The jungle folk of Africa

by Robert H. Milligan

Not to touch upon the doubtful propriety of swearing under any circumstances; no one but a fool will habitually swear at a Kruboy. For the Kruboy is as indifferent to a curse as to a blessing, and thus it reacts upon the man himself, exasperating him and putting him into such a rage as to threaten him with a fit of apoplexy or at least a brain-storm. The cursing of one or another of the officers at the Kruboys is both loud and continuous, and if it should suddenly cease one might be justified in supposing that the ship had sprung a leak and was about to go to the bottom and the officers to certain death.

On the homeward voyage there are always, among the deck-passengers, a number of Accra or Lagos men who have been working on the south coast and are returning home with their pay, a large portion of which is in the shape of various goods. There is no harbour in either of these places and the steamer anchors far out, in rough water, the passengers going ashore in boats. Some officers when in charge of native passengers are careful of their baggage; but occasionally—and not seldom—it is flung down into the boat below without the slightest care and even with the apparent intention of causing as much breakage and other damage as possible. The officer casts an occasional glance towards the upper deck, quite sure that the white passengers are enjoying the joke. But he is mistaken: both the missionary and the trader are indignant. For they both know the native better than he does, and they also know that those goods were earned by the hard labour of at least a year, and perhaps three years, during which time he has not seen his home or his friends. And only those who know them intimately can understand this sacrifice; for the African can die of homesickness.

THE DEBARKATION OF A DECK PASSENGER.

It is in accord with native etiquette that these men coming home should arrive very much dressed, in new clothes, starched linen and infinite jewelry. This dressing is done on the open deck and occupies sometimes the entire day before the arrival, to the delight of the white passengers, who also give much kindly and gratuitous advice, which the native takes in good part. But in spite of their assistance there is nearly always something a little “off” in the completed toilet. One individual, grandly dressed, had his new shoes on the wrong feet. They had been made on a very crooked last and the effect was more grotesque than one would suppose. He looked as if he expected to walk with his legs crossed. Well, we may enjoy all this with very kindly feelings towards the native. But the fun is all spoiled when the ship’s officer perpetrates a practical joke apparently for our amusement. These passengers, men and women, in places where the sea is rough, are lowered into the boat by a chair, which is fastened to the end of a long rope suspended from a crane. The chair looks perfectly safe and comfortable as it sits on the deck. The native gets into it without hesitation. The rope is then drawn up by the crane till the chair is raised from the deck and goes swinging out over the bounding main. Its occupant, if it be a woman with a baby, for instance, screams with fright, and perhaps as the chair moves off flings her baby back on the deck, trusting to Providence for its landing; but the African baby leads a charmed life. Meanwhile the woman shuts her eyes and resigns herself to her fate. The chair is lowered to the boat below, and if the sea be rough and the boat heaving and tossing there is a very dangerous moment as the chair first comes in contact with it. The women are always lowered with care. But in lowering these much-dressed men—usually several at once—the officer in charge frequently makes it a point to “capsize” them, by letting the chair come down on the gunwale of the surf-boat, or on a thwart, so as to spill the occupants into the boat and into the six inches of very dirty water in the bottom of it, head first, or on their backs. Not to speak of the bruised and bleeding condition which sometimes results from this treatment, the native’s toilet is deranged, his clothes perhaps torn, and he goes ashore in woeful dishabille. No one enjoys this joke but the officer himself.

At Lagos, on the homeward voyage, in these late years natives come on board with large basket-coops of chickens which they take to Sekondi and sell to the white men connected with the mines. In each of these baskets there are three or four dozen chickens, which will sell for three shillings each; and surely this is an industry that ought to receive every encouragement. It is good for the natives and good for the miners. Yet, on certain steamers, such is the carelessness in loading them that sometimes not half the chickens reach Sekondi alive. There is not the least necessity for this large loss, nor for any loss. One day a trader of Fernando Po and I standing together watched a native, who had just come on board with his chickens, while he took out of one basket sixteen dead ones, exactly a third of the whole number, and he probably lost as many in landing them. We both thought that if the owner had been a white man in all probability not a chicken would have been lost.

The Kruboys are divided into deck-boys and boat-boys. The more intelligent and experienced of the deck-boys run the steam-winches and cranes, used in raising cargo from the hold, and in loading and stowing. Above the unceasing and relentless creaking of these three or four machines is heard the loud voice of one or several natives who stand at the open hatches and transmit orders from those in the hold below to those at the machines, the orders being always accompanied by appropriate gestures, which are also signals, so well understood that words would not be necessary for the common orders. Those at the hatches repeat from early morning till late at night the following calls: “Heave a link—half a link—half a link—lower away. Lower a link—half a link—lower a link—heave away.” Except between ports this goes on incessantly above the noise of the several winches. On one occasion when I had been feeling miserable for several days I said to the captain: “If ever I go mad I am sure I shall go on saying as long as I live: ‘Half a link—half a link—heave away.’” The captain replied: “That is precisely the end to which I myself am looking forward.” But when I am well I never weary of watching them at work.

A great variety of cargo is discharged, but more salt and gin than anything else. We take on rubber, ivory, mahogany, ebony, camwood, palm-oil and kernels. The palm-oil and kernels are used for the manufacture of soap and candles. The camwood, also called barwood, was more in demand before the use of analine dyes, but is still used in dyeing bandannas.

But the work of loading mahogany is of greatest interest to the passengers. At Gaboon many hundreds of these logs are always lying on the beach (or “in” the beach, as the disgusted captain frequently reports) awaiting shipment. African mahogany in these days is being shipped even to America where it is used for furniture. It is not nearly so valuable as the mahogany of Cuba and South America. But when it is figured with the “roe” it brings an enormous price. The roe of the mahogany is formed in the grain by one ring overlapping the other, making mottled ringlets of light and shade, sometimes very pronounced and exquisitely beautiful. Only those trees are cut which are close to the river, for the native has no mechanical means of transporting it and no mechanical aptitude to invent such means. They cut it into logs about twenty feet long, the average diameter being three feet. Such a log weighs about a ton and sometimes much more. They slide the logs down into the river on improvised rollers. Then in one or several canoes they tow from two to eight logs at a time to the coast where they are sold to the white trader for about five dollars each, in goods. This is the average value at Gaboon. The trader puts the house-mark on them and then leaves them on the beach until they are shipped. At high tide most of them are afloat but they cannot drift away, as the waves are stronger than the current and drive them back on the beach. The German traders usually have their logs squared before shipping whereby much is saved on the freight to Europe. But others say that it costs more to have them squared by the native using an adz than to pay the extra freight and have them squared in the mills of Europe.

The Kruboys are sent ashore from the ship to raft the logs, having first rolled them down the beach or dug them out of it. A spike with a ring attached, called a dog, is driven into an end of each log, through which a rope is passed. Then they are towed, ten or twelve at a time, to the steamer, usually anchored half a mile, or even a mile from the shore. The Kruboys with surf-boats and paddles tow them well away from the shore and then they are taken by the steam launch, if the launch happens to be in order, which is once in a while. It is only in late years that the English steamers have carried launches. The first of these were evidently such as had been discarded by more favoured lines. They had ways past finding out. One of these, from its characteristic habit, a trader named the Sudden Jerk, following native custom. Another which was sound only in the whistle I named the Piercing Scream.