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

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I would here remark, that if we desire to be eminently successful in
putting down the slave-trade, our Government ought to select vessels of
a peculiar description, I mean vessels constructed principally for
sailing; for, in the first instance, the very service on which they are
employed is that of chasing vessels that have been built with a special
regard to swiftness on the water. The consequence of the unfitness of
our ships for this particular service, is, that of the number of slavers
that we descry in these seas, the captures make but a small proportion.

If we had a few of the large class of Baltimore schooners, with a long
12 or 18 pounder a-midships for a chase-gun, and a few carronades for
close action, with a good crew well trained to the sweeps; and a few
brigs similar to the well known Black Joke, I would venture to say, that
they would be more successful, and less expensive to Government, than
the class of vessels that have hitherto been employed on this service.
Instead of a large frigate, with a Commodore's Pennant, we might have a
first class flush-deck sloop of war, built principally for fast sailing,
with a distinguished young Post Captain to command her; for activity and
experience on this coast are more wanted than large ships and officers
of high rank, as there is not much diplomatic business to be carried on
with the African nations. It may also be observed that it is a very safe
coast to navigate, for if you will but sound in time, you may always be
apprized of danger soon enough to avoid it. The worst weather is during
the tornado season, and these squalls, of which there is always timely
notice, generally come off the land, and do not last, on an average,
more than a couple of hours.

At six we anchored off the entrance of the main channel into the old
Calabar river, in company with H.M. brig Clinker; entrance of the Rio
del Rey bearing E.N.E.

_Sunday, 20_.--We got under weigh at an early hour this morning, with
the intention of proceeding up the old Calabar, so far as Duke's Town,
off which place the palm-oil vessels, and slavers, generally anchor.
H.M. brig Clinker also got under weigh at the same time, with the
intention of accompanying us a short distance within the bar, where she
was to have anchored; while her boats were to have gone with us, for the
purpose of assisting in the capture of any slave-vessel that might be up
the river, but it unfortunately fell calm about 9 o'clock, when
Lieutenant Matson came on board and acquainted Lieutenant Badgeley that
he was afraid the expedition up the river would detain him longer than
he had expected, and he must therefore relinquish his intentions, and
proceed direct for Fernando Po, in order to obtain a supply of
provisions, of which they had much need. At noon there was a moderate
breeze, and fine clear weather. East point of the old Calabar N.N.E. 7
miles: but the wind being down the river, we were employed working up
all the afternoon, and having no pilot on board, we occasionally got
rather too close to the mud banks on either side, and once we tacked in
two fathoms water, which is just as much as would keep the vessel
afloat. She was fortunately a very beautiful American pilot-boat
schooner, that with the least breeze was as manageable as a boat. We
scaled the guns, and otherwise prepared for action, for there was no
doubt but that any slave-vessel would resist to the utmost, if there was
the least chance of escape. We were afraid that they might obtain
information of our movements, before we got up to Duke's Town, where
they generally receive their slaves on board, for when they are nearly
ready for sea, they always keep a canoe on the look out at the mouth of
the river, to report when any men-of-war appear on the coast, so that
they might have time to disembark their slaves, before men-of-war, or
their boats, can reach them; for although vessels may be fitted up with
a slave deck, and have every preparation on board for their reception,
you cannot condemn them, unless you actually find slaves on board.

At 4 the east point of Old Calabar river W.N.W. 7 miles. Anchored at
midnight.

_Monday, 21_.--Unsettled weather and wind variable. At daylight got
under weigh. At noon light breezes and hazy.

From 4 to 6 this evening we passed between two lines of fishing-stakes,
indeed we found that a number of large stakes were driven into the mud
banks, in different situations, outside the entrance of the Old Calabar,
some of them a considerable distance from the land; and there were long
lines of them a short distance from each other.

I endeavoured in vain to find out the reason for placing these stakes in
such situations, many of which were covered with water at the highest
time of the tides. They are called fishing-stakes, and boats certainly
do sometimes go and make fast to them for that purpose, as well as to
wait the turning of the tide, when they are going to places at any
distance along the coast, yet one would think that they would hardly
take so much trouble as to bring, and place so great a number as there
are, and many of them several miles from the land, merely for the above
purposes. They make it very dangerous for boats, or small vessels,
navigating those places in the dark, who are not acquainted with their
existence. If I were allowed to hazard a conjecture on the subject, I
should think they were placed there for the above reason, as men-of-war
often send their boats up the rivers at night in quest of slave-vessels,
for the purpose of coming on them by surprise, and thereby prevent them
from landing the slaves which might be on board preparatory to sailing;
also to get quietly alongside of them in any part of the river, where
they might have anchored for the night, or the turning of the tide, with
their slaves on board, on their way to sea. About 9 o'clock we
unexpectedly found ourselves within the bar of the Old Camaroon river,
where we anchored for the night.

The tide was running strong, taking the various directions of the coasts
and rivers, and very perplexing to strangers. Unfortunately, there was
no one on board who had ever been here before, and not having been able
to procure a pilot, we were compelled to grope our way, both by night
and by day, with only a rough sketch of a chart to guide us.

_Tuesday, 22_.--At daylight we got under weigh, and endeavoured to
regain the channel of the Old Calabar river, but we found the tide
stronger than the wind, and that it had carried us on a mud-flat off
little Quay river, which, at about half ebb left the schooner aground,
this obliged us to get some spars out, to prop her up on each side. At
which time we were in the following situation: West point of Old
Calabar river, W. by S. Fish Town point N. by W. 1/2 W. and the
entrance of little Quay river N.N.E. At 5 in the afternoon we got the
spars in and laid a small anchor out, with the assistance of a boat, by
which, and other aid, we hoped to get the vessel entirely clear of the
bank: but we only partly succeeded that tide, for on the return of low
water, we were obliged to have recourse to the same means of propping
her up, from there not being two feet water left on the bank.

----------
[31] The calabashes are taken down, and replaced by others, every
morning and evening.

[32] We have met with some hooks made from the part of the solid wood of
a prickly tree, or shrub, whence the thorn grows, and which process
formed the pointed part of the hook.

[33] Wood is seldom found to be desirable for building in a hot country,
from the numerous ants and other insects that assail it, particularly
where the changes are so frequent from very dry to very moist weather,
if we had had time, it would have been much better to have erected our
buildings with brick or stone. There is, indeed, plenty of fine clay for
the former; but building stones are scarce in that neighbourhood, and we
had not sufficient lime,--as we had to procure burnt lime from Sierra
Leone, or shells from Accra, both of which we obtained for the building
of an armourer's shop and a bakehouse. Indeed, we were obliged to use
the utmost exertion to get any thing erected to shelter the Europeans
and African soldiers, before the rainy season set in. As for the African
mechanics and labourers, they built their own huts, in certain lines,
that we called streets.

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

_Wednesday, January 23, 1828_.--Fortunately the wind was light, for had
it blown hard, the result might have been fatal to the vessel. At seven
in the morning, we found the vessel afloat, and attempted, with a small
anchor and cable, assisted by the sails, to get her over the mud: but,
at eleven o'clock, we were again stuck fast. In the afternoon, we sent a
letter by a Krooman, in a small canoe, to Captain Cumings, of the brig
Kent, lying off the town of Old Calabar, commonly called Duke's Town, as
the king of that country is generally known by the name and title of
Duke Ephraim. In about a couple of hours, the Krooman returned, in
consequence of having met with a very large canoe coming down on her
passage to the Camaroon river, to purchase slaves. He induced the
Captain to come on board, but the appearance of a schooner, with so
large a boat and so many hands, evidently created some suspicion in his
mind. He was too much a man of the world, however, not to affect a
confidence, which we were all persuaded he did not feel:--he drank some
rum, and carried himself with consummate self-possession; gave us all
the Calabar news he could recollect, and demanded our latest
intelligence in return. When the conversation was exhausted, and a good
opportunity occurred for taking leave, he departed; heartily rejoiced,
no doubt, at escaping with so much tact. His canoe was about fifty feet
long, with a small thatched house built on a platform in the centre. The
paddles were worked by boys, under the direction of two men, who gave
out a song when pulling. There were two poor creatures, whom we supposed
to be slaves, confined in irons, at one end of the boat.

About nine we got clear of the mud-flats, after a great deal of trouble,
with hawsers and a small anchor; we then stood up the river, and at
eleven anchored for the night.

_Thursday, 24_.--Fresh breezes from the northward, and very hazy. The
wind coming from the Camaroon mountains, increased the haziness of the
atmosphere, and made it feel very cold. Soon after daylight, when the
tide answered, we got under weigh, and beat up the river. About eleven,
we came to an anchor off Parrott Island, the north end of which bore
S.W. 1/2 W. and the north end of James's Island N. by E. At three in the
afternoon, a pilot came on board, and, at five, Captain Smith, with
Lieutenant Badgeley, went up to the brig Kent, off Duke's Town, to
procure information.

_Friday, 25_.--At three this morning, the same party returned; and, soon
after daylight, we got the schooner under weigh, to beat up the river,
and the Duke's head pilot came on board, when to prove the confidence
that might be reposed in him, he brought a certificate from Lieutenant
Corry, of H.M.S. North Star, which stated that he had piloted that
ship's boats up the river, as well as conducted them down, with a
slave-vessel that they had seized. We blackened the schooner's yellow
sides with a mixture of gunpowder and water. This, however, was not a
very safe pigment, for if a spark of fire had happened to have come in
contact with any part of her side, it would have communicated from one
extremity to the other: but it served for a temporary disguise, which
was all we required.

About noon, we came abreast of the town of Old Calabar, where we
observed the greatest confusion. Armed men, of different colours and
nations, were running about in all directions, preparing, as we
imagined, to oppose our landing, for it was evident they were alarmed at
our appearance, which sufficiently indicated our intentions. The
slave-vessels, afraid of being seized, had disappeared from before the
town, and gone farther up the river before we arrived, so that, however
we might have been otherwise disposed, we did not drop anchor, but
continued to advance as long as the tide served, which was till
half-past one, when the wind failing, we were obliged to anchor. The
Duke's pilot, when we were off the town, requested to leave us for a
short time; he said, he "must go tell Duke news, and come back
directly." We afterwards discovered that his pretence to go ashore, was
merely a subterfuge to get away altogether, for he never returned, and
we had good reason for believing, that all the people, from the Duke (or
King, which is the same thing) to the meanest of his subjects, secretly
abet the unlawful proceedings of the slavers, by whom they realize much
larger profits than by the regular traders. At three, we sent the small
canoe, with two Kroomen, up the river, to ascertain the situation of the
slave-vessels, and soon got under weigh to follow them; but the wind
dying off towards sunset, we were obliged to anchor again. About an hour
afterwards, our canoe returned, with information that three slave
schooners, and a brig, had gone still farther up the river, indeed, as
far as the navigation of the river would allow, where they had fortified
themselves in the strongest manner, to resist any attack on our part:
having also the support of all the authorities of the native towns and
villages that could, with any show of prudence, be extended to them. We
also understood, that they had not a slave on board of either of them,
which was likely enough, as it is not customary to put them on board
until they are on the point of sailing. These circumstances determined
Lieutenant Badgeley to return to the town, in which resolution he was
also influenced by the consideration of the inferiority of our force. A
schooner of 120 tons, with no more than twenty Europeans on board; the
crew of the vessel being Africans (as the crews of most of the colonial
vessels that navigate this coast are,) could have but a poor chance
against five vessels, mustering not less than 150 white men of different
nations, and reckoning 30 guns to our six. The caution evinced by this
step, however justified by circumstances, did not, I must confess,
appear to me to be very creditable to our character, and must have made
us look very foolish. After having chased the slavers so far up the
river, we ought to have brought the matter to an issue, particularly as
we had the eyes of all the country upon us, and were regarded with great
anxiety by the people of Old Calabar town, as well as by the crews of
the British merchant-vessels in the river. The affair gave the slavers
an opportunity of exulting over our failure, and their own good fortune;
which, I think, was to be regretted. On going down the river, a large
canoe came alongside with one of the great men of the country on board,
named Eyo Eyo, a brother to King Eyo; when he asked for a present, and
something to drink, the customary demand of the natives. We presented
him with a few leaves of tobacco, which appeared to amuse him
exceedingly: he held them up with a contemptuous sneer, and asked if
that was a present? This man was as shrewd a fellow as any we met with,
in Old Calabar, and had long been accustomed to trade, and receive
presents, from captains of slavers, and palm-oil vessels.

At nine, we arrived off Robin's Town, where a canoe met us, with a note
from Captain Cumings, of the Kent, informing us, that a Frenchman had
entered his palm-oil house, and deliberately shot his second mate
through the body.

There are two grand festivals here, which take place every eighth day in
succession. Old Calabar day, which was yesterday; and Duke's day, which
happens to-day. The succession of these festivals is curious enough;
that which takes place on Thursday in this week, will be on Friday in
the next week; and the one on Friday this week, will be on Saturday in
the following week, and so on.

_Saturday, 26_.--We got under weigh, and dropped down with the ebb tide,
abreast of Duke's Town, a distance of three miles, where we anchored. We
had not been long here before the Duke, attended by a number of his
black gentlemen, and followed by Captain Cumings, of the Kent, came on
board to have a grand palaver with Lieutenant Badgeley, concerning the
attempted assassination of Captain Cumings' mate, on the preceding day.
The Frenchman's name was Ferrard, and this monster was no less than the
Captain of a slave-vessel. The cause of this palaver, was an imperative
demand, on the part of Captain Cumings, that the Duke should deliver the
Frenchman into our hands, in order that he should be given up to justice
in the event of the mate's death: but the Duke made great difficulties
concerning the practicability of securing this man, and offered many
excuses to escape the acknowledgment of any responsibility in the
matter. It was clear enough that he wished to protect the assassin, as
indeed it was his policy to shield the slavers, whose trade was more
lucrative to him, than that of any other class of persons. Finding
himself somewhat embarrassed in the conversation, he made an apology for
leaving the vessel, saying he would go on shore and see what could be
done, inviting us at the same time to finish the palaver at his house.
Accordingly we all went on shore, after breakfast, attended by two
marines. A second palaver took place, which was merely a repetition of
the first, and when it terminated, he presented us with some excellent
Champagne, and then exhibited a quantity of fine clothes, with a variety
of other articles, all of which he said he had received as presents. The
only dress His Majesty wore, when he came on board, was a cotton cloth
round his middle, and a fine white beaver hat, bound with broad gold
lace. Captain Cumings, at our request, asked permission of the Duke to
allow us to see his wives, who live in a square formed of mud huts, with
a communication from the back part of his house. The Duke very
courteously complied with our wishes, and sent persons to attend us.
There were about sixty Queens, besides little Princes and Princesses,
with a number of slave-girls to wait upon them. His favourite Queen, the
handsomest of the royal party, was so large that she could scarcely
walk, or even move, indeed they were all prodigiously large, their
beauty consisting more in the mass of physique, than in the delicacy or
symmetry of features or figure. This uniform tendancy to _en bon point_,
on an unusual scale, was accounted for, by the singular fact, that the
female upon whom His Majesty fixes his regards, is regularly fattened up
to a certain standard, previously to the nuptial ceremony, it appearing
to be essential to the Queenly dignity that the lady should be
enormously fat. We saw a very fine young woman undergoing this ordeal.
She was sitting at a table, with a large bowl of farinaceous food; which
she was swallowing as fast as she could pass the spoon to, and from, the
bowl, and her mouth; and she was evidently taking no inconsiderable
trouble to qualify herself for that happy state, which Pope tell us is
the object of every woman's ambition, that of being Queen for life, the
royal road to which, in this country, lies through a course of
gormandizing. The same custom extends to the wives of the great men, who
undergo a similar operation before marriage. On the morning of their
wedding-day they are seated at a table, to receive presents from their
relations and friends; a yard of cloth from one, some silk from another,
some beads from a third, according to the taste incapacity of the
donors. My companions were not much struck with the beauty of the
Queens, for they declared that some of the pretty young slave-girls had
much more lovely looks. Each of the Duke's wives bring, or send, a jug
of water for his large brass-pan bath every morning, and his favourite
wife remains to assist in his ablutions.

On leaving the Queens' Square, we were invited to go over the Duke's
English house, as it was called, which, in fact it was, having been sent
out in frame, from Liverpool, with carpenters to erect it, by Mr. Bold,
formerly a merchant of that town. This wooden edifice stood by the side
of his mud hut, in which, by the bye, such was the force of habit, he
preferred residing. In the English house there was a grand display of
European articles, consisting of furniture, mirrors, pictures, a
quantity of cut-glass on the sideboard, and to crown all, there was a
large brass arm-chair, weighing 160 pounds, a present from Sir John
Tobin, with an inscription engraved on it, to that effect.

About two o'clock we took leave of the Duke, and went on board the Kent,
where the poor mate was lying dangerously ill, and we all apprehended
the worst result, not having any medical man to dress the wound, or tell
the exact nature of it. After dining with Captain Cumings, we returned
to the Duke's house, to learn if he had ascertained the name of the
vessel the Frenchman commanded. The reply was unsatisfactory, as he
still declared his ignorance on the subject. It is not unusual for the
blacks (like the Chinese) to identify the ship in the Captain, for
instance, if they want to speak of the Jane, Captain Brown, they say,
'that Brown's ship.' It was, therefore, possible that the Duke might
really have spoken the truth in protesting that the name of the vessel
was unknown to him.

Finding there was nothing more to be done with the Duke that evening, we
left him, with an assurance that we should persist in our demand of
having either the Captain, or his vessel, delivered up to us; that we
should go and report the circumstance to the Governor of Fernando Po,
who would send a frigate to blockade the port, stop all the trade of the
river, and perhaps come and burn the town. These threats were not
apparently without their effect, although his Majesty was as much afraid
of opposing the slavers, as he was of quarrelling with us. The following
morning at daylight we left Duke's Town, and proceeded down the river,
not however, with the intention of going to Fernando Po, but merely to
visit all the rivers between the Calabar and Cape Formosa, in quest of
slavers, first going to the celebrated Bonny, off which river we arrived
on _Thursday, 31_. Here we saw a brig at anchor, which proved to be the
Neptune, of and from Liverpool. She had been lying here ten days,
waiting for clear weather to enable her to pass the bar, and get into
the river.

On the day we left Old Calabar town, I had all the symptoms of
approaching fever, such as headache, foul tongue, hot and dry skin, loss
of appetite, prostration of strength, &c. I, therefore, took calomel,
and adopted prompt measures of regimen, abstaining from all food, taking
nothing but diluents, keeping myself quiet, and occupying the mind with
amusing thoughts. By following this practice, at the expiration of three
days, I found myself quite convalescent, after which I soon recovered my
former health and spirits.

At noon, we parted from the Neptune, and stood to the westward, for the
river St. Nicholas, having had information that two Spanish vessels,
trading for slaves, were in that river. At six, we passed the entrance
of the Sombrero river, and, at midnight, that of St. Bartholomew's
river.

_Friday, February 1_.--In the afternoon, the Eden's pinnace went to
examine a small river, which was found to be the Sta. Barbara, but there
were no vessels there, and about sunset, we anchored off the river St.
Nicholas.

_Saturday, 2_.--At daylight, the Eden's pinnace, the schooner's boat,
and a canoe, manned with Kroomen, all well armed, left the schooner to
go in search of the two vessels said to be in the river; but they
returned on board, having examined a large river, three creeks, and one
town, without success. All they saw on the banks of the river, was a
large dog, and a rattle, like those at Fernando Po.

_Sunday, 3_.--At daylight, weighed and stood to the westward. About
nine o'clock we anchored off a long line of breakers, but no land in
sight, in consequence of the haziness of the weather. That peculiar
state of the atmosphere, which we call hazy, is, perhaps, more
characteristically designated "the smokes," on these coasts. Lieutenant
Badgeley and Capt. Smith, went in the schooner's boat to sound, and
trace the passage into the river St. John, at the entrance of which
we supposed ourselves to be situated. In the afternoon, the party
returned, having not only found the entrance of the river St. John, but
also one of the vessels of which we were in search. At half-past four,
the pinnace, schooner's boat, and Kroo canoe, were despatched, well
manned and armed, to bring the schooner out of the river. At eleven,
Captain Smith returned on board, and informed us, that, at sunset, they
boarded the Spanish schooner Victoria Felicita, armed with one long
nine-pounder and twenty men, and that they took possession of her with
scarcely a show of resistance. The Spaniards endeavoured to get the gun
ready, but the boats came so suddenly upon them, by rounding a point
close to their moorings, that they were completely taken by surprise,
and boarded before they could carry their measures of defence into
effect. There were but two slaves and a part of the crew on board,
the rest of the slaves and the remainder of the crew, being at the
Barakoom, or Slave-yard, to which place they are always consigned so
soon as they are purchased, and left until the vessel is ready for sea,
to escape from the responsibility which would fall upon the commander
of the vessel, in case any slaves were discovered on board. There were
many slave-dealers on the schooner's deck when the boats came in sight,
but they all jumped overboard, and swam to the shore.

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