Chapter XII (3)

Tho’ the General has but one Vote in Business, yet it’s tacitly consented, from his better Allowance and Power as Governour, that he shall lead the others, who sign only for their Salaries: He therefore disposes solely of Preferments to the Factors and Writers, who, as they please or displease, may be continued at, or removed to their advantage. For, as on Service from the Fort they are allowed a Commission in Trade, additional to their Pay; so, in some of the outer Forts (such as _Accra_, or in a Ship) they make considerable Increase; while at others again, _Anamaboo_, or _Dixcove_, they find a great deal of Trouble, wet Lodging, Scarcity of Provision, and no Profit; and as these last outnumber the good, I observed most of our Factors to have dwindled much from the genteel Air they brought; wear no Cane nor Snuff-box, _idle in Men of Business_, have lank Bodies, a pale Visage, their Pockets sown up, or of no use, and their Tongues tied. One Cause of their Slenderness indeed, is a Scarcity of Provision; little besides Plantain, small Fish, _Indian_ Corn, and a great deal of _Canky_, to be bought at Market.[23] Poor _T——d_ was a Youth well recommended, and lived as long as he could. I had once some Business in his Office, when a _Negro_ Woman came bawling about his Ears for a Plantain he had stole from her: He would feign have concealed the meaning of her Musick, but at length I understood it was the only Morsel he had eat for three days past; one night’s Debauch, and several Mulcts having run him out of Pocket. The next Occasion I had of enquiring after him, I heard, that being too narrowly watched in this illegal Traffick, he pined with a Vacuum of the Guts, and died; leaving this Advice to his Countrymen, rather to run a remote hazard of being hanged at home, than chuse a Transfretation hither.

Another Instance how well they live, was the Captain of their Soldiers, in my time stealing away from the Castle in the night, to make his Escape on board a Brigantine going off the Coast; but, unlucky Gentleman, was chased and brought back by the _Weymouth_ next day: The General, by _Canon Law_, fined the Master of the Vessel, 70 Ounces for this Misdemeanor, besides corporal Punishment.

The General does not feel this Want, for altho’ here be a Scarcity of neat Cattle, Kid, or Fowl, (no body having any besides himself) he supplies this Want from other Parts, by their own trading Vessels, and _Dashees_ from Masters of Ships, and neighbouring Nations; and for Vegetables, he has a large Garden without the Castle, first planted by Sir _Dalby Thomas_, a former Governour, abounding not only with their’s, but Fruits of _English_ Growth, _and entirely for his own use_. Of _Taggys_, a sweet Nut, they make Emulsions, and boil to a Custard.

_Cromers_ grow in Pods like Peas, but larger, rounder, and full of little Seed; this, and _Tantarraboys_, a Fruit red and yellow, that grows wild, they put into their _black Soupee_, made here in the best and cleanest manner, washing the Palm-nuts with warm water, to bring away the Strings.

The General has taken a _Consa_, which by the _Negroes_ is understood a temporary Wife, because she is not obliged to leave the Country, which is looked on as Slavery: She is a _Mulatto_ Woman, begot by a _Dutch_ Soldier at _Des Minas_, by whom he has four Children, of fair, flaxen Hair and Complexion. Her _Negro_ Friends and Relations add Interest and Power to him, and he again can back their Injustice in the _Pawns_ irregularly procured to the Garrison. He dotes on this Woman, whom he persuades now and then to our Chappel-Service, and she complies without Devotion, being a strict Adherer to the _Negrish_ Customs. I attended the Illness of one of her Children; and afterwards on the General himself, who on both Occasions, I found, was so weak or so wise, as to give the preference of _Fetishing_ to any Physical Directions of mine, wearing them on his Wrists and Neck. He was a Gentleman of good Sense, yet could not help yielding to the silly Customs created by our Fears, and shews the Sway it bears in the Choice or Alteration of our Religion.

He cannot persuade this Woman to leave the Country, tho’ he has stole or forced her Consent for all the Children, in regard to their Education; she still conforming to the Dress of her Country, being always barefoot and _fetished_ with Chains and Gobbets of Gold, at her Ancles, her Wrists, and her Hair; to alter which in _England_, she thinks would sit awkard, and together with her Ignorance how to comport her self with new and strange Conversation, would in all likelihood alienate her Husband’s Affections.

The General, besides being a kind Husband and Father, is a good Servant to the Company; assiduous and diligent, maintaining his Authority against the _Dutch_ at _Des Minas_: Mr. _Butler_, the _Dutch_ Director-General there, and he, having frequent Controversies and Demands upon one another; sometimes on account of pretended ill-usage to the Relations of his _Consa_, oftner upon Trade. Yet the Dignity he is to preserve in this petty Sovereignty, and the accustomed fawning Submission of the _Negroes_ to it, has made his Carriage haughty towards all under him. He resides for ever within his Battlements; his Subjects and he resembling the Giant and enchanted Castle. He is seen no oftner than is necessary; and when he vouchsafes an Invitation to his Table, you must keep a good Look-out, or lose your Dinner; he never descending so much from _State_ as to ask after you, tho’ he knows there is no Victuals any where else. A Project indeed is lately set on foot, for the _Company’s_ importing _Irish_ Beef and Pork, to be issued at 19 and 12_lib._ an _Accy_, wished for by those who love their Meat without Sauce. I was six Weeks attending the Trials of the Pyrates at this Castle, and treated very civilly.

The Factory have every now and then a large Demand for Salt, made and brought hither from _Accra_. The Sale appears like a Fair in the Castle, and many of those _Negroes_ whose Ivory or Gold would not purchase half a Bushel, I was told had travelled some hundred Miles; they chusing to go in Bodies when Seed-time is over, as a better Protection from wild Beasts, and their wilder Countrymen, who frequently make Incursions from several parts of the Coast, and sieze them for Slaves, when few and defenceless.

The Castle is a large Quadrangle, built by the _Portuguese_; for tho’ the _French_ first discovered this Part, their Civil Wars hindred Settlements first made by them; who erected Forts, from whom the _Dutch_ seized their’s, and we from them again. Vice-Admiral _Holmes_ in 1664, after reducing _New-York_ and _Long Island_ from the _Dutch_, coming here by order of the Duke of _York_, then Lord-Admiral, and dispossessing them of most Places; it certainly being as reasonable on our side as it was on their’s; or more, because they would have excluded all others from the Trade, making Prize of our Ships, and imprisoning the Men. Admiral _Ruyter_ seized them from us again the next Year, without Declaration of War, which engaged us to a Reprizal on their _Bourdeaux_ Fleet. These Transactions, and the pressing Instances of the Parliament, who voted, the King should be addressed to redress the Wrongs and Injuries of the _Dutch_ on our Trade in _Africa_ and _India_ to a vast Value, occasioned a War, which concluded with our Right of Privilege.

The Height of the Walls is the Strength of this Fort; sufficient against any _Negro_ Power, as they lately experienced in an Attack the _Fantins_ made upon the Castle’s Dependants, who found their Security under the Walls; for here are some potent Neighbours, such as the Emperor of _Fantin_, the Kings of _Santie_, _Akim_, and _Aquemboe_, between whom and the Company’s _Negroes_, happen frequent Occasions of Quarrel, from unwarrantable Practices in Trade. The common way to evade the Stroke, or push it in the Company’s favour, is giving a _Dashee_ of 5 or 600_lib._ in Goods to one of them, to fall on the Adversary; a Trick used alternately by the _Dutch_, and us also, to counterplot one another’s Interests.

In the Area of this Quadrangle, are large Vaults, with an iron Grate at the Surface to let in Light and Air on those poor Wretches, the Slaves, who are chained and confined there till a Demand comes. They are all marked with a burning Iron upon the right Breast, _D. Y._ Duke of _York_.

_Tanks_ (Reservatories of Water) are in the Castle, vaulted and terrassed, capable of holding 100 Tuns or more: The Pavement leans from all parts towards them, to drain off the Rain; Water being scarce in dry [24]Seasons, and great quantities wanted. There is only one, nasty, muddy Pond, of ill Taste, in the Neighbourhood, from whence Ships are supplied, swum off to the Boats with a great deal of trouble by the _Negroes_.

Within the Castle is a Smith’s Shop, a Cooperage, Store-houses, a Chappel, and Houses for the Officers and Servants. The General’s Lodging communicates with the Chappel, a capacious Hall, which serves to preach and dine in, pray or drink, serve God or debate on Trade; hence they can over-look what the Company’s Servants are doing, and how comply with their respective Duties. A Bastion runs out from it that has a very pleasant Prospect to the Sea, discerning with a Glass the Ships coming down the Coast, and very distinctly all those in the Road at _Des Minas_.

Having done with the Factory and Castle at present, I come now to the Natives, who from a long Acquaintance with _Europeans_, are much the best _Negroes_ of the whole Continent.

Their Houses are built of Mud, kept clean, many of them with Chairs or Stools, good Matts to lie down upon, earthen Pots and Pans, and several Changes of _Tomees_ (Arse-Clouts.) They give Names to their Children, mostly by the days of the Week born on, _Quashee_, _Yeday_, _Cuujo_, that is, _Sunday_, _Monday_, _Tuesday_, &c. and at Manhood, change it to something expressive of their Disposition; _Aquerro Occu_, _Yocatee_, [25]_Tittwee_, like a _Parrot_, _Lion_, _Wolf_, &c. The same they do by white Men, imposing a Name of their own chusing.

Their Town is a little without the Castle-Gate, where the Women keep a Market with their _Canky_, Papais, Soap and Fish, such as Cavalloes, Bream, Cat-fish, _&c._ all small, but in tolerable plenty; there being out in the Road fishing, from 40 and 50, to 100 Canoos, when fine Weather.

These Market-Women have Scales, and weigh every _Toccu_ of Gold-dust. A dozen Sticks of Wax, a couple Pounds of Loaf-Sugar, or two or three pieces of salt Beef, will be worth an _Accy_; our Crown an _Accy_ and a half.

Such as are imployed with the _Smith_, or the _Cooper_, make presently good Workmen, and the _Negro_ Goldsmith, with very little Instruction, has arrived to a good Skill in making Spoons, Buckles, Buttons, heading Canes, or tipping the Deers Feet.

Captain _Tom_, an honest fellow among them (our Gold-taker) who, understanding a little _English_ by being imployed in our Service, was a great Acquaintance of mine, and would, in the best manner he was able, always satisfy my Curiosity about the _Fetish_: He believes it able to protect from Dangers, or recover from Sickness; so that, in Travail, or any Ailment, they never are without the _Fetish_ about them, whom they constantly _Dashee_ for Health and Safety. _Tom_ wore his about the Leg, and at Sea, as constantly as he had a Dram, a Glass of Wine, or any Victuals, he dipped his Finger and gave the _Fetish_ a Taste. It’s the general Belief that it both speaks and sees; wherefore on any Action that ought not to be done, the _Fetish_ is hid within their _Tomee_, or wrapped in a Rag to prevent Tales. This Persuasion obtains by the Cunning of the _Fetish_-Man (or Priest) who is consulted with a Present always (a Bottle of Rum, a Goat, a Fowl, a Papa, according to the Importance of the Business, and Ability of the Person) on any Sickness, Business or Undertaking; and his Answers sway them to the Pursuance or Omission: If he says the thing shall succeed so and so, it commonly does, their natural Sagacity measuring out Consequences; and in Medicines or Charms, Experience pronounces tolerably on the Operation. The last Refuge of the _Fetish_-Man is, to charge the Person with some Crime that diverted the good Influence of the _Fetish_; and so fond are they of these Tutelar Deities, and credulous of the Intercourse between them and the _Fetish_-Man, that they are glad to accuse one another of Faults that made them unlucky; and if no Friend was Witness, do it themselves, to prevent the Displeasure might fall on them by any Contempt.

Every Man has two, three, or more _Fetishes_ to his fancy; one worn about him, or in his Canoo; the rest at home, bequeathing them, as they prove serviceable, from Father to Son. There is also at _Cabo Corso_, a publick _Fetish_, the Guardian of them all; and that is the Rock _Tabra_, a bluff peninsular Prominence that juts out from the Bottom of the Clift the Castle stands on, making a sort of Cover for Landing, but so unsafe, as frequently to expose the Boats and People to Danger, the Sea breaking over with great force. This was most remarkably felt by them about forty or fifty years ago, when all their Fishing Canoos, from some want of Devoir, were by a Southerly Wind split against Rock _Tabra_, and the Misfortune happening on a _Tuesday_, has ever since been set apart for Idleness, Dancing, and Diversion.

To this Rock, the _Fetish_-Man sacrifices annually a Goat and some Rum, eating and drinking a little himself, and throwing the rest into the Sea with odd Gestures and Invocations, he tells the Company, and they believe that he receives a verbal Answer from _Tabra_, what Seasons and Times will be propitious; and for this Knowledge every Fisherman finds it worth his while to _Dashee_ him with some Acknowledgment.

They not only seem to think there is an Intelligence in those material Things that are of immediate Good or Hurt to them, but also the _Fetish_-Men to have Conversation, and by it to be acquainted with their most private Affairs at any distance, which preserves Awe and Regard.

_Peter Anchicove_, another Gold-taker of Cape _Corso_, assured me that being once at _Succonda_, a _Fetish_-Man met him, and demanded three _Accys_, which was given immediately on threatning: (the Gift on ordinary Occasions is less; a piece of Perpet, a Cap, a Fowl, or from a Market-Woman a Loaf of _Canky_.) And then he bid _Peter_ leave the Voyage he was upon, and return home, for his Wife had in this Absence kept a scandalous Correspondence with several Men. Accordingly when he came home, he found it as the _Fetish_-Man had said, and a _Palaaver_ being called, _Peter_ recovered two Ounces of Gold Damage (the Punishment of Adultery) against one of the Offenders; an Ounce and a half of it to himself, the other half Ounce to the Court. The Penalty goes no farther, if the Woman be Daughter to a Freeman; for if the Cuckold is not contented, the Father takes her home on the acknowledgment of a Goat, or the like small Present, because it is his Loss: But if a purchased Slave is false, she is sold. When Proof is wanting, but the Suspicion strong, he brings an edible _Fetish_, which if she refuse to eat, she is adjudged guilty, and the dread of its poisonous Quality, makes them often confess, to their Accusers Satisfaction; the certain Punishment being preferable to the doubtful Lethality of the _Fetish_.

The Men likewise, in this or notorious Crimes, go thro’ such a Tryal, or compound rather by a Mulct, which better answers the Aim, and shews he is not stubborn and refractory[26].

At _Accra_ they have _Fetish_-Women also, so by Descent, who pretend Divination, give Answers to all Questions, and, like our Fortune-tellers, are continually bubbling the weaker.

_Fetishes_ are sold, from an experienced Goodness in them, from two _Accys_ to two _Bendees_ a-piece, or as they are warranted to protect from this or that sort of Evil, or better than another can do it. They use Circumcision, Prayers, and Washings, and seem to have an obscure Notion of Futurity; for when I used to charge my acquaintance with any thing of Dishonesty, they would reply, That after Death the honest goodee Man go to Godee, livee very well, have a goodee Wife, goodee Victuals, _&c._ but if a _Rogue_ and _Cheatee_, he must be tossed here and there, never still. To this agrees the vulgar Notion of some, returning after Death to their own Country.

At a Death, the Relations and Neighbours keep a noise and howling till the day of Interrment, always at their own Houses, where the Corpse being put in a Trunk, and carried a small Circuit on Men’s Heads, the Town’s-Folks attend with wild Noise and firing of Guns, till finding the Deceased does not wake, they drink and make merry, and bury with the Corpse a Portion of Liquor, Pipes, _&c._ This done, a little Victuals is supplied by the Relations every day to the Grave, for a considerable time.

The superiour Genius of these Gold-Coast _Negroes_, is owing much to the Settlement of _European_ Factories among them: Their greater Honesty toward us, first from Forts that awe them; secondly, from their unwarrantable Practices with their Neighbours, who by _Panyarrs_ and cheating for our good, are become perpetual Enemies, and fixed them by Interest and Necessity ours; where the greater part of them find they can live better by Honesty than by being Thieves, they are under less Fear, and could not conceal any attempts of Fraud long. Honesty in all trading places is bottom’d upon this in the lower, and upon Interest in the higher Ranks of Men; if the former can provide themselves as well, or better, that is, with quieter Sleeps and less Anguish by being honest than Robbers; it is egregious Folly, abating the Crime, to forsake it: and when prosperous Events give Increase to Riches, it is Interest to allure others, a general Security lying in it. And they may, by the Influence of Example, and an open Behaviour, make particular Men so, that were not first in the Design. Few, I surmise, under the same Circumstances with the Wretches that at last go to the Gallows, but would have been there too, if Fortune had reversed their Scituation; those that can rob under no Necessity, we may be sure would.

Thirdly, altho’ Christianity is not concerned in the Question with these _Negroes_, I am apt to think, _European_ Conversation has given them the Intimation of the Word _Godee_, (for so they express the tremendous Name) and another State, which, if beyond their Comprehension, and the Instruction hitherto had, may yet have advantaged the Reverence to _Fetishes_; which, if it answers in the cultivating Virtue, and mending their Morals, is no silly thing.

_The Coast from Cabo CORSO to WHYDAH._

From _Cabo Corso_ we made short Stops in our Passage, at _Anamaboe_, _Montford_, _Barku_, _Shallo_, _Accra_, R. _Volta_, _the Papau_ Coast, and arrived at _Whydah_ _July_ 4; where we made a stay of three Weeks.

At _Anamaboo_ our private Ships finish their Slaving, few or none being got downward, till you reach _Whydah_.

At _Montford_, _Shallo_, and thereabouts, they make up the Deficiency of Rice and Corn for the Voyage, the Country appearing fruitful, and with better Aspect than any of those we have passed to Windward, intermixed with Hills and Vales; at every League almost, a Town; many Corn-fields, Salt pans and other Marks of Industry, particularly about _Accra_, which shews they are extricated out of those Difficulties with their Neighbours behind them, that the manner of persuing the Slave-Trade exposes others too.

At _Accra_, we, the _French_, and _Dutch_, have each a Factory and Fort, and make there great quantities of Salt, supplied to Windward, and to the inland Provinces, where it is always a precious Commodity.

Before we reach hither, we pass by a considerable high Mount, which _Anchecove_ says, he has seen smoke like a _Volcano_; from whence, and being the Haunt of rapacious wild Beasts, they have borrowed the Name, and call it _Devils Hill_; but the most danger to Travellers, is from a prodigious number of _Apes_ (some 5 foot long) and _Monkeys_ that inhabit it, who will attack single Passengers, and drive them for Refuge into the Water, of which these Creatures are very fearful. At some Places the _Negroes_ have been suspected of Bestiality with them, and by the Boldness and Affection they are known under some Circumstances to express to our Females; the Ignorance and Stupidity on the other side, to guide or controul Lust; but more from the near resemblances are sometimes met to the Human Species, would tempt one to suspect the Fact: Altho’ by the way, this, like other _Hebridous_ Productions, could never go no farther; and as such a monstrous Generation would be more casual and subject to Fatality, the Case must be uncommon and rare. Our Carpenter got one on board from these parts, as near the likeness of a Child, without being one, as perhaps was ever seen; a flat and smooth Visage, little Hair, no Tail, would taste nothing but Milk, or Gruel sweetned, and that with difficulty; moaning continually in a tone like an Infant; in short, the Moans and Aspect were so shocking and melancholly, that after two or three Months keeping, it was stunn’d and thrown over-board.

The _Ourang Outang_, taken now and then at some parts of _Guinea_, and at the Island of _Borneo_ in _East India_, has been thought a human Savage. Captain _Flower_ brought home one from _Angola_, in 1733, disembowelled and preserved in Rum: It lived a few months with him, had a smooth Visage, little Hair, Genitals like the Human, with Testicles outside; would frequently walk on it’s hind Legs voluntarily; would sit down in a Chair to sip or drink, in the same manner they did; always slept sitting, with his Hands upon his Shoulders; not mischievous like others, and had his Hands, Feet, and Nails, more resembling ours.

The _River Volta_ is remarkable for the Rapidity of its Stream, making a very great Sea upon the Bar, and carrying it self off for some way unmixed; at two Leagues, it’s only brackish. From hence begins the _Papau_ Coast, low and woody.

The whole Track from _Sierraleon_, is without Gulphs or Bays, of near an equal depth of Water at the same distances; little Elevation, except at great Rivers where the Tides are regular, as with us at home; seldom without Breezes; when a Storm or Tornado happens, they are always off Shore. No Dews perceptible on board Ships in the Nights, tho’ large at Shore, and a constant misty Horizon. Captain _Dampier_ observes the same near Shores, on the Western side of _America_: _It is always hazy_, says he, _nigh Land_, to 20 degr. _of Latitude_.

_WHYDAH._

This Country is governed by an absolute King, who lives in _Negrish_ Majesty at a Town called _Sabbee_, six Miles from the Sea. His Palace is a dirty, large _Bamboo_ Building, of a Mile or two round, wherein he keeps near a thousand Women, and divides his time in an indolent manner, between Eating and Lust; he is fatned to a monstrous Bulk; never has been out since he became King (nigh twelve years) which some say, is because a large _Dole_ being due to the People on the Demise of one, and the Accession and first Appearance of another new Prince, his Covetousness keeps him within doors: Others, that there is a Sword wanted (the Emblem of his Power); which should, but is not yet delivered him, by some grand _Fetish_-Man beyond _Jaqueen_. If any Subjects want Audience, they ring a Bell to give notice; and if admitted, must prostrate before him, as likewise to his grand _Fetish_-Man, or High-Priest, if present. The same Humility and Subjection is required of Inferiours to rich and powerful Men, without doors: They prostrate to as many as they meet of these in the Street, and stir not till a Sign is given to get up; so that the meanest may sometimes be two or three hours walking the length of the Town.

White People are seldom or never admitted to Presence, but at the times they pay their Customs; very considerable from _Europeans_, who drive here the greatest Slave-Trade of any on the whole Continent: Besides these Dues, the King augments his Revenue by a Duty on every thing bought or sold by his People. To his Women, he gives entirely the Privilege of making and selling a Beer brewed from _Indian_ Corn, pretty much in use here, called _Putto_.

The King of _Ardra_ is his potent and warlike Neighbour; a populous Country, full of large _Crooms_ or Towns, and all of them obsequious Slaves, who dare not sell or buy any thing without Licence, and both ways he exacts a Custom. It is by means of this Country that so great a number of Slaves are brought down to _Whydah_ and sold to the _Europeans_ naked; the Arse-clouts they had, I fancy, having been the Plunder of the Populace: for altho’ they are kept strictly under, in respect to the Great-ones among themselves, they have in recompence, a thievish, unlicensed Behaviour to others.

Both Sexes squat when they make water, and the Women may obtain a _Palaaver_ and Fine against any Man, who at such time should indecently discover his Privities.

Travelling is in [27]Hammocks, called here _Serpentines_; they are with Curtains to draw round, against Heat or Flies, slung cross a Pole and bore up at each end by a _Negro_, two others attending in the Journey, to relieve alternately: The Heat makes it dangerous for _Englishmen_ to travel without them, and they are hired at six Shillings a day.

Provisions are plentiful above any place on the whole Coast, but neither very cheap nor large. A Cow of 300_lib._ weight is reckoned a fine Beast, and will sell for two _grand Quibesses_; a Calf of 80_lib._ weight for one _grand Quibess_; a Sheep of 12_lib._ for _eight Gallinas_; Fowls, five for a Crown; a Dozen Wild-fowl, or a Hog, for the same Money: but it’s convenient on this Voyage always to provide _Cowrys_ or _Booges_ (little _Indian_ Shells, called in _England_ Blackamoors Teeth, bought at 1_s._ and sold here at 2_s._ 6_d._ _per lib._) as the readiest for this sort of Traffick. Coin is the dearest way of buying, at distance from _Europe_.

_Whydah_ Currency.

40 _Cowrys_ make a _Toccy_.
5 _Toccys_ —— a _Gallina_.
20 _Gallinas_ —— a _Grand Quibess_, which
answers to 25 Shillings.

Horses, are what I never saw any where else on the Continent.

The most curious of their Customs, and peculiar to this Part, is their _Snake-Worship_, which, according to my Intelligence, is as follows. This _Snake_, the Object of their Worship, is common in the Fields, and cherished as a familiar Domestick in their Houses, called _Deyboys_; they are yellow, and marbled here and there, have a narrow Swallow, but dilatable (as all of the Serpent Kind are) to the thickness of your Arm on feeding. It is the principal Deity or _Fetish_ of the Country, and brought into more Regularity than others, by the superiour Cunning of their _Fetishers_, who have one presiding over them, called the grand _Fetisher_, or High-Priest, who is held in equal Reverence with the King himself; nay, sometimes more, through gross Superstition and Fear: for they believe an Intercourse with the Snake, to whom they have dedicated their Service, capacitates them to stop or promote the Plagues that infest them. He hath the craft by this means, to humble the King himself on all occasions for their Service, and to drain both him and the People, in supplying their Wants. It is Death for a Native to kill one of these Snakes, and severe Punishments to _Europeans_. When Rains are wanted at Seed-time, or dry Weather in Harvest, the People do not stir out after it is night, for fear of the angry Snake, which, provoked with their Disobedience, they are taught, will certainly kill them at those times, if abroad, or render them Ideots.

They have _Fetish_-Women, or Priestesses, that live separated with a number of Virgins under their Care, devoted to the Snake’s Service: I have heard, the rich _Cabiceers_ do often buy the Consent of these Women to debauch their Pupils; they pretend to the Girls, they have had some late Correspondence with the Snake, who intimates the agreeableness of her favouring such or such a Man’s Addresses; teach her to act Fits and Distortions at the sight of him, to enhance the Price, and that for this Compliance, she shall be amply rewarded in the Snakes Country, far pleasanter than this she breaths in, and he then more amiable, having here put on his worst Shape, that Obedience might have the more Merit. A Discovery in the Girl would be certain Death, and none would believe; or if they did, would dare openly to assert such Murder against the Assertion of the _Fetish_-Men or Women.

It is probable that King _Solomon_’s Navy of _Tharshish_ (_1 Kings_ Ch. x.) did coast from _Ezion Geber_ (the bottom of the red Sea) round Cape _Bon Esperance_ [28]_to Sofalu, by some thought Ophir_; and if so, why not to the Gold-Coast? or that King _Hiram_’s Navy from _Tyre_, might on the North and Western side together have encompassed this Continent; tho’ afterwards, on the destruction of each State, the Navigation might be lost with the Trade. This is probable, I say, from the length of the Voyage (three years) no unreasonable time in the infancy of Sailing, Ignorance of the Compass, and dilatory Methods of Trading in Fleets, and in their Returns, Gold, Ivory, and Apes. The Peacocks mentioned in this Text, might possibly be the _Crown-Birds_; beautiful, of the same bigness, and a greater Rarity. One of them we had from _Gambia_ (a Present to the Duke of _Chandois_) had a fine Tuft of stiff speckled Feathers on the Head; the Wings, red, yellow, white and black, with a black Down on the fore-part of it’s Head.

Granting this, whether or no it’s too foreign to imagine, some traditional Story might be derived from them concerning the old Serpent, the Deceiver of Mankind? or that fiery one lifted up by _Moses_ in the Wilderness? _Gordon_ in his _Geography_, p. 327, says, the _Mosaical_ Law was once introduced into some parts of _Negro_-land, strengthned by the Affinity of some Names and Customs they retain with the _Jews_, particularly Circumcision, practised at most, if not all parts of the Coast. _Bosman_ on this, says even Girls have their Clitoris stripp’d. The _Ægyptians_ (on this their own Continent,) were the first we read of that circumcised, from whom _Abraham_ borrowed it, and the Patriarchs Posterity might as well have transmitted the use of it with their Trade, to this opposite side of _Africa_; the only Objections are, the easier Method of borrowing it from the _Mallays_, black _Turks_ that inhabit about the middle of _Africa_, with whom they communicate by Trade; and because the Practice here, like as with the _Mahometans_, is not taken up of Precept, but Tradition. Be it how it will, they are found tenacious of their Customs and Opinions: A Woman, from whose greater Flexibility and Subjection as a _Consa_ to any _European_, might be expected a Change, never relinquishing her Country-Gods, tho’ she had cohabited for years, as has been frequently tried at our Factories.

Others think this Snake-Worship might be taken up as of old the _Ægyptians_ did their Ox and Cow, their Crocodile and Cat, _&c._ They had some moral Reason, tho’ overwhelmed in Fable and ridiculous Superstition. The Ox and Cow were Emblems of Tillage, taught to them by _Osiris_ and _Isis_, whom they feigned changed into those Creatures, and in that form worshipped them.

The Crocodile and Cat preyed upon those Reptiles that devoured the Fruits of their Husbandry, like as these very Snakes are said to kill the black and poisonous sort, and to destroy various Species of Vermin, injurious to their Fields and Grain.

We bear (far from _Egypt_) a _Reverence_ to many Creatures, Beasts and Birds; eat some, and cherish others; I believe, often on no other Foundation than Heathen Fable. The _Fetish_ is this Reverence improved, and if we laugh at [29]_Sambo_ for inflicting Fine or Death on whoever hurts or kills the Snake, may not he in his turn, as justly laugh to hear that in some Countries it is Death to steal a Sheep, a Horse, _&c._ or Penalties to kill Pidgeons, Wild-fowl, _&c._ tho’ never so much in want of them: For it is all according to the Fashion of the Country, and doubtless proceeds from a _profound Veneration_ to those Creatures.

Many and ridiculous are the Stories formed upon the Foundation of the Snake, over-acted to the Prejudice of Beliefs, which in unletter’d Countries should be short, and have the Design and Import of Laws; such Laws as in their nature are best fitted to awe or persuade Men into the Practice of what is good: but here they are multiplied with silly Circumstances, or stretch beyond Memory, and spoil their Use; for which reason, I am firmly of opinion the Snake-Worship will never endanger our Factories, or propagate far, it has made such Rogues of them.

Besides the Snake, they have two other principal Deities, and other small _Fetishes_. The former are their _Groves, and the high Sea_; addressing either upon the Peculiarity, I suppose, of their Affairs, or rather, these Groves are consecrated to the Snake, most of them having a square Tower built in a retired part of it, to which they carry _Dashees_, and Presents. There is one in this Neighbourhood pre-eminent to all in the Country, and to which the Prince and People annually make rich Offerings.

Their smaller _Fetishes_, like as at other parts, are numberless, and for smaller Concerns made of Stone, Bone, Wood, or Earth; but herein they differ from others, that this small Fetish is the first thing they _see, after they are determined upon some Affair or Business_, and sometimes determines them to that Affair, whence it is taken up and invoked: If the Business ends luckily, it is lain by in honour to the chief Idol, and _dasheed_ now and then; but if not, they throw it away.

I should have done now with _Whydah_, but the surprizing _Revolution_ brought about here in 1727, by the victorious King of _Dauhomay_, turning things topsy turvy, and entirely destroying our Slave-Trade, deserves some Remarks.

This Prince was probably incited to the Conquest from the generous Motive of redeeming his own, and the neighbouring Country People from those cruel Wars, and Slavery that was continually imposed on them by these Snakes and the King of _Ardra_; each helped the other to propagate the Mischief far and wide, and differ’d between themselves, only in sharing the Booty. That this spurred on their Catastrophe, I think, _First_, Because it is agreeable to Capt. _Snelgrave_’s Character of that King, a Gentleman well acquainted with that part of _Guinea_, and who has given the latest Account of those People: He says in that Tract, he made a Journey in company with some of the _English_ Factory to the Camp of the King of _Dauhomay_ (40 or 50 miles up the Country,) and informs us, “that in the Conversation and Business he had to transact, he had experienced him just and generous; in his Manners, nothing barbarous, but contrarily, the most extraordinary Man of his Colour.” The natural Consequence from such Qualities in a Prince, being, I think, to extend them towards all that are oppressed, and against those in particular, his Resentments were fired: _First_, on account of their publick Robberies, and Man-stealing, even to his Dominions; and _Secondly_, That Contempt the King of _Whydah_ had expressed towards him, saying publickly, “_that if the King of_ Dauhomay _should invade him, he would not cut off his Head_ (the Custom of Conquerors) _but keep him alive, to serve in the vilest Offices_:” a Specimen both of his Vanity and Courage, which he had soon after Occasion to try; and then instead of the haughty Revenge he purposed, dastardly deserted his Kingdom, he and the Subjects of _Ardra_ becoming in a few days miserable Fugitives.

2. The King of _Dauhomay_ at this Interview with Captain _Snelgrave_, which was after the Conquest of _Ardra_ and _Whydah_, agrees with him in the Character of these Enemies: “_That they were Villains to both white and black People, and therefore had been punished by his hands_;” a Text that ought to have been regarded more heedfully by the Factory than it was: For what were they Villains more than others of the Colour, unless for this illegal and unjust Trade? And if he himself declared his Victories in punishment of their Crimes, what might not they expect in their turn, who differed only as the Pawnbroker and the Thief? Mr. _Testesole_, the Company’s Governour, we find when Opportunity presented, was seized by them, and cruelly sacrificed: “The Crime alledged being, that he had used the _Dahomes_ on all Occasions in his power, very ill, on account _of the bad Trade they had occasioned_:” and afterwards they went on, surprized and plundered all the _European_ Merchants at _Jaqueen_, finishing in that, the Destruction of the Slave-trade, the little remaining being now at _Appah_, a place beyond the bounds of his Conquest. Yet in all this, could we separate our Idea of the Sufferers, and the temporary Views of Traders; the King’s Actions carry great Reputation, for by the destruction of this Trade, he relinquished his own private Interests for the sake of publick Justice and Humanity.

_Lastly_, that this destruction of the Trade was designed in the King of _Dauhomay_’s Conquest, seems confirmed by Captain _Bulfinch Lamb_’s Proposal from him to our Court.

This Gentleman, on some Business of the Factory, was at _Ardra_ when the _Dahomes_ came down upon them, was made a Prisoner, detained near four years with the Emperor, and came to _England_ at last by his Permission or rather Direction, having given him 320 Ounces of Gold, and 80 Slaves to bear his Charges. In his Scheme of Trade, said to be proposed from that Emperor and laid before our Commissioners of Trade, some of the Articles run thus;——_That the Natives would sell themselves to us, on condition of not being carried off._——_That we might settle Plantations_, &c. a Foundation quite foreign to the former Slave-trade, and carried no Temptation but the empty one of Instruction and Conversion, which he himself might have laid down there, and had given some room to expect, agreeably to the Judgment he made of the King’s Sentiments, and his own view of getting away; an additional Honour to the King in this way of thinking indeed; “but the Inconsistency made it unsuccessful,” and Captain _Lamb_, tho’ under a solemn Promise to return, never gave any Account of his Embassy to that Prince.

Captain _Snelgrave_’s Account leads me still a little farther, on his suggesting these _conquering Dahomes_ to be Men-eaters; I beg an Animadversion or two on that Head.—Common Report has settled _Cannibals_ at several parts of _Africa_. _Dapper_ in the _Geographical Atlas_ says, the _Ausicans_ or _Gales_ in _Æthiopia_, and _many_ of the Natives of _Quiloa_, _Melinda_, and _Mombaza_, on the East side of _Africa_ are such, and that human Flesh is sold in the Shambles. _Gordon_, in his _Geographical Grammar_, conveys it modestly _as a Report_, that the Kingdom of _Loango_ in South-_Africa_ has many Cannibals, and that human Flesh in several places is sold publickly in the Shambles, as we do Beef and Mutton. That the _Caffres_, (tho’ abounding with Provisions) also are such, and will eat _even nasty Hottentots their Neighbours_; who tho’ accounted the most brutish People upon the Globe in their Manners and Feeding, are at the same time excused by all Travellers so inhuman a Custom. _Bosman_ reports the same of _Drewin_. The Observation I shall make on these and the like Stories I have heard from other parts of the World, is their being reported of Countries remote from our Correspondence, abounding with Provisions, by Persons who never were in the Places they relate their Wonders; or where they have, their Testimony is on hear-say, or their Reasons inconclusive, and against later Experience. I am prejudiced indeed against the Opinion of Cannibals, and very much doubt whether there be any such Men on the face of the Earth, unless when provoked by Famine, as has unfortunately happened in Voyages: Or possibly with Savages, single Instances may have been, as their way to express an intense Malice against a particular Enemy, and _in terrorem_; or to cement with a Bond of Secrecy some very wicked Societies of Men: but that there should be a common Practice of it, Nations of Men-eaters, to me looks at present impossible. Captain _Snelgrave_’s being the newest Account of this Affair, and on his own personal Knowledge, I shall amuse the Reader with a short Extract from him, and then my Objections.

“This Gentleman, by an Invitation from the King of _Dahome_ or _Dauhomay_, went in company with some other of the Factory from _Jaqueen_, to pay him a Visit at his Camp, 40 miles inland; there he was an Eye-witness of their human Sacrifices, _Captives_ from the Kingdoms of _Ardra_, _Whydah_, _Tuffoe_, and other Conquests: _the King chose them out himself_. The first Victim I saw, says he, was a _well-looking Man_, of 50 or 60, his Hands tied, he stood upright by a Stage five foot from the Ground. The _Fetisher_ or Priest laying his Hand on the Head, said some Words of Consecration for about two Minutes; then giving the Sign, one behind with a broad Sword hit on the Nape of his Neck, and carried off the Head at one Blow, the Rabble giving a Shout. _Others of these Captives he made his Servants, or sold for Slaves._——”

The Story thus far is not over-marvellous; whether the Sacrifices be considered as a Thanksgiving to their _Fetish_, or God (_as an Acknowledgment, he was told_) or an Honour to the _Manes_ of his deceased Heroes, because such Practice is supported both by Scripture and History. The Captives in War under the _Jewish_ Law, which fell to the Lord’s Share, were to be slain (_Levit._ xxvii. v. 28, 29.) and the Custom of many _Pagan_ Countries has been, and still continues in many parts of the World to this day (if we may credit History or Travellers) to attend the Obsequies of their Princes and great Men with human Sacrifices, particularly at some other Parts of _Guinea_. The Emperor of _Feton_’s Funeral (_Miscell. Curiosa_, Vol. 3. p. 356.) was accompanied with a great number, and remarkably barbarous. _Montezuma_, (_Antonio Solis_ says,) sacrificed 20000 Enemies a year. The present _Dahomes_ follow it from political Principles, to awe the Conquered, and secure the Conquest; for _the captive King was always one_, and next him the Men of Experience and Influence, such as already had, or were most likely to disturb his future Peace; answering more justly than that Argument _à posteriori_, of the Bow-string or Halter, when Men rise for the Recovery of a lost Country, _&c._

Contending Princes do to this day frequently sacrifice with less honourable Views, if we may credit Captain _Gulliver_, who says, one King has lost his Life, another the Crown, only in a Contest about the primitive way of breaking Eggs.

I say this is not so over-marvellous; but when we come to the Carcases of these Men, how the _Dahomes_ had made a Festival of their Flesh in the night, it swells to Incredibility. “Captain _Snelgrave_ was not an Eye-witness of this indeed; he says, the Bodies lay a little while on the ground to drain the Blood, and then were carried by Slaves to a place nigh the Camp, and laid in a Heap; he saw two of these Heaps over night, containing he judged about 400, who had been chose out by the King that Morning, for Sacrifice. On the next Morning they were gone, and asking the Linguist what had become of them, he answered, the _Vulturs_ (ravenous Birds very plentiful in the Country) had eaten them. Not satisfied with this Answer, (seeing nothing remain but Blood) we asked for the Bones, and then he confessed, the Priest had divided the Carcases among the People in the night, who had boiled and feasted on them, as holy Food; the Head is for the King, (continues the Linguist) the Blood for the _Fetish_, and the Body for the common People.”

I make no doubt of the truth of this Relation, and yet think the Circumstances not conclusive enough, to charge the _Dahomes_ as _Anthropophagites_.

1. Because the truth depends too much on the Linguist, (_Butteno_, a _Negro_ of Mr. _Lamb_’s, brought up at the Factory) how well he knew to render the Language to our Ideas: and to his Veracity and his Courage. He might think with his Country-men that it was their best Excuse to the white People, for that cowardly and ignominious Flight of Thousands from 200 of the _Dahomes_ at _Sabbee_ (the _Whydah_’s head City) where, instead of eating them, they pretended a Fright of being eat, and with the King, took precipitately to their heels, deserting in a shameful manner their Country: and makes something like the Story of our _Saracens_ Heads of old; when the _English_ had been threshed heartily for their silly Croisade, they represented their Adversaries thus large, to insinuate none but Monsters or Devils could have done it. However the Linguist tells his Masters first, that the _Vulturs_ had eaten those Bodies, but perceiving them diffident of this, and prone to another Persuasion (which, by the way, is some excuse for him) he tells them frankly, _that the People had eaten them in the night_, &c. The Bones, which were wanting, and that had drawn this Secret from him, are to me a Confirmation that they were buried. Otherways, as these Cormorants could not chew or digest them, they should have been found strewed somewhere, as the Roads were in his Journey: The Fellow might also in his turn propose some advantage in this Belief; for Captain _Snelgrave_ tells us, he met with great Impositions and Cheats at his return to _Jaqueen_, by the Lord there, and others in Trade, notwithstanding the kind Reception he had met with at Camp, and that King’s Charge to the contrary.

2. A _Portuguese_ who resided there, that spoke their Language, and which is very remarkable, _had married a woolly white Woman born of black Parents, who had never seen any other Colour: this Gentleman talked highly of the King’s Policy and Generosity_, that his Sacrifices were a Proof of it; that he was just, strictly obeyed, and never eat any human Flesh. If so, according to my way of thinking, he would hinder so barbarous a Custom in others his Subjects; or it would be a Contradiction to his Character, a Sufferance being the same, as doing it himself.

3. If the Sacrifices were designed for eating, one would think they should have been all young People, not thrown in a Heap, which is an Objection to their spending well; and now and then I should have expected they would have been prompted by Novelty to have tasted a white Man: but it is the King’s Character of being far from barbarous, and of delicate Wit and Policy: _Lamb_ lived three years and a half with them, and never was eat.

4. If Men were thus eat, and liked by a _Nation_, there would be less occasion and Inclination to sell them us for Slaves; they at least must lose a Breakfast by it now and then; and it would fall heavier on such Captives they had made their Servants, (for some were made so at the same time the others were sacrificed) who I am in some doubt whether they would wait tamely for the turn of having their Throats cut. This Man-Eating therefore probably might be an Imposition on the Credulity of the Whites; as the Persuasion amongst some of them is, that they are bought by us to fat and eat: the Belief in my opinion is equally grounded. Theirs (if any) is better; for the next Cruelty to buying human Flesh, one would naturally think, should be to eat it; especially with Negroes, who cannot conceive how their Labour can be used, that want so little for their own support.

5. Some Places reported on the Coast to be Men-Eaters are by latest Accounts much doubted, if not contradicted. At _Loango_ they are found with better Manners, and mixed with _Portuguese_. At Cape _St. Mary’s_, the Starboard Entrance of the River _Gambia_, generally said to be Men-Eaters, were found by our Boat’s Crew as civilized as any People on the whole Coast, tho’ their Number exposed them an easy Prey. To this we may add, that all _Negroland_, by the Observations I could make, are very abstemious of Flesh in comparison of us; they have very few tame Creatures (Kid, Sheep, Kine, _&c._) among them; their Country is mostly Woods cleared away a little at their Cooms, to sow as much _Indian_ Corn and Rice as they imagine will serve them; which, with Banana’s, Plantanes, Palm-Nuts, Pine-Apples, and now and then a little stinking Fish, or a Fowl, is the chief of their Diet.

6. As Slave-Cargoes are a Compound of different Nations, it is more than probable they are mixed from these Men-eating Countries; and therefore on their rising and murdering a Ship’s Company, they would have shewn us e’er now a Precedent, especially those who believed we were to eat them.

7. Men in this horrid Practice would, with the distinguishing Characteristick of Reason about them, be more brutish than any part of the Creation; no Creatures of the greatest Ferocity preying upon their own Species.

8. If such Custom were taken up to intimidate their Neighbours, and facilitate Conquests, the Practice should be more publick; not in the Night, but Day, and openly: Custom in any People familiarizing all Barbarities, and more so, when an Interest is proposed.

Therfore, lastly, the strongest Proof produced for it is, that one Mr. _More_ _saw human Flesh sold at_ Dahome’s _Market-place_.

If the Person mentioned does not mean human Flesh alive, and in way of Trade, yet without a good interior Sight, he might mistake it for that of Monkeys, there being an awkard Resemblance to _the Moorish Race_, in the Hands and Phiz; and I have given one Example purposely, among many (at the beginning of this Chapter) to shew they are a common Diet at some places; our Sailors frequently eat them. What inclines me more to this Opinion is, _First_, the Force of Pre-possession and Fear, which many Readers may experience in their own Constitution. _Second_, That I never saw a Flesh-Market of any sort, tho’ I have been on shore at many places on the Coast of _Guinea_, not even among the _English_, the most carnivorous in the World; but when they do kill, lend it out. _Thirdly_, What is my greatest Objection, is, that the Captain should bring another to assert what he might have done himself, since he was at _Dahome_’s Camp, (the same place,) and more inquisitive and discerning; unless this Market was kept one Voyage, and not another.

I have bestowed these Objections, purely in respect to the King of _Dahomay_, whom, tho’ I never saw, nor expect to be advanced in his Court, I have a natural Propensity to wish well, _since he has redeemed his Country-Men from being sold as Slaves_. I would feign, after such an Action, excuse them from being Men-eaters; a Charge full as bad for the People, a jumping out of the Frying-pan into the Fire. Their Guilt herein is less likely, because it happens that this conquered Country abounds more with Neat Cattle, than all other parts of the Coast.

_Currents on the Coast of GUINEA._

The incomparable Sir _Isaac Newton_ solves all the Phænomena of the Tides upon the sole Principle of Gravity. The Earth, Sun, Moon, and all the celestial Bodies, says he, have a Gravitation towards their Centers, in proportion to the quantitys of Matter in each of them. Our Earth being within the Activity of the Sun and Moon’s Attractions; the fluid part of this Globe, the Ocean, feels it, and necessarily swells: and this, by taking off or abating the force of Gravity, wherever the Moon is perpendicular in the Ecliptick; whereby the greater Pressure of Gravity without, carries the Water thitherward, _&c._ (See the Theory of the Tides, _Philos. Transact._) Currents seem to be the same thing (at least on this Coast) and on the same Principle I shall lay down the Facts, and then draw the Conclusions.