5th, Tuesday. In course of the afternoon passed by a deep inlet where some boats were riding at anchor, and at sunset were abreast of several large woody islands supposed to be those immediately north of Patta; between 6 and 7 P.M. came to twelve fathoms, fine sand. That part of the coast of Africa stretching from the equator south beyond our present anchorage, promises in its aspect something very interesting to the enterprising investigator. The numerous richly-clothed islands which line the shore, separated by beautiful and frequently spacious inlets and bounded behind by a delightful continent, rich in all the charms of luxuriant vegetation, present to the eye a prospect extremely enchanting, and would seem to indicate a degree of natural wealth equal to the most favoured regions of the known globe. Nothing could form a more striking contrast with that in view than the barren coast to the eastward of Juba.[[98]] Fine steady easterly breeze, with pleasant weather. It is worthy of remark, since in the latitudes on this coast near the line, a heavy dew had been observed to begin falling immediately after the sun went down, and continued till some time after its rise next morning; during the day the air felt very dry,[[99]] thermometer at 79°. Lat. observed at noon 1° 23′ S.; long. per chron. at noon 41° 59′ E.; variation 13° W.
6th, Wednesday. Weighed and worked to windward for the purpose of trying the current and to get clear of the land to observe the latitude at noon; in a few tacks began to gain ground. It was therefore evident that the strong southerly current which runs along the coast during the North-east Monsoon had already began to change its direction, though as yet it is probably only to be felt near the shore. At noon saw a large dow a few miles astern, standing to the southward. She seemed at first extremely cautious of approaching the ships, but seeing English colours, ventured within hail, and being informed who we were, acquired more confidence. We were informed they were from Muscat bound to Mampasse;[[100]] they said their shyness arose from a suspicion of our being French cruisers. They afterwards obligingly sent on board two pilots to conduct the ship to anchorage near Patta.[[101]] At sunset came to six fathoms and abreast of some small isles at the south point of the isle of Guien, which forms the north side of the inlet adjoining the Peer Patta ([Note 7]), on which was observed a considerable town ([Note 8]), bearing from the ship about N.W. Fired a gun as a signal for a Patta pilot to carry us through the intricate channel to the inner anchorage. Wind still steady from the N.E. with fine weather. The thermometer at 79°. Lat. observed at noon 1° 59′ 6″.
7th, Thursday. A boat with pilots arrived from Patta; got under weigh and proceeded through the passage at 4, 5, and 6 fathoms, and at 11 A.M. came to again in a very narrow part of it leading between the N.E. point of the island of Peer Patta and an extensive sandbank, dry at low water, which runs a long way out. All of these islands, namely, Peer Patta, Daw Patta, Mandra, &c., are faced with shoals of rocks and render the navigation very difficult, and should, with other considerations, deter trading vessels from frequenting this port. In the afternoon sent the small boat with our Hindostanee pilot to Patta, to acquaint the Sooltan of our arrival and intention of visiting him next day. Weather as heretofore. The position of this anchorage is in South lat. 2° 4′; long. by chron. 41° 14′ 2″; variation 14° W.
TRANSACTIONS AT PATTA.[[102]]
8th, Friday. The boat that went yesterday to Patta returned this morning, having left behind Mallum Ali, the Hindostanee interpreter, a circumstance which (there being reason to believe his stay not voluntary) added to the report of the boat’s crew concerning the deportment of the natives on shore, did not tend to impress us with a favourable idea of their good intentions. We had already learnt, from the pilots and others who had visited us on board, that the place was distracted by civil dissensions; the Sooltanship being claimed by two rival cousins, whose respective adherents, occupying the same town, occasioned by their contentions a continual scene of confusion: and we knew that any correspondence with one party under these circumstances would, by the other, be considered as evincing a disposition of hostility towards them. It therefore became a doubt to which of these savage competitors for royalty we ought to pay our respects; for though we never dreamt of ascertaining the question of right and wrong between them, it was of some importance to discover which party was strongest and best able to protect and assist us in the prosecution of our inquiries. But this was found impracticable; several partisans of both factions were indeed on board, but each endeavoured to make it appear that his own was the right and powerful Sooltan. Had the boat’s crew been able to tell whose hands Mallum Ali had fallen into, it would have settled the matter as to the person, whoever he might be, there must have been a necessity to pay court; but none of them could speak with certainty respecting him. Disappointed in obtaining satisfactory information concerning this point, it was nevertheless determined to persevere in the resolution of visiting Patta. Accordingly about 11 A.M. Captain Smee, in company with Lieut. Hardy, myself, and the pilots, carrying with[with] us a present ([Note 9]) for the Sooltan, left the ship in the large cutter, manned with Europeans. It was judged prudent to take Arabs (though, to prevent misunderstanding, they remained concealed till compelled to produce them in our own defence). We had scarcely got a mile from the ship when we were met by a boat belonging to Sooltan Hammed with presents for Captain Smee; but finding him on his way to Patta he declined going any farther; the chief man and one of the Sepoys came into the cutter, and their boat returned with us to town. This conduct appearing very suspicious, determined us to act cautiously and avoid particularly giving any pretence for violence. After two hours’ sail we arrived off Patta: it was then low water, and the cutter could not approach nearer to the shore than half a mile; we were therefore obliged to go separately into small canoes which the negroes pushed through the mud to the beach. On landing nobody appeared to receive or conduct us to the Sooltan—another suspicious circumstance that did not give us much encouragement. But, had such been our desire, we had already gone too far to return, for the cutter with all the Europeans and Arabs were at some distance, and we had no means of rejoining them. Those who landed were—Captain Smee, Lieut. Hardy, and myself, the Syrang,[[103]] captain’s servants, with the pilots and persons from the Sooltan’s boat. Under the direction of these last we walked from the landing-place, surrounded by a crowd of armed savages, to a large unshapely heap of mud called the Palace of Sooltan Hammed, where we met with our interpreter, Mallum Ali. Having entered it through a wicket in a strong door or gate, we were conducted across a square court to a kind of open porch used, it seems, as a place of public audience; in it were placed several low beds or couches with broken rattan bottoms, on one of which we were desired to sit down. They were excessively dirty and looked as if they had been stolen from some native brother in India. Immediately to the left of the one in which we were seated, stood the Sooltan’s seat or throne, being nothing more than a new wooden arm-chair with a high back, and some rude carving on it. On the ground before, a round piece of wood or stone with a hole in the middle supplied the place of a footstool; and around stood a crowd of naked men and boys, for all ranks and descriptions have, it seems, here free access to the presence of their sovereign. The Sooltan immediately entered, and, holding out his hand to us severally, took ours, and put the back of it to his mouth—a ceremony the natives reversed; they all kissed the back of his hand. He is in person of a middle stature, rather corpulent, and has an agreeable countenance; I imagined his age to be about 35. He was dressed in a long, dirty, yellowish-coloured gown with a greasy turban on his head, and filthy loose slippers on his feet, and in the left hand carried a sabre, the handle of which was of black wood ornamented with gold and silver. Being seated, a tin goblet of sugar and water, the favourite beverage of the country, was handed to each, which having drunk, the presents, with the letters from government, were delivered by Captain Smee, who complimented the Sooltan in the name of Mr Duncan and the Honourable Company. He returned the compliments, but did not at that time open the letters. A conversation afterwards ensued, in which the objects of the voyage were stated, with a request for all the information in his power respecting them; but he seemed dissatisfied with the explanation of our views, which he probably suspected concealed designs of a dangerous nature, and appeared to stand very much on the reserve. To our interrogations about the unfortunate Mr Park[[104]] and his associates, he only answered, ‘How can I speak of the man? I never saw him.’ Regarding the rivers on the coast he confessed Rogues River to be of immense extent, that its sources were far beyond his knowledge, commonly believed to be in Europe, or, as he expressed it, ‘in our country;’[[105]] that a great number of slaves were brought down it to Brova; but as to the towns, state of the country, or people which dwell on its banks, he said he was totally ignorant. At my suggestion it was proposed to introduce the vaccine or inoculation at Patta, with the means for which I was ready provided. The Sooltan asked if that was possible, for, allowing I might be able to do such a thing, how could it be propagated so as to be of advantage. It was replied that a sufficient number of persons might be easily instructed for the purpose; but he seemed to doubt the truth of this assertion, and treated the proposal with contemptuous neglect. Then, rising, he abruptly withdrew. Thinking the audience at an end, we were about to retire, but it was intimated that we must walk into another apartment, whither they conducted us, the way to it leading through the opposite side of the court and up a narrow mud staircase: this room was better furnished, but equally filthy and more gloomy than the former. The Sooltan soon followed us, and it presently appeared, if we did not pay a very high price for liberty to take leave of his Highness, we must consent to remain for a time much exceeding either our pleasure or convenience. Seating himself for a moment and whispering to some of his attendants, he rose, and with them retired into an inner room, where Captain Smee was called, and remained separated from us during the rest of the conference, which lasted till near sunset. About 4 P.M. they all came out for a few minutes, and at this moment a lascar arrived from the boat and told us the people had been fired upon, but that on showing their arms they desisted. This outrage (we had a flag of truce flying all the time) was taken no notice of. The Sooltan laid it to the charge of his cousin’s ([Note 10]) party. His Highness, however, seemed perfectly ashamed of his own treatment of us, which was such as he did not care to make public, for he carried Captain Smee a second time into the private apartment for the purpose, as we afterwards understood, of extorting a promise of money and other articles from him. Our feelings were at this moment very uncomfortable. It was easy to see some mischief was in hand, for the place where we sat, and the passages about it, were filled with armed men; those who before had none, going out and returning with spears, bows and arrows, &c. Near sunset, Captain Smee again came out and, without sitting down, said he was going to the beach; we followed, and though environed by an armed multitude, reached it without molestation. Finding the boat, by the rise of the tide, had got close in, we embarked with great satisfaction. When Captain Smee was first called out, the Sooltan required that he should supply them with 15 muskets, 10 pistols, 11 barrels of gunpowder, several parcels of flints, &c. This demand was remonstrated against, on the ground that these articles belonged to the Company his masters, and if he parted with them he could not defend himself against his enemies,—two of whose vessels, they themselves had acknowledged, were at Zanzibar and Quailemane; but again reflecting he was entirely in their power, promised to comply with their requisitions as far as compatible with the safety of the ships under his command. They seemed satisfied; said the French vessels at Zanzibar and Quailemane were only small vessels trading for slaves, and for the time put an end to the conference; but encouraged by success (for they seemed to place great confidence in the promise of an Englishman), a second request for money to satisfy their soldiers was made, to which Captain Smee positively refused to accede. He told them he had no money to spare; asked if the letters he had delivered had been read; if so, that he was astonished they should make so unreasonable a demand. To this they returned an equivocating answer; first they had not; then they had read them. Perceiving him anxious to take leave (for they evidently intended to protract the interview till it should be too late for the boat to get off), they insisted on his staying to eat; said he had better stay all night, for there was not water enough for the boat to get to the ship. He said he would go and see, and without giving time for deliberation, walked out and fortunately got to the beach before the rabble without knew anything of the affair. Having got the two pilots into the cutter and a Sepoy belonging to the Sooltan’s boat who was still waiting on the beach, we put off, determining to keep him as a security for the safety of Mallum Ali, who remained behind to preserve a show of friendship with the Sooltan, and at midnight reached the ships, much fatigued, and happy at having escaped so well.
DESCRIPTION OF PATTA.
The town of Patta stands on a low square point between two salt-water creeks surrounded with woods, chiefly cocoa-nut trees, and is composed of wretched mud buildings. No fruit except the cocoa-nut[cocoa-nut] was met with, and it was found impossible to procure any fresh water. The sheep, which are covered with hair instead of wool, and their goats are excellent ([Note 11]). The inhabitants belong to the Souallie[[106]] tribe, a people sprung from a mixture of the Galla[[107]] negroes with the Arabs, &c. The flat nose and thick lips, so peculiarly distinctive of the African countenance, is generally observed among them, and sufficiently marks their original connection with that race;[[108]] the woolly covering of the head universally prevails; the colour of their skins varies from a reddish brown or tawny hue, like the Arabs, to nearly a deep black; in their dispositions they are cunning and treacherous to the last degree.[[109]]
On the 9th, the same boat we met yesterday, and which returned with us to town, arrived at the ships with presents from the Sooltan, consisting of 60 cocoa-nuts, three white bullocks, and three goats in charge of one of his principal men, who came to receive the articles, the promise of which had been extorted during the interview at Patta. To give no cause for quarrel, the Sooltan’s present was accepted, but the boat was sent back with an answer that until Mallum Ali should be sent on board not a single article would be parted with. The pilots perceiving the boats go away without them, became very outrageous, and attempted to leap overboard, but finding themselves too well guarded, they desisted, and began to say (in direct contradiction to what they formerly asserted, and on the strength of which we had allowed ourselves to be brought to the present anchorage) that there was not water enough for the ships to get through the channel of the S.W., as the wind rendered it impossible for us to return the way we came in, and the above passage the only one by which we could keep clear of the shoals which surrounded us. We determined to detain the pilots till the ships were out of danger.
Next day, the 10th, the boat returned with Mallum Ali, though the promise given to the Sooltan was compulsory, and did not, strictly speaking, deserve the least regard; yet out of respect to the word and honour of an Englishman, as well as for the sake of any of our countrymen who might hereafter fall into their hands, and on whom they might be tempted to retaliate their disappointment, it was resolved to adhere to our extorted engagements as far as consistent with the safety of the ships. Therefore five muskets, two pistols, two barrels of gunpowder, two bundles of musket-ball cartridges, and 160 flints, being all we could spare, were delivered, with which they departed very well satisfied, and thus terminated this troublesome business.
From the 10th to the 12th we were occupied in getting through the S.W. channel, which proved a very tedious job. The pilots were either too ignorant or too unwilling to be of much service, and it became necessary to keep our boats out sounding in order to discover the passage, and direct the ships how to steer: we found it very narrow, and interrupted in two places by bars, on which at high water we found not more than one quarter less three fathoms. From the anchorage the channel ran W.S.W. 1/2 W., about half a mile, and then turned to the southward. In leading out on the 11th the Sylph grounded, but soon got off again; on the evening of the 12th, having got clear of the sands and rocks, dismissed the pilots, and stood out to sea during the night. Since anchoring at Patta the weather (with the exception of the morning of the 8th, when a few drops of rain fell) was fair with pleasant easterly winds, and heavy dews at night. The thermometer generally at 82°. The town, as near as we could ascertain (for we had no opportunity of determining it exactly), is in lat. 2° 8′ S., and long. by chron. 41° 13′ E., variation 14° W.