SIERRA LEONE Its People Products Secret Societies SIERRA LEONE: Its People, Products, and Secret Societies A journey by Canoe, Rail, and Hammock, through a land of Kernels, Coconuts, and Cacao, with Instructions for Planting and Development BY H. OSMAN NEWLAND, F.R.Hisx.S., F.I.D. Member of Council Sociological Society, and Grand Council British. Dominions Exhibition ; Founder of the British West African Association and Organizer of the West African Section of the Coronation Exhibition ; Director Peneiro Rubber Estates, Ltd.', Author of " A Short History of Citizenship " " The Model Citizen" " Romance of Commerce " " West Africa" " Soldiers of 'the Empire," &>c. ; Special Lecturer in Sociology, English Literature, and Commercial History to the London County Council ILLUSTRATED BY 19 PLATES LONDON JOHN BALE, SONS DANIE-LSGCN, .L tD . OXFORD HOUSE 83-91, GREAT TITCHFIELD STREET, OXFORD STREET, W. 1916 All rights reserved LONDON : JOHN BALE, SONS AVD DANIELSSON, LTD., 83-91, GREAT TITCHFIELD STREET, OXFORD STREET, \V. DEDICATED TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LEWIS HARCOURT, IN RECOGNITION OF HIS INTEREST IN AND WORK FOR WEST AFRICA, PARTICULARLY WHILE IN OFFICE AS HIS MAJESTY'S SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES 755029 PUBLISHERS' NOTICE. Subject to sufficient demand, it is proposed to issue this book, annually or biennially, with amendments and additions to date, as a Sierra Leone Year Book, and with a Who's Who Section. BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. A Short History of Citizenship. (In use at Shrewsbury and other Secondary Schools.) 2s. 2d. post free from Author. The Model Citizen. (In use at L.C.C. and other Council Schools.) Illustrated. Is. 9d. post free from Author. Local Government Handbook on Education. 6s. 3d. post free from Author. The Romance of Commerce. 5s. 3d. post free from Author. (In Press.) West Africa. Illustrated. 10s. 6d. post free from Author. (Ready 1917.) PREFACE. SIERRA LEONE has not yet received the attention it deserves. Is it because information has, hitherto, emanated entirely from officials, active or retired? Or is it because, as a recent traveller says, " No one goes to West Africa for pleasure, and of those who gain their livelihood from the country three-fourths regard them- selves as martyrs and heroes, counting the days till the steamer shall take them home again " ? Officialdom, martyrdom, heroics attracted me not. For pleasure I sought Sierra Leone, and I found pleasure. Other objects also I had in view. I desired to satisfy myself and some friends at home regarding certain information about which there was ubiquitous uncertainty and considerable contradiction. I wished also to study the life and habits of the West African natives. And I wanted, or believed I wanted, rest; and where else could one better seek rest than in the " White Man's Grave " ? But I was not obliged to go. Once there I was loath to leave. I had accomplished more than I anticipated or intended. The railway carried me within a few miles of Liberia. Canoe, hammock, enthusiasm, and a good constitution did the rest, and enabled me to penetrate into parts of Sierra Leone seldom visited and less frequently described by Europeans. The goodwill and hospitality of the natives procured me knowledge and admission to their inner life, dances, ceremonies, and ideas. I had settled a boundary dispute, overcome a labour difficulty, reorganized a plantation, and planned out a model native village under European supervision ; visited or met European and Creole officials, native chiefs, missionaries, and traders ; slept on a native boat, in the bush, in a comfortable European bungalow, and in an equally comfortable native palace. Vlll PREFACE I had seen Sierra Leone in its " dries " and in its " wets," its swamps, its savannahs, its forests, and its fetishes. I had sampled its fruits, met representatives of its various races, and enjoyed its entertainments. And while thus, I had every reason to like Sierra Leone, I was more fortunate in the fact that Sierra Leone and its people seemed to like me. Not only was I never for a moment indisposed, but I actually felt fitter for the experience. The sun scorched, but never incapacitated. The mosquito and the tsetse-fly left me unmolested. The beasts of the forest manifested no desire to add me to their menu. And, although the crocodile and the snake occasionally cast longing glances in my direction, something else always diverted their attention at the right moment. Of the people, Creoles and aborigines alike, I have only happy memories. True, one of the chiefs with whom I sojourned has, since my return, been exiled for participation in secret societies some of which are herein described and for murders and poisonings said to have taken place within his chiefdom ; but tributes to the fallen and disgraced are few, and I am sure my readers will appreciate my story none the less because I record the personal kindness and help which I received from that chief and his people. One thing alone eluded me. I failed to find rest. Not that I suffered from sleeplessness. But before I left Sierra Leone I discovered that I had never really wanted the rest I fancied I needed; and that had I found it and yielded to it, as so many do, with a tem- perature of 90 F. to 98 F. in the shade, I should not have returned without a moment's malaria. In such a country rest often brings retribution rather than resurrection. There, as elsewhere, the man who has much to do and loves his work has no time to feel ill. While indulgence in inglorious ease may at home at times be rich in results, there it invites illness. There is no grave in Sierra Leone, or anywhere in West Africa, save for him who digs one for himself. PREFACE IX That there are, however, vast possibilities in Sierra Leone, and West Africa generally, my readers will gather from the following pages. This book was originally written for no particular purpose, save for general information and the record of a very happy time ; but, as a historian and sociologist, I have naturally given particular attention to the ethnology, customs, and pursuits of the people. After the manuscript was prepared, however, the great World War broke out. This event, while retarding publication of the volume, directed new attention, as the result of Britain's campaign and conquests in West Africa, to this part of our Empire, which has been too long neglected. Great commercial enterprises in Great Britain are seeking not only to capture the German trade there, which was enormous, but also to command or control the sources of the raw material so essential to our oil, food, and rubber industries. Hence, I have revised the MS. to render it up to date and incorporated special chapters dealing with the principal natural products, especially palm kernels, oils, cacao, and rubber, in order that the volume may serve as a general reference book to planters and commercial houses and stimulate investment and enterprise in the Colony. In describing the different districts of Sierra Leone, I have naturally devoted most space to those parts in which 1 sojourned longest, and which, while impress- ing me most, have received less attention from others. In the nomenclature of the various tribes, trees, and territories I have adopted, generally, the spelling used by the Government. For permission to reprint or refer to portions of articles previously written by me I have to acknowledge the courtesy of the Editors of the Financial Times, Empire Review, Rubber World, Literary Guide, and the Colony and Provincial Reporter of Sierra Leone. To Mr. W. H. Seymour formerly manager to Messrs. Lever Brothers in Sierra Leone, and recently brought into prominence by his litigation with Liptons, Ltd., in connection with Sierra Leone X PREFACE concessions I am also indebted for some of the photo- graphs ; and to Mr. Lane Poole, of the Sierra Leone Forestry Department, for many references on the forest and agricultural products. Finally, I have to thank Mr. Hamel Smith, Editor of Tropical Life, for the chatty articles he has con- tributed (pp. 194-238) for the benefit of those who, having read what I had to say of Sierra Leone and its products, may wish to know more practical details con- cerning the laying out of estates and the raising of crops which the Colony can produce. H. O. NEW LAND. The Authors' Club, Whitehall Court, S.W. CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER I. ON BOARD THE "MONKEY-BOAT" i Types of Character en route for the Coast The Ill- fated Falaba" The Isles of the Blest "The English Cemetery at Las Palmas In the Tropics The " Death Trap "Flying-fish Arrival at Freetown. CHAPTER II. THE WHITE MAN'S GRAVE 10 The Black Man's Country Sharks and Vultures West African Esperanto Means of Locomotion Creole and Aborigine Black Belles The Markets and Hill Station. CHAPTER III. FROM FREETOWN TO CHRISTINEVILLE ... 21 Railway Travelling in Sierra Leone An Educated Creole Kline Town and Kissy Kissis and Mendis as Carriers Forests, Savannahs, and Ginger Farms Hastings and Rokelle Laterite Hills Devil Hole. CHAPTER IV. FIRST NIGHT IN THE INTERIOR 29 Absence of Twilight Charm of the Sunset Hour A Scramble in the Dark Snakes and Insects Tele- graphic Eccentricities " Chop " A Discourse on Drinks A Romantic Rubber Plantation. CHAPTER V. LIFE ON A RUBBER PLANTATION 36 The Planter's Life Managers and Assistants Irri- gation Iron Hills and their Possibilities Hevea, Ceara, Funtumia, and Castilloa Rubber Trees Coffee and Cacao as Catch-crops Ginger and its Complaints Rubber Pests. Xll CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER VI. NATIVE LIFE, LABOUR, AND INDUSTRY IN THE COLONY ... 45 The Canteen and the Compound Different Races and their Characteristics Labour and Wages Women and their Work Marriage Children an Asset Palm Oil and Kernel Industry. CHAPTER VII. AMONG KOLAS AND COCONUTS 53 The Value of Kola How to grow it The Kamoot and its Oil Product The Coconut : How to Plant and Utilize. CHAPTER VIII. ADVENTURES IN AND ABOUT WATERLOO 60 Mountain Climbing and Forest Clearing in the Tropics A Mirage The Harmattan and its Effects A Snake Adventure A Boundary Dispute Land Law of the Colony A Night of Alarm Gambling in " Haunted " Spots Waterloo The Ascot of Sierra Leone Church Parade Native J.P.'s A Devil Dance Meeting a Kwaia King His Fol- lowers think I take him Prisoner Invitation to the Temne Territory. CHAPTER IX. CANOEING ON THE BUNCE AND SIERRA LEONE RIVERS 69 Arrival of a King's Courier Mangroves The Bullom Shore Electric Launch Service Possibilities of the Waterway, and a New Port A Temne's Devotion Tasso and its History Bunce Island, Tombo, and Gambia. CHAPTER X. CANOEING ON THE ROKELLE RIVER 78 Effects of the Dry Season 130 F. on the Water The Devil Rocks and Port Lokkoh The War of the Temnes and the Susus A Weird Boat Dance . Barbaric Boleros A Crocodile Adventure Hippo- potami Stoicism of the Native. CHAPTER XL IN A NATIVE CHIEF'S PALACE 87 Patriotism of the Temnes Reception by the Chief My European Companion becomes Incapacitated Superstitions and their Usefulness Alone in a Strange Land Equipments of a Native Palace- - Amusements The Principal Wife and her Children The Position of Women Polygyny Tracing Descent through the Mother Marriage of Cousins. CONTENTS XI li PAGE CHAPTER XII. Ix THE TEMNE COUNTRY ... 94 Contrasts between Chiefs Products of the Country- Quaint Devices against Theft Story of Muhammad and the Palm Agricultural Implements Cacao, Bananas, and Mangoes Rice and Benniseed Improvidence of the Natives. CHAPTER XIII. NATIVE AMUSEMENTS BY DAYLIGHT, TORCHLIGHT, AND MOONLIGHT ... 101 Reception by another Chief Hospitality of the African The Balangi Music The Courier and his Horse The Tsetse-fly and Sleeping Sickness The Hammock Dance The Sword and Torch Dance by Moonlight The Story of the Hut Tax and Temne Rising Bai Bureh and his Exploits. CHAPTER XIV. HUNTING AND THE CHASE IN SIERRA LEONE ... io& Licences, Laws, and Customs relative to Big Game Hunting Elephant Hunting and its Dangers The Pigmy Hippo. The Leopard, and how to trap him Giraffes A Monkey Hunt Story of the Origin of Monkeys The Antelope and Kob. CHAPTER XV. SLEEPING IN THE BUSH AND ON THE RIVER 116 Rokon, Mabundu, and the higher reaches of the Rokelle Bivouacking in the Bush The Fascina- tion and Dangers of the Forest Sleeping among Natives on a Canoe A Forest Fire The Sacred Fire Makene and its Oil Palms The Sele River The Konnoh District Novel Cow-driving The Lime and the Ground-nut Back at Mahera A Tornado Return to Christineville My European Companion contracts Sunstroke. CHAPTER XVI. SECRET SOCIETIES IN SIERRA LEONE ... 124 The Bondu and its Devil's Dance Penalties for lead- ing Girls astray The Yassi, or Society of Spots The Kofungs and Resurrection The Porro and its Powers The Human Leopard, Alligator, and Baboon Societies Cannibalism Legislation and Arrests in connection with Secret Societies. xiv CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER XVII. NATIVE LAW AND CUSTOM 135 Native Courts Paramount and Sub-Chiefs' Punish- ments " Kassi " Contempt of Court Women- palaver District Commissioners and their Influence . Regulations for Tribesmen out of their own Dis- trict Ordeals and Charms Funeral Rites Birth Customs Superstitions regarding Twins How Death came into the World Circumcision. CHAPTER XVIII. THROUGH THE PROTECTORATE TO BOIA AND YONNIBANA ... 146 The Sierra Leone Railway and its Tramway Exten- sions Would a Timber Trade Pay ? The Uses of the Savannah Forest Songo or Prince Alfred's Town Rotifunk and its Massacres Boia, Yonni- bana, and Messrs. Lever's Concessions First-class and Fifth-class Roads Makomp and the Palm Country Moyamba and its Mission Susuwuru and its Gum Copal. CHAPTER XIX. To THE LIBERIAN FRONTIER 156 Bo Bandajuma Blaima Mawfe and Sumbuyah The Sewa and its Falls Proposed Electrification of the Railway The Loma Mountains The Fun- tumia and Landolphia Rubber Koronkos Konnohs and Kissis The Source of the Niger and its Super- stitions Crossing the Meli and Moa Rivers Cotton The Liberian Frontier The Red and the White Ants. CHAPTER XX. THROUGH MENDILAND ... ... 167 The Malema Country The Morro and the Maho Taiama, Lalehun, Beribu and Bulma Yanduhun Elephant Hunting The Gola Forest The new Frontier Habits and Charms of the Mendis En- forcing an Oath Influence of Juju The Author as " Medicine Man." CHAPTER XXL THE SHERBRO COUNTRY ... ... 175 The two Districts of Sherbro Gbangbama and the Trial of Cannibals Secret Societies and Private Marks under Thumb-nails The Kittam Malaria, Blackwater, and Mosquitoes Superstitions of the Black Rivers Daimah and Bamba Bonthe Back to Freetown. CONTENTS XV PAGE CHAPTER XXII. CONCLUSION ... 184 Causes of Recent Failures in Commercial Enterprise The Wealth of Sierra Leone The Decrease in Death-rate of Europeans The Decline of the Creole The Europeanized African. POSTSCRIPT. PRACTICAL PLANTING NOTES FOR SIERRA LEONE AND WEST AFRICA. I. SIERRA LEONE AS A PLANTING CENTRE 194 II. ON THE LAYING OUT OF AN ESTATE 197 III. MOISTURE CONSERVATION IN THE TROPICS 205 IV. CACAO 213 V. GROUND-NUTS (ARACHIS HYPOG^A) 231 BIBLIOGRAPHY 238 APPENDIX I 241 II ... ... 243 HI ... 243 INDEX 248 ILLUSTRATIONS. A BONGO. KILLED NEAR YONNIBANA A CACAO PLANTATION IN SIERRA LEONE SHOWING PODS ON SPECIALLY PRUNED TREE A COCONUT PLANTATION BEING CLEARED NEAR WATER- LOO. (These trees are over 20 years old) BOAT IN WHICH AUTHOR SLEPT. PORRO BOY (ON RIGHT) BONDU WOMEN CATTLE BREEDING WITHIN 20 MILES OF FREETOWN. (A contradiction to the Official Handbook) ... CHIEF BAI SHERBRO CREOLES ON TRAIN LEAVING WATERLOO FOR INTERIOR ENTRANCE (GUARDED) TO THE SACRED PORRO BUSH GATHERING OF MENDI, TEMNE AND KONNOH CHIEFS AT MOYAMBA ... KOLA, YOUNG RUBBER, AND PINEAPPLES AT CHRISTINE- VILLE. (By permission of the Company) MATURE KOLA TREES (IN BEARING) MR. W. H. SEYMOUR (FORMERLY OF MESSRS. LEVER BROS., LTD.), WITH YOUNG CHIMPANZEE PENDEMBU (NEAR THE LIBERIAN FRONTIER) WHERE THE RAILWAY ENDS ... PROSPECTING FOR IRON (FOUND IN ABUNDANCE IN SIERRA LEONE) SETTING OUT ON A PALM KERNEL EXPEDITION (note the apparatus) SHERBRO BEACH SIERRA LEONE POLICE WITH COMMISSIONERS HOOKER AND HOLLAND TEMNE AND Susu CHIEFS WITH DISTRICT COMMIS- SIONERS THE AUTHOR (AND NATIVE SERVANT) AT HIS BUNGA- LOW NEAR WATERLOO (SIERRA LEONE). The Paw-paw tree (and fruit) in background THE AUTHOR (IN HAMMOCK) AND HIS CARRIERS ... THE MANSION OF THE LATE SIR SAMUEL LEWIS (with group of Temne, Mendi, Susu and Vai labourers and servants) ... YOUNG CACAO AND RUBBER BEING REARED BETWEEN BANANAS PAGE lacing 114 96 58 116 66 76 i74 116 128 100 44 52 ISO 164 170 So 182 182 66 frontispiece frontispiece facing 34 42 SIERRA LEONE: Its People, Products, and Secret Societies. CHAPTER I. ',.-.. :: .' Ox BOARD THE " MONKEY-BOAT." THOSE who believe in Fate might say that the author was destined for West Africa. Always interested from early boyhood in African ethnology and in stories and incidents concerning native life, I had, nevertheless, at an early age, let slip two opportunities to work in the Gold Coast and Nigeria, when suddenly circum- stances arose which caused me to take a new, peculiar, and preponderating interest in West Africa generally, and in Sierra Leone in particular. Within a short time this interest became so absorb- ing that, when one day I was casually asked if I would go to West Africa within two or three weeks, I instantly accepted . The period of the year at which I left for the Coast was not, perhaps, the best from the health point of view. I should arrive in Sierra Leone during the hottest months of the year and leave it during the " wet " season, passing through plantation and forest, associated in the lay mind \vith dampness, darkness, and rubber atrocities. But from a sociological stand- point, these were advantages, enabling me to see the country and its people under both climatic conditions. As for malaria, it haunted me not; while the stones i SIERRA LEONE of rubber horrors I discounted as I should any mis- sionary tales. And so one spring morn found me on board an African liner, jotting down impressions of what promised to be an eventful and enjoyable tour. To board a West African mail steamer is not now regarded as a mark of heroism. Too many, given up as lost, have returned like the Prodigal Son ; and near- ness to the White Man's Grave has not converted sinners to saints. The day of the old Coaster has in- deed departed, but his sins live after him; and there are still followers in his wake. You see them con- gregating at that end of the deck where smoke and alcohol reign supreme. Cards, sweepstakes, and cock- tails occupy them till they reach the Coast, when any indisposition they may feel is attributed to the damnable climate. Next year, if not before, they will return, and after haunting Liverpool, London, or Manchester for several months with dubious concessions, hoping, like Micawber, for something to turn up, they will re-embark on the " monkey-boat " but not for the same firm. A few more years and they will have waxed wealthy by impositions on the innocent, or " blackwater " will have claimed them for its own. Yet without them the West African boat would miss one of its best sources of income, as well as some of its characteristic charm. Then there is the supercilious dapper crowd which forms into quite a separate clique, but leads the sport and tries to lead the fashion and " play the deuce don't-cher-know." These are young subalterns and civilians with certain connections, who are either return- ing to or joining for the first time their respective regiments or colonial appointments in West Africa. The military element is usually predominant, because among the District Commissioners and their assistants are many ex-subalterns a useful factor in times of war or tribal dissensions. Of course, there are exceptions to the supercilious type. Here and there you can detect the true manly ring, the official who is neither boastful nor patroniz- ing the silent, sympathetic and modest greatness con- scious of itself, and that dexterity in difficulty which no University education or system of examination can evolve, but which is inherent in a natural leader or administrator. These are the kind of men which West Africa wants. Most of this type appeared to have come direct from the public schools without going through the Univer- sity. A good proportion is certainly to be found in Sierra Leone. But the West African boat would be poorer without their supercilious brethren ; and, after all, a little hardship and a few tribal wars brin^ out the better qualities even of these, while the recent conquests of Togoland and the Cameroons show how advantageous it is to have civilian officers who can be turned into soldiers at short notice. Of the remaining passengers on board, the adven- turer, the educated African, the expert, the missionary, and the boy traders are the most interesting. Xo boat is complete without the man who lives on his wits, or, perhaps, one should say, on the lack of wits in others. Every business man and traveller knows this type. He is always talking in millions and borrowing half-a-crown, always giving presents to inspire confidence, as he thinks presents which he has never paid for and never will ; always going to float a prosperous company and never does; always borrowing and never worth suing. On board the boat he tips extravagantly, dresses dashingly, and when he is not playing or drinking in the smoke-room, tries to frequent the rooms of the captain or chief officer. The young freshman trader or D.C. the missionary, and even the expert, are frequently duped in one way or another by this type, but perhaps he is less dangerous at sea than on land. The missionary and the expert need no special comment. Both are out for love of their work alone. 4 SIERRA LEONE True, the one may save souls and the other rescue companies; the one may reap reward in trading and planting around his mission-house, and the other in discovering a gold mine or a new oil. But the chances of both are probably more remote than those of any others who go to West Africa, unless, indeed, the expert be going out as residential planter or manager. But the two most neglected types of passengers on board are decidedly the African and the boy trader. The first is travelling home after taking his English degree in arts, law, or medicine, to practise upon his brethren on the Coast. He wants to fraternize with the European on board as he has done in the Inns of Court, in the hotels or the playing fields of England. But the European has left Britain behind. He is en route for Africa, and the native of that continent must be kept in his place. Only the missionary or expert will, as a rule, have anything to do with him ; the former because he sees a possible convert, the latter to secure possible information, or possibly, perhaps, by virtue of his wider outlook or greater tolerance, strengthened by the fact that he is not living in Africa in any authoritative position for any length of time. The administrator pays the African too little atten- tion, the missionary too much. Meanwhile the boy traders are worse neglected. These lads for many are only between 17 and 20, and a few even younger are going out for the big Liverpool and Manchester firms trading on the West Coast. They start first as store book-keepers on a two or three years' agreement at about 80 a year with food and lodging. Later, they travel up country by rail or river with experienced traders, and, if they survive, ultimately become traders and managers themselves. Some go as book-keepers to plantations or to the mines, and become planters or prospectors. Usually they come from an inferior class to the other passengers except perhaps some of the missionaries on board; and they would be far happier in the second than the first-class saloon. Their ON BOARD THE MONKEY-BOAT 5 employers usually take first-class passages for them to> keep up the reputation of the firm ; but I am sure most of them would prefer the difference between the fares in their pockets. For the enterprising and healthy youngster there are great scope and possibilities if he ignore the old Coaster's habits ; but the ways of the transgressor are easy and pleasant on the surface, and times have changed since Pope wrote : 11 Vice is a creature of such fearful mien That to be hated needs but to be seen." Much incipient disaster is courted on the journey to and from West Africa ; on the other hand, the voyage itself, with the excellent menu and arrange- ments of the steamship company, is more conducive than anything to prepare one for the tropical climate and recuperate from any of its ill-effects. Speaking of the boat and its arrangements, one must not forget the officers. You may travel on many liners but upon none will there be found such pleasant, capable, and obliging officers and crew. Messrs. Elder Dempster's officers are all young, but they are thoroughly experienced. They are full of life and vigour, and they are gentlemen. On the first outward journey on the Elmina the author was seated at the officers' table in the dining saloon, and therefore had special opportunities of judging. On the ill-fated Falaba also upon which I travelled along a portion of the West Coast the officers were just the same, and I should like to take this opportunity to record my appreciation of those who have departed into the deep over which they had once so successfully pioneered others. There is but one halting place between England and West Africa, and it is not a bad plan to travel thither by the Union-Castle steamer from Southampton, stay O SIERRA LEONE a few days there and join the West African boat at " The Islands," or, as they were called by the ancients, "The Isles of the Blest." Usually the passage is good, in spite of the proverbial Bay of Biscay, but sometimes rough seas are encountered in the neigh- bourhood of Cape Finisterre, and upon this occasion the waves reached nearly 50 ft. in height. Las Palmas is the doorway of the Tropics, one of the most cosmopolitan places on earth. Here call the steamers of all nations, to and from the West Coast, South Africa, and South America. Here you meet the devotee of the desert, the adventurer of the Coast, the millionaire from the mines, and the tourist who wants to taste of the Tropics without risking its dangers. It matters not that Canary geographically is not in the Tropics, but only at its gateway. Its life and manners, its plants and its people all savour of the Tropics. As every steamer approaches the harbour it is met by crowds of boats filled with picturesquely attired natives and fruit and merchandise of all kinds for sale. A few are allowed to come up on deck with their wares, others bargain from below, hoisting their goods by ropes thrown to the passengers. A charming sight it is, never to be forgotten. The boats lapped by indigo waters, the dark upturned faces topped by the broad sombrero, the women with their immense earrings and gaily coloured kerchiefs, and a background of rich green foliage, golden sands, and azure hills rising into the beautiful blue translucent sky. The sun has appeared once more in Grand Canary, and the people are glad. The Levanta wind blows, and the Canarese are beginning to doze again. For here, in Las Palmas, no one no, not even the English people who bask on the sunlit terraces, or dream under the shady palms of the Catalina takes life seriously. To-day is everything, to-morrow nothing, among the ON BOARD THE " MONKEY-BOAT " 7 banana groves and the oranges those oranges of Tilde, the finest in the world. In the banana, the orange, and the English tourist lie the hopes of a harvest in Canary. Almost everyone leaves the steamer for a jaunt through the town on the electric tram or tartana (a light mule trap), or for a repast at the Catalina. A few pesetas (equivalent to about gd. each) carry you a long way in Las Palmas. If you arrive by the Union-Castle Line and stay a few days awaiting the West African steamer, a peseta will carry you by motor to Monte, another peseta will convey you to Tilde and its beauti- ful orange groves, and quite a moderate sum will transport you all round the island. The delightful dances of the Nautical Club or the delusions of the "Crystal Palace" will, of course, cost considerably more. If you can spend but a few hours, a couple of pesetas will take you by tartana right through and around the town, giving you a far more comprehensive insight into the place than by boarding the electric tramway which runs from the port to the market-place through the principal thoroughfare. The driver of the tartana^ by the way, will certainly take you to the English cemetery and point out the graves of many of those who have been laid to rest here on their homeward journey from West Africa. I remember my Canarese Jehu scanning me curiously, either to see how I enjoyed his story or to hazard a guess as to the probability of my candidature for the next tombstone. He must have thought me a hardened sinner; but, in truth, I had heard this kind of thing so often, while Alpine climbing, from guides who persist in pointing out and even halting at points and precipices where someone has been killed, that I did not even press into his palm an extra peseta for his prayers on my behalf. He had his revenge, however, for he nearly jolted the breath out of me when returning on the wretched road between the Metropole Hotel (now closed) and the port. This road the late Sir Alfred 8 SIERRA LEONE Jones offered to make and maintain, an offer the Government declined lest the islanders might desire all their roads equally good ! Once again we are on the ocean, with infinite space about and above us. The air seems full of idle dreamy thoughts and expectations. Sports beguile the morn, and music whiles away the evening. Within two days from Las Palmas we enter the Tropics. All the officers appear in white uniforms, awnings are up, and sun- shine or sleep seems the order of the day. A sunset of saffron, scarlet, and sapphire ushers in the night. The following day we enter the " death-trap " be- tween Cape Verde and Sierra Leone. The name has been earned because many homeward-bound passengers are said to catch cold and fever here after leaving the Coast. A more impressive sight could not be imagined. The ocean here appears immense in its loneliness. The South African liners have left for another track ; and so silent and deserted seems the mighty deep that we could imagine ourselves traversing an unknown sea. Apart from flying-fish and porpoises, an occa- sional sea bird, and a few whales and sharks, nothing is visible but the dark blue waters and the bluer sky ; but the old Coaster will tell you he can smell the Coast. The Coast steamer preceding us was suddenly stopped in this part of the ocean by a whale 35 ft. long and 1 6 ft. broad, which jammed its head between two blades of the propeller and the upper part of the stern-post, so that the propeller could move neither way. A couple of days more, at latest, we enter the pretty harbour of Freetown. A sea haze envelops the land in a mantle of white wool as the Coast first comes in sight, but this quickly lifting reveals a picture deeply green in spite of the relentless glare of an African sun. Attractive though Freetown appears from the steamer, with its high hills clothed in verdure, its sleep streets OX HOARD THE teeming with life, and its many coloured roofs and buildings interspersed with its precious palms, none but those who have business or want a little relaxation appear disposed to disembark. You hear the place called ' The Hole " ; you listen to the uncomplimentary re- marks regarding the impertinent natives, with fearful tales of the deadliness of the climate ; but if you are wise you will nevertheless go ashore, and come back alive and pleased, as I did. 10 CHAPTER II. THE WHITE MAN'S GRAVE. The Black Man's Country Sharks and Vultures West African Esperanto Means of Locomotion Creole and Aborigine Black Belles The Markets and Hill Station. SIERRA LEONE is perhaps the most typical, most representative Colony of West Africa, certainly of the black man's country. For here the black man rules. The municipality and many of the principal public offices are in his hands. He is represented in the Legislative Assembly. He preponderates everywhere. Out of an entire population throughout Colony and Protectorate, 1,505,000 are Africans, only about 850 Europeans. You become aware of this before you leave the steamer. The Customs officer, who comes on board in the regulation uniform, is black. His gig is rowed by blacks, although they may be dressed as British sailors. Everybody that you can see ashore is black. Around you are many European steamers, coaling, watering, victualling, loading or discharging cargo. The sight is superb. But only after you have visited other ports along the coast do you realize why more ships call at Sierra Leone than at any other West African port. Accessibility to the shore, facilities for coaling, and the possession of an excellent water supply give it this pre-eminence. But look up the broad waterway leading to the palm- lands -beyond, from whence the Rokelle and other rivers flow to join in one fine estuary to meet the sea ! Gaze upon the magnificent range of hills which gave to the Colony its name, and watch the palm trees II fan the fringe of hot and hazy green. Then you may realize that Sierra Leone has other charms than that of usefulness. Mrs. Mary Gaunt, in recording her first impressions of Sierra Leone in 1911, describes Freetown as "the most beautiful spot on the West Coast." And, as you are conveyed to the shore by electric pinnace or native sculls, the picture she draws is certainly more and more impressed upon you by its vividness and beauty. In the real scene, however, are two features which the artist forgot to depict, but which may dis- concert the visitor the occasional glimpse of a shark in the waters, longingly awaiting an accident or mis- chance, and the appearance of vultures and huge crows on the roofs, likewise awaiting prey. But these are only heralds of what is to be met in West Africa, whetting the appetite of the adventurous Englishman for more. The harbour is formed by the Bullom shore a long, low strip of land to the north and by the peninsula terminating in the sandy promontory, Cape Sierra Leone, to the south, the latter conspicuously display- ing a lighthouse. The three bays or creeks, Pirate Bay, English Bay, and Kru Bay, with smooth yellow sand, are fringed by forests of palms, cotton trees, and occasional baobabs. Above, the well-wooded hills rise to form spurs of the Sierra Leone itself, the summit of which is 2,500 ft. Milton describes Xotus and Afer, in "Paradise Lost," as "black with thunderous clouds from Sierra Lona." Next in conspicuousness is the Sugar Loaf moun- tain, which, with the Aruma hill, is a favourite resort for picnics and gala days. Getting ashore here is easy. There is no surf or extortionate charge. The black boys are all licensed, and the Government has fixed the charge at one shilling. Compare this with other ports on the Coast, at Accra, for example, where it costs nearly ten shillings to land. The boat-boys also at Freetown are im- IJ SIERRA LEO XK measurably superior except, perhaps, in physique to the Krus, who do all the beach-boating along the Liberian, Ivory, and Gold Coasts. The Krus are pre- eminently the sailors of West Africa, and are always to be found on the liners. They are well built and sturdy, and appear to be the most popular blacks among the British, probably because of their marine instincts; but they are despised by many of the Coast tribes, who apply to them an epithet meaning " home- less," " without a country," or "no patriot," because, although originally coming from Liberia, they have now no definite territory, but are wanderers and ser- vants to any man. Afloat, the Kru has a reputation for pilfering ; but as a personal attendant he is regarded as honest. All the races along the Coast, in their dealings with the white man, appear to speak a common dialect known as " Kru English." You hear it first on the steamer as she arrives in the harbour, when a few black boys come aboard to offer themselves as personal attendants. You hear it again while being conveyed to the shore. Once on land you are assailed by this quaint but not unpleasant tongue, which is spoken among the people of Freetown themselves. " How do ma? " you hear one " mammy " (married woman) say to another. "Yes, ma, thank God," the other replies. " Wass matter you? You go talk so," says an- other "mammy" to her boy attendant (meaning What's the matter? Stop talking); to which the impudent boy replies, " Ma, I no find you py jama- house " (I won't look for your nightdress bag). If you buy something of one of the women selling fruit, nuts, or other merchandise from a calabash, it is ten chances to one that before you pay, her " Jboy " comes forward from behind and, holding out his hand, says, " Gie me heen ooman coppa all" (I take alt the woman's money). After a little initiation you THE WHITE MAN'S GRAVE 13 pick up much of this West African Esperanto and realize that "fit" means able or ready; "chop," something substantial to eat; "find" = look for; " look " -= see; " kiddens " = kidneys; " lib " - free, or at home; " libba " = liver, or bad temper; " savvy " (a corruption of savez) = to know, or understand. A prolonged experience is necessary, however, to fathom some of its eccentricities, e.g., when your boy tells you your "sock catch leak," meaning your foot- wear has a hole in it. And thus, amid this jargon and clatter of tongues, under a sweltering sun, I made my way from the harbour after passing my luggage through the Customs and paying duty on my camera up the toilsome steps which lead from the quay to the principal thoroughfare, Water Street, where the railway station is situated. Here some of the glamour of the picture from the sea is somewhat, but by no means entirely, dispelled. The main town consists of three- and four-storeyed red and white stone buildings. The streets are wide and some are crowded, but grass still grows in patches on the sidewalks of a few thoroughfares, and all are lighted by kerosene lamps, although a concession to light the town by electricity was granted long ago. The principal buildings are the new Law Courts in Westmoreland Street, the Bank of British West Africa, the Colonial Hospital, the Cathedral, and, of course, the Government and Municipal Buildings, and the large trading companies' depots. Some excellent new build- ings are in course of construction. Whatever disappointment may be felt in viewing some of the older architectural adornments of the town is amply compensated for in the people. There are about 850 Europeans in the whole of the Colony, and most of these live in Freetown and Hill Station ; the whole population of the Colony proper being about 78,000, and that of the Protectorate about 1,500,000. Of this number there are nearly 3,000 Syrians resident 14 SIERRA LEONE around Freetown, and engaged in trading, and a black population of 50,000 is resident there. The substantial tradesmen stand in their shops, but innumerable stalls line the thoroughfares, with women and children selling fruit, tobacco, cotton goods, and all sorts of merchandise. Stately Mandingoes in resplendent dress, white-robed Susus and Temnes, Mendis clad only in old breeches, and Creole clerks, professional men and traders, dressed in the latest European fashion, jostle each other in the crowded streets. Here a European is carried along in a hammock, or saunters along under a pith helmet, and sometimes a white or green umbrella; there a rich Creole is con- veyed through the streets by a rickshaw propelled by a couple of boys for no horses are, as a rule, seen in Freetown, and even .the importation of donkeys from Gambia has proved a failure. These rickshaws, by the way, are very comfortable. On my return to Freetown, on the way home, Dr. Easmon, the cultured, clever, and well-known Sierra r Leonean doctor, placed one at my disposal while I remained in the capital, and very welcome it was, for in the wet season the state of the streets here is little short of abominable. The motor-'bus is now suggested as a means of trans- port, and, perhaps, will be adopted. The Creoles are, generally speaking, the descendants of the emancipated slaves from various parts of America, who were dumped down here first by British philanthropists and subsequently by the Government at various intervals during the latter part of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth centuries, as mentioned elsewhere. Strictly speaking, the appli- cation of the word to the present inhabitants of the Sierra Leone peninsula is misleading. A "Creole" (from the Spanish criollo = native-born) is really " one of any colour born within or near the tropics of America,'* or, used in its more exclusive sense, "a THE WHITE MAX'S GRAVK 15 native of the West Indies or of Spanish America, but not of native blood." Most of the original settlers brought to Sierra Leone by the British would certainly be correctly described as Creoles although many of these were African slaves liberated by British ships before they reached America, and have practically died out; but the present population would be more accu- rately named Sierra Leoneans, as being born in Sierra Leone. As, however, many of the people prefer the term, and as the original inhabitants of the country always call them by that name, it will probably remain. Yet it is surely paradoxical that the three newspapers run by these people, each more or less advocating unity and larger powers of self-government for the black races, should continue to designate the people they represent by a name which is not only non-British, but is absolutely alien to Africa and Africans. Suppose that the Jews had adopted the name by which they are said to have been known in the land of their captivity, or any other Egyptian nomen- clature ! For many years after the Creoles came to the Colony they anticipated or " universally harboured a desire for returning to America," and according to a Report of the Sierra Leone Company, dated 1804, few of the original settlers or their descendants remained after the middle of the nineteenth century. Perhaps this was the reason for their clinging to a name which their descendants, with less reason, retain. So' much for the Creole. Of the other races I will speak later. But the women of all types met in Free- town and elsewhere in Sierra Leone deserve a special word. The African woman is perhaps the most striking of all the inhabitants, possibly because she seems more natural possibly, also, because she forms such a contrast among women whose lot is cast in no easy path, and upon whom much of the labour and responsibility of the world are thrown. Few girls of the labouring classes of Europe can be described l6 SIERRA LEOXE as beautiful or shapely. The West African " tee-tee " as the young girl is called is both. A jovial coun- tenance, a perennial smile displaying conspicuously dazzling white teeth, a Avell-poised head covered with a coloured kerchief, a graceful, shapely ligure scarcely concealed by a gauzy gown wound round the waist and flung over the plump, rounded shoulders, to hang down on one side, leaving the fine arms and bosom bare such is the West African girl at the age of puberty and, for a time, afterwards. Even when they are " mammies," or married women, of some experi- ence, they retain the teeth and smile. To please her is to gain much. Cross her, and she will not rest till her menfolk have avenged her. Of the position and influence of women in the Protectorate more anon. Freetown has developed remarkably within recent years. The once vacant land at Upper Garrison Street, known and called in native parlance " The Fort," is now converted into the Victoria Park ; the vacant land at East Battery, formerly known as the Battery, is now partly a fort and partly a railway market. The land at King Tom's is now converted to a fort and quarters of the Royal Artillery. The side now occu- pied by the railway compounds and quarters for European employes of the railway was, until com- paratively recent years, a wilderness known as the Racecourse ; in that locality land was not much thought of, either on account of the barrenness of the soil or its distance from the heart of the town. Victoria Park was the outcome of spontaneous loyalty of the people of Sierra Leone to the British Crown at a representative meeting of the inhabitants of the Colony, summoned at Government House by His Excellency Sir Frederick Cardew, in 1897, when it was decided by a large majority that the com- memoration of the Diamond Jubilee reign of our late Sovereign, Queen Victoria, should take the form of a park in the city. Voluntary subscriptions were raised for the purpose, and on June 20, 1900, Victoria THE WHITE MAN S GRAVE If Park was opened to the public. The site is vested in the Municipal Corporation of Freetown, which is pledged to provide for its upkeep. Freetown has five public markets : the Vegetable Market in Water Street, called in native parlance " big market," and dating back to 1861 ; the Meat Market in Garrison Street, colloquially named " Grain Market," opened in 1862; the City Market in Kroo Town Road, erected in 1899, at a cost of ,2,000, by the late Sir Samuel Lewis; the King Jimmy Market in King Jimmy Wharf, Water Street, opened in 1909; and the Fish Market in Rock Street. There is also a slaughter- house in King Jimmy Wharf, Water Street. The Freetown Municipality Ordinance of 1893 shifted the burden of providing markets in the city from the shoulders of the Colonial Government to the head of the Municipal Corporation of Freetown, and vested the then existing markets and slaughter-house in this native body. * * * * While contemplating the busy market scenes, a native dropped dead, apparently from exhaustion, and almost simultaneously a European trader was affected by sunstroke. These events reminded me suddenly that I was in " the White Man's Grave." But the next moment I assured myself that the two events occurring together and in my sight were but a coin- cidence which might easily have happened elsewhere. The heat and drought also were exceptional this year, as everyone was remarking, the thermometer register- ing 98 F. in the shade. At any time Freetown, in the dry season, is particularly warm, and, surrounded as it is by lofty hills,' very little air finds its way into the town. Even the sea breeze seems to become heated and dampened by its passage over the burning ground, and its free entry is further checked by the many intricacies of the streets and buildings. The sea wind is said to be more dangerous to Europeans than the heat itself. Every evening it blows smartly landward, 2 18 SIERRA LEONE chilling the atmosphere and the bodies of unwary folk who avail themselves of these pleasant if dangerous draughts. The Charlotte Falls, the Flat Stone, and the Mirimbo reservoir I was obliged to leave until my return. The Freetown people are very anxious to have their town lighted by electricity. In the year 1894, about 107 years after Sierra Leone became a British Colony,, there were only about sixty lamps, engaging the atten- tion of four lamp-lighters, to light the whole of Free- town. Until December 31, 1895, the streets of the city were lighted by the Colonial Government. The Freetown Municipality having come into exist- ence in the month of August, 1895, became the authority responsible for the lighting of the streets by virtue of the provisions of the Freetown Municipal Ordnance, but it was not until January, 1896, that the City Council relieved the Colonial Government of the duty of lighting the streets of the city. At present there are about 332 lamp-pillars with street lamps r necessitating the employment of thirty lamp-lighters, and the actual sum of money spent each year in street lights is over ;i,ioo. Despite these rapid im- provements in the programme of the City Council, it is manifest to every citizen and ratepayer that the lighting of the streets by kerosene oil is most unsatis- factory and a waste of public money. It had always been the intention of the City Council, since its in- ception, to light the city by electricity, but not being in a position financially to install electric energy in the city for the purpose of lighting the streets, the City Council had, on three distinct occasions, granted to individuals the exclusive right of installing electricity in the city for a definite and specified period of time. The first two of such concessions lapsed through default on the part of the respective concessionaires to carry out their contracts. The last concession, though granted some years ago, was still, when I was there,. in nubibus as regards its operation. THE WHITE MAN'S GRAVE 19 However defective in lighting Freetown may be, the same cannot be said regarding its educational estab- lishments. There are about 100 primary schools in the Colony, teaching about 4,000 children, besides five Muhammadan schools (of which four are in Freetown), in which about 1,000 children are educated. 1 In addition there are secondary and technical schools, Fourah Bay College, and the excellent Government School for Chiefs, formerly at Bo, and now at Moyamba. There is a course of lectures to school teachers on manual training at the Government Model School. About sixty-eight school-masters and teachers attended the 1913 course; about twenty-six of this number came from the suburban villages in the neighbourhood, and forty-two, including the Model School teachers, were city pedagogues. Punctuality and regularity were noticeable on all occasions. The lectures comprised the following subjects : Clay or plasticine modelling, paper cutting and folding, cardboard modelling, colour- ing, model drawing, practical geometry, and wood- work. Most of the white people, however, live at Hill Station. Hill Station is a township designed exclu- sively for Europeans, and built at an altitude of 800 ft. near the western end of the half-circle of high hills overlooking Freetown and the harbour. The mountain railway gives access to the station, while a pure water supply, beautiful scenery, and pro- vision for tennis and other games enable the residents to live under pleasant and healthy conditions. Not in these things, however, does the distinctive interest of this place lie. The notable fact is that the Hill Station in Sierra Leone was planned and designed as a fortress against the mosquito, and was the first im- portant tangible sign that war was to be waged against 1 For further information on education in Sierra Leone see the author's " Local Government Handbook on Education." 2O SIERRA LEONE malaria. The township is intended for European residents only, and this principle of segregation is carried out as far as practicable; thus, there are no houses with native children, and each resident has to comply with the Government rule that not more than one native servant is to sleep on the premises. The journey there by the mountain railw r ay takes half an hour, the return fare being is. 3d. first class, lod. second class, 5d. third class. The freshness and healthful effect on body and mind are said to be as twilight is to the noonday sun, and it is one of the few- places in West Africa where white ladies can dwell with comparative safety from fever. I only paid a flying visit there, however, finding the Bank at Free- town and the residence of one of the councillors quite comfortable enough for my short sojourn in the capital. 21 CHAPTER III. FROM FREETOWN TO CHRISTINE VILLE. Railway Travelling in Sierra Leone An Educated Creole Kline Town and Kissy Kissis and Mendis as Carriers Forests, Savannahs, and Ginger Farms Hastings and Rokelle Laterite Hills Devil Hole. CLANG ! CLANG ! Sipping tea in the cool and comfortable drawing-room of the bank with one of the most genial and capable Europeans on the Coast, the Honourable Isaac Slater, of the Legislative Assembly and Resident Manager of the Bank of British West Africa, I had almost forgotten that I was in the Tropics. Clang ! Clang ! Again that universal sound, announcing the approach- ing arrival or departure of a train. In spite of its familiar and European sound, it brought me back to Africa. Involuntarily I looked at my watch. Four- fifteen ! At four-thirty the last train leaves Freetown for Waterloo, and I must catch it at all costs. A hasty au revoir to the bank, with a promise of a longer rest there upon my return, and I was speeding down the hill to the station at a pace common enough in England, but not understood in Sierra Leone. Freetown Station is an interesting but noisy place. Always a crowd and plenty of chatter and colour. You have to push your way among Europeans in white or khaki, natives from the interior with striped hats of various hues and almost destitute of other clothing, and Sierra Leoneans or inhabitants of the Freetown district 22 SIERRA LEONE in varieties of European dress. Only a small portion of this crowd is actually travelling by the train ; but the departure or arrival of a boat or train always attracts a large gathering of people. Very little notice is given of the intention of the train to start ; but possibly the noise and excitement make the departure seem more sudden than it actually is. The ex-Governor of the Colony recently offended the population by remarking that they were " born in noise, live in noise, and die in noise." He was quite right. Not the words, but the deprecating manner in which they were believed to have been uttered caused the ill- feeling. He was himself of a quiet nature, and had come from the East, where the natives are less noisy, Oriental languor and passivity lending different charac- teristics to mind, body, and language. The African is absolutely different to the Asiatic, and requires different treatment. I may have bad taste, but, on the whole, 1 prefer him and his noise to many an Oriental, just as I would a tiresome child to one sullen and suspicious. Suddenly, while I was surveying this noisy interest- ing scene, and wondering when my luggage would be put in, there was a shrill whistle and the train began to move. Hastily I told the station-master to throw on quickly what luggage he could, and send the rest on to-morrow morning. Then, snatching the smallest packet containing toilet necessaries, bush garments, and some underwear, I jumped on the moving train to the amazement of the whole assembly, who apparently had never before seen a European in a hurry. Certainly none of them had tried the experiment themselves. Shouts and entreaties to remain I heard, but heeded them not. Determined to reach Devil Hole that night, off I went with the train. Then it occurred to me that my medicine chest with the indispensable quinine was among the packages left behind. Now I had been ordered to take 5 gr. daily. The first dose I had FROM FREETOWN TO CHRISTINEVILLE 23 taken religiously the night before we arrived in Free- town. This evening I should have to break the in- junction unless I could borrow some. But before night had arrived I had forgotten all about it, and next day, although my luggage did not arrive, I felt so well that I decided that, rather than borrow, I would forego the potion until my medicine-chest arrived. This event occurred five days later, so I decided henceforth to take only 5 gr. once a week, which I did. I am inclined to agree with those medical authorities who argue that too much quinine prepares the way for blackwater fever, but of this a few words later. The accommodation afforded to travellers by the Sierra Leone Government Railway is by no means equal to that given by the Nigerian railway authorities. Travelling on the Lagos line is as comfortable as in Europe. Corridor saloons, dining cars with plenty of provender, electric light, baths, electric fans, and every- thing that can be desired, including reasonable speed. On the Sierra Leone railway no such travelling arrange- ments are made. A whole day is expended in reaching Bo, a distance of 120 miles, and if your destination be farther you are obliged to stay the night at Bo and continue the journey next day. First-class accom- modation consists of two or three arm-chairs with caned seats, akin to the " Derby " chairs of our great- grandmothers, very comfortable and sanitary, but cold and unattractive-looking. The floors are frequently covered with a fine dust or sand in the "dries" and flooded with rain in the "wets," for when it rains in West Africa there is never a shower, but a deluge. At such times and, I am sorry to say, at almost all times the opposite chairs if vacant are used as foot-rests. Nor is this all. The head also has to be protected from the drippings through the roof of the carriage, and your general atmosphere has to be guarded, or the neighbouring second-class passengers will invade your 24 SIERRA LEOXE compartment to escape the equally bad or worse con- ditions of their horse-boxes. My advice to intending travellers up country in the wet season is to be well equipped with good temper, patience, endurance, rain- proof coats, rubber Wellingtons, umbrellas, and uniform steel trunks on wheels or waterproof bags. I had neither umbrella nor steel trunk no, and not even Welling- tons but I was happy. In West Africa, like India, the white man, even though he be but a trading assistant, must travel first class, if only to maintain his dignity and status, and enjoy a chair to himself. Unlike India, however, the West African first-class carriage is not the monopoly of the white man. The wealthy educated African can and does travel first class. There are many rich Sierra Leoneans, and very agreeable companions are many of them. I travelled some distance with a very cultured African, who had studied law, philosophy, and medicine in London after a preliminary education at Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone. He had chosen the Bar as a profession, but we found a mutual basis of conversation and sympathy first in philosophy and ethics particularly in the theories of Spinoza, Berkeley, and Herbert Spencer and afterwards in the products and possibilities of the country through which we were travelling. I gained a fund of information regarding the land, which I could scarcely have obtained from the ordinary white traveller, and I hope I gave him a quid pro quo in my personal reminiscences of the late Herbert Spencer. My black companion knew the history of the principal farms and villages which we passed en route, the trees, the soil, and even the minerals under the different soils, or where they are supposed or ought to be. Naturally, I discounted considerably his views as to the possible mineral wealth of the country every educated native of any country always has an exaggerated idea of what may be found under the soil of the Homeland especially when he talked of bitumen and even of gold; but, FROM FREETOWN TO CHRISTINEVILLE 25 generally, his tune was rational and his information useful. Perhaps he was inclined to be dogmatic; but that is a common fault of scholars of all belief and colour, unless they have roughed it among all classes of the community and enjoyed plenty of physical as well as mental education. In the meantime we were passing through the picturesque suburbs of Freetown to Kline Town, which is becoming quite a serious rival as a trading centre. To this place Lever Brothers have already transferred their port factory. How different this business activity and the pros- perous-looking houses from the picture of these parts presented to us by Surgeon Atkins, R.N., of H.JV1.S. Swallow, in 1721 : " The country about Sierra Ltone is so thick-spread with wood that you cannot penetrate a pole's length from the waterside, unless between the town and fountain whence they fetch their water, without a great deal of difficulty. They have paths, how- ever, through these woods to their lollas and lugars which, though but a mile or two from the town, are frequently the walks of wild beasts. Their houses are low little huts, built with wooden stockades (or forkillas) set in the ground in a round or square form and thatched with straw." To-day the railroad pierces the groves of palm trees which have not been cut down by squatters, and crawls up the mountain-side, which is still covered by a part of the primeval forest. Upon the plains are dotted many villages. Trudging the roads are innumerable native traders. Kissy is a particularly interesting place. Most of the people inhabiting the villages within ten miles of Freetown are descendants of the Creoles before mentioned. The people who founded the village of Kissy differ, however, from the inhabitants of the other villages. Their forefathers were natives of the district of Kissy, lying between Falaba and the sources of the Niger, originally a savage and barbarous race, who 26 SIERRA LEOXE lived entirely on the sale of slaves, even their wives and children being sold into slavery. Several hundreds of this tribe having been captured from slave ships by British men-of-war, it was considered desirable to locate them in one place. They were therefore settled in this beautiful village, named after their own country. These people the Kissis have a peculiar way of carrying their loads. A kind of basket made of twisted palm leaves, and in shape semi-cylindrical, is packed with kernels or other commodities and slung over the back by two braces, one passing under each armpit and over the corresponding shoulder, a third brace leading from the top of the basket and passing around the forehead. Men who carry loads in this way are not half so sturdy as the Mendis, who always carry their loads on the top of their heads. The train now takes its course over wonderful ravines fringed by beautiful palms, and occasionally refreshed by a small waterfall or stream. The Government has done much to retain this beautiful scenery, backed by the lofty hills, which give the Colony such an excellent water supply. The forests here act as protective covering to the moisture in the soil, and are responsible for a high percentage of the total amount of water held in suspen- sion by the atmosphere, thus increasing the relative humidity of the atmosphere in their neighbourhood. The effects of irrigation are negligible in comparison with the effects brought about by forests, so far as the humidity of the atmosphere is concerned. The native of Sierra Leone, blessed with a water supply which is exceptional in West Africa, and which is admittedly one of the finest features of the country, is apt to forget this unless gently reminded by a wise paternal Government. Having found the destruction of forest beneficial for agriculture in the plain, the un- tutored native would eliminate even more ruthlesslv the FROM FREETOWN TO CHRISTINEVILLE 2? trees upon the hillsides. He realizes not that the dangers attending the destruction of forest in the mountains are more serious than in the plain. The mountains are formed of large masses of syenite rock covered with a thin layer of soil. This soil is held together by the. vegetation that covers it. Once the vegetation is removed and the ground cultivated, there is nothing to retain, the soil, which is washed down the sides of the mountains into the rivers and carried out to sea. The natives take two successive crops from virgin forest soil. This makes the total destruction of the vegetation possible in two years. Farther up the line, especially after the border-line between the Colony and Protectorate is passed, this evil has been amply demonstrated. There the torrential tropical rains, instead of sinking into a bed of forest soil and down through the fissures of the syenite to break out in springs lower down, rush off the mountains into the valley, often causing short- lived but violent floods. During the dry season, on the other hand, where the forest has been removed, the springs dry up. Thus, instead of perennially running water, the rivers are converted into torrents in the rains and detached pools in the dry season. Mountain ranges, offering a cold surface to the moisture-laden winds, increase the precipitation. This effect is more marked when the range is covered with forest, the reason being that the mean temperature in the forest is several degrees lower than the surrounding -country. Even in some portions of the Colony through which I am now passing, and which came under British administration later, this is noticeable. The forest here was no doubt formerly much larger, but the making of ginger farms on the slopes of the mountains has very much reduced the original forest, which probably extended right down to the water's edge where now the mangrove holds sway. The underlying rock of the whole area is syenite, which crops out especially on the summits of the higher 28 SIERRA LEONE mountains, making very steep cliffs. In some parts laterite is found, especially by the plain just outside Waterloo. The syenite weathers into a very good soil, reddish loam, forming an excellent natural seed-bed. The laterite, on the other hand, tends to harden at first on exposure, though it afterwards breaks up into small pieces varying from an eighth of an inch to an inch in diameter, and forms a very poor soil. * * * * Time passed so quickly while noting the varied character of the country through which we were passing that Hastings and Rokelle were reached before I realized that in another half an hour I should arrive at my destination for the night. Hastings is one of the four villages where the eighty- five settlers from Barbados established themselves in 1817, and were reinforced by the discharged soldiers of the 4th West Indian Regiment. It is therefore essentially Creole in character and not African. The next, and far prettier village, Rokelle, is peopled by a mixed race, some Creole, some Temnes, some a hybrid production of the two races. The name of the village is essentially a reminder of the old Temne domination when Kwaia (Quiah) country embraced all this territory. There is another and larger Rokelle on the river of the same name. From Rokelle the scenery again became wilder, and as we passed on a slender bridge over an impressive natural chasm, I assured myself that this was really a " devil " hole, and that my journey for that day was- over. 2 9 CHAPTER IV. FIRST NIGHT IN THE INTERIOR. Absence of Twilight Charm of the Sunset Hour A Scramble in the Dark Snakes and Insects Telegraphic Eccentricities " Chop " A Discourse on Drinks A Romantic Rubber Plantation. NEVER shall I forget my first night in the interior of Sierra Leone. Arriving at the flag station called Devil Hole about half-past six in the evening, and expecting to find the assistant manager of the plantation waiting to receive me, I beheld only two Africans. One was attired in respectable European fashion, the other was in native garb. Apparently I was unexpected; but, having announced myself, the first dusky stranger, with every deference, introduced himself as the native clerk. Then, quickly sending up his companion to the nearest simbek to announce my arrival and obtain boys, hammock, and lamps to escort me to the European bungalow, he hastily jumped upon the moving train and was whirled away into the shadows, "Leaving the world to darkness and to me." This hasty retreat, I afterwards learned, was due to his home being beyond Waterloo, the next station, and this train being the last. For a few moments I was dumbfounded, bewildered. Day had now become night. For here twilight is practically unknown. Once the day begins to decline darkness descends rapidly. But though the dreaminess of dusk is denied to the African, the silence of the sunset hour has a weirdness all its own. The evening 30 SIERRA LEONE meal is being eaten. The flare of camp fires and sounds of savage revelries have not yet broken upon the night. Tick, tick! So still was the silence that I heard my watch ticking. The sound brought me back from a momentary dream- land. Here was I, alone in the gloom, in a strange land on the verge of forest and bush teeming with insect and animal life. Far up the hillside, above rows of trees, I could distinguish a twinkle of lights from the bungalow. On my right the hillside broke away into a chasm which had been christened by the unholy name of " Devil Hole." Before me loomed the path- way to the bungalow more than a mile distant ; behind was the one thing which linked me to civilization the iron railroad, unlighted and deserted. Quickly I made for the zimbek to which I had seen the second native hasten. The apparition of a white man set feet scrambling, tongues talking, lights to appear in the gloom, and general commotion. A zimbek, I should explain, is a native hut, often built only of mud, but sometimes of wood, bamboo and mud, with thatched roof. In a few minutes two or three boys were ready to accompany me, but they had left the hurricane lamps, they explained, at the bungalow, and the hammocks were in the store half a mile away. I decided to dispense with both, and gave the order to proceed to the bungalow. The boys conducted me up with great speed. They do not love the darkness and they had hoped that I would not ascend without lights or ham- mock. Afterwards I learned that at this hour of the evening, and just before dawn, snakes prefer to peer about for their victims. At the time I was unaware that these reptiles frequented this spot. More than once after this did I experience in West Africa that " ignorance is bliss." The journey up the hillside seemed interminable. The moon had not yet risen, and the silence which succeeds the sunset remained unbroken save for the FIRST NIGHT IN THE INTERIOR 3! buzzing of insects and the melancholy drip, drip, drip of the dew on leaf and branch. The wavy spear-grass lining the path and the tearful trees at each succeeding bend cast their quaint shadows across the path as here and there the flickering light from the bungalows shot through some side clearing or new plantation path. The general darkness prevented me from perceiving the cultivated parts on either side of the cleared areas as I proceeded, but I saw enough to assure me that it was not the swamp or bare hillside w r hich a few ill- informed critics in the city had proclaimed. At last out of the gloom of the trees lights loomed, and there came in sight a bungalow raised high upon wooden supports and platform in the midst of an open square, which was arranged, I could dimly see, like an English garden. Arrived at the bungalow, I was accorded a hearty reception, with profuse apologies for my unceremonious arrival and escort. The telegram announcing my advent in the Colony had not been received. At noon the following day it was brought in by one of the boys who was sent to Waterloo for letters. Waterloo, I should explain at this point, is the nearest town, about three or four miles distant. The tele- graphs are under the railway and not the post office authorities, and the native station-master had appa- rently detained the telegram till he could see one of our messengers. Incidentally, he had pocketed the ninepence porterage which I had paid. Needless to say, the case was taken up and the money refunded. A good rub down and a change into pyjamas soon refreshed me, and the first natural stiffness between the plantation managers and myself having quickly worn off, we sat down to "chop." " Chop " is the word used indiscriminately for break- fast, lunch, dinner, or supper. Presumably the term is derived from the old English chop-house, or it ma}- 32 SIERRA LEONE be reminiscent of cannibal days. At any rate, it is a welcome word out here in West Africa, and without it the planter would be poor indeed. The evening meal usually consists of soup, fish, meat (when it can be obtained) or chicken, cheese, or nuts, and perhaps fruit. Many people will not touch fruit here in the evening, but I did. As to what constitutes " chop " at other times in the day, that depends upon the European's tastes and requirements. Some planters and traders eschew breakfasts altogether. The " no breakfast " brigade has quite a following in the Tropics, but I have never in that region come across an apostle of the " no hat " brigade. If that ilk ever had a representative in Sierra Leone sunstroke must have claimed him, for here even the natives wear caps or some sort of covering, or else they take care to keep in the shade. However, to return to " chop." As I have said, some white people apparently prefer to be breakfastless. I never was one of that fellowship. I always enjoy a good early morning meal at home, and I made no change out here. Bananas, pineapple, or paw-paw, scrambled eggs and toast usually formed the nucleus of such a meal. Midday "chop," which is partaken of between ii a.m. and i or 2 p.m. which time is a sort of siesta in West Africa is much the same as an even- ing meal, possibly a dish less. The soup is usually composed of ground-nuts of which a few words later oddments of fish, meat, rice and herbs, wonderfully and excellently made by native cooks. Midday and evening "chop" are frequently washed down by libations of whisky and soda, vermuth, bottled beer, mineral waters, or natural lime juice. Alcohol is usually prohibited on plantations before sunset, but it is difficult to enforce such a rule. If Europeans possess good sense, however, they adhere (o this practice, which is best for everyone on the -Coast. Half the trouble in the Tropics may be traced FIRST NIGHT IN THE INTERIOR 33 to its evasion or neglect. I am inclined to go further and say the less alcohol you consume at any time the better; indeed, where, as in Sierra Leone, the water is good, one can dispense with it except as a medicine. The notion that alcohol is a necessary drink in the Tropics is a superstition. So is the belief that you should absolutely dispense with it. Alcohol, like quinine, is an excellent friend when used sparingly. Unaccustomed to either, a little works wonders, and makes you feel another man. Habituated to them, both alcohol and quinine depress rather than revive. Whisky and soda and gin and bitters appear to be the most popular drinks upon the Coast. Bottled beer and bottled lemonade each cost a shilling a bottle, but whisky is actually cheaper than in England. Person- ally, I seldom took anything stronger than lime juice, though I quaffed palm wine with the chiefs and champagne with the Mayor of Freetown, and once or twice, after exhaustive days, indulged in a little whisky or vermuth and soda ; vermuth, I consider, is prefer- able. At a later date, when speaking to a wealthy Creole who seemed rather fond of the whisky bottle, I asked him why vermuth was not consumed more than whisky, as the former contained cinchona. To my surprise, he replied, " Oh ! it's the general belief here that vermuth renders you impotent." I can candidly aver that this is another superstition. "Chop" over, we adjourned to the verandah, and there, under a dark velvet sky and in the shadow of the palms, we gave ourselves up to the languor and loveliness of a tropical evening and talked of many matters. Perhaps the dominant theme was the place and its history. For Christineville is almost the only Euro- pean plantation in the Colony, the land of which has hitherto been considered sacred to the black man. Its history is therefore worth a passing notice. 34 SIERRA LEONE Originally the estate was a Crown grant in perpetuity to Sir Samuel Lewis, a wealthy native lawyer, knighted by Queen Victoria on the occasion of her Jubilee the only West African native, I believe, who has received such an honour. Sir Samuel devoted his leisure to experimental planting on a large scale. Throwing him- self heartily into tropical agriculture and the develop- ment of the Colony, he planted not only indigenous trees and plants, but rubber of the Ceara and Castilloa varieties, the cashew, pineapple, annatto, and other useful trees and plants imported from various tropical countries. Unfortunately, Sir Samuel Lewis died before his enterprise could be made successful. His wife and successors had neither the intellect nor character of the old man. Leased out to native tenants, placed under the supervision of inexperienced natives, the plantation speedily became half forest, half wilderness. A promising chapter in Sierra Leone history seemed to have ended, the book closed. Then came the rubber boom. All sorts, of wild schemes, useless tropical land, and unscrupulous pro- motions were foisted upon the public. The opportunity was not neglected by some of the shrewder of the educated natives of West Africa. This plantation, among others, was sold in London to a small syndicate, resold to a larger syndicate, and again sold to a company at an inflated price. Considerable gambling ensued upon the last transaction. Then came the collapse of the boom. For a time it seemed as though this plantation would suffer the fate of many others bought by speculators at this time. Prudence, however, has preserved the place, and under its present control it promises to be a plantation with a future. One day, perhaps, I may write its secret history. vSince my return I might mention that a tragedy has overshadowed this place. A temporary manager, refusing to give up possession to the newly appointed FIRST NIGHT IN THE INTERIOR 35 planting manager, shot at him, killing a native and wounding others. He was tried for murder. From conversation we turned to music. The assistant manager had brought out an excellent gramophone and some very fine and well-chosen records. The natives would be enticed to the bungalow by the welcome sound of music and listen enthralled for hours if it were con- tinued so long; and the house-boys, though they could read no English, quickly learnt to distinguish the particular records which they liked best, and would always give them first place when they were asked to " put them on." " Mr. Black Man " was a special favourite. And thus with the voices of Caruso and Melba in our ears, mingled with the distant drumming of the natives in the village below and the droning of in- numerable insects around the verandah, we retired to rest. CHAPTER V. LIFE ON A RUBBER PLANTATION. The Planter's Life Managers and Assistants Irrigation Iron Hills and their Possibilities Hevea, Ceara, Funtumia, and Castilloa Rubber Trees Coffee and Cacao as Catch-crops Ginger and its Complaints Rubber Pests. LIFE on a rubber plantation is never monotonous to the man who loves Nature and his work. From six in the morning to six at night there is always some- thing to do, something new about which to think. At each roll-call of the labourers there is usually a new arrival or a falling-out. Barely a week passes but one of your "boys" falls a victim to some misadventure through mischievousness. Sometimes there is a boundary dispute, sometimes a forest fire, sometimes an attack by wild beasts, sometimes disputes and rights among your employe's, principally over women. Such a quarrel occurred while I was there and knives were out and blood spilt before we could interfere. Even labour troubles are not altogether absent, and temporary strikes will occur, especially if there be much " clipping of the copper," an expressive phrase for a "fine." During the wet season, from May to October, every nerve is strained to keep down weed and grass and plant up new stock. During the "dries," from November to April, clearing new ground and watering are the main occupations. Visits from officials, passing traders, and occasional journeys to Freetown fill up one's time. With good pay, generous leave, healthy quarters, this should be an attractive employment. At daybreak the planter rises and by six o'clock he has inspected or taken the roll-call of his staff, and they have been allotted to their respective sections for LIFE ON A RUBBER PLANTATION 37 clearing, watering, or planting. If clearing has been completed, and it is the dry season, watering will be the principal work of the staff; if the wet season, planting. Weeding can be performed in both wet and dry seasons, and in land of the evergreen forest type it is a never-ending industry, but in land of the savannah type it may be sandwiched in according to convenience. Clearing can be effected with knife or by fire ; if the latter, great care must be exercised, and it should never be attempted close to the planted area. Watering is always done before nine o'clock in the morning and after four in the afternoon. One boy can water ninety plants. Holing and preparing the ground of a cleared area for planting in the subsequent " wets " is an industry which can usually be performed towards the end of the preceding wet season, or, if planting work be very heavy, at the beginning of the "dries." Not a little success in plantations is attributable to wise holing, as an inch deeper in drier soil, or in an area exposed to such dry winds as the harmattan, makes all the differ- ence between success and failure. Directors of planta- tions in West Africa cannot be too careful in securing for their managers or assistants, men who are planters of experience and discretion, men also, if possible, with chemical knowledge of soils. For the best results from manuring a knowledge of the chemical nature of different soils is very necessary, and if the managers do not themselves possess the knowledge, samples should be sent home for analysis and direction. As the company owning the plantation was anxious to learn more of its property and the neighbouring country, and had given me carte blanche to go where I pleased or do whatever I desired upon the place, I took the opportunity during the next few wrecks to make a thorough investigation of the estate, watching and taking a personal part in the planting, holing, 38 SIERRA LEONE clearing, experimental tapping of trees yielding rubber or gum, and extraction of oil from the various nutty trees, visiting the native huts, participating in the pleasures of the people, and touring in the vicinity on foot or by hammock. At present, off the railroad, the only means of con- veyance in this district is by hammock or your own feet. This part of the country, however, being appa- rently free from the tsetse-fly, cattle could be used for transport purposes. They are now being bred here with very satisfactory results. Hammocks carried on poles by four boys, two in front, two at the rear, are very comfortable means of travelling for short distances and on the level ; very disconcerting on hills or after many hours. The estate, covering about 3,500 acres, lies about 8 North of the Equator, between the sixteenth and nineteenth milestone on the railroad which runs from Freetown into the interior. The main road from Free- town to Waterloo also runs through the plantation, which makes it rather difficult to police and divides it into two separate parts. Two up trains and two down trains each day stop at the flag station upon the property. There are several good private roads on the estate, and as the land is mainly of the savannah and monsoon forest type it should be easily maintained and kept clear. The European bungalows, one for the manager and another for the assistants, are pic- turesquely built at an elevation of about 500 ft., and both the position and conditions are conducive to good health. From the bungalows an extensive view is obtained over the plantation, the mangrove forests, the River Bunce, and the Bullom shore. Probably the place would prove of strategic value should a rebellion or invasion threaten the Colony. From the main road and the railway, which are quite close to each other, the plantation ascends gradually by four spurs of hills LIFE ON A RUBBER PLANTATION 39 to the upper road, high up on the left of the bungalow, where it rises suddenly to a height of 1,400 ft. among dense uncleared forest, which preserves the moisture and cradles two excellent streams. There echo sounds of things unknow r n, while the mysterious mur- muring of a million insects betrays a ferment of life more curious than beautiful. Here and there on the Rokelle hillside patches of open land appear where the forest has been felled by native tenants for planting cassava and ginger. Through the less dense bush, the following week, we cut our way to the highest point of the hill hitherto uncleared or explored. The water from the two streams is dispersed through both the upper and lower planta- tions by irrigation pipes and an extension of boulders from three dams, built by the present proprietors. The soil varies in depth and character, but red gravel is predominant. The country rock which outcrops here and there is hornblende pyerite. Upon at least two of the hill spurs magnetic iron ore has been discovered in large quantities ; but the percentage of titanium with it would render it unprofitable to work until electrical power is brought here to convert the iron into steel. Hevea or Para rubber has been planted upon two of the upper spurs. On one it is interplanted with coffee, on the other with cacao. Before the present company came into possession, only a few hundred Manihot or Ceara rubber trees were growing, and these on the lower estate. Many of these were destroyed when the dense bush around them was being cut down and fired by a gang known as " King George and his boys," em- ployed by the first European manager to "clear " the forest by contract. The same manager declared later that Hevea could not grow here ; but upon his dismissal after six months' tenure, Hevea was experimented with and has succeeded in vigorous growth, though its latex yield has yet to be proved. Hevea rubber thrives only in an annual mean tem- perature of about 80 F., and best where the daily 4O SIERRA LEONE temperature is between 75 and 90 F., with an annual rainfall of from 80 to 120 in. It requires moist but not marshy soil, a red clayey or loam soil, well drained, being perhaps most suitable. Latex in the Hevea tree is in tubes, which run practically parallel to each other and allow it to flow when they are cut, therefore it is desirable to cut as great a number as possible of these vessels as can be made to flow. With parallel horizontal cuts the greatest number of tubes is opened, but the latex does not flow, therefore the cut is made obliquely. Several other kinds of rubber are being grown upon this estate on the lower plantation. The Manihot or Ceara will thrive in places unsuited to any other kind of rubber, and seedlings from the original trees spring up like weeds and are being planted along the roadside and up the hills. The leaves of this species are five-lobed and of a curious bluish- grey, while the bark is like a silver birch and peels off in strips, but becomes very rough and jagged with years. It is therefore more difficult to tap, the best method, perhaps, being to stab or prick it. On the other hand, it will yield when from two and a half to three years old, and the latex runs freely and coagulates on ex- posure to the air, while that of Para, Castilloa, and Funtumia has to be collected in cups. Ceara rubber will fetch almost the same price as Para, and is pre- ferred by some manufacturers. I tapped the older trees of this species and found the yield very satisfactory. I noticed also that the latex in the Ceara appears to be in cells rather than tubes. The Castilloa tree has a smooth, light grey bark and has peculiar branches bearing rows of large green leaves from 12 to 18 in. long. It is the handsomest but least satisfactory of all plantation rubber trees. Those upon this plantation are the seedlings from the two trees planted by Sir Samuel Lewis, and though no particular attention has been given to them they appear flourish- ing. LIFE ON A RUBBER PLANTATION 4! Funtumia elastica, indigenous to West Africa, has white or yellow flowers, with seed like a silky plume xibout 2 in. long. There are a fe\v trees of the species on the estate, and upon tapping some I found the latex flowed freely. The yield of rubber from Hcvea brasiliensis trees, .over five years old, tapped on the " herring-bone " or " V " system, may be taken as i Ib. of dry rubber per .annum for each foot diameter of the tree, measured at 3 ft. from the ground. In Castilloa trees, tapped by hatchets, chisels or axes by the methods used for Hevea, the yield is much poorer and does not exceed 6 oz. per foot diameter, measured at 3 ft. from the ground. Castilloa trees continue to yield latex for from ten to twenty minutes after pricking, but the period of flow can be lengthened to about fifty minutes by con- tinuously spraying the pricked portion of the bark with water, and in this way the yield of rubber can be increased by from 20 to 40 per cent. The latex is collected by means of an unbleached calico " apron" of special form, attached to the tree about 8 in. from the ground. A tree is considered to be suitable for tapping when the girth amounts to 18 in., and as soon as the tree at a distance of ij ft. above the soil has this girth, a V-cut can be put on it. If one or two years later, at 3 ft. above the soil, the tree is 18 in. in girth, then the tapping can take place .at this height, and a half herring-bone cut can be made. The age is also taken into consideration, and Hevea trees which are younger than four or five years are not touched, even when the girth is sufficient. Castilloa .and Funtumia trees are of no use until after seven or five years respectively. The period for tapping is shorter in West Africa than elsewhere because, during heavy rainfall, the water washes out the latex, and the prolonged drought dries up the latex, thus preventing an easy flow. Every .available fine day between the rains from June to October has therefore to be utilized for tapping. 4-2 SIERRA LEONE While it is the best in the long run to bring rubber into bearing without catch-crops, which all compete with the principal crop and remove a certain amount of available plant food, few companies can wait five years for a return. They therefore plant catch-crops. A desirable catch-crop should be one yielding a good profit, and bearing early, while not being too severe on the soil ; it should also admit of weeding so as to leave the land in a clean condition when it is taken out. Tapioca yields a very small profit, if any, and it is so difficult to weed that the land is in a decidedly dirty condition when the crop is removed. Camphor keeps land clean, but the time to wait for a crop is too long, and then the profit is not much. Coffea robusta offers by far the best catch-crop. A small return will come in the second year and a good one in the third and following years. Therefore, for those who must put down a catch-crop, coffee is undoubtedly the best. The production of the robusta kind costs less per pikul than the liberica. The cost of planting the coffee has, of course, to be added to the cost of bringing the rubber into bearing, but, on the other hand, the weeding will cost less than in Para alone. The coffee must not be allowed to die out. It should be ruthlessly cut out as soon as the branches of the rubber trees meet, and certainly in the beginning of the sixth year. Cacao or cocoa, described in a later chapter, is another catch-crop, but takes longer to give a return and takes more out of the soil. Although the girth of the rubber trees interplanted with coffee or cacao may be somewhat less than trees of the same age planted on jungle ground, the pro- duction of latex is quite as good. Coffee and cacao- crops are obtainable for some years during the growth of the rubber, although they are, of course, a decreasing quantity as the Hevea grows. Furthermore, there is LIFE ON A RUBBER PLANTATION 43 the advantage that the ground remains covered and maintenance accordingly is less ; there is also an absence of fungus. Besides the Hevea, coffee and cacao upon the upper part of this estate, kola, cassava, bananas, paw-paw, and the avocado pear are being cultivated, while fine specimens of the kamoot, lime, annatto, bamboo, Xylophia czthiopica, Parkia africana, and other oil and forest trees abound. All the upper portion is terraced to retain the moisture of the heavy rains, and the plantation is exceptionally fortunate in its numerous streams and irrigation pipes and its four fire belts, each 25 yards wide, preserving it from all kinds of attacks during the otherwise disastrous dry season. The place is also singularly free from many pests, the cricket and woolly aphis being the most trouble- some. These, however, seldom attack rubber. Ginger is grown by tenant farmers all over this district, upon the hillsides, and in the poorer and shallower ground, where ordinary plantation products will not grow. It is generally thought more profitable to let the native grow ginger, the planter buying it at a halfpenny or so per pound less than can be procured at Freetown. In case, however, it should be taken up by white planters upon a large scale, a few hints may not be out of place. Owing to the pungent nature of the shoots, the ginger plant is attacked by very few insect pests, and it has even been recommended that the crop should be planted in orchards to prevent the development of pests of fruit trees. The first indication of disease is a yellowing of the leaves, which droop and wither; the bases of the stems become discoloured and rot, and finally decay spreads to the rhizomes, which disintegrate to form a putrefying mass of tissue. To prevent in- fection of healthy plants every portion of an affected plant must be removed and burnt, whilst the soil itself should be treated with lime, or a light dressing of sulphate of iron may be applied. 44 SIERRA LEOXE In the case of a bad attack, ginger should not be grown on the land for at least three years. The disease is most serious on wet, heavy soils, or in exceptional Iv rainy seasons, and it may be prevented to a large extent by draining the land so that no water lies round the collar of the plant. Great care should be exercised in selecting only healthy rhizomes for planting purposes, any plants with even the slightest trace of disease being rejected. After a bad attack it is advisable to steep the rhizomes for about half an hour in Bordeaux mixture before planting, to destroy any fungoid spores or lymphae on their surface or in the soil clinging to them. Speaking of pests and plant diseases, two serious diseases which have specially to be guarded against in most rubber plantations are fungus and white ants. The fungus lives on tree roots in the jungle and extends itself along the dead roots of rotten wood through the soil. Without the help of such conductive materials it cannot grow. The infection starts with the side roots of the plant, then to the top root. Only when the latter is affected will the tree bear exterior marks of the disease; then the leaves wither and the tree soon falls. Rubber trees of fifteen months to four or five years old are specially exposed to this, not because they are less susceptible beyond these limits of age, but because the fungus requires the first few months to obtain a hold, whereas when the plantation has remained free the first four or five years, it is evident that fungus is not present. The only method of combating fungus is to clear up as cleanly as possible ; dead wood must be dug up, stumps must be taken away and burnt so that there are no sources of infection. A second and im- portant pest is one special variety of "white ant" (Termes gestroi), of which mention is made elsewhere in this volume. si H < 5 Q. w M DC uu a CO >. CO CO 45 CHAPTER VI. NATIVE LIFE, LABOUR, AND INDUSTRY IN THE COLONY. The Canteen and the Compound Different Races and their Characteristics Labour and Wages Women and their Work Marriage Children an Asset Palm Oil and Kernel Industry. " Wherever God erects a house of prayer, The devil always builds a tavern there." So sang the English poet. The African has few houses of prayer ; but wherever there is a native village, there is a canteen and store. If the store has not a canteen to sell liquor, it will sell little else. Once I met a director of a West Africa plantation who was a total abstainer. He objected to selling rum and gin to natives at their store. But the native tramped another two miles to the next store whenever he wanted anything, because he could buy intoxicating liquor there also, so the director gave way and sold rum and gin. Sometimes the store is run by a Creole, sometimes by a European company. Someone who has written about West Africa I believe it is Mrs. Mary Gaunt has spoken of " the weary, dreary life of the trader " and its " ghastly lone- liness." As though the trader were a forced exile, with nothing to do except to sell cotton stuffs, gin, rum, and tobacco to the natives and count the days for his return ! Of course, there are such " traders " at least, they call themselves by this term but such men are usually exiles through their own faults. They could never obtain employment at home, and when they return they are careful not to seek the port or town from which they came. They sit down at a store from about seven- 46 SIERRA LEONE thirty to ten-thirty in the morning, shut up shop for two or three hours while they eat their " chop " just at the time their wares are most needed return for an hour or two in the afternoon, sauntering up to their bungalow about four, and seeking repose from such terrible exhaustion in copious libations of whisky, or occasionally breaking the monotony by threats or actual attempts to fight the manager or other " boss." Even when they are selling goods they will seldom handle the stuff itself ; a native does this, the so-called ** trader " merely taking the cash and giving change. The sooner this type leaves or is eliminated from the Coast the better for West Africa and its investors at home. The really good trader can usually secure a Creole clerk or trader to perform this counter business of course, if he has a European assistant it is preferable while he himself will boat up the rivers and creeks, securing the palm-kernels and any other produce he can lay hands upon, or he will be busy at the wharf receiving consign- ments, or entertaining at the store those natives who have come from various parts to trade with him. To see life in a native village, go to the store on " pay night." There you will see one side of the picture. To see the other, visit the simbeks and the women. The natives here are divided into tenants and labourers. The tenants, mostly Temnes or Creoles, are scattered about on the hillsides bordering on Rokelle or on the low-lying land by the Waterloo creek. The village, or compound of the labourers, is grouped around the store between the high road and the wharf. The labourers include Mendis, Vais, Temnes, and Susus, but chiefly Mendis, the last-named being pure pagans. The Vais, Temnes, and Susus, who are mostly Muhammadans, are domiciled towards the Waterloo end of the plantation. The Mendis are the hardier labourers, the other tribes making better house- boys. Of the Mendis, Temnes, and Susus I shall have NATIVE LIFE, LABOUR, AND INDUSTRY IN THE COLONY 47 more to say later. The Vais are not natives of Sierra Leone. They come from Liberia, and are superior in many ways. They are the only black people in this part of the Coast possessing a literature. They have, however, rightly or wrongly, an un- enviable reputation for homo-sexuality, and the epithet, ollapojiba, frequently bestowed upon them, although horrible, is significant. Like the Temnes and the Susus, they are generally clean and loosely robed preferably in white. The labourers receive from sixpence to ninepence a day, but they are at liberty to gather wild fruits like the mango, plantain, monkey apple, cashew, &c. The Government railway pays the labourer one shilling daily and gives him less supervision. The natural result is that in the dry season many of the plantation labourers leave for the Government service. Labour was so short when I was there that the plants were suffering from lack of watering. The watering, I should mention, is largely performed by hand from supplies brought down from the dams by irrigation pipes. Later, when I went up into the interior, I made an arrangement with the chief to supply the labour deficiency, and devised a scheme whereby they might bring their "mammies" and ** pickins " (children) and settle on the waste parts of the plantation, growing cassava and ginger, as long as they worked for the owners. By this means a con- tinuity of labour is now assured, and a larger and model village is in course of development. The labourers work from 6 to n or 11.30 in the morning, with a short interval for a "snack," and again from about 2 to 5 in the afternoon. The native " drivers " or overseers receive from ,3, the native superintendent 7 a month, hammock-boys and house-boys about 255. to 305. a month. Gam- bling with dice and anything else to hand is a con- summate vice, and quarrels and fights are a frequent result. Rum and gin considerably diluted by the store- keepers are their favourite drinks, and when this and 48 SIERRA LEOXE the dice are in company together, or if the dispute be over women, knives are out, and sometimes life is lost. To pay gambling debts, the natives borrow at enormous- interest either from their drivers or from some rich Creole in the neighbourhood, who often thus obtains control over their belongings after a scrimmage. Life in a native village is not, therefore, so mono- tonous as in many a rural hamlet in more civilized countries. Further, both men and women frequently tramp miles and miles from their homes in search of more remunerative labour or for the gains of trade, so strangers are frequently seen on the high road. Women traders are many in Sierra Leone, especially in fish, fancy work, and articles of dress or ornament. At home, the women look after the piccanninies or children, pound the maize or the coarse millet flour which is made into kusskuss or porridge, cook the rice and fish, peel and prepare the cassava root, boil in cauldrons the palm oil, and sometimes help to crack the kernels. In addition, also, they frequently attend to all the crops around their zimbeks when their lords and masters are labourers upon an adjoining plantation. The " mam- mies " of those who are independent tenant farmers in the Colony attend only to the smaller plants in the immediate vicinity of their homes the tenant farmer having his plots scattered perhaps over a wide area but they have to carry their husband's produce on their heads frequently very heavy bundles to the nearest store or town where it can be realized for cash. I remember seeing a Temne tenant's mammy come into a store carrying 80 Ib. of ginger in a huge sack upon her head, supported, of course, by her hands. Her wretched husband who was by no means a trust- worthy tenant, and who received notice to quit while I was there followed her. He carried a stick in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth. He sat down, while she stood. Receiving the money, he promptly spent a considerable sum in rum, part of which he consumed forthwith without offering her a drop; the remainder, NATIVE LIFE, LABOUR, AND INDUSTRY IN THE COLONY 49 after haggling about the price, he carefully corked up for future private use. Probably here in Africa, as elsewhere, the lot of women whose husbands are attached to one particular spot, and therefore have not had their sympathies broadened by travel and contact, is harder than that of others. Certainly the wife of many a British working man is, allowing for our higher civilization, in no more enviable a position. Here in West Africa, at any rate, no woman is left destitute. There are no old maids, and few young ones. When a man seeks labour else- where on the Coast, or in some distant part of the Colony, he may leave his " mammy " or " mammies " in charge of anyone else. She or they become somebody else's " mammy " for the time being, but they have to be looked after properly. As for children, they are never encumbrances, but assets. The boys have to work for the father and the girls are sold in marriage, often fetching ^"5 or 6. Hence the possession of children is everything both to man and woman ; and she who has had a child without being married is more respected than a childless woman. The only unhappy women appear to be those who are married but child- less. These are not very numerous ; but they are more frequent than would at first be imagined in a land where natural intercourse is less restricted. In few cases does the fault lie with the woman ; entirely perverted sexuality is answerable for much. This is noteworthy from a sociological standpoint, indicating that perver- sion is not merely due to the economic pressure of civilization restricting or retarding marriage. To return to the women's work. I have mentioned the food they prepare from cassava and plantain. Cassava is a shrub growing to about 6 ft. in height, the roots of which grow in clusters, and yield starch and tapioca. The "bitter" cassava root contains prussic acid, which is eliminated by heating, the boiled juice, no longer poisonous, being used for sauces, and called " cassareep." The " sweet " variety can be eaten raw, 4 50 SIERRA LEOXE and is very nice and nourishing when properly peeled and washed. Prepared into meal or cakes, it is even more appetizing. The plantain is a kind of bitter banana, the shrub bearing it resembling our dock weed. When peeled, the plantain is cooked by being wrapped in leaves and steamed like our potato. It is also eaten mashed like our "mealie," usually with a meat or fish sauce. Bananas, mangoes, and other fruit add to their menu. Most interesting of all perhaps are the natives engaged in breaking palm-kernels and extracting the oil by huge boiling cauldrons, some for food and some idc sale and export. A fine belt of palms lies between the railway line and the store ; and in the vicinity of the mangrove swamps. While the women make the oil, the males secure the kernels. The general practice among natives in securing the nuts of the oil palm is to climb the trunk of the tree by the aid of a stout creeper, steps up the tree having been previously made by the bases of the leaves cut off in the course of pruning or cleaning. Arrived at the top, say about 60 ft., the boy severs the bunches by an axe, then, descending, collects them in a heap or heaps, covering them with plantain or banana leaves, and leaving them exposed to the sun for four or five days. The heat causes the fruit to drop away from the stem and the porcupine thorns, which before tenaciously held them. To force the oil from the fibrous pericarp various methods are adopted. Some ferment, some boil, others do both. Palm oil, as prepared by natives from freshly cut fruit for their own use in cook- ing, is a pleasant-smelling and yellow-coloured fat, which is sometimes eaten and relished by Europeans residing in West Africa ; but, as less care is taken in the preparation of the large quantities of oil required for export, together with the length of time elapsing during transport, it is generally very rancid when it reaches the European market. Palm oil extracted from the outer fleshy portion of the fruits of the oil palm is also exported in large quan- NATIVE LIFE, LABOUR, AND INDUSTRY IN THE COLONY 5! titles. The kernels or seeds contained in the nuts or " stones " of the oil palm are obtained by cracking the nuts by hand or by the aid of a nut-cracking machine, after the orange-coloured palm oil has been extracted from the outer pulpy portion of the fruit. The kernels are exported, and the extraction of the kernel oil carried out in Europe. Palm kernel oil is white in colour and of rather softer consistence than palm oil. It is largely used in the manufacture of soaps. The best grades can be employed for the pre- paration of margarine and other modern foodstuffs. Another product of the oil palm which is not so generally known is fibre ; this fibre is of very good quality, and realizes as much as 60 a ton on the Liverpool market. It is the only fibre that is sufficiently fine and strong to make fishing lines, and this is the only use to which it is put by the natives. It is obtained from the young pinnae, the older leaves being too strong and coarse to permit the hand-extraction of the fibre. The process of extraction is laborious, and therefore unremunerative, the cost of the production being as high as ^75 a ton. There remains, however, a possi- bility that a mechanical or a chemical process may be introduced to separate the fibre from the pinnae cheaply. There is an enormous supply of material in the country which at present rots on the ground, and which might be turned to profitable account by very shrewd enterprise, working on more economical lines than the majority of present plantation companies in West Africa. The oil palm, which is indigenous to West Africa, is found generally throughout the country from the sea- board towards the interior, diminishing in those districts where the climate becomes drier, or where rocky and mountainous tracts intervene. It is rarely found be- yond 200 miles from the coast. The most suitable situation is where the soil is generally moist. Swampy, ill-drained land is not favourable. In those parts of the country where there is gravelly laterite over a deep substratum of syenite, trees may abound in considerable 52 SIERRA LEONE numbers, but the trunks of such trees do not acquire the same thickness as those growing in damper or lighter ground. The trees in this district, for example, are not such fine specimens as in the damper Sherbro country. No distinct varieties are recognized by the natives, although distinctive names are applied to the same fruit in different stages of development. Yet there is great disparity between oil palms, both in yield and quality, to the extent of 30 per cent. The oil palm does not thrive in heavy forest, but in open valleys with low undergrowth. The seeds or nuts, which are large and heavy, are distributed by the agency of birds and mammals. The full-grown oil palm attains a height of about 60 ft., and consists of a stem covered throughout its length with the bases of dead leaves, and bearing at the apex a crown of large, pinnate leaves, each of which may be 15 ft. long with leaflets 2 ft. or 3 ft. long. The tree is very slow growing, reaching a height of 6 in. to 9 in. in three years, 12 in. to 18 in. in four or five years, 8 ft. in ten years, and 13 ft. to 14 ft. in fifteen years, and attaining its full height of 60 ft. in about 120 years. The fruits are borne in large bunches termed " heads " or " hands," which are small and numerous when the tree first begins to bear, from the fourth to the eighth year. The oil palm requires little cultivation, but there is no reason why the white planter should not take his place beside the trader, provided he knows the country, the palm, and the people. But he must be wary. Not only must his labour not be handled on the " plantation " system, but his cultivation of the palm must not be indiscriminate. There is great disparity between oil palms in yield and quality, some having thin pericarps and thin-shelled kernels. The first is almost universal in Sierra Leone, but only personal investigation on the spot can say to which variety particular palms belong. Hence the planter and shareholder should be satisfied with no report which does not state this. 53 CHAPTER VII. AMONG KOLAS AND COCONUTS. The Value of Kola How to grow it The Kamoot and its Oil Product The Coconut : How to Plant and Utilize. BETWEEN the store and wharf lies the Christineville kola plantation, interpianted with Ceara rubber and cacao, while between this and Waterloo creek a coco- nut plantation lends real beauty to the scene. The kola nut, sometimes called the bissy or guru nut, has a bitter taste, but a high commercial value, being used by Muhammadan and pagan natives alike as a stimulant and as a symbol at almost every religious or social function. To present two red kolas signifies war ; a white nut, broken in two, proclaims peace. To decide one's luck in hunting or any other business for the day, a kola nut is taken in each hand and tossed in the air. If they fall with both pointed ends towards the thrower, all is well ; if the reverse, it is ill ; if each should point a different way, three throws decide the matter. So indispensable is kola to the daily existence of the Muhammadan natives that some will travel from Northern Nigeria to the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, and even to Gambia and the Senegal Valley to barter or buy their favourite fruit. As coffee is to the Arab, beer to the English, and opium to the Chinese, so is the kola nut to the Hausa, the Songhay, the Fulani, and other native tribes from Gambia to Nigeria. The Hausas the native traders par excellence of Africa are to be found in all the Africa ports, and they convey the kola or guru nuts, delicately wrapped in leaves and packed in large baskets, to sell at a large profit in Kano, Zaria, and 54 SIERRA LEONE Gando, from which places they are often retransported to Wadai, Borum, and even to Khartum. These nuts are white or crimson, and number five to fifteen per pod. When deprived of their seed coats, they are masticated while fresh, being very stimulating and sus- taining, and consequently are used in medicine to prevent fatigue and to stimulate the nerves. The prices at Freetown vary from about 6 IDS. to 13 a measure (176 lb.). There is, however, a huge and constant local demand. The annual value of the kola nuts exported exceeds ; 100,000, but only the throw-outs and under-sized nuts reach Liverpool or London, where, selling at 2jd. to 4d. per lb., they are used as an adulterant for cocoa. The kola of Sierra Leone is more prized than that of any other West African Colony. The trees are exten- sively grown throughout the Protectorate, almost every village having its kola grove, and each tree bearing a value of about 305. With proper cultivation, therefore, a kola tree should yield nearly double that revenue. The native propagates the tree from seeds which he germinates in the mud of the marshes. As soon, as it starts sprouting he sows it at stake. He always chooses a well-shaded spot in the forest that surrounds his town. Unfortunately, he plants his seeds too close together; instead of 18 ft. to 24 ft., he puts them 5 ft. apart. Hav- ing established a few trees, he continues the propagation by layering down the lower branches, and so obtains two or more young trees growing round the larger ones. Thus his kola grove is finally planted with trees 2 ft. apart. The native never attempts to prune off the forked stems, but seems to prefer a number of weak stems and sucker shoots to a healthy tree. In short, he so works his plantation that he gets the minimum possible yield from the maximum number of trees. He also surrounds his trees with " medicine " and makes deep cuts in their stems, and these he believes will cause the trees to bear more fruit. Some of the natives believe red ants help to fructify AMONG KOLAS AND COCONUTS 55 the tree, but the Temnes surround the tree with the blood of chickens or cattle to attract the red ants from the tree, and then kill them en masse. Kola is being extensively grown here, and will one day afford a handsome revenue. Pilfering, however, is very prevalent, and watch-dogs from England have been imported to prevent it. They may catch a few thieves, but will never make dishonest men honest. Even the ruses adopted by native chiefs, mentioned later, are not always successful, and upon a white man's estate dishonesty is apparently not blameworthy to the native, even when followed by quick retribution. Walking from the kola to the coconut plantation, I noticed a boy trespassing on the fish preserves by the river bank. Turning round to keep his eye on me while he devised some means of escape, he forgot his legs were dangling over the bank. Suddenly I saw him disappear. I heard a howl, a splash. Hastening to the spot I saw nothing ; but one of the labourers near told me that the river-god had taken him. I guessed it was a crocodile, yet the following week I saw another trespasser there. Closely allied to the kola is the kamoot, or butter and tallow tree. The fruit of this tree closely resembles the Kola acuminata, and is often placed among genuine kola nuts as an adulterant ; but it does not contain theine like the kola, and it yields fat and tannin, neither of which are to be obtained from the genuine kola. The fat is edible, and can be profitably used in candle making, margarine, and soap manufacture. As much as 41 per cent, of oil has been obtained from the seeds, and ;io a ton has been obtained for the commodity. The Sierra Leoneans and the Mendis do not use the tree; but the Temnes, from whom the name kamoot is borrowed, extract the oil for food purposes in the same way as palm oil. They dry the seeds, parching them over a fire, then pound them in a mortar, add water, and boil, skimming off the fat or oil as it rises to the surface. The tree is propagated by means of seeds, and 56 SIERRA LEONE is usually found near streams, being plentiful in the savannah districts of Sierra Leone, and particularly on the Christineville rubber estates between Rokelle and Waterloo, where it is called by the Mendis " jorrah " or " black mango." It is also plentiful on the Niger River and Congo district, where the natives call it 11 Ngoumi," and a trade is done in it with Europe from French West Africa, where it is called by the name of "Lamy." But it is to the coconut that many people look for wealth in the near future. The coconut is essentially a tropical palm. Though it will grow up to the 25th degree North or South latitude, it rarely ripens fruit beyond 15 North or South. It should never be grown, among Hevea rubber, though it makes an excellent addition to rubber plantation revenue if grown on a separate portion of the estate, as at Christineville. The germination of the seed is not injuriously affected by the immersion of the fruit in sea-water for a considerable period ; it is assumed, therefore, that ocean currents played an important part in dispersing the seed from this region over wide areas prior to the intervention of man. The tree rarely bears profitably until nearly seven years old, and the fruit itself takes nearly a year to mature.. Although intro- duced by man to all the warmer coastal regions of the world, the coconut has never become truly wild, but is always dependent upon human care to enable it to compete with Nature's vegetation. The trunk has been known to attain a height of 100 ft. and a diameter of 18 in., while the leaves are usually 15 ft. to 20 ft. long. The coconut palm is not only one of the handsomest, it is also one of the most valuable of tropical economic plants, its products being of great importance not only to the natives of the countries in which they are pro- duced, but also to the commercial and manufacturing communities of the world, the price of its fruit having increased more than a hundredfold during the last few years. There are many varieties of the tree, causing AMONG KOLAS AND COCONUTS 57 difference in habits of growth, periods of maturity and yield, and, more markedly, in the size, shape and colour of the mature fruits ; but, generally speaking, the coco- nut palm is a light-loving species intolerant of shade, delighting in a maritime climate where the light is strong and there is a constant breeze. Essentially a tropical plant, it requires a considerable amount of heat and moisture to attain full development. An average mean temperature of about 80 F., with little variation throughout the year, is perhaps the most suitable. An average annual rainfall of from 60 in. to 80 in. is advantageous; but as low a rainfall as 45 in., evenly distributed throughout the year, is found sufficient when the palm is growing on fertile, moisture-containing soils. If less than 45 in. is received, artificial irrigation becomes necessary ; while on poor, sandy soils a rainfall of not less than 70 in. is essential, unless there be a flow of water in the subsoil. The soil best suited to the coconut palm is a deep and fertile sandy loam, such as is found in alluvial flats along the sea-coast at the mouths of rivers, or in wide river valleys. It is in such situations and on such soils that the coconut palm is most commonly found to flourish, but it can be grown inland, especially if situated by the banks of a tidal river, the ebb and flow causing ideal conditions. The principal products derived from the coconut palm are : coconuts, copra (the dried kernel of the nut from which coconut oil is expressed), desiccated coconut (prepared from the fresh kernel, and largely used for confectionery purposes), and coir fibre, which is prepared from the husk of the fruit. In tropical countries where the coconut palm is grown, nearly every part of the tree is utilized by the natives. The roots are used as an, astringent in native medicine, and are sometimes chewed as a substitute for betel or areca nuts, sometimes interwoven with fibres to form baskets. The trunk, which, when mature, develops a very hard outer shell, is used to form rafters and pillars 58 SIERRA LEOXK of native buildings. The inner portion of the trunk is too soft to be of value as timber, but the outer portion is capable of taking a tine polish, and is sometimes used in this country in marquetry work and cabinet making. From its peculiar markings, consisting of ebony-like streaks or short lines irregularly disposed over a reddish- brown grain, it is known as " porcupine wood." The leaf-bud or "cabbage" is much appreciated as a vegetable or salad by both natives and Europeans, but to obtain it or to tap the palm for wine the tree has to be sacrificed. Planters need, therefore, to keep a sharp look-out. The fully grown leaves are put to numerous uses. They are formed into mats, baskets, roof-coverings for native huts (ataps or codjans), fences, articles of clothing, and ornaments. The petioles or leaf-stalks are used to make fences and handles for tools, and when cut into short lengths and frayed at the ends they serve as brushes. The midribs of the leaflets furnish a strong elastic fibre that is used for making basket strainers and native fishing tackle. The sheaths produced at the leaf-bases consist of triangular pieces of fibrous material having a woven appearance ; these are cut into various shapes to form mats. The flower spathes, when dried, are used as torches, and are also twisted into coarse ropes after being soaked in water. The water contained in the unripe nut is a cool, refreshing drink that is much appreciated in tropical countries, and constitutes the only available drinking water on some of the smaller oceanic islands ; while the soft creamy kernel of the unripe nut, when flavoured by spices and lime-juice, is eaten as a delicacy. The ripe nuts enter into the composition of numerous native sweetmeats and curries. Coconut milk is pre- pared by grating the fresh kernel and mixing it with a little water and then pressing through a cotton cloth. The liquid which passes through the cloth is an emulsion, consisting of oil suspended in water with a little mucilage and sugar. It resembles milk in appear- Q w S 2 dS i! 5 ! II li AMONG KOLAS AND COCONUTS 59 ance and consistency, and is extensively used in India in the preparation of curries and as a substitute for cow's milk. The oil obtained from the kernel of the nut by boil- ing with water or expression is used as an article of food, and also employed for culinary purposes. The husk is utilized as fuel, and sections are used as brushes ; the fibre of which it is largely composed is made into brushes, yarn, cordage, and matting. The coconut shells are used as fuel, and are also formed into drink- ing vessels and numerous other articles of domestic tise, as well as being carved and polished for ornament. I have seen Kru boys on the steamer using the natural husk, cut into pieces, as a scrubber. Rubber plantations sufficiently near the coast would do well to nurse any coconuts they may possess, and there is room, in spite of the difficulties mentioned, for individual European enterprise in coconut growing, especially in Sierra Leone, in the lowlands surrounding the tidal waters in the Protectorate. Here the Govern- ment have tried to encourage the coconut industry, failing only because of native antipathy. They raise the trees planted by the Government, but neglect to water them, arguing that, because the nuts contain liquid, there is no need to water the young plants. Only the insufficient supply of trees in that part of West Africa and lack of European capital prevent the copra and coir industries from being taken up there by Europeans. Once there is a move in this direction, the possibilities of the coconut,- also, of the piassava palm at present recognized only in the Sherbro district as well as the utilization of the mangrove bark, will become more than problems. 6o CHAPTER VIII. ADVENTURES IN AND ABOUT \YATERLOO. Mountain Climbing and Forest Clearing in the Tropics A Mirage The Harmattan and its Effects A Snake Adventure A Boundary Dispute Land Law of the Colony A Night of Alarm Gambling in " Haunted " Spots Waterloo The Ascot of Sierra Leone Church Parade Native J.P.'s A Devil Dance Meeting a Kwaia King His Followers think I take him Prisoner Invitation to the Temne Territory. A THIN harmattan haze hung over the hills as, one morning, we ascended to the highest portion of the surrounding country about 1,400 ft. high. Apparently we were the first white men to tread this territory. In anticipation of our climb, much of the forest had been cleared during the preceding days, and temporary boundary posts fixed. The highest portion was still clothed in primitive forest, and through this we had to cut our way. Through the grey mist the sun peered out like a fiery ball, presently bursting out in burnished gold. Half-way up a wonderful vision in the haze like a mirage in the desert met our eyes. The range of hills- opposite, on which was situated the bungalow, was- reflected in the sky a curious sight which I never saw again. The harmattan is a hot, dry wind blowing from the desert, and brings with it infinitesimal grains of sand which cause the peculiar haze. Sometimes you can feel the sting of these particles, but often you are un- conscious of them till you rub yourself down. Your towel then appears sand-coloured. This wind is very trying to those with any weakness of chest or lung. The summit was reached in the afternoon and a ADVENTURES IN AND ABOUT WATERLOO 6l splendid view obtained. On the way down a little adventure awaited us. The snakes in this district are not to be despised. A week before I came hither a boa constrictor of consider- able size had been captured. Now I saw a struggle between man and snake (a large kind of viper called by the Mendis tuper) which was dramatic and start- ling. Only by mere chance did I become a spectator, or rather a secondary, instead of the actual object of attack. Half-way down the hillside is a private road, but as it is a short cut over the hills to a native village, it is frequently used without permission by neighbour- ing people visiting their hillside friends. Two such trespassers we suddenly met, and one of my boys went up to warn them when a snake, lying unnoticed by a timber log, and until then apathetic, was suddenly aroused and, stretching itself out, made as though it would coil round the group were it possible. One of the intruders' boys and I successfully evaded it, but the other dusky stranger was not so fortunate. The reptile buried its fangs in one of his arms, and was only prevented from doing further damage by our united attack upon the enemy. The boys, applying a chisel and piece of stick to its mouth, tried to obtain the release of the victim, but this proving useless, only one resource remained. The two boys seized the snake, the victim's companion and I caught hold of the man. Both parties pulled this living rope until the biter and the bitten came asunder at the weakest place, the victim being thankful to escape with the loss of a larger pound of flesh than Shylock would have exacted. He was so overcome, however, with shock, horror, and exhaustion that he became unconscious, and remained thus for a time. We applied a tight ligature, and forced banana juice, taken from the trunk of the plant, down his throat. I heard afterwards that a native medicine man supplemented our efforts by treating him with the leaves of poni gbeho and preparations from the head and gall-bladder of the dead snake. 62 SIERRA LEONE The next day a neighbouring people sent a messenger with a letter in Kru English, asserting that we had trespassed upon and damaged their property, placing: boundary posts on their territory. The people insisted on their removal and threatened reprisals. The land in the Colony, I ought to mention, is held by the Crown. All grants made, contain reservations with regard to roads and other public requirements. The tenure of Crown lands is fee simple, but occupation is also sanctioned under squatters' licence at a nominal rent, and the tenure is then in the nature of a tenancy at will. Under Ordinance No. 14 of 1886, real and personal property may be taken, acquired, held, or dis- posed of by any alien in a manner similar to that allowed to a British-born subject. Fields or waste lands outside town or village limits in the Sierra Leone Peninsula and Sherbro Island must be taken up in lots of not less than 20 nor more than 200 acres. Such lots are disposed of at auction at an upset price of about 55. per acre in the former and about los. in the latter locality. In the Protectorate arrangements may now be made with the chiefs for the lease of tracts of land for long periods on an annual rental agreed to between the applicant and the tribal council, the title requiring the confirmation of the Government. According to native law, the lands of a chiefdom are not the property of the chief, but are held in trust by the chief for the tribe. A chief cannot alienate any portion of the land of a chiefdom, or grant to anyone perpetual rights to any portion, but the lease of land by arrangement with a tribal council, and having Government sanction, should satisfy all requirements with regard to legal title. The land on the other side of the boundary posts we had erected was Crown land held by members of the commune of Rokelle, but they had been encroaching upon this neighbouring territory and did not like the new boundary marks. Their messenger was detained, and a note sent to the headman of Rokelle by means of a passing native, stating that we should hold the whole ADVEXTURKS IX AND ABOUT WATERLOO 63 village responsible for any removal of the boundary posts or any antagonism. That night was an anxious one. The assistant manager considered we had acted high-handedly. Barricades were prepared, guns made ready. Presently, after chop, lights were seen moving about near the high road leading from the next village to ours, close to a spot which was supposed to be haunted. The assistant manager declared that the antagonistic villagers were coming to attack us. I maintained that if they proposed reprisals on our bungalow they would not come near the high road, but through the bush over the hills. It occurred to us, how r ever, that the store on the lower plantation might be their objective. We therefore divided our strength. Two of us, with a house-boy and hammock-boy the two latter very reluctantly stole down the path towards the lights. Before we had gone any appreciable distance, the house- boy suddenly turned round and tremblingly blurted out, " Dem our boys, massa, go gamble." Amid much laughter and great ease of mind, it half dawned upon us and was half explained that the plantation labourers, having been forbidden to play outside the store, had for some time taken dice and hurricane lamps to the spot supposed to be haunted, guessing that there they would be undisturbed. After this little episode the night passed quietly. The next morning the headman of Rokelle and his supporters waited upon us, and, after apologies and lengthy arguments, agreed to leave our boundary marks untouched until the District Commissioner's decision was taken. Their kinsman released, they repaired with us to the store. A little gin and rum wisely distributed clinched the compact. Later on, in the Protectorate, I was asked to act as referee in another boundary difficulty, and since my return home there has been an inquiry as to whether I were coming back, as another dispute required settling. 64 SIERRA LEONE The following day I hammocked into Waterloo to obtain the District Commissioner's sanction to the new boundaries. Waterloo is the second town of importance and size in Sierra Leone, the seat of the District Commissioner for the Headquarters District, the residence of several wealthy Creoles, and the favourite week-end or holiday resort of many of the Freetown population. Pic- turesquely situated and well watered, it will probably rise in prestige and popularity as the Colony advances. At present the District Commissioner is practically the only white resident, and he is not always there. When, therefore, I hammocked into Waterloo my entry aroused no little excitement. White officials and traders are -comparatively so few in this land that in places like Waterloo and Freetown a white stranger is at once detected, and speculation is at once rife as to his identity, mission, and manner. An African is quick to recognize friend or foe, and is fairly accurate in his shrewd guesses at character guesses which he fre- quently does not forget to verify by some subtly devised test. Astonishing also is the rapidity with which your fame or ill-fame, and sometimes even your movements, precede you and circulate even into places which you have no intention of visiting. I discovered later on, when I had left this district for the Rokelle River, that my travels were known, and the precise hour at which I left and returned to Devil Hole duly recorded in many -a native mind. The boundary dispute, which I had assured myself I had definitely settled, was sure to be reopened when the next new white man or manager came upon the estate, if only, as it were, to test his mettle so, at least, Ihe District Commissioner seemed to think, as he formally approved and accepted the boundary lines I had laid down, and promised his support in case of difficulty. Since my return his words have proved true. The relentless law of competition is nowhere so strong as in Africa, and the average black is always striving ADVENTURES IN AND ABOUT WATERLOO 65 to get the better of the white man, even as the average white man seeks to enclose his neighbour's or the common land, or beat his brother in bargaining. Hence another reason for securing good men for management in West Africa. I spent one Easter in Waterloo. Easter is the prin- cipal festival of the year among the converted Christians in Sierra Leone, and right royally is it kept. There is a service in the church with all kinds of musical accom- paniment, and plenty of psalm-singing, in which the converted black man delights. There is a pompous procession of black priests and black choir-boys in white surplices and black cassocks. ^ After this follows the church parade. This is the finest or quaintest sight of all. Bond Street, Hyde Park, and Ascot have serious rivals in Waterloo at Easter time. The immaculate white collars, cuffs, and spats, glossy silk hats, lavender gloves, morning coats, fancy waistcoats, and carefully creased trousers of the masculine portion of the congregation are, to use a colloquial expression, " great." Even the monocle and the gold-knobbed cane are not wanting. As for the "mammies" and "tee-tees," how shall I describe the many-coloured shades of their dresses, ribbons, parasols, and hat millinery, or the languishing effect upon the dusky Reginalds of black Amelia's dainty ankles under cream open-work stockings? The scene was kaleidoscopic and chameleon-like in colour. Nor did I think the European dress looked so incongruous upon these people as many travellers aver. Upon some of the blacks, I admit, it seems misplaced ; but this remark equally applies to certain white people in Europe. Many of these blacks at Waterloo are of families which have been wealthy for more than one generation, and have probably made more than one journey to Europe. Several do not possess the flat nose or the extra thick lips usually associated with their race, for there are many exceptions to general race physiognomy here as in Europe. The only incongruity 5 66 SIERRA LEOXE I was conscious of was the uncomfortableness of such dress in a temperature of 90 F. or more in the shade. I suppose I looked a fearful heathen in white flannels and helmet among this fashionable crowd, but I enjoyed the festival, nevertheless. On the Easter Monday the town was given up to festivity. There is but one proper hotel, and half a guinea a day is charged for accommodation. On Sundays and holidays it is crowded, likewise its gardens. The owner is a rich Creole who possesses much property in Waterloo, and of whom the poorer people stand in great aw T e. He is a Justice of the Peace and Headman of Waterloo. After watching the various sports many organized by British soldiers who come up to Waterloo for the holiday I turned in to tea with Mr. Nicol, another Creole Justice of the Peace, who has a store opposite the hotel. He was an interesting old gentleman, who spoke English well, and had a charming wife and daughter, whom I photographed. His humour was dry but delightful. Asked his opinion concerning another Creole at Freetown, he replied, " Well, I think he must have been born on the Sabbath." Then, see- ing my puzzled look, he added, significantly, " On the seventh day God rested from all his work." He also told me a story of a neighbouring Creole who prosecuted a native trader for stealing a monkey from a batch which the former was conveying for sale. Addressing the magistrate, the prosecutor asked for an example to be made of the accused because " there has been a lot of monkey-stealing lately, and none of us is safe." Easter is a festival of the pagans as well as of the Christians. Only a mile or so on the other side of Waterloo I met a festival party of the Bondu Secret Society, the functions and dances of which I have described in a separate chapter. The devil dance was ADVENTURES IN AND ABOUT WATERLOO 67 in full progress, and all went well until, in a moment of indiscretion, I opened my camera and tried to snap the " devil." Instantly I was surrounded by yelling women using every artifice to screen their idol. It was unnecessary. Quickly I realized that I had made a mistake, and at once rectified it. I explained that I had wanted to photograph the most beautiful woman and had chosen the "devil." The result was electric. The women thronged round their " devil " and communicated the compliment. But the sense of the mysterious, fear of the white man's spell, and fidelity to the cult triumphed over vanity. The inner group encircled their " devil " so as to screen her completely from the camera, while the mensu, or " mistress of ceremonies," explained that her devilship would not permit herself to be snapped. Naturally, I did not press the matter; but I regretted losing so unique a picture. A friend tried to console me later by saying that if all I wanted was a devil any woman would do. I could not share his misogyny. A second visit to Waterloo a week or so later is even more indelibly impressed upon my mind. I hammocked into Waterloo to "chop" with Mr. Lane-Poole, the able Director of Forestry, who spent a few days there during his periodical tour up country. He is one of the most enthusiastic of officials, and I was sorry I could not stay longer with him. The next day, after visiting the creeks and riverside, I proceeded to the hotel for refreshment. As I was being ushered into the best room I noticed a picturesque personage attired in flow- ing robes being escorted out, apparently to leave the room for me. He saluted me with an English " Good afternoon." Seeing he was a native chief of some dignity, and anxious to interview such a person, I motioned him to stay, and invited him to return to the 68 SIERRA LEONE room and partake of some refreshment. He seemed much pleased, and accepted with marked breeding. Scarcely had we started our conversation, however, when there was a tumultuous noise outside. The chief, quickly divining the cause, hurried to the verandah, and, leaning over, addressed a few words to the noisy ones below. A short harangue followed, and the chief, returning to me, asked if I would permit his two head- men to come up and sit in the room, as his retinue out- side had seen their chief return into the room with me, and, jumping to the conclusion that I had taken their king prisoner, were clamouring to come in, and were having an angry palaver with my boys. Much amused, I at once acquiesced. The two headmen came up and the commotion ceased. The headmen had to be pressed considerably before they would accept each a drink. They were still suspicious of me, and they could speak no English, not even the Kru English. Their qualms were soon dispersed, however, when they saw how composed and friendly their chief appeared to be towards me. He spoke English quite well, having been educated at the Chiefs' College, and was gifted with very good intuition. His name signified " smart," and was appropriate to the man. He had plenty of labour available in his domains the upper reaches of Kwaia country he said, and invited me to visit him there, offering to send down carriers to Songo Town to convey me through the bush, or a war-canoe to transport me by water. Knowing that I should have considerable hammocking to do in visiting places off the railway line, I chose the water, and after a few exchanges of compliments he departed for Songo with his retinue. CHAPTER IX. CANOEING ON THE BUNCE AND SIERRA LEONE RIVERS. Arrival of a King's Courier Mangroves The Bullom Shore Electric Launch Service Possibilities of the Waterway, and a New Port A Temne's Devotion Tasso and its History Bunce Island, Tombo, and Gambia. SOON after daybreak one morning there was a stir of excitement in the compound or village around the store. The blast of a bugle was heard among the trees leading from the wharf and creek. A few moments later a courier from the native king arrived at the store and was soon speeding up the plantation towards the bungalow, preceded by two of my boys and followed by the native overseer. He was attired in clean white linen loosely wrapped around him. Upon his head was a long knitted woollen cap of many colours. In one hand he carried his most precious possession, a military bugle, which had seen better days but had never probably been better blown. It had been pur- chased second-hand in Freetown. In the other hand was the missive from the king, his master. I opened the letter, written upon English notepaper, and in English style. It contained a warm welcome to his territory and informed me that his captain, who was the bearer of the missive, would escort me thither with any attendants I might bring. The spelling was absolutely faultless, and the whole epistle should put to the blush many a youth who emerges from some of our schools with a so-called " finished " education and a snobbery and ignorance which classify all people of a darker hue as " niggers " and " uncivilized." The courier was courtesy itself. His natural ease, his low obeisance, the graceful /O SIERRA LEONE manner in which he doffed his cap and handed his master's message were worthy of a European Court. Ordering " chop " to be given to the captain and crew of the boat, I hastily partook of some fruit, scrambled eggs, toast, and tea tempered with lime juice, which I used in place of milk. My house-boy meanwhile gathered together a hurried outfit for river and bush, with provisions, presents, guns, and, not least, fresh water. There was no time to lose. Unless we em- barked by 8 o'clock or 8.30 we should miss the tide at the junction of the Sierra Leone and Bunce Rivers, and have to spend an extra night on the water. The assistant manager of the plantation decided, not without some reluctance, to accompany me. He con- sidered my proposed expedition a mad freak, and in this he was supported by a Government official who arrived on the scene that morning on a tour up the railway line. " As long as a European is on the iron road," said this representative of a race which is second to none in enterprise and exploration, " he is safe; but to visit a native chief, sleep on a native boat, explore unknown bush why, my dear sir, it is absolute madness, especially at this time of the year, the hottest of all months. Besides, sir, these very people you are visiting are the people who gave us the most trouble when they rose against us in 1906. It's not safe; it's uncanny." Since my return I have remembered his words and admit that there was some reason for them. But my mind was then made up. Nothing could deter me. With us went three boys, one Mendi and two Temnes. The first of these showed some fear at first, as he did not like the idea of being the only Mendi boy in the land of a rival tribe. He was, however, quite of a superior order among his race, and a very faithful and trustworthy servant also, and his fears died away with the excitement of a long journey and appreciation at being selected by me to accompany us. The boat was something between a canoe and a surf- CANOEING ON THE BUNCE AND SIERRA LEONE RIVERS /I boat, and Avas not at all uncomfortable. There were six oarsmen and a coxswain, besides the captain. The inevitable drums were on board for the accompaniment to the bugle. A large crowd of boys working upon that part of the plantation nearest to the wharf assembled to see us off, and, as usual among natives, each wanted to carry an article but not more than one to the boat in the expectation of a " dash." Before 8.30 we were well away. As the landing stage of the wharf and the fine old coconut plantation adjoining faded away, there came a momentary reflection that possibly we were taking a hazardous journey and might not see this spot again. Such a feeling, however, rapidly subsided as we gave ourselves up to the pleasures of an African river, the diversities of the aboriginal Temnes, and the opportunities afforded for observation of the adjacent country and its possi- bilities for future enterprise. The Bunce itself gives but a few glimpses of the sport and delight of a tropical river, and our boys reserved their liveliness till it was left behind. We shot a few wildfowl and tried to distinguish other birds which flittered over from the mangroves which hid us from the mainland of the Colony on our left to the low-lying land of the Protectorate on our right. Once only did we see a crocodile. Sport and the dangers of an African river awaited us farther on. For the first few hours, therefore, the surrounding country absorbed our greatest attention, except when the sandbanks in the river caused us occasionally to divert our course and take soundings. There is a good wharf here in a sheltered spot hidden from the main river by the island of mangroves already mentioned. Emerging from this bend of the river and leaving the coconut plantation upon the right, the Bunce flows on\vard towards Waterloo, losing its name as a river and becoming known as Waterloo creek. When I returned to this district later I explored the /^ SIERRA LEONE creek, following the mangrove banks along to Water- loo, demonstrating that a large boat carrying about 3 tons can get up there even in the driest of dry seasons, though not so easily or so quickly as at the wharf, Avhere the water is 6 ft. deep at low tide, afford- ing a good channel for a larger boat or even a small steamer. At this end of the river, on the Waterloo side, are many traces of the evergreen forest. This, by constant clearing in the past, has given place to the intermediate type, fast merging into the secondary or savannah forest where left in the hands of the native, but pre- served to a large extent where, as on the adjacent estate, the land is under European ownership and super- vision. On the other side, on the flat land opposite, is a large kola farm owned by a Creole. Farther down the Bunce the mainland on the left is almost hidden by the mangroves, but the hills behind, many of them clothed in primeval forest, render the scene very picturesque. The mangroves are an interesting group of trees which inhabit the swampy foreshores of tropical coun- tries, where they form forests frequently of vast extent. The barks of all the mangroves appear to contain more or less tannin, but the principal species yield barks containing from 40 to 50 per cent, of tannin. The bark is merely stripped from the stems and branches, broken up into small pieces and dried in the sun, preferably under cover. When dry it is packed into bales weighing about i cwt. On the right the low-lying land is dissected by another river, the Robunce, the source of which apparently lies in the hills behind Polamatot. A little engineering would doubtless join this stream with those running into the Rokelle River and cut a by-way into the latter, thereby saving the long and often treacherous journey round the sandbanks at the junction of the Rokelle and Bunce. From the Robunce our course lay almost right across CANOEING ON THE BUNCE AND SIERRA LEONE RIVERS 73 stream, until the junction was reached, when the wind caused us great trouble, and the oarsmen made little headway. There are sharks in the channel here, so we were naturally anxious lest mishaps should occur. Before us, however, lav a fine sen- and land-scape. The deep blue of the sea and sky, the orange-red of the soil, and the brilliant green slopes of the hills, develop- ing into darker green and brown as they rose higher and higher, made a scene never to be forgotten. On the left, Kline Town glistened in the sunshine, while the mountains behind receded into distance, and the Rokelle River flowed rapidly out to sea. On the right was the broad expanse of water that forms a highway of two or three separate channels to the palm lands of Makene, and the lesser-known territory of the Temnes, in the further reaches of the Kwaia country. This estuary is frequently called the Sierra Leone River. In front of us lay the Bullom shore, a low-lying terri- tory with distant hillsides upon which firewood is cut and from which the leopard frequently saunters to make havoc in the villages of the plain. Of this Bullom shore an early adventurer records : " Under the shade of a tree sat the king in an armchair, dressed in a suit of blue silk, trimmed with silver lace, with a laced hat and ruffled shirt, and shoes and stockings. On each side sat his principal people, and behind him two or three of his wives. This river was formerly a place of great trade for slaves and ivory, but the slave merchants now take a different route. " The natives are originally Suzees, but the principal people call themselves Portuguese, claiming their descent from the colonists of that nation who were formerly settled here, though they do not retain the smallest trace of European extraction. Immoderately fond of liquid, they part with everything they are possessed of to acquire it, and when those means fail they pursue the same course which idle drunkards do in every part of the world : rob and plunder their neighbours, for few apply them- selves to trade." Much export produce comes down these rivers by native canoe and surf-boat, the loaded down trips being made on the current, the tides extending for about forty 74 SIERRA LEONE miles. In the wet season ocean-going cargo boats might ascend the river here for about fifteen miles, but in the " dries " this would be impossible. An electric launch service is, however, run in all seasons between Freetown and Port Lokkoh, the most northerly town of any importance, and a similar service might be arranged between Waterloo and Mahera on the Rokelle River. If a port were established on the Bunce, or farther up on the Rokelle River, much of the riverway commerce would be diverted there, for although the fifteen miles or so to Freetown on the current is nothing to the native, the return journey is no easy matter, the current at this part being very strong. * * , * * Here occurred an incident trivial enough as it seemed, but of more importance, perhaps, than I then realized. The vice-captain of the boat, whom I had previously noticed regarding me curiously when not issuing his orders in lordly style, came to sit behind me in the stern to take his turn at the rudder. The boat gave a lurch as he passed over. Involuntarily I put out my hands to steady him, and his lithe body slipped through them to the seat in the stern. Quickly touch- ing my hands, he expressed his thanks. Then looking full at me, he added, with the little English he had picked up at Freetown, " I love you, massa; you like me!" How could I do otherwise than like this impulsive, outspoken child of Nature ? From that moment, Fodi, who, I discovered later, was the chief's nephew, and whose name, though com- mon among the Temnes, is usually only found among those of royal or warrior descent, took me under his special protection. Although we had brought our own house-boys, Fodi was always at hand to get anything I wanted. When we landed anywhere for any pur- pose, as we were obliged occasionally to do, Fodi alone carried me to dry land, although two natives are usually CANOEING ON THE BUNCE AND SIERRA LEONE RIVERS 75 required to perform this service for a European. Im- perious to his subordinates, surly even to his captain, to me he was always cheerfully obedient and obliging; for me his mouth relaxed and his white teeth were ever showing. From him I learnt all the Temne dialect or language which I could retain, as well as the story of Bai Bureh and the particulars of the Porro Secret Society narrated in subsequent chapters. Now T here, perhaps, more than among primitive races .and where Nature reigns supreme, does luck, chance, coincidence, fate, or whatever else you may term it, play so great a part in one's success, and even in one's continued existence. Personal predilections or uncon- scious affinities are important enough in all European walks of life, and everyone knows how much both faith and distrust are inspired by the subtle forces of attrac- tion and repulsion ; but we Europeans are too much inclined to place ourselves on a pinnacle and conceive it impossible for black and white to feel anything but repulsion or, at least, indifference towards each other. Yet here w r as an aborigine taking a sudden fancy to me and asking reciprocity. And here was I, usually over-cautious if anything in placing my confidence, trusting this Temne as I should never trust some Europeans, and afterwards sleeping soundly and securely on a boat among ten Africans, knowing that one at least was devoted to me and would watch though he could not pray. I should not have dreamed of sleeping similarly among strange Europeans in a strange land without one eye open and one hand on a revolver. The first break of our journey was at Tasso. Tasso is a very pretty island, and, judging from the number of boats which touch there and its geographical situation between Freetown and the convergence of the Sierra Leone and Rokelle Rivers, the petty trade must be enormous. Yet only black or rather Creole traders are there, and the bottled beer and lemonade bore, with- out exception, German labels. /6 SIERRA LEONE Here was established in 1663 the English factory or store of the " Royal Adventurers," a Company which had for its founders the Queen of England, the Duke of York (afterwards James II), and the mother of Charles II. One of the conditions of its many con- cessions was that it should supply 3,000 negro slaves annually to the British West Indies. Tasso, with factory and port, was captured in 1664 by the Dutch under De Ruyter, but by the Treaty of 1667 was restored to the English Adventurers. The subsequent African Company maintained a large slave plantation on this island. Then it fell into the pos- session of the Bullom natives, whose domains lay on the north side of the river. Finally, with Bunce, Tombo, and other islands adjacent, together with a strip of territory a mile in breadth on the north Bullom shore, it was ceded to the British Government in 1824. Along the southern banks of the mainland between Tasso and the next few islands are mangroves in plenty, the branches touching and trailing the water, encum- bered by oysters and barnacles, while fish is abundant in the river. Three other islands are very conspicuous and notable in this highway of rivers. They are known as Bunce, Tombo, and Gambia. The first formed the refuge of the Royal Adventurers' Company after the capture of Tasso. The fort of lime and stone was on a steep rock, the only access to which was by stairs cut in the rock. The walls were mounted with forty-four guns, and over the gate was a platform with five or six pieces of artillery. The trade was in elephants' teeth, beeswax, gold, and negroes, but nothing of this exists to-day. The French pillaged it in 1704; pirates sacked it once more in 1720, seizing the Governor. Tombo, a little farther up the river now nominally under female domination, the chief being Mammy Karu is historically celebrated as the island to which cc ~ U. ji M II si t 5 g I! LU i LU C - . CANOEING ON THE BUNCE AND SIERRA LEONE RIVERS 77 Governor Plunkett escaped from the pirates in 1720, and from which he was ignominiously brought back. The story goes that the Governor cursed and swore so furiously at the pirate chief, who was using similar language, that the other pirates declared their chief to be out-matched. Plunkett, by this means, saved his life and was left \vith the ruined fort. Gambia Island was formerly in possession of the French, who had a garrison and battery of six guns there. It was ceded to Britain in 1802. The soil is rich, but mangrove swamps surround it. CHAPTER X. CANOEING ON THE ROKELLE RIVER. Effects of the Dry Season 130 F. on the Water The Devil Rocks and Port Lokkoh :The War of the Temnes and the Susus A Weird Boat Dance Barbaric Boleros A Crocodile Adventure Hippopotami Stoicism of the Native. " Xumant, Numant," replies the captain, when I inquired why we seemed to be travelling miles out of our course after leaving Tasso and the islands. Numant means " with water," and water is a word full of meanings, just as it is to us. Involuntarily I called to mind that we speak of a person in a predica- ment as being in " hot water " or unable to " keep his head above water," or "all at sea." Could this be the captain's meaning? That we were in " hot " water was certain, for the thermometer I carried registered 130 F., and some of the natives were beginning to feel ill-effects from it, as was also my white companion. But I dismissed this interpretation. Equally unfitting to the occasion were the mouths which " water " at dainty things, or arguments that "won't hold water." Finally, I came to the solution. In the dry season here, boasts require clever navigation, good piloting, and inexhaustible patience, for the Rokelle River is full of sandbanks, rocks, and narrow channels. The captain meant that he followed the water. The dry season was at its height. The exceptional drought was causing anxiety at Freetown lest yellow fever should again break out as in a previous year of extreme drought. I had been in Sierra Leone a month and not a drop of rain had yet fallen. Personally, I had felt no inconvenience, but I began to understand CANOEING ON THE ROKELLE RIVER 79 that one must get tired of living in a place where for long lapses of time no rain falls. Sunlit day after sunlit day apparently palls upon one. The regular coming of the glare and brilliance of the sun in time appears to jar and disquiet the nerves of Europeans. Without rain, light is death, even as dark- ness is death. There is no stillness and desolation such as the stillness and desolation of the parched plain ; no silence like the silence that here abounds on a wide expanse of water with no shady bank. Dead seem the places where no rain falls; dead as the bright shining moon which accompanies our w r orld on its voyage through the heavens. In contemplating such a country one involuntarily conjures up a remote future, when the rain will no longer fall in this world of ours, when seas and oceans, brooks and rivers will be dried up, and the world will journey through the heavens, arid and dead. 3f -X- Our course had led us almost within sight of Port Lokkoh, some miles farther ahead up another channel of this wide confluence of rivers. Now we turned our course to the right. As we did so, the boat-boys seemed to want to air their knowledge of the river and country we were leaving, and thus we heard the story of the war between the Temnes and the Susus which many years ago was waged for the supremacy in this district. Bacca Lokkoh, or Porto Lokkoh, the port from which many Lokkoh people were shipped to be sold at Bunce Island as slaves, is situated about forty miles from Freetown up the Sierra Leone River. At the entrance to this branch of the river are two large rocks called the " Devil Rocks," which are never covered by the highest tide. The natives have a legend that these rocks travel. In past times sacrifices were offered to them. The Temnes, the owners of the country, resided on SO SIERRA LEOXE the north bank of the river, and called their town Old Porto Lokkoh. About the year 1700, permission was granted to the Susu people, who were engaged in the slave trade, to settle on the south bank of the river, which they named Sain Dugu. In process of time the Temnes built another town called Ro Marung, and the Susus built Ro Batt. The Susus, Muhammadans from Mellacouri, in the Morea country, usurped the chief authority in the district, while the Temnes, who were at that time unable to resist, gave them wives and placed many of the children of the principal men at schools under them to learn the Koran. Thus mnnv Temne children were carefully brought up according to the Muhammadan creed, and acquired wealth and power in the country. The Susus at Sain Dugu w r ere of the Sankong family, w r ith a chief called the Almami. This state of affairs continued until about the year 1815, on the assumption of the government by Brimah Konkori Sankong. He was an arbitrary ruler, and the Temnes, thinking themselves oppressed, took up arms in 1816 under Momba Kindo, son of one of the prin- cipal kings of the country. Before taking active measures, Momba Kindo visited the Susus' country to gather information concerning them. Whilst at Malaghea he heard-the title of " Alikarlie " used ; learn- ing that it meant a magistrate or judge, he said he would like to have the title introduced into his country. His wish was granted, and upon paying merchandise to the value of seven slaves (about 20), a turban worn by persons of that title was placed on his head. This was his coronation. As soon as it was over he returned to his country and summoning all the principal men of the Temne country to a private meeting, he bound them individually by oath not to reveal what they should hear. After they had been sworn he proposed that they should take up arms and expel the Susus from the country. This was agreed upon, and he was acknowledged as Alikarlie. An influential Temne chief of Mandingo descent, CANOEING ON THE ROKELLE RIVER 8 1 called Fatma Brimah Camarra, was nominated to be his second in authority for carrying out their plans. Bai Foki, the king of the country, having been offended by the behaviour of the Susus, placed the country under the Alikarlie's management in these words : " My son, you are my son, the country is yours as it is mine. I and your people can no longer bear the insult of these strangers. I place the country in your hands that, with my assistance, and that of the whole country, you drive the Susus out of this land." The Alikarlie said, " Thank you, father, that is all I want. I shall call to my assistance a dear and true- hearted friend, one that will be able to take my place if I fall in the struggle and carry out your wish.'* The Alikarlie then had a drum, called tablay, made, which was to be in possession of none but the king or chief in authority. The plan for attacking the Susus having been made known to all the Temnes, the Alikarlie one morning ordered this drum to be beaten. Hearing this drum for the first time, the Susu Almami at Sain Dugu sent to see if his own tablay was in its place. Being told that it was, he ordered 150 armed men to proceed to Ro Marung and bring the offending tablay, the person who was beating it, and the person who ordered it to be beaten. The Susus proceeded, unaware that more than 500 Temnes were in ambush in a thicket which divided Ro Marung from Sain Dugu and Ro Batt. They were all captured, their arms seized without a gun being fired, and they themselves taken as prisoners to the Alikarlie. Some of the principal men were killed, and five sent back to inform their chief of the intention of the Temnes. From all quarters the Temnes poured into the town. Engagements succeeded one another day after day. The Susus fought desperately, but were defeated, and the Temnes having besieged their stockade until the Susus had exhausted their supplies of water and provisions, the latter surrendered. Sain Dugu was then entered, and the Almami, Brimah 6 8J SIERRA LEONE Konkori, and his chiefs beheaded. Others were sold into slavery. Xone of the Temne women who were wives to the Susus, nor their children, were killed, but were allowed to return to their own families and their adult children given the privilege of citizens. Amongst those who were thus spared were Lamina Lakai, Mis- farray, Booboo Sankong, Adamah Lahai Momoh San- kong, and several others, who afterwards became leading men and Muhammadans. Several of their descendants I met while in the Temne and Susu country. The Susus once played an important part in the history of the Niger Valley, living side by side with the Fulahs or Fulanis, with whom they have intermixed. Both races were given to pastoral pursuits, and some authorities have endeavoured to trace their descent to the Hyksos or Shepherd Kings of Egypt. Many of. them are prominent by their somewhat aquiline features, straight hair, and oval faces. They retain also their love of cattle-dealing and nomadism. A favourite occu- pation also is the making of linen and silk costumes, at which they are very adept. I was so struck with their cleverness in this respect, and also with their pic- turesque garb and apparently clean habits, that I placed the hospitality of a little unused trading shanty on the Waterloo road, near Christineville village, at the dis- posal of a few of these Susus wandering round that country, in the hope that this would form an attraction in that spot and bring in more trade there. While I was there the experiment was answering satisfactorily, but I hear it was discontinued soon after I left, innova- tions of this sort not being appreciated by the average European. Another race worth mentioning at this juncture, because he is often met in the Port Lokkoh country and higher up, is the Mandingo. The pure Mandingo is tall, with long arms, lean, active, intelligent, brave, clever in trading and as an artizan. These qualities make his race dominant among CANOEING ON THE ROKELLE RIVER 83 the tribes of North-West Africa. His marked features are the low brow, long head, and prognathous jaws. The eyes also of this race are longer and narrower than those of the pure negro. With the estuary behind us, and their native Rokelle in front of and around them, the boat-boys became extremely lively. The bugle rang out, the kettle-drums were beaten vigorously, and various noises were added to form an accompaniment to the weird boat-dance in which they now indulged. Instead of sitting in the boat to row r , they w^ould stand on the bottom and place one leg upon the seat. Then they would lift themselves upon the seat with both legs and, while still rowing, each would throw 7 one foot backwards and upwards into the air, balancing upon one foot and not relinquishing the oars. At the same time they chanted a dirge-like ditty or sang some song, which, although evidently to them inspiring, had yet to me a mournful cadence. Some- how I always detected a strain of sadness or mnemonic of melancholy in the music of West Africa, whether it were a barbaric bolero or fierce fantasia on horn or drum. We were now out of salt water and into the brackish, between salt and fresh. The wind was with us, although rather squally, and the boys put up a sail to speed our journey. Rayel Island and Mabombo were passed. Forogudu was in sight. With fresh water now around us we raced through it joyously, when suddenly we were again reminded how near to life is death. Close to a wooded bank was a " hippo " pool. Our captajn directed our attention to it as we sailed rather close to shore. For a few moments we watched these 84 SIERRA LEONE huge, harmless monsters lazily lolling in and out of the water, now exposing their heads with a snort, now disappearing in an almost unrippled pool. So cumber- some are these beasts that they take nearly twenty-four hours to float after being sunk by a shot. Suddenly our boat gave a lurch. Our sail dipped heavily in the water, and a young hippopotamus, till now unperceived by us, disappeared towards the bank. It had evidently wandered into the river too far from home and, frightened at our boat standing between it and the bank, had made a dive to reach the shore and slightly touched our boat. To add to our comfort, or discomfort, we saw at that moment, close at hand, two or three crocodiles basking on a sandbank, anticipating, possibly, a feast. To be capsized in waters infested by these ugly and rapacious reptiles was too horrible to contemplate. I remembered the boy I had seen disappear with a crocodile. I recalled the many stories I had heard concerning these tropical pests, and reflected that a mere blow from one of their tails might mean a broken limb, even if one escaped their jaws. Strange, is it not, how many memories in a moment of peril revive instantaneously and crowd together in the mind ? There was no time, however, for reflection. Instinc- tively all of us threw our weight upon the side of the boat most above water. At the same time one of the boys dexterously unfastened the sail and let it go we recovered it afterwards. Then with the boat half full of water we made for the shore and baled out. Finding a little ammunition dry we tried some ostensibly on the hippopotami, but really upon the crocodiles. Many of these repulsive reptiles are 12 ft. or more in length, and prey upon all fauna, including monkey and man. The crocodile's head is nearly one-fifth of its total length, and from the eyes it tapers down to a blunt snout with a bulbous nose, on the top of which are the nostrils. In basking on the top of the water, all that CANOEING ON THE ROKELLE RIVER 85 is seen is the piece of the head between the eyes and the bulb of the snout above the water-line. When alarmed, he sinks silently below the surface. Like other reptiles, the crocodile takes a long" time to expire, even after a fatal wound. When a good shot tells in the spine, heart, or brain, the tail only quivers gently. A bad shot simply hurries him into the river, in which case, even if mortally wounded, he can only be secured after a day or two, when he floats upwards on his back. \Vhen alive he always swims against the stream. In the event of a good shot, the boat is grounded noiselessly, the loom of an oar placed across the snout, and two boys stand on the flat portion of the oar to keep the jaws closed, while a rope is placed under them, by which to haul him up. There can be little doubt that the crocodiles in some of the rivers are intelligent and possessed of great skill in upsetting light canoes and obtaining a meal. They have been known to seize the arm of a single occupant of a canoe as he stoops to his stroke, and pull the paralysed victim to the depths. Natives are conse- quently very superstitious in crossing infested rivers, A few yards from the bank just here is a large oval- shaped stone, before which a heap of leaves is piled. To ensure safety in crossing, some of the leaves are plucked and rubbed over the forehead, while an in- cantation is muttered, which, being interpreted, means : ' f I am coming across the river; may the crocodile lay down his head." The same fear of the crocodile is manifested by Gold Coast and Nigerian natives. The meat of the crocodile is much appreciated by some African peoples. In this district, however, the crocodile and alligator are, apparently, regarded with superstitious veneration. If a man's evil genius should be supposed to be a crocodile, and he happened to eat some of its flesh, he would contract some skin disease. In some parts of French Guinea, a crocodile is kept in a tank in the centre of a village, fed carefully and 86 SIERRA LEOXE worshipped. Generally, however, the crocodile is loathed, both by the black and the white men. The danger from which we had just escaped had not damped the ardent spirits of our boat-boys, and we had not proceeded far before our craft grounded on the sands, and the boys had to get out and shove her off. They took the opportunity to have a good swim and to wash all their clothes. The Temnes, I ought to mention, are very cleanly ; all the time I was with them I never saw an indecent or unclean action. Those with me in the boat were typical Temne war-boys. When the hippo-crocodile incident occurred, my throat, curiously dry, did not lend itself to conversation, yet they never ceased chattering. The West African is certainly stoical. Seldom does a sigh of regret escape from him. Sorrow is forgotten the day after to-morrow. Faithfully does he live Long- fellow's "Psalm of Life." He lets the "dead past bury its dead " ; he " trusts no future howe'er pleasant," and he " lives in the living present." With a laugh, a jeer, or profound nonchalance, he steps ashore into swamp or jungle, or sports in a crocodile-infested river. A man must live and a man must die how or where it matters little. And his spirit is infectious. You forget the many Europeans at home and in the Coast towns feeling their pulses and examining their tongues, with palpitating hearts and grim visions of malaria and coffins people who would live painlessly like the worm, or prolong indefinitely their rapid existence like the carp, yet unconsciously hugging the shadow of death because they dare not enjoy to-day through trembling piteously for the morrow. And there, there on the Rokelle, enjoying the languor and loveliness of a tropical afternoon, listening to the lapping of waters and watching the nodding palms and the boys dis- porting themselves, there is revealed to you the secret of the happy boyishness of these natives, the defiance ^of death, the joy of life. CHAPTER XI. IN A NATIVE CHIEF'S PALACE. Patriotism of the Temnes Reception by the Chief My Euro- pean Companion becomes Incapacitated Superstitions and their Usefulness Alone in a Strange Land Equipments of a Native Palace Amusements The Principal Wife and her Children The Position of Women Polygyny Tracing Descent through the Mother Marriage of Cousins. TOWARDS sunset, after a long day's journey, there was a cry from the boat-boys " Mahera ! Mahera!" Before us upon a small hill, nestling among palms and profuse tropical vegetation, there appeared a very superior native village, in which the abode of the chief or king stood conspicuous. The sight gave me no less a thrill of pleasure than it did the boat-boys. The heat upon the water had been very trying, and the nearness to death to which we had approached during the day made more welcome the haven of rest to which we were approaching. The enthusiasm of the boys upon seeing their home also added to my sympathy for these natives. Europeans are too apt to treat the African as though he had no tine feelings. Yet there was a ring in those voices, a gleam in those eyes, a reanimated vigour in those tired arms and legs which revealed a patriotism more natural, more inspiring than the utterances of many an educated European upon a political platform. A few minutes more and our boat ran alongside the short towing-path, from which mangroves were entirely absent. Down the steep hilly path winding from the village to the waterside through an evergreen avenue of palms, there descended slowly and majestic- SIERRA LEONE ally a picturesque procession, the chief or king, in robes of state, with his headmen and suite, in gala attire. The chief was clothed in a long flowing robe of white linen, over which hung, like a priest's stole, over either shoulder, a blue silk breadth. Embroidered slippers, which many an English curate might envy, a gold- mounted stick carried as a sceptre, a tinsel crown, and a white umbrella held over him by an attendant, com- pleted an outfit at once dignified, becoming, and artistic. We were received with a warm welcome by the monarch and conducted up the steep and evergreen path. We were offered hammocks and carriers, but I preferred to walk. My European companion, however, gladly availed himself of the conveyance. He felt the heat badly, and the same evening had an attack of malaria, which confined him for the next few days, thus leaving me alone in my wanderings through the Temne country. Two of the boat-boys and one of our attendants were also very much exhausted, and our hosts appeared very surprised that I did not feel the effects of the intense heat. I discovered next day that I was given an un- pronounceable nickname which signified " sun- beloved," because they said " The sun must love massa much." This sobriquet proved very useful to me in subsequent travels among and in dealings and relations with the peoples of the Protectorate, for next to courage and equanimity, and sometimes, perhaps, even in preference to those qualities, there is nothing the West African reveres so much as power or ability to cope with the forces of Nature. Of course, his reason- ing is all objective, i.e., he attributes it not to any inherent or acquired capacity in the person possessing these qualities, but as a gift from the gods. Thus it was "the sun that loved massa," not massa who was able to stand the sun. Similarly, when my Mendi boy felt ill, it was not his stomach or digestion that was out of order. No ! his illness was caused bv the Temne ix A NATIVE CHIEF'S PALACE 89 tribe in whose country he found himself who were poisoning him, or using their medicine charms upon his food. Yet another example I noticed later 'when in the Mendi country. A native had an accident with a gun which exploded and deprived him for a time of the use of his eyes. Instead of telling us he could not see, he informed us " The sun gone dam." Arrived at the top of the hill, we were surprised to find quite a compact village of good-class native dwell- ings, evidently those of the headmen and councillors, an excellent little store, run by the chief, and a com- fortable well-equipped building of stone, wood, bamboo, thatch and mud, which was both roomy and pic- turesque, as well as sanitary. The walls were detached from the roof, which not only covered the building, but protruded on either side, triangular in shape, to wooden supports at front and back, forming porticos on either side, affording shade from the sun, protection from the rains, and a cool and well-distributed ventila- tion throughout the building. A large reception or court-room, tastefully furnished in semi-African, semi- European style, occupied the main part of the building. On the left side were bedrooms, furnished with Euro- pean bedsteads and bedding covered by mosquito nets, enamel toilet sets, and a native rug. On the right were the chief's domestic quarters. After a refreshing meal of soup, chicken, rice, omelette, native fruits and palm wine, a musical box (made in Germany) was set in motion, the chief's principal officials assembling to meet the white man and enjoy the music. After the music there was a display from a cinema lantern (also made in Germany). The pictures were not good, and sometimes could scarcely be distinguished, but the audience did not mind; in fact, they seemed to enjoy any failures of the lantern as much as its success, and were particularly hilarious when the picture appeared upside down. This performance over, the assembly broke up, but not the merriment. Drums and bugles, chatter and 9O SIERRA LEONE laughter continued outside and in the vicinity for hours afterwards. While the merriment was in progress, and afterwards, I had time to observe and converse with the chief's principal wife and advisers. With the former this was easy. She spoke English almost as well as her hus- band, though she had not the advantage of his college education. She had picked up all she knew from her parents, the Bondu Society, and Freetown ; but never had Avoman so profited by all she learnt. Her house- hold was a model one. Though no longer young, she was still a dusky beauty, and her intelligence and skill were amazing. She had heard of and longed to talk about Europe and England, the ways and thoughts of the white people and their children, the streets of London and its amusements, the electric light, the shipping, the parliament, and the churches. Then she showed me her basketwork of many colours, ex- quisitely plaited and tastefully dyed. Involuntarily, one could not but contrast her with a white official's lady farther down on the Coast, whose conversation always hovered between lumbago and the depravities of the black race. Meantime, two of her young boys had calmly seated themselves on my knees. One of these future Nimrods was very loth to let me go when, days afterwards, I took my leave. He wanted to come to England with me, and the chief had to promise that when he was older, and I came again, he should go. Altogether the scene was more like an ideal English home than a remote African palace. All the women of the household seemed happy. The incident related in a previous chapter concerning the tenant's mammy is, therefore, indicative of one side only of the African woman's existence, and that prob- ably after years of married life, and when she has ceased to have children. For, generally speaking, the married woman of Sierra Leone does not begin cooking her husband's meals at once, or even after the first baby is born. Social etiquette demands that the man IN A NATIVE CHIEF S PALACE 9! shall procure somebody to wait upon his wife and fetch water at this time. Further, as an indication that all the natives are not wanting in little courtesies to their women, let me narrate another little incident. In the course of my travels into the interior, I halted one day in a shady nook by the roadside by a little village, where an Arab named Moses supplied lime juice slightly diluted with an intoxicant to travellers. A group of Susus a tribe nearly related to the Temnes, and mostly Muhamma- dans were on the march with womenfolk ; they stopped to take refreshment, and I noticed that in each case the draught was handed to the females before the men partook. I remarked also that among this group the burdens appeared equally shared between the two sexes. Among the more important members of the Temne tribe, the lot of the women is still lighter. Frequently a young w r ife is secluded from the sunlight for about nine months after marriage, doing no work, but re- ceiving guests and becoming much lighter in colour. Many of them are clever with their fingers, especially at basketw T ork and dyeing. I brought back one or two handome specimens given to me by the chief, which were worked by his " mammies." Some of the wives of the chiefs, as I have already indicated, are decidedly superior women. Polygyny is the custom, even among those chiefs who have nominally adopted Christianity. Frequently, however, polygyny is more a name than a deed. The chief with whom I was staying, I soon discovered, had a wife in each village we visited, but in many cases she seemed but an emblem of his authority. Among some West African tribes the wealthy man may have four or more permanent or temporary wives, although actually cohabiting, perhaps, with but one or two, in which case the remainder are leased to other male members of the community. Both permanent and temporary wives take care to secure proper treatment for themselves, and the husband who attempts to avoid 92 SIERRA LEONE this finds himself in an unenviable position. The woman in most West African communities asserts her- self and exercises choice even in temporary marriage arrangements. Among the Mendis, and some other tribes, there are, many women " chiefs." Each is styled "Madame." 1 Madame Yoko was one of their most famous recent chiefs. She was exceedingly progressive, and the Government found her ever ready to co-operate in their experimental planting schemes. Madame Humonyaha, of Nongowa, is perhaps the most noted of female chiefs to-day. At Blama also there is another enterprising' Amazon whose name I have lost ; while at Lubu there is Madame Margow, at Bagbeh Madame Mabaja, and at Nomor Madame Jungar, all excellent women. In the deportation of King Prempey of Ashanti, the queen-mother w r as exiled also, she and not Prempey 's father being of the direct royal stock and therefore the source of that king's authority and heirship to the "stool " or throne of Ashanti. Ask an African chief of those tribes among whom matrilineal descent is still prevalent, why the people prefer the devolution to pass through the females instead of the males. He will look at you with a curious smile and say, " Everyone knows the particular woman who gives birth to a child, but it is more difficult to know the father ; therefore, by tracing descent through the mother, there can be no mistake." Not that the children of West Africa, any more than in Europe, do- not know their own fathers ! As a rule they do ; for even where women maintain relations with several men consecutively, such relations are not simultaneous. Marriage seldom takes place among blood relations. Some tribes object to marriage even between second cousins, and are surprised to learn that such marriages are not prohibited among Europeans. On the other hand, those who can read the English newspapers, or extracts from them in the native press, smile when they hear that Christian ministers will not celebrate a IN A NATIVE CHIEF'S PALACE 93 marriage between a man and his deceased wife's sister, although such a marriage is recognized by law. Women are not permitted to have relations with a man except with the full knowledge and consent of her parents, husband, or other guardian. A breach of this rule means social ostracism for the woman, while the man is tried in the local court and damages awarded to the injured party. If he or his relatives cannot pay he is handed over in pawn to the injured party, to work for and pay the necessary amount. The only excuse for irregular relations or laxity on the part of the woman is in a case of childlessness. If she has been married for any considerable time without signs of becoming a mother, the other women will excuse her among themselves. There is no excuse for the man; he must pay damages. Incest is extremely rare, and is entirely against native custom, being punished by death in the olden days. In this particular chiefdom the advisers to the " stool " or throne were not so easy to comprehend as the chief's wife and nephews. In the first place, the advisers were old men and less inclined to be communicative. Secondly, they only knew a few words of English, and therefore could only speak through the chief or one of his boys or wives. In this chiefdom also the chief was indeed a king. Elsewhere, particu- larly in French Guinea, where certain chiefs are allowed by the Government to wear swords as a mark of rank, this symbol is often the only vestige of authority they possess. Perhaps that is why they are allowed to wear a sword, so that they may really look distinguished. Certainly, in palaver, they seem quite extinguished by their advisers, who really rule, and chime in with answers to questions asked of their chief, before he has time to grasp them (the questions). CHAPTER XII. IN THE TEMNE COUNTRY. Contrasts between Chief s Products of the Country Quaint Devices against Theft Stfry of Muhammad and the Palm Agricultural Implements Cacao, Bananas, and Mangoes- Rice and Bermiseed Improvidence of the Natives. THE next few days were devoted to touring the Temne country. My host tramped or canoed me to all his villages and afterwards conducted me to another native chief some miles away, whose hospitality was as generous, although wilder and more barbaric. My first host was primarily and essentially a lover of agri- cultural and pastoral pursuits, the second was evidently a warrior and lover of the chase, so I had ample oppor- tunities of enjoying both these aspects of native life and custom. First, then, as to the products and methods of these interesting people. My host was naturally anxious to show me his rubber, his palm and his kola trees. His rubber was immature, his palms and kolas in good bearing condition. Most interesting was the ingenuity displayed against theft. In order to keep their subjects from plucking the fruit of their more valuable trees, especially before complete ripening has taken place, the chiefs resort to several devices, each of which indicates a " taboo " and is called a " porro." Upon the kola trees I noticed sheets of parchment hung. Upon them were Arabic characters, but when I tried to decipher them, the chief smilingly assured me that they formed no sentences, but were sufficient, by the "porro" or curse which was attached to the characters, to warn both followers IN THE TEMNE COUNTRY 95 and travellers from interfering with the trees. This chief was not a Muhammadan, but many people in this district have embraced that faith, and this, coupled with the fact thai the kola nut is very much prized by the Muhammadans, may account for the interdict being in Arabic, and, unless I am much mistaken, in characters deemed sacred by the more superstitious followers of that religion. A more subtle sociological reason attaches to a taboo or "' porro " of another kind which is used to preserve the oil palm and the coconut palm from depredations. A branch of another palm is hung head downwards with strips of white calico fastened to it. The strips indicate the virginity or immaturity of the tree, and the hanging position of the branch is said to indicate the punishment which will fall on the head of one who steals therefrom. But the tying of the branch of another palm to the tree during the time of fruition is evidently a survival of the customary method by which the date palm is fructified by the Arabs. The date palm, as everyone probably knows, is of two kinds, the pollen-bearing and the fruit-bearing. In its wild state the wind carries the dust of the one to the flower of the other. Where the date is cultivated, the branches of the former are tied to the latter during the flowering season so that the pollen falls upon the flowers and fertilizes them, each of the pollen grains emitting a little tube which penetrates the pistil and fructifies the flower. Of course, the majority of people who tie the branches of the wilder palm to the more cultivated tree are ignorant of the botanical reasons ,* they do it because it is the custom, justified by experi- ence and results. The story goes I will not vouch for its authenticity that the great Muhammad, noticing that his people practised this little device probably with a ceremony in earlier days and regarding it as a superstition, forbade it. Consequently his disciples had the mortification to see the dates of the unbeliever ripening and yielding a harvest, w r hile their ow r n flowers 96 SIERRA LEONE withered on the trees. At that time, being practically dependent upon the date, it was a choice for them between starvation and faith-surrender. Realizing his mistake, Muhammad issued the famous edict that Allah allowed the true believers to pillage the property of their enemies, and his immediate followers forgot the date palm in their successful career of conquest. To return to the " porro " on the palm kernels and kolas, which prohibits the multitude from plucking a single nut. This practice was at one time indulged in by the chiefs, not merely to safeguard the fruit from premature picking, but to prevent it being picked at all by any except themselves or their favourites, the "porro" being placed upon the trees for years to- gether. This interfered so much with trade that the Government passed an Ordinance in 1897 forbidding this imposition upon indigenous products. Besides rubber, palms, and kolas, the chief was growing cacao, and on the way to his maturer cacao plantation I was able to observe some of the tools used by the labourers. The native agricultural implements consist chiefly of a straight-handled, narrow-bladed hoe, called " kari " (Mendi) or " katala (Temne), and one formed from an angled stick with a charred point, called " bawoe " (Mendi) or " kelal" (Temne). This last is used for drilling. In addition to these, a large broad-bladed hoe, called " karu wai " (Mendi) or " katala habana " (Temne), is employed for cleaning out weeds and scraping the soil surface, which is often the only cultivation the growing crop receives. The chief was rightly proud of his cacao, but the results would be better for wider planting and weeding. The native planter sows the seeds in small patches or in roughly prepared beds in the vicinity of water, often so closely as to choke a number of the young plants. Native plantations are for the most part formed of irregular lines of trees, generally planted too closely. The evil effect of this becomes apparent when the trees A CACAO PLANTATION IN SIERRA LEONE SHOWING PODS ON SPECIALLY PRUNED TREE. Face p. 96. IN THE TEMNE COUNTRY 97 attain a large size. Then the excessive shade they afford to their fruit-bearing branches, which, in cacao, consists of the trunk and main structure, prevents the fruit from forming and induces rot through want of evaporation of moisture. The native planter is slow to recognize this, and dis- inclined to remedy the matter by removing some of the trees. I noticed the cacao trees were frequently but 7 to 10 ft. apart, whereas from 12 to 15 ft. apart would be more suitable for the best results; the density of foliage, however, with such close planting soon makes w r eeding practically unnecessary. The native cacao grower collects the pods from his trees at the time when he can gather the most, and, in consequence, many over-ripe and under-ripe fruits are taken with the ripe ones. This gives an irregular product which can never possess the attributes of a good cacao. The pods are usually pulled off the tree, a knife being seldom used, and in the action of pulling off, the cushion upon which the pod is borne is often torn and injured. As it is from this point, or near it, that the successive crops of flowers and fruits proceed, the bearing power of the tree is thus frequently diminished. The pods after collection are thrown into a heap upon the ground, and are often left without further attention for two or three days, after which they are broken open with the aid of a " cutlass " and the con- tents are scooped out into a basket. The result is a mixture of beans, in their surrounding pulp, in dif- ferent stages of maturity. After washing, the beans are spread thinly upon mats raised upon rough frames in order to dry them in the sun. In plantations directed by Europeans, the first flowers are not allowed to produce pods as this exhausts the immature tree. Bananas are 'used for temporary shading purposes, affording also a paying catch-crop. Rubber is sometimes adopted as a permanent shade 7 98 SIERRA LEONE tree, but during the rubber boom, cacao has been cut out for the sake of the growing rubber. Cacao is worth more attention from planters. It produces a crop in the fourth year and bears nearly all the year round from that time, with an average crop of from i Ib. to 7 Ib. per tree. From the seventh to the tenth year it arrives at full maturity. Cacao plantations shaded by the handsome broad-fringed leaves of the banana plant present a pleasing picture. Banana trees yield but one cluster of fruit, but this alone weighs nearly half a hundredweight. The natives use the outer part of the stem as manure and the inner portion as sponge and soap and as an anti- dote to snake-bite. With the ripe fruit they make beer. Farther in the forest you may find the wild banana with its large bitter seeds and tasteless pulp. All that remains of these seeds in the plantation banana are the tiny specks which have lost their function, the culti- vated plant reproducing itself by shoots from its base. The mango is another fruit tree abundant in Sierra Leone, but the fruit of the West African mango has a more oily taste than its eastern brother. If you want to eat a mango get into a bath. As you bite it the fruit, not the bath you will find the inside fibre comes out and smears your face with the luscious pulp. From the kernel of the wild variety, which I have mentioned with more detail in my book on "West Africa," is made the celebrated " Dika " bread, and its oil would make a good substitute for butter. Here in the Temne country and the vicinity of Port Lokkoh, the finest quality of rice is grown, and the husking of this is a prolonged process of drying, with- out previously soaking, this rice only requiring to be thoroughly dried before the husk will separate on pounding. Though a large quantity of rice is grown, much remains unharvested, owing to the improvidence of the native. The pf*ice just after harvesting may fall as low as 35. 6d. per bushel, but a few months later it may reach three times that amount, for the Pro- IN THE TEMNE COUNTRY 99 tectorate native realizes at once upon his crop, with- out taking the precaution to lay in a store for his future requirements. In consequence of this he is com- pelled to buy back supplies for his own consumption at a much enhanced rate. The Creole or other trader at the Coast takes advantage of this improvidence and profits considerably. A corner could easily be made in rice by an enterprising trader with adequate storage accommodation, the rice being stored as " paddy," as hereafter explained. The crop is reaped by cutting the stalks in practically the same way as wheat. Then the crop is tied up into bundles and placed to dry on the field, or piled up on the earth banks, or arranged over bamboo poles. The grains are removed by some simple form of threshing, or by drawing the stalks through a narrow slit so that they are pulled off. Each grain is now separate and covered by the outer brown or otherwise coloured husk. Rice in this state is called " paddy," and may be, and often is, stored in this condition, as it is found to keep better in the Tropics than when the husk is removed. The disease " beriberi," believed to be due to the con- dition of rice, more frequently attacks the men of a village, away perhaps on a hunting or other expedition, than the women who remain at home. The women at home can pound daily the rice they require, whilst the men take a supply of cleaned rice to last the whole time of their expedition. This cleaned rice, being stored for some time, is more likely to become infested by the fungus which appears to play a part in pro- ducing beriberi than the small quantities prepared daily. Hence the reason for storing the grain as " paddy." The West African frequently renders rice more appetizing ' by boiling with it a piece of salt fish or salt pork, large quantities of which figure in the list of imports of a negro population. Rice cannot by itself be made into bread, as it contains little gluten. But it is very easily digested and of great benefit to invalids IOC SIERRA LEONE who cannot readily take starchy vegetables, such as potatoes. It is used almost universally by black and white people in place of "mealies." The straw of the plant is a fairly good fodder for cattle. The husks or chaff are useful for manure and in a variety of other ways. Rice, bran, and the mixture of broken grains, dust, &c., are valuable cattle foods. Rice polish is the most nutritious of the by-products w r hich result from the milling and cleaning of rice. Benniseed and cassava form side-crops which come to maturity at different periods of the year. Cassava I have already described. Benniseed is like the " til " or " gingelly " of India. The seeds are pale or dark brown in colour, according to the variety of the plant, and the oil extracted from them is yellow, clear, and non-smelling, besides possessing the power of preserva- tion for a long time without becoming rancid. It could be used in Europe for making butter substitutes and for mixing with olive oil, although it appears only to be used locally for food purposes at present. The seedcake forms a valuable cattle food and good manure, but as cattle are scarce here it is only used for the latter purpose, and frequently wasted. In Northern Nigeria the plant is grown in separate fields, but here it is grown as one of three crops, each coming to maturity at different periods of the year. JO I CHAPTER XIII. NATIVE AMUSEMENTS BY DAYLIGHT, AND MOONLIGHT. ... ....... Reception by another Chief Hospitality of- tiie*' African The Balangi Music The Courier and his Horse The Tsetse-fly and Sleeping Sickness The Hammock Dance The Sword and Torch Dance by Moonlight The Story of the Hut Tax and Temne Rising Bai Bureh and his Exploits. TOWARDS midday, under a sweltering sun, we arrived at a clean and prosperous village, from whence the echo of much music and merriment proceeded. From the zimbeks on the outskirts we were reinforced by a number of native stragglers, who were apparently unused to seeing a European with a native chief and his retinue, and naturally anxious to know our business. Thus we made our way to the chief's abode. In a commodious verandah, reclining in a hammock, enjoy- ing some music and dances, and surrounded by wives and attendants, I saw a broad and ponderous figure, every inch a chief. He left his hammock slowly to greet his brother chief and me, but as he could speak but a few words of English, the other chief acted as interpreter. Chickens were at once slaughtered, eggs sprang up like mushrooms, and palm wine appeared as at the rubbing of a magic ring. The hospitality of the Africans has been noticed by almost every traveller who has been much among them, and I cordially endorse their verdict. In travelling* through many parts of their country, when seeking refuge from the rains, or tired with heat, fatigue, and hunger, I have met with a welcome and hospitable reception on arriving at their villages : mats have been brought out for us to repose on, and if it happened to IO2 SIERRA LEONE be meal-time, we have been at liberty to join them with- out ceremony, or to wait till something better could be provided. If we intended to spend the night there, a house has been set apart for us, and on taking leave in the morning a guide has generously offered to show us on our way. Reciprocating their delicate attentions, and wishing I had brought more presents, I passed round tobacco and cigarettes a 1 ways appreciated in West Africa and asked that the musical festivities might not be interfered with. Accordingly the players, who were seated in the roadway, struck once more their balangi instruments. The " balangi " is usually made from the wood of a dead rosewood tree, cut to the proper size, and then laid in the ground to season ; after about six months it is taken out, cleaned up, thoroughly oiled, and placed in the sun (during dry season) for a few weeks. It is then ready for use and the strings are fitted. A similar instrument is made from a gourd, partly covered with goat skins, and narrow cross-pieces of bamboo nailed over it. The music is produced by striking the bamboo pieces with sticks. Two men played and two girls danced. When the latter rested, those around joined in a kind of chorus chant, at once weird and fascinating. Suddenly the music ceased. The players made a hasty retreat to the nearest hut behind them. The villagers drew up on either side of the road. There was a clatter of hoofs. A horse the first I had seen in Sierra Leone came galloping in at racing speed. Suddenly it was reined in by its rider, stopping before the chief's residence. The rider, evidently a courier of the chief, was arrayed in a long white robe. The horse was decorated with gay trappings, but was prac- tically saddleless. The bit in its mouth was of rough iron with a ring through which its tongue was thrust. The rider, who carried a kind of spear or lance with white ribbons attached, alighted from his curious iron NATIVE AMUSEMENTS BY DAYLIGHT AND MOONLIGHT IO3 stirrups, saluted and delivered his message: Whatever it was, the chief received the communication without any relaxation of his muscles or other sign of interest. The courier retired with his steed ; the villagers re- squatted ; the musicians again plied their instruments and repeated their melancholy and weird airs. But the music had no longer any charm for me. That picturesque rider, his sudden entrance, and the steed he rode had distracted my thoughts and fascinated my interest. Here was another contradiction of the Government handbooks, which tell you there are no horses in Sierra Leone, and that they cannot live in this country. I discovered a few more mis-statements before I left Sierra Leone. The horses that I saw were young indeed, I should say they were ridden at too young an age and some of the bits used had a spike which pricked the roofs of their mouths, lacerating them in time. From the information I gathered, the horses are bred in and imported from the French Sudan. The horses are never castrated as the natives have a super- stition that a gelded horse always dies. The idea that the horse cannot live in Sierra Leone is probably due to the knowledge of the prevalence of the tsetse-fly, which is believed to convey the disease " trypanosomiasis," so fatal to horses and cattle. The truth is, however, that this insect and its accompanying disease are quite local, certain districts being exempt from their ravages. In such districts cattle are more frequently found than horses ; but it must be remem- bered that horses being used for covering long dis- tances might pass through an infected zone and catch the disease. Perhaps it would be as well to record that the other districts in which I noticed the absence of the tsetse-fly were (a) in the Konnoh country, by the Meli River on the Guinea and Liberia frontiers, and (b) in the Colony area between Waterloo and Rokelle, where cattle are being bred and reared with success. Yet in both of these districts, and especially IO4 SIERRA LEONE in the latter, the antelope is plentiful. Now the ante- lope is considered by some theorists on " sleeping sickness" to be the chief reservoir in which the virus is stored, because, " in these animals, the trypanosomes or parasites which cause the disease flourish plentifully, while the animals themselves are immune." A Royal Commission is now sitting to inquire into the causes of this disease and suggest remedies, but like the Commissions on the Civil Service, Post Office servants, and other similar Commissions, it has appa- rently pre-determined its verdict, as, before inviting a witness to give evidence, inquiry is made from him as to the kind of evidence he wishes to produce. In the cool of the afternoon I was privileged to witness a native dance known as the " hammock dance." Upon two upright poles, 20 to 30 ft. high, strutted in rather primitive fashion, an ordinary grass hammock is stretched. A number of men and women, forming a kind of orchestra and chorus, then commence playing a series of weird tunes, and singing songs, extolling the virtues and wonderful powers of the person about to dance. As the music continues, the crowd grows larger and larger, the newcomers join in the chorus and increase the din and excitement. The principal performer dances round and round, gesticulating and shouting to his admiring audience and arousing himself and them to a high state of excitement. Suddenly he rushes towards one of the poles and clambers up into the hammock. First balancing himself while standing erect, he appears to fall, but saves himself by catching the hammock, or, dropping from the erect position, will hang on by one leg and one arm or by both legs. As a kind of encore he revolves the hammock almost on its own axis, wind- ing himself up, and then unwinding himself again. Between each feat there is an interval, during which orchestra and chorus beguile the admiring audience, NATIVE AMUSEMENTS BY DAYLIGHT AND MOONLIGHT 10$ which competes with the music by its chatter and criticism. The performance lasted about an hour, but 1 am told that it sometimes continues for hours, until performers and audience alike are exhausted or over- come with drink. Another dance, a kind of Avar dance, is even more vividly impressed upon my memory. A spacious ring is formed by the spectators. At the beating of the tom-toms or sang-bois, each warrior steps into the centre, stripped naked but for a cloth about his loins. Magnificent muscular specimens they appear as they move in the light of the flickering torches. Caps or coloured handkerchiefs circle their heads. The arms, knees, and ankles of every dancer are hung with bunches of fetish charms. Each man is armed with a heavy-bladed sword, which, before the people could afford guns, was their favourite weapon in war. On first entering the ring each warrior advances to the centre. There he stands like a chocolate statue, gazing, sword in hand, at the assembling audience. Meantime the beating of drums and throbbing of tom- toms continue and grow louder. The performer holds out his blade at arm's length, and with the point describes great circles with a sweep and a swiftness that the eye can scarcely follow, cleaving the air in lightning flashes above his head, or flitting in fiery arches round his body, while the thud of tom-tom and drum is redoubled and the onlookers enthusiastically applaud. The dancer has, by this time, worked himself into a fearful frenzy. One can see naught of his whirling blade save a few steely sparks in the moonbeams. Then twirling and dancing round the circle, when excitement is at its height, and the dance at its climax, the warrior suddenly bounds across to where you or his chief is sitting, and driving his weapon, point foremost, into the ground, crouches at your feet. As this move was quite unexpected, the reader can guess the sort of shiver I experienced momentarily as IO6 SIERRA LKOM-; the warrior rushed thus in my direction. Before tin- end of the dance, however, I was able to endure it without feeling a throb or moving a muscle. No sooner has one man finished his frolic than his place is taken by another, the people crowding round the ring and becoming more and more excited as the dance proceeds, while the quick throbbing tom-toms lend an adscititious accompaniment to the general din. The scene that night under a tropical moon was in- deed brilliant and bizarre. In front the cleared ring, looking like an enchanted circle, in which, instead of fairies, chocolate warriors danced and pirouetted ; around it a restless, chattering, shouting crowed of fantastically garbed natives; behind, the dim outline of the village huts, and, in the background, the dark forest. Around the chief's table that night there was ex- plained to me the story of the rising of the Temnes in 1898. In 1896 the Governor held a big meeting at Matina- for, in the Kwaia country, to explain the Protectorate Ordinance and also the proposed scheme of taxation to several paramount chiefs. Every owner of a habitable house in the Protectorate was, from January I, 1898, to be liable henceforth to an annual tax of five shillings, and for houses of four rooms or more, ten shillings ; whilst for every village whose number of houses was under twenty no tax would be imposed. The amount could either be paid in cash or kind, that is, one bushel of rice or one bushel of palm kernels, taken at its trade value, as equivalent to cash. The tax was not a hard one compared with similar taxes in Liberia, British Central Africa, and Basuto- land, and the majority of the people could probably have met it, as they since have done. Yet it was more strongly resented than the Indian tax in Natal. Probably the manner in which it was imposed, the overwhelming officialism with which a decree or new NATIVE AMUSEMENTS BY DAYLIGHT AND MOONLIGHT 1O? rule is promulgated, whether at home, in a Government office, or in a Crown Colony, caused the first spark. The Temnes refused to pay. The Mendis followed the lead of the Temnes. Soon all along these banks there sped the messengers of death bearing the burnt palm leaf, emblem of destruction, and the two red kolas, signifying war. Some of the horrors of that futile war 1 have recounted in another chapter. To the credit of the Temnes, be it said, that atrocities are not accounted .against them. They are truly soldiers, and they fought gamely and well. Their casualties were few, consider- ing the ammunition spent upon them, and they sent down the white people from their midst when war began, without perpetrating the deeds which blackened the Mendis. The rebellion was ultimately suppressed, and a por- tion of the Temnes' territory was added to the Colony. But one West African chief at least left a lasting name behind him as a result of the rebellion. Bai Bureh, who ruled over the Kassi country, was not only a man of keen intelligence, but a renowned and successful leader, whose warlike influence extended beyond the confines of his own kingdom. The Bai Kabalai, as he was sometimes called, was an ally of the British in the 1892 campaign. His military qualities had also been proved and established when he led the Temnes to victory against the Susus in 1873. His name was a household word for miles around, and, like that of Napoleon in Europe, was used by village mothers to still their crying babes. Bai Bureh led the Temnes in revolt against the hut tax and successfully defied the power of Britain for many months, thereby making for himself a name that will never die among that tribe. Like many another renowned warrior, Bai Bureh was not born to leader- ship, and was not even of chiefly rank. Entirely through his own ability in warfare he rose to command. T08 CHAPTER XIV. HUNTING AND THE CHASE IN SIERRA LEONE. Licences, Laws, and Customs relative to Big Game Hunting Elephant Hunting and its Dangers The Pigmy Hippo. The Leopard, and how to trap him Giraffes A Monkey Hunt Story of the Origin of Monkeys The Antelope and Kob. AMONG other sports in this interesting country is one common to all sorts of men from time immemorial, the hunting of wild beasts and game. In this the native enjoys more privileges than the European, being exempt from most of the restrictions imposed upon the latter. With the exception of guinea birds or other fowl, no non-native may hunt, kill, or capture any wild animal in the Colony or Protectorate without a licence from the Governor, and once granted a licence, must keep within the strict terms of such licence. The Governor, before issuing a permit or licence, may require the applicant to sign an agreement, promising first to observe native rights, giving the forequarter of the animal killed to the chief or headman of the town at which the licensee is residing; and secondly, that during the residence of any hunting expedition in the district, every licensee shall apply to the chief or head- man of a town for the necessary accommodation for himself and his followers, each house being paid for at the rate of is. per day. All such payments to be made to the owner of the house. The Governor may also require a deposit (100 or any less amount) as security for one's compliance with the terms of the licence. The Governor, before issuing a licence, may modify HUNTING AND THE CHASE IN SIERRA LEONE 109 it by prohibiting the killing or capturing of more than one of the wild animals, or the hunting of any par- ticular wild animal mentioned in any licence ; or by add- ing to the list of wild animals in any licence prohibited to be hunted, the names of any other wild animals. Every licensee before he begins hunting has to register his licence in the office of the District Com- missioner in whose district he intends to shoot. If a licence be lost or destroyed, the licensee may, on payment of a fee not exceeding one-fifth of the original, obtain a fresh licence for the remainder of the term for which his former licence was available. Licences are either " qualified " or " full " licences. The former gives permission to hunt any wild animal except elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotami. This costs i os. a year to a Government officer, ^"3 to others. The full licence to include the killing or capturing of not more than two of each of the three classes of big game just mentioned costs ,5 to a Government officer and 28 to others. Every licensee has to make a return of his sport each year, the penalty for breach of this or other clauses being ^25 fine or six months' imprisonment. Licences to hunt elephants are issued only upon the following conditions : (1) The applicant shall produce a certificate signed, in the case of a military officer by his commanding officer, and! in the case of other persons by the Colonial Secretary or a District Com- missioner, that he is in possession of a rifle which will fire a charge of not less than 70 gr. of cordite or other explosive of equivalent force, and a bullet of not less than 480 gr. in weight, and that he is in possession of a licence to carry the said rifle. (2) The applicant shall sign an agreement containing the following conditions : (a) The licensee shall under no circumstances in the first in- stance fire at any elephant with any weapon which shall fire a lesser charge of explosive or a lighter bullet than those herein- before described. (b) The licensee will not employ any person to hunt elephants on his behalf. (c) The licensee shall report the killing of every elephant by HO SIERRA LEONE him to the District Commissioner of the district in which such elephant is killed, within thirty days from the date of the killing of such elephant, and the licensee shall at the same time furnish to the District Commissioner the name of the chiefdom in which such elephant is killed. (d) The licensee shall give a present of 2 for each elephant killed by him to the paramount chief of the chiefdom in which such elephant is killed. To provide for the payments mentioned, the licensee may on his arrival in any district be required by the District Commissioner of such district to deposit the sum of ^4 by way of security for the proper carrying out of the last-mentioned condition ; and the District Commissioner is hereby authorized to pay to the para- mount chief of the chiefdom in which the elephants are killed from the amount of ^"4 deposited with him as aforesaid a sum not exceeding 2 for each elephant killed. If the licensee does not kill any elephants the amount of 4 deposited by him will be returned to him, or if he kills only one elephant, 2 of the amount deposited by him will be returned to him. No elephant's tusk weighing less than 25 Ib. may be sold or bartered, or attempted to be sold or bartered, and any person selling or bartering or attempting to sell or barter any such tusk is guilty of an offence, and every such tusk sold or bartered or attempted to be sold or bartered is forfeited to His Majesty. This last regulation applies to natives as well as non-natives. The West African elephant differs from that of East and Central Africa in its smaller and more rounded ear, in the shape of the body and relative height of the back. Elephant-hunting in any form is not a game for weaklings or cowards. Even with a 470 D.B. Express you want all your wits and your nerves in encountering the elephant, for he has much sagacity at the back of his enormous strength, and defends himself when attacked with a counter-attack which, for resolute ferocity, is more dangerous than that of a tiger or a HUNTING AND THE CHASE IN SIERRA LEONE III lion. Elephant-hunting with the best of armament is dangerous, and only a very cool brain and steady hand can successfully encounter the charge of a wounded tusker, for even at close quarters the vulnerable spots are few and only to be reached by deliberate well-placed shots. A slight inaccuracy of aim in the case of other animals might not affect the stopping power of the bullet, but it may cost the elephant-hunter his life. Sir Frederick Lugard, Abel Chapman, and the late Samuel Baker, all redoubtable African sportsmen, considered the elephant the most dangerous of big game to hunt, though Selous and Roosevelt give the palm to the lion. Lions, hoAvever, are not now to be met with in Sierra Leone, so the specimen in the London Zoological Gardens must be a curiosity of a bygone age. Hippos, are plentiful in the Rokelle and Kittam Rivers ; and here also is to be found the pigmy hippo- potamus, walking on the two middle toes, and possess- ing only one pair of incisor teeth in both jaws instead of four, like the ordinary hippo. The best and cheapest equipment for the " full " licensee is probably a '303 magazine rifle with soft- nosed cartridges. Sierra Leone, however, is not exactly the place for big game hunting. Elephants have been driven to the northern extremes of the Colony, though they abound in the Gola district, as mentioned later. The buffalo may also be found, especially among the hills of Hastings, in the Colony. Four hundred guineas has been offered for a live specimen, but no one has yet claimed the money. Leopards, however, are plentiful. I found them here in the vicinity of the higher reaches of the Rokelle River in the Protectorate, around the forest-clad hills at the back of Christineville and Hastings in the Colony, and on the Bullom shore, where they were making considerable depredations when I was there, raiding native farms and carrying off young children. 112 SIERRA LEONE as well as chickens. They usually roam about in couples, and as the skin of the West African leopard is handsomer than* that of the Asiatic, it is in great demand. As a rule, however, the leopard is a difficult customer to meet. He rarely comes out of his lair until dark; his step is stealthy, and he seldom attacks you from the front, except when wounded, when his spring is so sure that he who can evade it at close quarters must indeed be favoured by the gods. As it is practically impossible in the ordinary way to secure personally a good leopard skin, except at close quarters with a good revolver, leopards and similar marauding beasts are sometimes destroyed by the following method. A Long Dane gun heavily charged is securely fastened to two posts, with its butt resting on, and its muzzle about 2 ft. therefrom; a large piece of meat is placed round the muzzle, while a. string passed round a post connects the meat to the trigger. Provided he is stand- ing in the proper position when he tries to pull the meat from the muzzle, the leopard is shot. One other way to secure a leopard is to entice him to a bungalow by tying up a goat outside, say on a moonlight night, when a good shot may be obtainable from the verandah or a mud hut door. An occasional giraffe may be seen near the French Guinea frontier, but the natives do not seem to hunt them. There is a story that once a man trapped and shot a giraffe, but his body became swollen and his skin cracked and split. Finally he died in great agony (probably from elephantiasis). During my stay in this neighbourhood my hosts had prepared a special hunting amusement for me one, moreover, which had the greater fascination for them because it was profitable. The natives, by the way, scarcely ever kill for sport, but for utility. Now mon- keys fetch a price, besides being mischievous to planted areas; occasionally, therefore a special hunt is organized. HUNTING AND THE CHASE IN SIERRA LEONE 113 The monkeys usually take to special trees, in which they pass the night ; in this way a troop is marked down and surrounded at night by the young men of two or three villages, accompanied by every available dog or dingo whenever such is possessed. Fires are lighted until daybreak, when the monkeys are driven out of the trees, and the hunt commences. No guns are allowed (for obvious reasons), but swords and sticks are used, and if the hunt is well organized less than 50 per cent, of the troop breaks through the cordon. The dogs are of the greatest help, and in their excite- ment tackle the monkeys quite fearlessly. After one of these drives I saw eighty " captives " brought in, tied hand and foot, and hung on poles. Most of these were quite young monkeys, but there were also a few grown ones, all of whom died in a day or two, probably from injuries. The young suckling monkeys are generally carried clinging underneath the stomach of the mother. When pursued and hard pressed the mother will retain them in that position as long as possible, but when she con- siders herself about to be caught she snatches them out and flings them aside without abating her pace. Two other kinds of monkey are found in the Sierra Leone forests, the tailless lemurs and the chimpanzee. I never saw a gorilla, and I am informed his chief home is in the Cameroons. Here is a story prevalent concerning the origin of monkeys. Many years ago, white, black, red, and yellow men lived together, feeding upon fish, in a country through which a river flowed. The fish prayed to the gods that for one day in each week men might be prohibited from catching or eating them. The prayer was granted, and man was commanded accord- ingly. All went well for a time, but one day several men of differerit colours disobeyed the deity and caught some fish. For this they and their wives and children were changed into monkeys. The antelopes to be found in Sierra Leone are chieflv 8 114 SIERRA LEONE of the Cobus Kob variety, recognized at once by the distinct black line on the forelegs. Only the bucks carry horns, but several of the female beasts stand 30 in. at the shoulder and weigh over 100 Ib. So fond are they of lying in the grass during cer- tain seasons that the bucks will not attempt to rise until the guns are nearly on them. Herds of Kob usually consist of from six to twenty females and young animals, with one or two big bucks only, or else entirely of males old bucks, and half-grown animals which, as their horns are small, are often mistaken for does. As soon as the males are old enough to interest the females of the herd, they are turned out by the regular herd bucks to triumph elsewhere. They are beautiful animals and cover the ground rapidly, but they have a fatal habit of curiosity, and will turn broadside to their pursuers to stare at them. Native hunting of the antelope or duiker is crude, cruel, and confusing. The hunters congregate on a path, with the wind for preference, armed with flint- locks, old metal, sharp stones, and iron nails. Boys carrying tom-toms or old tins on which to make a noise rush into the bush and set the grass on fire, beating their tins or tom-toms at the same time. The scared animals rush against the wind into the hunters' path, and are there assailed by deafening and deathly volleys. The carnage is great, but it is a marvel that some of the natives do not maim each other. Sometimes, also, pits are dug to a depth of several feet with a sharpened stake inserted to impale beasts. Strangers have been known to fall into these traps. Such pits were extensively used during the war in 1898. All sorts of deer abound in different parts of Sierra Leone, so that with a "qualified " licence those enjoy- ing or having time for hunting can obtain good sport. Many primitive hunters venerate the beasts they slay, and their veneration appears to be proportioned partly to the power and partly to the utility of the creature. HUNTING AND THE CHASE IN SIERRA LEONE 115 Many African tribes take the utmost pains to pro- pitiate an elephant or a lion after he is killed, lest his ghost should haunt them, or his tribe carry on a ven- detta to avenge him. In this respect they resemble the people of Kamchatka, who take elaborate pains to persuade a dead bear that Russians and not natives killed him. Totemism and the imitation of animals for the pur- pose of semi-religious and magical purposes also pre- vail. I have dealt with this phase of West African life in the chapter on "Secret Societies." CHAPTER XV. SLEEPING IN THE BUSH AND ON THE RIVER. Rokon, Mabundu, and the higher reaches of the Rokelle Bivouacking in the Bush The Fascination and Dangers of the Forest Sleeping among Natives on a Canoe A Forest Fire The Sacred Fire Makana and its Oil Palms The Sele River The Konnoh District Novel Cow-driving The Lime and the Ground-nut Back at Mahera A Tornado Return to Christineville My European Companion contracts Sunstroke. THE Temne country stretches for about ninety miles from west to east, bounded by the ocean and the Koranko country respectively. From the north where it is bounded by the Mandingo and Limba countries to the south where Yonnis and Mendis meet it is about fifty miles. At one time it was much larger in extent. There are four districts, each ruled by a para- mount chief. From Rokon the Rokelle River takes a long winding course to Yonnipet, and a far more winding ramble from there north-east to Lungi and Rosint, then drop- ping south to Mabundu ; but there is a forest path from Rokon to Yonnipet, through which one can hammock, and a more circuitous cut from there to Mabundu through which you can only scramble. But it saves miles of river journey, and in the hot, dry weather is cooler. More comfortable also the bush would be, but that at night, when you are obliged to bivouack as best you may, you have to chance being attacked by wild beasts and scorpions, not to speak of mosquitoes and other insects. During this journey, and on the return, I had the SLEEPING IN THE BUSH AND ON THE RIVER 1 1/ experience of spending a night both in the bush and on the river, and I can honestly say that I enjoyed the latter better and slept sounder during the night on the canoe, although my resting-place was harder and more uncomfortable. There is something unearthly about the bush, although there, after all, one is only with Nature in one of her primeval moods. The African forest is not the sylvan wood in which poets revel, or to which, as Nietzsche remarks, " Men go not to find but to lose and forget themselves, because the desire to get away from oneself is proper to all weaklings and those who are discontented with themselves." Verily one may lose oneself here in an African forest, even in the elephant grass of the half savannah land, where each successive open space tells you nothing, when you are lost, save that you are lost. But to forget yourself you dare not ! Far worse is it in the jungle still to be found near the Nimmini mountains and along the Liberian frontier. There the huge trees groan beneath the weight of lianes intertwined, while the ground, greasy with plantain fruits and kindred juices, suddenly dips down into some unseen valley, where bats hang like withered leaves, or flap past like spectral gray shadows, and the hum of insects fills the air with gloomy gloat- ing symphonies. The uncanny silence of the midday is succeeded by the weirdest of noises in the evening, when the animal and insect world seeks its prey among mankind. But evening on a tropical river is yet more fascinat- ing. Never shall I forget one night spent upon the Rokelle River with naught but the dark blue velvet dome of a tropical sky for a canopy, none but a native chief, his seven boat-boys, and my own black attendant for companions. The night w r as clear and starry, yet the waters which lapped lightly beside us seemed almost black. Occa- sionally a sandbank would appear white and clear in the moonbeams, and lights would gleam from the river- Il8 SIERRA LEONE bank, where natives indulged in music and merriment, the sounds of which came floating upon the breeze. Here and there a forest fire lighted with lurid glare the heavens, and silhouetted the trees and huts upon the banks against the dark blue sky. One such fire was a splendid spectacle of leaping, hissing flame, enveloping everything and terrifying alike the beasts of the forest, the insects, and the birds, except perhaps the hawks, which seemed oblivious of the heat, and hovered above selecting the most tempting victim scared upward by the forest's funeral pyre. These bush fires are both a bane and a boon to West Africa. Forests are destroyed, and the face of the country spoiled for many a year. Yet swarms of insects, which multiply during the rains, are thereby suffocated. To sleep in the bush also is impossible without lighting a fire and maintaining it. Only those who have tended a fire for twelve hours can realize how much wood is needed where coal is not used. Such fires, by the way, are watched by a woman usually an old woman when natives are tramping for trade with their womenfolk; and it is a disgrace once attended by very severe penalties to allow the fire to expire. From this very ancient custom, perhaps, was derived the cult of the Vestal Virgins in Rome, the custom of keeping the sacred fire burning still being retained in some Roman Catholic chapels and convents. I am afraid I should have made a sorry Vestal Virgin ; for, while watching one of these forest fires from the boat, I fell asleep, and knew no more till the morn. I have often thought since that that sleep might easily have been my last. This portion of the Rokelle River, and the forest district spreading through Yonni, is less frequented