The governor, Colonel George Macdonald, is now absent in England. In the interim, the duties of the office are performed by Dr. Fergusson, a mulatto in color, but born in Scotland, and married to a white lady, who now resides in that country. Dr. Fergusson was regularly educated at Edinburgh, and is a medical officer of the British army; a man of noble and commanding figure, handsome and intellectual countenance, and finished manners. He is affable, as well as dignified, in his deportment, and fluent and interesting in conversation. To him, and five or six other men of color, whom I have met on the coast, I should refer, as proofs that individuals of the African race may, with due advantages, be cultivated and refined so as to compare with the best specimens of white gentlemen.
There is a large church here, said to have cost seventy thousand pounds sterling; notwithstanding which vast expenditure, divine service has ceased to be performed. The last clergyman, a young man universally beloved and respected, lost his life, two or three years ago. He had gone with a party of friends, five in all, on board a homeward-bound vessel, which lay at a short distance from the shore. On their return the boat capsized and sunk. The five Kroomen saved themselves, by swimming, until picked up by a canoe; the five whites were lost; and the young clergyman among them. The latter swam well, and was almost within reach of a canoe, when he threw up his hands, exclaiming, "God have mercy on me!"—and disappeared. A shark had undoubtedly seized him, at the moment when he believed himself safe. This gentleman held the office of Queen's Chaplain; and since his melancholy fate, no new appointment of that nature has been made. If credit be due to the statements reciprocally made by the colonists, in reference to one another, there is great need of teachers to inculcate the principles of religion, morality, and brotherly love; although the spiritual instruction heretofore bestowed (which has cost large sums to the pious in England) has been almost entirely thrown away. There are some missionaries here, who have directed their labors principally to the business of education.
The tide runs so strongly, into and out of the river, that such accidents as that which befell the five Europeans, above-mentioned, are of no unfrequent occurrence. When boats or canoes are upset, it is impossible for the passengers to swim against the current. We had an instance of the danger, while at anchor there. The captain was seated in his cabin, with the stern windows open, when he heard a native in a canoe, under the stern, say "Man drown!" Being asked what he meant, he reiterated the words, pointing towards the sea. Just then, a cry was indistinctly heard. Two of our boats were instantly despatched, and picked up three Kroomen, whose canoe had sunk, leaving them to the mercy of the current, which was rapidly drifting them towards the ocean. The Humane Society of Sierra Leone bestows a reward for every person rescued from drowning. In this instance, of course, no claim was made upon their funds.
The currency here differs from that of all the other settlements on the coast, except those belonging to Great Britain. The Spanish and South American doubloons are valued at only sixty-four shillings sterling each, or fifteen dollars and thirty-six cents; while they are worth elsewhere, sixteen dollars. Spanish and South American dollars pass at about one per cent. discount. The English sovereign is reckoned at four dollars eighty cents; and the French five-franc piece at ninety-two cents. The gold and silver coin of the United States is not current at Sierra Leone. Bills on London, at thirty days sight, are worth from par to five per cent. premium, and may actually be sold in small sums (say, from £100 to £2000) at fair rates.
Pilotage is five shillings sterling per foot; and the port-charges are so exorbitant as to prevent the entrance of many vessels, which would otherwise stop to try the market. Of late years, the trade of Sierra Leone has suffered great diminution. Money having been lost on all the timber exported, that business is at present nearly abandoned. Another cause of decay is the withdrawal of the British squadron, which has now its principal rendezvous at Ascension. More than all, as contributing to the decline of the colony, the home-government has discontinued the greater part of the assistance formerly rendered. The governor, colonial secretary, and chief justice, are believed to be all the civil officers who now draw their salaries from England. The military force consists of a captain, five or six subalterns, and probably two or three hundred soldiers. In consequence of the failure of support from the mother-country, the colony has imposed higher duties upon certain articles, in order to try the experiment of raising a revenue from their own resources. The most sagacious and best informed residents predict that the result aimed at will not follow, and that three or four years will suffice to render the colony of Sierra Leone bankrupt.
CHAPTER XXII.
Failure of the American Squadron to capture Slave-Vessels—Causes of that Failure—High character of the Commodore and Commander—Similar ill-success of the French Squadron—Success of the English, and why—Results effected by the American Squadron.
It will not have escaped the reader's notice, that the foregoing journal of our cruise records not the capture of a single slave-vessel, either by our own ship or any other belonging to the American squadron. Such is the fact, and such it must inevitably be, so long as the circumstances, which prevented our efficiency in that respect, shall continue to exist. The doctrines relative to the right of search, held by our Government and cordially sanctioned by the people, declare that the cruisers of no foreign nation have a right to search, visit, or in any way detain an American vessel on the high seas. Denying the privilege to others, we must of course allow the same inviolability to a foreign flag, as we assert for that of our own country. Hence, our national ships can detain or examine none but American vessels, or those which they find sailing under the American flag. But no slave-vessel would display this flag. The laws of the United States declare the slave-trade, if exercised by any of its citizens, to be piracy, and punishable with death; the laws of Spain, Portugal and Brazil, are believed to be different, or, at least, if they threaten the same penalty, are certain never to inflict it. Consequently, all slaves will be careful to sail under the flag of one of these latter nations, and thus avoid the danger of losing life as well as property, in the event of capture.