is another, in charge of a grey-headed gentleman, who wears a scarf of several yards of blue calico over his shoulders, and calls himself " a merchant." His canoe is large, and manned by five boys, who seem very obedient to his gravely-given orders. He has several parrots, a monkey, a few badly dressed leopards' skins and paws, gazelle's feet, and porcupine quills. Our men look very wistfully at the parrots and monkeys, but pets have been inter- dicted, our number being complete ; they have but little money, and the skins are dear, so trade is confined to porcupine quills and fruit. We have no sympathy with that rigorous enforce- ment of discipline which allows of no recreation, no pets, and no fun, on board of men-of-war. A monkey or two, a few parrots or other birds, on board ship, con- tribute to the amusement of the men, and help to re- lieve the monotony of their tedious life. Especially on the African station, where the enervating effects of climate tend to produce depression of spirits, such things are useful, as conducing to health as well as pleasure. To keep them in proper bounds is in the power of every commander, and he is a very weak man who cannot preserve discipline but by depriving his men of this small but much desired indulgence. A ship of war should not be converted into a menagerie, of course, nor yet should it be a penitentiary. The union of the utile et dulce is possible here, as everywhere, in the labours of life. But the days are well-nigh past when officers ACCRA. 157 were offended to see their men laugh, and regretted that the sun shone as brightly for the man as for the master. There are, however, a few of the old regime left, and we wish them, very cordially, a pleasant voyage to wherever they are going. Along the shore, at this point, and within sight of each other, are several forts belonging to European powers. The villages around them bear the common name of Accra, distinguished by the titles of the forts to which they are attached. The English, French, and Danish Accras are large towns, numbering together over ten thousand souls. Of these, English Accra is the largest in population, and most important in trade. The population is over five thousand, and the exports in palm oil and ivory are heavy. Large quantities of gold, brought in by the Ashantees, are also exported from this place. The English, of course, get the lion's share, and the remainder is divided in about equal proportions between the American, French, and Dutch traders. The forts of the Danes at Accra, and four other places on the Gold Coast, have recently been sold to the British crown for fifty thousand dollars. Thus, and by lawful means, is England lengthening her cords and strengthening her stakes on the shores of Guinea. We like filibustering when it is done honestly, and hence we see with pleasure the widening influence of our cousin over African peoples and territories, When the natives of Danish Accra heard that they were to change their masters, they received the tidings with the wildest enthusiasm, and, with shouts for Vic- toria and processions in her honour, welcomed the rule of her majesty, and the new era in their history. The 158 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. superiority of English rule and civilization in elevating African humanity, may be seen in the advanced condi- tion of the natives in the English territories, as com- pared with those of territories under other foreign influence. This appears in a forcible light when we compare Cape Coast Town with Elmina. Civiliza- tion and Christianity are making progress in the former place at a rate, and of a character, which inspire hopes of the final triumph of truth and the arts of peace. Travellers, among whom is the intelligent and worthy missionary, J. F. Bowen, agree that of all the corrupt places in Africa, Elmina is the worst. British rule is stern, implacable and exacting, it is true, yet how much soever berated, and how justly soever, by the enemies of Anglo-Saxon civilization and Protestant Christianity, it may be, the establishment of true religion, the pros- perity of commerce, the progress of humanity, demand that in Africa, as in India, we shall wish it enlargement and prosperity. Where Jonathan can't enter, he will ever say, " Go on, John, it is all in the family." The country around Accra is hilly and picturesque. Heavy timbers, if they ever existed here, have long ago disappeared, except in the valleys; yet the hills are covered with green bramble, and present the appearance of old fields turned out to rest. The people are said to be treacherous, and as long fingered as any of their neighbours ; indeed, the distinctions, meum and tuum, are not perfectly understood on any part of the coast ; yet, having often laid myself open to losses of personal property without much damage, I am inclined to think that the rogues are not quite so bad as they are some- times represented. ACCRA. 159 The dress of the people is almost too scant to be described. With the men, it varies from a piece of twine and a charm or two, to a pair of pantaloons, shirt, and umbrella, and with the ladies, from a string of beads and a bright bandana handkerchief, to a whole petticoat and two or three pounds of beads. Such is human nature in Africa. Would that, like truth, it were " when unadorned adorned the most." Then, truly, its beauty would be beyond praise. The houses at Accra are generally two stories high, having mud walls, and long steep roofs of grass. Many of the buildings are of stone ; and the streets between them are seldom more than six feet wide. The principal traders of the place are English-born mulattoes and blacks. They live in comfortable houses, and are, in many instances, intelligent and reliable men. His excellency Governor Bannerman is an English mulatto, a refined and strong-minded gentleman, held in great respect by English and American cruisers, and possessing great influence over the surrounding tribes. The gold rings for which Accra is celebrated are manufactured from unalloyed gold by native workmen. They are either moulded or made of plaited wire, and are often quite pretty, though roughly finished as compared with the work of civilized artisans. I sat by one of these goldsmiths, who had his traps in a little court before his house, and witnessed his manipulations for an hour and more. His tools consisted of a hammer, a small anvil, two or three pairs of pincers, a chisel, or two, and an earthen crucible or smelting pot. At first he did not seem to enjoy my intrusion thought, perhaps, that I was learning the secrets of his trade 160 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. but when I praised his ingenuity, which I did honestly, for he handled his tools well, he seemed pleased to have me remain, and showed me specimens of his work. The rings are sold for their weight in American or English gold coin. Cowries small sea shells (spec. Cyprea monetaj are extensively used here, and on the Gold Coast generally, as small change currency ; but they are not very con- venient, as it takes 2,500 of them, about six pounds in weight, to make a dollar. They are imported from the South Coast, or find their way through the interior, where they are the principal currency. An excellent article of Indian corn is produced on this part of the coast. That which we have seen is the variety known among our planters as the white flint corn, and this is the only kind which we saw on the Gold Coast. The mode of grinding is peculiar. A slab of granite, or other coarse-grained stone, is set on an inclined bench or bank; the grain, after being soaked, is placed upon it and rubbed by another stone of the same material, oblong, and of two or three pounds in weight, which the operator holds in her hands. When reduced to the state of hominy, it is rolled into balls and sold in the markets. It is generally cooked by boiling, or, rolled in leaves, is baked in the ashes. The balls do not seem any the less valuable for being largely moistened by the perspiration of the operator, and the heavy percentage of dead flies and gnats that goes to make up the mass. Gazelles, the most beautiful and diminutive members of the deer family, are numerous on this part of the coast, but are rarely taken alive, and soon die in cap- ACCRA. 161 tivity. We purchased the skin of one having the legs and feet attached, and hoped by stuffing to restore the outlines of the animal, but on undertaking the task found that a large portion of the head was wanting. The little creature from which this skin was taken would have measured in height at the shoulder, eigh- teen inches, and in length twenty-four inches, from the nose to the base of the tail. The legs at the knee are no larger than a stout goose quill, and from that point to the extremity of the hoof are five inches long. But the anchor is up, and we are standing on our course toward the Volta and the Niger. In the afternoon of December 23rd, 1856, we crossed the mouth of the River Volta, but so far out at sea as to be able to distinguish nothing but the deep green out- line of the land, resting like a dark cloud on the horizon. In running down the coast in 1855, we were as close under the shore at this point as was safe for a vessel drawing nineteen feet of water, and, ascending to the mizen-top, I obtained a good view of the river and the densely- wooded plains through which its dark waters roll to their home in the sea. Like most of the rivers of Africa, this has a very shallow bar, ten feet and that at high tide is its greatest depth of water; but when the bar is crossed, the river is navigable for many miles. The tribes who inhabit its banks have been among the most vigorous and cruel prosecutors of the slaves trade, and to this day they are ready, whenever a Yankee craft makes signal, to ship, in a few hours, hundreds of their neighbours. It is said by old traders on the coast, that, rather than suffer in their reputation for prompt- M 162 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. ness in supplying "live cargoes," these remorseless robbers will, when prisoners are scarce and neighbours hard to catch, sell their wives and children, and deliver them on the deck of the slaver for a few dollars each. A story was told us of a Yankee captain who visited this river lately. After paying the headmen, or traders, for five hundred lively darkeys, he invited them into his cabin to take a drink. He was profuse in his hospi- tality, made them all drunk, put them in irons, sank their canoes, pocketed their money, and got under weigh. Two of the twenty-five thus taken jumped overboard shortly after, and were drowned ; the re- mainder he sold in Cuba for four hundred dollars each. Were we to look for this shrewd gentleman now, he would probably be found occupying a neat cottage, with green blinds and brass door-knobs, somewhere in Massa- chusetts, a warm advocate of abolitionism and " higher law." Could the waters of this bar tell their own story, we should hear of the tumult of revolt in slave canoes, and the destruction of captors and captives ; cries of anguish from parents torn from their children, and from children torn from their parents ; and of the sea being red with the blood of men, thrown a prey to the ravenous sharks which infest these waters, in order to lighten the slaver of her cargo on the approach of a man-of-war. Count- less thousands will arise from these polluted waves when the sea shall give up her dead demanding eternal ven- geance on their heartless murderers ; and among these shall be mighty merchants and captains bearing the Christian name. ACCRA. 103 While we are rolling on for Quita, which is still eighteen hours distant, we will indulge in a note of the comparative topography of the shores of the Gulf of Guinea. Passing along the coast of Liberia, we pointed out the volcanic formations and evidences of recent volcanic disturbances abundant about Monrovia (the coast of Sierra Leone belongs to the same period), and these are trace- able as far as Cape Palmas. At Elmini, we enter a country, or surface rather, of a more ancient period, characterised by numerous conical hills and narrow valleys, and bearing abundantly formations of the plutonic and metamorphic systems : granite, gneiss, quartz, sandstone, &c. ; and in the valleys, an auriferous or gold-bearing alluvium. The bluffs in the vicinity of Accra (that upon which the English fort stands we ascertained to be thirty-six feet high) indicate that their highest strata were once on a level with the sea, and during long periods received the action of the waves. It shows the elevation of this part of the coast also ; an effect which no doubt was produced by the same forces that protruded volcanic matter, and more de- cidedly marked the surface on the coast farther north. It has been thought that the shore of the Gold Coast continues to rise, or, as some express it, that the sea continues to retire ; but the foundations of the forts of Elrnina and Cape Coast Castle, which stand on the beach, do not indicate any change of position in relation to high-water mark, since their establishment, three hundred and fifty years ago. How far this system extends into the interior or coast- wise east of Accra, we are not prepared to say, having 164 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. left the coast at that point, but as we approached the Volta we entered a district which, along the gulf at least, is more recent than either of the two districts just referred to. Timbered savannas, marshes, sand-beds and lagoons diversify its surface ; and this continues to be its character down to the deltas of the Niger, and perhaps beyond. The lagoons which here traverse the beach are from a hundred yards to two miles in width ; they receive many large creeks and streams, and are gradually filling up with earthy and vegetable matter. The bar which divides them from the sea is rapidly widening by the accumulation of sand thrown up by the action of the tide-waves ; and when the present chain of lakes is filled, the causes which produced them will produce others still farther seaward. Such, doubtless, has been the process in the formation of this low and fenny coast. Pestilence broods over it continually, and woe to the white man who sleeps even for a single night beneath her deadly breath. Traders and cruisers anchor a mile from the shore, and have learned by sad experience never to delay their return to the ship after sunset. Yet the natives of this country are hearty- looking races. Missionaries have braved its dangers, and endured them for a while, sustained by Him who tempereth the winds to the shorn lamb; but African fever, which on the Gold Coast is rare, is here prevalent and fatal, and the white man, sooner or later, must fall before it. The white houses of Quita are glistening in the morning sun, and look cool and cheerful amidst the cocoa-nut forests which surround and shade them. When we visited this place twelve months previously, ACCRA. 165 the king paid a visit to our ship; but we had been sufficiently amused by African kings, and attached but little importance to his visit. He called on the com- modore and commander, and then condescended to the ward-room, where he spent a couple of hours in moody silence. I gave his highness, quite unintentionally, an unpardonable offence, by asking him if he was not viceroy to the king of Dahomey. Assuming a SCOAV! of injured dignity, he replied, " No ; I king mese'f, an' bigger dan king ob Domys !" Whatever may be his relation to Dahomey now, his tribe were long tributary to that great interior kingdom, as have been most of the tribes on the Bight of Benin. But so vain and unreliable are African chiefs, that it is impossible to obtain from them any truth regarding the extent or relations of territories. His majesty wore a straw hat the only whole straw hat I ever saw on the head of a heathen ebony a white cotton jacket, and a blue cotton scarf folded into the shape of a petticoat. He carried a large gold-headed cane in his hand, had heavy gold earrings in his ears, and a dozen or more gold rings on his fingers. I was for a while the only entertainer of the king in the ward-room ; and having occasion to step out, I found, on my return, my valet de chambre, a black ward-room boy, trying to persuade his majesty to accept of a bundle of old clothes and shoes, in exchange for a few of his gold rings. I sent my tiger on deck to report himself " for impudence," and made an apology to his majesty, for which I received a royal grunt. 1 fear the old gentleman entertains a low estimate of American respect for black royalty. On the morning of December 24, 1856, we came to 166 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. anchor within two miles of Quita. As our purser was going ashore to buy beeves, I accepted his offer of a passage, and took a walk, of several hours' length, in the town and its vicinity. The white houses which present so imposing an aspect to a beholder in the roadstead, are two story buildings of stone, occupied by the king, and by English merchants of African blood. The small fort on the beach is one of those lately purchased by England from Denmark. It contains a few brass guns, and is occupied by a sergeant and corporal's guard. The houses of the natives resemble those described at Elmina, but they are generally more cleanly, not so close together, and are not quite so abundantly supplied with lizards and snakes reptiles that are largely represented in the huts of African towns, and which live on terms of intimacy with the women and children. These snakes are large and black, and are regarded by the natives with religious reverence. To kill one is a serious offence, and the murderer may consider himself doomed to a life of misfortune and a death of pain. Quita is the Cincinnati of Guinea. The hogs seem to be as numerous as the people, and have villages of their own on the neighbouring beach and in the rear of the town. The poultry market is well supplied, but the prices are high. Cattle are abundant, but small. The full grown bullocks which we purchased did not average two hundred pounds gross, and cost twenty dollars a head. There are no large cattle on the West Coast, and those that are there produce inferior meat. Plantains, cocoa-nuts, and pine-apples are abundant and good. We bought a few pine-apples in the morning at ACCRA. 167 ten cents each, and in the evening a few more at ten cents a dozen. This will give the reader some idea of the unsettled state of prices in African markets. Parrots and monkeys were offered us at two dollars each for the birds, and " what you like give" for the little tailed boys. African heats had cooled our love for pets, but fearing that we should not again visit the shore in the grey parrot region, which extends seven or eight degrees on each side of the equator, and remem- bering that we had quieted the farewell sobs of our "little Willie" with the promise of a "Polly/' I purchased a red-tailed prattler, which afterward turned out to be a remarkable bird. The African parrot is intelligent, long-lived and capable of imitating any tone of voice, or sound of musical instrument. After strolling in the hot sun for an hour or two, my companion, Lieutenant H., proposed that we should rest awhile among a few umbrageous cocoa-nut trees, which stood near a large hut on the outskirts of the town. We knocked down some green nuts, and seating our- selves comfortably commenced sampling the cool fluid which Thomson describes as " More beauteous far than all the frantic juice Which Bacchus pours." While thus engaged, a young lady from the hut at our backs came to claim pay. She did not discover that we were white, until in answer to her call we faced about ; she uttered a scream, and bounded like a deer back to the hut ; and like a deer her bounds were unembarrassed by hoops or skirts. After a while she gained courage enough to come to the hedge of the garden and motioned 168 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. us to leave the pay on the ground. We dropped a piece of silver, which, when we had removed a few hundred yards, she picked up and acknowledged by bows and curtsies. The people of Quita, who number 5,000, are more industrious and modest than any of the tribes that we have seen to the north or west of them. We saw several women spinning cotton with a distaff a slow process truly ; an active American woman, with a wheel, could spin more than forty of them together and others weaving, on very simple looms, cotton cloth six inches wide. At the entrance of the town, and near the king's house, we saw two rude images of stone, around which were scattered shells of eggs that had been broken as a sacrifice on the heads of these deities. This is the nearest approach to idolatry that we have seen in Africa, and these are not properly idols, as they are not invoked. The surf was running to a terrific height when we left the shore in the evening. We went through it in a large canoe, paddled by twenty yelling savages, and sur- rounded by scores of ravenous sharks, which came with- in a few feet of us and seemed anxious for a taste of white man black man is very common fare with them. Accidents are here numerous and fatal. The bark Hermitage came to anchor alongside of us in the course of the day. She had on board the Rev. Messrs. Priest and Carson and their wives ; all on their way to Lagos, whence they were to go up to Yoruba, to join the mission in that country. They are all south- erners, and persons of high standing. We intended visiting them, but the commodore ordered the ship to ACCKA. 169 sea immediately on our return from shore. God grant them health and success. Little Popo contains a few houses in the European style, residences of black merchants, and with the many brightly- coloured flags which they display when a war ship passes, they present a pretty appearance. George Lawson, a coloured man who claims to be an English subject, is king de facto , and the principle merchant of the place. He can furnish you with anything produced in Africa, from a chicken to a cargo of slaves. George wears the clothes of a European, has travelled in "de Europe," is a rich man and an enormous scoundrel. Great Popo is a place of no interest. The town, com- posed of mud huts nestled among cocoa-nut trees, stands on the beach. Nothing but the signal of a slaver can bring out its lazy inhabitants. Whyda is a town of several thousand lazy and dirty people. It is situated a mile and a half from the shore, on the banks of a lagoon. Several of its native merchants are men of wealth, but very unreliable. Pigs, poultry, and fruit are abundant and cheap. At all of these places, and also at Badagry, the second town to the south of us, the Messrs. Hutton, of London, have agencies for the purchase of palm oil and other native produc- tions. We were desirous of visiting Badagry, as there are a few missionaries there of whom the English officers whom we met at Whyda spoke in the highest praise. These tribes are all attached to the kingdom of Dahomey, but many of them preserving their language and national peculiarities, are governed by a viceroy 170 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. appointed by the king of that country. Lagos, an important trading and mission town, is near at hand. But the reader must be tired of coasting, and the monotony of Guinea towns, so let us away, for change and recreation, to the beautiful Isles of Biafra. 171 CHAPTER VIII. ANGOLA. A Dull Morning Tropical Philosophizing Bay of Loando Scenery Harbours and Commerce A Pleasant Evening A Glorious Sun- set Thoughts of Home Going Ashore Fishing and Water Boats The Pier The Bishop's Chair Suggestions by the Chair St. Paul Native Market The Biter Bitten Sir George Jackson Population Loando Religion Exports and Imports. A HAZY morning was that which dawned on us on the 16th of January, 1856. Not the haze of rain and winter, but that, which in the tropics, precedes a day of ter- rible heat. It was a sluggish morning; the clouds, scarcely visible, seemed fixed in the heavens ; the atmosphere was motionless ; there was a heavy swell in the sea, but the surface was glassy and dead, as the face of the stagnant pool. Our ship rolled on the crestless wave like a helpless wreck, and the sails drooped heavily from the yards ; the men moved silently about the decks, and tardily, as if clothed in lead; and orders were passed quietly and executed slowly. The wardroom officers still sat round the breakfast-table, moodily, solemnly, as if in the presence of the dead ; breathing was laborious and unsatisfying, and conversation lagged in long-drawn monosyllables. Nature seemed to be in deep sleep, and the sympathetic spell spread over sea and ship, mind and 172 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. matter. Time was in motion. " Two bells " (nine o'clock), cried the orderly, as if waking from a dream ; " two bells," muttered the messenger boy, as if talking in sleep ; and two strokes of the bell rolled slowly through the heavy atmosphere. The master's mate came into the ward-room with muffled tread, and wrote in the log " Thermom. 96 deg. wet bulb 84 deg." We tried to cool ourselves with the rem embrace that twelve months before we walked round our good ship as she lay fast bound in the thick ice of the Delaware. We pictured to ourselves the snow-covered fields at home, and friends going out into the cool blue air, muffled, booted, and gloved. But it was no use. Ima- nation may make drunken men sober, and sick men well, and poor men happy, and wise men fools, but it can't make sinners cool nor saints either as to that when the mercury is at 96 in the shade, and there is no wind. " Pain and pleasure are but ideas." Thank you, Dr. Berkeley ! Fire in the blood and suffocation in the lungs are mere " ideas ;" in plain prose, all imagination, I suppose ; but, somehow, we can't help believing that there is some perception of heat per se, when perspir- ation pours from every pore, and men gasp for oxygen like down-chased turkey. " Nihil est intellectu quod non prius fmt in scnsu," says Leibnitz. That sounds more to our liking. Perception comes with, but after, sensation ; but sensation is not without an object. Yes, our ideas are dependent on our senses, and our senses on things. " Qualities of things," say you : the com- bined qualities are the thing itself. " Matter per se, is a nonentity," says Ferner. " All idea'' nonsense ! Polly ANGOLA. 173 in the steerage who has no ideas, nor intellect to per- ceive, nor imagination to create, showed that she had knowledge of heat she drooped her wings, and ruffled her feathers, and solemnly refused to say anything but " poor Polly." The little pigs, idealess little pigs, in the manger, suspended grunting; and the monkeys, unreason- able monkeys, in their boxes, confined their gymnastics to fanning themselves with their tails. Try it when you please, my Berkeley an friend, and you will find that with ninety-six degrees of heat and no breeze, you have something else than an fl idea " that you are hot. We submit this digression, dear reader, as a specimen of the way we do philosophy and logic in the tropics, when the thermometer is at 96 P in the shade and no breeze. " Oh for a breeze, a squall, anything, anything, for this terrible stillness this living death !" said one, Motion of some sort I Motion is health, life, happiness, everything ! Heaven is represented as a rest, but with constant employment. "No night there," because no need of sleep constant strength, constant activity, constant life. Motion came. The clouds began to move ; the haze cleared away ; a pleasant breeze filled our sails, and at 10 A.M., we saw the high land of Loando looming above the eastern horizon. The breeze freshened; the high cliffs rose out of the sea; we entered tho broad and beautiful bay of Loando ; and an hour before sunset, cast anchor a mile and a half from the town of St. Paul. Never shall we forget the pleasant emotions and sen- sations of physical comfort, which we experienced on 174 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. coming to an " even keel," in the smooth bay of Loando, after so many days of wearisome tossing and brain-sick- ening cradling on the tropical Atlantic. The evening was mild and balmy ; the light breeze, which fanned us so gently that it seemed trying to bestow its freshness upon us without our cognizance, produced not a ripple on the water ; and our proud and beautiful ship, held by the mere weight of her cables motionless as the hills on the shore, lay mirrored in the depths below, like a beautiful creation of art transferred to the canvass by a touch of faultless magic. It requires but a short stretch of imagination to endow, as do the Chinese, a well- built vessel with the attributes of life and intelligence ; and I could fancy, as our trim craft floated on her own image that evening, that, like a beautiful, but vain woman looking at herself in a glass, she was conscious of her beauty, and, intoxicated with the vision of loveli- ness, rested spell-bound and enamoured of her own re- flection. The atmosphere was clear ; sheets and wreaths of fleecy clouds rested overhead, and to the north and west, banks and mountains of cloud rose one above the other, like masses of snow floating in the sky. As the sun approached the horizon, his dimensions seemed to increase tenfold with every degree of descent ; his colour passed, by softest blending, from a rich bright yellow, through various tints of orange and scarlet, to the deepest red; and long after his departure, the clouds, in silver and gold, and soft vermilion, and scarlet and purple, reflected the sunset glories on the water beneath, until the ocean glowed like a sea of fire. Never have I beheld so grand a sunset ; never beheld so en- trancing a vision of beauty ; never before warmed with ANGOLA. 175 such grand conceptions of the glory that shall be re- vealed, when He who is the author of the beautiful, as well as the good and the true, shall welcome us to the brightness of his own abode. But the clouds, true to themselves, for they are the emblems of change, faded away, and the silent sea changed its borrowed glory for an abysmal darkness. We landed at a substantial stone pier, on one side of which, and near the landing steps, stood a large stone chair. Accosting a white gentleman standing near, whom we took to be an Englishman, and rightly, as to its use or meaning, he answered kindly, and correctly, as we afterward learned, that in the palmy days of the slave-trade the Eoman Catholic Bishop of Loando used to come to the pier to bless the cargoes of the slavers ! and on such occasions used this chair. " ; Next morning we hastened to the shore, to spend the day in making visits and seeing " the sights." From the pier we proceeded through an alley, lined by high walls and houses of stone and Dutch tiles, in the Moorish style, until we reached the Broadway of the city, a wide and paved street, on which are the stores, the cathedral, a barrack, and some of the principal private buildings of the place. On this street is the native market, the noisiest place imaginable ; a Babel, with the squealing of pigs, squalling of chickens and children, cackling of geese, and chattering of monkeys thrown in. There were at least five hundred women there, having goods for sale, and all talking at once, and seemingly at the highest pitch. The market-place, which is something like a quarter of a mile in length, is composed of rows of bamboo stalls, six or eight feet 176 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. square, and as many high ; and in these small establish- ments many of the merchants live and bring up families. Cooking, eating, sleeping, bartering, whipping babies, kicking the dogs and children that were crawling about under the stands and getting into rice pots, stringing beads for necklaces, mending stalls, washing clothes light work this all were carried on at the same time, and in a very matter-of-course way ; even young ladies made their toilets as if unconscious of vulgar gaze and criticism. Fruits, nuts, vegetables, dry goods, trinkets, hardware ; productions of native handiwork and Euro- pean manufactories, cooked victuals and raw victuals, shared the same tent and decorated the same stands. The staple articles of African markets, glass beads, coarse cutlery, and gay cottons, were largely repre- sented ; but we noticed, besides, walking-sticks made from rhinoceros horns, a few tolerably dressed skins of gazelles, leopards, and lions, grey parrots, baboons, monkeys of several varieties, neatly woven mats (com- monly called grass mats of Loando, the material, how- ever, is the inner bark of a tree), and baskets of grass, palm leaf, or bark, richly coloured. I there saw for the first time the cachou apple -ficus elastica. In shape and colour it resembles a large yellow pepper. The pulp is a tough and spongy mass, containing a slightly astringent acid-sweet juice, which is cooling and very delicious. The bean-shaped seed which is attached to the extremity contains a highly pungent oil, as I dis- covered by biting it ; a bite from which my mouth did not recover for several weeks. As an Irishman said of a green persimmon which he was persuaded to submit to his molars, I might have said of it: "Faith, and it ANGOLA. 177 makes a man whistle when he ought to be saying howly Pathrick !" Midday in midsummer in the tropics is not expected to be very cool, nor was it on the 17th of January, 1856 ; we therefore gladly accepted the invitation of our consular agent to spend the hours of heat at the consulate, dine, and continue our walk in the evening. Here we received a visit from Sir George Jackson, British commissioner for Loando, at whose delightful home we afterward spent a few pleasant hours, and to whom we are indebted for much valuable information relating to this district. We dined sumptuously ; but I must enter my protest against the way of making soups in the tropics, a habit into which Americans and Eng- lishmen readily fall. That is, making it so hot with pepper, that the uninitiated have to let it alone, or to drink it, like a toast " to the departed," in silence and tears. Tears and solemn toasts may do very well in the proper places, but to be compelled, like a crocodile, to cry over one's dinner is intolerable. In the evening we visited two of the forts, the ruins of a Jesuit college and chapel, built two hundred years ago. Our stay at Loando was pleasant, and the last even- ing, to me peculiarly interesting. We walked to the governor's residence, to the hospital, and the ruins of an old Gothic church and monastery in the suburbs ; and thence, along a good road, a mile or so into the country. As we sat resting in a shady place, several large trains of natives, with baskets on their heads, passed us on their way to their homes in the interior ; and occa- sionally one stopped to shake hands with us. An erect, grey-headed old man, leading a small gang N 178 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. of peculiarly-dressed and charm-decorated men, bearing well-filled baskets, stopped when he came near us, and after jabbering a while r and making many gestures, which I partly understood, extended his hand. " What does he mean ?" I asked of our native mulatto guide, who, though he understood but little of his language, seemed to understand his signs. " Pie says he be going home very far no think he see white man no more want you shake hands." The guide asked him " how far to his home ?" he re- plied by signs, " forty days." I extended my hand, which he shook heartily. There was something so touching in the old man's manner and request, that I found occasion to wipe away an unbidden tear. He looked at me with an expression of surprise, smiled, shook my hand again, and started with his gang, singing as they went. The sincere blessing of a white man went with him to his home, five hundred miles away, in the wilds of Ethiopia. Polygamy exists among every tribe on the West Coast, and, so far as we are informed, throughout the length and breadth of Africa. The ability to purchase and provide for wives (so far as the husband has to provide), is the only limit which law or public opinion sets to the number which a man may have. A man's influence and importance in society maybe estimated by the number of his wives ; but if he is a good subject, and does not wish to excite the jealousy of the king, he will always have fewer than his majesty, be his wealth ever so great. Of the romance of love and courtship, but little is known in Africa. On arriving at the age of puberty, if he be a free-born person, the young man finds a few ANGOLA. 179 wives the number in proportion to the means of his father awaiting the time of their espousals ; and to this number he may add any that he may have fallen in love with in the foolishness of his boyhood ; provided that they are not betrothed to another, and provided further, that he is able to pay the required dower, which varies from five to forty dollars. If he be a slave, he may find one or more appropriated to him, according to the taste of his master ; and to these he may add, according to his inclination and ability to purchase ; and over those purchased he has perfect control; but at his death they become the slaves of his master. The wishes of the woman are seldom consulted. She is often purchased while still a child, and is told, when she is old enough to understand such things, that she is to forego all thought of others than the purchaser, and any dis- regard of this advice is punished as severely as though the marriage ceremony had been already per- formed. African mothers are flattered to have suitors for their daughters while they are still young, and often dispose of them to the highest bidder, without the least respect to the appearance, age, or character of the buyer. The purchaser places a string of beads on the neck of the girl or child, and in case of the death of her mother, before the child is of age, the husband-expectant removes her to his home and places her under the guardianship of an old woman. Sometimes, however, a girl is lucky enough to find herself unsold when overtaken by the tender passion. She may then propose for it is always leap-year in Africa and if 180 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. the man of her choice have still a vacant chamber in his heart capacious hearts these fellows have and the means of buying her from her parents, a union is formed on the basis of mutual attachment. Sometimes a betrothed girl falls in love, and if the object of her regard can arrange matters with the husband by purchase, her marriage with him is allowed. This is often a delicate and difficult matter, but if the husband is old, or pretty well supplied, the affair is more easily consummated. Love, like hunger, will break through a stone wall ; and unlawful amours are constantly occurring, notwithstanding the severity with which adultery is punished. The punishment of the woman, if her husband desire it, is mutilation ; the nose, an ear, or a finger is taken off ; the man, generally, is enslaved to the injured party. There is a difference in the domestic and social standing of the wives purchased as slaves and those received by dower and the consent of parents. The latter may leave their husbands at any time, by the restoration of the dower with certain interest. The former are slaves for life; and the children of both are the property of the father. Among most tribes each wife is furnished with a hut, and the families dwell apart, but they are all under the supervision of the head wife, who is generally an old, and, from her position, an influential person. Generally, the wives are expected to maintain them- selves and their children; what they obtain from the husband they receive in the way of presents. When a husband dies, the wives, with other property, fall to the eldest son ; and his mother, who is treated with respect, ANGOLA. 181 becomes the mistress of the household. The old wives are thus provided for, and as a redeeming trait be it mentioned, they are generally well treated. Reverence for age is the most prominent virtue in Africa. Wives are proud, and of social importance, in proportion to the size of the domestic circle of which they are members ; and, strange as it may appear, and contra- dictory of certain elements of character common to women, an African girl considers it a misfortune to be affianced to a man who has but one or two wives. It will be seen, on a consideration of these facts, that African polygamy is intimately related to, and largely productive of domestic slavery. It is said that four-fifths of the Africans are slaves. This estimate has been objected to, as being too large ; we are safe, however, in saying that in western Africa three-fourths of the people are slaves. This large proportion will not be so much wondered at when we see how numerous and easy are the ways by which men pass into slavery. First, the father is the owner of his children ; and though the children of a free man are not generally considered or treated as slaves, he has the right to sell them whenever he may choose and without respect to their age or circumstances. Second, the children of slaves are slaves unless freed by the owner. Third, all captives taken in war are the slaves of the captors. This perquisite gives daring to the African soldiers, and prompts a degree of mercy without which all their wars would be wars of extermination. Fourth, persons sold for debt are slaves until the debt is redeemed. This is a fruitful source of slavery. In 182 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. time of famine, men who have no slaves to dispose of, or not enough to meet the demand, pawn themselves, or their wives, or children for food, or the means of procuring it; promising to pay as much as fifty per cent, interest this is a common interest in such trans- actions and in a majority of instances the pawn is never redeemed. This system, which in Mexico is called peoning, is here called panyaring. A degree of admirable self-immolation is sometimes shown in such cases of family distress, by a member coming forward and offering himself to the highest bidder, willing to go anywhere, or to be anything, so that he may relieve his father and mother, or other dear relatives, from distress, and the disgrace of enslavement, Africans are wild in their speculations, sanguine in their undertakings ; and to carry out a favorite pursuit will pawn themselves, even when the hope of redemption is small. They pawn themselves for tawdry merchandise ; pawn themselves to lawyers to free them from dif- ficulties, or to punish an enemy ; pawn themselves to the priests for ghostly comfort, for relief from a malady or a witch. It is a dernier resort, but while they are free they feel that they are not destitute, even though poor ; they feel that they own marketable articles in themselves. Every free man in Africa, therefore, owns "one nigger." How intense must be their self- consciousness! Fifth, the adulterer, among many tribes, is sold to pay the fines in such cases provided, if he have no other means of meeting them, or is turned over by the judges to the husband offended. To murder the offender would not be allowed, and if the new owner punish very severely he would be considered ANGOLA. 183 mean. Men of great cupidity and a superabundance of wives, often increase their property by employing a seductive and pretty woman to lure men into her wiles, and then betray them ; having provided before- hand, and often ingeniously, that the proofs shall be positive and ample. The punishment of the woman in such cases is merely nominal. Slaves may own slaves, and other species of property ; and in labouring and saving for this purpose they are encouraged by their owners ; for the reason that at the death of the slave, all his property falls into the hands of his master. Where the slave is of the same race and colour as the master, where slaves and owners are on an equality as to intelligence, where blood relationship extensively exists, and the right of holding property is allowed, the line of social distinction between slaves and owners cannot be very wide. Indeed, slaves are generally treated as members of the family ; they hunt, fish, work, eat, and sleep with the children of the master ; are frequently admitted to his confidence, and take charge of his affairs, and the slaves of headmen or princes frequently hold important oifice in the government. When sales are made, of course the least valuable and reliable are first disposed of; and among many tribes a degree of consideration, which might be safely imitated by civilized nations, is shown for the domestic ties of the person sold. Slaves run away sometimes in Africa as elsewhere, but where there is no division of sentiment as to the right of holding men in this relation, and the perfect right of the master to treat his property as he pleases is generally acknowledged, and it is felt to be 184 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. the interest of the community at large to sustain these rights, the recovery of runaways is generally effected without recourse to police officers. What is the form of government, and how is justice administered in such a state of society ? are the next questions in order. Here, reader, we are in deep shades, if not in utter darkness. A Yankee captain, who knew little about navigation, and had but an inferior chronometer, and that stopped a few days before he made land, recently made his way to the Cape Verd Islands, and delivered his cargo to the proper consignee. When asked by our master how in the world he managed to make his port, he replied : " Wai, ye see, this ere old clock helped us on some ; but I tell you what, neighbour, my main dependence was on luck and guessing. Wai, I guess it's as good a way as any but if the plagued old clicker hadn't got water- logged and gin out, I guess we mout a been here a matter of a day or two sooner." The facts before us, gathered from many sources, serve to carry us some distance into these questions, but like the Yankee's chronometer, they give out before the answers are fully made. The general outline and more prominent facts, however, may be traced. In Africa almost every form of government may be found ; the patriarchal government, despotism, constitutional monarchy, oligarchy, republicanism, and mobocracy; and some of the governments have mixtures of two or more of these. The prevailing type is a patriarchal despotism. Shrewdness is a great power in Africa, as elsewhere, but wealth is greatest. The richest man of a town or ANGOLA. 135 village is generally " headman," and assisted by those who approach nearest to himself in wealth or influence, dictates municipal law, hears disputes, levies fines and taxes, imposes penalties, and leads in war. Each slave- owner and head of a family is, in his sphere, a patriarch ; he, if he be not leader himself, acknowledges his allegiance to the leader or headman of his town, treats him with reverence, and, though having his own private flag, fights under his banner, and, in all respects, becomes a retainer of the headman. With a number of such adherents, the headman becomes a feudal baron ; and in turn acknowledges his allegiance to the king or headman of the tribe or tribes with which he may be confederated. The king generally holds such men responsible for the conduct and taxes of the towns over which they preside. If the king is shrewd, as well as rich, he may exercise great authority. He may make use of the jealousies which ever exist between the various tribes and towns of his kingdom, to compel any one of them into his measures. But whenever he commits any extreme act, such as the deposing of a headman, or the confiscation of property, or imposes an unusual tax upon a tribe or town, he must show that the general good demands it, or that for doing so he has the authority of a predecessor. If, however, he does such things capriciously, his barons, not knowing which of them may be next served in the same way, soon get rid of him. In most of the kingdoms of western Africa the government is hereditary, but passes from one brother to another, rather than from father to son. How chiefs of towns are gotten rid of when they become unpopular 186 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. with the people, and are still in favour with the king, I do not know. Witchcraft may be useful on such occasions. When parties are at variance, they appeal to the influential and old men of the town, who form a council. Plaintiff, defendant, and witnesses are brought into court together, the case is heard, debated, and generally decided in favour of the one who has done the most bribing. Sometimes the bribes are equal, sometimes the litigants are both poor, or the case in point may be one bearing largely on a question of general interest to the community : in such cases the judgment rendered is based on justice. There are cases, however, which this body will not decide finally : as, for instance, whether one person has bewitched another. The defendant, in such cases, may appeal to the ordeal of a solemn oath, before a Fetish, or to the Red Water. Where parties at variance are not satisfied with the decision of the judges, they may appeal to an established ordeal. Also, where an individual is suspected of bewitching cattle or crops, or other bad conduct, he may appeal to an ordeal to attest his innocence, or may be compelled by public clamour to submit to such a test. Kroomen and others, who have been long from home, frequently try the fidelity of their wives by this means ; and all persons who pass the prescribed ordeal unhurt, are exonerated from suspicion, can no more be tried for the offence in question, and are restored to their original position in society, increased in respect and importance. The most common ordeal in western Africa is that of red water. This is a decoction of the bark of sassa-wood ANGOLA. 187 (a species of mimosa), is a powerful narcotic, and when made very strong, or taken in large quantities, is also an active emetic. It is generally administered by the priest who prepares it, and in the presence of the old men of the town, the relatives, friends, and enemies of the accused. This person occupies, with the priest or priestess, the centre of the throng, is generally naked, and before drinking the trying potion, makes a general confession of the sins of his life, invokes the name of God three times, then drinks boldly, if he knows the priest to be his friend, but tremblingly if he has doubts on the subject, or happens to be guilty. If his stomach rejects the water, he suffers no inconvenience, is declared innocent, and friends and foes join to conduct him home in triumph ; but if vertigo ensues, which is always the case when the fluid remains on the stomach, he is declared guilty, and the infuriated mob, after dragging him by the heels through the streets of the town, jeering and abusing him, dispatch him with clubs and stones. In this horrid butchery the friends, and even the near relatives of the offender, are required to take part, lest they be considered parties to the crime. As the priests are well skilled in the preparation of this draught, the guilt or innocence of the persons tried is, of course, decided by them beforehand; and in making their decisions they are generally influenced by the popular opinion, though often by personal feeling. If they determine that the person is innocent, they make the red water, and administer it accord- ingly. The African station is not popular with navy officers. Not that it is feared we have no such word in our 188 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. vocabulary but because of its expensiveness, the long intervals of "news from home," and the monotony of the cruiser's life there. The notion prevails extensively that navy officers are provided, on ship- board, with furnished apartments, comfortable fare, wines included I and uniform. Alas I that it is not so. And that it is not so, the lean purse of the African cruiser will testify. Most of the provisions consumed in the officers' messes are such as have been put up in America, and, by the time they reach them, the plainest fare is high living in point of price. African markets are not abundant in such edibles as white men use. Baked bats are very good, no doubt, but they are not attractive to the American taste. Parrots are said to be " delicate," but what cannibal could eat a thing that screams " remember poor Polly" with its dying breath. A boiled monkey might look very well to Dean Swift, whose mouth could water at the thought of "baked baby." The fruits are good, but will not keep at sea. Pigs and poultry may be obtained at the large towns, but seldom in sufficient quantities to supply all the messes. Then such pigs ! Shades of Cincinnati porkers get up ! Lank and lean as ill-fed greyhounds, savage and untameable as hyenas, they do for neither cooking nor keeping. The hens are good very good ; but it is a moral goodness. They are, generally, sober- looking old matrons that have become lean in providing for other generations ; they become homesick, or sea- sick, on shipboard, and for want of the inspiring notes of their own chanticleer soon depart this life. You ANGOLA. 189 may be sure, delicate reader, that such faded cacklers make foul pies. After filling up with stores and water at the U. S. storehouse in the Cape Verd Islands, at which place is the post-office for the station, the cruiser runs over to the coast, and proceeds along shore, touching at the principal towns, and boarding such American vessels as he may meet until he reaches St. Paul, Loando, or St. Philip, Benguela ; then he returns to the Cape Verds. This cruise generally occupies four months months of monotonous duty, tedious sameness of scenery, for all African towns are alike in general character, ennui, and debility from the heat ; and all this without news from home. Then hours move on leaden wings ; time, precious time, is felt to be a burden, and with its anxieties hangs heavily on the heart. Often would the African cruiser, on waking from a dream of home, willingly consent to wipe out from the number of his days the weeks which keep him from the desired haven where messages of love may greet him. In memory we are there now, and live again the dead life of the tropical calms. But time, that waits for none, will speed for none. The equator must be crossed and recrossed, storms encountered and calms endured, days and nights of rocking and plunging on the dreary sea, counted by the score ; but we shah 1 make the Cape Verds at last. The English steamer, strong and faithful, like the nation she represents, will heave in sight ; the American mails will be opened, and we shall hear, with palpitating hearts, " letters for you." In the meantime, thank God for dreams. They bring the pattering of little feet, and the forms of loved ones, and caresses of 190 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. pure affection, to the sailor's pillow and the sailor's heart. All through a cloudy day in the month of October, we were expecting to hear the cry of "Land, ho !" from the if tops," and occasionally sweeping the western horizon with our telescopes, looking for the giant landmark of these waters the peak of Tene- riffe. About sunset, the clouds from the south and west dispersed, and far off on the western horizon, near the place of the sun's departure, the huge cone appeared, clearly defined, its broad base seeming to rest on the surface of the now burnished ocean, and bearing the evening stars on its Atlantean shoulders. By observation, we found that we were sixty miles distant, yet so distinct was the outline, that we might have seen it several hours sooner, if the sky had been free from clouds. The Peak is said to be visible, in very clear weather, at the distance of a hundred miles ; yet it seldom happens in this latitude that the sky is entirely cloudless, and hence it is but seldom seen beyond the distance of fifty or sixty miles, and then often the summit of the cone alone is visible, peering above the clouds, which the mountain attracts and holds to its sides. The white sails of the fishing-boats which dot the waves in the vicinity of Teneriffe, beginning at the anchorage off Santa Cruz and stretching to the south- ward and eastward, give an air of life and enterprise to these waters, and bespeak a favourable impression for the island which sends them forth. The fishing- ground, which begins here, extends to Cape Blanco on the coast, and runs northward along the African ANGOLA. 191 shore for five hundred miles, affording profitable em- ployment to the Canary islanders, who hold it in exclu- sive possession, sustained by the crown of Spain. Along the shores of the islands, the fish, though abundant, are small ; but nearer the mainland, cod, bream, and other large fish, valuable in commerce, are taken in large quantities, and hundreds of tons are annually exported hence to the mother country : but such are the foolish restrictions, and heavy excise duties imposed by the government, that the fishermen are not the party who enjoy the greatest benefit from this valuable fishery. As we float among these tiny boats, it is quite amusing to witness the wholesale and dex- terous manner in which the small fry are taken. A circular bag-net, of fine brass wire, suspended from a stern-pole, is lowered a few feet into the water ; the fisherman then throws around it a quantity of finely - chopped fish, and gradually baits the shy school into his net, when a jerk brings it to the surface, and a dexterous capsize throws the silvery flutterers into the boat. Hundreds are often taken at a draught, mostly of the perch family, with an occasional rock fish, and that delicate bouchee of epicures, the biche-le-mar. At night, the fishermen keep fire in their boats to attract the fish, and these lights serve to guide vessels coming in the dark to a safe anchorage. We made the land last night, and put the ship under easy sail. It is now morning ; Santa Cruz, situated at the foot of an inclined plain, is fully in view, basking in the early sunlight like a flock of sheep yet undisturbed by the shepherd. The surface of the country to the east of the city is remarkable 192 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. for its wild and broken aspect, it being composed of a group of distinct natural pyramids, rising from the level of the sea to the height of several hundred feet, and standing with as little order of position as if some great despiser of systems had thrown them together to gratify his love of disorder ; or as if this had been the battle-field of those angels who, quoth Milton, " Pluck'd the seated hill, and by the shaggy tops Uplifting, bore them in their hands." To the north and east, the country, less broken, rises to a central ridge, or mountain chain, which trends in the direction of the Peak, but breaks before it reaches the system which is crowned by the giant cone. It supports an irregular plateau of fertile land, on which wheat, barley, sugar-cane, and cochineal are produced in luxuriant harvests. "Our good ship is anchored, the bill of health accepted, the compliments of the commander-in-chief acknowledged, salutes fired, and we were far away for the shore." We landed at the mole immortalized by the defeat of Lord Nelson and his gallant band, in 1797 ; and proceeding under the arch of the fort which guards it, entered the city. The stars and stripes, waving from a balcony near the landing, marked the residence of our consul, Col. Hart : we called, as in duty bound, to pay our worthy countryman our re- spects, but he was too sick to receive us. Next morn- ing the sad tidings came that he was dead ; and that evening we committed his remains to a grave among strangers. A note of the funeral of so distinguished and worthy a citizen may not be out of place here. ANGOLA. 193 At five o'clock P.M., a military procession was formed, under direction of Lieut. Bartlett, and marched in solemn order from the English hotel, where the de- ceased had resided, to the graveyard in the suburbs. Our band and a file of marines marched before the coffin, which was carried by four seamen, supported by six pall-bearers, led by the chaplain. The bearers were two commissioned officers of our ship and four foreign consuls, resident in the island. These were followed by the surgeons, one from our ship, and a surgeon of the Spanish army. These were followed by a number of our officers and Spanish officers of rank, with the foreign diplomatists ; then by a number of ordinary men in full dress, the master's mates bringing up the rear. The music and the novelty of the occasion attracted a crowd of street loungers and beggars, who embarrassed our progress by their numbers, and when we reached the little enclosure allotted to English citizens for burial purposes, the mob rushed in com- pletely filling it ; nor would they be persuaded out, until our thoughtful captain of marines put his men through a manceuvre preparatory to firing the salute, which the guilty crowd interpreted as preparations against themselves, and instantly gave way. So strong is the popular opposition to Protestantism here, that it was advised that the chaplain should wear his uniform as an officer on the occasion, rather than the black gown and white cravat generally used in performing divine service. To this the chaplain con- sented, in obedience to the request of his superior officer ; nor were his exhortation and prayers less fervent because made in full-dress uniform ; but cer- o 194 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. tainly that is a deplorable state of public sentiment, or rather, we should say, of public ignorance, and priest-excited prejudice, which demands such a thing, and that is an inattentive government which will allow its subjects to be treated with such indignities. It is true that in most Roman Catholic countries American Protestants maynot bury even their highest representa- tives entirely according to their own forms ; and where it has been done in any degree, it was by borrow- ing English chapels, English graveyards, and English protection. Col. Hart is known in America as the author of several respectable works. He had been for two years our representative in the Canary Islands, where his able and zealous measures for the promotion of the interests of his flag won for him the respect and confidence of his diplomatic brethren of other courts. The aroma of crushed myrtle and cedar, and other fragrant leaves, with which the streets and churches were strewn, the holiday appearance of the people, and other less defined associations, reminded us of camp-meeting and scenes in a State far away. This day is also celebrated as the anniversary of the victory over Lord Nelson. The English flags, secured in cases to the altar, are displayed to the people, and the English, and heretics generally, are Messed with- out stint or penance. It was here that Nelson lost his arm and seven hundred of his men. At midnight, on the 24th of July, 1797, he attempted to land a thousand men on the mole and beach of Santa Cruz, with the hope of taking the city by sur- prise ; his approach was discovered, and when within ANGOLA. 195 9 range of the guns of the forts, he was met by a deadly fire. Through the destructive hail and the heavy surf, his brave men pressed on ; many of their boats were dashed to pieces against the mole, losing men and ammunition ; the powder was all destroyed, yet morning found a resistless remnant of near three hun- dred in the central square of the city the Prado with torch in hand, ready to destroy the town and perish with it, rather than surrender to their enemies, by whom they were now completely surrounded. Knowing their desperate determination, the governor consented for them to return to their ships, to restore their prisoners, and to furnish them with boats in which to leave the shore. The prisoners, a few scat- tered companies taken on the beach during the en- gagement, were liberated, but their flags were retained as trophies. This is the victory annually celebrated here a defeat which reflects more glory on Nelson and English sailors than the victory of Trafalgar. Camels are extensively used in these islands as beasts of burden, and in Teneriffe they are the main dependence in transferring merchandise from the ports to the interior. Curious to see how these ships of the desert navigate among hills and valleys, we started in company of half a dozen, with their drivers, for the old town of Laguna, four miles in the interior, but soon became tired of their slow pace and left them behind. In going up or descending the gentlest slopes, they tack and veer like a ship beating to wind- ward, and though quite sensible of kindness and flattery, cannot be coaxed into a quicker pace, in ascending or descending, than about a mile to the 196 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. hour ; if laden with more than five or six hundred pounds, they groan and complain at every step. They are of the Arabian, or one-humped species, but certainly are not " swift of foot/' like their ancestors, i( the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah/ They are shaggy, ungraceful, yet majestic-looking animals, and among the stony roads, steep hills, and scant herbage of the Canary Islands, are out of their native element. Before reaching our destination we turned into a cactus field, where a number of persons in pantaloons, short sack-like gowns, and straw hats, were gathering cohineal. We approached the nearest operator, pre- paring, as we went, a few questions from our small stock of Spanish ; but imagine our surprise when our " good day " was answered by the sweet " Buena, Senor," of a young brunette. Dear reader, if you are a very modest man you can form some idea of our embarrassment. We stood in the presence of a full-blown Bloomer, a Lucy Stone fully shed we apologized, through our guide, for the intrusion, and proposed to withdraw without further question ; but she laughed heartily at the joke, and soon we were surrounded by her companions, all of the same sex and dress, who laughed at our modesty, answered our questions, and sued for a fee, which we met with a bunch of cigars. They gladly accepted the present, and, as we left them, they sent us away with a merry song. When we reached the road, the work of dislodging the many thorns gathered in our skirts, showed us that, at least in the cactus field, women have good reason for " wearing the breeches/' Reader, have you been in the tropics in the tropics ANGOLA. 197 in midsummer, when the sun of noon was so exactly overhead that the shadow of your immortal self was included in the circumference of the leaf of your straw hat ; when all the philosophers in the world could not have shaken your conviction that the sun is a ball of fire, and you persisted in the belief that he is much nearer than ninety-five millions of miles, de- spite the showing of your mathematics; when the "lumi- nous atmosphere " theory was answered with a pshaw ! for you felt fire; and the aphorism that " figures do not lie/' was met by an incredulous shrug, and a " may be not!" If so, you can appreciate the heat and brightness of the day in August when, in company with Dr. S. R. S,, the writer left the dusty streets of Santa Cruz on a journey to the summit of the Peak of Teneriffe, by road, forty miles distant. Through the kindness of our excellent friend, Mr. Le Brun, of Santa Cruz, we were furnished with letters of introduction to Professor Smyth, astronomer royal of Scotland, who was then on the heights mak- ing astronomical observations ; and to her British majesty's consul for Orotava, Mr. Groodall. We hired a guide and two horses at the rate of five dollars a day and provisions for man and beast, and mounting to our crazy saddles, at 9 A.M., took up the paved road for Laguna and Orotava ; the former four, and the latter twenty miles distant. Our horses, a bay and a sorrel, were modest, subdued-looking creatures, that seemed to have been trying a straw-a-day experiment, with a bright prospect of soon joining company with the immortalised nag of Walter Scott in the wide pastures of nonentity. Yet, they were the best that 198 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. could be hired in the city. Our walking-sticks were soon in requisition, and indications came early and frequently that we should both ride and work our passage to Orotava. We intimated to the guide, who was owner of one of the horses, that we were not much pleased with his stock, but he assured us that they were " blooded animals," and though not very fast, were safe and docile. Safe they were, for they despised such insobrieties as cantering or fast trotting ; and they were obedient to perfection to the word " whoa P' What our horses lacked in embonpoint, Jose made up. He was a stalwart " isleno," with the arms and legs of a Hercules, and the activity of a greyhound ; unusually good-humoured and obliging. He kept up with the horses all day, ran up the hills, and whistled or sang along the plains, indifferent to the rough roads and hot sun. Like his countrymen, and the dwellers in hot countries generally, he seemed to have no care for to-morrow, and with the prospect of five dollars and a good supper at the close of the day, he was per- fectly happy. This road is frequently enlivened by the scarlet petticoats and gay songs of the olive-jar carriers, who, having deposited their heavy loads in Laguna and received a pittance for the labour, are descend- ing to their homes in Santa Cruz with light heads and glad hearts. Women are used as beasts of burden in transporting these fragile commodities across the mountains, and the weight they carry, over roads too steep for wheeled carriages, is asto- nishing to American eyes. I counted forty of these earthenware vessels on the head of one woman, and ANGOLA. 199 she, seemingly, over forty years of age ; yet she toiled up the steep hills with a brisk and steady step, and when at the end of her journey she received sixteen cents, instead of twelve, the pay for an ordi- nary load, she went home to her swarthy brood with a bounding step and a cheerful face. Think of this, ye who, strangers to the simple annals of the poor, talk of the hardships of life in the excess of luxury and ease ! Think of it, ye well fed, well paid, yet discontented labourers of the States, who, from very abundance, forget the dignity of labour, and disturb the virtuous cheer of an in- dustrious life with restless aspirings after positions of idle ease or corrupting wealth ! An hour's ride brought us to Laguna, the oldest town and former capital of the island. It is situate in a hollow, or shallow basin, of the irregular pla- teau, which we have already described as overlying the great central ridge of the island, and is 2,220 feet above the level of the sea. The tradition handed down from the Guances, that its site was formerly occupied by a lake or pool, is confirmed by the order in deposit which the surface soil presents. The houses are built of stone and covered with Dutch tiles, into the crevices of these the winds that sweep these hills continually have carried light soils, which, moistened by the humid atmosphere of this location, give vigorous life to trichomanes species of fern wall-flowers, house leeks and other plants, which grow so luxuriantly as often to cover entire roofs, and form a striking feature in a view of the town. 200 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. It was in this vicinity that the long and bloody wars between the Gaunches and the Spanish inva- ders were brought to a close. At a council, assem- bled on the plain under a flag of truce, the repre- sentative of the Gaunches asked Captain Alonzo " why he invaded their country without provocation, and carried away their cattle and their people ?" He answered deceptively, that his object was not to con- quer them, but to make them Christians. Tired and wasted by the protracted war, and with the hope of obtaining rest from their two powerful enemies, they accepted his proposal, and the host of rude warriors bowed to receive the baptism of the church. It was a fatal step. The symbol of new life and liberty became to them the yoke of bondage and destruction ; and Alonzo, seeing that the triumph of Spain was now sure, sanctified his unhallowed means by build- ing a chapel on the spot ; and around it, in 1495, laid out the city of Laguna. The present population, composed mainly of shopkeepers and traders who buy up country produce for the shipping merchants of Santa Cruz, with a few artizans and a swarm of idlers, including four hundred monks, numbers about nine thousand. On market days the town presents quite a business aspect ; camels and donkeys with well filled panniers of grain and vegetables, throng the dusty streets ; crowds of countrymen, in broad-brimmed woollen hats, sporting cords and tassels which hang down the back, and coarse linsey-woolsey small clothes, fastened at the knees by knots of gay ribbons, occupy the side- walks and numerous . wine-shops ; all smoking pape- ANGOLA. 201 litos, and all chattering at once, like a flock of monkeys disturbed by the cry of a jackal. The beggars are few, and unusually modest. In the old and well-built cathedral there is a paint- ing a copy from some bold Italian master which shows the extreme into which symbolism will inevit- ably run, when not held subservient to a scriptural and spiritual religion. It is an attempted representation of the Trinity we almost shudder to write it in which God the Father is represented by a venerable old man; God the Son by a young man, whose face is deeply marked with lines of sorrow ; and the Holy Spirit by a white [pigeon, encircled by a halo. Our own Long- fellow could not avoid offending, in some degree, the feelings of refined and sincere Bible theists, when he represented in the shadowy lines of poetry, the Great Spirit of the Indian by an old man smoking a peace- pipe. Some show of excuse may be offered for the poet who would thus embody a legend of savage thought, but what apology can be offered for this enormous excrescence of a morbidly overgrown sym- bolism ? Who that receives the decalogue as an ex- ponent of Divine Will, can pardon so palpable a violation of its spirit and interdictions or who in Christendom is so ignorant, so weak in intellect, as to be assisted in his conceptions of an omnipotent and unchanging Being by the picture of an old man with a grey beard ; or to gain any realization, spiritual or intellectual, of the Afflatus that filleth immensity by a daub of shaded white in the shape of a pigeon ? They who can profit by such a representation are not, reli- giously, a single step in advance of the idol-worship- 202 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. ping savage ; and to such, conversion' to Mohamme- danism would be an elevation. Yet, the venerable institution which arrogates to herself the title of " Spiritual Light of the World/' here, and in some of the churches of Italy, hangs this brilliant expression of sacrilegious thought about her altars ; and that not merely as a symbol to assist the conceptions of the ignorant, but as the exponent of a definite idea of the personality of Deity. Pardon the digression, dear reader ! Our blooded nag, ' ' Ready-to-halt," pro- gresses so quietly up the gentle hill that leads from Laguna to Orotava, that moralising is easy, especially on this subject ; and here, where the mighty moun- tains around us, towering above the clouds, and the boundless vista of surging ocean, impress us with the immeasurable grandeur of Eternal Power. We pursued our journey across the high plains over the excellent road which connects Santa Cruz and Laguna with the hamlet of Victoria and the country beyond. The fields on each side had lately been reaped of a heavy crop of wheat, and at a farm-house on the road-side, a few miles from Laguna, we witnessed the operation of threshing, after the manner of ancient Egypt ; the sheaves being spread on a smooth floor of hardened earth and the grain trodden out by oxen. The mode of ploughing, like the threshing, is at least two thousand years behind the age ; the plough is of the Roman model, has one handle, a coulter of wood tipped with iron, and is drawn by an ox. The plough- man holds the plough with one hand and guides his slowly-moving animal with the other by means of a long switch. The ground is thus furrowed to the ANGOLA. 203 depth of three inches ; it is afterwards cross-ploughed, and pulverised on the surface by "being harrowed with bushes. For sugar-cane and cactus the ground is broken with an iron mattock, and, as in Madeira, to the depth of eighteen inches. The soil is rich, and the climate highly favourable to vegetation ; yet it is everywhere manifest that agriculture is conducted on the least labourious and least profitable system. Everything that costs money is avoided, as far as pos- sible, even in the purchase of farming tools, and for the reason, that the tillers of the ground are not the owners, and, insecure in their temporary possession, make no outlays not immediately remunerative. The operative farmers, as a class, are very poor and with- out enterprise ; their highest ambition and hope are, that, after meeting the exactions of landlords, state, and church, they may have enough left to furnish the sheer necessities of life, without thought of educating children or providing for the wants of old age. When we speak of their farm-houses, let not the reader picture to himself the neat dwelling and surrounding barns of a New England farm, nor the airy mansion of the southern planter, with its cluster of white cottages or log cabins, but a square low building of stone, thatched with straw ; lighted by one, or, at most, two windows, in whose broken panes the old hats and cast-off garments of the family do service in excluding air and light. The floors, like those of the Irish peasantry, are of earth, hardened and polished by the steps of many generations; and, as in the huts of the " ould counthry," smoke-stain supersedes the necessity for black paint in hiding dirt. The de- 204 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. struction of the remains of feudalism in these islands would infuse a new life into these improvident and ease-loving rustics, and crown these fruitful hills with perpetual harvests. Their future, however, is not promising of such change, for they have learned to content themselves in abjection, and even to be cheerful and light-hearted in the position of slaves to men of their own blood. There is a contentment which is certainly a virtue, and there is contentment which is as certainly a vice, for it involves the stagna- tion of progress, moral and intellectual, and draws its life from the grave of the noblest aspirations of our nature. Farther on the road we overtook a traveller on horseback, whose horse was laden with two large boxes, one on each side of the saddle. As we came up, he saluted us in Spanish, but perceiving that wo understood but little of his language, he proceeded in peculiarly accented French, of which we understood but little more. We gathered, however, that he was a Jew, who had resided many years in the provinces as a pedler, and was now on a trading tour. On ex- pressing surprise at finding one of his race in this out-of-the-way place, he answered poetically, " the Jews, like the winds, are everywhere." He might have added, and everywhere examples of industry, thrift, and sobriety. We regretted that his slow pace would not admit of our keeping company, and that we did not better understand his language, for he was full of that infor- mation regarding the country and the people, which was one of tlie objects of our journey. Seeing that ANGOLA. 205 I was suffering from the effects of sun in my face, for I was imprudent enough to leave the ship in a uniform cap instead of a straw hat, he kindly proposed to give me his umbrella, and seemed sorry that I re- fused it. Turning an angle in the road, Orotava, surrounded by green fields, bursts into view, a thousand feet below us, and four miles distant. Before we reach Port Orotava we pass the botanical garden of which Humboldt speaks so hopefully. It was established seventy years ago, and contains rare, plants from the Indies, South America, and Africa. It has received government patronage, but, notwith- standing, gives evidence of decay, and the want of adequate attention. Among the native growths of Teneriffe, the dragon- tree, of the genus draccena, forms a striking object. In its younger days it resembles the Spanish bayonet- tree of the southern States, but in more advanced age sends forth long bare arms from its upper portion, each surmounted with a crown of bayonet-shaped leaves. Its sap, when dried, produces the dragon's blood of commerce. The age to which it attains is matter of conjecture ; it is known, however, that its years are counted by centuries. One is still standing in a private garden at Orotava, which was of its pre- sent dimensions, forty feet in circumference, when the Spaniards first visited the island, at the close of the fifteenth century. To such trees Pliny may have re- ferred, when he described some of his time as " un- touched by age and born with the world." If Texas had been nearer, we should have thought 206 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. on entering Orotava that the population had emi- grated. The houses were shut up, grass nourished in the streets " Bucephalus " and " Ready-to-halt " pricked their ears at the sight and after riding into the paved court of the hostelry, we had to wait some minutes before the sleepy-looking waiter came to take our portmanteaus ; and then he was going to take one at a time, but the doctor threw some very emphatic English words at him, which brought him to bow and scratch like a French dancing-master, opened his eyes, and gave him strength to carry all our traps at once, and canes to boot. Having performed ablutions and ordered a dinner, minus garlic, we turned out for a walk, and to present our letters of introduction to Consul Goodall. The city was just waking up from its evening nap. Mr. Goodall was at home and re- ceived us cordially ; walked with us through the public square, now enlivened with mantle-covered figures of ladies, and the rusty coats of moustached, clever, half- pay looking gentlemen ; went with us to a livery- stable save the mark ! gave us the use of his fluent Spanish, in engaging fresh horses and guides (Jose's " blooded animals" were too "safe") returned with us to to the hotel, and gave detailed orders for provi- sions for our journey called after dinner, and chatted an hour with us over a glass of ale, and otherwise served us ; but most of all were we grateful for the cordial manner in which he performed these offices of kindness. At dinner, by advice of a physician I saved my pledge I drank a glass or two of Canary wine, and felt better. Having to start early in the morning, we practised ANGOLA. 207 the wise maxim " early to bed," &c. The oppressive heat of the sun, and the rough, labourious ride had fatigued us much ; yet, the scenery and observations of the day had enlivened my feelings, and I retired in the blissful frame of conscious gratitude, laid me down in quietness, and my sleep was sweet. The clattering of our horses' hoofs on the pavement of the courtyard startled us from sound sleep, and, without the usual parley with morning dreams, we sprang to the oaken floor, and making a hasty toilet, we went down to inspect our caravan and equipage. The two guides, with blankets over their shoulders, were rubbing the sleep out of their eyes, and the three horses, as if holding their strength in reserve, stood soberly meditating on the duties of the day, or brood- ing over the fodderless prospects of their journey, occasionally moving their lips in solemn soliloquy, or as if gathering invisible oats. The prospect was not bright, for either speed or comfort. Our guides, neither of whom spoke a word of English, seemed as lifeless as the horses. The leader, an old man of fifty, and the driver, a tallow-complexioned boy of seven- teen, were fair specimens of the poke-easy " islenos" of the interior, and we afterward found them quite as slow and stupid as their first appearance indicated. We were assured that there were but four other persons of the place who knew the way to the summit, and they were absent, which accounted for the careless and independent air of these. Humboldt, in making this tour fifty years ago, could not find one person in Santa Cruz who had mounted the peak, and we in 1856 could find but two in Orotava, twenty miles nearer. 208 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. He adds : lc I was not surprised at this, for the most curious objects in nature become less interesting in proportion as they are near to us ; and I have known inhabitants of Schaffhausen, in Switzerland, who had never seen the fall of the Rhine but at a dis- tance." He might now add, that, even in this wonder-loving age, there are adults who have grown up within hearing of Niagara, who have never seen the falls. Our provisions for the two days' journey before us consisted of a keg of water, a basket of bread, cold meat, hard-boiled eggs, and a few bottles of cold coffee ; these, with a scant allowance of corn for the horses, were stowed in the panniers of the pack-horse. The doctor had, besides, a flask of some very fragrant fluid, which he carried in his coat-pocket, accompanied by a bunch of delicious Havanas. My nag showed a degree of restiveness when I sprang to the saddle, which was quite encouraging, as showing some of the life in reserve, and I stooped forward to pat his neck and encourage him ; but a peep under the pommel of my saddle showed me that the poor thing was wincing from a very sore back. I was about to vent my dis- gust on the senior Antonio, when my attention was called back to the doctor, whose horse had slipped upon the pavement, and was now taking a quiet grunt on his side, preparatory to getting up. He had sprained his thumb, and I thought, from his looks, that he was in a fair way to do scolding for both of us ; but quoting the philosophical maxim of Marryat's Jacob Faithful, " What's done can't be helped," he remounted with marvellous coolness, and giving his ANGOLA. 209 steed an affectionate spur, deep in both flanks, passed us in a trot, and took up the van. It was a lovely morning ; and to persons who, like ourselves, are not in the habit of dulling the taste by too frequent use of the luxury of sunrise-views, the air and scenery were unusually enjoyable. Attempt at description would be useless, where the pencil of a Raphael would fail to catch one of the thousand fleet- ing shades and tints of so grand a panorama ; but let us say that the unclouded sun had just risen above the horizon ; behind us, the sea, still undisturbed by the land-breeze, was covered with a light mantle of blue mist ; before us, the peak raised its sublime height, girded with a circle of cloud, and cast its huge shadows far into the sea ; around us, spread a varied landscape, green in the luxuriance of tropical vegetation ; and the air, balmy with the dew of morning, was redolent of the aroma of flowers, and the fragrant smoke of fagots now kindling on the cotters' hearths. The road lay through a narrow and unfrequented lane, where our horses showed themselves adepts at playing marbles, by stumbling among the loose stones which covered it ; but we discovered, to our gratification, that as their stiff joints warmed by travelling, they were becoming more sure-footed, and the chances were increasing for reaching the summit with unbroken necks. We passed among hills and fields of black volcanic cinders, and though we rode around the largest of these conical hills, we could find no evidence of the truth of the tradition, that it once emitted lava. There is no lava in its vicinity but which, in its position and inclination, points to another origin. p 210 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. There are no traces of a crater on its apex, nor marks of lateral eruptions ; it is a homogeneous, regularly- formed mass. We think Humboldt's first impression in regard to the formation of these hills the true theory. He says : " These hills owe their origin to lateral eruptions of the great volcano/' yet, he seems to think it probable that the larger one, to which we refer, may have emitted lava. It is called montanita de la villa. A few thousand years hence, these barren fields will bear a fruitful and an exhaustless soil. Time is a cultivator. In this vicinity we met a number of boys and girls driving milk goats to Orotava, to supply their cus- tomers with the morning's meal of milk. In these islands, and in Madeira, there is no danger of being imposed upon with the swill-milk or sky blue of our cities, for the goats are driven to your door, and the expert little dairy-maids milk their quiet kine before your eyes. We respectfully dedicate this hint to Mr. Frank Leslie, and the champions of pure cream in our large cities. An hour's ride brought us into a cool atmosphere ; half an hour more, and we were in the belt of cloud which surrounded the mountain; and our appetites being now pretty well sharpened, we sat down on a grassy bank, and made a hearty breakfast from our well-filled basket. We did not linger over it how- ever for the mist of the clouds was gathering on our clothes like heavy dew, and the air was chill. As we advanced, the herbage became scant ; and when we reached an elevation of four thousand feet above the city of Orotava, a few ferns and hardy ANGOLA. 211 bushes of the thorn family were the only representa- tives of vegetable life. The woods of juniper and fir, to which the observant Humboldt makes reference, as situated above the regions of ferns, must have entirely disappeared in the course of the past half century, for we did not see a single specimen of either, although we ascended by the same route. For a couple of miles below the plain of Retama, the road lay over a steeply-inclined bed, or stream, of basaltic lava, hemmed in by large masses of detached rocks. This bed seems to have cooled suddenly, yet without the extensive cracking which generally ensues when large masses of lava are suddenly cooled. It resembles a river frozen, while the ripple is still upon its surface. Following this bed, we entered a pass which breaks the irregular chain of mountain, which encircles the plain, called Llano del Retama, on which the peak stands. This plain is an uneven surface of fragmentary pumice, so light and dust-like that our horses sank in it ankle deep. Boulders of obsidian and basalt are scattered over its surface, some of which measure forty feet in circumference. If Jupiter had been a patron of fire-arms, we might suppose his Vulcans of Etna had been here forging shot for his paixhans. The plain takes its name from the re- tama Spartium nubigenum which grows in thick tufts on its surface, attaining an average height of six feet. It is the only shrub that grows on these high plains, and affords food and protection to the wild goats and rabbits, which are the sole occupants of these silent domains. We entered the plain at noon, and though it is near 212 PERSONAL At) VENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. 9,000 feet above the level of the sea, we were fanned by a constant breeze, the heat was exceedingly oppres- sive owing to the clearness of the atmosphere, and the intense reflection from the white pumice beneath our feet. Two hours of constant jogging were employed in crossing to the base of the volcanic cone, although the distance is under four miles ; and when, on rising to an elevated portion of the plain, called Monton de Trigo, we found shelter from the pelting heat, we sat down exhousted, and almost blind from the continued glare. The doctor's bottle of fragrant liquid I will not venture to give it a name, for I am very ignorant in such matters was applied to my lips, and the effect produced was instantaneous exhilaration. It was a stray drop of aqua vitce from the fountain of youth. The cool shade gradually restored my bedazzled vision, and I joined my friend in a slice of cold beef, and bread and cheese. While enjoying, after dinner, the shade and cold breeze among the rocks, and looking out on the burning plain that we had crossed, the bold imagery of Isaiah, representing the fulness of Christ, rose in our mind : " He shall be a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, rivers of water in a dry place, and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." We pursued our upward journey, and in half an hour passed the Estancia de los Ingleses, or Englishman's rest so called because the tourists of the Peak, who have generally been Englishmen, make this their camp- ing place at night. Here we dismounted, and dragging our horses with us, continued upward until we reached the small plain, or steppe, in the mountain, called Alfa Vista. ANGOLA. 213 On mounting this plain, we found ourselves within a few feet of a rough stone hut, covered with tarpaulin and pieces of sail-cloth. Near by stood a man taking a photograph. He raised his head suddenly as we approached, for we had entered the field of his camera. We stood a moment in surprise at finding an artist and a house in such a place, but our guide, stepping up, ex- plained by whispering, " Senor SmeeL" Stand with us, reader, and take a look at him, while he adjusts his apparatus, for it is the veritable Professor Smyth himself, Astronomer Royal of Scotland, and one of the master minds of the age. His woollen hat is slouched and weather-worn ; his loose coat is soiled and sun-burnt ; from one of the pockets dangles a piece of coarse rope, and from another the handle of a hammer protrudes. His coarse shoes are void of polish, his clothes are all in keeping, and hang about him as if they had been put on with a pitchfork. He is above medium height, of brawny frame, and apparently about forty years of age. In his person, he reminds us of a plain farmer, or a stone mason. But take a step nearer, reader ; look at his thought-marked Celtic face, his in- tellectual brow, his speaking eye, the indescribable dignity of his mien, and you will realize that you are in the presence of a prince in the world of mind. We presented our letter of introduction, which he instantly read, and gave us a hearty Scotch welcome to his highland home. Mrs. Smyth, hearing of our arrival, came from the tent, and met us with a cordial greeting ; and we very gladly accepted her invitation to return to tea, and spend the night with them. The professor, with his wife and four attendants, has been here a 214 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. month or more, and intends remaining till after the equi- nox. The elevation and clear atmosphere of the Peak of Teneriffe afford unusual advantages in making astronomical observations ; and among other interesting results of his heroic undertaking, the professor will settle affirmatively the vexed question of the emission of heat from the moon. We left our attendants and horses on this plain, and taking a fresh guide, and accompanied by a young gentleman from Orotava, a nephew of Consul Goodall, we commenced, in good earnest, to scale the Malpays, as these heights are called, in order to see the sun set from the summit. Traces of road were no longer visible ; we ascended, springing from one block of lava to another, and at no small risk of breaking legs or necks. After running, jumping, and climbing, for an hour and a quarter, we reached another small steppe or plain, called the Rambleta, on which stands on the Piton, or cone of pumice and lava, which constitutes the crown of the Peak. We stopped here to rest, and then turned aside to look into those solfataras, or vapor-emitting crevice?, which are called by the natives Nances del Pico Nostrils of the Peak. We had no thermometer by which to mea- sure the heat of the aqueous vapor which escapes from them, but, according to reliable tourists, it varies from 109 to 127 deg. Fahr. Judging by the hand, we should have set it down at 150 at least. The ascent of the Piton was exceedingly fatiguing ; our feet sank in the light pumice ancle deep ; the rare atmosphere was very cold, and irritating to throat and lungs ; but encouraged by the proximity of the summit, we pressed on, and reached the wall of porphyritic lava ANGOLA. 215 which forms the brim of the crater. We were ex- hausted and almost breathless, but the doctor had strength enough in reserve to jump to the highest stone in the wall, and give a cheer for " Old Virginia." The sun sank very slowly, and fearing to be overtaken by night, we hastened our bird's-eye sketch of the plan of the mountain, and turned our steps downward. Five of the neighbouring islands were visible ; but the ocean, more than 12,000 feet below us, except in the line of the sun's departure, was obscured by the gather- ing darkness. On our way down, we turned aside to look into the natural ice-house of the Peak. It is a deep cavern, into which the snows, which here fall abundantly in winter, are swept by the winds, and owing to the fact that it has but one opening, and that near the arch, or roof, and comparatively small, the cool air of winter remains un- disturbed; and being well protected from the sun's heat by the non-conducting lavas which surround its mouth, its snows remain through the summer. In the spring, an active trade is done in transporting this snow to the ice-houses of the coast. On arriving at Alta Vista, the professor was prepar- ing tea over a spirit-lamp. The cloth was spread on boxes of astronomical apparatus. Mrs. Smith did the honors of the table, and in a manner which showed that Scotch good-breeding is superior to circumstances. Conversation on scientific and other subjects followed the refreshing meal, in which the lady showed herself a thoroughly read and an original personage, yet unostenta- tious and ingenuous as a child. We ask pardon of the professor for thinking that she is the more clever of the 216 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. two. Truly they are noble representatives of the land of Scott, and Stewart, and Chalmers a land which for a century has led, and for more than a century will lead the philosophy of the world, despite the jealousy of France and the sneers of Grermany. The mate and carpenter of his yacht were with him, and we are indebted to these noble tars, who would insist on our taking 'their snug bed, for a night of un- expected comfort. The time of the sun's appearance at this point 9,400 feet above the sea, was 5 h. 19 m. 50 sec. ; by observation on board the U. S. S. James- town, in the harbour of Santa Cruz, the appearance of the sun's upper limb was near thirteen minutes later. The same difference of time inversely, might doubtless be observed at sunset, making the day on the Peak twenty-five or six minutes longer than on the plane of the ocean. We spent an hour with the professor gather- ing specimens of various lavas, and then took up our journey of descent. It was interesting to note, as we descended, how one zone of vegetation succeeded another, yet blending harmoniously. Above, we left the green Retama in un- disputed possession of the arid plains; an interval of barrenness occurs, and the ferns and hardy grasses begin to appear. The arborescent heaths, the fruit trees and flora of our own uplands succeed, followed by the grape, the fig, the orange, till at length we reach the zone of palms and bananas, where most of the plants of tropical Africa and America may be produced. Flocks of wild canary birds enlivened our tedious journey with their sweet music. They are brown on the back, and of a greenish yellow on the breast and wings. The pale ANGOLA. 217 and deep yellow of their caged relatives is the result of domestication. We reached Orotava at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, fatigued and sun-blistered. A journey of twenty miles up the hill is not an easy task, but to descend is still more difficult. Let none undertake this journey who is affected by any disease of the lungs, for the exercise is too severe a trial to these organs ; and in an atmosphere such as that of the Peak, so rare that at a thousand feet below the summit water boils at 190 Fahr., serious hemorrahages are likely to occur. At the same eleva- tion, the thermometer is often as low as 50 in the month of August. Taking fresh horses in the morning, we trotted briskly through the clean streets of the pleasant little town of Orotava, on our way to Santa Cruz. It was Sunday, and for every reason we should have preferred to " rest" on that day, but our leave of absence was drawing to a close, and we had no choice. The road was enlivened by peasants, who, in holiday attire, were passing from one hamlet to another, singing as they went, and saluting all passers with cheerful " good day." We reported ourselves " on board " at 3 o'clock, having been absent four days, and performed a journey whose incidents are still bright, and which memory will ever delight to retrace. A few evenings after we saw the Peak from the sea, sixty miles distant, robed in the gorgeous drapery of sun- set, calm and majestic in its conscious strength, a silent watcher of the tide of generations. 218 CHAPTER IX. MADEIRA. Land Close Calculation The Island as seen in the Distance Nearer and more Enchanting View Loo Rock, Brazen Head and Pontinha Distingnished Visitors The Anchorage Going Ashore The Landing Beggars American Consulate Panoramic View of Funchal and its Surroundings Convents Burying-grounds, etc. THROUGH the night of the 7th July, 1855, we made " easy sail," and the dawn of Sunday, 8th, revealed the island of Madeira enveloped in a blue mist, and capped with clouds. We were in the precise spot predicted for us by our accomplished master, Lieutenant H., on the previous evening, giving us a beautiful example of the exactness of mathematical science, as applied to naviga- tion, and of the accuracy and attention characteristic of the naval officer on duty. As seen from the south-west, at a distance of ten or twelve miles, Madeira presents a wild and beautiful picture. Its shores are bold and cliff-like, marked by dark caverns, and gorges depressed to the level of the sea to make way for the mountain torrents. Its valleys are deep and narrow; its plains and hills but the varia- tions of the mountain sides; and its mountains, abrupt and high, generally end in cones, or spire-like summits. These mountains form a chain which runs longitudinally MADEIRA. 219 through the island, or in an easterly and westerly direc- tion, rising from the western extremity towards the eastern, until the centre of the island is passed. To the east of the centre the peaks obtain their maximum height, and are lost in the clouds of heaven. At this distance, the island seems floating on the bosom of the ocean, its foundations dark, its chasms and gorges marked Jby lines of black ; its slopes and lower mountain sides present a hundred shades of blue and green, beautifully blended by the hazy distance ; while its higher summits, piercing above the clouds, represent the magic isles of the " Arabian Nights " floating in mid- heaven. The effect upon the minds and feelings of those who for long weeks have been gazing on the unre- lieved wastes of boundless ocean is the most charming imaginable, exciting in happy union, ideas of the beauti- ful and sublime, and in noble natures calling forth emo- tions of gratitude for the beauties of the visible creation. After such an incarceration as we had suf- fered in our wooden prison, in boundless solitude, the barren keys of East Florida, which we left four weeks before, would have been welcome to our eyes ; but now that not only land was visible, but land arrayed in the sublimest forms of loveliness, our hearts beat with a full, pure joy, such as imagination alone had never revealed. Most persons would prefer paying twenty-five cents an hour for a good horse and attendant, to walking ; but he who walks enjoys the greater liberty, and in the end will be better acquainted with the places visited ; but if an American for we are proverbially poor walkers he will pay for the advantage in blistered feet. Soon we were a thousand feet above the level of the 220 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. town ; and an hour's walk farther, with many rests, for the road was very steep, gave us an elevation whence we had a bird's-eye view of the town and surroundings, with the ships in the offing, forming altogether a land- scape of surpassing loveliness. Descend with us, reader, from these heights ; the inner man calls for something more substantial than flowers and delightful scenery ; sit down with us to a light dinner at Juliette's good second-rate hotel, and drink with us, sons of temperance, a glass of pure and harmless Madeira ; and, after health to loved absent ones, drink to the memory of him who discovered this lovely isle, " Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit, And the voice of the nightingale never is mute. Where a leaf never dies in the still blooming bowers, And the bee banquets on through a whole year of flowers." On a bright morning in July, our fleet surgeon and myself stepped ashore from the surf-boat, intent on a day's ride. We landed near that huge pillar of stone and mortar, which some ingenious Yankee built for the purpose of unloading vessels in the bay in rough weather. The modus operandi was by means of cables, secured at one end to the top of the pillar, and at the other to the masts of the vessel, over which, in crates or boxes, the cargo was to be drawn ashore. The scheme, however, had one fault a fault common to many Yankee inven- tions, namely it wouldn't work. Here, engaging a couple of good-looking horses and clever-looking attendants, we mounted, and soon found ourselves breathing the morning exhalations of the dewy mountains. The modes of conveyance in Madeira are three. First, slung from a pole, which is carried by MADEIRA. 221 men, in a palanquin, or a hammock. The palanquin is a chair much resembling a child's cradle, suspended from a pole by strong wire. It is much used by ladies and invalids as a conveyance about town, but for long journeys the hammock is preferable, and lighter. The second mode is in a carriage, set on sledge-runners, and drawn by oxen. As the roads of the island are gener- ally too steep for wheel vehicles this is the only kind of carriage, and this Avas not introduced until about ten years ago. Captain Bulkeley, of the British army, enjoys the honor of its invention. It is extensively patronized by plethoric gentlemen, and dowager ladies, but is emphatically " a slow coach." The horses of the island are good, well-formed, and sure-footed, and with an attendant may be hired at the rate of two dollars a day. Our burroqueros literally, donkey-drivers as those who accompany, or hire out horses are called, followed close to our horses' tails, and kept up without evident effort. They are an enduring class ; can follow a horse over the mountains, scale cliffs, or descend ledges to gather specimens for senor, and then dance till midnight. Between them and their horses there is perfect under- standing : certain jerks of the tail regulate the speed of the animal, nor can he be induced to travel on quietly if his master is far behind. The road from Funchal to the church rises, on the average, to an angle of 15 deg. with the horizon, but in some places it rises to 30 deg. Here we found the riding unpleasant, and were often compelled to the un- horsemanlike resort of holding to the mane with both hands. In scaling one of the steeps, with my head close 222 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. to the horse's ears, and my heels sticking up, rather ungracefully, behind, my companion wanted to know if that was the specimen of the fine horsemanship for which circuit-riders are celebrated. I replied that our thoughts were quite coincident, for I was just then think- ing of a steep road by which I used to cross the Pine Mountains, on the old Pike circuit in Georgia ; but that being, at that time, inspired with nobler purposes than at present, I could better afford to hold up my head. For the sake of the corps itinerant he hoped it was so, for such displays of one's person as I was then making were not calculated to inspire the brethren with rever- ence for their preacher. Our road was bounded on both sides by high walls, over which hung geraniums, heliotropes, and fuschias, pumpkins, granadillas may-pops of the south and other vines in great luxuriance. The mountain sides are terraced, and 'divided into small plots by substantial walls. Almost every garden has its cot of stone, thatched with straw or grass, and in it the usual bless- ing of the poor man a quiverful of children. Every inch of these plots was occupied by some useful vege- table or flower ; sweet potatoes, several varieties of pulse, and sugar-cane being the staple articles ; and near the water courses the yam of Madeira, arum colocasia or arum esculentum, spread its broad leaves of shiny green. It was now the heat of midsummer, yet the ground was matted over with vegetation, and the little cots were scarcely visible through their surroundings of banana and orange. A short ride brought us to the Lavada the artery which contains the life-blood of the plains below. MADEIRA. 223 At a little hovel on the road-side our horses came to an unbidden halt, and threwback their ears with a " no go " expression. We paused for a reply, when the burroqueros coming up, gave us a clue to the movement, by asking for wine : " Vinho, senor !" and as they spoke, a little dirty-faced tapster appeared at the door with bottle and glass in hand. It was impossible to refuse so well-sustained an appeal, so we treated. The lads drank healths to us gracefully, and turned off the sour stuff at a gulf ; then, without waiting for spur or chirp, our horses moved on. Reader, if you are a free- mason, you may be able to understand how the master thus communicates with his horse, though out of sight. The church is large, and presents to the road a gable- end, surmounted by two square towers, in which hang several bells. It was built in honour of the saintly patroness of the mountains, who, it is said, has bestowed many favours on the inhabitants. It is related that, on an occasion when the famine-stricken inhabitants were awaiting the arrival of a cargo of grain from Lisbon, many of the faithful obeyed a called to prayer, to inter- cede with Our Lady, and that while they prayed, it was discovered that the clothes of her image were wet with saltwater, and that next morning the vessel was in the harbour. The phenomenon of the wet clothes was ex- plained by one of the sailors of the ship, who said that while they were becalmed, the previous night, a female figure rose out of the water, and drew them into port. A wag proposed " to prove it all a trick," by showing that the priest had a look out on some favourable height, and that the call to prayer was made after the sail was 224 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. seen approaching that the priest wet the clothes of the statue, &c. ; but this wag was doubtless one of those wicked persons who prefer reason without faith, to faith without sense. The image of Our Lady occupies a prominent place near the altar ; and about her person are stuck rings and breast-pins, the thank-offerings of returned sailors, v or the gifts of strangers to propitiate the original. For the lady herself we have a most re- spectful regard, but beg leave to express the opinion that her wooden representative here is a tawdry, insignifi- cant doll ! Crossing the hand of the sexton, and throwing some coppers to the beggars, we remounted and were soon on the edge of the Curral, and among misting clouds. Then we commenced the steep descent, with our guides hanging on to the horses' tails, to assist in strengthening the holding back, and at length, quite fatigued, we reached the bottom. Here we rested on a bank covered with wild fern, heath, and broom, and stranger wild flowers, and contemplating the mighty works around us, were lost in silent adoration of the power who by the agency of fire called this island from u the vasty deep," and clove its mightiest mountains asunder. " Who toucheth the mountains and they smoke." A little stream, murmuring through the almost dry bed of the river, called our attention to another of the mighty of his servants, and we saw where the winter torrents of un- numbered centuries had worn through stratum after stratum of solid basaltic rock. " Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds, Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight, And drowsy tinklinxs Inll the distant folds." MADEIRA.. 225 The little village of fishermen's huts, called Camera de Lobos Wolf's Den is three miles distant, and the road that leads to it is one of the best in the island. The wolf-dens, from which, in the early settlements of the island, the village took its name, are still here, but having been remodelled by the spade and pick, and faced with rough stone, are now the dwelling-places of men. A knowledge of this fact explained the astonish- ing voracity of the beggars of this district : the conclu- sion was irresistible, that the present denizens of these hill-side caves the genus homo inherited from the extinct race, lupus, not only his dwellings, but also the insatiable hunger, and untiring energy in the pursuit of food, characteristic of the wolf. Two old specimens, who might have been partners connubial, dogged our steps in that neighbourhood through a whole summer's afternoon, with " That long slow gallop, which can tire The hound's deep hate, the huntsman's fire ; and as we turned from Funchal, about sunset, the fear that the}' were about to lose the long-pursued prey, brought from them an irresistible howl of petition. When we dismissed them with a few coppers they growled out something which we supposed to be thanks. " What do they say, Manuel ?" said I, turning to my ragged little guide, who spoke some English. u The old man say yo be good boy." " And what does the female say V " He say the change not worth so much blessing, when he walk so much to get him." The intelligent and travelled American is not a filli- Q 226 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. buster. He believes that his form of government is the best in the world, for Americans ; but among other people he often sees the want of that intelligence and appreciation of civil relations, without which our degree of personal and civil liberty would be an evil. Hence he does not fall out with every form of government that he stumbles on, in his tour of the world, because it is un-American. But, however conservative and philoso- phical he may be, he cannot alight upon a land and population like this, without feeling a strong desire to infuse a little of the American spirit among them. Yet, with all their burdens, the people look con- tented and cheerful can we say as much for our own masses "? The peasantry, especially, are a light-hearted and gala-day population, of simple habits, and unam- bitious aims. Their ignorance of politics is their bliss, and, like one born without eyes, they can form but a faint conception of the value of light. In studying such a phase of humanity, we conclude with Pope, that " Order is heaven's first law ; and this confest, Some are, and must be, free-er than the rest, More rich, more wise ; but who infers from hence That such are happier, shocks all common sense." The Curral das Freiras Fold of the Nuns com- monly called the Grand Curral, is the great curiosity and attraction of Madeira, so we determined to see it before taking our final departure. Early in the morning of a July day, and while the dew still sparkled in diamonds on the grass and hedge-rows, Dr. C., Lieutenant A., and myself, en- gaged three good horses, with their attendants, and a MADEIRA. 227 lusty fellow to carry a basket of provisions, and took up our road through fragrant lanes, and gardens of banana and coffee-trees, for the distant mountains. Our route lay through the parish of San Antonio, one of the prettiest, most populous, and productive dis- tricts of the island, and which, in the wine-producing days of the Madeiras, furnished the best wine. The wine now in the island is in the hands of a few wealthy merchants, and is held at a price which is daily increasing. It is not a little remarkable that Madeira wine is as abundant in the American market as ever, and that it can be bought at any country store in the interior at a price which is lower than the pre- sent first cost in Madeira ! If you doubt the genuine- ness of the article examine the label ! For three miles or more, the country through which we passed is so thickly populated that it forms a con- tinuous village of cots. The clatter of our horses' hoofs on the stone pavement brought the women and children to the walls or hedges of their little gardens, but we rode too fast to^afford them much opportunity of begging : in two instances, however, we slackened our pace. One was where a pale, afflicted mother leaned over the low wall of her garden, holding in her arms a deformed and sickly infant, silently appealing for charity by pointing, with an expression of heart- felt distress, to her little babe. The other was the appeal of an old blind man, who was led to his wicket gate by a little girl, on crutches and almost helpless. To such appeals the American officer is seldom deaf. He is a stranger to the language of the appellant, but true sorrow has a universal language, and seldom fails 228 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. to make itself heard in hardened hearts. He gives, and prayers and blessings follow him on his journey. The wheat harvest is here gathering in, and in a manner new to us, and peculiar to the island. It is not cut by cradle or reaper, but pulled up by the roots, stalk after stalk, bound in small numbers, and stacked in the field. They make clean work of their harvest- ing. No Ruth may glean handfuls, or even stray ears, in these fields, for stem poverty, and inexorable tax- collectors, drive the poor tenant to glean every ear and gather every straw. When five miles of our journey were accomplished, and be it remembered that five miles where one is continually ascending or descending steep hills are equal to twice the number in our country we found ourselves traversing mountains too steep for cultiva- tion, but whose gorse and heath-covered surface afforded fine pasturage to flocks of goats. As we advanced, our road dwindled into a narrow path, and in turning the sharp angles on the cliffy mountain side, we often found ourselves on excavated shelves, overlooking vales several hundred feet deep. In advancing over such dizzy passes, we followed the example and advice of the doctor, who suggested that in such places it was more easy to keep necks whole than to mend them after they were broken, and having, withal, more confidence in our own legs than in those of our horses, we preferred to walk. At midday the guides told us that we were at the usual stopping-place for the horses ; we proceeded a short distance around the side of the mountain, on foot, MADEIRA. 229 and there a scene of overwhelming grandeur burst into view. The position we occupied was an elevation of four thousand feet above the level of the sea, which now reflected the rays of an almost vertical sun, and glis- tened in the distance like an ocean of molten gold. Silence, eternal silence, reigns among these hills; stray- goats are the only animals which pursue the scant herbage of these heights, and the falcon and hawk are the undisturbed possessors of the craggy summits. The atmosphere was light and cool, and finding a point which gave us full view of the depths and heights sublime, we sat down under the shadow of a great rock to wonder and enjoyment. We were three thousand feet above the lowest depth of the Curral, and two thousand feet below the peaks which towered overhead. We were indulging in speculations when some one announced from the dinner-basket that the caterer had forgotten to provide bread. " What ! no bread, after riding half a day on an empty stomach ?" " No bread, and we at an elevation of four thousand feet in a hungry atmosphere !" It sounded like the knell of doom ; dreams and philosophizing fled before it, for they require good dinners, either in possession or prospect the sky darkened the Grand Curral became a chaos of chance-made chasms, and cliffs of unmeaning con- tour grandeur, beauty nonsense ! nothing is grand or beautiful to a hungry man, who has no dinner in prospect. The doctor offered us some excellent 230 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. puns, but puns are poor substitutes for buns, and our case was becoming desperate, when one of some sans culottes boys, who had joined our party with the hope of getting something to eat, suggested that bread could be obtained in the village below. Ah, blest, unfledged bumpkin, I could embrace thee if thou wert cleaner ! One of the boys was despatched without many words ; the thermometer rose in the emotional department at once ; the doctor's jokes, good in themselves, borrowed crispness from the anticipated pones, and we talked the hour away until the messenger returned with a load of bread in his dirty shirt, which was, notwithstanding the contact, fresh and sweet, and enough for all hands. The village and church of Libramento stand on an inclined plain two thousand feet below us, and look like a child's toy village in a mimic garden, and its banana and sugar-cane patches add variety and beauty to the scenery of the Curral. We spent the hours of the afternoon in delightful and soul- elevating contemplations, and when the shadows of the tall peaks began to lengthen across the vales, turned our faces for Funchal. I dropped behind the party to take the last linger- ing look, which impresses the object of our thoughts more deeply on the memory than a thousand casual glances, and told to the passing breeze, in feeble lan- guage, the emotion stirring within us. Farewell, thou wondrous child of nature, creation of Omnipo- tence, handwriting of the Infinite ! I have enjoyed for an hour the silent worship of thine uplifted hands, and the fragrant incense of thine altars MADEIRA. 231 ascending to the Eternal ! I have walked thy vene- rable hills as the child of yesterday, and thou hast smiled upon me ; my voice rang in the crags, and thou didst answer me ; I have rested an hour by life's wayside and mused with thee; I have asked the secret of thy birth, and the number of thy years, but thou wast silent. Yet thou hast been my teacher, and the lesson, which is my frailty, shall never be forgotten. And when I have slept the sleep of many generations, and stranger feet from afar shall tread thy heath and valleys, and wonder and worship as I have done, thou wilt teach them in thine own pure language the lesson thou hast taught me may they learn it well ! But still through ages and uncounted cycles thou thyself shalt stand, as thou hast stood, swept by the winds, and bathed in the clouds of heaven, till He who called thee from the deep to praise Him shall despoil thee of thy beauty, and thy grand creations crumble into dust ! " Be mute who will, who can, Yet I will praise Thee with impassioned voice ! Me didst thou constitute a priest of Thine In such a temple as we now behold, Rear'd for Thy presence ; therefore I am bound To worship here, and everywhere." It is due the reader should make some note on a climate, the fame of whose salubrity is proverbial, and to which so many sufferers have looked, and are now looking, with hope, as to a dernier resort, when means nearer home have been exhausted without effect. 232 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. Madeira is in full possession of those natural causes which give insular climates the advantage over conti- nental in equability of temperature ; and, besides, in the time of year in which the wet and dry seasons occur, in the regularity of its land and sea-breezes, the conformation of its surface, the character of its soils, and perhaps in other causes yet undefined, pos- sesses advantages peculiarly its own. The average temperature of Funchal through the year is 66 deg. Fahrenheit; and the average variation between the minimum of winter and the maximum of summer not more than 12 deg. Fahr., and in most years not more than 1 1 deg. The coldest weather occurs in February, and the warmest between the middle of August and the middle of September, at which season visitors and invalids go into the mountains, where the airs are balmy and invigorating. From observations made during our several visits to the island, we noticed that the greatest daily variation was 3 deg. that between four A.M. and two P.M., and in the roadstead at half a mile from the shore. It is shown also by tables com- posed by competent and reliable meteorologists, that this variation has seldom exceeded 4 deg., and that seasons occur in which the thermometer stands for days together without moving a degree. To us, poor children of the Atlantic States, with the most variable climate in the world, and where this annual variation is often seen in anhour,such facts as these are almost incre- dible, but serve well in arraying the countries which possess them before our minds in eternal summer and beauty. Yet the God of nature has so adapted man's nature to outward conditions, that we are perhaps not MADEIRA. 233 more sensible to a variation of twelve degrees than is the Madeiran to a change of four. The rains fall in the spring and autumn, and are comparatively light in quantity, averaging about thirty inches per annum, which is but two-thirds of what falls on the greater part of England, and scarcely half of what sometimes falls in many of the southern States. Madeira is situated on the outer edge of that zone of the Atlantic ocean which is swept by the northeast trades, and the prevailing winds on the sea, in its vicinity, are from that quarter : but immediately on its shores local causes operate to produce various cur- rents, and on the island itself, the breezes are so broken by peaks and ravines, that the true course of the wind is unascertainable. On the south side, however, and especially in the vicinity of Funchal, the land-breeze by night, and the sea-breeze by day, follow each other with remarkable regularity. The harmattan winds, which are so un- unfavorably known on the African coast, by the white man and the emigrant, are often felt here called L'Este, from the course in which they come and strange to say, are considered salubrious. The consumptive breathes freer, and the wan are revived by them. They are cha- racterised by the same haze, and contain the same im- palpable powder which we observe in them farther south. Their continuance here is from four to eight c5 days, occurring at irregular intervals, and followed by rain. For more than a century this island has been the retreat of consumptive invalids from the north of Europe 234 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. and America, but especially from England. The salubrity of the climate, attributed to the uniformity of its temperature, and the softness of its transitions, have been the great attractions : yet many have gone there but to find a grave among strangers, and others to return to their native skies unimproved, weary of life, and hopeless of relief. To the question which has been asked so often with hollow voice, accompanied by that sanguine look and spiritual expression which beam from the consumptive eye, " would you advise me to go there ?" we can answer but in general terms, and that in the language of others, for we possess but little knowledge of the physiological effects of climate. The following opinions of the climate of Madeira, in this aspect, are from men of science and experience ex- tensive on this subject. Wm. Gourley, M.D., F.E.C.P., &c., who, during a residence of eighteen years in the island, seems to have made the effects of its climate on phthisical patients a special object of study, says : " Madeira, from its uni- formity of temperature and purity of atmosphere, is the favorite retreat of consumptive patients. Here the un- happy sufferers cheat the winter of their own climate, and gain that cessation of suffering which such a situa- tion is fitted to produce. "It would be well if the physicians of such patients were to recommend a change of temperature in the first stages of the malady," &c. Dr. Heineken, an English physician and surgeon of reputation, who also resided in the island, says : " I shall take for granted that my medical brethren will only ad- MADEIEA. 235 vise those who are likely to benefit by climate, to quit their native shores ; and with this proviso, I do not hesi- tate to say that Madeira holds out advantages that are not to be met with combined in any other quarter of the globe." Kobert White, Esq., London, says : " A lengthened sojourn in pursuit of health among the most favored localities of the south of Europe, enables the writer to add his testimony to the decided superiority of the climate of Madeira over all those he has visited." We have personal friends now living in snug quintag in the vicinity of Funchal, and, in a good degree, en- joying life, who left their homes after having been given up by the faculty. With them the disease is not removed, but arrested ; and they are purchasing life at the price of continuous exile; for they dare not return to the loved, but unkind, airs of their native hills. We would not, however, unduly excite the hopes of the too san- guine sufferers, for many have visited these shores in a condition more hopeful than that of those referred to above, but without finding any arrest of development, or relief from pain. Climate, we are inclined to think, should not be re- garded as remedial in its effects, even under the greatest advantages, but rather as palliative. A too dry, or a damp, or a variable atmosphere, aggravates consump- tion ; a softly dry, equable climate will be a favorable circumstance in its treatment. In the Madeiras and Floridas, the popular resorts for the consumptives of both hemispheres, and also in the Canaries and Havana, we have been conversant with three classes of patients, of whom we may 236 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. speak, as classes, without committing ourselves to advice. First : Those upon whom the waster was taking hold, but who, by a timely departure from an irritating cli- mate, a strict regimen, and moderate but skilful medical attention, have eluded the firmer grasp, and are now in full prospect of perfect restoration. The second class includes those who, like our Madeira friends, waited until the disease became deeply seated in the system before seeking the effects of southern gales, to whom re- covery is impossible, but who, by strict attention to diet, dress, and exercise, and perhaps the use of palliative agents, are keeping the destroyer in a quiescent state, and may prolong life to a good old age. The third class are those who left their homes in a state at once helpless and hopeless ; for whom nothing could be hoped but that in a more sunny land they might find a passage to the grave, softened to the noise- less tread ; that the remaining days might be freer from pain, and the expiring breath come softer and lighter. To say nothing of the folly and wickedness of deceiving the poor sufferers by offering a new ground of hope, when friend and physician see that the most serious con- sequences are inevitable, we much question the propriety of removal as a means of comfort to the sick one. Could one of this class be transferred to a more balmy clime without the fatigue of travel, and surrounded by all the comforts of home, life might be prolonged a few hours, and the last breathings might be softer ; but when we consider the effects of travelling, the pain of parting with friends, and the discomforts of a new home, on nerves and feelings, alas ! too sensitive, we are led to MADEIRA. 237 question if the final hour has not been hastened, and the troubled spirit burdened with an additional sorrow. To such, offer the hopes of religion, rather than those of health. Having obtained a three days' leave of absence from our worthy commodore, and completed our viaticum, Dr. S. K. S. and myself engaged two stout oarsmen and a boat, to take us from Funchal to the town of Sancta Cruz, fourteen miles to the eastward. Our little boat passed through the heavy surf breaking on the beach, without giving us even a sprinkle, and then toss- ing our oars, and spreading our tiny sail to the strong breeze, our little ten feet by four, with its freight of life, flew over the waves like a sportive sea-bird. In an hour we were off Brazen Head, in whose deep and darkened waters many a faithful Protestant, " of whom the world was not worthy," sleeps, entombed among weeds and coral, awaiting the " resurrection of the just." What can the world think, in these and after times, of the Christianity of those who, while pro- fessing to be the true church of Christ, denied a burial place, and the rites of sepulchre, to the humble and unoffending child of another faith ? These are insults to our common humanity, such as men may not forget, but in the forgiveness of which, Protestantism will pre- sent superlative claims to the possession of that religion whose chief characteristic is love. Half an hour more, and we were under the lee of the surf-resounding cliffs, receiving the shrill welcome of sea-gulls and boatswain birds ; and by noon were landed on the peeble-covered beach. We dismissed our pilots with a dollar each, and an 238 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. extra pistareen for wine, which usage makes a part of the bargain ; and proceeding leisurely through the de- serted streets, found our way to the snug little hotel which overlooks the town. After partaking of a lun- cheon, a la mode Anglaise bread and cheese and beer, to which, by the way of celebrating the great alliance, my companion added a little French brandy, and order- ing dinner to be ready by dusk, we started for the hills which overlook Machico and the eastern extremity of the island. At a short distance from the town we passed a pic- turesque piece of ruins, the remains of a convent, whose front wall, standing almost entire, gives evidence of the strength and beauty of the former edifice. For an hour or more we toiled up the serpentine road, among fields and gardens, where the peasantry were gathering in the last of the wheat harvest, and gaining an eminence overlooking the valley of Machico, sat down, amid heath and bramble bushes, to admire the scattered village and its sentinel church, and to talk over the romantic story connected with the discovery of the island and the settle- ment here. Supposing that our readers have some of the genius of romance, we will give them but the outlines of this pretty tale, leaving to it themselves to fill up the interstices of the plot and to furnish the embellishments. In a work entitled " Relation Historique de la Decou- verte de 1'Isle de Madera," Paris, 1671, the author, Alca- forada, claims, that the island was first discovered by a pair of runaway lovers in the year 1346. Robert Machim, an Englishman of plebeian origin, fell in love with one Anne D'Arfet, a lady of rank, was MADEIRA. 239 imprisoned by her father for his presumption, escaped after long confinement, found his Anne married to a grand knight, and living in a castle near Bristol. While the gallant husband was absent in the wars of his country, Robert found access to his lady-love, and per- suaded her to elope with him to France ; they attempted to cross the channel in a small boat were driven out to sea by a violent gale were carried before it for ten or twelve days found themselves on the shores of an un- known island put into the bay before us lived and loved a few days in this sentiment-inspiring valley, and died. It is said of Anne, that, woman like, she repented of her choice, and died of a broken heart; and of Robert, that he died shortly after, either through grief for his Anne, or for the want of something to eat. Both evils were pressing upon him ; but here the history is rather obscure. The boatmen, after erecting a cross over the graves of Anne and Robert, were carried out to sea by a strong wind, and driven to the coast of Morocco, where they were taken and sold as slaves. When the Portuguese settled this island, the grave of Machim was discovered, and the cross over it contained the request that, if ever the place should be discovered by Christians, they would build a church on the site of the graves. The little church before us stands on that identical spot (?), and the remains of the cross are preserved in the altar as sacred relics. With a good deal of incredulity, we arranged the historian and the dramatis personce before us, and satis- fied ourselves that if the authentications of the story were not enough to build history on, they had at least 240 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. proved themselves a good foundation for a church. With this conclusion we picked up our walking-sticks, and started afresh for the summit of the mountain before us. Machico called after Machim is a village of some five hundred in "population, for the great part fishermen. How like the journey of life was our ascent to that distant summit. As we advanced in the tortuous path- way, new hills were continually looming into view, often steep and rugged, and each succeeding one more trying than the former to the strength of our energies in con- flict with the next ; and thus we toiled on, surmounting ridge after ridge, until the highest was gained. Then looking back on our journey, the steepest and highest hills that we had scaled looked small, and lesser ones, that had severely tried knee and lung, had disappeared in the vales below. Shall it not be thus in life's rugged journey ? And when from a higher, purer, serener atmosphere, we look down upon a world that we have overcome, will not the mountains that once appeared impassable seem small, and others which sorely tried the strength of our infant steps, sink into the level of the plain, far off in the vale of life? Before we reached the height from which the ocean can be seen on both sides of the island, the doctor's strength failed him ; so I pressed on alone for half a mile further, and ascending a knoll on the roadside, found myself in command of a landscape of inexpres- sible grandeur. I was on the edge of an extensive plateau, and in the neighbourhood of fields and hedge- rows ; the plain sloping away to the north was marked MADEIRA. 241 by the church of San Antonio, and a few white cottages in the distance ; whtle beyond, Pico da Noia reared its head, and further still, the broken outline of coast and the slumbering Atlantic. To the north- east the peaks of Clerigo and Castanho showed the jagged outlines of their summits against the sky ; to the northwest, the island of Porto Santo lay like a cloud on the horizon, and on the southeast, the barren Deserts stood, like giant-guardians of the coast. At this moment, the sun, which was fast descending, shone through an opening in the fleecy clouds which rested on the western sky, and spread a halo of light and beauty over island and ocean. The scene was overwhelming in loveliness ; the varied beauty of fields and downs, the silent grandeur of the distant ocean, the majestic mountains towering above the clouds, all blending in harmonious oneness, conspired to bewilder the soul in blissful inexpressible emotions. " I think, therefore, I am," is the evidence of indivi- dual existence, as given by one of the fathers of modern philosophy : I feel, therefore J am, was the sentiment of this hour. The feeling was conscious existence. From the distant and grand, I turned to the beautiful and near. The modest heath-blossom, the wild fuchsia and the fox-glove bloomed around my grassy seat ; and the golden furze blossom, the harebell, and the fern, companions of my infancy, reminded me of those days of innocence when I was stranger to the world, and the sorrows of riper childhood. Long years of varied life have passed over me, and in many climes I have been a stranger and a wanderer, since I thus reclined amid these flowers, and made them the hearers of my griefs K 242 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. and hopes ; but they spoke to me now in the same pure language, and memory recognized their voices as the ear awakens to long-forgotten strains ; my heart went back into the consciousness of childhood, and I was a mother-loving boy again. I kissed them, and they an- swered me with purer, sweeter lip ; and I blessed them as the playmates of those life-morning hours which can never return. Then in the enjoyment which these re- membrances had softened, as the slanting rays of the sun mellowed the beauty of the landscape around me, I knelt on the green turf, and thanked God for the beautiful creations with which he has blessed the ruins of our fallen world, and for the appreciation of that beauty which he has planted in my own humble bosom. It was an hour of spiritual and emotional enjoyment, that will live in memory for ever. I found my companion seated on the bank of a moun- tain-stream, enthusiastic in his admiration of the land- scape, and surrounded by a flock of timid goats, who had approached, seemingly to question our intrusion on their high domain. Our descent was rapid, but more tiresome than the climbing ; night overtook us just as we entered the town, and the bright light and comfortable dinner awaiting us in the little parlour of the hotel, seemed to bid us welcome. While sitting in the portico enjoying our segars after dinner, and in converse with our host and lady, our party was increased by the village schoolmaster, and a young lady who spoke very pretty broken English. They treated us to sweet music from the machete, and a few pretty, though to us unintelligible, songs ; after which we were invited to a long room containing a MADEIRA. 243 pianoforte of very unplano sound, but from which our hostess, proving herself quite an artiste, drew forth some lively music. Our visitors proposed a dance, and jump- ing into each other's arms, whirled around the room, a la Junebug, peg-top, or anything else that spins at a rate fearful to giddy heads. After a round or two, the young lady intimated her willingness to dance with the doctor, but, having no acquaintance with the Terpsichore of Madeira, my friend declined, pleading weariness. Two English songs were then sung, " Long Ago," and " Old Virginny," in the latter of which my friend joined, in a fine alto voice, and being himself a Virginian, with a gusto that did credit to his patriotism, and won the applause of the assembly. Finding that their guests did not enjoy the ball-room, our hosts conducted us to the parlour, where, among a few English books, we discovered a Bible of the Ameri- can Bible Society. This led to some questions as to the faith of our entertainers, and, to our pleasure and sur- prise, we found them Protestants. The morning of our second day's journey was fine, and pleasantly overcast with light clouds. Refreshed with sound sleep in good beds, and reinforced by an ex- cellent breakfast, we engaged a boy-guide, and set our faces for San Antonio da Serra and the town of St. Ann's on the opposite side of the island, and twenty-five miles distant. We soon reached a height commanding a fine view of the town, and turned to take a farewell look. Santa Cruz often called Sancta Cruz is one of the oldest towns of the island, containing a population of fishermen, small farmers, and a few of the middle-class citizens, numbering in all some fifteen hundred. There 244 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. are but few objects of interest in its vicinity, if we ex- cept the fossil beds of Canical, which we did not visit, to our great disappointment, owing to the report of cholera in that part of the island. We saw here, for the first time, a fine and venerable specimen of the date-bearing palm, enough in itself to repay the visit of the naturalist. Our route now lay through a broken, mountainous, and thickly-populated country, of small fields, and small cots embowered in fruit trees. Never before was such striking evidence of the generosity of soil and climate. Here the pear, which in the low lands of the thirty-second degree of latitude in our country is an inspid and unde- veloped fruit, attained the highest perfection, growing among plaintains and pineapples. The fruits of the temperate and tropical zones were vying with each other in the abundance of fruitfulness and beauty children of the same soil and sun. Here our guide, supposing us to be bewildered as to location, and entirely at his mercy, came to strike for higher wages. He demanded twice the amount for which he first engaged, besides sundry glasses of wine. Finding that expostulation was vain, we made an applica- tion of walking-stick to that region of the cranium where justice and veneration are supposed to dwell, which had a wonderful and instantaneous effect on the gentleman's ideas. In a moment he became reconciled to his bargain, and took up his line of mai'ch in dogged silence. The term Serra is applied by the Portuguese and Spaniards to ridges and table lands. The plain or flat- tened ridge of San Antonio da Serra we reached about noon, and proceeded across it in the direction of the church of San Antonio, and the country seat of our MADEIRA. 245 consul. This church was built by the liberality of Mr. March, for the benefit of the poor of this parish, ac- tuated by the worthy motive of trying to make good Catholics of those who cannot be made Protestants. This is an agricultural district, and one of the few spots on the island where the plough can be used ; but even here the spade and mattock are the favorite instruments. The Madeirans till their ground thoroughly, digging to a depth of eighteen inches, and pulverizing well. This will, in part, account for their abundant harvests. Being now near the residence of Mr. March, where a warm welcome and a good dinner awaited us, we dis- missed our guide with the promised fee and a word of advice as to his treatment of American travellers here- after. He accepted both gratefully, and turned home- ward with a cheerful step. At Mr. March's we found the Baron San Pedro, his lady, and their charming and accomplished daughters, making a visit to our consul. My compagnon de voyage was soon engaged in a petit flirtation with the ladies, and so pleased with the pretty language, and prettier figure, and beautiful manners of one of the party, that my hopes of getting to St. Ann's that night were fast dying away. After dinner, however, the party left, and we too were preparing to take up our journey, when Mr. M. informed us that he had just received a note from our commodore announcing his intention to sail on the morrow, as the cholera had made its appearance in Funchal. We therefore contented our- selves to remain with our friend for the night, purposing to start for Funchal a few hours before day on the fol- lowing morning. We spent the evening in walking through the beauti- 246 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. fill grounds, and studying the varied flora and shrub- bery. Sitting in a spacious bower surrounded by a hedge or wall of box, ten feet high, and impervious to light, Mr. M. remarked : " This is the place where Dr. Kelly, a retired surgeon of the British army, used to preach Protestantism to the natives." Dr. K. made many converts in this parish, some of whom still re- main. He was driven from the island, with the loss of a valuable library, and other personal effects, destroyed by an infuriated mob, but for which his government saw that he was compensated by the government of Madeira. Our host, who must be known in private life to be fully appreciated, is a model American gentleman, rendered the evening perfectly delightful, and in the full tide of social enjoyment, we forgot that we were in the palace of a bachelor. The doctor was less com- municative than usual, for his thoughts were with the sylph-like little creature who was borne that evening far over the mountains, but who, before leaving, kindled a fire in his heart that may smolder many a year. At four next morning we were roused from dreamless sleep by the notes of a clarionet discoursing " Hail Columbia ;" the sound was shrill to the ear then, but it makes sweet music to the memory now. The stars were shining brightly, and the air was quite cool, so we but- toned up our coats and resolutely commenced to ascend the high range which divided us from our breakfast. As we advanced the darkness was fast changing into the grey of morning ; little birds started from the broom and gorse as we passed, chirping their salutation to the rising day ; and all nature seemed waking into a new 4ife. On attaining an elevation of three thousand feet, the atmos- MADEIRA. 247 phere was sensibly more rare than that to which we had been accustomed, and as our guide, not withstanding his load of breakfast materials, travelled quite fast, our breathing was attended with unpleasant sensations. On gaining the summit of a very steep hill we rested awhile to breathe and watch the rising sun, whose upper limb was now visible above the cumuli of white clouds which obscured the tme horizon. The few clouds that floated above us reflected his rays in brightest roseate ; while beneath us a field of cloud, covering much of the island, and stretching far over the ocean, responded to Aurora's blushes in a thousand shades of red and gold. The peaks of the Desertas, and far-off Porto Santo, peered above this plain, like dark rocks above a foam- covered ocean, while here and there openings in it re- vealed the deep Atlantic, reflecting from its blue bosom the red hues of morning in warmest purple ; requiring but little e/fort of imagination to fancy it a sea of molten amethyst. Advancing upward we met sleepy- looking boys driving flocks of goats to some neighbour- ing village to be milked ; and we were overtaken by Mr. March, who followed on horseback, just as we were opening the finest view of the island. We were forty-five hundred feet above the sea, with Pico Ruivo, the crown of Madeira, on our right, rearing its head fifteen hundred feet above us. Between us and the Peak was a deep ravine, running off to the north, which contains the bed of Ribero Frio, now dry, but in the rainy season, and when the snows are melting in the spring, it is a large and impetuous river. St. Ann's, and Fayal, were distinctly visible, with much of the northern shore, so that, notwithstanding our precipitate return, 248 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. we were not entirely disappointed in our desire to see those places. These heights are covered with short grass and green, thick moss, affording good pasturage to sheep and goats. They reminded us of the sheep-commons of England and Wales ; and in treading the soft carpet, bedecked with tiny wildflowers, scenes long-forgotten were brilliantly revived. As we neared the Poizo, we passed several hardy-looking women, dressed in coarse linsey-woolseys, gathering fagots ; and as, to my ear, the Portuguese sounds much like Irish, I imagined for a moment that I was again among the heath-gathers of the south of Ire- land. But the Moorish, and sometimes traces of the Ethiopian, in the features of peasantry, served to remind us that this is not the home of the indomitable Celt. We breakfasted heartily at the Poizo, on the ample basketful provided by Mr. M. ; and as we sat down to the well-furnished table, we thought the segue before us was not the least interesting of the morning. A walk of six miles up steep hills is a wonderful appetizer. The house the Poizo was built as a house of refuge, and answers the purpose of a little Saint Bernard to those who may be overtaken by the heavy snows which fall on these mountains in winter. Fresh and invigorated, we started again, and in less than an hour reached the height overlooking Funchal. The beautiful Jamestown was still riding at anchor, but by her crossed yards we could perceive that she was preparing for sea; and, like an impatient racer, eager for the word which should loose her reins. At half a mile above Mount Church we engaged a hand sledge, drawn by three stout boys, and went down to the city MADEIRA. 249 at the rate of twenty cents, and eight minutes to the mile. We found the city in commotion. Bella were ring- ing to call the faithful to prayer for deliverance from the cholera ; and bugles were sounding to muster the troops to receive his highness Prince Adalbert of Prussia, who arrived that morning in the harbour. We reported our- selves to the commodore at the consulate, who expressed his intention of sailing immediately after calling on the prince. We saw that it was our last day in Madeira, so we hastened to make farewell calls on our many friends our clear-headed, metaphysical Scotch friend, Mr. Yates, of the English hotel, John Mason of the book-store, the ready and obliging friend of the Ameri- can officer ; friends Nuno and Mr. Carter of the con- sulate ; Robert Ryan, Esq., our vice-consul, and his amiable and accomplished lady ; Rev. A. J. D'Orsay, and his lovely family ; and at last, though not least, our beloved consul, J . Howard March, friends whose kindness contributed to the enjoyment of our sojourn among them, and whose names shall live in memory for ever. Our departure was deferred until the morrow, as Prince Adalbert expressed a wish to visit our ship. In the morn- ing he came. The officers in full undress, and the marines in full dress, were drawn up to receive him, and he was much pleased with the reception. He inspected the ship closely, and expressed much delight in the beauty and order of the appointments. The prince is a plain, substantial-looking man ; large and stout, and about forty years of age. He is admiral in chief of the Prussian navy, and our officers who know him say that he is a good sailor and a polished 250 PERSONAL ADVENTURES AND OBSERVATIONS. gentleman. We were much pleased with his manners and observations. At three o'clock we were under weigh, and at night- fall saw Madeira for the last time. Owing to the fact that we here spent some of the happiest moments of a weary cruise, we left the lovely island, the emerald bosom-gem of the Atlantic, with a degree of sadness. The plague that was then making its appearance did not last long, but it swept away more than twelve thousand of its dense population ; and it serves to remind us that, in our fallen world, there is no paradise. Blest Island ! may the clustering vine yet clothe thy hills with beauty, and of its fatness make thy children glad, and thy valleys, teeming with corn, bless thy poor with bread ! Be thy skies as clear, and the airs that bathe thy moun- tains and shores as pure and balmy as when they breathed on us ! Above all, may the teachings of a higher and more spiritual Christianity bless thy people with surer hope and holier comforts, and lead them to a purer worship of the Eternal Father ! " Shades of evening close not o'er us, Leave our lonely bark awhile ; Morn, alas ! will not restore us, Yonder dim and distant isle. Through the mist that floats above us, Faintly sounds the vesper bell, As a voice from those who love us, Kindly saying, Fare ye well !" 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