The native dress of the men is simple enough, consisting of a pink and white or blue and white check cloth round the waist, and a variety of ornaments, made of skin, metal, glass, or ivory. The latter substance is mostly obtained either from the Gaboon or Cameroon, and is worn in the shape of large arm rings, cut slowly with a knife, and polished by drawing a wet cord backward and forward. Some of the sailor Krumen have their names (i. e. their nautical names) engraved on their armlets, and some of them wear on the breast a brass plate with the name engraved upon it. Of course some of their ornaments are charms or fetishes.
The women present a disagreeable contrast to the men, their stature being short, their proportions ungainly, and their features repulsive. Their style of dress, which is merely a much-attenuated petticoat, displays nearly the whole of the figure, and enables the spectator to form a very accurate opinion of their personal appearance. Of course, the chief part of the work is done by the women, and this custom has doubtless some effect in stunting and deteriorating the form.
All the Krumen have two names, one being that by which they are called in their own tongue, and one by which they are known to their employers. It really seems a pity that these fine fellows should be degraded by the ludicrous English names which are given to them. Their own names—e. g. Kofá, Nákú, Tiyá, &c.—are easy enough to speak, and it would be far better to use them, and not to “call them out of their names,” according to the domestic phrase. Here are the names of five men who engaged to take Mr. Reade to the Gaboon: Smoke Jack, Dry Toast, Cockroach, Pot-of-Beer, and—of all the names in the world for a naked black man—Florence Nightingale.
They always demand rice, that being a necessity with them, and as long as they get their pint and a half per diem of rice they can stand unlimited work. They cook the rice for themselves in their primitive but effective manner, and feed themselves much as turkeys are crammed, seizing large handfuls of rice, squeezing them into balls, and contriving, in some mysterious way, to swallow them whole without being choked. When they enter the naval service they consider themselves as made men, getting not only their rice, but allowance in lieu of other rations plenty of clothing, and high wages, so that when they go ashore they are rich men, and take their rank. Of course they are fleeced by all their relations, who flock round them, and expect to be feasted for several days, but still the sailor Kruman can buy a wife or two, and set up for a “man” at once. In his own phrase, he is “nigger for ship, king for country.” One year is the usual term of engagement, and it is hardly possible to induce Krumen to engage for more than three years, so attached are they to “me country.”
Their government is simple. They are divided into four classes, or castes,—namely, the elders, the actual warriors, the probationary warriors, and the priests; the latter term including the priests proper, the exorcists, and the physicians. They are strictly republican, and no one is permitted to accumulate, or, at all events, to display, wealth much above the average of his fellows. Should even one of the elders do so, a palaver is held, and his property is reduced to proper level. This is described by the English-speaking Krumen as the punishment for “too much sass.” In fact, property is held on the joint stock principle, so that the word “commonwealth” is very applicable to their mode of government.
Capital punishment is rare, and is seldom used, except in cases of witchcraft or murder, and it is remarkable that, in the latter case, no distinction is made between accidental manslaughter and murder with “malice prepense.” The poison ordeal is common here, the draught being prepared from the “sass-wood” of the gidden tree; and there is a wholesome rule that, if the accused survives the ordeal, the accuser must drink it in his turn.
That they are arrant liars, that they are confirmed thieves, and that they have not the slightest notion of morality, is but to say that they are savages, and those who have to deal with them can manage well enough, provided that they only bear in mind these characteristics. If they hear that they are going to some place which they dislike—probably on account of some private feud, because they are afraid of some man whose domestic relations they have disturbed—they will come with doleful faces to their master, and tell him the most astounding lies about it.
Yet they are a cheerful, lively set of fellows, possessing to the full the negro’s love of singing, drumming, and dancing. Any kind of work that they do is aided by a song, and an experienced traveller who is paddled by Krumen always takes with him a drum of some sort, knowing that it will make the difference of a quarter of the time occupied in the journey. Even after a hard day’s work, they will come to their master, ask permission to “make play,” and will keep up their singing and dancing until after midnight. Under such circumstances the traveller will do well to grant his permission, under the condition that they remove themselves out of earshot. Even their ordinary talk is so much like shouting, that they must always be quartered in outhouses, and when they become excited with their music their noise is unendurable.
They are very fond of intoxicating liquids, and are not in the least particular about the quality, so that the intoxicating property be there.
It has already been mentioned that they are arrant thieves, and in nothing is their thieving talent more conspicuous than when they exercise it upon spirituous liquors. They even surpass the British sailor in the ingenuity which they display in discovering and stealing spirits, and there is hardly any risk which they will not run in order to obtain it. Contrary to the habit of most savage people, they are very sensitive to pain, and a flogging which would scarcely be felt by a Bush boy will elicit shrieks of pain from a Kruman. They dread the whip almost as much as death, and yet they will brave the terrors of a certain flogging in order to get at rum or brandy.