In Each Town Is A Large Stage Called The Bentang, Which Answers The
Purpose Of A Public Hall Or Town House.
It is composed of
interwoven canes, and is generally sheltered from the sun by being
erected in the shade of some large tree.
It is here that all public
affairs are transacted and trials conducted; and here the lazy and
indolent meet to smoke their pipes, and hear the news of the day.
In most of the towns the Mohammedans have also a missura, or mosque,
in which they assemble and offer up their daily prayers, according
to the rules of the Koran.
In the account which I have thus given of the natives, the reader
must bear in mind that my observations apply chiefly to persons of
FREE CONDITION, who constitute, I suppose, not more than one-fourth
part of the inhabitants at large. The other three-fourths are in a
state of hopeless and hereditary slavery, and are employed in
cultivating the land, in the care of cattle, and in servile offices
of all kinds, much in the same manner as the slaves in the West
Indies. I was told, however, that the Mandingo master can neither
deprive his slave of life, nor sell him to a stranger, without first
calling a palaver on his conduct, or in other words, bringing him to
a public trial. But this degree of protection is extended only to
the native or domestic slave. Captives taken in war, and those
unfortunate victims who are condemned to slavery for crimes or
insolvency - and, in short, all those unhappy people who are brought
down from the interior countries for sale - have no security
whatever, but may be treated and disposed of in all respects as the
owner thinks proper. It sometimes happens, indeed, when no ships
are on the coast, that a humane and considerate master incorporates
his purchased slaves among his domestics; and their offspring at
least, if not the parents, become entitled to all the privileges of
the native class.
The earliest European establishment on this celebrated river was a
factory of the Portuguese, and to this must be ascribed the
introduction of the numerous words of that language which are still
in use among the negroes. The Dutch, French, and English afterwards
successively possessed themselves of settlements on the coast; but
the trade of the Gambia became, and continued for many years, a sort
of monopoly in the hands of the English. In the travels of Francis
Moore is preserved an account of the Royal African Company's
establishments in this river in the year 1730; at which the James's
factory alone consisted of a governor, deputy-governor, and two
other principal officers; eight factors, thirteen writers, twenty
inferior attendants and tradesmen; a company of soldiers, and
thirty-two negro servants; besides sloops, shallops, and boats, with
their crews; and there were no less than eight subordinate factories
in other parts of the river.
The trade with Europe, by being afterwards laid open, was almost
annihilated. The share which the subjects of England at this time
hold in it supports not more than two or three annual ships; and I
am informed that the gross value of British exports is under 20,000
pounds. The French and Danes still maintain a small share, and the
Americans have lately sent a few vessels to the Gambia by way of
experiment.
The commodities exported to the Gambia from Europe consist chiefly
of firearms and ammunition, iron-ware, spirituous liquors, tobacco,
cotton caps, a small quantity of broadcloth, and a few articles of
the manufacture of Manchester; a small assortment of India goods,
with some glass beads, amber, and other trifles, for which are taken
in exchange slaves, gold dust, ivory, beeswax, and hides. Slaves
are the chief article, but the whole number which at this time are
annually exported from the Gambia by all nations is supposed to be
under one thousand.
Most of these unfortunate victims are brought to the coast in
periodical caravans; many of them from very remote inland countries,
for the language which they speak is not understood by the
inhabitants of the maritime districts. In a subsequent part of my
work I shall give the best information I have been able to collect
concerning the manner in which they are obtained. On their arrival
at the coast, if no immediate opportunity offers of selling them to
advantage, they are distributed among the neighbouring villages,
until a slave ship arrives, or until they can be sold to black
traders, who sometimes purchase on speculation. In the meanwhile,
the poor wretches are kept constantly fettered, two and two of them
being chained together, and employed in the labours of the field,
and, I am sorry to add, are very scantily fed, as well as harshly
treated. The price of a slave varies according to the number of
purchasers from Europe, and the arrival of caravans from the
interior; but in general I reckon that a young and healthy male,
from sixteen to twenty-five years of age, may be estimated on the
spot from 18 pounds to 20 pounds sterling.
The negro slave-merchants, as I have observed in the former chapter,
are called slatees, who, besides slaves, and the merchandise which
they bring for sale to the whites, supply the inhabitants of the
maritime districts with native iron, sweet-smelling gums and
frankincense, and a commodity called shea-toulou, which, literally
translated, signifies tree-butter.
In payment of these articles, the maritime states supply the
interior countries with salt, a scarce and valuable commodity, as I
frequently and painfully experienced in the course of my journey.
Considerable quantities of this article, however, are also supplied
to the inland natives by the Moors, who obtain it from the salt pits
in the Great Desert, and receive in return corn, cotton cloth, and
slaves.
In their early intercourse with Europeans the article that attracted
most notice was iron. Its utility, in forming the instruments of
war and husbandry, make it preferable to all others, and iron soon
became the measure by which the value of all other commodities was
ascertained.
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