Part 3

At length our travellers reached the town of _Gouadnum_, which is the refuge for all the rebels of the desert: it is divided into two parts, each of which has a governor; but the only superiority between them is that which is given by fortune, All the houses are built alike, and receive their light from the door and the roof, which is uncovered. Four large walls surround the space which contains the houses; and the whole circumference has only one gate, which is guarded by large dogs. Each individual has also a dog for his own security, because they have as much to fear from their neighbours as from strangers. The town, however, carries on a considerable trade, and has several markets which resemble our fairs. They have for sale great quantities of the most beautiful wool, and fine woollen stuffs, of which they make their cloathing. The merchants who carry them into the interior of the country give in exchange camels and gold from the mines of Bambouk: they also receive for those articles wheat, barley, dates, horses, tobacco, salt, gunpowder, combs, mirrors, and other articles of hardware. This commerce is chiefly carried on by Jews, who are exposed to the most outrageous insults, which they nevertheless bear patiently, on account of the great advantages they derive from the traffic, and the pleasure they experience in cheating the Moors.

Our travellers remained eight days at Gouadnum, From thence to Mogador they met with nothing but villages, and castles built on the summits of high mountains. At a distance these look like superb palaces; but on approaching them, their walls are found to consist of nothing but mud, and are built in the most shapeless and disgusting form. They were now not so well fed; and the nearer they approached to a town, the less hospitality they received.

At length, after a journey of sixty-six days, they arrived at Mogador, where Messrs. Dupras and Cabannes came to them, and without being disgusted at their revolting appearance, assured them that their misfortunes were at an end. They took with them Sidy-Sellem and his son, and their house became the asylum of the whole.

The same day M. de Brisson and the baker were presented to the governor of the place, who informed them that they must proceed to Morocco, as the emperor desired to see all the Christian slaves, and give them their liberty.

Mogador is advantageously built; the batteries are strong, and have a cannon at each embrasure; but the mouth of the cannon rests on the bottom of the aperture, so that the pieces can be of no use but for shew. It is the same at Rabat, Salep, and Tangier; the emperor having neither workmen capable of mounting them, nor timber fit for making the carriages.

Eight days afterwards Sidy-Sellem and the party set off for Morocco: they were furnished with mules, a tent, provisions, and men to wait on them; and after a journey of four days they reached the capital.

The city of Morocco is every thing but handsome; the houses are of clay, and in the style of those of Gouadnum, but lower, more dirty, and close. The streets are covered with filth of every kind, including the bones and offal of the cattle that are killed. The emperor’s palace is of the same kind as the other buildings, being of clay, and surrounded by walls: it consists of six vast squares. The mosque is built in the same manner, and the whole of the palace has a disgusting appearance.

The unfortunate captives repaired to the house of the French consul-general, where they were to remain till they could be sent to France; they were afterwards taken before the emperor, whom they found sitting in a sort of coach body. He looked at M. de Brisson for some time, and then told him that he had been wrecked through his own fault, by not keeping far enough from the shore. He then asked for ink and paper, and traced with a reed the four principal points of the compass to indicate that Paris was northwards; after which he scratched about a dozen Roman characters, and gave the paper to M. de Brisson, asking him if he could read it? On repeating a few other questions to shew how well he was informed, he added, that the rebels of the desert had ill-treated him, and desired to know what they had taken from him. M. de Brisson told him all that had happened; on which he said, “I do not command in the country where you have been taken, that is the people are beyond my authority.” He wished to know how M. de Brisson had got to his capital; and on being told, he ordered Sidy-Sellem to be brought before him. He asked him, if he had given a high price for the Frenchmen, and what he intended to do with them. To which Sidy-Sellem replied, that he had no other intentions than to prostrate himself at the feet of his sovereign, and do the homage of a slave. He then enquired, whether the Wadelims and Lebdessebas had any other Christian prisoners. Sidy-Sellem, in the most submissive manner, answered, that there were several whom he could easily collect, if the emperor would give him orders. The emperor, however, dropped the conversation; but he ordered the Frenchmen to be guarded for the present, and supplied with provisions from the royal kitchen.

The next day the consul claimed them, and they were given up. The emperor does not supply the ambassadors or other foreigners in his capital with any household furniture, though he assigns them a residence, and distributes to them a certain number of oxen, sheep, poultry, and a quantity of bread.

The inhabitants of Morocco are almost white, and are not quite so barbarous as those of the desert, which, perhaps, is only owing to the presence of the emperor. One day M. de Brisson rode out on horseback with the French consul and American envoy: they were followed and pressed hard by the mob, till at last they were obliged to dismount, although escorted by a guard; without this precaution their lives would have been in danger. M. de Brisson was struck on the head by a stone, and it was impossible to discover the offender.

A few days afterwards the emperor again ordered the slaves before him in the court where he gives his public audiences. He was sitting on a beautiful charger, caparisoned with blue and scarlet cloth covered with gold fringe. Beside him was a squire or prince holding a long pole, on the top of which was a parasol to shelter his majesty from the solar rays. Behind him stood the body guard in the most profound silence. The looks of the emperor seemed to spread consternation around him: indeed, he is always preceded by terror; for he orders the heads of several of his subjects to be struck off, and beholds the execution with the most perfect apathy. His will is a law, and is executed instantaneously; but when a rich criminal purchases his pardon, he is never put to death, whatever may be his crime. At this audience the Frenchmen were permitted to depart.

M. de Brisson and the baker embarked for France; and Sidy-Sellem retired well satisfied with the generosity of the consul.

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CHAP. II.

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ISLE OF ARGUIN. — PORTENDICK. — HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT NATIONS WHO HAVE OCCUPIED THOSE PLACES. — EUROPEAN COMMERCE AND FISHERIES. — CAPE VERD. — GOREE, ITS POSSESSION BY EUROPEAN NATIONS. — ACCOUNT OF THE MANNERS AND TRADE OF ITS INHABITANTS.

THE ships which leave Europe for the establishments in the Atlantic ocean, along an extensive coast of about three hundred and fifty leagues, cannot relay more conveniently in Africa than at the isle of Arguin, at which their commercial operations may be said to begin. The most safe anchorage is at the southern point, where vessels that draw only ten or twelve feet water may approach very near to land. Between the isle and the continent is a canal in which vessels of heavy burden, and even frigates, may anchor at the spot on which formerly stood the fort. When the Dutch took the place, they regularly fortified it, and built a fort with four bastions and deep fosses. In short, they neglected nothing that might enable them to keep perpetual possession of the isle, but this fort has disappeared; and of all their works there only remain two cisterns, which seem to have been respected both by time and men. The largest is ten fathoms wide, sixteen long, and about fifteen deep, and is about two hundred fathoms from the part containing the remains of the face of the fort. It appears to have been dug in the rock. In the midst of this spacious vault is a large well fifteen feet deep, in which all the waters unite, whether they proceed from springs or filtrate through the rock from the soil which covers it. It is asserted that the cistern contains five thousand six hundred muids of water. The smaller cistern is to the north of the first, and is an artificial vault dug like the other by the hand of man, with the assistance of explosion. The capacity of the parts which receive the water is estimated at half that of the cistern first mentioned. These two cisterns were formed by the Portuguese between 1445 and 1481, when after the fall of the Norman company they first occupied the isle of Arguin.

PORTENDICK.

Portendick is a bay about half way between Arguin and isle St. Louis. Its entrance is very difficult, being closed by two sand banks, which have only two or three fathoms of water; but in the middle between the two banks is a passage from 70 to 80 fathoms wide, and six deep, by the north bank; and from seven to eight on the south. On proceeding some distance you discover another pass, which cuts the northern bank at about one third of its length, and contains about five fathoms of water. The bay is only six fathoms deep; the bottom is uneven, and it is impossible to remain long here during the greater part of the year, on account of the heavy sea and breakers which are driven in by the wind. The Dutch have erected a wooden fort at Portendick, for which all the materials were prepared at Amsterdam.

Arguin and Portendick have been disputed by several European nations with inconceivable rancour. The Portuguese were driven from them, after possessing them two hundred years, by the Dutch, who took the isle and fort of Arguin in 1638; but in 1665 they were captured by the English. The Dutch, however, retook them in the following year, but lost them in 1678, after sustaining an obstinate siege from the French. The French destroyed the fort, carried off the artillery, with every thing else that was worth removing; but the possession of the isle was secured to them by the treaty of Nimeguen, concluded between France and Holland 1678.

The loss of this factory did a serious injury to the Dutch merchants, and they resolved to retake it; but fearing to violate the treaty, they attacked it in 1685, under the mask of the flag of the elector of Brandenburgh, who had become king of Prussia. They then restored the fortifications, and kept the isle during the war, which began in 1688 and lasted till 1698, when it was terminated by the treaty of Ryswick. This war enabled the Dutch to renew their alliances with the Moors; and the latter, who were engaged in the negociations, had their warehouses near the cisterns.

The French company in 1721, fitted out a squadron at L’Orient and Havre, to retake that valuable possession. It consisted of three ships of war, a frigate, and three sloops, with land forces; the squadron was commanded by M. P. de Salvert, who landed, and finding the Dutch disinclined to surrender, erected batteries to attack the fort. He was given to understand, that the Moors, who were then numerous, were determined to assist the Dutch, and perish to a man, rather than surrender the place. After a vigorous bombardment, the Moors finding themselves incapable of farther defence, retired during the night, and passed over to the continent.

The French entered the fort by the same ladder by which the Moors had left it. They found in it only two negroes, an old female Moor, and two children belonging to M. Both, the former French governor of Arguin. The Dutch governor, M. Jan de Wine, voluntarily followed the Moors, who took with them prisoners to the continent, several Frenchmen who resided in the fort; they also carried along with them all the merchandise. The French repaired the breaches, and M. J. du Bellay, who had been appointed governor of the Settlements, transferred the command to M. Duval, and embarked in the squadron for isle St. Louis. Duval was of all others in the service of the company, the least proper for such a command; he was a violent man, cruel in prosperity, and cowardly and irresolute in adversity. The Moors had been informed that they might come back to Arguin, and would be well received, as it was a matter of much consequence to attach them to the French interest. Duval, however, counteracted these orders, and was guilty of the blackest perfidy.

The Moors returned with confidence, when this infamous governor ordered them all to be massacred. Their bodies were cut in pieces and exposed in different parts, as an example to their countrymen of the treatment they were to expect.

After this horrible execution, no accommodation with the irritated Moors could be hoped for; and the Dutch did not fail to keep up the resentment of those people towards the French. In the mean time, the Moors and pretended Prussians had retired to Portendick. Duval was superceded in his command; and the Moors having landed on the island in concert with the Dutch, they gained possession of the cisterns, and seized on M. Leriche and four other Frenchmen, who had been sent to them with a flag of truce; and after springing a mine, which injured the fortifications, they compelled the French to surrender the fortress on the 11th January, 1722, when the latter were obliged to solicit the protection of the Dutch, to prevent the Moors from cutting their throats. The captors acquired on this occasion an immense quantity of merchandise. Shortly before the surrender, a French vessel was stranded about five leagues from Arguin, and the crew, eight in number, having effected a landing, were seized by the Moorish chief Homar, and instantly put to death. Duval became the victim of his atrocity and imprudence; for Homar meeting with him off Cape Blanco, as he was returning home, boarded his vessel, cut off his head, and put to death the whole of the crew, sixteen in number, Duval not making the least resistance.

This sanguinary warfare lasted for some time; the Moors revenged the outrages they had suffered; and the Dutch obtained a momentary triumph.

It would be useless to trace the various operations which were incessantly carried on against these two possessions. M. de Salvert in 1724, re-acquired possession both of Portendick and Arguin; since which, the Dutch have not appeared as enemies in that quarter.

The result of this statement is, that every nation which has endeavoured to establish itself at Arguin and Portendick, had no object but to share or monopolize the gum trade, which the French, who were firmly established in the Senegal, wished to concentrate amongst themselves. Indeed the gum trade with the Moors, was the most important of the operations which took place in those roads. The forests of gum trees are at no great distance from the shore; and the trade likewise consisted of gold, elephants’ teeth, oxen, sheep, raw hides, and ostrich feathers; besides which, it is asserted that ambergrease was formerly found in considerable quantities. But though I made and caused to be made the most vigorous researches, I could never obtain any. M. Pelletan, my successor, was more fortunate, nevertheless he mentions only a single instance in which he found it; and that was in a different part of the coast; which proves at least that this substance is very scarce.

The fisheries on this part of the coast are very abundant. All the capes, as far as the mouth of St John river, afford shelter to multitudes of fish, which find plenty of nutriment. Indeed these gulphs are like so many vast ponds completely stocked, with the only difference that they cannot be exhausted. The Europeans derive much advantage from these fisheries, which afford them a number of seals: the fish forms the chief subsistence of the garrisons, and are exchanged with the Canary and Azores islands, as well as with the Moors on the coast of Guinea. The green species of turtle also delights in these roads, and the shell is much sought for in commerce.

When the French directed their commercial operations to the Senegal, they abandoned the fisheries.

About 30 or 35 leagues from Portendick, and in 15° 15 m. lat. you arrive at the mouth of the Senegal. To reach Goree, either from Europe or from the Senegal, it is necessary to pass Cape Verd, which is the most western point of Africa; its elongation into the sea, makes it a vast peninsula. The soil is good, and covered with fine trees: it is fit for all kinds of cultivation, and is fertilized by several rivulets; all which render it very desirable for the establishment of the colony. Its trees being always green, have given rise to its name, as it is distinguished by its appearance from all the other capes on the coast, which are dry and barren. The bay of Yof forms a considerable space between the point of Barbary and Cape Verd; and the currents set violently into this bay in a S. S. E. direction.

The approach of a ship towards this cape is known by two mountains, which are called the Breasts, from an idea that they resemble those organs in form. As soon as they are perceived, precaution must be taken to avoid a rocky point, which projects about two leagues into the sea, and which causes the ships to make a considerable offing to the S. W. in order to double it: they are obliged to do so, till the two Breasts appear on the same line, so that one obscures the other. Thus you arrive at Cape Verd, on doubling which, you reach Goree, at a distance of two leagues. This cape, from the two Breasts to Cape Bernard, was ceded to France by two treaties in 1763 and 1765, between the king Damel and the governor of Senegal, as well as the villages of Daccard and Bin, from which the inhabitants of the isle of Goree derive their subsistence.

The passage from the Senegal to Goree is made in about twenty-four hours; but the return is generally longer, from the opposition of the winds and currents. It sometimes even takes a month to return this short distance. The island received its name Goree, which means “_Good Road_,” from the Dutch, who obtained it in 1617 by treaty, from Biram, king of Cape Verd. They built a strong fort upon it on a steep mountain to the N. W. and another which commanded the creek, and secured their magazines. The Dutch enjoyed their acquisition till 1663, when it was taken from them by the English, to whom this conquest was the more important, as they had established themselves in the river Gambia: but next year they were expelled from the isle by the Dutch admiral de Ruyter, who attacked them with a powerful squadron. The French took it from the Dutch in 1677, by which time the latter had put it into an excellent state of defence, and mounted the batteries with forty-two pieces of cannon. From that time to the present it has often been contested; and fallen into the possession of the English, French, and Dutch. The English possessed it during the last war. The government of the island when the French retained it, was the same as that of isle St. Louis; and the religion, manners, and customs of the inhabitants of both places are nearly similar.

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CHAP. III.

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FARTHER REMARKS ON GOREE, AND COMMUNICATION FROM IT TO THE SENEGAL. — KINGDOMS ON THE COAST OF GOREE, VIZ. CAYOR, BAOL, SIN, AND SALEM. — CURIOUS PARTICULARS OF A RACE OF NEGROES. — JOURNEY FROM GOREE TO SENEGAL, &c.

THE commerce of the isle of Goree, extends from Cape Verd to the kingdom of Salem, about seven leagues from the mouth of the Gambia; but there is no establishment on that part of the coast. The three factories of Rufisque, Portudal, and Joal are abandoned, the French administration of Goree merely keeping as residents, while they had the island, an inhabitant and a negro, who relieved each other alternately, and whose business was to treat for provisions. An establishment was projected at Cahone, a village belonging to the kingdom of Salem, nearly at the part where the river Gambia divides into two branches, the most northerly of which takes the name of Salem. It would have been very advantageous, as the Mandingos, from the kingdoms of Tombuctoo, Bambara, and the other states to the eastward, come to Cahone with their merchandise. It was not carried into execution; but it is evident that such an establishment would at any time be of the greatest advantage, as it might receive the commerce which formerly existed between Goree and the numerous isles formed by the river of Salem. Some inhabitants still go to trade at that river, and always turn their merchandise to the best account. It was on the banks of this river, that the famous lump of ambergrease was found, which M. Pelletan acquired; I will give an account of its discovery.

An inhabitant of Goree, named St. Jean, a well informed man, one day observed his negroes employed in careening their canoe, with a substance which they had melted, and of which they neither knew the nature nor the value. St. Jean discovered it by the smell, and caused what remained of the lump to be carried home. The whole had weighed upwards of a hundred pounds. To shew that this branch of commerce might become very important, I shall only observe that M. St. Jean sold the substance at from nine to ten francs per ounce, and it was resold in France for thirty-six francs.

Besides the means of commerce which Goree might have on this coast, it has opened a communication by land with Senegal. The distance between those two establishments is about forty leagues, but it is commonly made in five or six days; and the journey used to be one of pleasure to the French merchants, who went in parties, carrying with them provisions and tents for encamping on the most agreeable spots. The route is now so well known, that a sort of barracks have been built as an asylum for travellers. The greatest difficulty on the journey is that of procuring water, which it is necessary to carry with one, though wells have been dug at different distances. Milk, however, may always be procured in great quantities and at a cheap rate.