Kiowa French Zone Ke-uh.
AFRICA.
THE MENDI MISSION.
REV. A. F. JACKSON, AVERY.
When one enters upon this kind of work, he enters upon a tedious and arduous one—a work accompanied with many dark and gloomy days, as well as some bright ones. I suppose that you are aware that my work has been assigned me at Avery, or Mannah Bargroo Station, on the Little Sherbro river, about fifty-eight miles from Good Hope. At this station all of the agricultural work is carried on. We have here a mill, coffee-farm and ginger farm. I employ in the mill seven native men all the while; and on the farm two native men; besides a crew of boatmen, that row our boat from British Sherbro to the neighboring villages to sell the lumber that is sawed at our mill. We are enabled to keep one boat running all the while, and it is manned by natives entirely. They make first-rate crewmen, and have a decided advantage over a similar act of Englishmen or Americans, from the fact that they are always naked, and there is no impediment in case of an accident. All of them can swim in almost any kind of water. They do not stop to question whether there be alligators in the water or not, but go at the command. I can say that I have tried them sufficiently in all ways, and I have as yet found them all to be quite honest, with the exception of one man, who very politely went into my lot of goods on the way from Good Hope to my station, and took therefrom five or six yards of baft to trade for rice. This is the only dishonest act that I have known any one to commit since my arrival on the coast of Africa.
I have said a good deal about my boatmen, and will now give you a brief sketch of the habits and customs of this people. In the first place, the men go entirely naked, with the exception of a cloth they wear, something like that of an American baby’s diaper. The women wear about four yards of cloth thrown carelessly around them, covering the lower extremities, and tied by the ends about the waist.
When one dies, they have what they call “the cry,” in which all join. They go for miles to attend “the cry.” The body of the deceased is wrapped in matting, and conveyed to its long resting-place—a hole which is dug for that purpose. This has always been their mode of burying, and in many instances they prefer it to our way.
As to the general build of this people it is quite good. They possess very good features, as a general thing, having smooth skins and round faces. Their noses are not so flat as the American negro’s; neither are their eyes so red and blood-shot. Their mouths are not so disfigured. The most of them have quite a neat lip, not so thick as that of the American negro. Their hands and feet are generally small. Their bodies are very straight and well developed. It is astonishing to see how they carry burdens, either upon the head or back, with a loop so that it can be fastened around their foreheads.