Part 11

To all the natural advantages of the soil in question may be added, that of its being proper for the cultivation of every thing which contributes to the riches of our American colonies. Sugar-canes would succeed perfectly well upon it; and the coffee-tree already grows there, of two different species; both of which, however, are unknown in Europe. Nevertheless, that of the West India islands is also cultivated; and its fruit is said to be of as a good quality as that in the Levant. Tobacco of the common kind likewise thrives amazingly; but the natives do not cultivate it; and the cotton-tree is to be met with in every part of this country in the greatest abundance, as well as the kind of the tree which affords silk.

This country is also enriched by peculiar kinds of spices. There are several species of pepper, nutmeg, and thyme, as well as others of uncommon fine flavour, which the natives use for different physical purposes, notwithstanding there is a variety of physical plants. There has been discovered at Sierra Leone a new kind of Peruvian bark; and commerce may hereafter make it of much importance, as its virtue has been ascertained not only by the use which the natives make of it, but from the experiments to which it has been submitted at London. The _cola_ is a fruit celebrated in the country both by the natives and the Portuguese, as a substitute for the Peruvian bark. The latter people even send ships along the coast to collect it in great quantities. The nut that contains castor-oil, grows in every part of these districts.

Nature, indeed, has not confined herself to this variety of productions, but has placed at the disposition of man those objects which afford him the greatest pleasure. At Sierra Leone the substances used for dying are found in abundance. A yellow colour is extracted from the butter-tree; and the indigo, which grows spontaneously in every part, affords the finest blue. From many other vegetables may be obtained black and red colours.

The different species of the mineral kingdom, in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, are as yet but little known; a search, however, will soon be made, and we shall know the result. This country is equally rich in animals. Cattle of all kinds succeed in it and fatten, though not so easily as in Europe. The wool of sheep undergoes a change in consequence of the heat, and becomes thin; but goats and hogs breed amazingly, and prove as fat as in other countries. The wild hogs, squirrels, and antelopes may likewise be reckoned amongst the animals at Sierra Leone, which are proper for the food of man. They raise there all kinds of poultry known in Europe, which breed uncommonly fast. There is a species of heron, which is easily tamed, and is very good to eat. The wild ducks and pigeons are delicious; but geese and turkeys become emaciated.

There is likewise a vast quantity of sea and river fish: the spermaceti whale is sometimes found at Sierra Leone, but more frequently on the northern coasts. There are also sharks, thorn-backs, porpoises, eels, mackarel, and mullet, all of which are eaten, except the eels. Oysters and the other kinds of shell-fish are likewise very plentiful, and serve as food for the natives.

Green turtle are very common here, and are often of an inconceivable size. Land and river tortoises are also to be met with; the former in great numbers: they are used by the people, and might be sent to Europe with advantage.

Amongst the zoophites, none deserve greater attention than the common spunge, which covers the sandy shores, and with which a considerable trade might be carried on.

The beasts of prey are lions, leopards, hyænas, civet cats, and several species of weazles. The last mentioned animals are great enemies of poultry. There are likewise apes of various species. The chimpanzee is common on the mountains of Sierra Leone, and resembles a man more than the ourang-outang: its greatest height is nearly five feet, and it is covered with long and thick hair down the back, but short and light on the breast and belly. Its face is without hair, and the hands and head are similar to those of an old Negro, except that the hair of the head is not curly. It eats, drinks, sleeps, and sits at table like a human being. When young, it walks on all fours; but treads on the back of its hands: when grown up, it moves erect by the aid of a stick. This animal is always gentle and good natured.

A species of crocodiles and caymans is to be seen here, which has never been described by naturalists: they are ten or twelve feet long.

There are six known species of lizards, amongst which are the guarra and the cameleon. Serpents are innumerable: they enter the houses during the night for the purpose of catching the poultry: the largest which was ever known here, was eighteen feet long; but it was found not to be venemous.

Insects are innumerable in this part of the world. The most remarkable are the _termites_, or white ants, which eat and even destroy hedges and houses that are built of wood; while the common ants only devour provisions. The grasshoppers and crickets consume clothes, linen, and leather; and there are mosquitoes, flies, scorpions, and centipedes, as well as wild bees, the last of which furnish wax and honey in abundance. Worms are little known; but the barnacles are large, and do much injury to the ships that are not covered with copper.

The same advantages for the commercial or philanthropic spirit of Europeans prevails amongst the population of the shores of Sierra Leone, whether the inhabitants are considered with respect to their natural state, or the imperfect degree of sociability in which they exist. Amongst these people may particularly be distinguished the Suzees, the Bulams, the Bagos, the Tommanies, and the Mandingos. The Mandingos are Mahometans, as I have already observed more than once. Here, as elsewhere, they strictly observe, to outward appearance, the precepts of the alcoran, which they propagate with the utmost zeal. Being strongly impressed with the importance of governing the conscience, there is no means which they do not employ to make proselytes. If they be powerful, they resort to force; on the other hand, they call to their aid all the resources of address. They teach any one gratis to read and write the Arabian language. When they meet with clever men, they affect and imitate the weaknesses and follies of other people, though they pretend to the austere manners and authority of servants of God: in particular they attribute to themselves a supremacy over all sorcerers, and sell talismans. In short, they know so well how to acquire the confidence of the principal persons and chiefs of hordes, that they reign almost every where, and govern the estates under the title of the supreme ministers of the _Bookman_; their advice is always resorted to.

The circumcision of male subjects is generally practised by the Mahometans throughout Africa. At Sierra Leone the girls are not exempted from this religious and political institution. Amongst the Mandingos and the Suzees, it is performed upon them by the excision of the external end of the clitoris. The ceremonies which accompany this operation deserve to be known.

Every year in the fine season, and with a new moon, all the young girls of the village, who are marriageable, are assembled. The night preceding the day of the ceremony, they are conducted by the women of the place to the most secret part of a wood, at each avenue to which amulets are scattered, the object of which is to keep off every curious person, who might profane with his presence the scene of action. The seclusion of the girls lasts for upwards of a month, during which time no human being perceives them, except the old woman who performs the solemn rite, and who every morning brings them their food. If from decease or any other obstacle, her return should be prevented, the person who succeeds her, as she approaches the spot, calls with a loud voice, deposits the victuals at a certain place, and then hastens back without either seeing or being observed by the patients: for whether by chance or inclination, whoever violates this sanctuary, is punished with death.

It is at this period only, when the body is subdued by the austerities which it has suffered, and the mind prepared by the religious obscurity and silence of the forest, that these girls are taught the customs and superstitions of their country: for till that grand period, they are not considered capable of understanding or practising them. At length the period of their retreat expires, and by this time the wound caused by the operation is nearly healed. They are taken back to the village at night, with the same secrecy as they were brought out: they are received by the young and old women entirely naked. In this state, forming an irregular kind of procession, and followed by persons with musical instruments, they parade through the streets by day-light. If during this ceremony a man be found looking at them, he is immediately put to death, unless he can furnish a slave. Their return from the wood is succeeded by a month of probation, during which time they are each day conducted in procession, accompanied by music and covered from head to foot, to the houses of the principal people, before which they sing and dance till the owner of each makes them a trifling present. When the month has expired they are liberated from all these ceremonies, and handed over to the men intended for their husbands.

Neither the origin nor the motives of this ludicrous ceremony are known: but the women have such a veneration for it, that the most shocking of all insults is to reproach them for not having done it honour; and this reproach is even lavished on strangers, who may not have arrived amongst the tribe till after the period appointed for the operation.

The other people, namely the Suzees, Bulams, Bagos, and Tommanies, are idolaters. It is impossible to form an accurate idea of their religion: they have no fixed object of adoration to which a religion that may be called natural, may be applied. Every man forms gods according to his inclination; and the ridiculous, rude, and numerous figures which they worship, are beyond all conception.

The principal articles of their faith are, that there is a god who lives over their heads, governs all, and through whom every thing exists. Whatever happens to them, whether good or bad, is ordained by the deity, unless they attribute the events to magic; but this idea of an omnipresent providence is not accompanied by any return on their part, either of gratitude for its benefits, or of submission to allay its wrath by prayer.

They consider devils to be the ministers of God, and make them offerings: these devils, the most powerful sovereigns of the earth, are represented by little statues of clay, which are often renewed, and made nearly to resemble man. They place them at the root of a tree in a niche covered with dry leaves, and decorate their altars with pieces of linen, cups, plates, pots, or bottles, copper-rings, necklace beads, or other trifles, none of them of any value. When the Negroes wish to gain favour in the sight of these idols, they provide themselves with a quantity of brandy, of which they pour out a small portion for the devil, and drink the rest before him in large quantities.

Their favourite idols are made of wood, are from eight to ten inches high, and painted black: they are considered as the _Penates_ of the hut; but the people pay them little attention, because they suppose them not to want their assistance.

On any event which may happen, these Negroes make an offering to their genii, whom they suppose to have the same power in the air, as the devils have on earth. The offering is always of little value; but they have the most implicit reliance on its efficacy. It is a crime to carry away one of these idols, even unknowingly: the offender is always brought to justice, and woe to him, if he be poor, of his prosecutor powerful; for it is sure to cost him the loss of his liberty. Such are the peculiarities of a religion in which it is difficult to distinguish, whether superstition or absurdity be more predominant.

I have already spoken of the government of the Mandingos. They have proceeded from a republican state, and have every where formed monarchies; but in this part of Africa they are elective and very limited. In all of them the authority of the chief greatly resembles that of the father of a family, and each district of this nation has a regulating king or chief of its own.

The Mandingos and the Suzees, the most powerful and populous nations of the coast, acknowledge the supremacy of the king of the Foulhas, though they never see nor consult him: they speak of him, however, with respect, and consider him as the potentate of the great empire which extends from Gambia to Cape Monte. The Bulams, the Tommanies, and the Bagos admit of no other authority than that of the chief of their tribe.

Excepting amongst the Mandingos and the Suzees, few of the kings belong to the countries which they govern, but are almost always foreigners, that is, from different nations of the continent. The reigning prince may chuse himself a lieutenant, who at his death succeeds to his honours and governs in his name, as long as he may be suffered to retain his situation; and if he be clever and powerful he never fails to get possession of the hereditary property of the deceased, which he keeps till the election of a new king; and it is not rare to see the lieutenant either invested with the royal dignity, or continue to exercise it all his life, under the modest title with which he assumed it.

In 1787 the chief of Sierra Leone had no other title than the one last mentioned. He, however, reigned more than ten years: his subjects, who loved him, wished to proclaim him king; but the wise Negro refused that honour, and contented himself with power without ostentation.

The revenues of such a king consist in certain duties and in presents, which he receives from all who apply to him on subjects that come under his authority. These presents are proportionate to the means of the supplicant and the importance of the affair: the poor man gives but little; when, however, the subject is serious, a rich individual must not offer less than the value of a slave. His income also consists in the customs which foreigners pay for permission to trade, and these are often considerable.

The marks and attributes of royalty are elephants’ tails, carried before the sovereigns, who generally walk with gold or silver-headed canes, and gold-laced hats, which they procure from the Europeans.

The executive power and the right of passing a final judgment are vested in the king; nevertheless the chief of each village considers himself as its master and only magistrate. The king merely invites these chiefs together, and decides in full council on such points as have been separately determined.

The parents of a deceased king or chief do not enjoy the privilege of being distinguished from their countrymen. Each of them exercises his own profession; and it is not rare to see the son of a king reduced, after the death of his father, to hire himself to Europeans as a common sailor, in order to procure the means of subsistence.

The Negroes have no other claim to the lands than present possession. When a cultivator quits any spot, the first comer establishes himself upon it; his only qualification being, that he belongs to the same tribe. This is a point of which they are extremely jealous, as they will not suffer a stranger to settle amongst them without their consent. Their laws, which are transmitted merely by tradition, are nothing but the ancient customs of the country, and differ slightly in various states. The king, assisted by the chiefs, decides on every thing in a _Burree_, or public audience, which is attended by people called _palaver-talkers_, who act as counsellors, and discuss the claims of the parties.

Their debates are in general determined equitably, according to the proofs which are brought forward; particularly when the case is between persons of equal station. But here, as elsewhere, the weaker is often the victim of the stronger party; and he who loses the cause pays the expences, for which he gives security before leaving the council.

Their rules of justice are not, however, so particularly observed in their intercourse with the Whites. It is of no use for the latter to gain the cause, as they never derive any advantage from their success; for they never grant them their expences whether they be in the right or wrong. On asking them their motives for such conduct, they answer, “the white men gain plenty of money, and therefore cannot want it.”

A capital crime is punished either by death or slavery, though the former mode is scarcely at all resorted to, except by the Mandingos, who follow the Mussulman laws, and whose proceedings are very short. Murder, however, is an exception.—The punishment for sorcery is slavery; but for adultery or any other crime, a pecuniary recompence is sufficient.

The manner of causing debts to be paid, is founded on the earliest notions of equity. Debts are ordinarily contracted for a certain time; if, when it has expired, the debtor hesitate or refuse to pay it, the creditor has recourse to the king or chief, who tells the defaulter to perform his promise; but if the advice be not followed, the king permits the creditor to seize the debtor or some of his slaves; and if he live in another town, so that this measure cannot be resorted to, then the creditor arrests the first countryman of the debtor with whom he meets, and detains him till the debt is discharged; an act which the debtor is soon obliged to perform by the inhabitants of the town. The person who has been so detained never fails to obtain damages for his imprisonment.

A law peculiar to Sherbro, and known through all the country by the name of _Purrah_, is the most singular of all the laws established in Africa: this wise and politic institution took its origin from a view to terminate the incessant wars which arose amongst the inhabitants, from their pride, jealousy, and irritability. Every free man thirty years of age, may become a member of the purrah: at the time of his admission he undergoes various ceremonies, conformably to the secret law; and on this point they are as scrupulous as are the Free-masons of Europe, with regard to their mysteries. Both these institutions have indeed many instances of resemblance, such in particular, as the ordination of a grand master, and the exclusion of women. It is only at the last extremity that this institution is resorted to; but it has the right of punishing murderers and magicians.

When two nations, which are at war, become tired of hostilities and wish for peace, though each party be too proud to ask it of the other, they apply to a neighbouring king to get him to act as mediator. When he consents, and he seldom refuses, he informs the two parties that he is about to become their arbiter; that he cannot longer see friends destroy one another; and that if they refuse his interference, he will send the purrah to them. If the combatants do not accept this invitation, the dreadful purrah is solemnly ordained.

As soon as the institution is assembled, and until it has broken up, there must be no more blood spilt, and all the enemies may return, without alarm, to their ordinary occupations. If it should happen that, notwithstanding this decree of terror, the Negro, thirsting for vengeance, avails himself of an opportunity to take it, the purrah, on the news of this event, breaks up, and a body of forty or fifty warriors, armed and disguised, go in search of the aggressors. Every man, whatever may be his station, flees from their presence; and if any one be rash enough to look at them outside his house, they cut him to pieces, and disperse the fragments in every direction. The same fate is reserved for those who have transgressed the decrees of the purrahs, wherever they are met with.

It is impossible to describe the alarm with which this institution inspires the great mass of the people, who believe that its members are influenced by devils, and that they can do all the ill they wish, without receiving any injury in return. They carry off provisions or whatever takes their fancy, without meeting the least resistance. In every part, and amongst all nations, terror is known to produce the same effect. Amongst the Africans it is justified by powerful motives, namely, the re-establishment of peace, and the preservation of man. When the former takes place, the institution breaks up, and each man retires to his home.

A thirst after vengeance, that sovereign passion of the Africans, is the principal cause of their frequent wars. When the nation decrees them, they are general, and each member of a horde sees an enemy in every individual of the other. When they are private, the quarrel only prevails between the two towns, and the expeditions of each are confined to plunder; the highest of their ambition being to surprise and burn a few villages, and take some prisoners.

The inhabitants of the coast have abandoned their national arms for the sabre and musket; but those of the inland parts make use of lances, darts, and poisoned arrows. It is evident the commerce with the Europeans has had a great influence on the morals of the Negroes; it has given them a relish for society, industry, the arts, and domestic virtues. Those who live far inland, are still savages. It is remarked that the inhabitants of the coast or neighbouring isles, are much more vigorous, better shaped, braver, more active, and less superstitious than those of the country parts: this difference must be attributed to their connection with Europeans, to their food, and the salubrious air which they respire.

The Bulams, Tommanies, and Bagos are strong, of a good countenance, and of a fine black colour; their limbs are strait and muscular, their features agreeable, and they are above the middle size. The Tommanies in particular have an open and ingenuous physiognomy, and the women are generally handsome. The Suzees have a yellow complexion; their shape and height are inferior to those of the Tommanies, and they have thick lips and pug noses. The Mandingos seem to be, and in fact are, a separate race: they are tall, but thin, and of a dull black colour; their eyes are small, and they wear their beards like the Jews of Europe. The Bulams, Suzees, and several others shave themselves when they are young; and when they begin to turn grey, they let their beards grow, as they consider white hair to be indicative of wisdom.

The difference of features between the free Blacks and the slaves is so striking, that an eye of the least penetration immediately distinguishes their condition. The former exhibits a noble dignity and pride in his whole person, and his looks are confident and commanding. The slave, on the contrary, depressed by his unfortunate situation, has a servile gait, and neither speaks nor walks without casting down his eyes. The slaves which are brought from the interior, are smaller, less robust, and worse shaped than the free Negroes. Those who live near the sea, are of the same size as their masters.

The language of the Suzees appears to be the mother tongue of the idioms of the other tribes: it is mild and agreeable. That of the Mandingos, like the people who speak it, is very different from the others; it is a corrupted kind of Arabic, and totally different from that which they teach in their schools, and which they call the language of prayer.