Captain Canot; Or, Twenty Years of an African Slaver
my retainers, in the meanwhile, had brought to the grove. They
consisted of several packages of blue and white calicoes, ten yards of
brilliant scarlet cloth, six kegs of powder, three hundred pounds of
tobacco, two strings of amber beads, and six muskets. On a beautiful
rug, I set aside the gilded sword and _a package of cantharides_,
designed for the king.
When my arrangement was over, Sulimani took the cane from his brother,
and stepping forward, said that the gifts to which he pointed proved
the truth of Ahmah-de-Bellah's words, and that a rich man, indeed, had
come to Footha-Yallon. Nay, more;--the rich man wanted slaves! Was I
not generous? I was their guest, and owed them no tribute or duties;
and yet, had I not _voluntarily_ lavished my presents upon the chiefs?
Next day, his father would personally distribute my offering; but,
whilst I dwelt in Footha, a bullock and ten baskets of rice should
daily be furnished for my caravan's support; and, as every chief would
partake my bounty, each one should contribute to my comfort.
This speech, like the former, was hailed with grunts; but I could not
help noticing that the vote of supplies was not cheered half as
lustily as the announcement of my _largesse_.
The formalities being over, the inquisitive head-men crowded round the
presents with as much eagerness as aspirants for office at a
presidential inauguration. The merchandise was inspected, felt,
smelled, counted, measured, and set aside. The rug and the sword,
being royal gifts, were delicately handled. But when the vials of
cantharides were unpacked, and their contents announced, each of the
chieftains insisted that his majesty should not monopolize the coveted
stimulant. A sharp dispute on the subject arose between the princes
and the councillors, so that I was forced to interfere through the
interpreters, who could only quiet the rebels by the promise of a
dozen additional flasks for their private account.
In the midst of the wrangling, Sulimani and Ahmah ordered their
father's slaves to carry the gifts to the Ali-Mami's palace; and,
taking me between them, we marched, arm in arm, to my domicil. Here I
found Abdulmomen-Ali, another son of the king, waiting for his
brothers to present him to the Mongo of Kambia. Abdulmomen was
introduced as "a learned divine," and began at once to talk Koran in
the most _mufti_-like manner. I had made such sorry improvement in
Mahometanism since Ahmah-de-Bellah's departure from the Rio Pongo,
that I thought it safest to sit silent, as if under the deepest fervor
of Mussulman conviction. I soon found that Abdulmomen, like many more
clergymen, was willing enough to do all the preaching, whenever he
found an unresisting listener. I put on a look of very intelligent
assent and thankfulness to all the arguments and commentaries of my
black brother, and in this way I avoided the detection of my
ignorance, as many a better man has probably done before me!
CHAPTER XXIV.
Timbo lies on a rolling plain. North of it, a lofty mountain range
rises at the distance of ten or fifteen miles, and sweeps eastwardly
to the horizon. The landscape, which declines from these slopes to the
south, is in many places bare; yet fields of plentiful cultivation,
groves of cotton-wood, tamarind and oak, thickets of shrubbery and
frequent villages, stud its surface, and impart an air of rural
comfort to the picturesque scene.
I soon proposed a gallop with my African kindred over the
neighborhood; and, one fine morning, after a plentiful breakfast of
stewed fowls, boiled to rags with rice, and seasoned with delicious
"palavra sauce," we cantered off to the distant villages. As we
approached the first brook, but before the fringe of screening bushes
was passed, our cavalcade drew rein abruptly, while Ahmah-de-Bellah
cried out: "Strangers are coming!" A few moments after, as we slowly
crossed the stream, I noticed several women crouched in the underwood,
having fled from the bath. This warning is universally given, and
enforced by law, to guard the modesty of the gentler sex.
In half an hour we reached the first suburban village; but fame had
preceded us with my character, and as the settlement was cultivated
either by serfs or negroes liable to be made so, we found the houses
bare. The poor wretches had learned, on the day of my reception, that
the principal object of my journey was to obtain slaves, and, of
course, they imagined that the only object of my foray in their
neighborhood, was to seize the gang and bear it abroad in bondage.
Accordingly, we tarried only a few minutes in Findo, and dashed off to
Furo; but here, too, the blacks had been panic struck, and escaped so
hurriedly that they left their pots of rice, vegetables, and meat
boiling in their sheds. Furo was absolutely stripped of inhabitants;
the veteran chief of the village did not even remain to do the honors
for his affrighted brethren. Ahmah-de-Bellah laughed heartily at the
terror I inspired; but I confess I could not help feeling sadly
mortified when I found my presence shunned as a pestilence.
The native villages through which I passed on this excursion
manifested the great comfort in which these Africans live throughout
their prolific land, when unassailed by the desolating wars that are
kept up for slave-trade. It was the height of the dry season, when
every thing was parched by the sun, yet I could trace the outlines of
fine plantations, gardens, and rice-fields. Every where I found
abundance of peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and
cassava; while tasteful fences were garlanded with immense vines and
flowers. Fowls, goats, sheep, and oxen, stalked about in innumerable
flocks, and from every domicil depended a paper, inscribed with a
charm from the Koran to keep off thieves and witches.
My walks through Timbo were promoted by the constant efforts of my
entertainers to shield me from intrusive curiosity. Whenever I sallied
forth, two townsfolk in authority were sent forward to warn the public
that the Furtoo desired to promenade without a mob at his heels. These
lusty criers stationed themselves at the corners with an iron
triangle, which they rattled to call attention to the king's command;
and, in a short time, the highways were so clear of people, who feared
a _bastinado_, that I found my loneliness rather disagreeable than
otherwise. _Every person I saw, shunned me._ When I called the
children or little girls,--they fled from me. My reputation as a
slaver in the villages, and the fear of a lash in the town, furnished
me much more solitude than is generally agreeable to a sensitive
traveller.
Towards nightfall I left my companions, and wrapping myself closely in
a Mandingo dress, stole away through bye-ways to a brook which runs by
the town-walls. Thither the females resort at sunset to draw water;
and, choosing a screened situation, where I would not be easily
observed, I watched, for more than an hour, the graceful children,
girls, and women of Timbo, as they performed this domestic task of
eastern lands.
I was particularly impressed by the general beauty of the sex, who, in
many respects, resembled the Moor rather than the negro. Unaware of a
stranger's presence, they came forth as usual in a simple dress which
covers their body from waist to knee, and leaves the rest of the
figure entirely naked. Group after group gathered together on the
brink of the brook in the slanting sunlight and lengthening shadows of
the plain. Some rested on their pitchers and water vessels; some
chatted, or leaned on each other gracefully, listening to the chat of
friends; some stooped to fill their jars; others lifted the brimming
vessels to their sisters' shoulders--while others strode homeward
singing, with their charged utensils poised on head or hand. Their
slow, stately, swinging movement under the burden, was grace that
might be envied on a Spanish _paseo_. I do not think the forms of
these Fullah girls,--with their complexions of freshest bronze,--are
exceeded in symmetry by the women of any other country. There was a
slender delicacy of limb, waist, neck, hand, foot, and bosom, which
seemed to be the type that moulded every one of them. I saw none of
the hanging breast; the flat, expanded nostrils; the swollen lips, and
fillet-like foreheads, that characterize the Soosoos and their sisters
of the coast. None were deformed, nor were any marked by traces of
disease. I may observe, moreover, that the male Fullahs of Timbo are
impressed on my memory by a beauty of form, which almost equals that
of the women; and, in fact, the only fault I found with them was their
minute resemblance to the feminine delicacy of the other sex. They
made up, however, in courage what they lacked in form, for their manly
spirit has made them renowned among all the tribes they have so long
controlled by distinguished bravery and perseverance.
The patriarchal landscape by the brook, with the Oriental girls over
their water-jars, and the lowing cattle in the pastures, brought
freshly to my mind many a Bible scene I heard my mother read when I
was a boy at home; and I do not know what revolution might have been
wrought on my spirit had I not suddenly become critical! A stately
dame passed within twenty feet of my thicket, whose _coiffure_ excited
my mirth so powerfully that I might have been detected as a spy, had
not a bitten lip controlled my laughter. Her ladyship belonged,
perhaps, to the "upper-ten" of Timbo, whose heads had hitherto been
hidden from my eyes by the jealous _yashmacks_ they constantly wear in
a stranger's presence. In this instance, however, the woman's head,
like that of the younger girls, was uncovered, so that I had a full
view of the stately preparation. Her lower limbs were clad in ample
folds of blue and white cotton, knotted in an immense mass at the
waist, while her long crisp hair had been combed out to its fullest
dimensions and spliced with additional wool. The ebony fleece was then
separated in strands half an inch in diameter, and plaited all over
her skull in a countless number of distinct braids. This quill-like
structure was then adorned with amber beads, and copiously anointed
with vegetable butter, so that the points gleamed with fire in the
setting sunlight, and made her look as if she had donned for a
bewitching headdress a porcupine instead of a "bird of paradise."
* * * * *
My trip to Timbo, I confess, was one of business rather than pleasure
or scientific exploration. I did not make a record, at the moment, of
my "impressions de voyage," and never thought that, a quarter of a
century afterwards, I would feel disposed to chronicle the journey in
a book, as an interesting _souvenir_ of my early life. Had I supposed
that the day would come when I was to turn author, it is likely I
might have been more inquisitive; but, being only "a slaver," I found
Ahmah, Sulimani, Abdulmomen, the Ali-Mami, and all the quality and
amusements of Timbo, dull enough, _when my object was achieved_.
Still, while I was there, I thought I might as well see all that was
visible. I strolled repeatedly through the town. I became excessively
familiar with its narrow streets, low houses, mud walls, cul-de-sacs,
and mosques. I saw no fine bazaars, market-places, or shops. The chief
wants of life were supplied by peddlers. Platters, jars, and baskets
of fruit, vegetables, and meat, were borne around twice or thrice
daily. Horsemen dashed about on beautiful steeds towards the fields in
the morning, or came home at nightfall at a slower pace. _I never saw
man or woman bask lazily in the sun._ Females were constantly busy
over their cotton and spinning wheels when not engaged in household
occupations; and often have I seen an elderly dame quietly crouched in