Slave Canoe—Duke's Pilot—Old Calabar Town—Consternation on Shore, and disappearance of the Slave Vessels—Fruitless Pursuit of the Slavers—Eyo Eyo, King Eyo's Brother—Old Calabar Festivals—Attempted Assassination, and Duke Ephraim's Dilemma—Obesity of the King's Wives—Ordeal for Regal Honours—Duke's English House—Coasting Voyage to the Bonny—Author discovers Symptoms of Fever—The Rivers of St. Nicholas, Sombrero, St. Bartholomew, and Sta. Barbara—"The Smokes"— Capture of a Spanish Slave Vessel in the River St. John—Nun, or First Brass River, discovered to be the Niger—Natural Inland Navigation— New Calabar River—Pilot's Jhu Jhu—Foche Island—Author Sleeps on Shore—Bonny Bath—Interview with King Peppel—Ceremony of opening the Trade—Rashness of a Slave Dealer—Horrible Fanaticism— Schooner at Sea—Return to Fernando Po
Wednesday, January 23, 1828.—Fortunately the wind was light, for had it blown hard, the result might have been fatal to the vessel. At seven in the morning, we found the vessel afloat, and attempted, with a small anchor and cable, assisted by the sails, to get her over the mud: but, at eleven o'clock, we were again stuck fast. In the afternoon, we sent a letter by a Krooman, in a small canoe, to Captain Cumings, of the brig Kent, lying off the town of Old Calabar, commonly called Duke's Town, as the king of that country is generally known by the name and title of Duke Ephraim. In about a couple of hours, the Krooman returned, in consequence of having met with a very large canoe coming down on her passage to the Camaroon river, to purchase slaves. He induced the Captain to come on board, but the appearance of a schooner, with so large a boat and so many hands, evidently created some suspicion in his mind. He was too much a man of the world, however, not to affect a confidence, which we were all persuaded he did not feel:—he drank some rum, and carried himself with consummate self-possession; gave us all the Calabar news he could recollect, and demanded our latest intelligence in return. When the conversation was exhausted, and a good opportunity occurred for taking leave, he departed; heartily rejoiced, no doubt, at escaping with so much tact. His canoe was about fifty feet long, with a small thatched house built on a platform in the centre. The paddles were worked by boys, under the direction of two men, who gave out a song when pulling. There were two poor creatures, whom we supposed to be slaves, confined in irons, at one end of the boat.
About nine we got clear of the mud-flats, after a great deal of trouble, with hawsers and a small anchor; we then stood up the river, and at eleven anchored for the night.
Thursday, 24.—Fresh breezes from the northward, and very hazy. The wind coming from the Camaroon mountains, increased the haziness of the atmosphere, and made it feel very cold. Soon after daylight, when the tide answered, we got under weigh, and beat up the river. About eleven, we came to an anchor off Parrott Island, the north end of which bore S.W. ½ W. and the north end of James's Island N. by E. At three in the afternoon, a pilot came on board, and, at five, Captain Smith, with Lieutenant Badgeley, went up to the brig Kent, off Duke's Town, to procure information.
Friday, 25.—At three this morning, the same party returned; and, soon after daylight, we got the schooner under weigh, to beat up the river, and the Duke's head pilot came on board, when to prove the confidence that might be reposed in him, he brought a certificate from Lieutenant Corry, of H.M.S. North Star, which stated that he had piloted that ship's boats up the river, as well as conducted them down, with a slave-vessel that they had seized. We blackened the schooner's yellow sides with a mixture of gunpowder and water. This, however, was not a very safe pigment, for if a spark of fire had happened to have come in contact with any part of her side, it would have communicated from one extremity to the other: but it served for a temporary disguise, which was all we required.
About noon, we came abreast of the town of Old Calabar, where we observed the greatest confusion. Armed men, of different colours and nations, were running about in all directions, preparing, as we imagined, to oppose our landing, for it was evident they were alarmed at our appearance, which sufficiently indicated our intentions. The slave-vessels, afraid of being seized, had disappeared from before the town, and gone farther up the river before we arrived, so that, however we might have been otherwise disposed, we did not drop anchor, but continued to advance as long as the tide served, which was till half-past one, when the wind failing, we were obliged to anchor. The Duke's pilot, when we were off the town, requested to leave us for a short time; he said, he "must go tell Duke news, and come back directly." We afterwards discovered that his pretence to go ashore, was merely a subterfuge to get away altogether, for he never returned, and we had good reason for believing, that all the people, from the Duke (or King, which is the same thing) to the meanest of his subjects, secretly abet the unlawful proceedings of the slavers, by whom they realize much larger profits than by the regular traders. At three, we sent the small canoe, with two Kroomen, up the river, to ascertain the situation of the slave-vessels, and soon got under weigh to follow them; but the wind dying off towards sunset, we were obliged to anchor again. About an hour afterwards, our canoe returned, with information that three slave schooners, and a brig, had gone still farther up the river, indeed, as far as the navigation of the river would allow, where they had fortified themselves in the strongest manner, to resist any attack on our part: having also the support of all the authorities of the native towns and villages that could, with any show of prudence, be extended to them. We also understood, that they had not a slave on board of either of them, which was likely enough, as it is not customary to put them on board until they are on the point of sailing. These circumstances determined Lieutenant Badgeley to return to the town, in which resolution he was also influenced by the consideration of the inferiority of our force. A schooner of 120 tons, with no more than twenty Europeans on board; the crew of the vessel being Africans (as the crews of most of the colonial vessels that navigate this coast are,) could have but a poor chance against five vessels, mustering not less than 150 white men of different nations, and reckoning 30 guns to our six. The caution evinced by this step, however justified by circumstances, did not, I must confess, appear to me to be very creditable to our character, and must have made us look very foolish. After having chased the slavers so far up the river, we ought to have brought the matter to an issue, particularly as we had the eyes of all the country upon us, and were regarded with great anxiety by the people of Old Calabar town, as well as by the crews of the British merchant-vessels in the river. The affair gave the slavers an opportunity of exulting over our failure, and their own good fortune; which, I think, was to be regretted. On going down the river, a large canoe came alongside with one of the great men of the country on board, named Eyo Eyo, a brother to King Eyo; when he asked for a present, and something to drink, the customary demand of the natives. We presented him with a few leaves of tobacco, which appeared to amuse him exceedingly: he held them up with a contemptuous sneer, and asked if that was a present? This man was as shrewd a fellow as any we met with, in Old Calabar, and had long been accustomed to trade, and receive presents, from captains of slavers, and palm-oil vessels.
At nine, we arrived off Robin's Town, where a canoe met us, with a note from Captain Cumings, of the Kent, informing us, that a Frenchman had entered his palm-oil house, and deliberately shot his second mate through the body.
There are two grand festivals here, which take place every eighth day in succession. Old Calabar day, which was yesterday; and Duke's day, which happens to-day. The succession of these festivals is curious enough; that which takes place on Thursday in this week, will be on Friday in the next week; and the one on Friday this week, will be on Saturday in the following week, and so on.
Saturday, 26.—We got under weigh, and dropped down with the ebb tide, abreast of Duke's Town, a distance of three miles, where we anchored. We had not been long here before the Duke, attended by a number of his black gentlemen, and followed by Captain Cumings, of the Kent, came on board to have a grand palaver with Lieutenant Badgeley, concerning the attempted assassination of Captain Cumings' mate, on the preceding day. The Frenchman's name was Ferrard, and this monster was no less than the Captain of a slave-vessel. The cause of this palaver, was an imperative demand, on the part of Captain Cumings, that the Duke should deliver the Frenchman into our hands, in order that he should be given up to justice in the event of the mate's death: but the Duke made great difficulties concerning the practicability of securing this man, and offered many excuses to escape the acknowledgment of any responsibility in the matter. It was clear enough that he wished to protect the assassin, as indeed it was his policy to shield the slavers, whose trade was more lucrative to him, than that of any other class of persons. Finding himself somewhat embarrassed in the conversation, he made an apology for leaving the vessel, saying he would go on shore and see what could be done, inviting us at the same time to finish the palaver at his house. Accordingly we all went on shore, after breakfast, attended by two marines. A second palaver took place, which was merely a repetition of the first, and when it terminated, he presented us with some excellent Champagne, and then exhibited a quantity of fine clothes, with a variety of other articles, all of which he said he had received as presents. The only dress His Majesty wore, when he came on board, was a cotton cloth round his middle, and a fine white beaver hat, bound with broad gold lace. Captain Cumings, at our request, asked permission of the Duke to allow us to see his wives, who live in a square formed of mud huts, with a communication from the back part of his house. The Duke very courteously complied with our wishes, and sent persons to attend us. There were about sixty Queens, besides little Princes and Princesses, with a number of slave-girls to wait upon them. His favourite Queen, the handsomest of the royal party, was so large that she could scarcely walk, or even move, indeed they were all prodigiously large, their beauty consisting more in the mass of physique, than in the delicacy or symmetry of features or figure. This uniform tendancy to en bon point, on an unusual scale, was accounted for, by the singular fact, that the female upon whom His Majesty fixes his regards, is regularly fattened up to a certain standard, previously to the nuptial ceremony, it appearing to be essential to the Queenly dignity that the lady should be enormously fat. We saw a very fine young woman undergoing this ordeal. She was sitting at a table, with a large bowl of farinaceous food; which she was swallowing as fast as she could pass the spoon to, and from, the bowl, and her mouth; and she was evidently taking no inconsiderable trouble to qualify herself for that happy state, which Pope tell us is the object of every woman's ambition, that of being Queen for life, the royal road to which, in this country, lies through a course of gormandizing. The same custom extends to the wives of the great men, who undergo a similar operation before marriage. On the morning of their wedding-day they are seated at a table, to receive presents from their relations and friends; a yard of cloth from one, some silk from another, some beads from a third, according to the taste incapacity of the donors. My companions were not much struck with the beauty of the Queens, for they declared that some of the pretty young slave-girls had much more lovely looks. Each of the Duke's wives bring, or send, a jug of water for his large brass-pan bath every morning, and his favourite wife remains to assist in his ablutions.
On leaving the Queens' Square, we were invited to go over the Duke's English house, as it was called, which, in fact it was, having been sent out in frame, from Liverpool, with carpenters to erect it, by Mr. Bold, formerly a merchant of that town. This wooden edifice stood by the side of his mud hut, in which, by the bye, such was the force of habit, he preferred residing. In the English house there was a grand display of European articles, consisting of furniture, mirrors, pictures, a quantity of cut-glass on the sideboard, and to crown all, there was a large brass arm-chair, weighing 160 pounds, a present from Sir John Tobin, with an inscription engraved on it, to that effect.