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Maryland State Archives Maryland Colonization Journal Collection MSA SC 4303 msa_sc4303_scm11070-0041 Enlarge and print image (4M) |
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Maryland State Archives Maryland Colonization Journal Collection MSA SC 4303 msa_sc4303_scm11070-0041 Enlarge and print image (4M) |
| MARYLAND COLONIZATION JOURNAL. CONDUCTED BY THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS OF THE MARYLAND STATE COLONIZATION SOClETY, UNDER THE AUSP1CES OF THE MANAGERS OF THE STATE FUND. Vol. I. Baltimore, August, 1837 No. 11. When gratuitous, please circulate. WEST AFRICA. EXTRACTS FROM THE JOURNAL OF MR. WILSON. Reception at Kay—The Town and its Inhabi- tants. The people of Kay hud heard that we were coming, and were on the tiptoe ot' expecta- tion. They hail oftM heard of the 'white man;' but, with lew exception*, none of them had ever seen one; and now they were' about to enjoy the long wit-hod for fight within the enclosure of their own town. The chil- dren met us in grout numbers seme distance from the town, and the whole population wore assembled without the gate. Our entry was honored by the beating of the town drum and a heavy discharge of muskets, an bonoc shown in this com.try only to kings and white men. We were Conducted to the front of the king's house, where an old dusty hollow chest was thrust Mlt tor us to sit Upon, and we were soon walled around by a solid mass of naked human beings. Those who stood in thu out- ermost ranks pressed into th"ir service mor- tars and benches, and many clam') red up the roofs of the houses to get a peep at the stran- ger, I was urged to lake off ley hit, and m so doing caused another loud yell. No mena- gerie exhibitions in the world could excite more dose observation, than does a white man on his lirst visit to one of these bush towns. His every action is observed With shameless scrutiny. If you eat, they want to see how a white man eats; if you sleep, they wiiiil to see bow you look with your eyes shut. Nor is it possible iii one of these settlements to get out. of their reach. If yon walk out, you are followed by a gang of noisy boys and girls; if you go into one of their houses, it will be crowded to suffocation. Tie; traveller acts the wisest pirt who sits down, and bears it with all his might. A small house in front of the king's was assigned as our quarters, and I availed myself of it to bathe my feet and change my clothes. During the time, however, it was necessary to have a sentry at the door to keep out the people. We were presented with a chicken tor our supper, but my interpreter took it in high dudgeon that the bearer of it should have mistaken bun for the cook. Our house was afterwards changed for a more commo- dious one, and it would have been more pleas- ant, had not the king and a part of his liimily been fellow ocrupants. 1 enjoyed, however, a comfortable sleep. In the morning we were aroused by the singing of a woman at our door, and the discharge of guns. Tlie houses of kings or duels in this part of the country do nut differ materially from those of the com- mon people. They usually have a lurger Dumber of wives, and consequently a greater number of houses, as each woman must have her own bouse. There was no great display of china as we am accustomed to see ill the houses of the people'along the beach,and it is probable that this king was very poor in all foreign article*, because for some years before this they were cut off from all cuininuuic itiou with the beach people- When I came out of the house in the morning I found Teddah mid Ins head-men assembled lo thank me for my visit, and to commence bis country's hospitality. A bend- some young bullock was brought out and the king pronounced it mine. Another man with a drawn knife stepped up and asked me' if I would have it killed- 1 told luui certainly ; and before I could get away it was killed within a few feet of our door. Soon after this work of death, which, from Us barbarous mode of infliction, had made me feel uncomfortably, a man brought a large howl of smoking blood and inquired if I wanted it I turned away with no little abhorrence, hut was relieved in some measure, wlieu Hello Informed me that the people del not drink it before it Wtl boiled, After the bullock was quartered, I was again sent for to say how I would have it distributed, This Hello undertook. One p I OH was set aside for our Company, another for the king's family, a thud for lie' soldiers, and the remain- der lor the town's people at large. For which 1 received general thanks. Specimen of a Sermon to the People. At an early hour in the day I requested Teddah to assemble the people ill some con- venient place that I might preach to them, in other words, 'to talk Go.Is palaver.' To tins he readily assented, 'out it was twelve o'clock before they could all he got together. The palaver house was swept out for tins pur- pose, hut proved to be small, and we retired to an ppen apace in the town, which is occupied as a dancing ground. The king took his seat near to me, and the people formed an oblong square in front. A few of tlie principal men had seats, but the body of the people were squatted on the ground. I need scarcely say that my feelings were deeply engaged when I found myself, as a minister ot the living God, surrounded by Ave hundred human beings, not one of whom hail ever heard id' the name of Jesus, or the glad tidings of salvation. The simple announcement of my intention had awakened their attention. Their language virtually was, 'What has the Lord to do with ns.' 1 was oppressed by a sense of my responsibility, and in some measure discour- aged by the inadequate means that must be employed to communicate divine truth to their minds, lint on tin; oilier band, it was cheer- ing to know Ibat weak things when nccoinpa- Died by the Spirit's influence, might, be niado effectual to their salvation. It may not bo uninteresting to you to see a specimen of that most simple mode of speech ami illustration wliicb it is necessary lor us to adopt tn order to communicate religious truh, and I will give yon a literatim extract of my remarks ou Ibis occasion as a general specimen. •Well Bello,' (the name of my interpre- ter.) 'you go peak dis palaver. I be God man, and me call all dis people together to peak um God word. Tell all man hear him goof, pos he go hear dat word 1 peak pro- perly, and go do him. den lie heart be glad plenty. Well, I begin. Who make ull dis man, clem hush, ilem tree, dem riber ? Who make de sky, do sun, de moon, and all dem pretty star? He be God, and be be he word I come you country for peak, First time no one man lib to dis world Den God, be make one man and one woman. Dat man and dat woman go hah pickeimiuy, and dem picken- ntny go bab more gen; boroby de world cum Up lull people. Some go one country Tor lib, some go tuder Way. Well, God look all man, and he see all man hah bad heart; all man do fool lash ; no one man hah good heart for God side. Den God sav to beeelf, What I go do wid dese people? Dey no hi!) me ; dey no do what ting I tell dem for do ; all tune dey go right wart dem donaepile dat world I make for dem. 1'os I bring dem lor heaven, my own plae\ den dey go spile him too. God say lie go si nd dem all to hell. Hell he one bad place, l'os man go dire, palaver ealeh bifli; he eye look to dis world. When God peak dis word, den ad dem angel lib to God hand say he be true. God lit lor do dat. Hut Jesus Christ he say, My Father, dat word you peak he be true ; you lit lor send all dem man to bell; and be be true, Doe yuu let dem come to We place wid he bad heart, den he go pile bin one time. Den Jesus Christ say to he Father, Let mc go down dere to dat world; I go make ho heart good; I go show him how lor do all time; dent bomby do world come up good again,' etc. This may seem to some minds as a strange specimen of sermonizing, hut so completely ignorant arc they of divine trutb, that any utber mode of instruction would have been unintelligible and unprofitable. It alFords a true but melancholy comment upon their ignorance; and we are constrained to suit our instructions to their comprehensions. Ou this occasion I was gratified and encouraged by the attention that was given to my message, and the seriousness that was manifested by the people generally. The name of Jesus had never before fallen upon their ears, and they had scarcely believed that there was a hereafter. Hut now these things were laid open to their niinds in language which they could understand and upon authority which they felt no disposition to mie.-t.on. 1 cm never forget the intensity of interest which was pourlrayed upon the countenances of a group of old men, who sat. just in trout of me. I was strongly urged to spend several days, and make them 'cabby God's palaver pro- perly,' and I should gladly have done' so, had I nut been constrained by Imperative circum- stance! to return the next day. One man from an adjoining village has been to see m- since, and says that tin; people believe what I told them, ami many of them have determined to abandon those practices which I bad point- edly designated as displeasing to God. Slavery—Cannibalism—Influence of White Men. Bolobo is a slave-holding country, not so much, however, in practice as in principle. They are too poor to purchase them. 1 should not have known that such a practice existed, if I hud not met two slave dealers, who came while we were there to deliver up a slave to one of Teddah's subjects. These men had come two days journey from the interior, and I availed myself of the opportunity of a con- versation with them, to express in the pre- sence of Teddah and some of his head men my abhorrence of the practice. They un- bluahingly acknowledged the perfidious man- ner in which they captured the slave they had pi-t sold, lie had come on a friendly visit to their town from a neighboring village, and while there an order for ¦ slave arrived. They lixod upon this man as their victim, wailed until he was asleep, tell upon him, bound him, and in the night hurried him away. 1 inquired if this act would not lead to hostili- ties between the two settlements. They said if it did, it would afford them an opportunity to get more slaves. Hut there is another circumstance acknow- ledged by I lies ' two men, which iniisi. render them, in the eyes of every feeling man, I will not say more execrable, but more pitiable, viz. that they and their countrymen were m the habit of eating human llesh; thus con- firming the suspicion that there are cannibals within fifty miles of Cape Palmas. That the same may not once have been practised here, I am not prepared to decide. There was | nothing about the appearance of these men that indicated uncommon severity ot' charac- ter, except their filed teeth, and the heartless Indifference with which they could relate their abominable practices. When they discovered my disgust and abhorrence at what they hud acknowledged, one of them attempted to shield himself by the stupid and shameless apology that 'meat was meat.' After dark they came into my house and sat down by the fire and afforded me further opportunity to remonstrate with them. I asked them if they did not think it wrong to capture and rail their fellow-men as slaves. They said no; that no white man had told them it was wrong. On the other hand if it was wrong, why did while men tell them to do it. Again they said, if we do not sell slaves, how will we l" t cloth, muskets, powder, etc. Hello feelingly and unconsciously seised the conver- sation and said, addressing himself to the man, 'How do 1 get clothes, and musket, and pow- der, and every thing I want?' I asked tln.ui if they would he pleased to have me visit their country. They said. Ye.-, and if I would talk to their king and head-men as I had done to them, they thought, they would give up the slave trade altogether- The conversation I had with these men led me to reflect upon the vast influence which a white man is cap i hie of exerting over tlie mind of an African. His assert ions, whatever they may he, carry a weight of authority that is seldom questioned, lie may fashion their characters after his own, and lead ih in unhe- sitatingly into the mass* of sin, or constrain tin-in to Walk in the narrow path of piety and virtue. He would not find their minds strongly prepossessed in favor of any super- s'! n ions practices, or any filse religion. They will listen patiently to any refutation that is made of their previous notions, an I they seem to hold themselves ui readiness to lay hold ot any thing better that you may present to their mind*. Hut how affecting to trace the foot- steps of white men in Africa! I have refe- rence to slave-dealers, who form the great majority ol' those who have visited her shores. They are to be traced in wars, in bloodshed, by tears, in tumults, in distress, in misery, and by every thing that can degrade and render savage the heart of man. Hut on tlie other hand, if the soul of the while visiter is ani- mated with philanthropic feelings, wiiat may he not do? As a missionary, if he will take up his abode with the people, by the blessing Of (iod he will be able to lull the elements of war, he may wipe away the stain of blood from their skirts; he may dry up the tears of anguish; and may exalt a people, now the most degraded on the face of the earth, to the enjoyment of a peaceful and pious life. Population of Kay—Productions—Animals. Kay has a population of five hundred, and is walled around with split timber. There is nothing remarkable ur beautiful about its sit- uation. The soil must be very rich, as is indi- cated by the richness and great height to which the banana and other plants grow. I saw near to the town an enclosure of rich and beautiful tobacco; I am induced to think that it. is indigenous to Western Africa. It is u.-ed for smoking, but regarded interior to foreign tobacco. It probably belongs to that species of the weed which botanists denominate Nico- tiana rustica. Tlie cows in the vicinity of Botogo are con- siderably larger than those ou the beach, and quite as large as the common cows of Amer- ica. Leopards are numerous nod daring. The highest fences are no defence against their aggression, and it. i- necessary for the people to house their small cattle, at night. Several goats slept in the same house with us, and one lay ruminating all night within a \\:w feet of my head. Tlie fowls also found a resting place under the same roof, and did not fail to give us a timely intimation of approaching day. The people 1 regard as decidedly more sim- ple-hearted and generous than their beach neighbors- During our stay, which was two nights and nearly two days, we were treated with the utmost kindness ami hospitality. Hesides the bullock that was killed for our entertainment, Teddah gave me a second to take home with mo. The children ami others loaded mo with cherries, bananas, and other fruits, and without asking or expecting any thing in return. I thought, however, that their object in many cases, was like that of hoys whom I have seen before now handing nuts, cukes, etc., to monkeys, to see bow the] would eat. When I made my dash to the king, which consisted of lour yards of red flannel, three yards of blue, cotton, two yards ef apr.m cheeks, a razor, knife, pair of scis- sors, and a few beads, all of the coarsest and cheapest kind, he received them with pleasure, and said it was much more than he could have expected—an acknowledgement, that is sel- dom made by mi African in these parts. During our stay lit Kay, the people were often engaged in dancing, partly in honor of our visit, and partly because it was the 'lime to dance.' From the time of harvest, which is September, until December or January, when they recommence clearing their farms, the people do little else than dance and drink palm wine. Hence at this season we were always apprised of our proximity to a settle- ment by the firing of guns and beating of drums, common accompaniments of the dance. Dances—Need of an Itinerant Missionary. Were I adequate to it, I might amuse you wiih a description of an African dance, but its superlative ridiculousness hardly admits of description. Perhaps, however, if one of these children ot nature were allowed to peep in upon one of the splendid dunces in Ameri- ca, he would think his own equally rutionul at least. Unlike the customs of most countries, the tWO sexes here never dance together, except where, as I have once ur twice seen, some old withered woman, roused by the recollections of form r days, obtrudes herself upon the scene, whilst the men are engaged. Dining our visit to Kay the men alone danced. An open sp.ee in the centre uf the town is always kept well swept for thu purpose. The drums commenced beating, some tune before any of the party appeared on !he ground. The leader appeared first, and scampered about like a wild horse, lie was followed by others, until they formed a line of forty or fifty, when the whole moved single file around the ground in a long stiff trot- 'l.'he music then revived, and ali was hroken up. Bach one strove to excel tlie rest in the rapidity of motion, sometimes leaping as high as possible, then squatting or jumping on their heels. Each individual hail a set ot' hulls around his ancles, the astounding noise of which seemed lo impart supernatural agility. Kvery part of the body was thrown Into violent motion. The lead was thrown backward and forward, from one side to the other with great violence and apparent distress. The countenance was made to portray in rapid succession every pas- sion of the human soul. At one moment you saw the man so overwhelmed with fright, that his eyes are ready lo slari. from their sockets: the next moment you saw him pouring a flood ol' contempt upon tie.' senseless object of his fear. Again you .-aw his countenance clothed Willi smiles, and in the twinkling of an eye, it had gathered a storm of anger. The hands were also severely taxed ; and the whole per- formance was laborious in the extreme. Fre- quently it wus necessary for by-slanders to rush in, and pull the arms and legs of the dancers, to relieve them from cramp. But the drummers had a still more laborious part to perform- Their drums are made by stretching a piece of skin over one end of a hollow cylinder of wood, leaving the other open, but resting on the ground. The open hands are used as drum-sticks; and when it is remembered that their music is prized for its rapidity and loudness, you can well imagine how painful must be the operation, when it is continued two or three hours without inter- mission. The female dance is not materially diffe- rent, except that they more commonly accom- pany theirs with singing, and when heard at a distance beyond the harsh sound of their ankle bells, it is not without melody and beauty. The dance, when at night, is kept up some- times until cock-crowing, as was the case for two successive nights while we were at Kuy. In the afternoon of Thursday we apprised Teddah of" our determination to leave early the next morning. He consented, hut at the same time insisted that we should slay one day longer, but this we could not do; and last next morning, after an early breakfast, we set out for bome by the same route we had come. We arrived al Sum kali about eleven o'clock, and expected that the people would be very Unwilling to release us from our promise to spend tlie night with them. Hut in this we were happily disappointed, for we found our timid and bashful king just as willing to release us us we were anxious to get on. 1 made him a present of n razor and two yards of blue cotton, for which he hud not the cour- tesy to thank ine. At this place, I saw in the Fetish house, two images,that were more like idols than any I have before seen in Africa. They were arranged with the other Fetishes, and were doubtless objects of religious vene- ration. The people of Sanrekah hud just been on the point of war wilh a neighboring settlement of the name of Hakra; and although the cause of difference and dispute had been removed, they had not laid aside the trappings that were prepared for the expected Contest. As we passed through the neighbourhood the woods resounded with the rattling of their war-bells, and their savage veils. 1 scarcely know un object more frightful than an African warrior in full attire. His face is dyed jet black, forming a strange contrast with his snow wdiite teeth, an I his body is completely covered over with the skins of wild beasts, cartridge boxes, daggers, etc. And when ho assails an enemy he experts to gain half the victory by the fright he may occasion. We arrived homo about three o'clock in the afternoon, well, but much fatigued by a brisk steady walk of nine hours. The interest manifested by the people of Kay in the Word of God is the most pleasant incident in the review of this little excursion; and I trust that th • seed sown, though by a weak hand, may spring up and hear truit an hundred fold. A missionary, in my humble opinion, is much needed to itinerate among these people, to break to them the bread of life. He would find within a semi-circle, having Cape Palmas for its centre, and a radius of thirty miles, a population of forty or filly thousand souls; and no people in the world, «o far as human foresight goes, would be | so ready to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ. |