A Voyage Round the World, Vol. I (of ?) by James Holman

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VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, VOLUME I

Including Travels in Africa, Asia, Australasia, America, etc. etc.
from MDCCCXXVII to MDCCCXXXII

BY

JAMES HOLMAN, R.N. F.R.S. ETC. ETC.

1834

"Man loves knowledge: and the beams of truth
More welcome touch his understanding's eye,
Than all the blandishments of sounds his ear,
Than all of taste his tongue."

--Akenside.

ADVERTISEMENT.

It is necessary to observe that this Work is designed to extend to 4
vols., to be published in regular succession; each Volume to embrace a
distinct portion of the whole, and to be complete in itself. The entire
publication will form a consecutive series of the Author's Voyages and
Travels Round the World.

The present Volume contains:--Madeira--Teneriffe--St. Jago--Sierra
Leone--Cape Coast--Accra--Fernando Po--Bonny, Calabar, and other Rivers
in the Bight of Biafra--Prince's Island--Ascension--Rio Janeiro--and
Journey to the Gold Mines.

[Note: The beginning of this dedication was missing from the text.]

...that your Majesty may long be spared to a nation that is so sensible
of the influence of your Majesty's exalted character.

With the most profound feelings of gratitude and devotion,

I have the honor to subscribe myself,

Your Majesty's Most faithful Servant,

JAMES HOLMAN.

CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

CHAP. I.

Passion for Travelling--Author's peculiar Situation--Motives for going
Abroad--Resources for the Blind--Embark in the Eden, Capt. Owen, for
Sierra Leone--Lord High Admiral at Plymouth--Cape Finisterre--Arrival
at Madeira--Town of Funchal--Wines of Madeira--Cultivation of the
Grape--Table of Exports--Seizure of Gin--Fruits and Vegetables--Climate
--Coffee, Tea, and Sugar Cultivation--Palanquin Travelling--Departure
from Madeira

CHAP. II.

Teneriffe--Town of Santa Cruz--Female Costume--Incident at a Ball--Bad
Roads--Climate--Productions--Population of the Canary Islands--Imports
and Exports--Various Qualities of the Wines--Fishery--Leave Santa
Cruz--Crossing the Tropic of Cancer--Shaving and Ducking--General
Remarks--Make St. Jago--Anchor at Porto Praya--Sickly Season--Death of
the Consul and his Wife--Consul's Sister--Governor's Garden and
Watering-place--Population of the Island--Produce--The Orchilla Weed,
its growth, uses, and varieties--Cause of Fever--Departure for Sierra
Leone

CHAP. III.

Arrival at Sierra Leone--Mr. Lewis--Black Washerwomen.--Visitors on
board--Capture of Leopards--Mortality--Funeral of Mr. Lewis--Education
of Native Children--Regimental Mess--Curious Trials at a Quarter
Sessions--Depredations of the Kroomen--Causes of Unhealthiness--The
Boollam Territory--Lieutenant George Maclean's Mission--Election
of a King--Regent's Speech--Macaulay Wilson--Ceremonies of the
Coronation--Character of the Boollams--Christian and Mahommedan
Missionaries--Aspect of the Country--Cession of Boollam to Great
Britain--Extraordinary Trial for Crim. Con.--News of the Death of Mr.
Canning

CHAP. IV.

Auction at Sierra Leone--Timber Establishments in the River--Tombo,
Bance and Tasso Islands--Explosion of a Vessel at Sea--Liberated
Africans--Black Ostlers--Horses Imported--Slave Vessel--Colonial Steam
Vessel--Road and Street Repairs--Continued Rains--Suggestion for
preserving the Health of European Seamen--General Views of the
Colony--Population--Parishes--Supply of Provisions--Description
of Freetown--Curious Letter from Black Labourers--Original
Settlers--Present Inhabitants--Trade with the Interior--Strange Customs
of Native Merchants--Anecdote of Sailors--Injurious Example of the
Royal African Corps--Vaccination of Natives--Medical Opinion--Departure
from Sierra Leone

CHAP. V.

Cape St. Ann--Dangerous Shoals--Old Sailors--Liberia--Origin and
History of the Colony--Failure at Sherbro Island--Experiment at
Liberia--Difficulties Encountered by the Settlers--Differences with
the Natives--Final Adjustment--Improving State of the Colony--Laws and
Morals--Remarks on Colonization

CHAP. VI.

The Kroo Country--Religion of the Kroo and Fish Men--Emigration of the
Natives--Sketch of their habits and customs--Purchase of Wives--The
Krooman's _ne plus ultra_--Migratory propensities--Rogueries
exposed--Adoption of English Names--Cape Palmas--Dexterity of the
Fishmen--Fish towns--The Fetish--Arrival at Cape Coast--Land with
the Governor--Captain Hutchison--Cape Coast mode of taking an airing--
Ashantee Chiefs--Diurnal occupations--School for Native Girls--
Domestication of Females--Colonel Lumley--Captain Ricketts--Neglect of
Portuguese Fortresses--A native Doctor

CHAP. VII.

Recollections of the Ashantee War--Battle of Essamacow--Accession of
Osay Aquatoo to the Throne--Battle of Affatoo--Investment of Cape
Coast--Flight of the Ashantees--Martial Law proclaimed--Battle of
Dodowah--Ashantee Mode of Fighting--Death of Captain Hutchison

CHAP. VIII.

Embarkation--Departure for Accra--Land Route--Accra Roads--Visit to
Danish Accra--Dilapidations of the Fortresses at Dutch and English
Accra--Captive Queen--Mr. Thomas Park--Cause of his Death unknown--
Departure for Fernando Po--First view of the Island--Anchor in
Maidstone Bay--Early History of the Settlement--Capt. Owen's
Expedition--Visited by the Inhabitants--Site for the Settlement
determined--Author's Mission to the King of Baracouta--Visit of the
King--Native Costume--Ecstacy of the Natives--Distribution of
Presents--Second Visit to the King--His Majesty's evasive Conduct--
Renewed Interviews--A Native Thief--Intended Punishment--Cut-throat,
a Native Chief--Visit to King-Cove--Purchase of Land

CHAP. IX.

Native Simplicity--Resources of the Blind--Royal Village--Gathering
of Natives--Native Priests--Royal Feast--Inhospitable Treatment--
Uncomfortable Quarters--Vocabulary of the Native Language--Beauty of
the Female Character--Women of Fernando Po--Anecdotes--Aspect of the
Country--Productions--Preparations for the Settlement--Discovery of
a Theft--Mimic War Customs--Native Chiefs--Female on Board--Monkey for
Dinner--Flogging a Prisoner--Accident to a Sailor--A Voyage of Survey
round the Island--River named after the Author--Geographical and
Meteorological Observations--Insubordination--A Man Overboard--Deserter
taken--Death of the Interpreter--Method of Fishing--Visitors from St.
Thomas--Ceremony of taking Possession of Fernando Po--Interview with
a Native Chief--Celebration Dinner--Indirect Roguery--Chief and his
Wife--Hospital near Point William--The Guana--Mistake at Sea--
Suggestions on the Slave-Trade--Fishing Stakes--Schooner on a Mudflat

CHAP. X.

Slave Canoe--Duke's Pilot--Old Calabar Town--Consternation on Shore,
and disappearance of the Slave Vessels--Fruitless Pursuit of the
Slavers--Eyo Eyo, King Eyo's Brother--Old Calabar Festivals--Attempted
Assassination, and Duke Ephraim's Dilemma--Obesity of the King's
Wives--Ordeal for Regal Honours--Duke's English House--Coasting Voyage
to the Bonny--Author discovers Symptoms of Fever--The Rivers of St.
Nicholas, Sombrero, St. Bartholomew, and Sta. Barbara--"The
Smokes"--Capture of a Spanish Slave Vessel in the River St. John--Nun,
or First Brass River, discovered to be the Niger--Natural Inland
Navigation--New Calabar River--Pilot's Jhu Jhu--Foche Island--Author
Sleeps on Shore--Bonny Bath--Interview with King Peppel--Ceremony of
opening the Trade--Rashness of a Slave Dealer--Horrible
Fanaticism--Schooner at Sea--Return to Fernando Po

CHAP. XI.

Reverence for Beards--Native Shields--Petty Thefts--Tornado Season--
Author departs for Calabar--Waterspout--Palm-oil Vessels--Visit to Duke
Ephraim--Escape of a Schooner with Slaves--Calabar Sunday--Funeral of
the Duke's Brother--Egbo Laws--Egbo Assembly--Extraordinary Mode of
recovering Debts--Superstition and Credulity--Cruelty of the Calabar
People to Slaves--Royal Slave Dealer--Royal Monopoly--Manner of Trading
with the Natives--Want of Missionaries--Capt. Owen's Arrival--Visit
Creek Town with King Eyo--The Royal Establishment--Savage Festivities--
Calabar Cookery--Old Calabar River

CHAP. XII.

Captain Owen's Departure--Runaway Slave--Egbo again--Duke's Sunday--
Superstitious Abstinence--Anecdote of a Native Gentleman--Breaking
Trade--Author's Visit to Creek Town--Bullocks embarked--Departure from
Calabar--Chased by mistake--Dangerous Situation--Mortality at Fernando
Po--Detection of a Deserter--Frequency of Tornados--Horatio hove down--
Capture of a Slave Vessel--Loss of Mr. Morrison--Another Slave Vessel
taken--Landing a part of the Slaves--Author's Daily Routine--Garden of
Eden--Monstrous Fish--Continued Mortality--Market at Longfield

CHAP. XIII.

Scarcity of Provisions in Fernando Po--Diet of the Natives--Their
Timidity--Its probable Cause--The Recovery of a liberated African
Deserter--Departure from Fernando Po--Reflections on the Uses of
the Settlement--Causes of Failure--Insalubrity of the Climate--
Probabilities of Improvement--Arrival off the mouth of the Camaroon
River--Chase of a Brigantine--Her Capture--Her suspicious Appearance--
Slave Accommodations--Pirates of the North Atlantic Ocean--Prince's
Island--Visit to the Governor--Drunken Frolic of a Marine--Provisions--
Delicious Coffee--Account of the Town--Population--Varieties of
Colour in the Inhabitants--West-bay--Inhospitality of the Governor and
Merchants--Visit to a Brazilian Brigantine--Difficulty of obtaining
a Passage to Angola--Departure of the Emprendadora--The Eden leaves
Prince's Island--Crossing the Equinoctial Line--Dolphin and Flying-fish
--Trade-winds--Ascension Island at Daybreak--Landing--Description of
the Settlement--Turtle--Goats' Flesh--Abundant Poultry--Island Game--
Aboriginal Foes--Unfaithful Friends--Gladiatorial Sports--Privileges
of Settlers--Traffic--Roads--Water--Culture of Soil--Produce--
Vegetables--Live Stock--Population--Employments--Hours of Labour--
Recreations--Departure from the Island--Recollections of Ascension
on a former Voyage--Dampier, the Navigator--The Variables--An Affidavit
on Crossing the Line--Change of Weather--Dutch Galliot--Passage for
the Brazils--Parting of Friends

CHAP. XIV.

Dutch Galliot--An Agreeable Companion--Melancholy Account of St. Jago--
Beauty in Tears--Manner of obtaining Salt and Water at Mayo--Pleasures
of a Galliot in a heavy Sea--Dutch Miscalculation--Distances--An
Oblation to Neptune and Amphitrite (new style)--Melange, Devotion and
_Gourmanderie_--Curious Flying-fish--Weather--Whales--Cape Pigeons--
Anchor off Rio Janeiro--Distant Scenery--Custom-house Duties--Hotel du
Nord--Rua Direito--Confusion thrice confounded--Fruit Girls, not fair,
but coquettish--Music unmusical, or Porterage, with an Obligato
Accompaniment--Landing-place--An Evening Walk--A bad Cold--Job's
Comforter--Shoals of Visitors--Captain Lyon's Visit, and Invitation
to the Author--Naval Friends--Packet for England--English Tailors--
Departure for Congo Soco--The Party--Thoughts on Self-Denial--
Uncomfortable Quarters--Changes of Atmosphere--Freedom by Halves;
or _left_-handed Charity--Serra Santa Anna--Valley of Botaes--The
Ferreirinho, or little Blacksmith--Dangerous Ascent of the Alto de
Serra--Pest, an Universal Disease--An English Settler--Rio Paraheiba--
Valencia--Curiosity of the People--Unceremonious Inquisitors--Comforts
of a Beard--Castor-Oil for burning--Rio Preta--Passports--Entrance to
the Mine Country--Examination of Baggage--Attention without Politeness
--The Green-eyed Monster, "An old Man would be wooing"

CHAP. XV.

Advantages of Early Travelling--Funelle--"A Traveller stopped at a
Widow's Gate"--Bright Eyes and Breakfast--Smiles and Sighs--The Fish
River--Cold Lodgings--Fowl Massacre--Bad Ways--Gigantic Ant-hills--
The Campos--Insect Warriors--Insinuating Visitors (Tick)--The
Simpleton--Bertioga--A Drunkard--Cold Shoulders--Mud Church--Feasting
and Fasting; or, the Fate of Tantalus--Method in a Slow March--Gentlemen
Hungry and Angry--No "Accommodation for Man or Horse"--A Practical
Bull--Curtomi--Hospitable Treatment at Grandie--Horse Dealer--A "Chance"
Purchase--Bivouac--Mule Kneeling--Sagacious Animal--Quilos--A Mist--
Gold-washing--Ora Branca--Hazardous Ascent of the Serra D'Ora Branca--
Topaz District--A Colonel the Host--Capoa--Jigger-hunters--Mineralogical
Specimens--Mortality of Animals--Pasturage--Account of Ora Preta--Gold
Essayed--Halt--Journey resumed--Arrival at Congo Soco

TRAVELS,

ETC. ETC.

CHAP. I.

Passion for Travelling--Author's peculiar situation--Motives for going
Abroad--Resources for the Blind--Embark in the Eden, Capt. Owen, for
Sierra Leone--Lord High Admiral at Plymouth--Cape Finisteire--Arrival
at Madeira--Town of Funchal--Wines of Madeira--Cultiwition of the
Grape--Table of Exports--Seizure of Gin--Fruits and Vegetables--Climate
--Coffee, Tea, and Sugar Cultivation--Palanquin Travelling--Departure
from Madeira

The passion for travelling is, I believe, instinctive in some natures.
We have seen men persevere in their enterprises against the most
formidable obstacles; and, without means or friends, and even ignorant
of the languages of the various countries through which they passed,
pursue their perilous journeys into remote places, until, like the
knight in the Arabian tale, they succeeded in snatching a memorial
from every shrine they visited. For my own part, I have been conscious
from my earliest youth of the existence of this desire to explore
distant regions, to trace the varieties exhibited by mankind under the
different influences of different climates, customs, and laws, and to
investigate with unwearied solicitude the moral and physical
distinctions that separate and diversify the various nations of the
earth.

I am bound to believe that this direction of my faculties and energies
has been ordained by a wise and benevolent Providence, as a source of
consolation under an affliction which closes upon me all the delights
and charms of the visible world. The constant occupation of the mind,
and the continual excitement of mental and bodily action, contribute
to diminish, if not to overcome, the sense of deprivation which must
otherwise have pressed upon me; while the gratification of this
passion scarcely leaves leisure for despondency, at the same time that
it supplies me with inexhaustible means of enjoyment. When I entered
the naval service I felt an irresistible impulse to become acquainted
with as many parts of the world as my professional avocations would
permit, and I was determined not to rest satisfied until I had
completed the circumnavigation of the globe. But at the early age of
twenty-five, while these resolves were strong, and the enthusiasm of
youth was fresh and sanguine, my present affliction came upon me. It
is impossible to describe the state of my mind at the prospect of
losing my sight, and of being, as I then supposed, deprived by that
misfortune of the power of indulging in my cherished project. Even the
suspense which I suffered, during the period when my medical friends
were uncertain of the issue, appeared to me a greater misery than the
final knowledge of the calamity itself. At last I entreated them to be
explicit, and to let me know the worst, as that could be more easily
endured than the agonies of doubt. Their answer, instead of increasing
my uneasiness, dispelled it. I felt a comparative relief in being no
longer deceived by false hopes; and the certainty that my case was
beyond remedy determined me to seek, in some pursuit adapted to my new
state of existence, a congenial field of employment and consolation.
At that time my health was so delicate, and my nerves so depressed by
previous anxiety, that I did not suffer myself to indulge in the
expectation that I should ever be able to travel out of my own country
alone; but the return of strength and vigour, and the concentration of
my views upon one object, gradually brought back my old passion, which
at length became as firmly established as it was before. The
elasticity of my original feelings being thus restored, I ventured,
alone and sightless, upon my dangerous and novel course; and I cannot
look back upon the scenes through which I have passed, the great
variety of circumstances by which I have been surrounded, and the
strange experiences with which I have become familiar, without an
intense aspiration of gratitude for the bounteous dispensation of the
Almighty, which enabled me to conquer the greatest of human evils by
the cultivation of what has been to me the greatest of human
enjoyments, and to supply the void of sight with countless objects of
intellectual gratification. To those who inquire what pleasures I can
derive from the invigorating spirit of travelling under the privation
I suffer, I may be permitted to reply in the words of the poet,

Unknown those powers that raise the soul to flame,
Catch every nerve, and vibrate through the frame;
Their level life is but a smouldering fire,
Unquench'd by want, unfanned by strong desire.

Or perhaps, with more propriety, I may ask, who could endure life
without a purpose, without the pursuit of some object, in the
attainment of which his moral energies should be called into healthful
activity? I can confidently assert that the effort of travelling has
been beneficial to me in every way; and I know not what might have
been the consequence, if the excitement with which I looked forward to
it had been disappointed, or how much my health might have suffered
but for its refreshing influence.

I am constantly asked, and I may as well answer the question here once
for all, what is the use of travelling to one who cannot see? I
answer, Does every traveller see all that he describes?--and is not
every traveller obliged to depend upon others for a great proportion
of the information he collects? Even Humboldt himself was not exempt
from this necessity.

The picturesque in nature, it is true, is shut out from me, and works
of art are to me mere outlines of beauty, accessible only to one sense;
but perhaps this very circumstance affords a stronger zest to
curiosity, which is thus impelled to a more close and searching
examination of details than would be considered necessary to a
traveller who might satisfy himself by the superficial view, and rest
content with the first impressions conveyed through the eye. Deprived
of that organ of information, I am compelled to adopt a more rigid and
less suspicious course of inquiry, and to investigate analytically, by
a train of patient examination, suggestions, and deductions, which
other travellers dismiss at first sight; so that, freed from the hazard
of being misled by appearances, I am the less likely to adopt hasty and
erroneous conclusions. I believe that, notwithstanding my want of
vision, I do not fail to visit as many interesting points in the course
of my travels as the majority of my contemporaries: and by having
things described to me _on the spot_, I think it is possible for me to
form as correct a judgment as my own sight would enable me to do: and
to confirm my accuracy, I could bring many living witnesses to bear
testimony to my endless inquiries, and insatiable thirst for collecting
information. Indeed this is the secret of the delight I derive from
travelling, affording me as it does a constant source of mental
occupation, and stimulating me so powerfully to physical exertion, that
I can bear a greater degree of bodily fatigue, than any one could
suppose my frame to be capable of supporting.

I am frequently asked how I take my notes. It is simply thus: I keep a
sort of rough diary, which I fill up from time to time as opportunities
offer, but not from day to day, for I am frequently many days in
arrear, sometimes, indeed, a fortnight together: but I always vividly
remember the daily occurrences which I wish to retain, so that it is
not possible that any circumstances can escape my attention. I also
collect distinct notes on various subjects, as well as particular
descriptions of interesting objects, and when I cannot meet with a
friend to act as my amanuensis, I have still a resource in my own
writing apparatus, of which, however, I but seldom avail myself, as the
process is much more tedious to me than that of dictation. But these
are merely rough notes of the heads of subjects, which I reserve to
expatiate upon at leisure on my return to old England.

The invention of the apparatus to which I allude is invaluable to those
who are afflicted with blindness. It opens not only an agreeable source
of amusement and occupation in the hours of loneliness and retirement,
but it affords a means of communicating our secret thoughts to a
friend, without the interposition of a third party; so that the
intercourse and confidence of private correspondence, excluded by a
natural calamity, are thus preserved to us by an artificial substitute.
By the aid of this process, too, we may desire our correspondent to
reply to our inquiries in a way which would be quite unintelligible to
those to whom the perusal of the answer might be submitted. This
apparatus, which is called the "Nocto via Polygraph," by Mr. Wedgwood,
the inventor, is not only useful to the blind, but is equally capable
of being rendered available to all persons suffering under diseases of
the eyes; for, although it does not assist you to commit your thoughts
to paper with the same facility that is attained by the use of pen and
ink, it enables you to write very clearly and legibly, while you have
the satisfaction of knowing that you are spared all risk of hurting
your sight. It is but an act of justice to refer such of my readers as
may feel any curiosity on this subject, to Mr. Wedgwood, for full
particulars respecting his various inventions for the use of the blind.

Having given these personal explanations--rendered necessary by the
peculiarity of my situation, and the very general curiosity which
appears to exist on the subject, if I may judge by the frequency of the
interrogatories that are put to me--will now conclude my preliminary
observations,

Nor will I thee detain
With poet's fictions, nor oppress thine ear
With circumstance, and long exordiums here;

but place myself at once on board H.M.S. Eden, at Woolwich, on the 1st
of July, 1827, having been previously invited to take a passage to the
coast of Africa, by her captain, W.F.W. Owen, Esq., who was appointed
superintendent of a new settlement about to be established on the
island of Fernando Po. The commission with which this gentleman was
charged, afforded him peculiar advantages, as he was to retain the
command of his ship, independently of the Commodore on the African
station, for the purpose of facilitating his operations in the island.
I had resolved to visit Sierra Leone, and other places on the western
coast of Africa, principally from an early anxiety I felt to explore
that part of the world, and also, strange and paradoxical as it may
appear, for the benefit of my health. That a man should visit Sierra
Leone for the benefit of his health, seems to be as unreasonable as if
he were to seek for the vernal airs of the south in the inclement
region of Siberia. But, I am strongly inclined to believe, that the
apprehensions of European travellers on this subject are often as fatal
as the climate that produces them. In my own case, I was not only free
from any apprehensions concerning fevers and those diseases which are
incidental to a tropical climate, but, having been recommended to try
the effects of a warm region, I anticipated an improvement in my
general health from a short residence at a spot, which incautious modes
of living, in addition to the insalubrity of the climate, have rendered
fatal to so many of my countrymen. At the same time, I am not
insensible to the fact, that all Europeans are more or less susceptible
of those disorders which are prevalent within the Tropics; especially
on the western coast of Africa, in Batavia, Trincomalee, and different
parts of the West Indies; but it is equally certain that fear is a
great predisposing cause of disease, and that the despondency to which
most persons give way while they are under the influence of its
effects, increases the mortality to a considerable extent. It has been
generally observed, that those persons who happen to be so actively
engaged in any engrossing pursuit, as to have no leisure for the
imagination to work upon their fears, are less liable to the fever,
and, if attacked, are better able to encounter its virulence, than the
timid and cautious. In the event of an attack, if the patient keeps up
his spirits, and prevents desponding thoughts from occupying his mind,
there is every reason to hope for a favourable result--

The sons of hope are Heaven's peculiar care,
Whilst life remains 'tis impious to despair.

There are, of course, some constitutions more susceptible of the
disease than others; and it may also be observed, that young people are
more exposed to danger, than those who have passed the meridian of
life.

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