The Journal of a Mission to the Interior of Africa, in the Year 1805 Part 16

July 11th.--From Sabooseera, or Mallaboo, we travelled towards the West and North West till noon, when we arrived at Keminoom, or Maniakorro.

This is a walled town fortified in the strongest manner I have yet seen in Africa; a section of the walls and ditch would have nearly the following appearance,

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Pitched our tents under a tree near the Ba lee, which runs here with great velocity, and breaks into small cataracts.

July 12th.--Went in the morning with Isaaco and waited on Keminoom, or Mansa Numma, as he is commonly called. I took with me

Bars.

Amber, No. 2 25 Ditto, No. 4 15 Barraloolos 20 Beads 33 Scarlet 10 b.a.l.l.s and flints 2 Looking gla.s.ses 5 ___ 100;

A soldier's musket, A pair of handsome pistols silver mounted.

He sent them all back, and I was forced to put a silver mounted gun on it before he would accept of it; and likewise

To Eerujama, the King's brother, Amber, No. 2 10 Barraloolo 5

To his son, Amber 10 To the King's people 10 To eight Finnis for singing some nonsense 8

Observed mer. alt. of the sun 163 24'; lat.i.tude 14 0'

In the evening had such of the soldiers as were most healthy dressed in their red coats; and at Numma's request went with them to the town, where they went through some movements, and fired.

July 13th.--Very desirous to be gone, as we found the people thieves to a man; in fact we have never yet been at a place where so much theft and impudence prevails. This can only be accounted for, by considering that Mansa Numma is the reputed father of more than thirty children; and as they all consider themselves as far above the common people, they treat every person with contempt, and even steal in the most open manner. By the side of the river are a great number of human bones (more than thirty skulls.) On enquiring the reason, I was informed that Mansa Numma always inflicted capital punishments himself, and that the bones I saw were those of criminals. I had reason to regret, that capital punishments seldom or never extend to the real or reputed descendants of the King.

July 14th.--As soon as day dawned, struck the tents and loaded the a.s.ses.

The townspeople gathered round us in crowds. They had stolen during our stay here four great coats, a large bundle of beads, a musket, a pair of pistols, and several other things. Before we had advanced a musket shot from the town (though we had one of the King's sons on horseback as a protector), one of the townspeople carried away a bag from one of the a.s.ses, containing some things belonging to one of the soldiers. The King's son, Lieutenant Martyn, and myself rode after him, and were lucky enough to come up with him, and recover the bag; but before we could rejoin the coffle, another had run off with a musket that was fastened on one of the loads.

We proceeded in this manner in a constant state of alarm; and I had great reason to fear that the impudence of the people would provoke some of the soldiers to run, them through with their bayonets. About two miles from Maniakorro, as we were ascending a rocky part of the road, several of the a.s.ses fell with their loads. I rode a little from the path to see if a more easy ascent could not be found; and as I was holding my musket carelessly in my hand, and looking round, two of Numma's sons came up to me; one of them requested me to give him some snuff. Suspecting no ill treatment from two people, whom I had often seen with the King, and at our tents, I turned round to a.s.sure him that I never took snuff; at this instant the other (called Woosaba) coming up behind me, s.n.a.t.c.hed the musket from my hand, and ran off with it. I instantly sprung from the saddle and followed him with my sword, calling to Mr. Anderson to ride back, and tell some of the people to look after my horse. Mr. Anderson got within musket shot of him, but seeing it was Numma's son, had some doubts about shooting him, and called to me if he should fire. Luckily I did not hear him, or I might possibly have recovered my musket, at the risk of a long palaver, and perhaps the loss of half our baggage. The thief accordingly made his escape amongst the rocks, and when I returned to my horse, I found the other of the royal descendants had stolen my great coat.

I went and informed the King's son, whom we had hired as a guide, of what had happened; and requested to know how I should act if any of the people should steal from the baggage. He a.s.sured me that after what had happened, I should be justified in shooting the first that attempted to steal from the loads. Made such of the soldiers as were near me load their muskets and be ready. The sky became cloudy, and by the time that we had advanced about five miles from the town, we experienced a very heavy tornado. During the rain another of Numma's sons s.n.a.t.c.hed up and run off with one of the soldiers muskets and a pair of pistols, which he had laid down while he was reloading his a.s.s.

We halted amongst the rocks and put off the loads, all very wet. Turned the a.s.ses to feed, and cooked some rice, although it rained very heavily.

One of the negro boys gave the alarm that three people were driving away our a.s.ses. I followed with some of our people: the thieves made their escape amongst the rocks, but without carrying away any of the a.s.ses, though they had untied the feet of three and fastened a fourth to a bush.

Collected the a.s.ses and began to load. Whilst we were loading one of the a.s.ses strayed a little from the rest, about two hundred yards, and to my astonishment a man came from amongst the rocks, took off the load, and began to cut it open with his knife. Before any person could come at him, he left the load and run up the rocks. Mr. Scott and one of the soldiers fired at him, but did not hit him. Went on. Road very rocky. Told the soldiers to shoot the first that took any thing from the baggage. Found some of the a.s.ses and loads lying at the difficult places in the road, and often two loads with only one half-sick soldier to guard them. Kept in the rear, as I perceived they had a mind to take some of the loads and a.s.ses. I saw the thieves peeping over the rocks, and making signs to their comrades, who seemed very desirous of a.s.sisting us in putting on our loads. Put one of the loads on my horse, and another on Mr.

Anderson's, and luckily cleared the difficult pa.s.ses of the rocks by sun set, without losing any thing, though surrounded by at least a dozen experienced thieves. When we reached the bottom of the rocky pa.s.s, we went on with more ease, and came up to the rest of the party about eight o'clock. They had stopped for the night in the woods, and so were all our clothes; [Footnote: It is thus in Mr. Park's MS. There seems to be some omission.] and in fact we pa.s.sed a very uncomfortable night amongst the wet gra.s.s, and exposed to a very heavy dew.

July 15th.--Early in the morning proceeded, and went on very slowly in the rear, by which means we were separated from the front. Horses loaded as usual. When we reached the cultivated land, which surrounds the village of Ganamboo, we came up to one of the soldiers, who informed us, that a man habited as a slave had come from amongst the bushes, and instantly seized on his musket and knapsack, which were fastened on the top of his load. The soldier struggled with him for his musket, and wrested it from him; on which the thief let go the knapsack, and attempted to make off; but when he heard the soldier c.o.c.k his piece, expecting to be instantly shot, he threw himself down on the road and roared out in the most pitiable manner. The soldier took a steady aim at him, but unfortunately his musket flashed in the pan, and the slave started up and ran in amongst the bushes.

Ganamboo is only a small walled village: it is situated about ten miles East half North from Maniakorro.

July 10th.--Left Ganamboo, but the soldiers and a.s.ses were so much fatigued, that we were forced to stop at Ballandoo (Dooty Mari Umfa) during the night. We had the most tremendous storm of thunder and lightning I ever saw. I was so confident that the tent would be struck by the lightning, that I went to some distance to avoid the explosion of our gunpowder.

July 17th.--Left Ballandoo at eight o'clock, and reached _Seransang_ about noon. All horses loaded; mine fell down under his load, and I was forced to sit by him till an a.s.s was sent from the halting place.

Seransang is a scattered but populous town, and the land is cleared round it for a great distance. One of our best a.s.ses stolen during the night.

July 18th.--Departed from Seransang, having s.h.i.+fted the loads so as to have the horses free, in order to prevent theft. We had not travelled much above a mile, when two suspicious people came up. One of them walked slowly in the rear; and the other pa.s.sed on, seemingly in great haste. I desired Mr. Anderson to watch the one in the rear, whilst I rode on at such a distance as just to keep sight of the other. The road making a turn, he was concealed from me by the bushes, and took advantage of this opportunity to carry away a great coat from a load which was driven by one of the sick men. I fortunately got a view of him as he was running off among the bushes, and galloping in a direction so as to get before him, quickly came so near him that he leaped into some very thick bushes. When I rode round, he went out at the side opposite to me; and in this manner I hunted him amongst the bushes for some time, but never losing sight of him. At last he run past a spreading tree, and jumping back, stood close to the trunk of it. I thought I should certainly lose him if I did not avail myself of the present opportunity.

I accordingly fired, and dropping my musket on the pummel of the saddle, drew out one of the pistols, and told him if he offered to move, I would instantly shoot him dead. "Do not kill me, white man," he exclaimed, "I cannot run from you, you have broke my leg." I now observed the blood streaming down his leg; and when he pulled up his cloth, I saw that the ball had pa.s.sed through his leg about two inches below the knee joint.

He climbed a little way up the tree, which was of easy ascent; always exclaiming in a pitiable tone of voice, "do not kill me." Several of the people belonging to the coffle, on hearing the shot fired, came running; and amongst others the guide appointed us by Keminoom, who insisted that I should instantly shoot the thief dead; otherwise he said I did not fulfil the orders of his master, who had directed me to shoot every person that stole from me. I had great difficulty in preventing him from killing him, and was happy to recover the great coat, and leave the thief bleeding amongst the branches of the tree.

We proceeded without further molestation till about three o'clock in the afternoon, when it came on a tornado. During the rain one of the sick had fallen a little behind, and four people seizing him, stripped off his jacket. He followed them at a distance; and when they came up to Mr.

Anderson and myself, he called out to us to shoot one of them, as they had taken his jacket. I had my pocket handkerchief on the lock of my gun to keep the priming dry. When they observed me remove it, one of them pulled out the jacket from under his cloak, and laid it on one of the a.s.ses. Mr. Anderson followed them on horseback, and I kept as near him as I could on foot, my horse being loaded. After following them about three miles, they struck into the woods; and suspecting that they had a mind to return and steal some of the loads from the fatigued a.s.ses in the rear, I returned with Mr. Scott, and found that one of the soldiers had lost his knapsack, and another his jacket. But from their description, the robbers were not the same as had formerly pa.s.sed.

Continued in the rear. When we came within a mile of the town of Nummaboo, the road pa.s.ses near some high rocks. The a.s.ses being a little way before us, two of the robbers first seen came from amongst the rocks, and were going towards the a.s.ses; but when they observed us coming up, they attempted to slide off un.o.bserved among the rocky. When I called to one of them to stop and tell me what they were looking after, they came near us; but as they had nothing of ours in their possession, we could not stop them, and they accordingly pa.s.sed to the westward. Mr. Scott and I went and examined that part of the rocks where we observed them come out, and were lucky enough to find a soldier's coat, a camp kettle, and a number of other articles, which had probably been their share of the booty; for I learned on my arrival at the town, that the a.s.s which carried the muskets belonging to the sick, had been stopped by four people near these rocks, and six muskets, a pair of pistols, and a knapsack taken away. To complete the business, J. Bowden, one of the sick, did not come up; and we had little doubt but that he had been stripped and murdered by these very people in the woods. We likewise had a very good a.s.s stolen during the night.

July 19th.--Having purchased an a.s.s in lieu of the one stolen, we left Nummaboo, which is a walled village, and proceeded onwards. Had two tornadoes; the last, about eleven o'clock, wetted us much, and made the road slippery. Two a.s.ses unable to go on. Put their loads on the horses, and left them. Mr. Scott's horse unable to walk: left it to our guide.

At noon came to the ruins of a town. Found two more of the a.s.ses unable to carry their loads. Hired people to carry on the loads, and a boy to drive the a.s.ses. Past the ruins of another town at half past twelve, where I found two of the sick, who had laid themselves down under a tree, and refused to rise, (they were afterwards stripped by the Negroes, and came naked to our tents next morning). Shortly after this, came to an a.s.s lying on the road unable to proceed with its load. Put part of the load on my horse, which was already heavily loaded. Took a knapsack on my back. The soldier carried the remainder and drove the a.s.s before him.

We arrived on the banks of the Ba Woolima at half past one o'clock. This river is but narrow, not being more than fifty or sixty feet over; but was so swelled with the rains as to be twenty feet deep at the place where we proposed to cross it. Our first attempt was to fell a tree close to the river, that by its fall would reach across the stream and form a bridge: but after cutting down four, they all fell in such a manner as to be of no use; for though the tops of one reached the rocks on the farther sh.o.r.e when it fell, yet the violence of the current swept it away. In this manner we fatigued ourselves till sunset, when we gave up the attempt.

Observed the following emersion of Jupiter's satellites.

H. M. S.

Third satellite emerged by Watch M. S. 9 25 18 Watch too slow 1 55

First satellite emerged by Watch 9 36 10 Watch too slow 2 34

July 20th.--Alt.i.tudes taken for the time.

H. M. S. ' H. M. S. '

7 6 45 21 21 7 9 42 22 42 0 7 25 21 40 0 10 26 23 2 0 8 8 21 55 0 11 3 23 18

7 13 10 24 18 7 16 27 25 49 0 13 44 24 33 0 17 0 26 3 0 14 14 24 46 0 17 30 26 16

Obser. Mer. Alt. 166 4 0 1/2 83 2 0 0 16 0 83 18 0 6 42 0 20 43 0

Longitude 5 0 13 W.

Lat.i.tude 14 1 0 N.

The pa.s.sage of the river being the great desideratum, I proposed a raft to be hauled from side to side with ropes; whilst the Mandingoes were decidedly of opinion that nothing would answer our purpose but a bridge, which they said they would complete by two o'clock. I set to work with the carpenters to make a raft; but when the logs were cut into lengths, we could not muster healthy people enough to carry them to the water side. We were forced to give up the attempt and trust entirely to the Negro bridge, which was constructed in the following manner. A straight pole was cut to sound the depth of the river, and notches made on it to shew the depth at different distances from the sh.o.r.e. Two straight trees were now cut, and their tops fastened strongly together with slips of bark. These were launched across the stream with the a.s.sistance of two people, and a rope on the further side; the roots of the trees were firmly fastened with ropes to the roots of the trees on each side of the river. Along the upper side of these trees they planted a range of upright forked sticks, cut correctly to the lengths on the sounding pole. These upright forks supported two other trees tied as the first, but which were not, like the first, permitted to sink into the water, but were kept about a foot above the surface by means of the forks.

Another range of forks was placed a little farther up the stream, which likewise supported two trees fastened as the above; the whole was completed with cross sticks. The two trees first laid over, which were permitted to sink in the water, served to prevent the stream from running away with the forks whose roots sloped down the stream; whilst the weight of the current pressed on and kept firm the roots of such as were placed up the stream. A section of the bridge would have the following appearance.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A. Trees first laid across.

B. First range of forks.

C. Trees supported by first range.

D. Second range of forks.

E. Trees supported by ditto.

F. Cross sticks for walking on.

If the river was dried up, the structure would have somewhat of this appearance.]

Our people being all so sickly, I hired the Negroes to carry over all the baggage, and swim over the a.s.ses. Our baggage was laid on the rocks on the East side of the river; but such was our sickly state that we were unable to carry it up the bank. Francis Beedle, one of the soldiers, was evidently dying of the fever; and having in vain attempted, with the a.s.sistance of one of his messmates, to carry him over, I was forced to leave him on the West bank; thinking it very probable that he would die in the course of the night.

July 21st.--Hired Isaaco's people to carry the bundles up the bank, and a.s.sist in loading all the a.s.ses. One of the soldiers crossed the bridge, and found Beedle expiring. Did not stop to bury him, the sun being high; but set out immediately. Country woody, but level. About half past ten o'clock came to Mr. Scott lying by the side of the path, so very sick that he could not walk. Shortly after Mr. Martyn laid down in the same state. My horse being loaded, and myself, as usual, walking on foot and driving an a.s.s, I could give them no a.s.sistance. I came in sight of the town of Mareena a little before twelve; and at the same time was happy to see two of Isaaco's people coming back with two a.s.ses to take the loads off the horses in the rear. Sent them back for Mr. Scott and Mr.

Martyn, and proceeded to the town. Some of the people, who had crossed the river with us, had informed the people of Mareena of the treatment we had experienced in pa.s.sing from Maniakorro to the Ba Woolima, which district is called Kissi; and withal had told the people that our coffle was a Dummulafong, a thing sent to be eaten, or in English _fair game_ for every body. The inhabitants of Mareena were resolved to come in for their share; they accordingly stole five of our a.s.ses during the night; but felt themselves much disappointed next morning,

July 22d,--when they understood, that instead of proceeding to Banga.s.si, we proposed to send forward a messenger to inform the king of the bad treatment we had experienced. Three of them returned the a.s.ses they had stolen, but the other two would not. About noon we loaded all the horses and a.s.ses; and I hired two young men to carry forwards two trunks, the load of one of the a.s.ses which was stolen. Banga.s.si is only six miles distant from Mareena. It is a large town, fortified in the same manner as Maniakorro; but is four or five times as large. Pitched our tents under a tree to the East of the town.