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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They
Exchange Their Fish For Yams, And Thus The Wants Of The Fishermen And
The Cultivators Are Both Supplied.
On the first visit of ships to this island, very considerable
aversion was shown by the natives to any
Of their people attempting
to go to their huts, or even to their endeavouring to penetrate into
the woods, although only a short distance from the shore, from a fear
perhaps of their plantations being plundered. Their huts, which are
of the rudest construction imaginable, may be distinctly seen amongst
the trees in small groups, surrounding a clear space of ground, in
which they cultivate the yam, and are formed of a few stakes driven
firmly into the ground, thatched over with the palm leaf, the sides
being completed with a sort of wicker work. They are about ten or
twelve feet long, and half that in breadth, and not more than four or
five feet in height. Their only furniture consists of some long flat
pieces of wood, raised a few inches from the ground, and slightly
hollowed out, to answer the purpose of sleeping in.
Numerous instances have occurred, of the thieving propensities of the
natives, and it required, at first, a considerable degree of
vigilance to prevent them from being successful, but it is due to the
chiefs to say, that since the establishment of Clarence, they have
invariably taken an active part in putting a stop to it. Whatever may
have been their habits previously to the formation of the settlement,
they seem to be little improved by their intercourse with the
settlers. Their principal chief has received the formidable
appellation of cut-throat from Captain Owen, a name, by which he will
be known as long as he lives. This fellow is a most determined
savage, and seems to have lost none of his natural propensities by
communicating with the settlers. He has received innumerable presents
from the English, of clothes, and a variety of things, which are all
thrown away upon him, and he goes about as usual, wearing his little
hat, with feathers stuck in it, and the long grass about his waist,
disdaining such useless coverings as he imagines them. This is not to
be wondered at, for accustomed as he has been all his life time, to
the unrestrained freedom of his whole person, it would be rather a
matter of surprise to see him make use of them, particularly in the
climate of Fernando Po, where one almost wishes to follow the example
of the natives, excepting in the use of their clay and palm oil. No
doubt Cut-throat thinks this quite a sufficient covering.
The natives pay frequent visits to the colony, and, however they may
deal out justice amongst themselves, are by no means backward in
seeing it administered among the free negroes and Kroomen of
Clarence. It frequently happens, that in the scarcity of live stock,
some of the former, unable to restrain their desire for more
substantial food, and tired of their Indian corn, venture to help
themselves to what the natives will not bring them; parties of these
people are accordingly formed, who find their way to the huts of the
natives in the interior, and steal their yams, goats, and sheep, or
whatever they meet with. These depredations are sure to bring the
unfortunate owners to the colony with complaints of their losses,
which are laid before the governor. The negroes are then mustered
before them, and the native who has been plundered, is allowed, if he
can do so, to point out the thief. If he should be successful, which
is frequently the case, he is allowed to witness the punishment,
which the offender is sentenced to receive, and generally gets some
recompense for his loss. On the Sunday after the arrival of the
Landers at Clarence, a party of four Kroomen set off into the
interior, with the full determination of plunder, let the
consequences be what it might. They had not gone far before they met
with a goat belonging to a native, which they immediately shot, and
returned with it carefully concealed, that they might not be
discovered. Their precautions, however, were of little avail, for the
owner of the animal accompanied by a party of his friends, made his
appearance at Clarence the next morning, and preferred his complaint
in strong terms against the luckless Kroomen, whom, it appeared, he
knew perfectly well. The Kroomen were accordingly mustered, and the
very four, who had gone on this unfortunate expedition, were pointed
out with exultation by the natives. The law took its course, the
Kroomen each received one hundred and fifty lashes from the African
drummer, usually employed on these occasions, while the natives stood
by, to see that the punishment was duly performed. This they did to
admiration, by counting the number of lashes each received; and
having witnessed the last punished, with eyes sparkling with brutal
satisfaction at the tortures of the unfortunate sufferers, they went
away quite satisfied. The place where this disagreeable operation is
performed, is in the barrack yard, on Point William, between the
officers' house and the hospital. The culprit is tied up to a kind of
strong gallows, erected for the purpose. Two stout pieces of timber,
about seven or eight feet high, are driven perpendicularly into the
ground, about four feet apart from each other, a piece is secured
firmly across them at the top, and another at a short distance from
the ground. The hands of the man who is to be punished, are tied at
each end of the upright pieces, and his legs are secured to the same
on each side below, in which position he is exposed to the merciless
scourge of the drummer, which is a common cat-o-nine-tails. It is
painful even to think of such scenes as these, and when they take
place at the mere whim and caprice of the hardened slave merchant,
such a picture is revolting in the extreme.
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