Part 10
The river-horse is amphibious: it is frequently seen in the sea; but we know that it does not proceed far from the coast or fresh water, as it requires for its existence to be near meadows and cultivated lands. It has been observed to walk much faster in the water than on land, as the former supports it, and assists the progress of its heavy body; nevertheless, it cannot stay in the fluid for a length of time, or as long as it can remain on land. The time which it has been ascertained to keep under water, is about half or three quarters of an hour; after which it is obliged to come to land for the purpose of free respiration.
It sleeps ashore amongst the rushes and thickets with which the banks of the river are covered; and in such parts the females drop their young, and give them suck. As soon as they see any object or hear the least noise, they throw themselves into the water, and the young ones follow the dam. The female generally bears four at a time, and breeds once a year; so that the number of these animals in the Bissagos and the neighbouring rivers, is not astonishing.
The hippopotamus feeds both on fish and on such land animals as it can take by surprise; because the weight of its body does not enable it to run them down. It has been asserted that it eats human flesh; but all the accounts which I have received, tend to refute this opinion. Besides animals and fish, we know that it eats the grass of the fields, and particularly rice, millet, peas, melons, and other vegetables, as its voracity is not easily satiated. The Negroes keep it away from their grounds by the means of noises and fires: for it makes more devastation with its feet in a piece of cultivated ground than by what it eats; and if it take a fancy to sleep in such a spot, the harvest is thereby entirely destroyed.
It is while the animal thus reposes that the natives most easily destroy it by approaching in a gentle manner; and it betrays itself by its loud snoring. The Negroes take a pleasure in attacking it, on account of their agility; but they take care not to hunt it, except it be at a distance from a river to which they can prevent its return; but if it be wounded and cannot reach the water, which it searches for with more eagerness than it defends itself against the hunters, it becomes furious, and then it would be imprudent to approach it. It is very tenacious of life, and never yields it without much struggle. The hunters endeavour to break its legs with musket-balls; and if they once cause it to fall, they kill it with ease. If, however, on such an occasion, it succeed in gaining a river, it plunges headlong in; and after remaining for an instant at the bottom, it appears again at the surface, pricks up its ears, and looks about in every direction, as if in search of those who had forced it to quit the pasture; it then neighs, and plunges again to the bottom, which it reaches, whatever may be its depth, where it doubtless remains more safe, and perhaps more at its ease than it would be between two bodies of water. There is some danger in attacking it on the rivers: for if the hunters miss their aim, it tries to avenge itself, and often does great injury to the boats which are in pursuit of it.
This animal indeed does not want a certain degree of instinct: for example, it evacuates much blood, and it is asserted that it often bleeds itself; for this purpose it looks out for a sharp point of rock, which is not rare on the banks of rivers, and against this it rubs itself quickly till the friction produces an aperture capable of admitting the passage of the blood; and it is said to observe the discharge with attention and pleasure, and even to agitate itself when the stream is not sufficiently copious; but when it thinks that enough has been emitted, it goes to lie down in the mud, and thus closes up the wound.
The Negroes of Angola, Congo, and the eastern coasts of Africa, consider the river-horse, which they call _Fetiso_, as a diminutive of some divinity, notwithstanding which they eat it. The other Negroes also think the flesh excellent. The Portuguese, who are rigid observers of Lent and fast days, pretend that it is a fish, and as such they eat it. They are doubtless in the right, as they find it very palatable. Europeans, on the contrary, have much difficulty in accommodating themselves to such a repast, as they find it to possess a gross taste and strong smell.
The skin and teeth of the river-horse are objects of commerce: of the former, when dried and stretched, they make shields and bucklers, which are proof against arrows and bullets; while the teeth fetch a greater price than those of elephants. The dentists buy them up with avidity, as they have found that teeth made of this substance do not turn yellow like those of ivory; besides which they are much harder. It is also asserted that little plates made of these bones, and fixed by a riband round such parts of the limbs as are attacked by cramp and sciatica, prevent the exacerbation of those disorders, as long as they remain on the skin. This is a recipe which I do not guarantee; but it may be easily tried.
CHAP. X.
RIVER OF SIERRA LEONE, ITS DISCOVERY &c. — EXPEDITIONS OF THE EUROPEANS, THEIR PARTIAL ESTABLISHMENTS, AND PROJECTS OF COLONISATION. — REVIEW OF THEIR RESOURCES AND PROJECTS. — GENERAL REMARKS ON THE ESTABLISHMENTS WHICH MIGHT BE FORMED, AND THE MEASURES TO BE TAKEN FOR PROMOTING THE PROSPERITY OF COMMERCE IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD.
THE last French establishment on the western coast of Africa is on the river of Sierra Leone, so named on account of the mountains and lions which are found in the country. The river is situated in 8°. 30′. lat. and 15°. 7′. long.; it was first discovered by the French, who were succeeded by the Portuguese; and these people formed several factories upon it, of which there now remain only the ruins, though a great number of their descendants may be found on both their banks, where they are naturalised, and are scarcely distinguishable from the natives.
The other Europeans have confined themselves for a length of time to the making of separate expeditions for the trade of slaves, and this is the market to which the Americans still resort for the same traffic.
Several individuals have established themselves in this quarter, and have resided here for various periods; they all succeeded more or less, and have left striking traits of their industry as well as of their crimes; amongst the rest was an Englishman, named Ormond, who was employed as a cabin-boy about thirty years ago in a ship engaged in the trade, and contrived to remain as an assistant in the factory on the river of Sierra Leone: here he afterwards formed an establishment on his own account in a district more to the northward; and though he could neither read nor write, he became so clever in his own way, that he amassed a fortune of about £30,000 sterling.
This example clearly proves the consequences of private industry; but the history of the man in question shews how dangerous it is to abandon it to itself: for the cruelties which he committed exceed all belief. It is asserted, that to get rid of his slaves for whom he could not find a sale, he tied stones to their necks, and threw them at night into the river. At another time he caused one of his servants to be tied, and gave him with his own hand four hundred lashes, of which the unfortunate creature died a few days after. He also, on detecting a criminal intercourse between one of his slaves and a Negress, fastened them to a barrel of pitch and set it on fire.
Ormond was as superstitious as he was cruel: he believed, like the Africans, in sorcery. But nothing could prevent the blows with which Providence, after permitting him to continue in his career of wickedness, attacked him. His health declined, and he retired to the isles of Los, leaving the management of his affairs to a mulatto, who was his son. A horde of the Bagos, with whom he had had a quarrel, took that opportunity to avenge themselves, and plundered his factory, in which they were assisted by his slaves. All the buildings were burnt, and twelve or fifteen hundred slaves, worth 30,000l. were set at liberty. Young Ormond was put to death on this occasion, and the father was so afflicted at the news, that he survived only a month.
The French received their possessions on the river of Sierra Leone in consequence of a treaty with Panabouri, proprietor of Gambia, which was signed between the Negro king and M. de Lajaille on the 14th January, 1785. The king gave his son, named Pedro, as a hostage for his performance of the contract; and the youth was conveyed to France, where he received a pension of 1200 livres per annum for two years. On returning to Africa, his father sent him back to France to finish his education. The king himself not being able to read or write, made a cross as his signature to the treaty.
M. de Lajaille has not given us a description of the island in the Gambia which was ceded to the French by this treaty, nor has he said any thing of the manners and religion of the people. From the accounts, however, which I procured, it appears that the island is very small and unhealthy: there are scarcely six acres of soil capable of cultivation; all the rest is a vast swamp. The trade which we carry on consists in slaves and wax. The position of the port was badly chosen; and though water abounds in the place, the garrison have to go a considerable distance to obtain it; in short, the establishment is of trivial advantage. The French who were left on the isle of Gambia, were neglected and abandoned by their countrymen; and after experiencing all the horrors of want, they almost all perished in the month of August, 1793. Two or three individuals only returned, in a state of irritation against the government which ought to have protected them, and so ill in health, that they did not long survive. Notwithstanding this failure, the river of Sierra Leone abounds in favourable spots both for culture and commerce, on which the French or any other nation might establish powerful colonies. The English, who about fifteen years ago had fixed them in various parts near this river, have since formed settlements far greater and important than those of the French. The latter in their attempts were too parsimonious; while the former were prodigal in their gold.
In the month of May, 1788, Mr. Granville Sharp sent off a vessel laden with provisions, different materials, and about thirty-nine artificers, to establish a colony at Sierra Leone. This colony, whose principal settlement was afterwards at Free-town, had for its basis principles entirely philanthropic. The colonists were to employ themselves in the cultivation of the lands and the civilization of the Africans, while the slave trade was to be totally renounced amongst them.
The fortune of an individual was of course insufficient for such an undertaking. Mr. Sharp, therefore, in 1790 formed a society of twenty-one persons, which in a few months became still more numerous; and an act of parliament was passed, authorising them to make a company, and to enjoy for thirty-one years the privileges granted to them by the act. Messrs. Thornton and Wilberforce were then the directors, and the members who had most influence over the company. The first regulation which it made, excluded every individual who was interested in the slave trade; and it was not only agreed that they should for ever abandon that traffic, but that there should never be slaves in the colony.
In the month of March, 1791, the company caused 1131 Blacks to be brought from Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone: they were engaged for a certain time, and were to be free when their period of servitude expired. Portions of soil were given to them to cultivate for their own advantage; but it was impossible to keep them to the spots which had been assigned to them. Being influenced by a commercial spirit, and wishing to obtain a portion of the money which the company had imprudently introduced into the colony, these new settlers abandoned their fields, and all came to reside in the chief place, called Free-town.
The subscription was closed on the 1st of June, 1792; and the capital of the company then amounted to the vast sum of 242,899l. sterling. This sum was employed in the following manner:
The first expences of the establishment amounted to £82,620
The dead stock, that is to say, the ships, soil, and articles relative to the defence of the colony, to 24,685
Capital employed in commerce 27,400
Capital placed at interest in the public funds 108,194 -------- £242,899 --------
These expences, however, greatly exceeded the idea which had been formed by the company; they were occasioned by a concurrence of circumstances which it was impossible to foresee, but which are all properly explained in the different statements that have been published by the directors.
The colonists arrived in the rainy season, which occasioned a general sickness and many deaths. Several of the principal officers were taken ill, and obliged to return to England; and a great many of the subordinate agents fell sacrifices to the additional labour which they in consequence had to perform. It appeared that the air of Free-town, like that of all the positions on the coast, is bad, and even dangerous during the rainy and stormy season; but that it is good and agreeable for the rest of the year.
The cultivation went on slowly, and experienced many difficulties; nevertheless the directors were of opinion that the soil of Africa might be managed by its native inhabitants. They were of this opinion from the apparent success of the plantations, which they had undertaken; but they adhered to their system of making the future progress of such plantations depend on the abolition of the slave trade.
Under the article of civilization, the directors comprised a form of government for the colony: it is founded on the principles of the English constitution. The trial by jury perfectly succeeded; and the Africans appeared to incline to the measures adopted in the colony to introduce Christianity and civil regulations. But the success of the enterprize was a subordinate consideration compared with the grand object, the abolition of the slave trade. Yet to overcome the first difficulties was far more easy, than what they had afterwards to encounter: for they had some severe misfortunes to try their constancy.
On the 27th of November, 1794, a French squadron entered the river of Sierre Leone, and fired on Free-town. The inhabitants conceiving all resistance useless, begged to capitulate, but in vain: the French landed, plundered the houses and magazines, and conducted themselves with extreme rigour. They were encouraged in their excesses by the captains of two American ships employed in the slave trade. It was impossible to check the animosity of Arnaud, the commander of the expedition: he protested that he would burn all the houses belonging to the English; and he kept his word. The books of the company were seized and destroyed, and all the bibles and prayer-books were trampled under foot. The collection of the botanist Afzelius was ravaged; his plants, seeds, birds, insects, drawings, and memoranda were dispersed and spoiled, and his mathematical instruments and machines broken to pieces. Even the church was plundered, and the sacred books consumed; nor did the invaders spare the drugs and medicines for the use of the colony. The loss to the company on this occasion was estimated at 40,000l. sterling.
This expedition was condemned by all rational Frenchmen, and was disowned by the government, who caused the commander of the squadron to be thrown into prison. His punishment would have been exemplary, if it had not clearly appeared that he was ignorant of the injury he had committed. It was proved from his journal, that he had been led into the error by two American Negroes, and that he thought he was doing a patriotic action by destroying an _establishment of Pitt, for furnishing slaves_. It was evident that he had no other motives for his conduct; but this did not diminish the evil, and the company immediately employed themselves in repairing the injuries which the colony had sustained, with the resources that remained amongst them. It is remarkable that the turbulent colonists were the very Negroes who had been transported from Nova Scotia to Africa, and whom no inducement could attach to the establishment. Although they were free, they complained that they were oppressed; and it is probable that if these refractory beings had found the planters and the remainder of the inhabitants inclined to take part in their project, they would have infallibly attained their object, which was that of a revolution: for the chief officers of the society had neither power nor other means sufficient to keep them in subjection.
To obviate this inconvenience, the directors of the company obtained in 1799 from the British government a letter of licence, on the plan of those which had been granted to the India company at the time of its institution; to which was added a corps of fifty men taken from the garrison of Goree; and the sum of 7,000l. which parliament allowed for the construction of a fort.
In the month of February, 1800, a quarrel broke out between king Tom, who lived in the vicinity of Free-town, and the captain of a slave-ship belonging to Liverpool, relative to certain rights of anchorage which this king had received, from vessels that entered St. George’s bay, and which the English captain refused to pay. The affair was laid before the governor and council; but the discontented persons, and such of the colonists as were in the interest of Tom, would not abide by the decision of the tribunal; but demanded, on the contrary, that the captain should be delivered up to them, or pay a heavy sum as a ransom. The governor and council endeavouring to oppose the violence of the discontented, who appeared determined to support their pretensions, condemned the captain to pay the sum required; promising him, however, a reimbursement from the company.
The affair was thus determined: but the condescension of the council seemed to pave the way for the ruin of the colony; for from this instant the discontented, led by the chiefs of their districts, who were called _Hundreders_, committed the greatest excesses, refused to submit to any authority, and on the 25th of September, 1800, issued a formal proclamation, in which they forbade the inhabitants, under a penalty of 20l. sterling, from obeying any orders of the governor and council. They then published a new constitution, which vested all the authority in the hands of the hundreders, and established a maximum for the sale of articles of sustenance. Certain crimes, such as the stealing of cattle, adultery, defamation, disobedience towards parents, the destruction of fences, &c. were punished by fines; and the debts contracted by the inhabitants towards the company, were left to the decision of the hundreders, who interdicted not only every kind of reimbursement, but even the paying of the interest, under pain of banishment from the colony.
The revolters, whose numbers amounted to about fifty, were headed by three fellows named Robinson, Anderson, and Zirier. The colony then had at its disposal eighty Negroes and twelve Europeans, who were determined to defend it. Nevertheless, though their force was so much superior, they made no attempts to subdue the insurgents; but chance threw in their way a great assistance: for at this very time a large English ship arrived from Nova Scotia, having on board, under the command of Lieutenants Smith and Tolley, forty-five soldiers, and five hundred and fifty Maroons, besides a number of other men, women, and children. The revolters were therefore attacked on the 2d of October, and easily overcome; thirty-five were made prisoners, three of whom were found guilty of various crimes, and condemned to death; and seven were sent as malefactors to Goree: the remainder were transported to Bulam, on the northern coast of Sierra Leone.
The Maroons who came from Nova Scotia, have assigned to them the town of Granville, where the government watches attentively over them. This measure, however, is unnecessary: for as late as the month of May, 1801, they had not shewn any disposition to offend the laws; and it is expected that great advantages may be derived from their industry.
Hitherto the commerce of the company has not been attended with much success; it has lost one after another, four large ships, the cargoes of which were worth upwards of 30,000l. The French have also taken two other vessels belonging to this establishment, worth about 7,000l. The company has received from the British government a grant of 21,000l.; and at the end of 1799, its capital consisted of about 82,332l. while in December, 1800, it amounted to 122,563l.; and its debts at the last mentioned period were 26,995l. It therefore possessed at that time a capital of 95,567l.
This company sustained a great loss by the death of an alderman of Free-town, named Thomas Cooper, who was of the African race: the Blacks considered him as their common father, and still weep after him.
Every means is adopted to enlarge and accomplish the expectations of the colonists; and with this view different kinds of instruction are given. Amongst other efforts towards civilization, may be mentioned a printing-office, at which is published once a fortnight a newspaper, called the Sierra Leone Gazette.
The principal productions of this colony are sugar-canes, Cayenne pepper, cotton, ginger, and coffee; the last of which is as good as that from the Levant. The animals which they endeavour principally to breed are asses and cows; but there is much difficulty to extend the race of those useful quadrupeds.
Such is the present state of the English company: it has experienced misfortunes foreign and domestic, which have threatened its existence; and it has encountered enormous losses, which have consumed great parts of its fund. From a comparison of the sums already mentioned, it will appear that the money which has been employed or lost amounts to 175,352l. The company, nevertheless, is powerful; its means are more proportionate than its wants, and its enterprise is too great to be ruined by a few injuries; while by gradually proceeding with firmness, it will attain its objects.