Chapter IX

Religion — Laws — Government — Amusements, &c. of the Natives from Badagry to Soccatoo — Slavery in the interior countries — Timidity of the people — State of the arts amongst them — Dry and wet seasons.

The religion of the natives from Badagry to Soccatoo is either Mohammedism or Paganism; or, as it frequently appeared to us, a mixture of both, so nicely blended, as to make it impossible to ascertain with accuracy which belief had the ascendancy. Idols, or figures of birds, beasts, and reptiles, are worshipped in Badagry, Jannah, and Yaribas exclusively, while in the kingdoms of Borghoo, Nyffé, and Houssa, Islamism prevails in a greater or less degree.

The professors of the former faith have a vague and indistinct notion of one great Being reigning above the skies, who is infinitely superior to every other in the nature of his attributes, and the extent of his power and influence. To this unknown God they pay divine adoration, through the medium of insignificant and inanimate objects, by the offering up of sacrifices to the latter, under the belief that the Great Spirit exists at so immeasurable a distance from them, and his time is so much employed in other and more important matters, that he cannot listen to the prayers of every individual. In consequence of this he appoints innumerable subordinate agents and machines, who aid and assist him, and minister to the affairs of mankind. They believe also in the existence of a powerful malevolent Spirit, who endeavours to counteract the good deeds of the Most High by every means, and is the author of all the mischief that annoys them. The people stand in the greatest dread of the power and machinations of this terrible demon, and strive to avert his wrath, and conciliate his favour, by oblations of dogs, sheep, and, in many cases, of human beings. Fetish-huts are the temples of their worship, which are regarded with superstitious awe by rich and poor; and are each furnished with one or more priests, who alone are acquainted with the mysteries of their religion. Some of the people are very sincere in their devotional exercises, which are energetic and simple; whilst many pay little respect to the exterior forms of worship, openly ridiculing those who profess a greater share of sanctity than themselves; and, whenever they are unsuccessful in their pursuits and enterprizes, even belabour their household gods without mercy. They entertain also an idea that the soul hovers round the scenes it had known in the body, for an indefinite length of time; but that it is ultimately conducted to a place of happiness or misery; a kind of heaven for the peaceable, and hell for the turbulent, according to the deeds it has suggested in this life, and there to remain everlastingly. Both Mohammedan and Pagan attach miraculous qualities to fetishes or charms, which to them are an effectual panoply against every danger; sometimes a chief or great man is actually covered with them from head to foot, and in this state considers himself as secure as Achilles in his armour. I have often been urged to discharge a pistol, loaded with ball, at the breast of an individual thus supernaturally defended, but it is unnecessary to say that I never risked the men’s lives at the expence of their ignorance and credulity, having endeavoured in every instance, although unsuccessfully, to persuade them out of their superstitious prejudices by less dangerous experiments. The natives appear to have no gloomy foreboding as the hour of death approaches; nor do they, as I had often been given to understand, anticipate dissolution with any symptoms of fear or alarm.

Those who profess the Mohammedan religion amongst the negroes are as ignorant and superstitious as their idolatrous brethren; nor does it appear that their having adopted a new creed has either improved their manners, or bettered their state and condition in life. On the contrary, I have generally found the followers of the Prophet to be less hospitable to strangers, less kind to each other, and infinitely more mischievous and wicked than the heathen portions of the community, whom they, whimsically enough, affect to despise as rude barbarians, although _their_ claims to superior intelligence are grounded simply on the oral communications of the principles of the Koran, received from time to time from the wandering Moors and Arabs; or from traditionary legends of their country. The artful Arabian, however, withholds from them a full half of the little he himself may be acquainted with, taking care to teach them no more than is absolutely necessary to promote his own views, and enlarge his own interests. The Mohammedan negroes go through their ablutions regularly, and when water is not to be obtained, make use of sand, as the Koran enjoins. The Tuaricks, or “Bereberes,” (Children of the Desert,) adopt the latter method on all occasions, the trouble of applying water, even when they have abundance within their reach, being too irksome and unpleasant for them.

The Falatahs, who profess Islamism, understand and make use of a few Arabic prayers, but the negro that can utter so long a sentence as: “_La illah el Allah rasoul allahi!_” (There is but one God, and Mohammed is his prophet,) is styled _mallam_, or learned, and is regarded with looks of respect and reverence by his less intelligent countrymen. These mallams are scattered in great numbers over the country, and procure an easy and respectable subsistence by making fetishes, or writing charms on bits of wood, which are washed off carefully into a bason, and drunk with avidity by the credulous multitude, who consider the dirty water used in the operation as a panacea for every disease and affliction. As the office of mallam, which answers to that of priest in Catholic countries, is one of great sanctity as well as considerable emolument, every one burns with impatience to get initiated into its sacred mysteries, and enjoy a like comfortable and indolent life as the mallams themselves; for a learned man never toils or spins, but is bountifully fed, and pampered in luxury by his lay countrymen. Every caravan is furnished with one or more of these corpulent drones, who loll at their ease, while their employers are at the same time, perhaps, actually killing themselves with over-exertion.

Few of the negroes can articulate in Arabic more than the word “Allah,” or “Bismillah,” believing that the frequent repetition of the former of these expressions can absolve them from all sin, without any further demonstration of their zeal and sincerity. Even after the committal of a capital offence, should the criminal be almost immediately executed, and “Allah!” is heard to tremble on his closing lips, the multitude firmly believe that his soul will inevitably be conveyed to the third Heaven, and be happy for evermore.

Swarms of sheriffs, or emirs, the real or fictitious descendants of Mohammed and Ali, have crossed the desert, and practice their disgraceful impositions to so great an extent, that the eyes of the natives are partially opened to their chicanery, and they are often regarded as characters with whom it would be dangerous to meddle.

The belief in the “Evil Eye,” is equally common with Mohammedan as Pagan, and this superstition, borrowed from the Moors, has lost none of its fearful interest by being transplanted to a foreign soil. If sickness of any kind visits a child before it has attained the age of three or four years, then say the people the “Evil Eye, is fixed upon it,” and the relatives of the afflicted infant endeavour to avert the wasting glance of the malevolent and unseen spirit by sacrifices of birds, and various other means.

Mallams from Houssa reside in almost every town of consequence through which we passed on our journey into the interior,—propagating their religion, and teaching the inhabitants to read and write as much as they themselves know. The Mohammedan faith is spreading daily and rapidly by this means, particularly in Nyffé, hundreds of the natives of that kingdom having lost sight of their ancient prejudices, and the religion of their forefathers, and embraced the more congenial tenets of Islamism. In some cities or towns, however, these mallams have been very roughly handled by the people, and many of them have lost their lives in disseminating, with too great eagerness, their opinions amongst the worshippers of idols. As an instance of this, five holy men, two or three of whom were Arab emirs, visited Katunga, the capital of Yariba, a few years since, and immediately began to spread the dogmas of their faith amongst the inhabitants, publicly teaching their children to read the Koran, &c. The priests of the fetish, who, in regard to their religious observances, surprizingly resemble the Druids of England before the Conquest, became sensibly alarmed at the rapid progress of another and strange belief, so inimical to their best interests, and tending to the injury, if not the complete overthrow, of the power and influence which they themselves and their ancestors had exercised for a series of ages over the minds and actions of the votaries of Paganism. They went in a body to their monarch, the present king, threatening him with the loss of his empire, if he persisted in tolerating the religious principles broached by the mallams. This denunciation so intimidated the superstitious prince, that he was frightened into a compliance with their wishes of appointing a day, or rather night, for the assassination of the unsuspecting Mussulmans, which was accordingly carried into execution, and Ben Gumso, my old friend in Soccatoo, was the only one amongst the number who escaped with life. This learned Arab was indebted to one of the wives of his Yaribean majesty, for his flight and preservation. Having overheard part of the conversation between her royal consort and the fetish-priests, and entertaining some share of veneration for the expounders of a doctrine she secretly approved of, as well as feeling compassion for them, in consequence of their premeditated massacre, the queen embraced the earliest opportunity of apprizing Ben Gumso of the danger that threatened his companions and himself; but this being done only a few seconds before the execution of the sentence, the Arab was obliged to elope in a state of nudity from his house, without having leisure to bestow a single thought on his ill- fated associates.

From that period a mallam has never ventured to enter the gates of Katunga, and the Mohammedan religion was soon forgotten by the people. They have, however, penetrated beyond the empire of Yariba, two Houssa holy men, having found their way to Jannah, the town in which Dr. Morrison, it is said, died and was buried, and three others to Badagry; but more of these individuals are allowed openly to profess their religion, or teach the children of the inhabitants to read, on pain of death; and, they are, moreover, looked upon with the greatest suspicion. The mallams, in the latter city, were not permitted to make themselves known to us on our journey into the interior, nor to me on my return, till after I had swallowed the fetish-water, when they visited me with presents of fowls, ducks, and rice, and testified the sincerest pleasure on my answering their earnest interrogations respecting their native country.

Nevertheless, in the course of a generation or two, I have no doubt, in spite of every obstacle, that the religion of Mohammed, in its exterior forms and ceremonies at least, will be universally adopted in Western and Central Africa, to the complete discomforture of the fetish-priests and their proselytes; and unless some unforseen convulsion arrest the hasty and gigantic strides Islamism is making towards that consummation, and divert the minds of the people to other objects, the period does not seem to be very remote when Paganism will be unknown in the land.

LAWS.

In a rude state of society nothing can be more simple than the laws and punishments of the people. In several of the Pagan countries of the interior of Africa, having no written code, the natives appoint elders to administer justice, at the head of whom the King, or chief, generally presides. In petty cases, such as trifling assaults and other misdemeanors, the parties concerned compromise the matter without referring it to the general assembly. In Badagry the fetish-priests are the sole judges of the people, and the statutes of their country, like those of the Druids, are recorded in their own breasts only, consequently they are mostly swayed in their decisions by interest, or influenced by prejudice and passion; but in no instance are they murmured against by either plaintiff or defendant.

Murder, adultery, and theft, are the most general crimes, and in many African countries are punishable with death, banishment, or perpetual imprisonment. In Yariba and Nyffé, the relatives of a murdered man may, and often do, accept of a sum of money, named by them, from the criminal, which is considered equivalent to corporal punishment. In Badagry, Borghoo, and Houssa, however, an individual guilty of slaying a free man, if apprehended, instantly loses his life, and his body is left to be devoured by vultures.

In cases of adultery, the injured husband is at liberty to do what he pleases with his unfaithful partner, even to the taking away her life; and if her seducer has not money enough at his disposal to satisfy the former for the loss of his honor, the same punishment may be inflicted upon him also. The extreme rigor of the laws on this head occasions instances of adultery to be exceedingly rare in every other country but Borghoo, where the punishment attending it being infinitely less rigidly exacted, the offence is more generally prevalent.

Theft, in Nyffé, is punished by imprisonment of the party or parties; and in all aggravated cases the criminal is confined in irons, in a large gloomy dungeon, for a given number of years, where he is compelled to labour in various avocations till the expiration of the term expressed in his sentence. In Yariba the crime of stealing, owing to the dreadful severity of punishment that awaits delinquents, is by no means common among the people. Free men, found guilty of larceny, are operated upon, and retained by the king or his chiefs as guardians for their numerous wives. In this state they are equal in value to five prime slaves; and it makes no difference if the thief be the father of a large family, or the husband of many females, and respectable as to wealth and connections,—the sentence is on all occasions rigorously enforced. Those who effect robberies of greater magnitude, or burglaries (if free men), are chastised in the same singular manner, after which the tattoo mark of their country is cancelled (consisting simply of having the face cut and gashed in a thousand places), that of another nation substituted, and when partially recovered from the effects of the wounds, the miserable wretches are driven, like beasts, to the sea-coast, and sold into perpetual slavery. _Slaves_ guilty of theft, or indeed of almost any other crime, are uniformly decapitated in Yariba, without the benefit of trial; whereas all free men are judged impartially by the elders of the people in the hearing of the king, in the palaver-house, or hall of council.

Yarro, ruler of Khiama, a province of Borghoo, encourages theft, by appropriating part of the stolen property to his own use, which is generally presented to him by the robber in person; but if an individual, after being successful in a depredation, forgets or refuses to tender the accustomed portion of the spoil to his sovereign, he is immediately beheaded, and the whole of his property falls to the king. On my return to that country I was informed by several of the natives, that as soon as their prince heard of our approaching his territories from Yariba, he caused a proclamation to be issued in every town through which we were expected to pass, prohibiting the inhabitants from stealing even a needle from the white men, and threatening with death every one that infringed this law. To this wholesome and timely declaration of Yarro I attribute the great respect in which our persons were held by the multitude, and the reverence with which they regarded our property and effects.

In Yariba and Borghoo, as well as in several other countries, when women find themselves _enceintes_, they must immediately inform their husbands of the circumstance; or in attempt at concealment, are publicly flogged. The same punishment is also inflicted on females who are known to associate with the other sex before the expiration of three years after the birth of an infant, that being the period mothers are obliged to suckle their offspring.

GOVERNMENT.

The government of Badagry, Yariba, Nyffé, and Houssa, is a perfect and unlimited despotism, the sovereigns of those countries exercising absolute power over the lives and property of their subjects, as well as the privilege of enacting the most arbitrary laws, and other acts peculiar to the kingly office. The government of Borghoo, however, partakes more of the nature of a limited monarchy than of real despotism, the people sharing, in some degree, in the management of the state, through the representation of the chiefs or elders of towns, who, like the feudal barons of England in the reign of John, have considerable influence with their sovereign, and are consulted in all affairs of consequence. These chiefs, themselves, are oftentimes factious and turbulent, fomenting innumerable broils and wranglings amongst the people in their respective jurisdictions, to gratify with a better grace their own private feelings of resentment, and to disturb the public peace by arbitrary and unlawful proceedings. The people of Boussa, the principal state in Borghoo, together with those of its sister provinces of Youri, Wow Wow, and Khiama, are indebted to the Bornouese for their origin; or at least the traditions of the natives intimate that Borghoo was colonized from Bornou at a remote era, in which opinion all classes implicitly believe; and, like the Carthaginians of old, the people of the former kingdom are not forgetful of their derivation, but send annually a number of presents by way of acknowledgment to their ancient country; although of late years, owing to the disturbances of the Falatahs, the accustomed presents have not been received in Bornou with the same punctuality as formerly.

AMUSEMENTS.

The recreations of the Africans are few and simple. At Wow Wow horse- racing takes place every Friday, (the Mohammedan Sabbath,) immediately after the compliments of the day are over. The course, which is a mile in length, is kept clean and free from grass, &c. by persons appointed for that purpose by the king; and the race is extremely well contested, exciting amongst the people generally as lively an interest as the same sport does in the minds of my own countrymen. The competitors are oftentimes twelve or fourteen in number, and the rider of the swiftest horse obtains no other reward than the honor of the deed itself, and the privilege of _dancing_, at the conclusion of the game, with the king, queens, and princesses of Wow Wow! The inhabitants, on these occasions, attire themselves in their gayest apparel, and, in the evening, assembling in groups in different parts of the town, pass many an hour in singing, dancing, and carousing, till, towards morning, they go tipsy to bed. Horse-racing is, I believe, peculiar to Wow Wow; for in no other African country that I have heard of (except perhaps Khiama), or that came within the reach of my own observation, is a similar amusement preserved. The people of Borghoo divert themselves by playing at a kind of chequers, and throwing cowries from a certain distance into a hole previously dug in the earth; the latter amusement is somewhat similar to our “pitch and toss,” and is cultivated by all ranks and both sexes with uncommon ardour. In addition to these pastimes, the higher orders spend whole days in hunting and fishing.

SONGS, MUSIC, &c.

If the character of a nation may be judged of by its Songs, the Africans undoubtedly would be pronounced as the boldest and most martial, as well as the most amorous people, on the face of the globe. Their strains breathe nothing but love and war, and contempt of death; but their conduct, instead of corresponding with such lofty ideas, is the most pusillanimous imaginable, scarcely one amongst them ever evincing a solitary trait of true courage or resolution. Of all figures of speech, they most delight in the use of the “apostrophe;” and it is not uncommon, even but a single day after a defeat, to hear them calling aloud on the names of their absent adversaries, and bestowing upon them all manner of cowardly and reproachful epithets.

“Our enemies tremble and are dismayed when they hear of our approach,” sing the people of Yariba; “and at sight of our arrows they die with fear! See them fleeing like the doe from our fighting men! Behold them falling down and kissing the dust from the feet of our warriors! Haste, haste, Yaribeans! pursue and overtake your enemies; slay them without mercy; stop their voices, that they sing no more at eventide by the light of the moon; they are swift of foot, but they shall not escape you; they are already weary; their journey of life is almost at an end; they have fallen to the earth, and will dance no more. Weep, ye widows of Houssa, and let the lamentations of your children be heard in the land, for they are fatherless, and your husbands have been pierced by the lance of Yariba! They are clothed in darkness, as the noon in a storm. Who can tell whither their spirits are wandering? Weep, ye widows of Houssa; but your tears flow in vain; your husbands will return no more!”

This is the nature of the strains sung by the females of Katunga, (principally the king’s wives,) at the celebration of their solemn feasts and festivals: the Houssans (or rather the Falatahs of that country) being their most inveterate enemies, are on all occasions the subject of their poetry, and are made to flee from the Yaribeans in imagination, whilst in reality they are worsted in every engagement. Their social and domestic songs, however, are delivered in recitative, (as are likewise those of the people of Borghoo,) and are the reverse of their public and national ones. The young females in both kingdoms that may happen to have strong clear voices, are generally selected as wives, or rather concubines, for the ruling monarchs. Their office is principally to attend on the king’s person, and sing and fan him to sleep, and the ladies consume great part of the day in these avocations; to vary which they sometimes play music and whistle for a long time together. These ladies also dally with their sovereign, by flinging their arms round his neck, arranging his sable locks with their fingers, playing the fool with his face, and a thousand other fantastic inventions to amuse him, such as the sex know so well how to avail themselves of all over the world. It is the custom in Europe for gentlemen to flatter the graces of the fair sex, whereas in Africa the practice is completely reversed; for the most extravagant encomiums are lavished on the beauty and blandishments of mankind by the gentler part of the creation.

The following imperfect translation of a song, recited by his young wives, to the sovereign of Khiama, may serve as a specimen of the whole of their amatory poetry:—

“Yarrow is fair among men: he shines like a star of the night; who so beautiful as Yarrow? His eyes have greater lustre than the antelope’s—more ardour than a young lion’s, when he captures his prey. His form is elegant as the palm-tree; he is gentle as a kid when she follows her dam. But Yarrow is brave in fight; his enemies tremble at the sound of his name, as a leaf shaken by the wind; they fall to the earth beneath the power of his arm, for he is a mountain of strength. The turtle dove is not so affectionate as our king; doth he not cherish his wives and concubines? Who so lovely as Yarrow? When he is pleased, the moon is not so mild as the light of his countenance; but when he frowns, who shall withstand his wrath? His face lowers like the clouds of heaven in a tempest; O, he is terrible in battle! Awake and be glad, ye daughters of Khiama; sing, ye sons, to the praise of our lord, for he is fair as the morning, and his countenance is like the sun in his strength. He is fair among men; who so beautiful as Yarrow?”

It would be as difficult to detach singing and dancing from the character of an African, as to change the colour of his skin. I do not think he would live a single week in his own country without participating in these his favourite amusements; to deprive him of which would be indeed worse than death. In every _grade_ of society, from the monarch to the meanest slave, he is also fond of instrumental music, even to a passion, and a European fiddler (provided he be not blind,) with no very extraordinary pretensions to excellence in his profession, might travel with ease and comfort, even if he were destitute of a single cowry, from Badagry to Bornou. He would be received every where with open arms, lodged in palaces, and sumptuously fed; although he might, perhaps, feel some trifling inconvenience from excess of kindness, and compulsory detention for a day or two in the principal cities. But, notwithstanding their strong partiality for this kind of music, the instruments of the Africans are of the rudest description. A large drum, made from the trunk of a tree, and covered with sheep-skin; a long brass trumpet, from Barbary; the Arab fiddle, and a kind of dulcimer, formed of bamboo, and played upon with two little sticks, are great favorites in all the interior countries. The people have also guitars, bag-pipes, and tubes of iron, which answer the purpose of tin plates, the sound produced being very similar to the noise of those instruments; but a little flute, like a child’s penny whistle in England, is most admired by the Africans; and of all their music this is certainly the most harmonious. Yet even on these instruments they perform most vilely, and produce a horribly discordant noise, which may, perhaps, be delightful to their own ears; but to strangers, if they have the misfortune to be too near the performers, no sounds can be more harsh and disagreeable than such a concert.

Of all the amusements of the Africans, none can equal their song and dance in the still, clear hours of night, when the moon, walking in beauty in the heavens, awakens all the milder affections of their nature, and invites them to gladness and mirth. As soon as this splendid luminary appears above the horizon, every individual, both slave and free, is on the alert,—some to fetch wood from a neighbouring forest, and others to procure provisions in the village; and forming themselves in a circle, generally round a venerable tree, they prepare large fires, in order to frighten away any wild beasts that may be prowling near the spot, and begin their country dance, which does not differ from one extremity of the continent to the other. I have often been a party to these innocent entertainments, which are frequently kept up with inconceivable spirit and agility, till the approach of morning; and as often been delighted with the perfect harmony and kindly feeling that prevailed amongst the dancers. It produces a pleasing and romantic effect, to observe the silvery light of the moon, blending with the radiance of the flames, and thrown upon the sable countenances of the happy group,—as well as the lengthened reflection of the majestic tree cast along the ground, and the moving figures, gliding like shadows across it.

On these occasions all care is completely laid aside, and every one delivers himself up to the dissipation of the moment, without a thought of the morrow, his heart having no _vacuum_ for melancholy anticipations. During the intervals of the dance and song, the party either eat and drink, or re-kindle the fires, after which they begin again with renewed ardour. Their songs are composed extempore by one of the party, who recites to his or her companions, and they all join in the strain. They do not contain many poetical beauties, but allude generally to the dancers themselves, to the dread of wild beasts, or commands or entreaties for a particular person to fetch wood. The following, sung in my presence, may serve as a translated specimen of all of them:—

Come, let us join the dance and song,

The moon is bright in heaven;

No anxious cares to us belong,

To cloud this lovely even.

The white man midst our festive glee—

Forgets his father-land;

And the group laughs around our tree

By gentle zephyrs fann’d.

Haste, Nalla,[7] to yon forest shade,

And feed the flickering flame;

How swiftly flies the panting maid

To earn a deathless name![8]

The panther’s yell—the lion’s roar—

Resound from wood to wood;

How gladly would they spill our gore!

How gladly lap our blood!

But we are safe—they dare not come

To mar our evening sport;

Scared by the fire, or sounding drum,

They other pleasures court.

Then join the merry dance and song;

The moon is high in heaven;

No anxious cares to us belong,

To cloud this lovely even.

When heard at a distance, in the midst of solitary woods, the vocal music of the natives has a pleasing plaintive effect, equalling in softness any I have heard in more civilized countries; and Captain Clapperton and myself used to remain awake in our tent for hours together, listening to its melancholy strains.

It is not to be expected that after these midnight revelries the people are in a condition to rise at a very early hour; indeed the generality of Africans are constitutionally inclined to indolence, a disease which the relaxing nature of their climate by no means tends to lessen; and when not _obliged_ to labour, they feel no desire to over-exert themselves, or to shake off their drowsiness, except from a call of necessity. Their soil, in fact, in most parts is so surprisingly rich and productive, as to supersede the necessity of that laborious manual exertion which the cultivation of it requires in many other regions; and in the absence of all intellectual amusements, they dole away the sultry hours of noon in sleeping, lounging about from place to place, gossiping, smoking, or drinking.

SLAVERY.

Slavery, from time immemorial, has flourished in every nation and amongst every people in the interior countries, and seems to be implanted so deeply in the soil, that the slightest hope cannot be entertained of its being speedily outrooted. The slave, however, in most interior districts, is treated with infinitely greater lenity and kindness than among the less civilized natives of the sea coast; and the condition of the slaves of European planters is not to be compared with his, for happiness and comfort. If his character be good, and his honesty unquestioned, the slave of the African is admitted into the house of his master, placed on an equality with himself and male children, thrusts his hand into the same bowl of tuah as they, shares their confidence, and participates in all their pleasures and amusements. An instance is never known of a dependant, having an unblemished character, and active industrious habits, being sent to the coast, to be sold; in fact, every one considers this to be the greatest punishment that can be inflicted upon him,—the idea of the whites eating their countrymen, and dyeing their clothes red with their blood, being as general and as deeply-rooted as in the nations through which Mr. Park travelled twenty or thirty years ago. Those sent to the sea-side from the interior are invariably the scum and refuse of the country,—freebooters, lawless refractory fellows, adulterers, and even murderers. Upon the whole, I should consider the situation of the domestic slave of Africa (their relative feelings compared), to be more enviable than that of the household servant of Europe, inasmuch as a feeling of dependence never enters the mind of the former, and, as it has already been observed, he is placed in almost every respect on an equality with his master.

Nature has wisely endowed the African with a buoyant, cheerful, happy temper; so that no calamity, however great,—no grief, however poignant,—is capable of making a deep or lasting impression on his mind. He does indeed display a lively natural feeling when his infant children are snatched forcibly from his embraces, or he himself torn from his home, and kindred, and village-tree, to gaze upon strange faces, and wander amongst foreign scenes; but this emotion is as evanescent as a flash of lightning; he knows no fixed lasting sorrow; past misfortunes are quickly swallowed up in present enjoyment, while anticipations of the future have no power to harass and perplex him, because it is painful for him to think at all, and he does _not_ think. I have often seen disobedient slaves, and slaves offered for sale, singing in chains and dancing in fetters, suffering at the same time under a loathsome disease, and an accumulation of misery, the very _thoughts_ of which would melt, even to tears, a sympathizing English philanthropist! For their parts, they hardly know what a bitter moment is, and enjoy themselves, although under such apparently overwhelming circumstances, with as keen a zest as if they had been surrounded by their friends and companions, and dancing by the light of the moon, underneath the branches of their favourite tree. In their toilsome journeyings from one part of the country to another, it must be admitted that the _captured_ slaves undergo incredible hardships; yet when even they arrive at the end of their march, all their woes are buried for ever in a calabash of _pitto_ or _otée_, and they are as merry and thoughtless a day or two afterwards as they ever were.

On the coast, however, things wear a different and far less agreeable aspect; the slaves there are mostly captured from the neighbouring states, and, suddenly losing their darling amusements, become melancholy and pensive on shipboard. The confined, impure air of the vessel augments their sufferings; and when, after landing on an unknown, and to them an unlovely soil, they writhe in agony under the excoriating lash of the unfeeling planter, because they _cannot_ work, is it to be marvelled at that, driven to almost desperation, they become morose, unsociable, and headstrong? I have often been a reluctant witness to such disgraceful spectacles, and wondered it was in the power of a human creature to undergo so rigorous a punishment without a murmur.

TIMIDITY OF THE NATIVES.

A vein of _true_ courage does not exist, I really believe, in any individual of the nations we visited. In most savage and half-civilized countries, such as the Tonga Islands, and the rarely frequented districts of North America, for instance, sparks of noble resolution and greatness of soul are oftentimes observable in the natives: but the timidity of the African character is every where apparent. The eyes of the Gooberites, as well as those of the people of Borghoo, not unfrequently flash with a wild expression of ferocity, and their actions sometimes correspond with this indication of a barbarous nature, but it is not _courage_, and gradually fades at the approach of real danger. The people rarely make an attack on each other, or on a common enemy, excepting when they have a decided superiority of numbers, or are placed under circumstances peculiarly favourable to their operations; and even when this is the case, they are more mindful of individual safety than the general welfare, trusting rather to their heels than their arms to make good their retreat, if the least danger threatens them. They have no tradition of a chief amongst them that possessed, when living, a calm, unshrinking, persevering spirit; their greatest leaders now (as in former years) being all of one stamp, revengeful and passionate in war, and if not successful on the first onset, like the lion, making rarely a second spring. The Falatahs, who claim all the bravery to themselves, are to a man dastardly poltroons, and have met with their astonishing good fortune,—not by open, manly courage, but by treachery, deceit, and cunning—by imposing on the superstitious fears of the simple aborigines, and by artfully insinuating themselves into the good opinion of the very people it was their secret intention to enslave, and, like the adder in the fable, watching the opportunity to bite the hand that nourished them. It would not be well to say that they have greater positive courage than the negro, but they have less pusillanimity and more shrewdness than he. Not all the glowing pleasures after death, which the religion of the Falatah teaches him to expect—not the unshaken belief in predestination that prompts the gloomy and enthusiastic Turk to rush headlong upon his fate—not the promised enjoyment for ever of the seventy-two lovely _houris_ awarded to those that fall in the cause of Mohammed—not even the fearful and tremendous war-cry of his countrymen, “Allah Ackbar!” (God is victorious!) has the power of arousing the energies of the Falatah, or inspiring him with ardour and impetuosity in the fight. Securely shielded, as he fancies himself to be, from the effects of the arrows and spears of his adversary, by wearing thickly- quilted armour, and fortifying himself with Arab charms, the Falatah may indeed exhibit an air of defiance for a time; but if any thing occurs to stagger his faith in the virtue of his ægis, off he scampers, without considering the example he sets his companions, and does not stop till he is far beyond the reach of even imaginary danger!

THE ARTS, &c.

Of the imitative arts, painting and sculpture, the Falatah understands absolutely nothing; indeed, the former art is almost entirely unknown in the interior, whilst the latter, however, is practised amongst the natives of Jannah, Yariba, and Borghoo, who have a natural fondness for it, and produce various specimens that evince considerable skill in the artist. Figures of men, as well as those of snakes, crocodiles, &c. are carved in bas-relief by them; and, contrasting the rudeness of the instruments used, with the fineness and delicacy of some of the indentions, it excites one’s admiration for their persevering industry and ingenious labours. The people are acquainted with many of the useful arts, such as working in iron, tanning, dyeing, &c. The smiths are surprisingly skilful in their profession, and fuse and fashion iron into all manner of forms with extraordinary ease and dispatch. Hundreds of these useful artizans are scattered over the country, and Nyffé in particular swarms with them; they are universally respected, and treated with the utmost deference by every rank.

The variety of the dyes of the Africans has been often remarked, and the richness and beauty which they maintain, notwithstanding constant exposure to the elements, elicit the admiration of even Europeans. The exquisite colour of native cottons, in particular, is unrivalled; and the art of dyeing is carried to as great a height of perfection in many countries in the interior as in the more enlightened portions of the world. The art of tanning is also carried on with equal spirit and success; and the leather dressed by the natives is equal, if not superior, to that manufactured in England. Saddlers, shoemakers, and tailors, are to be met with in most nations in Africa, and for ingenuity in their respective trades, yield to few.

A smithy in Nyffé, &c. is very similar to that which has been described in the celebrated narrative of Mr. Park’s first journey into the interior of Africa. The process of the fusion and fashioning of iron is exceedingly simple; and notwithstanding the very few tools that are used by working smiths, their quickness and ingenuity cannot be excelled, even by a European professing the same trade, and who has the advantages afforded by an acquaintance with all the rules of art.

DRY AND WET SEASONS, &c.

The air, especially in the dry season, is oppressively hot; and if a mist or haze that sometimes hangs between the earth and sky, did not intercept the sun’s rays, it would be wholly insupportable. The African sky seldom displays the clear, rich ether, or the beautiful and evanescent touches of the Italian; but if the appearance of the heavens be less lovely to the sight in the former country, by the existence of vapoury clouds in the air, the heat is rendered infinitely more tolerable by the same cause. Towards the latter part of the dry season, and all nature seems parched while withering (except on the margins of rivers), the earth is literally baked as hard as flint, while the birds and beasts, fluttering and panting in the shades, by their cries and moans seem to bewail the absence of rain. But no sooner does the wet season set in, than vegetation suddenly springing up, bursts into being; a fresh and redundant luxuriance of life breathes and floats around; the hills and dales are covered with a delightful verdure; the earth, the air, the sky, seem smiling in joy, and refreshed into gladness and beauty. Every thing looks cheerful and attractive: the horned cattle gambol on the plains, and the sheep and goats frisk on the slopes of mountains and hills; man himself appears animated with a new existence; pleasure swells in his veins, and dances on his countenance, and he enters cordially into the enjoyment which every province of nature invites him to partake in common with itself. This is generally during the intervals of the showers; it rather _floods_ than _rains_ in Africa, and continues without intermission for the space of twelve hours, when it suddenly stops, and a cessation of rain for twenty-four hours not unfrequently takes place.

The sun setting in Africa is a grand and magnificent object; he then appears shorn of his beams, and may be gazed at by the naked eye for any length of time, without our experiencing a single painful sensation in that delicate organ. When he sinks below the horizon, he looks like a huge sphere of burning gold, and the hills (if any) towards the west seem as if on fire by the vivid reflection of his rays. Twilight is of short duration, and if the moon does not shine, darkness soon covers the earth like a veil. In no other country have I seen such cloudless, lovely nights, or so mildly beautiful a moon. I do not wonder that the natives sometimes adore her; she possesses a soothing, softening influence, of which they themselves are susceptible; and there is certainly something more captivating in the delightful appearance of so resplendent an orb, sailing gracefully through the purple vault of heaven, than in the figures of disgusting reptiles and monsters which the natives so often worship.

END OF VOL. I.

* * * * *
J. B. NICHOLS AND SON,
25, Parliament Street.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Mr. James was attacked with dysentery on his journey to Abomey, but lived to return to Whydah, where he died. It was said that he was assassinated by M. de Souza, but this report was not authenticated.]

[Footnote 2: George Dawson, an English seaman, was engaged at Badagry, as servant to Dr. Morrison, and accompanied that gentleman as far as Enguâ, where he died.]

[Footnote 3: A ceremony very similar to that which was formerly in use among the Jews, as may be seen by perusing the third verse of the 31st Psalm:—“Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast-day.”]

[Footnote 4: Captain Clapperton and myself procured, whilst in the interior, two large pillows, covered with leather, and stuffed full of hair, which we found extremely serviceable to us, in consequence of the grateful coolness thus imparted during the warm nights of the dry season. Instead of laying our heads on the pillow, we used to clasp it in our arms, and, when saturated with perspiration, it was thrown aside, till becoming dry it was again embraced.]

[Footnote 5: In some counties in England called “ague-cake,” and supposed to arise from the effects of intermittent fevers.]

[Footnote 6: A kind of pudding made of flour, butter, and eggs.]

[Footnote 7: A female’s slave.]

[Footnote 8: The act of fetching wood in the night season, by reason of the existence of wild beasts in the woods, is considered an enterprize of danger; and those who accept the proposal are greatly eulogised, and held up as examples for others to copy.]

Transcriber's note:

The changes in the ERRATA have been made.

pg 10 Changed: "of the myterious Niger" to: "mysterious"

pg 31 Changed: "slavery in in a remote region" to: "slavery in a"

pg 32 Changed: "brigantine haing been sent" to: "having"

pg 67 Changed: "were subequently conducted" to: "subsequently"

pg 127 Changed: "any of the incoveniences we had" to:
"inconveniences"

pg 146 Changed: "their strange-looking anoe" to: "canoe"

pg 150-151 Changed: "her excescessive plumpness" to: "excessive"

pg 186 Changed: "the place, amogsnt all classes" to: "amongst"

pg 199 Changed: "to migitate their sufferings" to: "mitigate"

pg 212 Changed: "head much about religous matters" to: "religious"

pg 213 Changed: "this information was comunicated" to:
"communicated"

pg 224 Changed: "The ollowing is a copy of it" to: "following"

pg 243 Changed: "infested the neigbourhood" to: "neighbourhood"

pg 300 Changed: "a bouyant, cheerful, happy temper" to: "buoyant"