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Conneau, Capt. Theophilus. "A Slaver's Log Book or 20 Years' Residence in Africa," 243-257, 266-269. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1976.
A SLAVER'S LOG BOOK
or 20 Years' Residence
in Africa
The Original Manuscript by
CAPTAIN THEOPHILUS CONNEAU
PRENTICE-HALL, INC., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
1976
CHAPTER 65th
I Return to Africa:
1836-1837
As the French vessel bound to Africa was now ready for sea, I took passage for
Senegal, and in 27 days I had the pleasure to shake hands with those friends who
two years before had labored so much in favor of my escape. But the Colonial Government
stopped short the enjoyment of our meeting by ordering me off the Colony; a colonial
coaster took me to Sierra Leone.
I arrived in this port in time to witness the arbitrary proceedings of the English
Government toward Spanish vessels trading on the Coast. At the time of my arrival
in Sierra Leone, there lay to anchor from 30 to 40 Spanish vessels seized by the
British cruisers, awaiting the treaty which was about being signed by the Spanish
Minister at St. James's and which gave Her Britannic Majesty's cruisers power to
capture all Spanish vessels trading on the Coast of Africa. The conditions of this
treaty were such that even vessels in pursuit of lawful trade were liable to be seized
if sailing under Spanish flag, and many vessels were captured in the middle passage
when bound from Havana to Spain or vice versa.
I have stated in some former chapter that it was currently believed at the time that
the Spanish Minister received £30,000 from England for signing this degrading
treaty. Two months after, the treaty arrived and the vessels were condemned. With
the usual dispatch proverbial to Spanish officials, six months after the signing
of the treaty, the Colonial Government of Cuba was informed by the Home Department
of the existence of such contract.
My stay at this Colony was but short, as all the Spanish vessels detained here had
their full complement of officers. I applied to Captain Ropes of the American brig
Reaper for a situation. A few words induced him to hire me as Pilot and interpreter
for Gallinas, a noted part of slave and Spanish factories. As I had never visited
Gallinas or the coast of Malaguetta, I begged a Spanish Captain to give me a few
lessons on this Coast. The day after, the American brig left port under the charge
of my new branch.
Three days coasting brought us to an anchor before the Spanish factories; and till
this day I am not aware that my friend Captain Ropes knew the danger his brig had
run while under my pilotage. In my second capacity of interpreter I landed with the
Captain and that day sold to one factory alone (Don Pancho Ramon's) 1,000 quarter
kegs of powder.
The second day we visited the celebrated Don Pedro Blanco,
with the object of making some trade with him. Don Pedro received us with his usual
urbanity, but declined purchasing from us, inasmuch as we had not called on him on
our first landing. We were aware that we had committed a fault, as we had heard much
of this man's pride, but our Captain could not stand the temptation of an offer made
before we landed, of a thousand kegs of powder, and at his own price.
While in Sierra Leone, I had heard much of the generosity of Don Pedro Blanco, and
availed myself of the report of this good quality to induce him to purchase a large
quantity of rum and tobacco that we could not expect to sell to anyone else. To effect
my purpose I invented a little story which a few months after, Don Pedro readily
forgave. Therefore, I am not ashamed to repeat it now.
The next day I wrote a note to Mr. Blanco and in few words explained my detention,
imprisonment, and destitute position, requesting him to purchase some portion of
our cargo if only to assist me in gaining the little commission the American Captain
gave me on sales of my own making. Now this supposed commission was the deception
I used toward Don Pedro; I hired myself with Captain Ropes in my double capacity
for my passage down the Coast, till I should find employment. A prompt and laconic
answer was sent back which invited me to come ashore with the invoice of the cargo.
For my sake, Mr. Blanco purchased to the amount of 5,000$ [sic] in rum and tobacco,
giving drafts on London for the same.
While these goods were landing, an accident took place which will illustrate the
true character of this famed slave dealer. Several hogsheads of tobacco had been
landed that day, and the Second Mate of the Reaper, who was a myope, got provoked
at a Krooman (native boatman) who might have given him a short answer. The Mate sent
a stave at the head of the Negro which he dextrously [sic] dodged, but not satisfied
with this flying chastisement, he flew at the Krooman with another stave, threatening
death to the Black fellow, who had sought refuge on the starboard side of the boat.
The now infuriated Mate still pursued him, when the hired boatman presented an oar
in self-defense to the aggressor, who as I have remarked was myopic. Rage must have
deducted something from his impaired sight; he saw not the blade of the oar. His
upper lip came in contact with the blade with such force that it lacerated a gash
into the gum, cutting the upper lip in two and knocking four teeth out of his mouth.
The Negro, on seeing the blood, ran to the bush while the wounded Mate was taken
on board. That night the unfortunate man put an end to his life by taking laudanum,
not wishing to survive the deformity of his harelip, as he called it.
The laws of the country condemn he who draws blood to the penalty of several slaves,
in proportion to the damage done, and death in case of murder. The Krooman had been
seized and now lay loaded with iron in Don Pedro's barracoons, awaiting the sentence
which the whites of his establishment had already pronounced (in the shape of death),
having struck a white man, which wound had been reported to have caused death.
Next morning I came ashore and was informed that the culprit was to be disposed of
in the manner they had pronounced. As I had witnessed the fray, I immediately called
on Mr. Blanco and explained the whole proceedings, disculpating the innocent Krooman.
On my simple statement the man was liberated, much against the will of the native
Chiefs, who insisted on carving out the laws of the land to their full extent. Several
of the whites also pressed for punishment of the Negro, but Don Pedro, ever just
to White or Black in his decisions, liberated the Krooman and sent him back on board
theReaper.
The perfect management of Mr. Blanco's slave establishment and his late impartial
decision induced me to offer him my services, which were accepted, and shortly after
I was employed as a principal in one of his branch slave factories.
CHAPTER 66th
Description of Gallinas
1836-1837
Gallinas, in the latitude 7° 05' N and longitude 11°
35' W, the notorious slave mart of the Northwest Coast of Africa, is a river whose
entrance and interior is not navigable but to boats and small crafts. Four years
back, the shores of this shallow river were colonized by Spanish slave dealers who,
while they remained undisturbed, accumulated several fortunes.
At the time of my arrival here in the beginning of 1836, two large factories monopolized
this lucrative trade, but other minor establishments also opposed the larger ones
and in time succeeded in erecting establishments as abundantly and well supplied
in goods as others. However, the influence that Don Pedro Blanco had gained over
the natives was never equaled by any other Spaniard.
The indigenes of this river, who are called Vye, were not numerous before the establishment
of the Spanish factories, but since 1813 when several ships from Cuba landed their
rich cargoes, the neighboring cities flocked to this river, and as there is much
similarity in their languages, they soon became naturalized with the aborigines of
its sandy and marshy soil.
Polygamy, the principal and well beloved institution of all Africans, soon leagued
them into one sociable family, while their progenitors sprung up into the true owners
of the land. As the new upstarts grew up educated under the influence of the rich
Spanish factories, they imbibed the habits of slave hunting while they despised other
occupations and in their idleness, panted but for wars and captures. Slaves in time
became scarce, and the youth of the day, cradled in indolence, sought distraction
in slave wars, which ever yield a rich reward.
Time brought into notice this slave mart, and merchants from Havana sent out agents
to establish their deposits of goods and permanent barracoons. The double and treble
call for slaves soon dispopulated the immediate Interior, when it became urgent for
the natives of Gallinas to extend their wars further into the Interior. And in a
few more years this river was surrounded with wars, but as the slave factories supplied
them with powder and guns, they made headway against a multitude of enemies who,
not understanding the politics of alliance, fought them separately and were generally
repulsed.
Still the demand increased, and auxiliary slave factories were established north
and south. The Bar or Sheborough River became a tributary in slaves to the Gallinas,
Mana Rock, Sugaree, Cape Mount, Small Cape Mount, even Digbay at the door of Monrovia
had a deposit and barracoons belonging to whites of Gallinas.
Such a run of prosperity—as the natives now call those times—could not last long.
Woman, the origin of our first sin, here caused (as it generally does in all African
wars) son to rise against father, the first germ of a civil war.
This river, insignificant to commerce, is nothing
more than a quantity of lagoons whose shapeless and unproductive islands give to
the whole country the appearance of some importance; while in reality the principal
branch of this river (which is called Soliman) extends its unimportant source to
some sixty miles into the Interior, serving only as a nursery for alligators, sea
cow, and the hippopotamus.
The torch of discord was first illuminated by a Black Paris who deprived his Negro
uncle Agamemnon* of an Ethiopean Helen. Up sprung Ulysses and Achilles without number,
and every small town became a Trojan City.
*Conneau is thinking of Menelaus, Helen's husband and Agamemnon's
brother. Pans stole Helen from Menelaus, precipitating the Trojan War.
The configuration of the country as I have attempted to describe it isolated every
family of note by its different branches of the river, and every one fortified itself
in their marshy island. Two parties were formed, and the quarrel became general.
Amara and Shiakar were the two principal families, originators of this civil war.
Amara was a distant descendant of the Mandingo nation, and a native of Shebar. Shiakar,
who was born in the river, considered himself a nobleman of the country, and although
the aggressor, disputed the title of the prize. The whites, ever alert on native
quarrels, wisely kept aloof from their broils and continued purchasing prisoners
from each party. Many vessels carried across the ocean two inveterate enemies shackled
on the same boat, while others met on the same deck a long-lost child or missing
brother.
To enumerate the horrors of this war before the death of its Chief, Amara, a separate
volume would be necessary. As I shall never refer to this war during my future pages,
I will describe one or two barbarities of the thousand that took place between the
contesting parties.
For several months, Amara (the "Paris" in the dispute) had been blockaded
in his own fence stockade by Shiakar's warriors; a sortie was necessary to obtain
provisions, but the enemy were too numerous for the venture. Amara called his fetish-man
and demanded the propitious moment for a sally. The supposed oracle said, "When
thy hands will be stained with the blood of thine own son," meaning a youthful
son of Amara who had joined his mother's family and was then far distant. The savage
and superstitious Amara, seeing a child of his two years old, snatched it from his
mother's arms, threw it into a rice mortar, and with the pestle smote it into a mummy.*
The sortie was immediately ordered, and with the pestle still warm from the child's
blood, the enemy was routed. The town reprovisioned and the fortification of the
antagonists demolished. The soothsayer received a slave for his barbarous but mistaken
prognostication.
At another time, Amara was on the point of attacking a strong fortified town, but
doubts were entertained of the success. The diviner was sent for, and his laconic
answer was that Amara could not conquer till he had returned in his mother's womb.
That night, Amara committed the blackest of incests, but his party was repulsed,
and the false oracle received his reward by lapidation.**
In order not to leave the reader ignorant of the fate of Amara, I will add that after
several years of bloody contest, he was conquered by Shiakar's men and taken prisoner
in his own town. His captor, Prince Mana, cut his head off, and while bleeding, forced
it into the fresh-torn bowels of his mother, thus verifying the double prognostication
of the soothsayer.
*into powder. Dried human mummies used to be ground up for medicine
by medieval apothecaries, and "mummy" became synonymous with pulverized
humanity.
**death by stoning
CHAPTER 67th
Visit to Monrovia. I Land at New Sester with a
Cargo for Slaves. Grand Palabra with the Prince.
1836
Not long after I had landed in Gallinas, I was sent by my employer Don Pedro Blanco
to Monrovia to purchase tobacco. A Portuguese schooner took me to the infant Colony.
On landing, I was astonished to find brick stores, wharfs, and several small crafts
on the stocks.
The Colony then dated only 14 years. Still, I found an elegant Government House,
a neat public store, and long low wooden buildings which were called the Emigration
House. It was adapted to those of the new-arrived emigrants whose circumstances could
not afford to hire lodgings. In this capacious building I saw several families who
were undergoing the acclimatizing season; I found that they were comfortably supplied
with provisions whose allowance was to be continued for six months.
Two churches with competent bells embellished this village of astonishing asparagus
growth. As I walked through the large and clean streets, every door was apparently
open to receive me. At one place I bought eggs, at the others, chickens; beans, tomatoes,
and sweet potatoes soon filled my Steward's basket. Having purchased my tobacco,
I was going off when a genteel person tapped me on the shoulder and introduced himself
as the Collector of the Port, presenting a printed receipt for anchor dues.
"Anchor dues!" said I. "What do you mean?"
"Twelve dollars only," was the answer. I paid the cash, considering that
any printed form was worth the money. The document I took as a curiosity to Gallinas.
What other town of the Coast would boast of such civilization in such a short time—a
printing office managed by Blacks perhaps, but only a few years emancipated?!!
On my return to Gallinas, I was sent to New Sester* to establish a branch factory
to supply with slaves the numerous vessels on the Coast then belonging to my employer.
New Sester was then an independent principality under the power of a Bassa Chief
who styled himself a Prince. My cargo was landed for the moment in a Krooman's town
till a new house could be erected for me.
On my first opening trade with this Chief and his people, I found them far inferior
to the Mandingos, Sosoo, and Vey People, and on
*or Cestros, or Seseros. The spelling finally settled down to Sester.
The river Cestos in Liberia, and River Cess and Grand Cess, both on the coast east
of Monrovia, also preserve the name today.
several occasions broke off communications and closed my chests. Their slaves also
were inferior and the price exorbitant; however, in a few days I had collected seventy-five
of them. As this was sufficient number to send off with safety to Gallinas in the
vessel then at anchor, I sent for the Prince to assist me in shipping them--an operation
necessarily done under his eyes, as he counted heads and received a duty. The messenger
returned with the information that the Prince was annoyed at my impertinence and
would not come till I made some atonement in the shape of a present.
The bearer of this dispatch was the Prince's son, a youth of 16 years who delivered
his message somewhat arrogantly and for which he received a violent blow across the
mouth. Bleeding at the nose, the boy returned to his princely father, and with his
cries rose the whole town against the white man. The Prince immediately sent me another
messenger with the order to depart from the country, adding that by the next day
he would himself enforce the order if I had not gone.
Now I had been too long in Africa to be intimidated by a Negro Prince, and although
I did not like the country just for the reason that he had ordered me off, I chose
to remain. Therefore, that evening I made preparations to resist his orders.
At the first war intimations of the Prince, all my hired servants and barracooniers--slave
watchers--had immediately deserted me. I was left alone with seventy-five slaves.
In this predicament, I sent off for three white men from my schooner and secured
the entrance of the barracoon.
My house was a square bamboo building to which I had added a bamboo piazza with high
gratings round it. This I had done to secure the natives from pilfering me during
the night. The reader must be informed that in the Bassa Country, the houses are
constructed solely with bamboo; consequently the walls, which are nothing but mats
of the same material, would have left my house if unprotected by this railing exposed
to robbery.
In this fenced piazza was slung my hammock, and here I ate my meals, received traders,
and on a deal table stood my writing materials. In this very passage I formed the
plan to resist the princely order to depart.
That night I loaded twenty-five muskets and placed them in my sofa, a long trade
chest. The deal table I covered with my blanket, and under its folds I hid a keg
full of powder, with the head off. Nearby and under my broad-brimmed hat stood a
pair of double-barreled pistols. Morning came, and one hour after sunrise the war
bells announced the near approach of the Prince.
I ordered my men to open the gate of the barracoon and retire about their duty. In
a few minutes the small yard was filled with armed men, and the Prince in his drummer's
red coat and no breeches boldly stepped into my narrow receiving passage.
I received him with apparent cordiality and pointed out the only sitting stool in
the place, which I had purposely placed at one end of this well-guarded piazza. Once
seated, I had him isolated from his people; myself stood near the table and by my
hat. Some of his near relations had also entered the piazza, but according to my
established rules, did not advance but halfway.
As the Prince did not speak, I asked him if he had come to assist me in the shipping
of my slaves, "and if so," I added, "we better begin."
His answer was, "Did you receive my message, and why are you not gone?"
I told him that as I had come at my own leisure, I would go when I pleased and that
I feared him not. Then with a jerk I threw the blanket off. With pistol in hand I
stood over the keg of powder and dared him to enforce his order.
In a moment the yard had been evacuated and his friends had left their now frightened
Prince to discuss the preliminary of peace with a madman (I was nearly so at the
time). A few moment's reflection on both sides brought the following conversation;
and as the Prince could speak English tolerably well, having learnt the language
on board English slavers when a boy, I will give it verbatim:
Prince: "What's matter, white man! That be fool fashion; me no come for war.
Take that powder away—sit down and talk softly palavra. Me like you too much, me
no like war. I hold your foot; let me go. I beg you, white man, let me go. My belly
hurt me too much." Et cetera.
By this time I had taken a seat on the keg of powder and was preparing to argue the
point when the Prince begged most urgently to be allowed to retire in the yard, promising
to return. The fright had given him a sudden pain in the stomach; he needed air.
I plainly saw it in his countenance and took pity. The desired liberty was granted,
and faithful to his word, he returned, much relieved. We both laughed at this accident
and shook hands. I promised silence on the casualty, while he on his part swore eternal
friendship.
His men were recalled, and as peace was proclaimed, two demijohns of rum sealed the
contract. That same morning, my slaves were shipped, and the Prince remained from
that day forward my good friend.
CHAPTER 68th
The "Saucy Wood": Execution of a Slave for Setting My Barracoon on Fire
1836-1837
My bravado with the Prince had a good effect. The Krooman and fishermen inhabitants
of the beach saw at once what they had to expect at my hands. The severe lesson which
the Chief of the country had received served them as a moral.
Don Pedro Blanco had deputed me to New Sester for a short time only, but finding
that by introducing better goods, slaves became more abundant, I was ordered to remain.
And as my commission was increased to ten percent, or ten dollars on each hundred
that I shipped, I went to work and built a large and commodious two-story house near
the sea beach with two strong barracoons flanking the sides and a strong fence securing
the whole building from intrusion. The first floor of my building I kept for store,
the upper for my dwellings, and the top I adorned with a watch house which commanded
a perfect view of the seas for several miles off.
Natives love to give a nickname to strangers in order to denote them from other white
men, and they generally choose some peculiarity in their character or persons, often
giving them the names of goods or clothes which most please them; or of any coincidence
which might have struck them forcibly. Therefore my first name was "Powder"
on account of the famous keg of powder, but after I had built my house and the word
of "store" which they had never heard before was so often used, they baptized
me "Story."
In a few months the whole country had changed its appearance. On this beach, once
isolated but for a half dozen Kroo huts, now counted two moderate-size towns, and
its inhabitants were amply supplied with employment from my factory. The Interior
natives, confident of a ready purchase of their captives, soon found way to the beach,
and in brief time the good Prince who had so strongly protested, "Me no like
war," now sent expeditions against his neighbors, claiming redress for imagined
grievances or payments from his great-grandfather's creditors.
This extraordinary change was not brought about without some sacrifice to humanity.
Still, I have the presumption to say that during my stay here, I caused greater strides
toward civilization than any other person ever did in this neighborhood in such short
time.
On my arrival I found the natives full of their superstitious witchcraft. Men and
women were indiscriminately accused by the ju-ju man, and to prove their innocence,
the "saucy wood" was invariably applied. In many cases I also found that
the accusations of witchcraft were often purchased to get rid of a sick wife, an
old imbecile person, or a rich relation; and as the poisonous drink is mixed by the
ju-ju man, it seldom failed in proving fatal to the drinker.
Saucy wood is the bark of a tree of reddish color which when ground and mixed with
boiling water, makes the poisonous draught which the natives believe has the quality
to destroy witches and necromancers. Ordeals of this kind took place every day about
the country, and many innocent persons were destroyed by this barbarous custom. I
undertook to put a stop to this abominable practice, and on the next trial I requested
that the accused should be secured in my barracoons till the deadly liquid should
be prepared.
This beverage can be prepared in different degrees of strength which may or may not
prove fatal. And if the accused has any friends who can purchase the concocter of
the poison, then the mixture is made sufficiently weak for the culprit to reject
it. But when the accused is friendless, the saucy bark is steeped with all its deadly
power, and the victim dies at the second bowlful.
A Krooman was accused of having caused the death of his nephew by incantations or
witchcraft; the Doctor consulted his ju-ju, who corroborated the fact; the man was
seized and put in irons. Having the authority of the Prince, I demanded the accused
for safe keeping till next morning when the saucy wood was to be administered.
At an early hour next day, the Doctor had ground his bark and was steeping it by
a large fire I had cause to believe that this man had an antipathy against the accused
uncle; I called on him and requested him to make his mixture double strong, as I
wished to ascertain if the accusation was true, adding that my own ju-ju had pronounced
him innocent.
A few moments before the beverage was administered, I gave my protégé
three doses in one of Tartar emetic, and I brought him forward, still loaded with
irons. About a quart of the strong concocted poison was quaffed by the intrepid Krooman
who, strong in his innocence and confident of the white man's superior ju-ju, swallowed
the contents without a wink.
In five minutes the emetic had operated. The Krooman was liberated and the ju-ju
man, astonished at the failure of his poison, retired in confusion. Once liberated,
the Krooman told how I had given him beforehand the preventative, which he called
"white man saucy wood," and ever after, men accused of witchcraft sought
refuge in the sanctuary of my barracoon. And my emetic or Epicaquana* never failed
in saving life. In a short time, this practice was discontinued.
The English cruisers had deprived me of three vessels this season, consequently I
had not shipped slaves for three months. My barracoon contained 500 slaves which
required all my vigilance to retain in safe keeping. Amongst this large number of
slaves I had a whole family consisting of a man, his wife, his sister, and three
children. This family was sold on condition that they all should be shipped. I had
passed my word in consent and awaited the first opportunity to effect it.
The father of this family had been captured by the Prince after many months of hard
fighting, and his family had shared the same fate when his village was stormed. He
was the discarded son of a Chief who undertook to block the public path from the
Interior to the beach and collect a duty. In many instances the Prince's people had
been defeated by the daring robber, who had by this time built a stockade town in
the said path. Once captured, the Prince would have killed him, but in consideration
of his friends, he was sold under the foregoing conditions.
This man had several times made attempts to escape, but the watchfulness of my barracooniers
defeated his intents, which caused them to add at every attempt some greater restrictions
to his comforts or another link to his chain. Failed in his expectations, he undertook
one day to set the establishment on fire, for which attempt he was severely flogged.
But on the next day, under pretense of chills and fever, he was allowed a place by
the kitchen fire. When unobserved, he set the thatched roof in flames; then, seizing
a lighted brand, he sprang toward the building where the powder was kept. Fortunately
he was in double irons, and his motions being short jumps, he was overtaken in time
and again better secured.
As the Prince visited me the day after, I insisted on his taking the savage back,
but the Bassa Chief had heard of the attempt and had visited me for the purpose of
putting in execution the law of his country; the incendiary was to be burnt at the
stake.
No argument of mine could pacify the Prince; a savage and brutal death was the dessert
for his enemy. But as I would not deliver him on such condition, it was agreed that
he should be shot. And in presence of all the slaves, he was executed, his wife and
sister never shedding a tear of affection on the remains of their unfortunate relation.
*Ipecacuanha: South American plant whose dried roots, when swallowed,
induce vomiting. Still in use as Syrup of Ipecac.
CHAPTER 69th
Difficult Embarcation of 400 Slaves at New Sester
1837-1838
New Sester proper is no river, as some nautical charts describe it. Two miles from
the small and dangerous beach called New Sester there exists a small river which
on account of its shallowness and narrow and rocky entrance the natives call Poor
River. My factory was at New Sester proper, and as I have said, the beach was small,
being only about 200 yards in extent and flanked with dangerous cliffs. As it lay
exposed to the open ocean and the sea breeze keeps the beach ever dangerous to effect
a landing, even in a perfect calm day the heavy swells send mountains of water with
terrific force against it.
This beach would be impracticable but for the astonishing dexterity of the Kroomen,
who with their canoes surmount the rolling billows in spite of its dangers. Kroomen
and Fishmen are a different nation from the Bushmen; they inhabit the beach, live
separate from other tribes, and are governed by their elders, whose rules are somewhat
democratic. These people are not allowed by the Bushmen to trade in the Interior,
but in exchange for the prerogative of the lands of the Interior, they monopolize
with despotic sway the beach trade with the shipping.
The lengthy Coast which these Kroomen inhabit is about 700 miles, and being exposed
to the full blast of the waves of the ocean, nearly the whole beach is impracticable
to our European boats, which gives them an artificial advantage over the owners of
the land, the Bushmen, who without this natural difficulty would expel them from
the land. Long practice has rendered them masters of their calling of which they
bear the name, and although one is called Fishman and the other Krooman, still they
are of the same original family. They have the same manners, the same customs, and
same Government. The first is generally allowed to be the most expert with the paddle,
while the latter is undoubtedly the most honest.
Their canoes are made sharp-pointed at the ends, and they are hollowed from the solid
trunk of a single tree to the thickness of an inch, which renders them exceedingly
buoyant. Two men can transport on their shoulder to any moderate distance a canoe
capable of containing four people. Men-of-war, merchantmen, and slavers are obliged
to hire this sect of men when landing on the West Coast of Africa in general, and
such is the necessity of their labors that they cannot be dispensed with.
On my landing at New Sester, I took precaution to supply myself with a quantity of
these useful natives and to encourage the emigration from Settra Kroo. I liberated
from slavery a Fishman who a "woman palavra" had brought on the verge of
making a visit, passage free, to Havana. One or two more acts of kindness with my
sanctuarium against the ordeal of the dreaded saucy wood caused them to seek the
neighborhood of my factory, and as I gave them abundant employ and paid well for
their services, in the short space of six months two flourishing towns, one of Kroomen,
the other of Fishmen, sprung up by my factory. And as they acknowledged me their
friend and master, one town called me Commodore while the other styled me their Consul.
With such auxiliaries, I could make a shipment of slaves at most any time, even against
the opposing element of the heavy seas.
Shortness of provisions sent the blockading cruiser to Sierra Leone for supplies.
My well-paid spy, a Fishman employed on board the man-of-war, soon informed me of
the cause of the absence of the annoying vessel. Availing myself of a clear coast,
I sent a swift canoe to Gallinas requesting my employer to send me a vessel if there
was one to spare.
In the brief time of five days, a brig arrived with the noted signal for embarcation.
Messengers were sent to the Prince and Chiefs to assist in the shipment and collect
their duties, while a general embargo was laid on all canoes, and for 24 hours not
one of them was even allowed to go fishing. This precaution was necessary, as it
was probable that the English cruiser kept in his pay a spy from amongst my people,
as I did on board the war vessel.
The moon was on its full and the sea, as usual on such periods, was terrific. The
cruiser had been gone six days, and I hourly expected his return. The shipment, although
dangerous, was indispensable. Only four short hours of daylight remained to effect
it. I called a council of the head Kroomen and Fishmen, and by the force of promises
of double and treble pay, made them consent to venture a shipment.
Such was the surf that only the smallest canoes could be employed. The smallest men
were taken to man the canoes, and a lot of youths appointed to swim off whenever
a canoe should capsize. The embarcation began with the females, as the most difficult
to embark; 70 were sent off without any accident. The men followed, but now a strong
sea breeze had set in from the southwest which drove the rollers in with greater
rapidity, and every other canoe was capsized.
Negro after Negro was rescued by the swimming party, and the sun surprised us in
its descent to the horizon when only two thirds of the slaves had been shipped. I
urged on the embarcation [sic], but the canoemen, who had done wonders, now lay extended
on the beach, exhausted with fatigue.
Rum, which had till now encouraged their extortions, was a powerless offer to them.
Night was approaching and the wind increasing, while the brig with topsail aback
was making signal after signal for dispatch. Still my offers and appeals were neither
accepted nor attended to. In this dire dilemma I was on the point of giving up the
shipment when a thought struck me which I presumed would nerve my canoemen to new
exertions.
I sent to the store for a small cask containing several pounds of Venetian beads
called corniola or mock coral. Now this bead was the fury of fashion amongst the
native women, and no greater temptation could be offered to bend them to one's will.
The smiles of women in Africa have the same magical power as in any other country,
and the offer of one bunch for every head embarked brought the whole female force
to my aid. Mothers, sisters, sweethearts took charge of the embarcation and forced
the exhausted men to fresh efforts. In fine, a hundred more were shipped while in
the heat of the new offer, but darkness soon compelled me to desist. Three slaves
had found a watery grave, and the charm of the beads had worn away.
I then gave up the battling of the infuriated element. The vessel was sent off 120
slaves short of her complement. Two days after, the cruiser arrived. I sent my compliments
on board and begged to know if I could be of any service.
CHAPTER 72
Invitation to a British Cruiser to Visit My Factory Detention of the First Lieutenant
on Shore
1838
On the arrival of every vessel in the roadsteads of New Sester, I invariably sent
my canoe to ascertain the nature of their callings, and when a British man-of-war
did me the honor to anchor off my place for the express purpose of watching and destroying
my operations, a polite note would be sent on such occasions, from me to the Commander,
offering to supply him with all the fresh provisions or any other commodity that
the country could afford.
On one occasion the brigantine Bonito, one of Her Britannic Majesty's cruisers,
anchored off New Sester, and a polite missive was addressed to her Captain with my
customary offers. An answer was sent, politely declining my courteous offer for the
present and informing me that H.B.M. brig Bonito had been sent by his Commodore
with orders to blockade New Sester, for which purpose he had a supply of six months'
provisions; and he intended not to budge from his anchorage till relieved by another
cruiser. Therefore he advised me to give up the idea of attempting any further efforts
toward the prosecution of my abominable traffic. He wondered how a person so well
informed and apparently so well educated could not only countenance, but prosecute
a traffic so contrary to humanity, and could not conceive that a Christian would
consent to confine in irons and allow to perish of hunger a set of beings whom he
understood then existed in my barracoons.
By the Commander's answer I saw that he had been misinformed about the real state
of my well supplied establishment, and as rice was scarce that season, he labored
under the idea that my slaves were suffering for want of provisions.
The accusation was indeed very mortifying to me; to be accused of countenancing the
abominable traffic was an insult I could retort, and to an Englishman with double
fold, who I might have accused of having taught us Spaniards the inhuman trade. But
to be charged with the monstrous crime of willingly starving my slaves to death was
an accusation that I hastened to disavow. Therefore I immediately sent a second note
inviting the Commander or any of his officers to visit my premises and ascertain
in person the fact of his error on the scarcity of provisions.
My invitation was accepted, and about noon two officers appeared off the surf in
their boat with a white flag flying. A canoe safely brought on shore the First Lieutenant
and the Doctor, who apologized for the absence of their Commander.
About this time I had in my captivity some 500 Negroes more or less, and on the arrival
in my enclosure of these two officers, the customary salute when a stranger arrived
was offered them; and which was for all the slaves to rise and welcome him with a
long clap of the hands. This salute was intended only to Captains of slavers, who
expecting to take on board as passengers the performers of this hearty welcome, invariably
gave them the douceur of a demijohn of rum.
My Captain of the barracooniers had played this trick on the officers, expecting
to receive the attending present of which he would have the lion's share. The unexpected
salute somewhat surprised the officers, who seeing 500 persons rise at once and clap
hands, did not know what it meant. But as every person wore a pleasant countenance,
they soon understood the nature of the welcome.
My establishment was then in its climax of plenitude, seldom existing in slave factories.
I had my stores full of goods, my barracoons full of slaves, and my granary full
of rice, which as I said above, not often happens in establishments of this kind;
an empty store denotes a full barracoon, and vice versa. The officers minutely inspected
every arrangement in the premises and pronounced it perfect. My rice store astonished
them for its quantity of full bags, and the well-aired barracoons, or strong sleeping
houses, had their full share of praises for their cleanliness and order.
The hour for the slave repast having arrived, the customary operation of washing
and singing was gone through before the British officers, who could not believe but
that this was a feast day purposely got up to impress them, my guests, favorably
in the treatment of my slaves. The Doctor like all of his profession, full of inquisitiveness,
went about searching at every corner till he came to the slave kitchen, where the
large caldron full of rice astonished his curiosity for its whiteness and quality
and abundance. Calling on his brother officer, he pointed out a smaller pot full
of meat and soup, from which the Doctor had picked out a piece and was eating it.
The unbelieving Lieutenant could not credit that this was the daily routine of the
management of my factory, and till I brought forward the book of my daily expenditures,
he could not be convinced of its reality. However, it must not be understood that
I gave them meat every day, as such was not the case. For the use of my establishment
I killed two bullocks a week. The blood, hide, head, feet, entrails, and the neck
were appropriated to the soup for the slaves, and the arrival on shore of these officers
was on the day of butchering.
As my dinner hour was at five o'clock and I wanted to honor my guests with a specimen
of my cuisine, I ordered the Pilot of the Harbor to report the beach impracticable,
a decree no white man should ever break on the Coast of Africa. I addressed a note
to the Commander, notifying the impossibility of his officers' return on board that
night; they also wrote an apology, and dinner was served.
The perambulations of my premises, its vicinity, and in the Kroo towns gave my visitors
such an appetite that I saw all which "mine host" wishes to see in his
guests when they are truly welcome. Fowl, flesh, and fish disappeared for the dessert
and coffee. Then came the plus cafe served in thimble-sized glasses. Over
this last course the conversation fell as usual on slavery, cruisers, and philanthropy.
Each one gave his opinion. The Doctor viewed the act as a philosopher and even condescended
to say that he believed that slaves in the hands of white men were happier than slaves
in the hands of Negroes, and would support the slavery if it could be carried on
with more humanity and less bloodshed. The Lieutenant--a slave himself to Her Majesty
and the service--saw nothing but obedience to the Admiralty's orders and prize money.
Myself, incredulous to English philanthropy, offered to believe the boasted Christian
charity of their nation for the benighted Africans, when England would cease her
deprecatory wars in East India, abandon the contraband and forced trade of opium
in China, and stop persecuting her Irish subjects.
The evening was spent in visiting several Negro dances at the Prince's town, which
amused my guests much.
About sunrise, the brig of war fired a gun calling her officers on board, and my
lookout reported a vessel in the offing, and the cruiser under way. It's said that
all sailors sleep with one ear cocked. The Lieutenant was up in a moment, and calling
on the Doctor to follow, made for the beach, where my orders had preceded him.
TheBonito had not yet tripped anchor, and her signal man was flourishing his
bunting in vain in order to call the officers on board. Another gun flashed as the
mariner officer arrived at the beach: "A canoe! A canoe, I say! Give me a canoe!"
But out of fifty spectators, no one moved.
Once more, "A canoe!" was the cry, and exhibiting several dollars, he earnestly
urged the bystanders to put him on board. The only answer was, "Ask the Commodore;
ask the Consul."
"Damn the Commodore and Consul too! Put me on board, and here is twenty dollars
for you." But no one accepted. Infuriated, he returned to the factory and there
found his companion comfortably taking his coffee.
"Doctor, I say, don't you hear the signals? We are called on board."
"Yes," was the cool answer. "But unfortunately, the vessel she's in
chase of is one of Captain Conneau's vessels, and he has judiciously put an embargo
on all canoes on the beach. Therefore come up and take coffee, and we will await
the return of theBonito."
During this dialogue I was up in my lookout house watching the progress of the chase,
but as it was northward, both vessels disappeared. On my descent, I was accosted
by the offended officer, who demanded of me if I intended to keep him prisoner much
longer.
I told him he was perfectly free to go when he pleased, if he could find anyone to
take him: he had not made his intention known to me; therefore he could not expect
me to urge him off from my premises. However, he now could be furnished with a canoe,
but as the vessel was no longer in the offing, he had better wait and take breakfast.
For my part, I carried the conversation in a festive manner, in which the Doctor
joined me. The affronted Lieutenant struck his countenance of displeasure, and we
all sat-down to breakfast.
Shortly after, their vessel returned, having given up the chase, and the officers
returned on board. Next day I received a polite note from the Commander of theBonito
thanking me for the kind treatment I had given his officers.
