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



















 -  The people, surely, cannot be aware of their own danger, or
they never would be unconcerned spectators of the events - Page 409
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 - Page 409 of 587 - First - Home

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The People, Surely, Cannot Be Aware Of Their Own Danger, Or They Never Would Be Unconcerned Spectators Of The Events, Which Are Rapidly Tending To Root Out Their Religion, Customs, And Institutions, And Totally Annihilate Them As A Nation.

But since they have neither foresight, nor wisdom, nor resolution to put themselves in a posture of defence, and

Make at least a show of resistance, when danger real or imaginary menaces them; since neither the love of country, which stimulates all nations to heroic achievements in defence of their just and natural rights, and all that is truly dear to them in the world; and since neither affection for their defenceless wives and unprotected offspring, nor love of self can awaken a single spark of courage or patriotism in their bosoms, can scare away that demon sloth from among them, or induce them to make a solitary exertion to save themselves and posterity from a foreign yoke; why then, they are surely unworthy to be called a people; they deserve to be deprived of their effects, children, and personal liberty, to have their habitual sloth and listlessness converted into labour and usefulness, in tilling, improving, and beautifying for strangers, that soil, which they have neither spirit nor inclination to cultivate for themselves.

A market is held daily in different parts of Katunga, but there are two days in the week, in which it is much larger and more numerously attended than on any of the other days. One is styled the queen's market, but in the evening, when it is held in another place, it is called the king's market. To make a market profitable, the sellers and buyers should be equal, for where either predominate, the advantage cannot be mutual; if the buyers exceed the sellers, the articles sold will rise in price, and on the other hand, if the sellers exceed the buyers, a depreciation in the price will take place. The latter case was observed to prevail in the markets of Katunga, and which was in a degree a direct proof that the supply surpassed the population. The articles chiefly exposed for sale were, several different kinds of corn, beans, peas, and vegetables, in great abundance and variety; the butter extracted from the mi-cadama tree, country cotton cloths, red clay, ground or guinea nuts, salt, indigo, and different kinds of pepper; snuff and tobacco, trona, knives, barbs, hooks, and needles, the latter of the rudest native manufacture. There were also finger rings of tin and lead, and iron bracelets and armlets, old shells, old bones, and other venerable things, which the members of the society of antiquaries would estimate as articles of real vertu; a great variety of beads both of native and European manufacture, among the former of which was recognised the famous Agra bead, which at Cape Coast Castle, Accra, and other places, is sold for its weight in gold, and which has been in vain attempted to be imitated by the Italians and our own countrymen.

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