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

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The following extraordinary letter from two master workmen, free
blacks, who were employed on the church, received by a Member of
Council, while I was on a visit to him, will serve as a specimen of the
advancement in education that some of these poor fellows have made. The
letter is given literally from the original.

"_Sierra Leone, Sept. 18th, 1827_.

"Honourable Sir,

"I have the honour of sendin to you this morning with humble manner
I was to the Honour D. Denney yesterday, about the trouble what I
have, I was take work from the church-yard, and I finish it, the
gentlemen I must made petition and I cannot tell who will go to
please to help me from this trouble if I will get the money from the
gentleman. Shew me the way for get the money by your Honour all the
people what I hired I do not know how to do with myself--only you
one I know because I was under your brother if any trouble to much
for me I cry to you with humble manner I am poor black man--

"I remain
Your affectionately and obedient servant,

"JOSEPH RICKETT and GEORGE DUNE,
_Sierra Leone Labourers_.

"_To the Honourable
K. Maccauley, Esq. M.C. &c.
Freetown_."

The original settlers of this colony, we learn from "Murray's
Historical Discoveries," consisted of about four hundred blacks, and
sixty whites, (the latter chiefly women of abandoned character,) who
arrived at Sierra Leone the 9th of May, 1787. These blacks, as is well
known, were part of those that went to Great Britain; having been sent
with the white loyalists, among the Bahama Islands, Nova Scotia, and
England, at the conclusion of the American war: and twelve hundred more
of the same description of American blacks agreed to leave Nova Scotia
for Sierra Leone, on terms proposed to them by the Sierra Leone
Company, where they arrived in March, 1792: and in December, 1793,
Lieut. Beaver arrived at Sierra Leone, with the few survivors that had
abandoned the colony of Bulama.

The present inhabitants arc principally composed of negroes of a
variety of nations; Maroons from Jamaica, negroes who were captured or
had deserted in the American war, some from England, some from Nova
Scotia, some from disbanded West India regiments, and many prize
slaves, that come under the name of liberated Africans, who from their
industry and prudence have saved a little money and settled at Freetown
in various capacities. There are besides a great number of persons
residing here in succession under the denomination of strangers. These
are people from various parts of the interior of Africa, namely,
Timmanees, Foulahs, Mandingoes, &c. &c. There are also a great number
of Kroomen, formerly upwards of a thousand, but a late order in council
reduced them to 600, with the intention of introducing and encouraging
the liberated Africans to come forward as labourers, fishermen,
mechanics, sailors, soldiers, &c. &c.

Sierra Leone has a large market-house, with a market held daily, where
the inhabitants may be well supplied with most of the tropical fruits
and vegetables, and some from Europe. Poultry is abundant and
reasonable. Beef and mutton are in most common use. The animals are
small, a quarter of beef weighing on an average between 50 and 60 lbs.
and a quarter of mutton from 5 to 8 lbs. Pork and lamb are seldom sent
to table, and I never met with veal. The colony is principally supplied
with stock, (viz. bullocks, sheep, and fowls,) by the Foulahs,
Mandingoes, Sousoos, and Timmanees. They carry the fowls on their head
in a large basket, and their necessaries in a sheep-skin bag fastened
on the top of it. Perhaps the reason why veal and lamb are but rarely
seen at table is in consequence of the bullocks and sheep having to
travel a considerable distance, and fresh pork is almost too gross a
food for a hot country.

The trade with the nations of the interior is chiefly confined to the
Foulahs and Mandingoes, who bring small quantities of gold with them,
which they exchange for European articles to carry home. Their mode of
travelling to the colony is not a little curious. They first appoint
one of their number as head man, who is referred to on every occasion,
and who is answerable for the conduct of the whole. They generally come
down in numbers of from six to thirty, and sometimes more. Each man
carries on his head a kind of basket, made of the rattan cane, in which
is contained his shirt, a calabash, some rice, and a bag made of
sheep-skin, which holds the alcoran, some rice, bread, a knife,
scissors, and other useful articles; also a small pouch in which they
carry their gold, averaging about 5l. sterling each person. They secure
the bag by fastening the sides of the basket together, and binding it
round with strong twine which they make from grass. On the top of the
basket they tie their bow and quiver of arrows loosely, so that they
can get at them readily, in case they should be attacked in the woods
by wild animals, or by any of the different tribes whose settlement
they pass through in coming down. They also carry a bamboo cane about
six feet long, and three inches in circumference, with a piece of iron,
about six inches long, and sharp at the point, fixed into the end of
it; this they make use of as a spear. They also carry a long knife or
sword, which is slung over the arm by a belt. They partly live on the
wild fruits of the country, and occasionally get something at the
villages through which they pass; generally walking between the hours
of six and ten in the morning, and two and six in the afternoon each
day. When they arrive at Porto Logo, (which place is the termination of
their land journey) they engage a canoe to take them to Freetown, for
which they used to pay four dollars a head, but it is now reduced to
one, and this charge they are accustomed to levy afterwards upon the
merchant with whom they intend to deal, looking upon it as a bonus
included in the traffic. They also apply to the merchants in Freetown,
for accommodations during their stay, which is from ten days to a
month. They will not trade either on the first or second day, but go
round the town examining the different goods in the shops, and
ascertaining the prices. In this preliminary proceeding they are
assisted by their countrymen, who have been long resident in the colony
and are acquainted with the English language. These interpreters make
their living by cheating in every possible way, both the poor traveller
and the merchant.

When they begin to trade it takes one day for the head man to settle
the investment of the gold in the merchant's hands, which he has
received individually from his companions, giving a separate receipt to
each: after which they all assemble to choose their goods to the amount
of each person's portion. This is an affair of three or four days. They
do not, however, think it necessary to leave the colony so soon as
their business is settled, but remain some time after idling about the
streets. Two or three days before they really intend returning by the
canoe to Porto Logo, the whole party call and say that they are going,
which is intended as a hint to prepare some present for them. They
repeat their visit the next day, and if they do not receive a present
from you, they address you in the following manner. "Friend," (calling
the merchant by his name, and holding out his hands with extended
arms,) "do you see my hands? do you not see that they are empty? When I
go back to my country, my countrymen will ask me if I have seen the
great merchant! they will say they doubt me, asking me, at the same
time, where are your presents? and if I have nothing to shew they will
call me a liar, saying that the great merchant never allowed any one
that went to see him, to go away empty-handed. I came from my country
on purpose to see you. True, I have brought you but little trade this
time, but when I go back to my country, and say I have seen the great
merchant, and shew them the presents I have received, then they will
all want to come, and bring plenty of trade." This of course concludes
with a present to propitiate the grasping spirit of the African petty
dealer.

The goods principally preferred by the Foulahs and Mandingoes, are
powder, muskets, fowling-pieces, flints, swords, spear-pointed knives,
India blue baft, India white baft, India scarlet silk taffety, red
cloth, beads, and tobacco, which they make into snuff, being the only
manner in which they use it.

The following amusing dialogue occurred between two sailors who
happened to be on the military parade when the soldiers were at drill,
going through the evolution of marking time,--a military manoeuvre by
which the feet, as well as the whole body of the person, are kept in
motion, presenting a similar appearance to that which they exhibit when
they are actually marching. One observed the other watching the
movements of the corps very attentively, with his eyes fixed and his
arms akimbo: "What the h-ll are you looking at?" he inquired. "Why,
Jack," replied his companion, "I'm thinking there must be a d--d strong
tide running this morning." "Why?" said he. "Why?" answered the other,
"why, because these poor beggars have been pulling away this half hour,
and have'nt got an inch a head yet!"

The custom of sentencing soldiers to serve in the Royal African Corps,
must naturally be attended with bad consequences, not only to the
soldiers themselves, but to the natives. If we desire to enlighten a
savage race, we could scarcely devise a worse plan than that of sending
amongst them the refuse of a civilized country, who carry into the new
community, the worst vices and crimes of an old country. These soldiers
consider themselves to be exiled for life from their native land, and
as they entertain no hope whatever, under such forlorn circumstances,
of redeeming their character, they abandon themselves to debauchery,
and give a free vent to the most debasing tendencies of their nature.
The influence of this injurious example, which is a thousand fold more
powerful than all the precepts of the preachers, upon the minds of the
Africans, must be obvious. It weakens the effect, even if it does not
altogether obliterate the impressions of that morality which we so
studiously labour to inculcate. The African says, "The white man tells
us not to do those things which are wicked in the sight of God; yet, in
the same breath, he commits the very guilt against which he warns us.
The white man tells us that drunkenness is a crime in the eyes of God,
yet he drinks until his senses become stupified; he tells us not to
curse and blaspheme; yet the most terrible oaths are on his lips. Which
are we to follow? the white man's words or his actions?" If we wish to
command respect, and to impress upon the savage the real advantages of
civilization, we should send out only such persons as would be likely
to secure a complete influence and ascendancy over the uninstructed
people, and so demonstrate to them, by the force of actions, the purity
and stability of the Christian faith, the importance of education, and
the practical benefits of social organization. If it be necessary, as
no doubt it is, to send out Europeans to serve in the African Corps,
they should be sent in the capacity of officers, or non-commissioned
officers: privates of good character might be selected, who would
volunteer to go out on certain conditions, perhaps on some such terms
as these: to serve as corporal for a limited period, after which time,
if their conduct had been unimpeachable, to be advanced to the rank of
serjeant, when, having served in that rank for a prescribed period,
they might be permitted to return home on a pension. Two years might be
assigned as the first period of service, and three as the second,
making altogether a service of five years in Africa, which, considering
the opinion that is popularly entertained respecting the climate, might
be deemed of sufficient duration. I am aware that this suggestion is
liable to one objection arising from the prejudice that is generally
entertained against the climate, namely, the difficulty that would
arise, in the first instance, in obtaining volunteers; nor am I
entirely prepared to say, that the objection is without force. But the
plan might be tried, and the temptation which would be held out, by the
certainty of promotion, might, probably, be considered an adequate
compensation to the risk: and, in case any individual should have
conducted himself throughout the whole period of his service, to the
entire satisfaction of his officers, and should subsequently wish to
remain at the colony, it might be adviseable to offer him a small
government appointment, or, in some cases, the reward might be extended
to a commission in the Colonial Corps. If this could be carried into
effect, it would certainly be attended with considerable advantages; it
would procure respect for the British name, recall the savage from his
life of recklessness, and put a final stop to those disgraceful scenes
of profligacy which are so frequently witnessed in the streets of
Sierra Leone.

Having requested my friend Dr. Barry, who was at the head of the
Medical Staff at Sierra Leone, to procure me what information he could
on the subject of vaccination and small-pox, in Africa, he most
obligingly forwarded me the following document, which, for the sake of
perspicuity, is put in the form of question and answer.

_Replies to Dr. George Gregory's Queries on Vaccination and
Small-pox, Sierra Leone, 24th September, 1827_.

1st. Is vaccination generally practised among the infant negro
population?

2nd. Whence do they derive their stock of lymph?

3rd. What is the degree of confidence placed in it?

Vaccination is not at all practised among the negro population, by
native vaccinators; it is, however, practised among certain branches
of the negro population by European surgeons; the negro population
of Sierra Leone consists of Nova Scotian, and Maroon settlers,
liberated Africans, and several of the aboriginal African tribes,
namely, Timmanees, Mandingoes, Soosoos, Boollams, Sherbros, &c. &c.
&c. The three first mentioned of these branches of the negro
population, having greater intercourse with Europeans, are better
acquainted with European customs, and have, of course, imbibed more
of European notions and prejudices, on such subjects as the one now
under consideration, than the aboriginal inhabitants of this part of
Africa; vaccination, therefore, is, and has been, practised among
them to a considerable extent, the stock of lymph being derived
from, and kept up by, frequent renewals from England. That their
confidence in it, as a measure preventive of small-pox, is great, I
judge from the anxiety which they shew, and the eagerness which they
manifest to have their children vaccinated when the small-pox is
raging around them; while, under ordinary circumstances, and when
their fears have been lulled by the absence of this fatal epidemic,
an absence which they well know is probably but temporary, they
exhibit such an unaccountable apathy regarding vaccination, that a
stranger might well suppose they had no faith in it as a
prophylactic measure; notwithstanding this, I believe they have
great confidence in it, although, from circumstances to which I
shall presently allude, that confidence has declined considerably.

4th. How soon does the arcola arrive at its greatest height in those
countries?

The arcola surrounding the vaccine vesicle is, I think, at its
greatest height about the eleventh or twelfth day after vaccination,
if the lymph used has been genuine.

5th. Does small-pox prevail there?

6th. Does small-pox prevail there after vaccination?

Small-pox prevails occasionally, and there are instances of its
having occurred even in a confluent form after vaccination: one
genuine instance of this kind came under my notice in the year 1824,
in the person of a liberated African girl, of about sixteen years of
age; vaccination had been performed in this case, by the late Dr.
Nicol, Deputy Inspector of Hospitals, and was considered
satisfactory; the case proved confluent; the secondary fever was
accompanied by a severe diarrhoea, which carried off the patient
about the thirteenth day. Another well authenticated instance of the
same fact, occurred in the early part of the present year, in the
family of a respectable Nova Scotian settler; other cases of a
similar nature have been reported by the inhabitants; but I do not
consider that, in these cases, the proofs of a pure previous vaccine
disease have been satisfactorily established; when vaccination has
been carried on for some time, from the same stock of lymph, the
disease is apt to degenerate and become spurious, from which cause
we require a frequent renewal of lymph from England, in order to
keep it in continuous and successful operation; the spurious
disease, on the fifth day, generally shews itself in the form of a
small globated papula; on the eighth day, it presents sometimes an
ash-coloured pustule, containing purulent matter; at other times,
and less frequently, a brown-coloured scale, having a small quantity
of purulent matter under it, capable of producing, by innoculation,
a disease similar to itself; the great prevalence of a disease among
the negro population, called "craw craw," is considered as
materially influencing that change in the properties of the pure
vaccine lymph, which has been just noticed: that apathy and
indolence of which I have already accused the negro population,
leads them to consider the appearance of disease in the arm, after
vaccination, as the test of safety from small-pox, great as the
difficulty sometimes is, in getting them to bring forward their
children for vaccination, it is still greater to procure the
examinations in its progress and maturation; the mere appearance of
disease in the arm, is supposed to carry along with it immunity from
small-pox; and, on the occurrence of the epidemic at an after
period, it may be easily foreseen how wretchedly and how fatally
this confidence in the spurious disease may be misplaced; I,
therefore, do not consider, that, in all the cases spoken of among
the inhabitants, as cases of small-pox occurring after vaccination,
there existed satisfactory proofs of the patient having previously
undergone the genuine vaccine disease; yet, I am sorry to say, that
from such occurrences as these, vaccination has rather lost ground
in the opinion of the negro population.

7th. Is small-pox an increasing malady?

Small-pox is not an increasing malady; it is generally introduced
here from the slave cargoes of vessels detained by the squadron, and
sent here for adjudication; were this source of its renewal removed,
I am persuaded that small-pox would, in the course of a few years,
be almost unknown in this part of Africa.

8th. Can the vaccine virus be retained on points and glasses, so as
to be fit for use?

The vaccine lymph, if taken on points, will not retain its virulence
seven days in this country: this observation is established by
repeated trials; if taken on glasses, I would not be disposed to
depend on its activity when kept longer than fourteen or sixteen
days, though I have known it sometimes to retain its original
properties for four or five weeks; if preserved in glass bulbs,
hermetically sealed, in the manner practised by the National Vaccine
Institution, I have known its properties unimpaired after keeping
for three months; repeated trials have convinced me of the
excellence of this mode of preserving the vaccine lymph, and, I
believe it to be the best and surest that has been yet devised of
transmitting the lymph from England to tropical countries: next to
this method, I believe the crusts have proved the most successful.

9th. Are the young negro population pitted with the small-pox?

The negro population are pitted with the small-pox in the same
manner as Europeans.

10th. Are there periodical vaccinations of large districts? or, is
each child vaccinated soon after its birth? if the latter, how soon?

The practice, in these cases, is, as long as the vaccine lymph
continues to produce a genuine disease, to keep it up by the weekly
vaccination of all comers. Children are rarely vaccinated under four
weeks old; but there is no rule observed on this head.

11th. What sort of scars are usually left in the arms?

The scar bears the shape of the original vesicle, and is slightly
depressed below the surface of the surrounding skin; the surface of
the scar is marked by a number of small depressions of various
shapes, corresponding, I believe, with the cells in the original
vesicle.

12th. Is vaccination, in hot countries, attended with feverish
symptoms? and, if it is, on what day do they begin?

Vaccination is, sometimes, in this country, attended with feverish
symptoms; but, in the most marked cases, so far as I have seen,
these symptoms have been so slight, as almost to escape common
observation. I have not remarked on what day they begin.

13th. Is vaccination ever followed by any eruptions?

I have seen only one case of this: an eruption appeared on the sixth
day after unsuccessful vaccination; it was diffused over the whole
body, and is now in progress.

W. FERGUSON, _Assistant Surgeon, Royal African Corps_.

N.B. The case alluded to, in the last of the above replies, was, in
the first instance, papular eruption; the base of each papula being
surrounded by an inflamed ring; the eruption was thickest on the
thorax, and on the arms; in its progress, the eruption became
pustular, the pustules being in circumference about half the usual
size of the vaccine vesicle; on the twelfth day, the crusts had
dropped from some of the smaller pustules; and, by the seventeenth
day, they had all dropped off, leaving a mark, but not in any manner
pitted; and which, I think, promises to be permanent.

W.F.

_Thursday, October 4th, 1827_.--At length the day arrived when I was to
quit Sierra Leone, and I might say with some regret; for, during my
residence there, I had been very hospitably and agreeably entertained
by the principal government officers, as well as by several of the most
respectable merchants; and I had found a sufficient variety of objects
of interest, to yield ample occupation for the mind. I could have
desired to remain sometime longer, particularly as the fine weather,
and what is called the healthy season, was fast coming on, which would
have afforded me more time to examine and reflect on what was of
interest to the colony as well as to the mother country; but I was
conscious of a feeling of still deeper regret, and of a different
character from that of mere curiosity;--it was the pain of parting from
those whose kind sympathy had led them to take more than a common
interest in my pursuits, and to whose friendly and constant attentions
I was indebted for the advantages I enjoyed while I remained in the
colony.

The apprehension, too, which was afterwards fatally realized, that many
of us should never meet again, was calculated to embitter my
leave-taking, even more poignantly. Of the friends who were then around
me at Sierra Leone, the greater number are now no more; the principal
persons amongst whom are the following: Colonels Lumley and Denham; Mr.
K. Macauley (member of council); Mr. Barber, Mr. Leavers, Mr. Reffel
(acting judge), Mr. Magnus (clerk of the court), Lieutenant Green,
R.A.C., and several gentlemen volunteers of the same corps.

At daylight in the morning, just as the ship was preparing to get her
anchors up, a heavy tornado came on, and the rain continued for some
hours after the violence of the wind had subsided. Notwithstanding the
rain, however, Colonel Lumley, the Lieutenant-Governor of the colony,
and his private secretary. Lieutenant McLean, R.A.C., came on board at
eight o'clock for a passage to Cape Coast, where the Lieutenant-Governor
was going for the purpose of delivering the fortress of Cape Coast
Castle into the hands of the British merchants, who were to take
possession of it with a militia force, which they were permitted to
organize for their own protection: the Government allowing them a
stipulated sum to support the necessary establishment, at the same time
withdrawing the troops of the Royal African Corps, and all the
government stores, part of which were to be sent to Fernando Po, and
the rest to Sierra Leone or England.

At ten o'clock we got under weigh, and made sail out of Sierra Leone
harbour. The Horatio, a schooner, which Captain Owen had purchased to
take provisions, mechanics and labourers to Fernando Po, was to have
sailed in company with us, but from some unaccountable delay, she did
not join us till we got to Cape Coast.[18] At noon, Cape Sierra Leone
bore E. 1/2 S. distance seven miles; and the Banana Islands S. 1/2 E.
The afternoon cleared up, and the wind was very light. From Sierra
Leone to Cape St. Ann, the course is S. 57 deg. E. distance 86 miles. From
Cape St. Ann to Cape Mesurada the course is S. 60 degrees E. distance
123 miles.

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