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Back to Two
Voyages to Sierra Leone, part 2 PART 3 LETTER IV. My dear Madam, SINCE my last I have been to the French Factory,
visited several neighbouring towns, and made myself a little intimate with the history, manners,
customs, &c. of the inhabitants of this part of it seems, was first discovered by the Portuguese, who
named it Sierra de Leone, or The tract of country now called that is, during the rains the Isthmus is overflowed. The river, which was formerly called Tagrin, now takes its name from the country; at
its entrance it is about ten miles from one Promontory to the other,
but here, it is scarcely half that distance across, and a few miles higher up it becomes very narrow indeed. It is not navigable for large vessels any higher
than distance up. Besides the islands I have mentioned, there are
several others, uninhabited, between this and Bance Island. Granville town is situated in a pretty deep bay, on
the south-side of the river, about nine miles above Half a mile below us is the town of one Pa Duffee; two miles lower down is King Jemmy's; and beyond him is Queen Yamacubba's,
and two or three small places; a mile above us Signior
Domingo lives, and a little higher one Pa Will. I have been at all these places, and find a great
similitude in the appearance of the people, their behaviour, mode of living, building, amusements, &c. The men are tall and stout and was it not that their
legs are generally small in proportion to their bodies, and somewhat crooked, I should call them well
limbed. The mode of treating infants till they are able to
walk, accounts for their being bandy legged; A few days after a woman is delivered, she takes her
child on her back to wherever her vocation leads her, with both its legs buckled round her waist, and
the calves pressed to her sides, by which means the tender bones are forced from their natural shape,
and get a curve that never after grows out; and thus, the infant is exposed either to the scorching sun, or
any change of weather that happens. The women are not nigh so well shaped as the men,
being employed in all hard labour, makes them robust and clumsy; they are very prolific, and keep
their breasts always suspended, which, after bearing 6 The a child or two, stretches out to an enormous length;
disgusting to Europeans, though considered beautiful and
ornamental here. They are not only obliged to till the ground, and do
all laborious work, but are kept at a great distance by the men, who seldom suffer a woman to sit down or
eat with them. The day I dined at King Naimbana's,
he told me I was the first woman that ever eat at the same table with him. Great respect and reverence is shewn
to old age, by all ranks of people. Polygamy likewise is considered honorable, and
creates consequence. When an African speaks of a great man, he or she
will say, "Oh! he be fine man, rich too much, he got too much woman." The higher class of people hereabouts, mostly speak
broken English, which they have acquired from frequent intercourse with vessels that come to purchase
slaves. They seem desirous to give education to their
children, or in their own way of expressing, it, "Read book, and learn to be rogue so well as white
man;" for they say, if white men could not read, or wanted education, they would be no better rogues than black
gentlemen. I was treated with the utmost hospitality at every
town I visited. Their common food is rice, pepper pot, or palaver
sauce, palm nuts, and palm oil; with the latter both sexes anoint their bodies and limbs daily, though it does
not prevent them from smelling vastly strong. Wherever I went, there was commonly a fowl boiled or
broiled for me: I liked the pepper pot, it is a kind of soup made with a mixture of vegetables highly
seasoned with salt and red pepper. Their houses are much like those I have heretofore
described, but very low, they are irregularly placed, and built either in a square or circular form; and
as this part of the country is thinly inhabited, each town contains very few houses. The inhabitants are chiefly Pagans, though they
credit the existence of a God, but consider him so good that he cannot do them an injury; they therefore pay
homage to the Devil, from a belief that he is the only Supernatural Being they have to fear; and I am
informed they have consecrated places in different parts of the woods, where they make annual sacrifices to
him. Cleanliness is universally observed; their simple
furniture, consisting generally of a few mats, wooden trenchers and spoons made by themselves, are always
tidy, and their homely habitations constantly clean swept, and free from filth of any kind: nor do
I think nature has been so unkind to endow those people with capacities less susceptible of
improvement and cultivation than any other part of the human race. I am led to form this conjecture, from the quickness
with which even those who cannot understand English, comprehend my meaning by gestures or signs,
and the aptness they have imitated many things after me. Their time is calculated by plantations, moons, and
days; the reason of the first is, they clear a new field once a year, and if asked the age of a child,
or any thing else, they will answer, so many plantations, in place of years: they register their
moons by notches on a piece of wood, which is carefully hanged up in some particular part of the house. Their chief amusement is dancing: in the evening,
men and women assemble in the most open part of the town, where they form a circle, which one at a
time enters, and shews his skill and agility, by a number of wild comical motions. Their music is made by clapping of hands, and a
harsh sounding drum or two, made out of hollowed wood covered with the skin of a goat. Sometimes I have seen an instrument resembling our
guitar, the country name of which is bangeon. The company frequently applaud or upbraid the
performer, with bursts of laughter, or some odd disagreeable noise; if it is moonshine, and they
have spirits to drink, these dances probably continue until the moon goes down, or until day light. The Timmany dialect
is commonly spoke here, though the nation so called is some distance to the northward. The natives account for this in the following way. Many years ago the Burees,
a tribe of people formerly living upon the banks of the river were conquered and drove away to other parts of the
country by the Timmany's, who, having possessed themselves of the land, invited many strangers to come and
live among them. The Timmany's being again
engaged in war, which the inhabitants of in, they therefore alienated the connection, and
declared themselves a distinct nation, and have been considered as such ever since. Every chief, or head man of a town is authorized
from the King to settle local disputes,—but when disagreements of consequence arise between people of
separate places, then a Palaver is summoned to the residence of the complainant, when the King
attends or not as suits him; but if inconvenient to go in person, he sends his Palaver-man, who carries the
King's sword, cane, or hat, as a signal of inauguration, to his office. When all the parties are met, they enquire into the
business of their meeting, and a majority of. voices determine who has reason of his or her side. If the crime is fornication, the punishment is
slavery, unless the offender can ransom him or herself, by paying another slave, or the value in goods. It is customary when the Judges cannot
procure sufficient proof, to oblige the party accused to take a poisonous draught, called Red Water—this potion is
prepared by the Judges themselves, who make it strong or weak, as they are inclined by
circumstances—if strong, and the stomach does not reject it instantaneously, death soon ensues—but if weak, it seldom has any
other effect than a common emetic. At the last town I visited, the head man's favorite
woman, had a beautiful mulatto child, and seeing me take much notice of it, he said. " God amity sen me dat peginine,
true, suppose he no black like me, nutting for dat, my woman drinkee red water, and suppose peginine
no for me, he dead." I could not help smiling at the old fool's
credulity, and thinking how happy many of my own countrywomen would be to rid themselves of a similar stigma, so
easily. Crimes of larger magnitude, such as witchcraft,
murder, &c. are punished in the same way, i.e. the criminal is obliged to drink of this liquor, unless
there be evidence sufficiently strong to acquit or condemn him: when that is the case, if convicted, he either
suffers death, or is sold as a slave. On the opposite shore lives a populous nation called
the Bulloms, whose King I had occasion to mention in a former letter. I have been at only one of
their settlements, a place directly over against us, belonging to a man named Dean. The people appear more inclined to industry than the
Sierra Leonians, which a stranger may readily discern, by a superior way their houses are furnished in. I am told it is a fertile country, and the
inhabitants make so much rice, that they are able to sell a quantity annually. In the neighbourhood of Dean's
Town, at a place called Tagrin Point, was formerly
an English factory, belonging to one Marshall; but he unluckily got into
a dispute with the natives, who drove him away, and pillaged his goods; they are a barbarous implacable
set of people. This is all the history I have learnt of the Bulloms, therefore shall return to my own side of the
water. We have had heavy tornadoes and falls of rain for
several weeks, and I yet enjoy my health as well, if not better, than I did for several years past in Deaths are not frequent among the natives; indeed I
have not heard of one since we arrived. Their national diseases are few; probably anointing
themselves as they do with palm oil, makes them less liable to evil consequences from the unhealthy
putrid vapour that almost constantly hovers about these mountains; the poisonous effects of which carries
off numbers of foreigners. About ten days ago the master of the cutter went to returning a little indisposed, signified a wish of going to
the French factory for medical assistance. Falconbridge having had some difference with this
man, therefore, lest he might wrong construe any offers to serve him, without hesitation complied
with his desire, and he immediately set out in the cutter to The distance being but six miles, and a fresh sea
breeze, we soon ran up. Mr. Rennieu not only
received us with the politeness of a Frenchman, but with kindness and
friendship. When he saw the master of the Lapwing, he said to
me, "Madam, Captain Kennedy (for that was his name) will never leave I did not instantly comprehend him, which the
Frenchman perceived, and explained himself by saying, “under the large tree I saw a little distance off,
was the burying ground, and" added he, “there is something in the countenance of Kennedy denoting his
dissolution to be near at hand; and I am persuaded the man cannot live more than two or three days.” t took care not to mention or hint to Kennedy what
Mr. Rennieu said to me, lest the force of imagination might kill him —however, in spite of all
our endeavours, the prophecy was fulfilled; a severe fever came on the same night, and the second day he
was a corpse. There was no accommodation for sleeping on shore at
the Factory, which Mr. Rennieu could offer us— we were, consequently, obliged to sleep on board. I could riot think of allowing the poof sick man to
be exposed to the inclemency of night air, and insisted on his taking a birth in the. cabin—nor could I
think of continuing in the cabin while he was ill, lest his disorder might be infectious; and the
only alternative was to lay up on deck, or in the hold. The former being, most preferable, our mattresses
were spread at night under the awning, where we lay; but I took the precaution to wrap myself up in
a flannel gown, and cover'd my head with a cap of the same—was it not for that, in all probability, I
must have added to the number under Mr. Rennieu's big tree. For two nights we lay on deck, and each of them, we
were unlucky enough to have violent tornadoes; during the storm I threw two large blankets over me,
and though the rain penetrated through both, yet my flannel gown and cap intercepted it and prevented
me from getting wet, except my feet, which I bathed in spirits when the tornado was over, and
thus, I believe, escaped any bad consequences; but being under the necessity of staying another night
at effects of my blankets a third time, and accepted an
invitation which the Captain of an American had made us—to take a bed on board his ship. Immediately after the corpse was removed, we had the
Lapwing scoured, washed with vinegar, and smoaked with tobacco and brimstone, to free her from every,
suspicion of dangerous infection. I must avail myself of the present moment to give
you some description of It is small and low, not two miles in circumference,
situated in the midst of swamps and marshes, from whence a continued stench comes sufficient to choak a carrion crow—'tis wonderful how many human beings could pitch on such a place to live in. The Europeans there have all complexions as if they
were fed on madder and saffron. Their manner of living is slovenly and hoggish,
though they seem to have plenty of fresh stock, and provisions of almost every kind—they are very
inactive and indolent, which I am not astonished at, for such must ensue from the lassitude produced by the
unhealthiness of the place The buildings are of mean and disrespectable
appearance, being a pile of grass and sticks clumsily put together. They have a factory ship, and few goods are kept on shore,
from a fear of being surprised and robbed by the natives. Formerly the deterred their government from sending fresh supplies. Rennieu, however, preserves a kind of consequence, and
keeps his neighbours in awe by a number of strange legerdemain tricks he has learnt, some of which he shews whenever he has visitors. After seeing swampy low grounds; but a reviving sea breeze that
cheers us every day, which is almost spent before it reaches them; I suppose this must be owing to the
heavy dense atmosphere that opposes its progress, for distance cannot be the cause. Since the rains commenced, the nights grew
alternately cooler, indeed I find a blanket very comfortable; even during the dry weather (when I had
room to breathe), I found night many degrees colder than day; but it is now, at times, so cold, that I
am glad to find a fire. This sudden transition from heat to cold, and from
cold to heat, I am rather disposed:: to think, accounts for the turpitude of the climate, at all
events it certainly is one of the most considerable causes. From a fear my inadequateness to give historical
delineations, will expose me to your criticism, I have to beg you will look over any rhapsodies with lenity; this
is all I can hope for, — that all I dread. Falconbridge thinks of leaving fit for taking to sea, and the late Mate (now Master
of the cutter), and several of our people being sick, disconcerts us a good deal: but we are told the
rains will be considerably worse, and every day will render it more dangerous and difficult to get off the
coast: Falconbridge is determined to do his best, and get away as quick as possible. Oh my friend! what happiness shall I feel on seeing
Old England again; and if it pleases God for us to arrive safe, the difficulties, dangers, and
inconveniences I have surmounted, and have yet to encounter, will only serve me to laugh at. Your's, &c. &c. |
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Forward to Two
Voyages to Sierra Leone, part 4