West African studies Part 30

After a week's buffeting about with cross currents and very little wind we at last reached the noted headland of Cape Palmas, a port of Liberia; we anch.o.r.ed here for one night and next morning were under way again.

This time, having a fair wind and the currents with us, we soon made our next stopping place, which was a little village on the coast-line called Beraby. Here we had our first glimpse of African life. Directly we dropped anchor a sight almost indescribable met the eye of what appeared to be hundreds of large blackbirds in the water. We had not long to wait before we knew it was something more than blackbirds, for soon the s.h.i.+p was crowded from stem to stern with natives from the sh.o.r.e jabbering away in such a manner very alarming to a new-comer. I am not ashamed to confess that I was anything but sorry when the s.h.i.+p was cleared and we were off once more; this was soon done as we had only to take on board our Kroo men, or boys, as they are always called, although some of them are as finely built as ever a man could wish to be. We took about twenty of these boys, who engage for the voyage and become, like ourselves, part of the s.h.i.+p's crew. After each one had received one month's pay from our captain, and duly handed it over to their friends, and said their good-byes, general good-wishes were given, and we again up anchor, and set sail for the well-known port of Half Jack, which ought to be called the Bristol port of Half Jack, for here we met some half-dozen Bristol s.h.i.+ps, who gave our captain a regular good old Bristol welcome.

A few words about this important port may be of interest, although I am sorry to say we have managed to let it, valuable as it is, get into the hands of the French, like many more in that part. Half Jack is a very low-lying country with a large lagoon, as it is called running, between it and the mainland. Along the sides of this lagoon the country villages are situated, which produce that great product palm oil; this is sold to the Half Jack men, who in turn sell to our Bristol men and they s.h.i.+p it to all parts of Europe. We now leave Half Jack to its traders and natives, and after our captain has paid his complimentary visits, we set sail for the Gold Coast town of Accra; but before reaching that, we have to pa.s.s many fine ports and splendid headlands. Axim, in particular, I must mention, as it has recently come very much to the fore, owing to the great quant.i.ty of mahogany that is now being exported from there, a wood that has revolutionised the furniture industries of this country--it has also enabled the thrifty men and women of England to make their homes more bright and cheerful by giving them the very cheap and beautiful furniture they could not have dreamed of years ago, when the only mahogany procurable was the black Spanish, which was far too expensive for ordinary persons to think about. Axim, in addition to this great export of wood, is the port of departure for the West African gold mines, and they will I have no doubt, in time prove of great value. The Ancobra River empties itself here. Axim being at its mouth, this river would be very useful in helping to develop the interior of this part, were it not that the mouth was so shallow and dangerous, two obstacles that the science of the future will, I expect, remove. We are now pa.s.sing some of the finest specimens of coast scenery it is possible to see. I can better describe it by comparing it somewhat to our North Devon and Cornwall coasts, such splendid rocks and headlands and land that I venture to say will eventually prove very valuable.

We next come to the important town of Elmina, one of the departure ports of the Ashantee country, and also where all noted prisoners are kept.

King Prempeh, late of Ashantee, is now awaiting her Majesty's pleasure there; many others have found Elmina their home of detention after attempting to disobey our gracious Queen's commands.

Cape Coast Castle is our next noted place. This is the chief departure port for the Ashantee country, and was at one time the Government seat for the Gold Coast Colony. It is a very fine rock-bound port, and from the sea its square-topped, white-washed houses, and its Castle on the higher promontory, form an imposing-looking picture. It is second to Accra for importance in this part; much gold comes from here. It is also a celebrated place for the African-made gold jewellery, some of which is very beautiful in design and workmans.h.i.+p. The grey parrots form a great article of barter here. Hundreds of these birds are brought to Liverpool every week, I may almost say all from this place. The people are chiefly of the Fantee tribe, and a fine and intelligent race they are. They have good schools, and many of the younger men s.h.i.+p off to other parts of the coast as clerks, &c. Good cooks may be engaged from here, which is a fact I think well worth mentioning.

And now we sail on to the present seat of Government for the Gold Coast Colony, Accra. This is a fine country, a flat, table-like land along the front, with the hills of the hinterland rising in the background. The landing here is somewhat dangerous in the rough season, and great care has to be taken by the men handling the surf-boats to avoid them capsizing. Many lives have been lost here in days gone by.

I told you before why we called at the Kroo village Beraby, and the port of Half Jack. We now anch.o.r.ed at Accra to engage our black mechanics, for which the place is noted. Here you may procure any kind of mechanic you may mention--coopers, carpenters, gold-and silver-smiths, blacksmiths, &c. In those early days the coopers and carpenters were engaged to a.s.sist our Bristol men, but to-day the whole of the work is done by the natives themselves. I do not think you would find a white cooper or carpenter in any of the lower ports, some of the natives being very clever with their tools. We also engaged our cooks, steward, and laundry men, which any establishment of any size in these parts must keep. For all these trades the natives have to thank chiefly the Basel Mission, which is, I believe, of Swiss origin. This mission started years ago to not only teach the boys the word of G.o.d, but to teach them at the same time to use their hands and brains in such a way that they were bound to become of some use to their fellow men, and command ready employment. This mission, I cannot help feeling, has been one of the greatest blessings they have ever had on that great continent. It has sent out hundreds of men to all parts, and to-day the whole of the West Coast is dependent upon Accra for its skilled labour. This way of instructing the natives is now, I am pleased to say, being followed by nearly all our missionary societies, and it is certainly one of the best means of civilising a great people like the Africans are.

Not to take powder and shot and shoot them down because they don't understand our Christian law, but teach them how to make and construct, that they in time may become useful citizens, and that they may be better able to learn the value of the many valuable products growing in their midst, they will be ever thankful to us and bless our advent among them. These Accra people are a very fine race, clean, and distinctly above the ordinary type of negro, clearer cut features, well-built men and women. The women, especially, are superior to any of the West Africans I have met with up to the present. They, like their husbands, are fond of dress, and, like their husbands too, are hard-working and industrious; this was shown by the readiness of these people to undertake the porterage in the prompt manner they did for the late Ashantee Expedition, and which must have done a great deal towards bringing about the success of the same. You will be better able to understand this if you will suppose, we will say, six thousand men were landed at Land's End, their destination being Bristol, and with no train or horse to carry the food supply and ammunition, let alone the heavy guns. For this work some thousands of porters are required, each one of which must carry from 60 to 100 pounds in weight. This is carried on the head, and when I tell you these people think nothing of doing twenty miles a day, day after day, you will realise how physically strong they must be. The manner in which they rallied round the Government--men, women, and children--as soon as it was decided an expedition should be sent, must have been very encouraging to those in command.

One thing, however, about these Accra people, while they have very much improved themselves in their dress they have not improved their villages as much as we would wish to see, but this will all come in time. Our old towns used to abound in narrow courts and lanes, while we to-day like to see open s.p.a.ces, broad streets, &c., with plenty of fresh air, knowing it is an absolute necessity to us, and it should be the first care of our councillors to do away as far as possible with all dens and alleys, so that if the cottage is small, the cottager can breathe pure, fresh air; for, as you all know, the working man's stock-in-trade is his health--when that goes, the cupboard is often bare.

Now, I think it is about time we hove anchor and said good-bye to Accra.

Our coopers and carpenters are engaged, and our crew being completed we set sail for our destination.

After being some four or five days crossing the Bight of Biafra, we sighted the island of Fernando Po. Here our captain having to do a little business, we anchor for the night in the harbour of Santa Isabel.

The little island of Fernando Po once belonged to us, but we exchanged it some years ago with the Spanish Government for another island in the West Indies, which our Government thought of more value. This, as far as the West Coast was concerned, was a pity, because at the time I am speaking of the island was a flouris.h.i.+ng place, with about half-a-dozen or so English merchants, and a fairly good hotel; but not so now, for while there is still business going on, the place is not advancing, and a place that does not advance must go back. The chief merchants there to-day are English. This the Spanish would not have if they could help it, but being under certain obligations to them they suffer them to remain.

The first view of Fernando Po when you arrive in the bay is a perfect picture; it makes one almost feel they would never like to leave there; its white houses all round the front on the higher level, its wharves and warehouses at the bottom, and its beautiful mountain rising magnificently in the background. Its whole appearance is very similar to the island of Teneriffe. It seems strange that here, almost in the middle of the tropics, if you have any desire to feel an English winter, you have only to go to the top of the Fernando Po mountain, which can easily be done in two days, or even less, for while at the foot the thermometer is registering 85 or 90 in the shade, on the top there is always winter cold and snow.

Now, I think we had better continue our journey. We took a few pa.s.sengers on board, and then set sail for the Cameroon River. This being only fifty or sixty miles distant, we were not long before we came to anchor off what is called the Dogs' Heads. Here we had to wait the flood, and almost three-quarter tide, to enable our s.h.i.+p to pa.s.s safely over a shallow part of the river called the flats. Now we come in sight of the then noted King Bell's Town, called after a king of that name.

Here our s.h.i.+p is moored with two anchors, and here she has to remain until the whole of her cargo has been purchased. This was done, and is even to-day, by barter, that is exchanging the goods our s.h.i.+p has brought out for the products of the country, which at that time consisted only of palm oil, ivory, and cocoa-nuts; but before we commence to trade the s.h.i.+p has to be dismantled--top spars and yards taken down, and carefully put away with the rigging and running gear; spars are then run from mast to mast, and bow to stern, forming a ridge pole; then rafters are fastened to these coming down each side, supported by a plate running along the side, supported by upright posts or stanchions; the rafters are then covered with split-bamboos, over these are placed mats made from the bamboo and palm trees. It takes, of course, some thousands of mats to cover the s.h.i.+p all over, but this is done in about a month, and all by natives who are engaged for that particular work and belonging to that place. Our s.h.i.+p now being housed in, all hands who have not been sent to a.s.sist in taking another s.h.i.+p to England are given their different duties to a.s.sist the captain in carrying on the trade.

TRADING IN THE CAMEROONS

Each s.h.i.+p in those days had what was then called a cask house, that was a piece of land as nearly opposite as possible to where the s.h.i.+p lay moored. This land was always kept fenced round with young mangrove props or sticks, forming a compound; inside this compound would be two, perhaps three, fairly good sized stores or warehouses, and also an open shed for empty casks which had to be filled with palm oil and stowed in the s.h.i.+p for the homeward voyage. Now the first work to be done after the s.h.i.+p was made ready for trading, was to land as much of her cargo as was not immediately required for trading purposes, such as salt, caskage, earthenware, and all heavy goods. Salt in those days, as in the present, formed one of the staple articles of trade, therefore a s.h.i.+p would generally have from 200 to 300 tons of this on board, all of which would have to be landed into one of these store houses. At that time that meant a lot of labour, as every pound had to be carried by the natives from the boats to the store in baskets upon the head, over a long flat beach. To-day all this is altered, the salt is sent out in bags, and each store has a good iron wharf running out into the river with trolly lines laid upon it, which runs the goods right into the store, and so saves an immense amount of labour. After the salt came the casks, packed in what are called shooks; that is, the cask when emptied at home here, is knocked down and made into a small close package and in that condition only taking up an eighth part of the room it would take when filled with the palm oil, thus enabling the s.h.i.+p to carry, in addition to her cargo, enough casks to fill her up again completely when filled with oil. To carry on this work the crew of the s.h.i.+p was divided into two parts, one to work on board, the other on sh.o.r.e. The sh.o.r.e work was generally allotted to the Kroo boys we engaged up the coast, with one of the white men in charge, while the white crew with three or four natives would work the s.h.i.+p. In addition to all this work, trade would be going on every day, which meant 100 or so natives coming and going constantly from half-past five in the morning until three or four in the afternoon, when trade would cease for the day. This release, I need scarcely tell you, was most welcome to us all, for during the whole of this time the s.h.i.+p was nothing but a continual babel, which not unfrequently ended in a free fight all round, when, of course, a little force had to be used to restore quiet.

The trading would be carried on in this way. The after end of the s.h.i.+p was part.i.tioned off and made to resemble a shop as nearly as possible, in this were displayed goods of all kinds and descriptions too numerous to mention here. In front of this shop, at a small table, the captain sat, while an a.s.sistant would be in the shop ready to pa.s.s any goods that were required out to the purchasers, who first had to take their produce, whatever it might be, to the mate, who would be on the main deck to examine the oil and see that it was clean and free from dirt of any kind; he would also measure whatever was brought by the natives, then give them a receipt, or what was commonly called a book. This book was taken to the captain, who would ask what they required. All that could be paid for from the shop was handed over, while for the heavy goods another receipt or book was given which had to be handed to the man in charge of the store on the beach, who gave the native his requirements there. So the work would go on from day to day, and month to month, until the whole of the s.h.i.+p's cargo had been bought, then the mat roof was taken off, masts and spars rigged up, sails bent and the s.h.i.+p made ready to sail for Old England. This, I must tell you, was a happy time for all on board, after lying, as we often did, some fourteen or fifteen months in the manner I have described. During these long months many changes took place; some of our crew fell ill with fever, and worst of all dysentery, one of the most terrible diseases that had to be contended with at that time. Three of our number, one after the other, we had to follow to the grave, while others were brought down to a shadow.

Here I experienced my first attack of African fever, which laid me low for some two weeks. I remember quite well getting out of my bed for the first time; I had no idea I had been so ill; I could not stand, so had to return to my berth again. This was a rough time for us--we had no doctor, and very little waiting upon, I can tell you. If the const.i.tution of the sufferer was not strong enough to withstand the attack he generally had to go under, as it was impossible for the captain to look after the sick and do his trade as well, and as he was the only one supposed to know anything about medicine, it was a poor look out. (I have known, after a s.h.i.+p had been out a few months, not a white man able to do duty out of the whole of the crew.) These were our hard times, as, in addition to working all day, the white crew had to keep the watch on board through the night, while the Kroo boys did the same on sh.o.r.e. So that when any of our men were ill, the watch had to be kept by the two or three that were able. Many a night after a hard day's work I have fallen fast asleep as soon as I had received my instructions from the man I relieved. I fear my old captain got to know this, for he used to come on deck almost always in my watch, and sometimes ask me the time, which I very rarely could tell him. One night he caught me nicely. I was fast asleep, when suddenly I felt something very peculiar on my face. I put my hands up to rub my eyes as one does when just awakening, and, to my horror, my face was covered with palm oil, our captain standing at the cabin door laughing away. "What is the matter?" he said; "has anything happened?" "Yes," I replied; "you have given me the contents of the oil-can." I need scarcely tell you I did not sleep much on watch after that. The wonder to me now is that we did not lose more lives during that trying time.

Rumours of wars, as they were called, amongst the natives occasionally reached us, but we were left pretty much unmolested. One day the captain and I had a free fight with fifty or sixty natives, some of whom had stolen a cask from our store, which I happened to discover. We got our cask back and a few of them had more than they bargained for. Another time while I was on board a s.h.i.+p fitting out for home, the captain of her saw a native chief coming alongside who was heavily in his debt, so he made up his mind, without saying a word to any one, to make him a prisoner, so he invited him downstairs to have a gla.s.s of wine, leaving the forty or so people who had accompanied their chief in his canoe on deck. The captain then quietly locked him up, the chief shouted for a.s.sistance, his people rushed down and the tables were soon turned, for they took the captain prisoner and nearly killed him into the bargain, one man striking him with a sword nearly severed his hand from his arm, the two or three whites on board were powerless. The natives having taken complete charge of the s.h.i.+p, we managed to hoist our flag for a.s.sistance, which was soon at hand, but too late to be of any use, for as soon as they had liberated their chief from his imprisonment, they all made off as quickly as they could to their own village. The captain was of course greatly to blame for not saying a word to any of us of his intention and for so underrating the strength of the chief's people. The chief was eventually brought to justice, however, by our own Consul.

One other little break occurred to me to vary the monotony of those long months. Attached to our s.h.i.+p was a small cutter which used to run down to small villages outside the Cameroon River. To one called Victoria I journeyed once with the mate and our little craft on a small trading venture. Victoria is situated at the foot of the splendid Cameroon mountain, which, like its neighbour at Fernando Po, always has snow at the peak; it is over 13,000 feet high and at that time only one or two men had ventured to the summit--one was, I believe, the late Sir Richard Burton. Since then several others have succeeded, amongst them the present Sir Harry Johnston, who did a lot of travelling when he was Vice-Consul, in those parts. Victoria is a snug little place. It was founded some years ago by a very old missionary, a Mr. Seagar, a man who did a great work in his time and whose name will never be forgotten in the Cameroon River. It lies in what is called Ambas Bay, which is sheltered somewhat from the south-west winds by two small islands. On one of these a British Consulate was erected a few years ago. The whole of this part as well as the Cameroon River is now a portion of the German Colony. We soon completed our business here and returned once more to our duties in the river. Between Victoria and Cameroon is the village of Bimbia, said to be one of the most noted slave depots in the district. Hundreds of slaves used to be s.h.i.+pped from here in the days when the trade was allowed, and it is said that some time after the trade was prohibited one of these slave s.h.i.+ps was just about to embark her human freight, when a British man-o'-war hove in sight. The captain, thinking his s.h.i.+p would be taken--and it was, I believe--and wanting to secure the golden dollars he had, took them to the sh.o.r.e and buried them. This is said to be thousands and thousands of pounds and is still unfound, so goes the tale. I tell it to you as it was told to me.

Our daily routine in the river was so similar that we will now consider the whole of the s.h.i.+p's cargo had been bought, and she is getting ready to make a start for home, which we were all very glad of; but our joy did not last long, for the mail arriving just at that time with letters from England, the captain received communication from our owners that they were sending out another s.h.i.+p, which he was instructed was for our chief mate to take charge of. That meant that the mate would have to remain to lay the cargo of her, while our old s.h.i.+p went home; but the poor man had been very ill for some time previous to this news, and was totally unfit to take charge; so under the circ.u.mstances there was only one thing to be done, and that was for the captain to remain and send the mate home. As soon as this was decided upon, two of us were asked to stay behind and help to work the newly-arrived vessel. I was one, the cook was the other (our skipper liked to be looked after in the eating department). Well, we soon settled down in our new quarters, and in a week or so said good-bye to our old s.h.i.+p and s.h.i.+pmates, who were jolly glad to get out of the river, and did not envy us poor fellows who had to go through all the old duties over again without a bit of change.

However, we entered upon our work with cheerful hearts. We had a good captain, and had no intention of leaving him as long as he remained out.

Perhaps a word or two about the natives' trade tricks might interest you, then you will see a mate's life on an African trading s.h.i.+p was not altogether a "bed of roses"; and he had to be pretty sharp to catch them, otherwise our wily friends would be sure to have him. For instance, they had a happy knack of half-filling their casks with thick wood, secured in such a way to the inside of the heads that, instead of there being fifty gallons of oil in the cask which it would measure by the gauging rod, it would possibly not contain more than twenty-five; water, too, was very often introduced to make up a deficiency, and if you happened to tell our friend his oil contained water, you were told not water, it is rain. Another dodge was to mix a certain kind of herb with the oil, which caused it to ferment, so that half casks could very easily be made to look full ones. Dirt as well was freely used by the natives when they thought they could get it pa.s.sed, so one had to keep one's eyes open.

APPENDIX II

PART II

PIONEERING IN WEST AFRICA; OR, "THE OPENING UP OF THE QUA IBOE RIVER"

In the year 1880, I was asked by a Liverpool firm to undertake certain work in connection with one of the trading establishments on the Old Calabar River. The offer came at a very opportune time. Being anxious to improve my position, like most young fellows, I accepted, and was soon on the way to my new undertaking. My first business was to take an old s.h.i.+p, that had seen the best of her days, and had been lying there in the stream for many years as a trading hulk, now being considered unsafe to remain longer afloat. I had to place her on the beach in such a way that she could still be used as a trading establishment. This was not a small matter, as the beach upon which she had to be placed was not a good one for the purpose. However, I found that if I could get her to lie on a certain spot I had carefully marked out, there was every possibility of a success; but I fear I was the only one that thought so, as it was fully twelve months before my senior would let me undertake the venture; at last I got his consent, and in a very short time the vessel was landed safely, and, I am pleased to say, did duty for over ten years. It was while waiting for this consent that the beginning of the events I am going to narrate took place.

Business was somewhat quiet in the Old Calabar, so our senior thought he would go for a bit of an excursion to a place called Qua Iboe, which was supposed to be a small tributary of the great river of Old Calabar, but which he found to his astonishment was some twenty-five miles westward of the mouth of the Old Calabar, and ninety miles from our main station at Calabar; however, he did not like to return without seeing the place, so he and his crew went, and after two or three days' journey, they suddenly found themselves in the midst of breakers, and it was only by luck they got washed into the mouth of the river Qua Iboe, half-dead with fright, so much so that our senior would not venture back in the boat, but preferred walking overland.

After being absent seven or eight days, he returned to headquarters with a very lively recollection of what he had gone through. Not being accustomed to the sea, the knocking about of the small boat very much upset him, then the long overland journey back took all the pleasure out of what he had intended to be a little holiday. Consequently, on his return he had but little to say about the river he had gone to see; and not being of a talkative disposition, had I not pressed him on the subject, I think, as far as our establishment was concerned, the Qua Iboe would have been a blank s.p.a.ce on the map to-day, as many more fine places are in that great continent.

So while we were at dinner, an evening or so after his return, feeling very anxious to hear something about his excursion, I remarked that we had not heard him say much about the new river. "No," said he; "for the simple reason is that I know but very little about it, except that I nearly got capsized in the breakers." "Well," I said, "is it a river of any size? Would it not be a good place to open up a new business?" "Oh, yes!" he said; "the river is a fair size, and it may or may not be a good place for business. We can't go there, we have not the means; we could not go without a vessel of some sort." "Well," said I, "would you go if you could? Or, in other words, will you give me all the support I need if I undertake to go?" "Yes, certainly," he said; "I shall be only too pleased to give you anything we have here."

That night I got to work and laid out all my plans. First I had to find a vessel. We had attached to our hulk a good large boat that would carry about ten tons. This boat I soon got rigged up with mast and sails. This done, I had a house constructed about sixty or seventy feet long by twenty wide, made ready to be put up on whatever spot I should pitch upon when I reached my new destination. This work, of course, took some little time. However, the eighth day after I had my senior's consent to go, I was sailing away from the Old Calabar, with my little craft and sixteen people besides myself.

It took some four or five days to get to the long-looked-for Qua Iboe.

At last we were rewarded with a glimpse of the bar and its breakers, which we had to pa.s.s before we could get into the river. We, however, reached it safely, and with thankful hearts I can tell you, as our journey had been anything but a pleasant one--so many of us in such a small craft. I felt bound to take this number, as in addition to wanting these people for the building of the establishment, I wished to make as big a show as I could to the, at that time, unknown natives, who had the reputation of being as bad a lot as were to be met with anywhere on the West Coast. Anyhow, I thought they would have to be pretty bad if I could not make something of them, so I sailed my boat flying up the river to the first village, which was supposed to be the senior one in the river, and was always called Big Town. It was just dusk when we arrived. We dropped anchor, and decided to rest for the night; but I found the villagers very excited, and not liking at all my advent among them, as they had just had news from the up-country informing them that if they allowed a white man to remain in their river, King Ja Ja, who was the very terror not only of this place, but of some fifty or sixty miles all round, had threatened to burn their towns down; he laying claim to all this country, allowed no one to trade there but himself.

The advice I had from these people was that I had better go back and leave them and their river to themselves. But I said, No, I am not going back. I have come to open a trading station and to remain with you, and that King Ja Ja, or any one else but our British Consul, would never drive me from that river alive. I saw, though, it was useless taking any notice of these frightened people, so I up anchor the next morning, and sailed up the river; near the next village I saw a suitable spot for our establishment. I at once anch.o.r.ed our boat, landed our people with house and everything we had brought, put up a bit of a shanty to sleep under for the time, and set to work to build our house; this, I may tell you, did not take long, for by the end of the week we had a fine-looking place up, such a one had never been seen in that part before. The house complete, my next work was to get goods for the natives to buy from us.

This meant a journey for me.

Ten days after our first arrival, our house and store were up and built, and I was away to the Old Calabar in our boat with some of my people to get goods to start our trade with; the remainder stayed to put the finis.h.i.+ng touches to our building and to clear the land near.

I was soon back at my post again and trade started. After this I had to make several journeys to keep our supply good, and all went well for about three months, with the exception of continuous rumours as to what King Ja Ja intended to do; these I took no notice of, as I did not antic.i.p.ate he would molest me or my people. However, my peaceful occupation was not to last for long; for while I was away at Old Calabar replenis.h.i.+ng our stock, a day or two previous to my return King Ja Ja, with about a thousand of his men, pounced down unexpectedly on these Qua Iboe people, burnt down seven villages, took one hundred prisoners, and drove the remainder of the population into the woods, cutting down every plantain tree, and destroying everything in the way of food stuff that was growing in the place. I arrived off the bar the day after this terrible business had taken place. When I left the river I left twelve of my people there. The head man had instructions that as soon as they saw me off the bar, when the tide was right for me to come in, to hoist a white flag.

The day I arrived, after waiting until I knew high water must have pa.s.sed, I took my gla.s.ses, but there was not a soul visible. Not caring to risk our little vessel without the signal, I took a small boat we had with us and started over the bar into the river. What my surprise was you will readily understand when, arriving at the store, I found only one man, half-dead with fright, and crying like a child; all I could get out of him was that Ja Ja had been there and killed every one in the place. The first thing I did was to at once return to the vessel, and bring her in with the remainder of my people. We landed all our stores, then I immediately hoisted our English ensign on the flag-staff. I prayed to the Almighty to defend us and the country from the tyranny of these dreadful men who had caused so much misery for these poor people.

Their wretchedness I was soon brought face to face with.

The morning after my arrival, if ever a man's heart was softened mine was, and the tears came to my eyes when I saw crawling into the house from the woods a poor, half-starved cripple child, covered with sores, and in a dreadful state. We took it in at once and cared for it. Then I sent my people into the woods to see if they chanced to come across any one, and to tell them to come in under our flag, and I would see that no harm again befell them. In this we were very successful, for one after the other they arrived, more dead than alive, until some 700 of them were in and around our house. The next thing to be thought about was food for them. My last cargo fortunately was all rice and biscuits. This relieved me somewhat, and I felt we could at least manage for a short time.

To find food for such a great number gave me, as you may suppose, serious thought, for there was not a sc.r.a.p left in the district; the land in this particular part being of a poor nature, the food grown at the best of times was very small, and this little had all been destroyed. But we had not to wait long before witnessing one of the greatest blessings that could have happened. As soon as the men had somewhat recovered from their fright, they began to go out into the river to fish, when such quant.i.ties were caught that never in the remembrance of any person in that country had such an amount of fish been seen. Load after load was brought to the sh.o.r.e, in fact, some had to spoil before it could be cured.

What did all this wonderful catch bring about? While a short time before these people had been in the greatest poverty and distress, now they are rejoicing and thankful for this abundance of food and wealth. I say wealth because fish in this part of Africa is more precious than gold with us. With fish anything can be bought in the market, from the smallest article to the largest slave. So you see here was our relief brought about by the ever bountiful Providence, whose all-seeing eye is ever near those who are in want and need and ask His aid, whether it be the poorest slave in Africa or the orphan child in England.

From this time we began to gather strength day by day. New arrivals came in who had managed to get away to some place of safety until they felt they could return to their native place with security.

As soon as Ja Ja and his men had destroyed the villages they returned to their town of Opobo, with the hundred prisoners, the whole of whom they ma.s.sacred in cold blood, and exhibited to their townspeople, and, I am sorry to say, to some Europeans, for days. While this fearful murdering was going on twenty-five miles away from us I, with a few of the most courageous Ibunos, or Qua Iboe people, made a tour of the princ.i.p.al villages in the Ibuno country to let the inhabitants know of the deadly onslaught that had been committed on the people at the mouth of the river. They all swore to stand by us to a man, and to keep themselves free from Ja Ja's tyrannical rule. After making this round we returned to the mouth of the river and turned our attention to the defence of the new villages that were about to be built.

A little accident occurred to us while leaving the last village, called Ikoropata, that may be worth mentioning as a warning to others who might be placed in a similar situation. We had just started after having a long palaver with the chiefs, our men, about twenty, marching in single file, I near the leading man. All at once I noticed he was carrying his gun in a very alarming and unsuitable way. Had it gone off by accident, which is not an unusual occurrence, the man behind him was bound to receive the contents, with perhaps fatal results. Having stopped them and explained the danger of carrying guns in this position, we started off again, every man with his weapon to his shoulder. Strange to say, a few minutes after the very man's gun I had noticed at first blew off into the air with a tremendous report. Had this happened before, I fear we might have had to take one of our comrades back more dead than alive.

The escape was a marvellous one, and not easily forgotten by any of us.

Now being back amongst our own people, we set about to get all the guns we could together, and all able bodied men I told off for gun practice and defence drill. This I carried on day after day, until we had quite a little band of well-trained men. All this time we were continually receiving rumours from the Opobo side as to what Ja Ja's next intentions were, and to keep up the excitement he sent about 200 men as near the mouth of the river as he dared. They settled themselves in a creek two or three miles away from us, and here they used to amuse themselves by letting off now and again a regular fusilade of guns. This generally occurred in the middle of the night when every one but the watchmen had gone to sleep, and had such an effect on the frightened Ibunos that often two-thirds of them would rush off to the woods under the impression that the Opobos were again making a raid upon them. This went on for weeks, so much so that I was almost losing heart, and sometimes thought I should never get confidence in the people. At last, to my great surprise one evening in walked to my house the whole of the chiefs, who had just held a meeting in the village and pa.s.sed a law that no person should again leave the town. They said they had come to tell me they felt ashamed of themselves for running away so many times and leaving me alone and unprotected in their country, and had decided to leave me no more, but that every man should stand and die if needs be for the defence of their towns. Whether Ja Ja's people heard of this resolution I don't know, but they soon dropped their gun firing at night, and eventually left their camping ground. Their next move was to get into the Ibunos' markets, and worry them there. This I was determined should not be done if I could help it. It was a long time before there was any real disturbance, although I could see that the Ibunos were daily getting more frightened that the Opobo people would monopolise their markets, and in that case they knew there would be very little chance for them.

At last news came down the river that the Opobos had that afternoon sent a canoe to a market or town called Okot for the purpose of starting a trade with the natives. Now Okot was at that time one of the best markets the Ibunos had, and for them to be suddenly deprived of this trading station would be a terrible calamity to us all. I did not know what was to be done. The Ibunos would not go to the market to face the Opobos, neither would they go further up the river for fear of being molested by them. The only thing to do was to go myself and start a station at the same place, and which would enable me to keep an eye on their movements, so I at once made ready to start the same evening, and by five o'clock next morning I landed at Okot, and found the Opobo canoe there also, but like all Africans, time not being an object to them, they had not gone to the king or the owner of the land at the landing place. We did not wake the Opobos up on our arrival, but I immediately started for the village, and at daylight walked into the presence of the king of that part, who was so surprised to see a white man in his village that it took him some time to believe his eyes. Poor old chap! I fear he must have wished several times afterwards that he had never seen a white man, for he was taken prisoner by the Government in 1896 or 1897 for insisting, I believe, in carrying out some human sacrifice at one of the feast times, and died in prison. But to return to my mission. I soon made him understand that I had come to start a trading station at his beach, but before doing this I had to secure the land at the landing place for the purpose. This he readily consented to, telling me at the same time that although the land at that particular spot did not belong to him he would instruct the owner of it to sell me all I wanted. So after paying the usual compliments to the old king, I started back for the landing place with the owner, who had already sold his right to me, and was now only coming to show us the extent, which was the whole of the land of any use on this spot. Just as we got back we found our Opobo friends preparing to go to the village to see the king and also get permission to build on this land, but their surprise on being told by him that he had no land on the spot to give them I will leave you to imagine. But the Opobos at that time took a lot of beating, and they decided to build a house without getting the permission of any one, and an iron roofed house too, which was considered by the natives then a great thing. After the house had stood for some time, our consul being in the river, we had the disputed land brought before him and thoroughly discussed. After hearing evidence on both sides for two days, it was decided that it belonged to us, and the Opobos were ordered to remove their house. But before this settlement occurred we had a lot to contend with from them. They did all in their power to debar us from keeping our establishments open there, and for two or three years we had continual trouble with them, occasionally firing at our people; luckily they seldom hit any one. Then they tried competing with us in trading. This I did not mind, as I considered it a fair means of testing who was who. Ja Ja, I knew, was a very rich man, and if we attempted to follow them in their extravagant prices we should soon be ruined. My policy was to let them go ahead, which they did, paying almost twice as much for their produce as we could possibly afford to pay. This lasted a great deal longer than I antic.i.p.ated, and I feel sure Ja Ja must have lost a deal of money. After about twelve months of this reckless trading we were left pretty much to ourselves at Okot, and being fairly well settled down I began to look about for a good beach to start my next establishment. I had not to look far. On the left bank of the river, about two and a half miles down from Okot, was the landing beach of Eket. Here there is a rising cliff about fifty feet high, and I had often remarked when pa.s.sing this spot, "If I were going to build a house to live in here I should like to build it on this hill." The situation was so good, as it was right in an elbow of the river, and from the top of the hill you had a view of the river branching off both up and down at right angles. An opportunity occurring for me to start a house at Eket, I went and saw the people, who were very pleased for me to come among them. So a little house was built, and a young coloured a.s.sistant named William Sawyer placed in charge, who proved to be one of the best men I ever had in the country. He needed to be, too, for the Ekets were the most trying of any of the peoples we had to deal with. I never left my stations for any length of time. Once or twice a week I visited them, but no matter how short a time I was away there was always a grievance to be settled at Eket. Poor Sawyer had a terrible time; the people had an idea they could do as they liked with the factory keeper, and would often walk off with the goods without paying for them, which Mr. Sawyer naturally objected to, usually ending in a free fight, sometimes my people coming off second best. The trade at that time at Eket was not large, although it was a good one, and I did not want to give it up if it could be helped. But my patience came to an end when I arrived upon the scene one day and found Mr. Sawyer had been terribly handled the day before. There had been a big row, and I could see by his face he had had very much the worst of the fight. I felt I could not allow this any longer, so summoned a meeting of all the chiefs and people. We had a very large meeting, one of the largest I ever remember, and after explaining to them my reason for calling them together, told them it was my intention to close the little house and go to some people higher up the river, who would be pleased for us to come among them, and would not ill-use my people as the Ekets were doing, and showing them how badly they had treated Mr. Sawyer, who had done nothing more than his duty in trying to protect the property that was under his care, and which they seemed to think they had a better right to than he. When they had heard my complaint and warning to close the house, the old and ever respected chief of all the Ekets rose to his feet. The people seeing this, there was silence in a moment (which every one knows who has happened to have been present at an African palaver is indeed a rarity), he being much loved and reverenced in his own town. As soon as he started I felt we were going to hear something worth hearing, and we did, for if ever there was a born statesman this was one. He said, "We have heard with sorrow of the way in which your people have been so ill-used by our people, and it is a shame to us a stranger should be so treated who is trying to do his best to bring business among us. Not only have you brought a business to us, where we can come and exchange our produce for our requirements, but you have opened our eyes to the light, as it were, and we have no intention that you should leave us. You have been sent to us by Aba.s.sy (which means G.o.d), and he will never let you leave us. Your trade will grow in such a way that you will see here on this beach far more trade than you will be able to cope with, so cast away from your mind the thought of leaving us. The disturbances that have been going on we will stop. It is not our wish that it has been so; it is the young boys of the village who know no better. We will put a stop to it in such a way that you will find your people from this time will have but little to complain about." After such a speech you may be sure I gave up all thought of leaving the Eket people, and I need scarcely tell you that this same spot has become the centre of the whole of the trade of this river. The words spoken by the venerable and, I believe, good old chief came as true as the day. We did see often and often more trade than we could cope with, and the establishment grew in such a way that the natives themselves often used to wonder. I never had anything to do with a more prosperous undertaking in Africa, and to-day there are few establishments on the West Coast that can surpa.s.s it, either in its quiet, steady trade or healthy climate. I used to say one could live as long as they liked. On the hill there is a very fine house, with acres and acres of good land at the back of it, while at the foot of the hill are all the stores and the shop where the daily work and trade goes on year in year out.

Several very remarkable incidents happened here. One evening, just as we were going to dinner, a woman came and stood a little way from the house. I could see that she was crying bitterly and evidently in great distress. "What is the matter?" I said. "Affya (that is her brother) is dying, and I want you to come and see him before it is too late." Now Affya was one of the finest young fellows at Eket, and one whom I felt would be a sad loss to a people who wanted so much leading and governing, as it were. So I lost no time, but went off at once with the woman to see if I could do anything. On our arrival at the house things looked bad enough, and I feared the worst when I saw him laid out, as every one there thought, for dead--the finest young fellow at Eket. I fell on my knees by his side and prayed as earnestly as man could to our Heavenly Father, and begged for this life to be spared to us. All at once he moved as though suddenly aroused from sleep, and in a moment I had him up and on the back of one of my boys, and away to Eket House as fast as possible, and laid him on the verandah to sleep and rest free from the close and stuffy hut he had been in before. After a little nourishment he slept all night. I kept watch near him, and next morning what was my surprise when he told me he was feeling quite strong and able to walk back to the village. This I allowed him to do after the sun had got well high, as I could plainly see the lad was out of all danger.

Should these lines ever get into the hands of that lad, for lad he will always be to me, I feel very sure he will say, "Yes, this wonderful returning to life did indeed happen to me, Affya, son of Uso, at Eket, at the village of Usoniyong, in the month of July, 1892." This is one of the many incidents that occurred whilst I was in charge at Eket and the Qua Iboe River. Another evening, just after dinner, my steward came to me saying there was a rat under the house (our house stood on iron columns). "A rat," I said; "what do you mean?" "Well, a small woman."

"Go and bring her up; do not be afraid." He looked at me as much as to say you will be afraid when I do bring her up. Presently he appeared with a child in his arms, such a sight I never shall forget--almost starved to death, and covered with marks where she had been burnt with fire-sticks. This poor little thing, after wandering many days in the wood, at last found her way to our house. She was too ill to have anything done to her that evening, so I had a bed made for her in the sitting-room, close to my door, so that I could hear should she get frightened in the night. The little thing woke up many times, but was soon off to sleep again when I had patted and spoken to it. The next day we had her seen to, the steward boy set about and made her some dresses, and after a warm bath and plenty of food, in a few days the little girl was the life of our house. The poor little thing had been left without father or mother, and had become dependent upon an uncle, or some other relative, who had ill-used her in such a terrible manner that he had left her for dead. How she ever found strength to get to our house was almost a mystery.