Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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I Had
Almost Finished The Scrutiny Of Her Person, When Adizzetta, Observing
Me Regarding Her With More Than Common Attention,
At length caught my
eye, and turned away her head, with a triumphant kind of smile, as
much as to
Say, Aye, white man, you may well admire and adore my
person; I perceive you are struck with my beauty, and no wonder
neither: yet I immediately checked the ill-natured construction,
which I had put on her looks, and accused myself of injustice. For
though, said I to myself, Adizzetta, poor simple savage, may be as
fond of admiration as her white sisters in more civilized lands, yet
her thoughts, for aught I know, might have been very remote from
vanity or self-love. However, that she smiled I am quite certain, and
very prettily too, for I saw a circling dimple, radiating upon her
full, round cheek, which terminated in a momentary gleam of
animation, and illuminate her dark languishing eye, like a flash of
light; and what could all this mean I had forgotten to say that the
person of Obie's daughter is tattooed in various parts, but the
incisions or rather lacerations are irregular and unseemly. Her bosom
in particular bears evident marks of the cutting and gashing, which
it had received when Adizzetta was a child, for the wounds having
badly healed, the skin over them is risen a full half inch above the
natural surface. By the side of each eye, near the temple vein, a
representation of the point of an arrow is alone formed with
tolerable accuracy. They look a though indigo had been inserted into
the flesh with a needle, and by this peculiarity, with which every
female face is impressed, the Eboe women are distinguished from their
neighbours and surrounding tribes.
"Before breakfast, Adizzetta was employed above an hour in cleaning
and polishing her teeth, by rubbing them with the fibrous roots of a
certain shrub or tree, which are much esteemed, and generally used
for the purpose in her own country, as well as in the more interior
parts. A great part of the day is consumed by many thousands of
individuals in this amusing occupation, and to this cause, the
brilliant whiteness of their teeth, for which Africans, generally
speaking, are remarkable, may be attributed." Such is Lander's
description of an African beauty, and that beauty a queen.
About ten in the morning, a mess of fish, boiled with yams and
plantains, was produced for breakfast. As King Boy was fearful that
the presence of the Landers might incommode the lady, they were
desired to move farther back, that she might eat with additional
confidence and comfort, for alas! they were not placed on an equality
with Adizzetta and her kingly spouse. When they had breakfasted and
swallowed a calabash of water from the stream, the Landers were
served with a plateful, and afterwards the boat's crew and the slaves
were likewise regaled with yams and wafer. In the evening, another
refreshment, similar to this, was served round to all, and these are
the only meals which the men of Brass have during the twenty-four
hours. Before eating, Boy himself made it a practice of offering a
small portion of his food to the spirits of the river, that his
voyage might be rendered propitious by conciliating their good will.
Previously also to his drinking a glass of rum or spirits, he poured
a few drops of it into the water, invoking the protection of these
fanciful beings, by muttering several expressions between his teeth,
the tenor of which, of course, they did not understand. This
religious observance, they were told, was invariably performed,
whenever the Brass people have occasion to leave their country by
water, or return to it by the same means; it is called a meat and
drink offering, and is celebrated at every meal. A custom very
similar to this prevails at Yarriba, at Badagry, Cape Coast Castle,
and along the western coast generally; the natives of those places
never take a glass of spirits without spilling a quantity of it on
the ground as "a fetish." In the morning, they observed a branch of
the river running off in a westerly direction, the course of the main
body being southwest.
They stopped awhile at various little villages during the day, to
purchase yams, bananas, and cocoa-nuts, and the curiosity of their
poor inhabitants at their appearance was intense. They were chiefly
fishermen or husbandmen, and notwithstanding the uncouth and
remarkable dress of the Landers, they behaved to them without
rudeness and even with civility, so that their inquisitiveness was
not disagreeable. Speaking trumpets, it was imagined, were quite a
novelty with the men at Brass, by the extraordinary rapture which
they displayed for their music, which certainly was anything but
melodious. It has been already stated that two of these instruments
were in the canoe, for the convenience of issuing orders, and during
the whole of the day, they were not ten minutes together from the
mouths of the officers, so great was the desire of all of them to
breathe through them, and which adds considerably to the deafening
noises made by their constant quarrelling with each other. This was a
great annoyance to the Landers, but they were constrained to submit
to it in silence; besides, it was entirely superfluous, for the
voices of the people were of themselves loud and powerful enough for
all the common purposes of life; and when they have a mind to strain
their brazen lungs, no speaking trumpet that has ever been made, be
it ever so large, could match the quantity of horrid sound which they
made; it would, in fact, drown the roaring of the sea.
In addition to the officers and attendants in the canoe formerly
mentioned, they had one drummer, the king's steward, and his lady's
maid, and two persons to bale out water, besides three captains, to
give the necessary directions for the safety of the canoe.
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