On my visit to Sierra Leone, Dr. Oldfield, whose veracity cannot be questioned, and whose position affords a superior knowledge of that traffic, informed me that many of the slaves adjudicated upon at Sierra Leone were obtained through the agency of the colonists of Abbakuta. Does not this fact prove the necessity of devising some means to induce the relinquishment of this unlawful traffic, and to the adoption of honest and remunerative industry? On the coast, especially at Whydah, a ready market might here always be found for corn and other produce, as many ships leave this coast with only half a cargo. I feel confident if a hundred steady men met with some encouragement to emigrate from England as agriculturists and mechanics, they would do well in this country, particularly as the King of Dahomey is so anxious that Englishmen should settle here. I visited a farm-house where I found a hand-mill for grinding corn and manioc. It was a large fly-wheel, not placed horizontally, but perpendicular, like the barley mill: the felloes of the wheel about six inches broad, and worked in a trough of a semicircular form. The rim of this wheel is covered with sheet copper, having small holes punched through. It is then nailed on the rim with the rough side outwards. The wheel is turned in the same way as a grindstone. The trough can be raised or lowered at will according as they require it. This was made by the farmer himself near this place.
On the borders of a marsh I found some fern of various species, the lady or female much resembling that in England, and the common fern exactly the same as our English fern, with the exception of the size, both species here being much larger. The lady fern measures five feet, and the others six feet four inches. Mangoes, oranges, limes, three different species of tamarinds, grow wild in this country, and many other delicious fruits, with the names of which I am unacquainted; amongst them a damson, very sweet when ripe, dark, brown, or red, and of the size of a cherry.
FOOTNOTES:
[13] This toll-bar is composed of piles or stakes driven into the bed of the lagoon, touching each other the whole distance across, leaving a space sufficient for a canoe to pass, but after 12 A.M. secured from passage by a slip-bar.
[14] See Mission Reports.
CHAPTER IX.
Manufacture of Salt—Death of Dr. M’Hardy—Falling Stars—Manioc, the Food of the Slaves—Crops—Mode of storing Grain—Superstition—Hospitality of Don Francisco de Suza—A Tornado—Slave Auctions—Punishment for killing Fetish Snakes—Slaughter of Dogs, &c.—Dogs used as Food—An English Dog rescued—Thievish Propensities of the Natives—Falling Stars—Murder of two Wives—Adjito—A heavy Tornado—Robbed by my Servant—American Brig sold to Slave Merchants—Shipment of Slaves—Sharks—Death caused by one—Preparations for my Journey to the Kong Mountains—M. De Suza’s Liberality—His Opinion of Englishmen.
March 24th.—It is Harmattan season to-day. The thermometer has fallen from 84° to 71° Fahrenheit, but the general rise and fall of the thermometer at Whydah may be calculated to range from 78° to 84° during the month of March; though, as will be seen, sudden and extraordinary changes have taken place in the temperature. Salt is made in great abundance at Whydah, and forms one of their principal articles of trade, and is transported to a great distance into the interior. Their method of procuring the salt is simple and easy. Near Whydah the sea flows into the lagoon at high water, consequently it is very salt. During the ebb-tide the lagoon also ebbs, and the great heat of the sun causes such rapid evaporation, as to leave the salt on the surface, so as to resemble hoar-frost or a slight fall of snow. It is then scraped together, and frequently boiled, which cleanses and whitens it, but the natives generally use it in its original state.
April 4th.—The California, Captain Hunt, arrived here from Cape Coast and Accra, bringing the melancholy intelligence of the death of Dr. M’Hardy, colonial surgeon of Cape Coast. He was a young man of amiable and gentlemanly manners, and shewed great skill in the treatment of the fever prevalent in that country. It is rather singular that this gentleman should never have experienced an hour’s sickness during the two years he resided in Africa, till the short illness which had proved fatal to him. He had been relieved from his station by Dr. Lilley, and was only waiting for a passage to England. Dr. M’Hardy attended me with great kindness and attention during the fever which attacked me. He was one of the officers of the garrison whose kind and generous treatment I shall ever remember with the warmest feelings of gratitude. Indeed I have experienced great kindness from every European on this coast, as well as from the respectable body of civilized Africans.
April 11th.—At three o’clock A.M., I observed an extraordinary falling of stars, falling from south to west at an angle of twenty degrees. I visited the same day a small kroom, at the distance of three miles, bearing due west from Whydah. The situation of the village is delightful, and the land well cultivated. Round the kroom are numerous manioc and palm-trees. Maize or Indian corn, and manioc are the chief crops raised in this neighbourhood, on account of the great demand for farina, which is made from the manioc-root. The root is ground in the same manner as potatoes for starch. It is then dried in the sun, and again partially ground till about the same substance as oatmeal. This is the principal food of the slaves, both during the time they are waiting to be shipped and on their passage. Corn is produced twice during the year, and a smaller sort of red corn may be obtained even four times in the year; but I have generally observed a carelessness in the storing of grain in this country, consequently the weevil or moth destroys a great quantity. At this kroom I observed an excellent plan for storing and preserving grain. A large circular jar, formed of clay, is placed upon a platform raised two feet and a half from the ground on pillars, similar to some cornricks in England. This immense jar is generally about nine feet in diameter and twelve feet deep. As soon as the first layer of clay is properly hardened, which seldom requires more than twenty-four hours in a tropical sun, another layer is laid on, and so on till it attains its proper height. A light conical roof is then formed of bamboo, and thatch sewn over it, similar to the covering of beehives in England. This roof can be removed at pleasure, to give air to the grain. When corn is required for the market, or for their own use, it is drawn from a hole left at the bottom of the jar, over which is placed a wooden slide.