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

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_Wednesday, 5th_.--Continued heavy rain in the morning, and showery
throughout the day. We hired 30 Africans, called Kroomen,[10] who are
always ready to serve as seamen on board of a man of war, or any other
vessel, so long as they continue on that coast. They are usually
entered as supernumeraries on the ship's books for provisions and
wages, in the same manner as British seamen. They are employed on any
service which would expose Europeans too much to the climate, such as
wooding, watering, pulling in boats, &c. I shall hereafter give further
particulars of these people, and their country.

_Saturday, 8th_.--I accompanied Mr. Macaulry, to wait on his honour,
the Lieutenant Governor, Colonel Lumley, who continued in his
Commandant's quarters at the barracks, situated on a hill, which at
first rises gradually from the town, but becomes much steeper as you
ascend. We then accompanied Captain Perry and Mr. Green to the
regimental mess, where we lunched. It is worthy of remark, perhaps,
that three out of four of these gentlemen, namely, the Lieutenant
Governor, Mr. Macauley, and Mr. Green, whom I was in company with at
the barracks this morning, died long before my return to England. Dined
at Mr. Reffells, the acting Chief Justice, where there was a large
party, consisting of the Lieutenant Governor, and all the principal
official characters of the place, Captain Owen, &c.

_Monday, 10th_.--Notwithstanding the heavy rain to-day, a large party
of the friends of the late Mr. Lewis, (agent victualler, who died last
night at 11 o'clock,) assembled at his residence near King Tom's point,
to witness his interment, under a large tree not far from the house. It
was distressing to observe a favourite dog of the deceased gentleman
howling about the grave of his late master. He offered so much
resistance to those who attempted to remove him, that it was with great
difficulty he could be prevented from throwing himself into the grave
after it had received the coffin.

Mr. Miller, who was a volunteer serving for a commission in the Royal
African Corps, died to-day from the effects of fever.

_Tuesday 11th_.--Some slight showers in the forepart of this day, and
fine in the afternoon, when the Rev. Mr. Davy took me to visit a school
for free black children under the charge of Mrs. Taylor, widow of a
late missionary in this colony. Although this is but a day-school,
there is a probability of its doing some good with all who attend it,
and a great deal of service to a few. But it is in vain to attempt to
civilize savage nations through the medium of book instruction alone.
Previous habits exercise so powerful an influence over the mind, that
the value of precept is hardly felt. The good impressions which arc
made by the teacher in the morning, are obliterated by the example of
ignorant parents in the evening; so that the result of an education
imparted in this way, is merely to sharpen the natural cunning of
youth, and give them an increased power of evil, by the fragments of
information they thus acquire. If we would have our efforts to improve
their condition, really effective, we should deal with them as with
foundlings. They should be removed from the contagion of their former
intercourse, and apprenticed out to persons who would look after their
morals, and whore they would have no bad examples set them, so soon as
they were capable of applying their faculties to objects of utility.
The instances are very rare where these African children have fulfilled
the expectations of their benevolent benefactors; I am persuaded that
an establishment for a limited number, in which the end proposed should
be the completion of the work of civilization, would be incalculably
superior to the attempts to accomplish that desirable purpose with
great numbers in so imperfect a manner.

_Wednesday, Sept. 12th_.--Heavy and frequent showers, from last evening
till near noon to-day, when it cleared up, and continued fine all the
afternoon. This forenoon, I accompanied Mr. Kenneth Macauley to the
Court House, and attended the opening of the general quarter
sessions.[11]

_Friday, 14th_.--Attended the Court to-day with Mr. Macauley, where I
heard various cases of petty larceny. The morning was fine, but it
became cloudy in the evening, and very dark with much lightning. The
latter is a strong intimation of the expected tornadoes, with which the
rainy season terminates, as well as commences. Captains Owen and
Harrison, Lieutenant Woodman (agent for transports), and myself, dined
with the Governor at his regimental mess. There were also present, all
the principal officers of the civil establishment. Could our friends in
England have witnessed the hilarity that prevailed at that banquet, in
such a country, and at that melancholy season of the year, they would
have scarcely credited what they saw and heard. Many who were seated
there on that day, are now no more! The assistant surgeon of the North
Star, who was serving on hoard a schooner, that was tender to that
ship, died to-day. His death was supposed to have been much accelerated
by the gloomy apprehensions that entered his mind from the moment he
was seized with the fever.

_Saturday, 15th_.--Attended the Court, and heard some amusing trials
for house-breaking, and stealing therefrom; in one case there were
Kroomen against Kroomen:--Tom Coffee and Bottle of Beer--against
another Bottle of Beer.

_Sunday, 16th_.--Very fine day. Accompanied the Rev. Mr. Davy on board
the Eden, whore he performed divine service: after which we dined with
Captain Owen, and returned on shore in the evening, when I accompanied
him to a chapel in the parish of St. George's, Freetown, where he
performed the evening service. There are a great number of Independent
chapels in the town, supported by the free black population, and with
black preachers. I unfortunately witnessed a trial in the Court, that
did not redound much to the credit of one of these preachers. As it is
very novel, and not a little amusing in its way, I think I cannot do
better than to give, in its proper place, the opening speech on the day
it occurred, as delivered in the Court by the plaintiff's counsel, who
was a black gentleman. It was the first cause of the kind that ever was
tried in this colony, where morality does not appear to be so highly
appreciated as in some countries of Europe.

_Monday, 17th_.--Very fine warm day. I attended the Court as usual
to-day; and heard two trials of the same nature as most of the others;
distinguished also by the same difficulty of obtaining the truth from
most of the witnesses, who are quite indifferent to the responsibility
of an oath, because they have no qualms of conscience; but if their
priests were to fetish them, it is probable they might be induced to
give their testimony more honestly. Sentence was this day awarded to
all the prisoners that had been tried, as follows:--

John Rhode, a native of the Rio Pongas, for petty larceny.
Grando, a Krooman, for assault.
Yellow Will, a Krooman, for receiving stolen goods.[12]
Peter, a Krooman, for stealing from a dwelling-house.
John Testing, a discharged soldier, for ditto.
Jim Johnson, a liberated African, for grand larceny.
Ben Kroo, a Krooman, for ditto.
Jack Freeman, a Krooman, for receiving stolen goods.[12]
John Freeman, a Krooman, for ditto.

Several other prisoners found "not guilty," were discharged by
proclamation, and the sentence on Patrick Riley, a private soldier in
the Royal African Colonial Corps, for maliciously stabbing with intent
to murder, was respited on the motion of counsel, until a reference
should be made as to the application to this colony, of the statute
under which he was indicted;--the 43rd Geo. III. cap. 58th, commonly
called Lord Ellenborough's Act.

It is some gratification to know, that, notwithstanding these sessions
have been unusually heavy, still, that out of 19 prisoners in the
calendar, only two were liberated Africans, although this class of
persons forms nine-tenths of the community of the colony, and that but
one of them was found guilty; whereas, the time of the Court was taken
up with the crimes committed by Kroomen, 13 of whom were tried for
various offences. The evidence disclosed in these cases, afforded the
strongest grounds for the measure now in progress for reducing the
number of such strangers, by sending all above 600 from the colony; and
more particularly what are termed headmen. These fellows, who perform
no kind of work, it would seem, from what transpired in two or three of
the robberies brought to light before the public on this occasion, live
on the labour, and proceeds of plunder, obtained by the younger hands,
who first leave their country under the protection of these headmen,
and who are the mere instruments of this privileged class, contenting
themselves with planning the felonies committed by their dependants,
and thus generally escaping the consequences of detection; while, at
the same time, they _alone_ benefit in the pecuniary advantages of this
criminal course of life. The organization of professional criminals,
and the presence of the principle of co-operation amongst rogues, who
live by the commission of a variety of depredations on society, are not
confined to such places as London and Paris. The schemes and resources
of the headmen, considering the limits and differently constituted
sphere of their operations, are quite as admirable as those of the more
practised thieves of the modern Babylon.

_Tuesday, September 18th_.--About one o'clock this morning, we had a
violent tornado, which we had expected, from the frequent lightning of
the last four or five days; also, from the near approach of the
termination of the rainy season. The morning was very fresh and clear
after it; but, in the afternoon, it became cloudy and close. Burglaries
are frequently committed by the Kroomen in Sierra Leone, under cover of
the storm, it being a favourable time, from the difficulty of hearing
their operations, as well as from the disinclination the inhabitants
feel to go out in such heavy rain and wind, to examine their stores and
out-houses.

_Wednesday, 19th_.--Heavy rain from last evening till nine this
morning. Attended the Court, where I heard the trial of an action
brought by a house-carpenter against the executors of an estate, for
work, forming part of a contract that he had made with the late Tascoe
Williams, Esq.; the executors objecting to pay any part, because the
whole of the contract had not been performed, although it appeared,
that he was ready, but they were not willing, that he should complete
it: a verdict was, of course, given for the carpenter.

At three in the afternoon, I accompanied Capt. Owen to dine with Capt.
Arabin, on board the North Star, which was to sail for the Gambia on
the following day, taking a detachment of the Royal African Corps
thither, under the command of Lieutenant Nott. There was, at one
period, so much sickness at Sierra Leone, that this young man (then an
ensign) was the COMMANDING OFFICER IN BARRACKS!

_Thursday, September 20th_.--Very fine weather. Accompanied Mr.
Macauley in a ride on horseback, through the grass-field, to a village
called Portuguese Town, and round Barrack Hill, passing the new, and
afterwards the old burying-ground, &c. The grass-field is said to be
that part of Sierra Leone, which is the principal cause of the
unhealthiness of the town, it being, in heavy rains, partly covered
with water; however, there are other causes in addition to this, that
are said to contribute to the unhealthiness of the place. One of these
is a belt of wood on the hill above the town; which must considerably
impede the current of air, and, if this was cleared and cultivated, it
would greatly improve the salubrity of the place; but, I fear, the
greatest evil of all is insurmountable, under existing circumstances,
as it is not within the control of the colonists. This is the low
marshy land that lies on the other side of the bay, and directly
opposite the town, called the Boollam shore, where a friend of mine
(Lieutenant George Maclean, Royal African Corps, who is, at present, at
the head of the Council at Cape Coast) went a few months before my
arrival, on an important mission from the Governor of Sierra Leone, to
be present at, and thereby countenance and confirm their choice in, the
election of a king.

The origin of the connection between our colony at Sierra Leone, and
the natives of the Boollam territory is very interesting, and will form
an appropriate introduction to a sketch of Lieutenant Maclean's visit
during the election of a King.

In the year 1804, the colony of Sierra Leone was attacked by the Native
Powers, and a body of blacks to the northward of the Boollam
territories was put in motion for the purpose of assisting the other
native tribes in overwhelming the white population at Freetown. The
King, or Chief of the North, (or, as they call themselves, the Sherbro
Boollams,) who has since been known by the name of King George, and
through whose territories the hostile tribes must needs pass, being a
firm ally of the King of Great Britain, declared that on no account
whatever would he permit them to pass through his country to attack a
British settlement: and he carried his point so effectually as to
render the expedition fruitless. In consequence of the determined and
friendly conduct of this Prince, a deputation of whites from Freetown
was despatched to him, with an invitation to visit Sierra Leone, which
invitation he accepted. While at Freetown, he was crowned with all
solemnity by the name of King George. He continued on the most amicable
terms with the Government of Sierra Leone until his death, which took
place the 19th of May, 1826, at the advanced age, it is said, of
upwards of one hundred years, a point which it would be difficult to
ascertain accurately, as these people are entirely ignorant of their
own ages. Since this period the throne of the Boollams has been vacant;
it being now, however, the intention of the people to proceed to the
choice of a King, according to their custom; and it being deemed of
considerable importance from the vicinity of Boollam to Sierra Leone,
that a person should be elected who was known to be friendly to the
English settlement, it was determined by his Excellency the Governor
that a person should be sent as a commissioner to be present at the
election and coronation; whose duty it should be to support the claims
and secure the election of a person known to the English by the name of
Macaulay Wilson, who, being a near relation of the late King George,
and having been educated in England, being also a man of considerable
abilities, was deemed in every way worthy of the throne.

The election of Macaulay Wilson having been accomplished, it would then
become the duty of the Commissioner, on the part of the English
Government to use every means in his power to induce the new King, with
the numerous chiefs and head men, to accede to, and sign, a convention,
whereby the sovereignty of Boollam was to be ceded to the King of Great
Britain, under certain limitations and restrictions specified in the
treaty. The attainment of this point, would, of course, be attended
with great difficulty; but it had become of the utmost importance for
the suppression of the slave trade that the attempt should be made; for
slave dealers who were actually carrying on their traffic in Freetown,
upon the least alarm, removed to Boollam with their unfortunate
victims, and being then out of British territory were in perfect
security. The following is Lieutenant Maclean's personal narrative of
his mission.

"_Yougroo, Boollam, March 3rd, 1827_.

"I left Freetown tins morning in the Government barge, with Mr. S. (a
person appointed to accompany me as interpreter) and arrived in the
course of the evening at the Boollam shore. On landing I proceeded to
Yougroo, called by the late King, George Town, where I was received by
the King _(esse)_, by Dalmahoumedii, a powerful Mandingo chief, with a
number of other chiefs, and headmen.

"There was a very good house (constructed after the country fashion)
assigned us as a place of residence. After taking possession, I was
visited by the different chiefs and head men, who came to pay their
respects, or, as they phrase it, to do service to me, as representing
the Governor of Sierra Leone. These consisted principally of Boollam
chiefs, who had seldom left their own country; and a few,
notwithstanding their vicinity to a white colony, who had scarce ever
seen a white man before. There were, also, not a few Mandingo chiefs,
who had acquired property and influence in Boollam, and which was
daily increasing. These Mandingoes are possessed of considerable
intelligence and great cunning, by which means, and by the genius of
their religion (Mahommedan), they invariably, though gradually,
acquire the superiority over the native rulers of those countries in
which they choose to settle. In Boollam this was becoming very
apparent; and as the Mandingo chiefs are all either covertly or
openly, supposed to be engaged in the slave trade, and consequently
opposed to the English Government, I was instructed particularly to
guard against, and to oppose their interest in the election of the
King. Dalmahoumedii, whom I mentioned above, is the principal Mandingo
chief in Boollam, and is by far the best informed man that I had seen
here. He is even well conversant in European politics. He is a man of
large property, and has a town of his own, called Madina, inhabited
entirely by Mandingoes.

"For the ground-rent of this town and neighbourhood, he pays a nominal
duty to the king of the Boollams, as his superior, although, in fact,
his power and influence in the country is nearly equal to the king's
own. On the day of my arrival, he sent me, ready cooked, in the
European style, an excellent dinner, of which I, of course, could not
do less than ask him to partake. Although a Mahommedan, he drank wine
freely, in compliment, as he said, to me, although I could perceive
that he enjoyed it exceedingly. He told me, in the course of
conversation (carried on principally through an interpreter) that he
had, at that time, no fewer than 85 wives. His brother, who had died
some time previously, left 75 wives, all of whom he was entitled, by
the custom of his country, to have married; he told me, however, that
he only chose 45 of them, all of whom he wedded in one day. In the
evening a number of these ladies favoured us with their company, some
of whom were very fine women. They also seemed to drink their wine
with great relish.

"Rejoicings commenced at sunset, and continued during the whole night.
I had a guard of honour placed over my residence, to prevent intrusion
during the night; which, however, I found it impossible to prevent
altogether, as during the election and coronation of a king, the laws
'sleep,' nor can any crime, short of murder or an attempt to murder,
be punished during that space of time, which generally extends to 14
or 16 days. The natural consequence of this is, that all the most idle
and worthless of the neighbouring nations, or tribes, flock to a place
where they can practise all manner of crimes with impunity. Many
persons, particularly minstrels, or bards, had walked upwards of 400
miles from the interior, to be present at the election about to take
place at Yougroo.

"The town of Yougroo, I was told, generally contained but about 500 or
600 inhabitants, although, during the election, &c. there must have
been, at least, 5000 or 6000 persons present.

"The mourners for the deceased king, of whom there are 16 in number,
are the most extraordinary figures that can possibly be conceived. One
half of their faces (the upper half) is painted white, forming a
hideous contrast with their black countenances. The mourners
(literally 'makers of the cry,' i.e. lament) are appointed immediately
on the death of the king,[13] and continue their functions until the
election of a new king takes place, however long it may be before that
event may happen. They are generally girls of from ten to fourteen
years of age, and are, while mourners, held sacred and inviolate.

"_Sunday, March 4th_.--This day was appointed for the formal election
of a successor to the throne of King George. By noon, the whole of the
chiefs and headmen were assembled in the Palaver House, when the
Regent, or person appointed to administer the government during the
_interregnum_, proposed, in a speech of some length, John Macaulay
Wilson to be the future King of the Boollams. Previous to this, a
deputation had been sent requesting my presence. I accordingly
attended in full dress, along with Mr. S----. The Regent's speech, as
literally translated by my interpreter, and immediately after noted
down by me, was as follows:--

"'We have now met, headmen and brethren, to perform a great duty, and
to exercise a great privilege. It becomes our duty to elect a
successor to our vacant throne, "the cry" (i.e. the mourning) being
about to close. We have now no king; if we look to his hearth, there
is no one there; if we call upon our king, no one answers; thus are
we, as children without a father; as a family without a head; whom
then shall we choose to sit in the seat of our late venerable king?
Who shall walk in the footsteps of him, whose sayings were the sayings
of wisdom, and out of whose mouth proceeded justice: whom, I say,
shall we elect, but his own son[14], who listened to him when alive,
and who will not forget him now that he is dead?

"'You have long known this person; and you know that he will not bring
disgrace upon your choice; but that he will do those things which a
King of the Boollams ought to do; that he will discourage wickedness,
encourage the righteous, and do justice to all men; I therefore
propose that John Macaulay Wilson be elected King of the
Boollams.'[15] The speaker of the above was an old man, highly
respected by all classes, named, 'Nain Banna.' It becomes his duty,
immediately on the king's death, to assume the government as Regent;
he is, however, on that account ineligible for the throne.

"After some conversation among the chiefs, consisting principally of
tributes of praise to the late king, it was formerly announced to me,
'that John Macaulay Wilson was elected King of the Boollams:--that he
held the Boollam Country in the palm of his hand:--and that the scales
of justice hung upon his finger,' I was also entreated to report to
his Excellency the Governor of Sierra Leone, the choice they had made,
and their hopes that it would meet with his approbation. The people
expecting that I should address them, I rose, and by my interpreter,
said, 'that I should not fail to report to my master, His Excellency
the Governor of Sierra Leone, the good order and unanimity which had
prevailed in the assembly; that I had no doubt but His Excellency
would approve of the object of their choice that day; that from what I
had heard of their new king, I had no doubt, but that he would justify
the confidence they had placed in him; and I trusted that the same
good sense and attention to the true interests of their country, which
they had shewn that day, would guide all their future deliberations.
In conclusion, I begged leave to congratulate them, on having chosen
such a ruler; and to congratulate their king, on the distinction that
day conferred upon him.'

"The day closed as usual with every manner of licentiousness.

"_Monday, March 5th_.--This being the day appointed for the
inauguration of the new king, it was ushered in with the firing of
musketry and other demonstrations of joy. At 10 A.M. the chiefs and
headmen assembled, and immediately proceeded to the performance of
certain mysteries, which take place in the depths of the bush; and to
which the initiated only are admitted.

"At noon they emerged from the bush, having the new king with them;
whom they now regarded as a complete stranger, providentially sent
them from heaven to be their ruler.

"A deputation now requested my presence at the Palaver House, to which
they were then conducting the king; the headmen and people dancing
around him, as he passed through the streets, in the most fantastic
manner. On my arrival the late Regent pronounced a very long harangue
in the Boollam language, which was repeated sentence by sentence in
the Mandingo and English by the respective interpreters. In this
speech, which however I did not note down, Nain Banna rehearsed what
had from time immemorial been the practice of the Boollams, in cases
such as the present, and declared that all the rites and mysteries
proper for the occasion, had been duly performed. He then pronounced a
long encomium on the virtues of their late king, and concluded by
paying his respects to the new king, and myself, respectively, which
he ended with the highest term of respect which the Boollams
know:--'May you live for ever.'

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