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A RESIDENCE 
 
 AT 
 
 SIERRA LEONE. 
 
 DESCRIBED FROM A JOURNAL KEPT OX THE SPOT, AXD FROM 
 LETTERS WRITTEN TO FRIENDS AT HOME. 
 
 (,^^\^J^^^, '■'' 
 
 s. 
 
 BY A LADY. ,, 
 
 EDITED 
 
 BY THE HON. MRS. NORTON. 
 
 ,\y > ' ,' 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 
 
 1849. 
 
■ < ■ ' \ ' ^ " »'•• •> t 
 
 » • n « 
 
 London : Printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street. 
 

 / 
 
 TO 
 
 LADY GRAHAM OF NETHERBY, 
 
 THE 
 FOLLOWING PAGES AKE GRATEFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY 
 
 INSCllIBED BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 997291. 
 
( V ) 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In offering this little work to the Public, the Author craves 
 indulgence for the trivial matter it contains. It is chiefly com- 
 piled from a journal she kept for her own amusement, and a few 
 of her letters to home friends. It might, probably, have been 
 rendered more entertaining by observations and anecdotes con- 
 nected ^vith the European society of the colony ; but it would 
 have been difficult — if not impossible — in a place where the 
 white community is so limited, to have introduced anything of 
 that nature without incurring the imputation of personality. 
 
 The writer has also avoided touching much on the slave-trade, 
 although a subject in which she has always felt the deepest 
 interest ; and not the least at tliis moment, when so strong a 
 party seems to advocate a total abandonment of those noble 
 efforts which have, for nearly half a centurj^, so highly distin- 
 guished Great Britain amongst the nations of Europe. 
 
 But whilst disclaiming all intention of discussing the merits 
 of a great political question, the Author trusts it may not be 
 deemed either out of place, or presumptuous, if she avail herself 
 of this opportunity to add her voice, however feeble, to the 
 testimony of those who declare that, were the squadron with- 
 drawn from the scene of its gallant exertions in the cause of 
 humanity, the West Coast of Africa would become a den of 
 pirates, who would rapidly sweep away all traces of that civiliza- 
 tion which has been effected at the sacrifice of so much British 
 blood and treasure. 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 And here a tribute is due to the Missionaries for their un- 
 wearying zeal for the benefit of the colony. To them unques- 
 tionably is to be mainly ascribed the state of education and 
 enlightenment attained by the black population of Sierra Leone, 
 which is higher than is generally credited in this country, and 
 has, especially of late years — notwithstanding the continual im- 
 portations of fresh barbarians — greatly advanced. 
 
 To the gifted lady who, perhaps judging too partially of their 
 humble pretensions, kindly edits these pages, the Author now 
 begs to tender her most cordial acknowledgments. 
 
 March, 1849, 
 
( vii ) 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Voyage out — Tornado — View of Sierra Leone — Black Boatmen — Palms 
 
 — Banana and Plantain Trees — Beauty of Landing-place — European 
 Residence — Strange Trees and Shrubs — Incessant Noise of Insects — 
 Novel Breakfast — Race-course — Tropical Scenery — Rose-apple — 
 Drive to Freetown — Household Perplexities — Sea-breeze — Harmat- 
 tau — Fruit and Vegetables — Prices of Provisions . . Page 1 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Negro Market-people — Devil Offerings — Pleasant Country Drive — 
 Signal Stations — African Sempstress — Petah — Colonial Arrangement 
 of Furniture — Cockroaches — > Freetown Noises — Talking Shoes — 
 Travelling Merchants . . . . • • • .17 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Removal to a Mountain Abode — Reasons for preferring the Country to 
 Town — African Mode of conveying Luggage, &c. — Difficulty of obtain- 
 ing Female Servants — Coral and Amber Ornaments — Negro Mothers 
 and Dauffhters — First Tornadoes of the Season — Roofs of Houses — 
 Palm Cabbage — Sour Sops and Sweet Sops — Pawpaw Trees — Gourd 
 Vessels ......••••• 30 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Pureness of the Mountain Air — Birds — Objects in keeping a Journal — 
 Palanquin Travelling — Sierra Leone " Bush" — The House on the 
 Hill — Sunrise — Mahommedan Call to Prayers — Ants in the Store-room 
 
 — Cocoa-nut Trees — Guavas — Magnificent View — Grass-fields — 
 Mount Oriel — Flowers — Locusts — Red Ants — Coffee Shrubs — 
 Bug-a-bugs — Larder and Cupboard Economy — Talipat and other 
 Palms — Morning Scenes and Sounds — Mango Trees — Bamboos — 
 Bermuda Grass — Lizards and Snakes . . . . .37 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 « 
 
 Flight of Locusts — Noxious Exhalations — Ride to Mount Oriel — Ruined 
 Cottage — View of Bullom Shore — Solitary Grave — Rough Roads — 
 Dreary Mountain Scenery — Salutations of the Natives — Strange At- 
 mospheric Picture — Flying Ants — Mason Bees — Out-door Improve- 
 ments — Plants — Specimen of Negro Intellect — Acquirements of 
 Female Domestics — Isles de Los — Sangaree Mountains — Leopard's 
 Island 50 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Changes in the Weather — Sail in the Offing — Anchorage Localities of 
 different Vessels — The Middle Ground — Anxiety for Home Letters — 
 Ship from England — Country Vegetables — National Dishes — Manu- 
 facture of Cayenne Pepper .»•..• Page 62 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 Narrow Escape in a Tornado — Violence of such Storms — Native Hut 
 destroyed by Lightning — Another Locust Visitation — Crickets — Little 
 Apprentices — The Niger Steamers — Slave Vessels — Damp of the 
 Climate — Swarm of Fat Ants — Rainy Season Vegetation — Beautiful 
 Flowers — Best Method of preserving Health in the Tropics — A Snake 
 in the House ......•••• 69 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Wet Weather — Cassada Rats — Deer — Bamboo Thatch — Country Um- 
 brellas — Rapid Growth of Plants — Walk to the Brook in the Ravine — 
 Excessive Humidity of the Atmosphere — An Unexpected Visit — Mon- 
 keys — Travelling Ants — Whimsical Gown-Patterns — Magnetic and 
 Musical Stones .......•• 79 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 Discomforts of the Rainy Season — Dense Fogs — Fine Days — Brilliant 
 tinted Foliage — Humming-birds — Palm-birds — Whydah Finch — 
 Rice Buntings — Butterflies — Millepedes — Spiders — Description of a 
 Tornado — Continued heavy Rain — Bush Novelties . . .86 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Tropic Storms — Worshippers of Lightning — Garden in a Glen — Beau- 
 tiful wild Fig-tree ■ — Parasitical Vegetation — Bush Ropes — " Knife- 
 grass " — " Chouca-choucas "' — Sky-birds — Interest excited by Vessels 
 coming into Harbour — Thoughts in Rhyme . . • .94 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 Effects of the Harmattan — Grasses — Anecdote — Migrations of Europeans 
 
 — Loss of Friends — Christmas " Bunyahs " — Pincushion Plants — 
 Negro Gifts — White Mists — Dry Season Prospect — Cotton Shrub — 
 
 — Farms — Birds .....»..•. 103 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 Method of watering Garden — European Vegetables in African Soil — Sorrel 
 Beer — Black Cooks — Negro Patois — Sweet Potatoes — Marketing 
 Troubles — Fishing Boats — News of the Niger Expedition — Fanning 
 Rice — Burnt Trunks of gigantic Trees — Malaguetta Pepper and other 
 Plants — Green Locusts — Chameleons — Snails . . .110 
 
CONTENTS. ix 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Fires iu Freetown — Bush Burnings — African Cows — Goats — Squirrels 
 
 — Monkeys — Bush Cats Page 117 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Attack of Climate Fever — Black Nurse — Indolence of Settlers — Wild 
 Country Ride — A Native Farm — Bush Thieves — Anecdote . 121 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 Prevalence of Ill-health in the Household — Attempts at Housebreaking — 
 Mangoes — Magnificent Moth . . . . . . .128 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Change of Climate recommended — Gloom of the Weather during the 
 Rainy and Tornado Seasons — Difiiculty of getting a fresh stock of 
 Work-box Indispensables — Set about making Little Shoes — Reluctance 
 of Sempstresses to ascend the Hill . . . . • .130 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Climatorial Discomforts — Bright-coloured Beetles — Portuguese Slaver — 
 Arrival of the Prince de Joinville — Music on board the French Frigate 
 
 — Power of the English Flag — A Spanish Man-of-war — Night- Alarms 
 
 — Weary Reign of the Harmattan — New Fruit — Sea-breezes — Wealth 
 of Spain 134 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 Homeward-bound Vessels — Preparations for a Sea Voyage — Ague and 
 Anxiety — Instances of Kind-heartedness in a Liberated African Woman 
 
 — Palm-oil — A Comet ........ 141 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 Embarkation for England — A Leak — Accommodations — View from the 
 Ship — • A careful Helmsman — Fever on Board — Master and Men — 
 Scarcity of Provisions — Last Evening on Deck — Daily Discomforts — 
 Friendly Vessels — Anecdote of a Pirate — The Queen's Birth-day — 
 Sailor's Gratitude — The Azores — Cold AVeather — Heavy Gale — The 
 English Coast — A Fishing-boat — Row to Hastings — Night Journey to 
 London ........... 146 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 Return to Sierra Leone — Passengers . . . . » .173 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 View of Madeira — Case of African Fever — Arrival at Sierra Leone — 
 Evening Ride — Burying Grounds — Unsettled state of the House — 
 " Cooking" Clothes — Improvements — Flower of Soursop — Fire on 
 Mount Oriel — Burning Trees — Colonial Superstitions — Cocoa-Nuts 
 
 — The White Man's Grave Page 176 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 The Zigzag — Mountain Paths — Village of Leicester — Elephants — 
 A Leopard — Orange Grove — Climate Hinderances to Excursions — 
 Story of the Kobloo War — Mandingo Merchant — Leather Pouches 
 
 — Marmalade-making — Illness of a Pony — First Vessel from Home 
 since the V " Agouchee " — Water Melon — Storm Curtains . 187 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 
 Ague — The " Rains " — Baobabs — Village Church and Congregation 
 
 — Melancholy Loss of a Boat — A Morning Walk — Early Market- 
 goers — Gradual Distaste of Europeans for African Vegetables — Dogs 
 
 — Unfrequency of Communication with England a great privation 194 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 Horrors of the Harmattan — Household Revolution — Natti-barra — 
 Mistakes made by domestic Novices — Visit of a Bride — Negro mode 
 of Washing 201 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 Moonlight — A Tornado — Difficulty of Civilizing a Barbarian — Fanyah 
 
 — Flower-seeds — Associations with the Names of particular Flowers — 
 Gardenias — A Vision of British Scenery 204 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 Slavers — Contested Cases — Equipment Articles — Evasion of the Treaties 
 by Slave Captains — Mixed Commission Courts — H. M. S. Cruisers — 
 Slave Trade — Names of captured Vessels ..... 208 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 Expiration of our Treaty with Brazil — Incursion of Travelling Ants — 
 Spiders — Mantis — Bungo Mason-bees — Waterspout — A Lost Child 
 
 — Ludicrous Mistake — Touraco — " Kill-Fowls " — Equestrian Inter- 
 ruptions — Grey Grizzel — Cape Coast Conveyances — Mango Tree 
 killed by Lightning . . . . . • . • .216^ 
 
CONTENTS. xi 
 
 LETTER XXVIIL 
 
 H. M. S. " Eclair " — First Conviction of the Pestilent Nature of the Climate 
 
 — Impaired Health of even the Acclimatized — A Self-willed Donkey — 
 Phases of the Sierra Leone Landscape — Verdure of our own Hill — 
 New Mode of carrying Pigs — Fanyah's History — Caterpillars — 
 Unwelcome Kecollections Page 224 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 The Settlers — Mr. Clarkson — Trials of the Infant Colony — Attack by 
 the French — Timmanee rising — The " Widow's Brook " — Influence 
 of a Missionary's Wife — Mrs. Kilham 231 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 Thieving propensities of newly emancipated Negroes — Reasons for the 
 decay of the Settlers' fortunes — Their animosity towards the Liberated 
 People — Sick-nurses — Jubilee Dinner — Freetown Spring Fashions — 
 Sukey Webb — Visit to the Site of a Settler's Farm Cottage . . 240 
 
 LETTER XXXI. 
 
 First hasty Impressions regarding the Natives — Second Considerations — 
 Missionaries — Love of Learning displayed by Liberated Africans — 
 Domestic Servants — Their Fondness for Writing — An " Affectionate 
 Butcher " — Good disposition of a little Kosso Girl — Different Tribes 
 
 — National Marks — Ornaments . . . . . .251 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 Airs assumed by the Colony-born Children of Liberated Africans — Trading 
 Speculations — State of Agriculture — Sellers of Rice — Jamaica Coco 
 
 — Vegetable Gridiron — Freetown Market-place — Wooden Dressing 
 Combs — Mats and Baskets — Country-made Furniture — Different kinds 
 of Wood — Mason and Carpenter Work — Negro Domiciles — Supersti- 
 tions — Aku Devils — Dancing — Gree-grees — Watch-huts — A Grazing 
 Farm — Pilfering Habits of the Blacks — " Never die " — Comparison 
 between Sierra Leone and West Indian Negroes in favour of the former 
 
 — Usual rate of Servants' Wages — A pertinacious Thief — Glow-worms 
 
 — A Cricket in the Store-room — Colony-fed Beef and Mutton . 260 
 
 LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 Maroons — Joloffs — Timmanees — Kroomen — Mandingoes — Foulahs — 
 " Cork-Trees " — '" White Coral-Tree " — New Bush Path — Thickness 
 of stems of Climbers here — Brown Plum-tree — Cluster of Palm Nuts 
 
 — Manufacture of Palm Oil — Palm Wine — Uses of the Palm Tree — 
 Beautiful Flowers . . . . . . . • .275 
 
xii CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER XXXIY. 
 
 Sudden changes of the Atmosphere — " Ting-bing " — Bats — " Cut-grass " 
 
 — Young Alligator — Fruit of Bush Plants — Forest Trees — Monkey 
 Locust — Doves — " Pepper Bird " — Christmas and Mocking Birds — 
 Kingfishers, &c. — Palm-Bird's Nest — Convolvuluses — Acacias — 
 Tamarind Trees — The " Rose Eater " . . . . Page 284 
 
 LETTER XXXV. 
 
 Rainbows — Amaryllis — Ginger — Parting notice of favourite Flowers — 
 Hog Plum — Poverty of Fruits indigenous to Africa, as compared with 
 those of other tropical climates — Water-lemon — Guava jelly — Kolas 
 
 — Cashew-nut — Cinnamon-tree — Talacuna — Fungus — Orchideous 
 Plants 296 
 
 LETTER XXXYI. 
 
 Ill Health — Benefit of Tornadoes — A lingering Gaze at African Scenery 
 
 — Fourah Bay Institution — Snakes — Freaks of the Ting-bing . 302 
 
 LETTER XXXVIL 
 
 Sight the Irish Coast — A Retrospect — Choosing a Vessel — Farewells — 
 Final Leave of the Hill — Hospitable Friends — Bread-Fruit — Embark- 
 ation — Last Look of Sierra Leone — Books — Death of the Ting-bing — 
 Cape de Verde Islands — Negro Steersmen — A motley Crew — Chim- 
 panzee — Monkeys — Baboon — Parrots — Gale off the Western Islands 
 
 — Fair Wind — Sea Anemones — A Polite Pirate — Comfort of a 
 Filter 306 
 
 LETTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Bays, Rocks, and Islands — Irish Boatmen — Fish — Crookhaven — Cape 
 Clear — Stags of Castlehaven — Dangerous Position of our Ship oif the 
 Old Head of Kinsale — Seven Heads — Courtmacsherry Bay — Clear the 
 Old Head at last — Sight of a White Woman . . . .318 
 
 LETTER XXXIX. 
 
 Hubbub on entering the Cove — Health Inspectors — Quarantine — Wet 
 Weather — Scenery around — Anxiety to be set at large — Confusion 
 on Deck — An Irish Blunder — Grumblings thereat . . .325 
 
 LETTER XL. 
 
 Admitted to Pratique — Sail up the Lee — City of Cork — Irish Cars — 
 Costume of the Lower Classes — Gloomy thoughts banished by remem- 
 brance of past Mercies ........ 331 
 
 Appendix 333 
 
^ ■* ^ ^ 
 
 ' 1 ' , > » 
 
 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Voyage out — Tornado — View of Sierra Leone — Black Boatmen — Palms 
 
 — Banana and Plantain Trees — Beauty of Landing-place — European 
 Residence — Strange Trees and Shrubs — Incessant Noise of Insects — 
 Novel Breakfast — Race-course — Tropical Scenery — Rose-apple — 
 Drive to Freetown — Household Perplexities — Sea-breeze — Harmattan 
 
 — Fruit and Vegetables — Prices of Provisions. 
 
 Sierra Leone, December 28, 184-. 
 We arrived here in safety a week ago, and I tliink the change 
 from shipboard to shore a delightful one. 
 
 Embarking on the 16th ultimo at Gravesend in the H (a 
 
 small merchant-vessel, with cramped accommodations and rough 
 fittings up), that very evening a tremendous shock, which caused 
 everything on board to vibrate, betokened that we were run foul 
 of by one of the river steamers, the bowsprit of which had stove 
 in the boat at the H 's stern : this untoward accident de- 
 tained us for two days, though every hour it was promised we 
 should weigh anchor the next. Our progress down the river 
 was wofully tardy. We encountered a succession of gales, 
 and, ere getting out to sea, were several times in great danger. 
 Shut up in our little cabin, though sensible of the violent 
 pitching and tossing of the vessel, I was too ignorant of sea 
 terms to know the extent of our peril ; yet on the 22nd (my first 
 Sunday on shipboard) I was struck by the Psalms for that day 
 being so applicable to our situation. We were then riding 
 within sight of the Goodwin Sands with two anchors down, the 
 Captain expecting eveiy minute they w ould part, and the ship 
 be driven on a lee shore. 
 
 I proved a very bad sailor, and was generally confined to my 
 berth, or a cot slung from a beam on deck. The whole voyage, 
 from the day we left the Isore until we reached the balmy lati- 
 
 B 
 
LETTERS FKOM SIERRA LEONE. [let. i. 
 
 tude pf Madeira, appears now like a confused dream ; in which 
 t:hv3 d.obdwin Sayids— '-dismasted vessels — a stormy sea — and a 
 rolling ship— form the principal objects, relieved by such trifling 
 mischances as the galley being blown down, the mizen boom 
 carried overboard, and the chain-cable falling into the hold 
 with an alarming noise, to the general astonishment of pigs, 
 sheep, and poultry, who each and all added a voice to the 
 
 unusual din. 
 
 After we passed the Tropic of Cancer the heat became every 
 day more intense, till at last it was almost intolerable to remain 
 below even for a few minutes ; and I was glad to rest in the 
 swino:ing cot, with the flags of the ship for sun-blinds, watching 
 the flying fish during the day, and in the evening the most 
 gorgeous sunsets— the whole of the western sky reflecting its 
 hues of purple, crimson, violet, and gold upon the water, until 
 the sun seemed to dip into the rainbow-like mirror, when his 
 partino" rays were immediately obscured by darkness. In spite 
 of the grandeur and beauty of these sunsets, people exclaim at 
 the absence of twilight ; but for my part I rather like the 
 sudden darkness : on shipboard, or in a strange country, it is easy 
 to reconcile oneself to the want of any such melancholy light 
 as the crepuscule of our own dear northern shores. Everything 
 looked bright in those regions. The splendour of the moonlight 
 was enough to tempt the very strictest valetudinarian to brave the 
 proverbially unwholesome night air of the African coast ; and, 
 ere going below for the evening, I often lingered to lean over 
 the vessel's side and look at the stream of living light in her 
 wake, when the water through which she moved seemed one 
 moment a scroll of burnished gold, and the next as if glittering 
 over a heap of coloured gems, so rapidly changing are the 
 brilliant hues of those remarkable phosphorescent bodies which, 
 in the warm latitudes of the Atlantic, gleam amid its restless 
 
 waves. 
 
 At daybreak on the 19th of December it was thought that we 
 might reach Sierra Leone the same afternoon, and accordingly 
 we put everything in readiness ; but the wind died away until it 
 became a complete calm — tlie sails flapping round the masts, and 
 the sea appearing like a vast plain of polished steel. The heat 
 of that day was overpowering ; the atmosphere looked, as well as 
 
LET. i.l TORNADO. 3 
 
 felt, oppressive; being so thick and dense that we could not 
 see more than a mile from the vessel, though, had it been at all 
 clear, we should have seen land. Nothing broke the monotony 
 of our view all that long and weary forenoon, except a huge 
 shark, slowly troubling the sleeping surface of the sea. Beyond 
 the upright black fin of its back, no part of its body was visible ; 
 but, judging from the motion of the water, the monster could 
 not have been less than sixteen feet long. The sailors hung out 
 baits of salt pork, but it was too cunning to be entrapped bv 
 them. 
 
 ^Ve dined upon deck, and before sunset the welcome cry of 
 "land !" had been sung out from the bows, and soon afterwards 
 we shortened sail and lay to, being now near a sand-bank at the 
 mouth of the river Scarcies. In the evening I heard that a 
 " regular tornado cloud " had been observed ; but as these storms 
 are seldom known to take place so late in the year, no heed was 
 taken of the warning, and at midnight directions were given to 
 "^ make all sail." After the hurrying to and fro usual on such 
 occasions, quiet once more reigned in the ship : but ver}^ shortly 
 I was awakened by a loud rattling noise, and the Master's 
 voice raised to a corresponding pitch, ordering " all hands up :" 
 the vessel rocked about with a strange, disagreeable motion which 
 became more violent every minute — the hurtling sound also 
 increased, till it seemed to burst into one terrific roar, accom- 
 panied by incessant and most vivid flashes of lightning. It was 
 the threatened tornado ! The crashing of the thunder was not 
 more loud and awful than the fury of that terrible wind, which 
 at times drowned the noise of the trampling and shouting of the 
 men overhead, and the voice of the Captain calling to them 
 through his speaking-trumpet to furl the different sails. I could 
 not help experiencing a dread that the ship might be thrown on 
 her beam-ends and fill. The Cijannel gales — the rough and 
 heavy swell of the Bay of Biscay— sank into insignificance, com- 
 pared with this sudden storm, although its rage did not last 
 above half an hour, abating almost as unexpectedly as it had 
 come, until after a very heavy fall of rain succeeded a dead calm. 
 I heard in the morning that the lightning had run along some 
 of the chains in the ship, and that it was only the wind taking 
 us by surprise which rendered us in any danger, as the tornado 
 
 b2 
 
4 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. i. 
 
 had been in reality but a slight one, though so alarming to 
 me. 
 
 Next day it was beautifully clear, and on going upon deck I 
 had my first look of tlie land I was so truly thankful to see. 
 On one side of our ship. Sierra Leone, like an island, forming 
 one chain of mountains gradually sloping upwards from the 
 Cape to the right, but in front seeming as if they sprang per- 
 pendicularly from the sea — was pointed out to me ; while, in the 
 opposite direction, the only visible tokens of land were tall trees, 
 appearing as if planted in the water. This was the BuUom 
 shore, so called from a word in the language of the country, 
 signifying " low land." 
 
 The H lay thus, as it were, at the very mouth of the 
 
 Sierra Leone river, and apparently at an equal distance from 
 both sides of the coast which forms the entrance. There was no 
 sea-breeze to carry us in : we were not near enough to discern, 
 without the aid of a spy-glass, the houses on the shore ; but I 
 could see Freetown like a white spot at the very foot of the hills, 
 and before it the masts of vessels rose like clustered spires. 
 We had also a view of the Bananas — a few small green islands 
 lying to the southward of the long low cape which stretched far 
 out on our right. 
 
 The fine outline prospect our position commanded reconciled 
 me to the many long hours the port of our destination lay before 
 us without our making one knot nearer the shore. The irregular 
 summits of the mountains stood out in bold relief against a 
 cloudless sky, and one peak especially struck me from its re- 
 semblance to Arthur's Seat, near Edinburgh, but on a grander 
 scale. "We remained becalmed all tliat day — Captain and pas- 
 sengers looking through their glasses, and speculating what 
 particular men-of-war, or what merchant-vessels, their practised 
 eyes discovered to be in harbour^ — the Captain affirming that a 
 shotted gun had been fired at his ship upon her last entrance into 
 the river, because he had not at once noticed the signal for him 
 to " lay to " from one of her Majesty's cruisers, whose com- 
 mander wished to hear the last news from England. 
 
 About two o'clock the tedium was partly relieved by the 
 arrival of the pilot — a respectable-looking negro, who, as I was 
 much surprised to hear, is also a Methodist preacher. On being 
 
LET. T.] VIEW OF SIERRA LEONE. 
 
 asked how he could follow his layman's calling- upon Sunday, he 
 replied, that "to pilot a ship into port was both a work of 
 charity and necessity," or words to that effect; in the sense of 
 which we all cordially agreed. The sun went down upon the 
 glassy water, and we had to content ourselves with another night 
 
 on board the H ; but the tide was in our favour, and, a 
 
 slio-ht breeze also springing up, about half-past one in the 
 morning, the rattling of the chain-cable and echoing splash in 
 the water betokened that we had cast anchor at last. 
 
 As soon as davlisrht streamed in at the little window of our 
 cabin, I looked eagerly out and saw fantastically painted buildinf^s 
 glittering in the glorious light of a tropical sun ; and beyond, 
 the lofty mountains of Sierra Leone. Through the faint sha- 
 dowy haze, their verdure appeared more soft and beautiful than 
 that of the foliage near us, which flashed on the eye -with a 
 supernatural tint, and formed a striking contrast to the deep 
 cornelian colour of the earth in the paths and banks of the river 
 — the whole landscape conveying the idea of a perpetual summer. 
 
 The strapping of portmanteaus, locking of dressing-cases and 
 carpet-bags, having been duly gone through for the third morn- 
 ino-, we were soon in readiness to leave the vessel. There are no 
 hotels here. Families arriving are always cordially received into 
 the houses of the English residents, and we decided on proving 
 the strength of Sierra Leone hospitality by going at once to the 
 
 mansion of Mr. and Mrs. , which stands a short distance 
 
 farther up the river than Freetown. Accompanied by two of 
 
 M 's colonial friends, who had come on board, we got into a 
 
 pretty comfortable barge, with white awning and curtains, 
 manned by a crew of seven blacks in duck shirts and trowsers, 
 with cuffs and collars of dark-blue stuft', which gave a smart, 
 uniform-like cast to the simple costume. Another man, an old 
 
 servant of M 's, sat in the boat, wearing the jacket and cap 
 
 of the Colonial Militia, in which he is a sergeant ; and I was 
 surprised at the intelligent countenances and respectful demea- 
 nour of those reclaimed savages, not one of whom would keep 
 on his broad-brimmed straw hat, but rowed on merrily, sending 
 the boat like an arrow over the smooth blue water. 
 
 The first thing which struck me with regard to the scenery 
 was a want of wood : although high and low ground alike ex- 
 
6' LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. i. 
 
 Iiibited an almost universal clothing of green, none of the trees 
 seemed taller than those of a shrubbery or young plantation at 
 home, except the palms, which, with their lofty and upright 
 trunks and tuft of feathery branches at top, are the most novel 
 and foreign-looking objects of all that arrest a stranger's atten- 
 tion on skirtin"- the river banks. The hills resemble some of 
 those in Scotland, where green herbage, heather, and furze 
 appear in alternate patches. But I am told that what reminds 
 the eye of heath, is long grass withered up by the influence of 
 the dry season ; and what seem spots of rich pasture, are little 
 cultivated pieces of ground covered with crops of some luxuri- 
 antly-growing vegetable : while it is that rank " bush " — which 
 in all tropical countries overruns the soil, unless kept down by 
 burning and culture — that looks so like our own dark-green 
 gorse, before its golden blossom comes out. Here and there on 
 the hill-sides stand a few gigantic trees, with bleached trunks 
 and wide straggling boughs — the solitary remnants of that dense 
 forest which once covered the " wild sierras " of our African 
 colony. We steered near enough to the bank to distinguish, 
 amidst a wilderness of verdure, the banana and plantain trees, 
 whose branch-like leaves grow from the stem in the same manner 
 as those of the palm, and are each, I should fancy, about four or 
 five feet long and a foot broad. This beautiful leaf is of a light 
 transparent green, and seems very fragile, as, except when newly 
 opened or growing in a sheltered place, most of these I see are 
 broken into a waving fringe. The beach is formed of crumbling 
 particles of black rock, with an occasional patch of the smooth 
 and shining sand. It is broken into innumerable little shaded 
 bays, and in one of these, which, though more rocky than many 
 others we had passed, was thought the best place for landing, the 
 boat was moored. A more romantic-looking spot cannot well 
 be imagined. Fancy a very small and secluded opening into the 
 land — the waves rippling against loose masses of rock covered 
 with white gulls — the steep red bank above bordered to the 
 very water's edge with green boughs — the thatched roofs of one 
 or two native huts peeping out from among the bright foliage, 
 in which the shady leaves of the banana and plantain were most 
 conspicuous — while a long flight of roughly-built stone steps (up 
 which our path lay) marked the former landing-place to a ruined 
 
LET. I.] EUROPEAN RESIDENCE. 
 
 house, close enough to form a picturesque feature in a place, the 
 soft quiet beauty of which reminded me of the paintings of 
 Poussin and Claude. 
 
 On coming out of the boat, I only remember feeling very 
 faint and dizzy, and, after being carried up the steps, walking 
 slowly along a narrow path, where the one living thing visible 
 was an enormous red and blue lizard basking in the sun. A 
 sudden turn in the road brought us close upon a cottage, which 
 we entered, and, passing through a sunny verandah, where 
 sauntered several tall black figures in high-peaked head-dresses 
 of yellow, blue, and white, were ushered into a light and cool 
 apartment, with large windows looking out on the sea, and 
 numerous doors thrown wide open to admit all the air possible. 
 I was thankful to rest here for a short time, and fortunate 
 enough to obtain the use of a sedan (the only one, I believe, in 
 the colony), in which, the boatmen acting as chairmen, I pro- 
 ceeded onward, through a shaded road, crowded with little 
 woolly-haired children, to whom I was evidently as much an 
 object of curiosity as they were to me. 
 
 An avenue, bordered by beautiful trees and plants, brought us 
 across a green lawn in front of a large white house, whose ex- 
 terior of painted wooden boards, and casements of latticed trellis- 
 work, gave an idea of coolness and shade, which was not dispelled 
 on entering its lofty and spacious apartments. The airy piazzas, 
 entirely surrounding the house, are merely constructed of planks 
 on the outside, those on the entrance-floor being lighted and 
 ventilated by jalousied windows, those on the upper floor by 
 glass. Large folding-doors, with Venetian-blind panels, lead 
 through the inner wall of solid mason-work that separates these 
 verandahs from the interior rooms, the darkness of w^iich imme- 
 diately struck me. But this want of light is connected with the 
 shutting out of the fiery sun ; and all the floors, with the excep- 
 tion of the drawing-room, being uncovered, the general appear- 
 ance is that of coolness, the acme of comfort in a tropical region. 
 Though the furniture was European, this peculiar style of 
 building and laying-out — the number of black servants flitting 
 about in livery of plain white jean — the beautiful flowering 
 shrubs seen from the windows — gave the whole a colouring as if 
 a splendid picture of Eastern scenery and costume had suddenly 
 
8 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. 
 
 started into life. Sierra Leone is associated in our imaginations 
 at home with sickness, sorrow, and death ; but widely different 
 were the ideas which the first few hours on its sunny shores 
 raised in my mind ; for very soon after landing I felt a great 
 deal better than I had done since leaving England, and, on 
 walking out in the evening, I could not but fancy that its air 
 possesses a sanatory influence, and that to the envy of those 
 dwellino- under less orlowing skies might be ascribed the invention 
 of all those appalling histories of the deadliness of its climate. 
 
 Shortly before sunset we proceeded, at a loitering pace, to the 
 avenue gate, and I was enchanted with the luxuriance of the 
 trees, particularly the rose-apple,* whose thickly growing 
 branches present an impenetrable mass of dark-green leaves, 
 amongst which magnificent white flowers, like silken tassels, 
 form a beautiful and pleasing relief. Innumerable blossoms 
 shone in all directions : one resembling a branch of red coral ; 
 another, still more gorgeous, with its festoons of orange and 
 scarlet, reminded me of the feathers of the bird of Paradise ; 
 while the pale lilac clusters of a third recalled the image of 
 more northern gardens, and claimed a kindly remembrance of 
 old familiar flowers, although the perfume of orange and lime 
 trees was around us. It was so cool and pleasant that we 
 remained out till after the sun set, and in retracing our steps 
 we startled two birds ; the plumage of the one, the " African 
 cock of the woods," was crimson, green, and purple ; the other 
 was a small pigeon, with wings so brightly green that they 
 glittered in the dim light under the rose-apple boughs, as it 
 flew to the top of a fine tree that bears a plum of which the 
 wild doves are fond. When darkness set in, the hum of millions 
 of insects arose — and a very unsentimental memory it brought 
 along with it, beincr exactly like the noise of a large manu- 
 factory where spinning-machines are constantly in motion. 
 Another dull, though more distinct sound, like quick strokes 
 on a mufiled drum, mingled with the buzzing and chirping : 
 this was the beating of the monotonous tom-tom, which literally 
 never ceased during the night. I was glad when now and then 
 the wild plaintive tunes, chanted by the Timmanee boatmen on 
 
 * Eugenia jambosa. 
 
LET. i.l NOVEL BEEAKFAST. 
 
 the river, reached the ear; first faintly heard, then gradually 
 swellins: out in full chorus, till, as the canoe with its rowers 
 floated past, the sound died away, like unearthly music, in the 
 
 distance- 
 It is the custom here to drink a cup of tea or coffee very 
 early, and one was brought to me next morning before I was 
 up, "by a little black damsel attired in a white frock and sundry 
 gay necklaces. Whilst I was dressing, the doors were all open 
 leading into the piazza, and through the jaloiisies a. cool breeze 
 entered laden with tlie fragrance of many flowers unknown to 
 me ; a peep of the river gleamed in the early sun through the 
 ricli screen of leaves and blossoms ; on the lawn in front several 
 cows were grazing, much less than the kine of our own clover 
 pastures, and mostly dun-coloured ; close to their feet walked 
 numerous snow-white cranes, seemingly tame as any barnyard 
 fowls ; and many a beautiful bird and bright-winged insect 
 glanced past in the clear soft air, while the gentle rippling of 
 the waves at the foot of the bank blended with a thousand 
 merrier sounds. From listening: to these, I was soon summoned 
 to breakfast — in this country a repast not at all in accordance 
 either with the heat of the climate, or the fairy-like prospect out 
 of doors. You sit down to a table set forth with highly sea- 
 soned dishes (smoking under covers) of meat, fi^h, fowl, and 
 vegetables ; pickles and sauces are handed round as at dinner, 
 and the wine-decanter stands vis-a-vis to the water-jug; claret 
 and ale are in readiness, being merely cooling in tlie shade ; 
 tea and coffee or chocolate follow, with bread, biscuit, boiled 
 eggs, fruit, and sweetmeats, and (where cows are kept) the white 
 creamy-looking butter made here floats in its crystal pail, and 
 is generally considered a great delicacy. 
 
 I remained in the house during the heat of the day ; but after 
 dinner we drove round the race-course, a lonely little peninsula 
 lying beneath the wild high mountains, and hemmed in by the 
 river. Plere all the elite of the colony assemble for air and 
 exercise of an evening^ ; yet, although in one or two of the per- 
 haps half-dozen equipages on the broad circular path sat a deli- 
 cate-looking European lady, in short-sleeved white muslin 
 pelisse, long gloves, thin scarf, and transparent bonnet ; and 
 a few impatient horses were reined in by white riders; it 
 
10 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. i. 
 
 struck me that the carriage-drive had a very deserted aspect, 
 and that our countrymen and countrywomen appeared pale, 
 languid, and dispirited. Those only vrho really seemed to enjoy 
 the scene were the Othello- visaged portion of the equestrians, 
 who, with an attempt at a military or naval air, visible in the 
 universal moustache and smart blue cloth jacket, dashed past 
 on their half-wild steeds in all the grandeur of scarlet saddle- 
 cloths and jingling bridles. 
 
 As we left the course and entered a road leading to Freetown, 
 that want of forest which strikes the eye on looking at Sierra 
 Leone from the sea, was no longer apparent ; each native hut 
 was shaded by the thick foliage of orange and lime trees, banana 
 and plantain, and many others of orchard height, whose names 
 I have yet to learn : while climbing plants of great beauty 
 twined over the rustic fences round the little negro gardens, 
 and here and there a clump of palms threw their dark shadow 
 over the patches of cleared land behind the long row of wattled 
 dwellins^-s which fenced the road. The natives were seated in 
 groups on the ground by the low doorways of their huts : the 
 men smoking, laughing, and talking, the women preparing their 
 evening meal in shining bowls made from the shell of a large 
 gourd, the fruit of the calabash- tree,* or wending their way 
 homewards with heavy burthens on their heads ; whilst children 
 gambolled about with noisy play amongst dogs, goats, and 
 sheep ; the latter bearing scarcely any resemblance to those of 
 Britain, being much larger, and clothed, instead of wool, in a 
 shaggy coat of short rough hair, in black, brown, and white 
 spots. Most of the goats were graceful, deer-like creatures, and 
 every family seemed to possess several of them. 
 
 Sauntering through the grounds next evening, we came upon 
 a garden of pine-apples, and believe me the anana on a plate, 
 or in a hot-house, and when growing in its native soil, are 
 very different things. A brilliant purple blossom, resembling 
 the single bell of a hyacinth, opens from each of the diamond- 
 shaped divisions of the fruit itself, which when young is of 
 the same rich hue, surmounted by a crest of pink corded leaves, 
 and protected all round by others much larger and broader, 
 
 * Crescentia cujete. 
 
LET. I.] DRIVE TO FREETOWN. 11 
 
 with saw-like edges and spiked points. The pine-apple as it 
 ripens loses its beautiful and fresh appearance, the purple 
 changes to pale straw-colour, and the leaves become green. I 
 also saw the rose-apple, which is of a greenish-yellow hue, and 
 about the size of a pigeon's egg. It has neither the pulp nor 
 substance of a plum, but is merely a soft spongy coating about 
 half an inch deep, round one, or sometimes two, large brown 
 and loose seeds that shake like the kernels in a nut. It has a 
 faint smell and taste of roses : hence its name. There is a variety, 
 I am told, in which both blossom and fruit are red. 
 
 On the morning of the 24th it rained, which every one seemed 
 to wonder at, " because it is the dry season." On looking out 
 shortly afterwards, everything seemed as dry as before; the 
 earth not a whit darker red than it had been in the evening ; not 
 a single pearly drop upon one blade of grass ; no appearance of 
 the rain, though it fell heavily as a shower of hail. 
 
 AVe left the pretty country-house of our kind friends next day, 
 having a pleasant drive to Freetown, and you cannot imagine an 
 assemblage of human abodes more varied in appearance than 
 that through which our route lay. On emerging from the 
 wattled and mud-plastered huts, small houses framed of wood 
 betokened an advancement in civilization, that gradually became 
 more apparent in others raised on stone foundations with open 
 piazzas supported by pillars, and surrounded by little gardens 
 full of fruit-trees. Crossing a bridge above a ravine, where a 
 brook went leaping and sparkling over huge black stones, on 
 which stood negro-women employed in washing clothes, we 
 turned off this road into the wide but less thickly populated 
 streets, where most of the dwellings seemed to belong to com- 
 paratively wealthy people, — there being only a sprinkling of 
 grass huts, and these almost entirely hidden by green branches, 
 and high houses flaunting in gay coats of red, yellow, slate- 
 coloured, blue, or green paint. One built in a superior style 
 with slated roof and panelled doors particularly attracted my 
 notice from its neglected appearance, and, although only a few 
 half-clothed and poor-looking black people were then lounging 
 in its verandahs, it was originally erected, I am told, by a Eu- 
 ropean merchant, who had all the doors and window- frames sent 
 out from England ; his resources did not permit him to finish, 
 
12 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. i. 
 
 far less to inhabit, the edifice, and there it stands in its ruined 
 grandeur, yearly falling into greater decay, while its owner has 
 " taken to the Ijush," as the term is, having fled beyond British 
 territory among the native tribes up the river. 
 
 All the streets being grown over with grass, except where in- 
 tersected by footpaths and the mainway, the town presents a 
 very singular aspect, and at first I fancied rather a lonely one ; 
 but that idea soon vanishes, as tlie greenness of the streets is 
 merely an effect of the rapid vegetation in this climate, and we 
 bec(mie sensible that, w^ere it not for the grass, the dust would be 
 intolerably disagreeable ; while at the same time cows, goats, and 
 sheep, quietly grazing before the houses, prevent the herbage 
 attainino: to a heiorht or rankness which mig^ht render its close 
 neighbourhood unpleasant or unhealthy. It was near sunset 
 when we stopped in a broad street leading down to the water- 
 side, before a large and lofty building. After ascending two 
 wide fliochts of wooden steps, we reached the upper story, which 
 usually in Freetown is the part of the house consigned to the 
 family apartments, as being more airy, and from its elevation 
 better calculated to preserve health. This was my home in the 
 new land. Spacious as the piazzas are, and even lofty, to me 
 they had at first an attic appearance, caused not only by the 
 roof sloping down till it reaches the top of the outer windows, 
 but by its consisting merely of the planks on which the slates are 
 nailed ; so that in the saloon, notwithstanding the number of 
 glazed casements and handsome folding-doors, our modern fur- 
 niture looked quite out of place ; while as daylight faded away, 
 ■ — from the lentrth and breadth of the verandahs, and their floors 
 being all of a dark red native wood, resembling nothing at 
 home except boards venerable from age, — it required no great 
 stretch of imagination to fancy myself traversing the wide and 
 gloomy galleries of some ancient castle. 
 
 It was but occasionallv durins: the night that the distant beat 
 
 of the tom-tom was heard ; but the music of fifes and French 
 
 horns played by the "waits" resounded through the streets: a 
 
 sound brins-inor with it a host of old Christmas memories in this 
 
 foreign country. 
 
 9th January, 1841. 
 
 Since I came into town, unpacking trunks, giving out ship 
 
LET. I.] HOUSEHOLD PERPLEXITIES. 13 
 
 washing, and hiring people to sew, have been sources of alternate 
 amusement and annoyance to me ; while visitors — from tlie most 
 exalted colonial functionary to a negro-clerk in jacket of sky-blue 
 camlet and crimson slippers — alike prevented anything like quiet 
 house-arranging for the first week. It was nine days after land- 
 ing ere we succeeded in obtaining our package of glass from the 
 ship, managing till then with a few wine-glasses and tumblers 
 borrowed. Then all my perplexities in endeavouring to make 
 myself understood by the native servants ! Not one single sen- 
 tence that they utter can I as yet comprehend, and they seem 
 quite as confused at my mode of speech. I hear other people talk 
 to them in such strange phrases, perfectly unintelligible to me, 
 and am told that until I too can talk " country fashion " tliere 
 is no chance of the household being conducted with regularity or 
 comfort. My directions are constantly mistaken. On asking 
 one of the servants to bring me a breakfast-cup, he first brought 
 a cream-jug, and then, on repeating slowly and distinctly that I 
 wanted a large blue cup, he returned with a dessert-plate ; and 
 not till the command, " Go fetch big tea-cup, he live in pantry," 
 had been issued by lips initiated in the mysteries of African patois, 
 did the boy understand and obey accordingly. There is no 
 neuter in negro-grammar, and everything is endowed with ani- 
 mation : for instance, they say of dinner, " he live on table." 
 
 The domestics here are all men, and they appear to be very 
 indolent, so that you require eight or nine household servants, 
 where in a similar establishment in England three or four would 
 be found sufficient. I wanted to get a woman-servant; but it 
 seems, when such is required by a European lady, she must be 
 content at first to teach a little girl to act in that capacity, and 
 accordingly a tiny damsel, scarcely eight years old, has been 
 brought to me to train up in the art of dusting a toilette-table 
 and fastening hooks-and-eyes ; but as yet my Lilliputian waiting- 
 maid requires a far greater share of attendance than she gives. 
 
 I have just been interrupted to pay the washerwoman's bill ; 
 and no pinafored little urcliin at school was ever so confused with 
 the seventh line of the multiplication-table as I have been with 
 dollars, cutmoneys, big coppers, and lilli/ coppers, to say nothing 
 of threepenny and three-halfpenny pieces, which seem the most 
 common and favourite coins here. A cutmoney is literally what 
 
14 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. i. 
 
 its name imports, being the quarter of a dollar, roughly and not 
 very equally divided. It is equal to Is. Id., and, although not 
 now current, is continually quoted. 
 
 I do not suffer from the heat as I dreaded ; it is nothing to 
 what it was on shipboard. I rise shortly after five in the morn- 
 ing, an hour at which a gun fired from the garrison announces 
 the approach of day. At six o'clock the sun rises, when all the 
 outer windows — with the exception of those on the side from 
 whicli the land wind blows — are thrown open. The air is then 
 delightfully cool and pleasant, but by eight the tropic heat begins 
 to be experienced, and for some hours it is very warm and op- 
 pressive, until the sea-breeze sets in, scarcely perceptible at 
 first, but increasing until near six in the evening, when it blows 
 pretty strongly. This wind is so soft and balmy, that I often sit 
 before the open windows of the verandah, directly facing the 
 quarter whence it comes, and look out on the strange and 
 dream-like prospect the town presents after sunset ; the con- 
 fused mass of buildings lying in dark shadow, with no regular 
 rows of lamps, though a thousand lights of different degrees of 
 brightness twinkle through the surrounding foliage like so many 
 stars. No rolling of carriages — no throng of passengers in the 
 streets ; but singing (if we may so designate what has no variety 
 of cadence) seems to come from every house, till, warned by a 
 bugle-note from the barracks far overhead, exactly at eight 
 o'clock, a sudden flasli throws a momentary glare over the 
 scenery, and the sullen echo of the evening gun gives notice 
 tliat it is time to close the windows for the nif^ht, during- which 
 the wind gradually veers round, and by morning generally blows 
 from tlie land. 
 
 Tiie houses here are all constructed so as to afford as much 
 coolness as possible. In tliis there are nine large doors in one of 
 the inner rooms, six in another, with two windows opening into a 
 verandah, or piazza as it is usually termed, and, none of these 
 being slmt during the day, a free current of air is always admitted ; 
 while a large stove in the principal apartment denotes that at times, 
 even in this country, a fire is deemed necessary. 
 
 The liarmattan wind is now blowing, and everj^thing in the 
 house is covered with an impalpable red dust ; even our eyes are 
 affected by it. The windows being kept carefully shut towards 
 the point whence it blows, I do not perceive that the heat within 
 
LET. I.] THE HARMATTAN. 10 
 
 doors is at all lessened by the influence of the harmattan ; but I 
 see the natives do not like it. The women are all wrapped up in 
 plaid shawls, and the men in blanket jackets, whilst our servants 
 go about with handkerchiefs bound round their heads, and com- 
 plain that it is *' cold too much." It is a very dry wind, and 
 comes from over the great desert of Sahara, but is not considered 
 unhealthy, though blowing from the land. I was thinking 
 one day lately how very strange it appeared to a new comer 
 thus carefully excluding the refreshing wind in this sultry climate, 
 
 let it blow from any quarter, when Dr. entered the piazza, 
 
 and, looking approvingly at the closed casements, his first greet- 
 ing was, " Windows shut to the land side — that is right !" in a 
 most emphatic tone. The swampy Bullom shore, with its man- 
 grove-jungles fraught with unwholesome vapours, being sepa- 
 rated from this colony merely by the river, of course, when the 
 wind blows right across, Freetown comes in for its full share 
 of the miasmata. 
 
 The harmattan is disagreeable from its extreme dryness and the 
 sand it bring-s, which causes a thick, dark, reddish haze through- 
 out the whole atmosphere, almost obscuring our view of the op- 
 posite shore. Every article of furniture is shrinking and crack- 
 ing — paper and the boards of books curling up — veneer peeling 
 oft" — and the strings of the pianoforte breaking. I hear it is 
 much stronger at the Gambia, where it feels like the breath of 
 a hot furnace, causing the panels of doors to shrink and fall 
 out, and glass to become so brittle that it snaps asunder though 
 untouched by any person. It has one good effect, in rendering 
 the water so deliciously cool. In a warm climate good \vater is 
 a great blessing, and that arising from the springs in the vicinity 
 of Freetown is excellent. We can keep it tolerably cool by 
 means of large porous earthen vessels, which are filled morning 
 and evening. These are called " country pots," and in colour 
 somewhat resemble the common red flower-pots at home, but 
 are of a very coarse, rude manufacture. The high wind has 
 brought several strange-looking insects to the house. I observed 
 one that looked almost like a flying spider ; and to-day caught a 
 beautiful fly of a bright-green hue, which glitters as if powdered 
 over with gold-dust : its wings are transparent, and seem fifty 
 times finer than the finest gauze. 
 
 It is almost impossible to picture you all at present wrapped 
 
16 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. i. 
 
 up in cloaks and furs, and mayhap surrounded by snow, whilst 
 we are planning every contrivauce to render the heat of the 
 tropics more endurable, for so glowing a temperature is at best 
 not too comfortable. When we look out on the beautiful, or 
 rather the striking, scenery of this place, the eye certainly 
 exults in the imagined contrast between leafless woods and 
 hedges coated over with hoar frost, and the rich orange-trees 
 bendiu"- under their load of burnished fruit. It is the thickness 
 of the foliage I admire, for the tree itself is rather stiff-looking. 
 
 Fruit forms a great portion of the natives' food, and is cheap 
 and abundant. Eighi to a dozen fine large oranges for a penny. 
 Pine-apples at a halfpenny or penny each ; a bunch containing 
 five or six bananas at a halfpenny. The latter fruit is shaped 
 somewhat like a cucumber, lias a soft yellow rind, a juicy pulp, 
 with small black seeds in the middle, and eats like a very sweet, 
 ripe, mellow pear. The plantain is a larger and coarser sort of 
 banana, and is prepared for food in various ways. The vege- 
 tables are really excellent. Yams, which vary from two to four 
 or six pounds in weight, are cooked by boiling. The cassada- 
 root is usuallv roasted. There is a leaf called "coco," which is 
 prepared like spinach, and is a very good substitute for it. All 
 native productions are cheap, but whatever comes from England 
 is proportionably dear. Beef here is not much larger than 
 English mutton, but is only 4.d. per lb. African mutton is about 
 the size of the lamb you have at home, usually lean and dry, and 
 6rf. or Id. per lb., though a sheep may be bought for two dollars. 
 There is neither veal nor lamb to be had. Geese and ducks are 
 very large : common fowls remarkably small : turkeys scarce, 
 and occasionally 20s. or even 305. each. Fish is plentiful, clieap, 
 and good. Breud is high-priced, and so bad that we use English 
 biscuit instead. A wineglass-full of milk costs a penny, and 
 there is no such thing as cream in the country. Butter is 
 brought from America, is excessively salt, and melts into oil on 
 the cask being opened. Bountiful as the climate is, it does not 
 afibrd one half of the common articles of food which one is 
 accustomed to fancy indispensable at home. 
 
LET. II.] NEGRO MARKET-PEOPLE. 17 
 
 LETTER 11. 
 
 Negro Market-people — Devil Offerings — Pleasant Country Drive — 
 
 — Signal Stations — African Sempstress — Petah — Colonial Arrange- 
 ment of Furniture — Cock-roaches — Freetown Noises — Talking Shoes 
 
 — Travelling Merchants. 
 
 February 5, 1841. 
 One forenoon lately we drove round the road which encircles 
 the base of the Barrack-hill, and I was much struck with the 
 aspect of plenty, and, after a fashion, comfort, which one part of 
 the way presented. Each side was lined by little booths or stalls, 
 if places may be so described where, for the most part, the mer- 
 chandise stands upon the ground close to its owners, who were 
 squatted under low tents, thatched with bamboo, or partially 
 covered with a tarpaulin. Others sat beside the shade of ancient 
 silk umbrellas, or were merely screened from the sun by trees ; 
 every person being surrounded by oranges in tempting heaps, 
 limes, pine-apples, bunches of bananas and plantains, and the 
 snowy kernel of the cocoa-nut divided into small pieces for sale ; 
 hlies full of parched ground-nuts,* like coffee-berries in appear- 
 ance, or, with the shell on, rather like almonds, which they 
 slightly resemble in taste ; calabashes filled with arrow-root and 
 cassada-starch ; with many strange-looking condiments red with 
 palm-oil, and carefully rolled up in large leaves. Others 
 seemed to sell only vegetables — such as yams, cassada, wild 
 tomatoes, yahoes or shalots, and different sorts of green leaves 
 which the negroes put into their messes of country-soup. Then 
 upon temporary tables formed of rough boards were set out 
 articles of crockery ware — such as coarse delf plates, basins, and 
 mugs, garnished by Dutch gilt case-bottles of liqueurs, bought 
 at the sales of condemned slave-vessels and their stores. Kor 
 were there wanting stands where pieces of cotton handkerchiefs, 
 the commonest sorts of calico prints, blue and^white baft, and red 
 
 * Arachis hypogsea. 
 
 C 
 
18 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. ii. 
 
 taffeta (not silk, but thin twilled cotton), were displayed ; while 
 new^ baskets of various forms and sizes, calabash bowls, and earthen 
 vessels of country manufacture, were ranged amongst others con- 
 taining dried fish, balls of foo-foo, poultry, and eggs. The greater 
 number of these native merchants were women, too many of 
 whom were but half-clad; and altogether they seemed to be 
 amono-st some of the most uncivilized portion of the people 
 whom I had seen — their uncouth and savage appearance not at 
 all bearing out the impression of comfort created at first sight of 
 the rich productions of nature by which they were surrounded. 
 Some had disposed of their various eatables, and were wending 
 their way homeward up to the mountain villages ; others were 
 proceeding along the road carrying on their backs children 
 strapped there by means of a long broad cloth, which the mother 
 held by one hand, while with the other she led a second child, 
 and on her head bore a heavily-laden biy. Beyond the European 
 portion of the town the habitations are almost all low huts over- 
 shadowed by trees, with little garden-plots in front. I observed 
 in every one of these, a long upright pole stuck in the ground, 
 with a small red or white tiag waving at the head. These tiny 
 banners, which have a most singular appearance flaunting beside 
 every hut, are set up to propitiate the powers of darkness — or, in 
 other words, as offerings to the devil. 
 
 Another day we drove round the race-course, and for a short 
 way on the road to Kissy, a village a few miles up the river, and 
 where there is a hospital for invalids. It was scarcely possible 
 to believe, from the wild and romantic nature of the view, that 
 half an hour had brought us from the heart of so populous a 
 place as Freetown. At each side of the road great loose masses 
 of black rock lay scattered about in the tall grass, looking as if 
 they had been flung down from the heights above in some violent 
 convulsion of the earth. On the riofht hand rose the brow of a 
 mountain, where the scathed trunks of tall trees, with their bare 
 and extended branches, stood like spectres among the tracts of 
 impenetrable bush and withered herbage ; while a few green 
 spots, round a low watch-hut (so rudely formed as to be easily 
 mistaken for a heap of dried grass), showed an attempt at culti- 
 vation by the clearing of a casi<ada-farm. To the left, the road, 
 narrow and steep enough to try the nerves of any one else but a 
 
LET. II.] SIGNAL-STATIONS. 19 
 
 Swiss mountaineer, wound close to the edge of a deep and 
 densely-wooded glen, carrying a noisy stream onwards, of which 
 I could only catch glimpses now and then, through an opening 
 in the " bush," or at a turn of the road. The " bush" immedi- 
 ately on its banks showed a profusion of what I fancied were 
 enormous white flowers, but which are really broad, pale leaves, 
 attached to the blossoms of a plant* common by the side of brooks 
 in this country. From tlie lofty hills the aspect of the scenery 
 gradually softened down to the calm and silvery river, with the 
 forest and glittering sand-beach of the Bullom shore, where 
 several low green points of land running out into the water 
 grew dim and indistinct in the distance. We passed the site of 
 Granville Town, the first free black settlement at Sierra Leone, 
 and commenced (I think) about 1787, but afterwards wantonly 
 burnt down by the French in an attack on the colony. There 
 was something inexpressibly solitary and deserted in the appear- 
 ance of this piece of waste ground; and, in truth, had it not 
 been for the groups of people returning from market, it were 
 possible at some parts of the road to have imagined that we 
 w^ere in an uninhabited region, there being neither cattle nor 
 cultivation within sight^-not even a fence nor lonely way-side 
 dw^elling — no trace of the hand of man beyond the miserable 
 watch-huts far above us on the silent and dreary hills. The sun 
 was just setting as we reached town again. Every morning, as 
 soon as it is possible to see so far, I look eagerly up to the hill, 
 where vessels entering the harbour are signalled, in hopes of 
 seeing displayed a red flag, which denotes that the approaching 
 sail is from the north, for then the hope is still greater that the 
 arrival may be from England. There are two signal-posts: 
 one at the barracks ; the other on a hill near Cape Sierra Leone, 
 commanding a very extensive view, especially to the south. 
 "When the sail discovered is from that quarter tiie flag is M'hite ; 
 a ship or barque is shown by a ball hoisted above the flag ; a 
 brio- by one below ; a schooner by no ball. We have few arrivals 
 from the south, excepting her Majesty's cruisers, or prizes taken 
 by them for being engaged in the slave-trade; but those from 
 the north are commonly from England, or else returning here 
 from some of the rivers, laden with timber for the British 
 
 * Musoenda glabra. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 LETTERS FEOM SIERRA LEONE. [let. ii. 
 
 market. Shortlj^ after daybreak the numerous cries of Freetown 
 beo-in. Women and girls are seen flocking towards the market- 
 place, carrying on their heads a sort of round basket, called a 
 "bly," containing fruit and vegetables for sale. Some have 
 bowls heaped over with arrow-root ; a greater number are laden 
 with large round balls of dingy white, called " foo-foo," a 
 common food of the natives prepared from cassada, somewhat in 
 the same manner as flour is from potatoes, and which they cook 
 with palm-oil. Here are boys bearing wooden trays covered 
 over with little brown cakes, and crying out, ^'Who'll buy hot 
 ginger-cake ? " — there, girls shouting as loudly, " Agahdee ! 
 who '11 buy sweet agahdee ? " (a sweetened mass of boiled rice or 
 Indian corn, rolled up in a broad green leaf.) Numerous other 
 and still more unintelligible names are shouted out by different 
 people ; while men saunter along under the burthen of stone 
 bottles similar to those which hold Seltzer water or ginger-beer, 
 calling, with much the same perverted pronunciation as the 
 London old-clothes men, " Pamh wenh!" meant for palm-wine. 
 I have seen one girl, apparently a sort of travelling pedler, her 
 smart blue gown, yellow shawl, and crimson handkerchief 
 rivalling the plumage of a parrot. Mobile about a dozen strings 
 of as variously-coloured glass beads were fastened round her 
 neck. From several of these hun^ small lookino-w'lasses in red 
 painted or yellow lacquered frames ; to the rest were attached 
 papers of mother-of-pearl buttons ; and her basket displayed a 
 tempting assortment of pins, needles, reels of cotton, pieces of 
 tape, and brass thimbles. One hand supported her bly of precious 
 wares, the otlier held skeins of thread, and more gay necklaces, 
 which she kept dangling backwards and forwards with an air of 
 the utmost satisfaction and triumph. 
 
 The dresses of the various classes of natives differ widely in 
 cost and appearance, some being merely enveloped in what they 
 call a " country cloth," a garment as simple as a slieet, and 
 made of numerous strips of a strong fabric woven on the coast, 
 and then sewed firmly together. It is worn thrown over one 
 shoulder and under the other. The usual dress of women is a 
 gown of blue baft, or thin coarse print in a blue and white pat- 
 tern of stars and stripes like tlie American flag. The better 
 sort wear pink or lilac dresses of finer calico, and silk shawls. 
 
LET. II.] NATIVE COSTUMES. 21 
 
 Upon Sundays they evidently display their best suits. Old women 
 walk out in wide scarfs of bright silk or very gay coloured cotton, 
 and men's black hats above the handkerchief headdress : girls in 
 white frocks of chequered muslin, and pale blue beaver hats ; 
 others with a profusion of pink ribbon round the common straw, 
 or rather grass, hat ; and the greater part shading themselves 
 under silk umbrellas. I have not as yet seen any black w omen 
 wearing shoes, and their gait is exactly that of a goose ! All 
 delight in ornaments. Men wear bracelets, rings both on the 
 fingers and in the ears, generally of silver, while amber and 
 coral necklaces are quite common even on those whose garments 
 are the most scanty. Some wild-looking figures come into town 
 from the far villages laden with fagots of wood and bundles of 
 grass for sale, whose garments of country cloth are surmounted 
 by an old frock-coat bought at auction, or perhaps a soldier's 
 cast-off jacket, while their eyes glare out from beneath a red 
 cap or shaggy sort of monkey's-skin wig. The costume of the 
 Mandingoes, or Mahommedan negroes, is by far the most unique 
 and o-raceful of all I have seen here. It consists of a wide 
 flowing mantle, gathered into a point above the w^aist in front, 
 and with loose hanging sleeves ; very ample trowsers drawn 
 full round the ankle; a high peaked cap of blue cloth em- 
 broidered in gaudy colours, or else of plain scarlet or ^^hite 
 stuff. These men wear, suspended from their neck, an amulet, 
 or, as they call it here, a " gree-gree," usually formed of a scrap 
 from the Koran, hid in a mass of black paste or sewed up in 
 small leather pouches. They have also rosaries, sometimes of 
 common glass beads, or little balls of polished wood, with, in the 
 middle, two or three larger beads of an opaque yellow stone. 
 The garb that ranks next to this in being well adapted for a hot 
 climate is worn by the Timmanees, who were the original pos- 
 sessors of Sierra Leone. It reminds me of an English wag- 
 goner's frock, except in having no other sleeve than what is 
 formed by the drapery itself fiilllng down over the shoulders. 
 The settlers in the colony, and also the slaves that have been 
 emancipated here, who are termed ^' liberated Africans," assimi- 
 late their dress to that of Europeans ; the wealthier sort wearing 
 jackets, w^aistcoats, and trowsers of cloth, white duck, or blue 
 baft (a thin flimsy cotton stuff, much in request amongst the 
 
22 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. ii. 
 
 blacks), with broad-brimmed straw hats tied round with black or 
 coloured ribbon, or round smart cloth caps, while the ordinary- 
 apparel of domestic servants consists of a white jacket, check 
 shirt, and duck trowsers. 
 
 I have seen a few women with rather more intelligent coun- 
 tenances and better figures than the great mass of the population 
 here. These are the Jollofs, who are easily distinguished both 
 from the settlers and liberated Africans by their height, com- 
 manding mien, and peculiar dress ; a wide scarf, generally 
 white, being thrown over the head, and allowed to fall in ample 
 folds round the whole figure, something in the style of the 
 Spanish mantilla, or the yashmak of the East. They are natives 
 of the country to the south of the river Senegal, and many of 
 them profess the Roman Catholic religion. 
 
 The different tribes in Freetown seem as numerous, and quite 
 as jealous of each other, as the clans of the Highlands. But 
 instead of the variously chequered patterns which, in the tartan 
 plaid or kilt of its wearer, distinguish a Stuart from a Macdonald, 
 a Campbell, or a Gordon, the negro carries his badge of nation- 
 ality in his face, all of one tribe being marked in the same manner 
 by cuts or tattooing. On notes and messages being brought to the 
 house, when I ask my little waiting-woman " who been bring 
 this ? " it surprises me to be answered " one Aku man," " one 
 Kroo boy," as the case may be, or by her saying " one settler 
 girl" or " one Maroon woman " wants to speak to me, though 
 the individuals she thus distinguishes may be personally unknown 
 to her ; for, excepting the Jollofs and Mandingoes, all the black 
 people seem alike to me. But it is by their national marks that 
 she can so readily tell one countryman from another. It is only 
 the Kroomen and liberated slaves who have the additional fea- 
 tures of tattooed or carved figures upon their faces. The settlers 
 and Maroons are totally different from all the rest of the com- 
 munity of Sierra Leone, — hate each other cordially, and look 
 down with utter contempt upon the liberated Africans. 
 
 A young settler woman was recommended to me as a neerlle- 
 woman, and she volunteered her services by walking, or rather 
 snvinging, her portly figure unannounced into the drawings-room ; 
 and, holding out her hand to l)e shaken, said, with a movement 
 meant to be a low curtsy, " I am the sewing-girl, marm ! ** 
 
LET. II.] AFRICAN SEMPSTRESS. 23 
 
 She was followed at respectful distance by her attendant, and 
 arrayed in a gaudy-patterned gown, with high head-dress, 
 gold earrings, and coral necklace, fanning herself all the while 
 with a handkerchief redolent with musk, so as to display the 
 numerous silver rings which glittered on her large hand. She 
 came to enter upon her duties next morning an hour or two 
 later than had been fixed upon, and, after sitting for a short time 
 in my dressing-room, said " Sun too hot here," and that she 
 would like to go into the front piazza, where she amused herself 
 by looking out of the windows for about ten minutes between 
 each stitch. About two hours earlier than she had asfreed to 
 work, she asked leave to " fold up" and go home for that day; 
 to which I at once assented ; and seeing that a child of eight 
 years old could have done as much in one hour as this professed 
 " sewing-girl " in what she considered a whole day, I added that 
 I should not require her to come back. 
 
 Having given the same work to a black man to do, you can- 
 not imagine how quickly and neatly he got on. But the history 
 of this individual presents a favourable picture of a liberated 
 African rising to respectability and comparative wealth by his 
 own honest industry. Originally rescued from a slave-ship and 
 emancipated here when a boy, he served an apprenticeship where 
 he learnt, amongst other things, the womanly occupations of 
 sewing, washing, and ironing. On becoming free, in a manner, 
 
 again, he entered M 's service, where he was taught, 
 
 although then a grown-up man, writing and arithmetic. Tliat 
 he made any progress in these branches of education at that ao^e 
 is a good proof of diligence and perseverance ; and his spare 
 time always given to reading the Bible, his regular attendance 
 at church, and constant sobriety and steadiness, evidence pious 
 principles not always to be found amid even the most in- 
 fluential members of the liberated African community. The 
 country name of this man was " Petah," now civilized into 
 " Peter," and his own people, the Akus, pay him due honour 
 from the circumstance of his being a native chief's son. It is 
 pleasant to reflect that his application has contributed to raise 
 him to a comfortable competence ; he now holds a respectable 
 little appointment suited to his abilities, which does not debar 
 him from working occasionally in his capacity of tailor, while 
 
24 ' LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. ii. 
 
 his upright conduct has gained him the confidence not only of 
 his own class, but of many persons of a higher grade, with 
 whom he carries on transactions in trade as a storekeeper and 
 
 petty farmer. 
 
 Some specimens of African workmanship have been sent to 
 us, not common here, but made farther down the coast. One 
 is a footstool of white wood, turned up at the ends, with four 
 feet curiously cut out, and resting on a small pedestal, also 
 carved round the edges. Another is a large round covered 
 basket, shaped like a globe flattened at the poles ; it is extremely 
 thick and strong, and is made of grass, dyed yellow, red, and 
 black, woven into dice. The third is a small ornamented cala- 
 bash, stained crimson, with a pattern neatly and elaborately 
 marked upon it, and at one end a string of roughly-cut gold 
 beads to hang it up by. Our furniture has also been augmented 
 by a country hammock, which is of native hemp, platted firmly, 
 and dyed black. It is tastefully decorated with tassels of black 
 and white. Some prettily-figured mats of split bamboo and 
 woven grass add to the foreign aspect of the apartments, which 
 generally in the dwellings of Europeans here are so little 
 crowded with furniture, that they look bare to the eye of a 
 newly-arrived person, accustomed to rest on carpeted floors, 
 papered and pictured walls, capacious window drapery, with — 
 besides the usual indispensables of chairs and sofas — tables 
 covered with books and objets de fantaisie, including, amidst a 
 myriad of ornamental articles, vases and pots of flowers. We 
 have indeed no lack of couches and sofas here, — they form the 
 principal part of the contents both of inner rooms and piazzas. 
 But while one sitting-room boasts of three or four sofas and otto- 
 mans, the number of chairs and tables is quite disproportionate, 
 and cabinets and bookcases are rarely seen. Yet it is strange 
 how soon we become reconciled to what at first may have ap- 
 peared novel and even disagreeable. Already I see that the 
 arrano-ement just described is perfectly suited to the climate, and 
 leaves scope to walk up and down the spacious rooms with a 
 sensation of coolness and freedom, impossible to feel where every 
 step has to be cautiously threaded through a labyrinth of alter- 
 hately light and massive pieces of furniture : occasionally a 
 handsome mirror, in gilded frame, occupies one of the spaces 
 
LET. ii.l COLONIAL DOMESTIC AERANGEMENTS. 25 
 
 'J.'o 
 
 between two of the many doors and windows which take off the 
 bareness of a dead wall ; and large lamps, or silver candlesticks, 
 under India shades, stand on a side-table, bwt the damp and heat 
 of the atmosphere contrive to render the field of saloon arrang- 
 ing a very meagre one at Sierra Leone. Gathered flowers do 
 not remain fresh above a few hours, and those growing in pots 
 encourage mosquitoes. I was delighted the other day to see in 
 a friend's drawing-room some seemingly unfaded English flowers 
 in a crystal vase ; but on examination found they made an arti- 
 ficial bouquet, the red roses being variegated by mildew into 
 those of York and Lancaster, and the pretty sweet peas covered 
 over with creatures like mites. 
 
 Sleeping apartments look particularly strange here, owing to 
 the bedsteads standing out considerably from the walls, some- 
 times even in the very centre of the room ; and their curtains 
 being so diflTerent in texture, and style of making up, from the 
 heavy moreen or chintz used in a colder climate. One pretty 
 form of curtain for an iron bedstead without posts or roof is 
 made of a great many widths of leno, sewed up all round, and 
 gathered in a sort of draperied coronet — like that on a French 
 bed — to the very top of the ceiling, where the fabric is suspended 
 from a strong hook. The bottom of tlie curtain is loaded with 
 shot sewed up in tape, and hemmed all round, which, resting 
 heavily on the ground, prevents the entrance of a single mos- 
 quito. During the day it is lifted up, and being then doubled is 
 thrown round one side of the bed-frame. 
 
 Our drawing-room boasts of a real lath-and-plaster ceiling in 
 the form of a dome ; but few apartments here are finished 
 above, otherwise than by planks and beams painted white. One 
 of the verandahs in every house of large size a(huits of being 
 partitioned off into dressing-rooms and bath-rooms ; while what 
 is called " the pantry " is in fact a sort of servants' room, wliere 
 they are constantly in waiting. The art of bell-hanging either 
 not being understood or not appreciated in this part of the 
 Avorld, little hand-bells are used, whose sound cannot reacli far ; 
 but, excepting those domestics whose business it is to attend up 
 stairs, none ever come into the house, unless, by-the-by, the 
 cook once or twice a-day, to receive his market and other direc- 
 tions — cooks and their assistants, as well as horsemen (or 
 
26 LETTERS FEOM SIERRA LEONE. [let. ii. 
 
 grooms) and water-carriers, being here out-of-door servants. 
 Kitchens are almost always detached buildings, and in some 
 instances mere grass sheds. I have only once had a peep into 
 ours, the sole furniture of which seems to consist of an enormous 
 grate of the rudest construction. The cellar, which is on the 
 ground-floor of the house, I have never ventured to explore, 
 finding quite enough to superintend in the store-room — in this 
 climate a safer repository for cock-roaches than for anything 
 else, despite all due care and precaution. They are very nu- 
 merous in this house, and so large that I have mistaken them 
 for mice running along the floor. They are very destructive ; 
 nibbling the leather off" trunks, tracing figures in the same 
 fashion upon boots and shoes, and quite as bad as mice for 
 devouring sugar, candles, biscuit, and anything eatable, whilst 
 their Q^'^^ cause a hole when deposited in paper, or fabrics of 
 linen or cotton, as well as in silk and wool, — to which stuff's a 
 sort of creeping moth is also a great enemy liere. I hear much 
 of the ravages of ants and other insects ; and a lady told me 
 lately that it is no uncommon thing on opening a book to find a 
 scorpion ensconced between the leaves. But, although at first I 
 always dreaded encountering some venomous reptile or other, 
 and in the dusk of evening have sometimes fancied one of the 
 large iron hooks for fastening open the windows to be a cen- 
 tipede, as yet I have seen nothing more alarming than cock- 
 roaches and mosquitoes. I think that with plenty of camphor 
 put into trunks and wardrobe-shelves, and constant dusting out 
 of drawers and corners, one might keep the moths and cock- 
 roaciies from doing much mischief, if it be not possible to 
 annihilate them entirely. But, unfortunately, servants here 
 have no idea of sweeping, dusting, and keeping things clean ; 
 and it is astonishing suddenly lo find how much one's comfort 
 depends upon these trifling menial duties, that seem done mecha- 
 nically by an English housemaid, yet which neither teaching nor 
 directing will teach an African houseman to do otherwise than 
 most superficially. There is a strange medley of noises to be 
 heard in the streets here. Not only have we the various cries of 
 cows, sheep, goats, asses, pigs, and poultry at all hours, but in 
 the morning a gang of convicts proceed to their work in a go- 
 vernment yard near our house, and the rattling of their chains, 
 
LET. IT.] FREETOWN NOISES. 27 
 
 with their harsh language — compared to which Gaelic or "\^"elsll 
 is soft melody — jar with the stroke of hammers and hatchets, ren- 
 dering it most unpleasant to remain in the apartments in that 
 direction until four o'clock, when a bell calls the people from 
 their labours, and that end of the house is once more left in 
 quiet. But then in the street, at the other end, the practising 
 of the militia band generally commences, and you might fancy 
 that a barrel-organ, or hurdy-gurdy somewhat out of tune, were 
 playing under your windows, as the sable musicians favour you 
 with nothing except the same hackneyed old airs over and over 
 again. Immediately without the precincts of the court in w^hich 
 our dwelling stands, a poor madwoman literally lives under a 
 magnificent orange-tree, and her frenzied exclamations are most 
 distressing to hear, especially if the night be clear and beautiful, 
 as the brighter the moonshine the more outrageous she is. In 
 the evening, too, we have the everlasting tom-tom ; at times 
 diversified by the ominous stroke of the Mandingo kettle-drum, 
 a hollow booming sound, which, in spite of its sameness, some- 
 how or other contrives always to convey to my mind the idea 
 of dark deeds of savage and treacherous warfare. Then there is 
 the dull inharmonious singing of the natives ; words such as 
 
 " Yah !— yah !— oh ! yah ! oh !" 
 
 being repeated with little change for hours together. Occasion- 
 ally we may hear a voice which, though rude and untutored, 
 gives tlie impression that its owner has also a correct ear, and 
 leads me to suppose that amid the countless diflTerent tribes in 
 the colony there are some individuals gifted with greater mu- 
 sical powers than others, — for instance, the Timmanee airs 
 which I have heard are all soft and pleasing in their wildness. 
 But certainly the majority of the population seem to delight in 
 uncouth, noisy, and what we should term ridiculous sounds. 
 Having often heard that the American Indians, and other sa- 
 vages, possess a particular lightness of tread, I was quite disap- 
 pointed to find that no such desirable grace belonged to the 
 Freetown negro, whose shoeless foot on the uncarpeted floors 
 falls like that of an elephant. This heavy tramp gave way lately 
 in one of our people (a sort of civilized Krooman) to the loud- 
 est and harshest creaking of shoes that ever was heard, so that 
 
28 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. ii. 
 
 his footstep on the wooden stairs and long piazzas was as if a 
 hundred of those little dogs and birds made to bark and chirp on 
 the principle of a pair of bellows as toys for children had been 
 set in motion at once ; and I was greatly amused to hear that the 
 man had actually tried on about half-a-dozen pairs of shoes — not 
 to consult comfort as to their fit, nor yet to gratify vanity as to 
 their appearance — but to find out which would make the greatest 
 noise in walking, or, in his own words, *' which one can talkee 
 good ;" as it seems the blacks all think that the loudness of their 
 step adds to their own importance and dignity, and, consequently, 
 disdain to wear shoes that do not creak. 
 
 One evening, after hearing my little damsel read her usual 
 portion of lessons, and setting her down to look at a book full 
 of woodcuts, to her infinite delight, I opened the pianoforte, 
 and was trying what effect the voyage and climate had had upon 
 its keys, when I heard the "talking shoes" slowly and delibe- 
 rately ascending the staircase. Instead of passing on to the 
 pantry (here sacred to the house-servants), the wearer, whose 
 peculiar charge, that of the lower rooms, seldom calls for his 
 presence up-stairs, stopped at the drawing-room door, and after 
 a profound reverence advanced a few paces, bearing in his hand 
 a sort of musical instrument, upon which, without uttering a 
 single word, he began to play with much apparent self-compla- 
 cency. He continued for some minutes not only beating time 
 with his foot, but marking it also by a succession of measured 
 nods, until I put an end to the performance by asking to look at 
 the rude lyre, which he evidently regarded with great veneration, 
 and with an aspect of most solemn gravity he placed it in my 
 hands as if delivering up a valuable treasure. It was a simple 
 triangle with a few strings stretched across, and gave not an 
 unpleasant though rather monotonous note. I asked several 
 questions respecting the musical instruments of his country, but 
 received no answer that I could at all make out, further than 
 that this little guitar, or rather harp, of which its owner seemed 
 so proud, " made fine noise too much." But the expression of 
 his tattooed countenance as he glanced at the open pianoforte, 
 though I had not touched it after his unexpected entrance, said 
 as plainly as words could, " Ah, white man may bring grand 
 thing for make music, but black one's own one grand past him ! " 
 
LET. II.] TRAVELLING MERCHANTS. 29 
 
 All the doors being usually left open during the day, tlie 
 ignorant common people are very apt to walk into the house 
 and would go into every room unannounced, upon the vao-ue 
 pretext of having messages to deliver, or something to ask 
 you for ; it is part of this Krooraan's duty to prevent such 
 visitors reaching farther than the first landing-place. Native 
 merchants are constantly bringing things to sell : our table-mats 
 of dyed grass are of their manufacture, and I have also o-ot a 
 tidy little work-basket of the same material. Sometimes they 
 bring leopard, monkey, and otter skins, but oftener the live 
 animal itself is ushered into the piazza : a chimpanzee, quite a 
 young one, and very ugly ; a mangrove monkey, prettier than 
 the generality of the tribe ; bush-cats, brindled grey creatures 
 with long pointed fox-like noses ; and beautiful wild doves, with 
 glossy purple and deep blue plumage, and soft bright eyes, have 
 all been severally offered for sale, making quite a little mena- 
 gerie in themselves. 
 
 These country merchants try to impose upon strangers, gene- 
 rally asking double or treble the real value of their goods. A 
 story is told of one of them offering a, pair of miserably lean 
 fowls at some most exorbitant price to a European gentleman, 
 who said ironically that the black man asked too little, and 
 surely meant double the sum he named ; he, believing " massa " 
 was quite in earnest, refused to part with the fowls except at 
 the higher price, and, after trying various places in town with- 
 out meeting a purchaser, at last plodded homewards, carryin"- 
 his lean poultry with him, quite unconscious that the person he 
 had at first applied to had been merely trying to shame him out 
 of so absurd an attempt at cheating. 
 
30 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. hi. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Removal to a Mountain Abode — Reasons for preferring the Country to 
 Town — African Mode of conveying Luggage, &c. — Difficulty of obtain- 
 ino- Female Servants — Coral and Amber Ornaments — Negro Mothers 
 and Daughters — First Tornadoes of the Season — Roofs of Houses — 
 Palm Cabbage — Sour Sops and Sweet Sops — Pawpaw Trees— Gourd 
 Vessels. 
 
 April 5, 1841. 
 We are now preparing for our departure to an abode which, 
 viewed from town, seems built on the very face of the mountains. 
 Their towering summits form a dark and striking background 
 to tiie white object, whose windows gleaming in the evening 
 sun betoken it to be a house in that wild and solitary situation. 
 Some people tell me I shall find it mipleasantly cold during the 
 rainy season up there, but that seems rather a novel idea in this 
 latitude ; others say it will be an unbearably dull residence, but, 
 indeed, I think it will prove to me less so than Freetown itself. 
 Here we have nothing except the usual drive of an afternoon, 
 through the same formal streets, past the same line of huts and 
 gardens, until we reach the Sierra Leone " Hyde Park," other- 
 wise the race-course, where seeing only a few pale faces and 
 lano-uid forms, instead of a cheerful and animated multitude, 
 gives a very desolate impression, despite the natural beauty of 
 the scenery around. There is one peaceful-looking little bay, 
 twin-sister to the one at which we landed, the two together 
 forming the race-course peninsula ; but that which I speak of 
 now, is fringed all round with mangroves, green and beautiful 
 to the eye as a margin to the silvery water, but from their 
 well-known habits of accumulating mud and creating miasma 
 not very agreeable to the mind. Plere are usually lying one or 
 more broken-up condemned Spanish slave-vessels, from which it 
 has received the dreary name of Destruction Bay, and those 
 dismantled vessels add to the deserted appearance of the place. 
 Then one cannot explore when driving quietly along in a car- 
 
LET. III.] AN AFEICAN REMOVAL. 31 
 
 riage, and I suppose it would not be deemed quite comme ilfaut 
 in the Sierra Leone capital to spring out to examine every flower 
 or plant that attracts notice, I therefore delight in the prospect 
 of going into the country, besides that this mountain dwelling is 
 in one of the healthiest localities in the colony, being considered 
 above yellow fever range. 
 
 Nothing can equal the quiet way in which a removal of resi- 
 dence is conducted here, although in a fashion so different from 
 that to which we are accustomed. There are no such things as 
 carts, waggons, or even hand-barrows in the place, except those 
 which are dragged through th3 streets by the convict chain- 
 gang : and even though there were such modes of conveyance, they 
 would not avail in removing furniture, &c. to our new dwelling, 
 the road being too steep and narrow to admit of any sort of 
 M'heeled vehicle. Every thing that one person is able to carry 
 is borne upon tlie head. On a iclieelharrow being sent out to 
 a gentleman here, notwithstanding the 'proper way to use it 
 was shown to his labourers, they actually preferred lifting it 
 up, whether empty or laden, and, putting] it on their heads, 
 marched on under the burthen quite contentedly ! To protect 
 the head they use little cushions of twisted grass, straw, or 
 leaves, called " cattas." A handkerchief, apron, or any kind of 
 rag is employed when nothing else is at hand ; and I suppose 
 that besides acting as a defence the "catta" enables the bearer 
 to poise his load better. Unwieldy articles, such as casks, are 
 slung upon poles of bamboo, wliich then are rested on the 
 shoulders of several persons, while very large pieces of furniture 
 are carried simply on the heads or shoulders of as many as are 
 required to bear the weight, I have seen twenty people bending 
 under one long and heavy packing-case ; but, indeed, three or 
 four black men together will scarcely cany as much as a single 
 porter in any town at home. Our servants and work-people 
 come in parties, lift up the trunk or box, which has only to be 
 locked to be ready for them, and walk away at leisure. Tables 
 and chairs need no matting nor covering thrown over them ; 
 they are taken up as carelessly as if merely to be conveyed into 
 the next room. 
 
 I know you will laugh with me over some of tlie minor incon- 
 veniences attendant on domestic arrangements in this country. 
 
32 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. hi. 
 
 The little waiting-woman whom I mentioned some time ago, 
 soon became weary of sewing, reading, and learning to be tidy- 
 in her habits, which in so mere a child was not at all remark- 
 able. I therefore sent her back to school, and having got another 
 a few years older, found that she had little idea of doing any- 
 thing except loll at the open windows, talking and laughing 
 to the passers by, or gazing at the reflection of her smooth ebon 
 complexion in the panes of glass when the casement was fastened 
 back on the dark wall. There being no class of persons here 
 corresponding to that which in our own country supplies us with 
 female domestics, the difficulty of getting any sort of woman- 
 servdnt that can be of the slightest use to a European lady may 
 be easily imagined. The descendants of both settlers and Ma- 
 roons, undoubtedly the most civilized portion of the black com- 
 munity, show a great disinclination to employ themselves in 
 active work, and apparently consider anything in the shape of 
 a menial capacity as utterly beneath them. I should think 
 this ridiculous kind of pride must owe its origin to their not 
 exactly comprehending the distinction between servitude and 
 slavery ; and also because they have no inducement to work, at 
 least for themselves, most of them having been able to obtain the 
 newly emancipated children as apprentices, which poor little 
 thinp"s become for a term of years if not exactly slaves, some- 
 thino- not much above them, to those who meanwhile leave their 
 own families to the full indulgence of the most idle and slothful 
 habits. Not only the children of settlers and Maroons, but 
 even those of liberated Africans are brought up much in the 
 same manner. " Colony-born children," said an old black nurse 
 to me one day, whilst trying to impress me with a favourable 
 opinion of apprenticeship, " no love for work, all lazy too much ; 
 but King-yard child good for work ;" advising me in the same 
 phraseology to apply for one of the recently liberated children, 
 and train her up ; adding that such were apt to get attached to 
 the family to whom they were apprenticed, and take interest 
 enou<yh in all its concerns to become faithful and willing ser- 
 vants ; whilst on those who had parents or friends in the colony 
 no dependence could be placed, as they generally turned out 
 dishonest and unworthy of trust. 
 
 This woman was a Maroon, and, unlike what her people are 
 
LET. III.] NEGRO MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS. 33 
 
 usually represented in disposition, was both pleasant-tempered and 
 kind-hearted, with a passion for ornaments I never saw equalled. 
 A necklace of large rough pieces of coral, another of smaller 
 beads of the same bright substance, one of oval lumps of amber 
 nearly as large as a hen's egg, and sundry strings of variously- 
 coloured glass beads, appeared by turns round the kerchiefless 
 and wrinkled neck, and were exhibited no doubt as a mark of 
 riches. Not that such decorations prove wealth in this country 
 more than elsewhere, as my washerwoman comes in a chain appa- 
 rently gold, to beg a few pieces of sugar for a sick child ; and 
 one day a poor girl came, asking me to give her needlework to 
 do, wearing a pair of earrings that would have looked well 
 amidst the glittering trinkets of Howell and James. They re- 
 sembled those of Indian or Chinese workmanship, and had been 
 made somewhere on the coast near the Gambia. 
 
 Dinah, the laundress, notwithstanding her predilection for 
 gold chains, is a highly respectable and very intelligent liberated 
 African, living at Regent (a mountain village five or six miles 
 from town), whence she comes every Saturday morning with her 
 attendant damsels, laden with the baskets of clothes, and is at 
 our house so early as six o'clock. Understanding from the same 
 lady who recommended this woman to me that the children in 
 the country districts are much better brought up in every way 
 than those in Freetown, I commissioned Dinah to look out for 
 another servant, and accordingly she brought a nice tidy-lookino- 
 young person, who, besides having been at school in the mountain 
 villages, had been in the service of a European family before. 
 She was accompanied by lier mother, who could speak scarcely 
 a word of English, but seemed, nevertheless, quite pleased at 
 the arrangements made ; and as the girl herself worked very 
 neatly, read remarkably well, and had some activity (a rare 
 quality with a negro, I can assure you), I congratulated myself 
 on having at last obtained so efficient a " help." But she had not 
 been three days in the house when Dinah came back with a very 
 lugubrious countenance, followed by Eliza's motlier, who, as they 
 both entered my room, immediately commenced a long "palaver," 
 using at the same time strange gesticulations, accompanied by 
 such sentences as these : — " Looka, now, ma amie ! " addressing 
 me, " looka, ma piccan ! she ma head " (knocking her hand on 
 
 x> 
 
34 LETTERS FROINI SIERRA LEONE. [let. hi. 
 
 her brow as she spoke), " she ma foot, ma good foot " (beating 
 on the floor at these words) ; then stretching out her long bare 
 arm and making some rapid movements with the skinny fingers, 
 " she ma hand." The interpretation of all this was that Eliza, 
 when at home, thought, went messages, and worked for her 
 mother, who, having already repented giving up the services of 
 her dauo-hter, was now resolved to have her back. 
 
 In great distress at the caprice of her neighbour, Dinah said 
 she knew of another girl, who wished to be taken into a Eu- 
 ropean family, and would come to me at once ; therefore next 
 day this second and younger mountain maiden was duly intro- 
 duced by her mother, a tall wild-looking woman, with a baby 
 strapped upon her back, and M'hose appearance was altogether so 
 romantic that I felt as if about undertaking to train up the child 
 of a wandering gipsy. 
 
 The heralds of the " rains" have already made their appear- 
 ance, our first tornado of the season being on the evening of the 
 17th ultimo ; it was a slight one, but the next night there was 
 another, followed by rain, which not only found its way through 
 the roof of the house, but also through the boarded ceiling of 
 my room, giving the uncomfortable sensation of being on ship- 
 board and having " shipped a sea." 
 
 The wood-work in this climate shrinks so in the harmattan, 
 that the first shower almost invariably discovers leaks to exist, 
 even in roofs which are kept in the best repair. The tops of 
 the different sorts of houses are quite remarkable outside for 
 their variety in colour and material. Government offices and 
 the large buildings originally erected by Europeans, and gene- 
 rally inhabited by them, are slated. The next class are covered 
 in with shingles, small flat pieces of hard wood, either made 
 from a particular sort of tree that grows here, or obtained from 
 America. These, v.-hen tarred all over, at a distance can 
 scarcely be distinguished from slates ; but when left exposed 
 to the weather, shrivel and slirink, and turn up at the edges like 
 so many scallop-shells, giving to the roof a very irregular and 
 whimsical appearance. The small frame-houses are either 
 shino'led or simply boarded, whilst the lower order of buildings 
 are thatched with grass, bamboo, or various leaves gathered in 
 the bush. 
 
LET. III.] SOUR-SOPS AND SWEET-SOPS. 5(5 
 
 I have lately seen the palin-cabbage, which I think one of the 
 strangest and best eatables that Africa affords. It is nothino: 
 less than the heart of a tree, the stem having to be cut down 
 ere it is possible to obtain the delicacy itself. This is a large 
 odd-looking substance, and at first I imagined the donor had sent 
 us a piece of fat white veal (about as great a rarity in this 
 place), when a closer examination showed it to be a vegetable, 
 presenting a mass of young folded leaves so closely wedged 
 together, that until boiled they were hardly discernible. It 
 exactly resembles, when raw, fresh green peas, and in that 
 state is often used as a salad or pickle ; but when boiled has 
 a far more delicate flavour than a common cabbage. I have 
 also to tell you of the " sour-sop,"* a large unshapely fruit, 
 green on the outside, and all covered over with short blunt 
 points. Inside is a white pulp, in appearance somewhat like 
 cotton steeped in liquid, very acid, with a strong flavour of black 
 currants, and comprising numerous little divisions, in each of 
 which is a single long-shaped brow^n seed. There is another 
 species," called " sweet-sop,"-]' much smaller than the other, and 
 prettier looking, but of a more insipid taste. It is not unlike a 
 broad fir-cone in form, but the rind is purple, or in some varie- 
 ties greenish, and seems coated with crystallized sugar. 
 
 One of the commonest trees of the negro gardens is the paw- 
 paw : it is of rapid growth, and has a very slight spongy trunk, 
 ringed like that of the palm. The fruit, which when ripe is of 
 a bright yellow, or rather orange-colour, and about three times 
 as larore as a swan's effor, is attached bv short footstalks to the 
 stem itself, round which it clusters very thickly. Europeans eat 
 it with black pepper and salt, but I do not think it at all good, 
 and fancy it has a poisonous taste. Indeed, previously to being 
 placed on table, incisions are made in the rind to allow the 
 escape of a glutinous and milky liquid, which is considered un- 
 wholesome. 
 
 The leaf of the pawpaw-tree is an ingredient in the soap made 
 by the natives here, and which is sold in round brown balls in 
 the market-place. There are few^ things I see carried past by tlie 
 black people prettier than the shining gourd vessels. Some of 
 
 * Auona senegalensis. t Anona squamosa. 
 
 D 2 
 
35 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. hi. 
 
 them are of a bright polished yellow ; others are stained red, 
 and carved in grotesque figures, and they are of various sizes ; 
 some being quite small, serve as drinking-cups ; others, again, 
 are nearly a yard in diameter, and are used to carry water in, or 
 (instead of baskets) arrowroot, cassada, starch, fruit, &c. They 
 are all very light and hard. Some are shaped like a round flask 
 with a longish neck, and do duty as bottles : so you see this 
 country is bountiful to the natives, even in supplying them with 
 vegetable bottles and bowls ! 
 
LET. IV.] PURENESS OF MOUNTAIN AIR— BIRDS. 37 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Pureness of the Mountain Air — Birds — Objects in keeping a Journal — 
 Palanquin Travelling — Sierra Leone " Bush " — The House on the Hill 
 
 — Sunrise — Mahommedan Call to Prayers — Ants in the Store-room — 
 Cocoa-nut Trees — Guavas — Magnificent View — Grass-fields — Mount 
 Oriel — Flowers — Locusts — Red Ants — Coffee Shrubs — Bug-a-bugs 
 
 — Larder and Cupboard Economy — Talipat and other Palms — 
 Morning Scenes and Sounds — Mango Trees — Bamboos — Bermuda 
 Grass — Lizards and Snakes. 
 
 April 27, 1841. 
 
 We came up to our new and very solitary habitation about three 
 weeks ago, and as yet I like it infinitely better than Freetown; 
 it is so much cooler and more pleasant every way, despite the 
 steepness and difficulty of the ascent. The house is not so large 
 as the one we had in town, but this is rendered of less conse- 
 quence by the surrounding atmosphere being much purer than 
 that in Freetown. 
 
 Birds of every colour are for ever flitting past, and though 
 their notes want variety, they are far from being unmusical. 
 The humming-birds, scarcely larger than humble-bees, with 
 plumage of green, blue, and purple, haunt the graceful boughs 
 of a tamarind tree close to my room windows, and flutter round 
 the scented yellow blossoms of a wild acacia that grows near 
 the house. Their song is lively and quick, and they dart about 
 in the sunshine with a merry rapid motion. One large grace- 
 fully formed bird, of a sober brown hue, with black crested 
 head, is always to be seen amongst the orange- trees. Its note 
 begins at daybreak, and is very cheerful. 
 
 Another chants in a plaintive strain the name ^' Theodore ! 
 Theodore ! " from morning till night ; whilst the cry of one that 
 is continually heard, but never seen, is so like that of a turkey, 
 as to cause me often to fancy that the tame turkeys which were 
 brought us from the Gambia lately have wandered into the 
 " bush." 
 
38 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. iv. 
 
 We so easily become habituated to what we see every day, 
 that I have begun to note down at once, journal- ivise, whatever 
 I think would interest you to learn about this country, lest when 
 a ship suddenly appears ready to sail, the detail of little home 
 matters that are apt to engross most of our thoughts, may leave 
 no time to spare for descriptions of outward objects, whose 
 aspect may already have become familiar to myself. 
 
 Extract from Journal, 
 
 April Sth. — We left Freetown yesterday afternoon. M on 
 
 horseback, but baby and I in a large and comfortable palanquin, the 
 slidino- doors of which were kept as open as possible, so thatwiiilst 
 we received the benefits of the sea-breeze I had also a view of both 
 sides of the road. We soon lost sight of stone and lime build- 
 ings with shingled or slated roofs, for huts thatched with grass 
 or bamboo ; almost all having piazzas in front, upheld by rough 
 wooden posts, and open except within a few feet of the ground, 
 where they were either boarded up or wattled and plastered over 
 with red mud, as the other sides of the dwelling might be ; the 
 spaces left for windows seeming to answer the purpose of chim- 
 neys as well. The inmates were seated on mats spread out in 
 their small enclosed courts, and seemed busily engaged at their 
 suppers, which apparently consisted generally of fruit and fish. 
 As our path became steeper, the huts gradually became more 
 scattered, till we left them, their spreading trees, and waving 
 little flags far behind, and began to ascend the mountain by a 
 rude and narrow way traced amid isolated black rocks, and 
 overhung by the thick branches of that luxuriant " bush,'* 
 which seems low and insignificant when viewed from a distance, 
 because its denseness prevents its height being seen ; though 
 most of its trees might vie with those of twenty or thirty years' 
 growth at home. Many of these boughs were clothed with 
 leaves, glossy and bright as laurel, but four or five times larger 
 than a common laurel -leaf; while climbing plants, bending 
 down under the weight of their magnificent tufts of red, lilac, or 
 white flowers, seemed wreathed round every individual stem. 
 It was strange to see those beautiful blossoms, which would be 
 prized as rare specimens in England, hidden and choked up by 
 tall grass and heaps of withered leaves. Pine-apples grow 
 
LET. IV.] PALANQUIN TRAVELLING. 39 
 
 amongst the bush here, as weeds do in hedges ; their long spiked 
 points met my eye in every direction, and numerous were the 
 tempting clusters of shining berries of various colours and shapes 
 that loaded the boughs skirting the path, always steep, in some 
 places even dangerously so ; till we passed the side of the hill, 
 which, cleared and planted with coffiee, rises like a wall on one 
 hand, while a false step on the other would at once precipitate 
 you to the bottom. At length a small patch of table-ground 
 betokened that we had reached the summit. 
 
 At a cantering sort of pace the bearers bore the palanquin 
 along under the shade of some fine orange-trees, and set it down 
 in the open ground piazza of a building, whose winding outside 
 staircase, projecting eaves, and strange sloping roof, reminded 
 me, on a large scale, of the imitation Swiss cottages you see at 
 watering-places or in the suburbs of large towns in our own 
 country, whose inhabitants (dear people !) always seem to imagine 
 the style of arcliitecture of other lands to be better than that of 
 their own. On entering a small low parlour, with arched 
 windows and door in substantial stone walls, it appeared that our 
 dw^elling rose phcenix-like from the ashes of another, literally 
 standino: within the ancient foundation of what had once been a 
 structure nearly twice as large as the present. 
 
 The orange-trees, under which we had passed, were rich in 
 fruit, but it was too late to commence the novelty of gathering 
 it from the branches myself, as we had scarcely time to make a 
 few requisite arrangements and drink a cup of tea, ere it became 
 dark. It was strange to see, from the front windows of our 
 mountain residence, the widely scattered lights of Freetown so 
 far dow^n beneath ; while the barking of dogs, the singing and 
 laughing of the natives, and tlie beat of drums, were mellowed 
 into comparative softness as they rose out of the valley below 
 and blended with the floatinsr notes of the evenino: buo^le from 
 the barrack hill. At the back of the house all was gloom and 
 solitude. I could see only a dim dark outline of hills and trees. 
 No sound came from that quarter except the jarring screech of 
 the night-hawk ; no light gave sign of human habitation ; though 
 a continued blaze of fire in several places on the distant mountain 
 sides showed tliat the burnins^ of "bush" before the '• rains" 
 was not yet completed. 
 
40 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. iv. 
 
 In town we had no gradual dawn, but this morning, on throw- 
 ing open the jalousied shutters of the windows looking to the 
 east, it w^as quite enlivening to see the daylight stealthily break- 
 ing over a hill higher than this one, and separated from it by 
 a deep ravine, w^hich, with the low ground, was yet lying in 
 misty shadow. I was struck by hearing a shrill wild cry re- 
 peated several times, and seeming to come from the plain 
 beneath. This was the Mahommedan call to prayers ; and the 
 farm labourers, who had been sitting in groups under the orange- 
 trees, now prostrated themselves before the rising sun ; for not- 
 withstanding there are here so many Christian missionaries, con- 
 stant and zealous in their labours amid the people, the false 
 religion of Mahomet numbers amongst its proselytes no inconsi- 
 derable portion of the liberated African population. But there 
 was no time for moralizing. One servant had to be despatched 
 to market, and the others set to assist in arranging the furniture, 
 &c. ; while the little girl, in great delight at being once more 
 among the mountains, whenever her young charge slept, darted 
 out to pluck fresh limes, which she ate as you would an apple, 
 only dipping them first in salt ! The workpeople, ten or a dozen 
 in number, were employed in improving the approach to the 
 house ; but, although under charge of a head man^ a grim-looking 
 figure of above six feet in height, with close-fitting scarlet cap 
 a la Mandijigo, they seemed every one more idle than another, 
 and kept up so constant and loud a conversation in their bar- 
 barous dialect, attended wdth so many oratorical attitudes, as to 
 give the idea that they were engaged in some grave dispute. 
 
 M went to town early, and feeling somewhat solitary, 
 
 thus hemmed in by hills and ravines, not even a native hut 
 being within any reasonable distance, I locked the hall door, 
 which, as it is of glass, enabled me to see before opening it who 
 wanted admittance. But I discovered that the store-room was 
 more exposed to assailants from within doors, meat, bread, sugar, 
 and fruit being alike overspread with ants of two kinds. One 
 species is dark brown, very small, and rather slow in its move- 
 ments ; the other black and agile : both are harmless, but pro- 
 mise to be a source of some annoyance, as they have to-day 
 triumphed over my most ingenious methods to prevent their 
 attacks upon the milk-jug or sugar-basin. Our town residence 
 
LET. IV.] COCOA-NUT TREES-GUAVAS. 41 
 
 was quite free from such little pests as these insects. Once or 
 twice only I noticed there a few minute red ants, which from 
 their creeping pace I fancied were blind, but they never seemed 
 to eat anything. The smallest kind here, is the most audacious ; 
 even cold water is not exempt from its invasions ; for, observing 
 a large dark ball on the surface of a glass of water, I perceived 
 it to be a mass of ants, while a band marching in single file up 
 the side of the glass added fresh numbers to the floating and 
 struggling heap. The other species appears to confine itself 
 mostly to sugar, and when a noise is made in its vicinity, makes 
 a nimble retreat. Between attending to various domestic matters 
 of the same novel character, and looking at the extensive and 
 beautiful view, the day has passed quickly. 
 
 The cottage is built on a ridge so narrow, that the ground 
 slopes at both ends with precipitous abruptness. The brow of 
 the hill is within a few paces of the front parapet ; up this bold 
 and nearly perpendicular acclivity is cut a narrow and perilous 
 path, sometimes preferred, on account of its being so much 
 shorter than the main one, which winds up one side of this 
 curiously-shaped mountain, and comes in at the back of the 
 house. There, only, the ground is level for about a hundred 
 yards, ascending then into another hill, covered with " bush," 
 and crowned by a few lofty old trees. In the evening we pro- 
 ceeded along the level patli, which is shaded by orange-trees, 
 and by one fine cocoa-nut-tree, whose feathery branches sweep 
 the ground, as it has not yet attained a great height, though 
 in full bearing. This is tlie first time I have seen the nut grow- 
 ing ; and the flower, somewhat resembling a tall full bunch of 
 ripe ears of wheat, with both young and old nut in their 
 polished green cases all hanging at once from the same tree, has 
 a peculiarly rich effect. 
 
 The flower and young fruit, which is but a miniature of the 
 full-sized one, are protected by a coarse gauzy canoe-shaped 
 covering, which falls off as the nut ripens ; and I think the 
 natives must have derived their ideas of weaving cloth from the 
 appearance of this fibrous substance, which is exactly like a 
 strono^ but thin stuff. 
 
 The next tree which attracted my attention was the guava.* 
 
 * Psidum pyriferum. 
 
42 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. iv. 
 
 It is very plentiful here, has a coarse-looking leaf, and straggling 
 way of growing ; its boughs, with their smooth dun-coloured 
 bark, stretching themselves out, like so many lean and idle arms. 
 Its blossom alone is pretty, resembling that of the medlar. 
 
 April 9th — Ushered in another fine fresh morning. I feel 
 the air here quite bracing after that of Freetown, and the water, 
 especially in the morning, is delicious from its extreme coolness ; 
 but a draught still more refreshing is obtained from the cocoa- 
 nut. Cocoa-nut milk is best when transparent as spring-water, 
 which it always is, while the kernel is yet a snow-white jelly : 
 as this hardens, the fluid becomes white, lusciously sweet, and of 
 course diminishes in quantity. "When the nut is gathered just 
 about sunrise, this milk is so very cool as to be esteemed quite 
 a luxury. To-day the view has appeared still more beautiful 
 and magnificent than it did yesterday. From the front windows 
 Freetown looks as if marked out upon a map on a gigantic scale ; 
 and although there is sameness and formality in the long straight 
 streets, crossing each other at equal distances, yet the irregula- 
 rity of the different buildings, embowered as they all are in trees 
 — the ships constantly in the harbour — the Bullom shore with its 
 shining sand beach and perpetual verdure — the broad blue sea 
 stretching out till bounded by the horizon — form a relief to what 
 might otherwise be considered tame and wanting in variety. 
 Between us and part of Freetown, the barrack-hill, with its 
 crowning range of lofty buildings and smooth esplanade, rises up 
 in grassy simplicity. Upon the esplanade stands what was once 
 a martello tower, originally one of the defences of the colony, 
 and from which the locality of the barracks is generally desig- 
 nated "Tower Hill." \Ye are now so much above even this 
 high hill, which while in town I used to class amongst tlie 
 mountains, that we can see over its head, as it were, several 
 others of the broad regular streets leading down to the harbour ; 
 at the west side of which (forming in this panoramic view a 
 strikingly different object from the bold eminence of the barrack- 
 hill) stretches out a wide flat peninsula, rich in all sorts of 
 " bush," and called King Tom's Point. Indeed from Cape 
 Sierra Leone upwards, the coast is beautifully diversified by 
 little green promontories, shady bays, and lake-looking creeks ; 
 for by the peculiar rise and fall of the ground, one of these, 
 
LET. IV.] GEASS-FIELDS— MOUNT OEIEL. 43 
 
 when the tide is full, appears like a sheltered inland lake, and 
 the rivers on the Bulloni shore in several places do the same. 
 
 But the most remarkable feature of all is the mixture of cul- 
 tivation and wildness. To the left we overlook one or two farms 
 belonging- to Europeans, and laid out in the neatest possible 
 style, with their nicely-cut lime hedges, vineyards, gardens, and 
 pleasure-grounds : while close to these bright, clean, and oasis- 
 looking spots, on one side rise the great lone hills, and to the 
 other lie wide bleak plains destitute of tree or bush, and called 
 " grass-fields," although in reality they are but low flat rocks 
 thinly coated with bad poisonous grass, which no cattle will eat. 
 
 The grass-thatched huts of the suburbs and tributary villages 
 of Freetown, spread as they are over the plains, form in them- 
 selves another very striking feature in the prospect, looking like 
 a multitude of hayricks disposed in formal lines amidst a green 
 plantation. The hill on our right rises up very abrupth'-, 
 shutting out the view of both river and opposite shore. It is 
 much higher and still more difficult of access than this ; although 
 were a plank (could we find one long enough) flung across from 
 our windows to the corresponding height on the other side, I 
 think I could run across in five minutes, I call the hill " Mount 
 Oriel," though it is commonly known by the name of some one 
 of the individuals who have resided in the now uninhabited 
 house, that still amidst a few old fruit-trees upon the flat summit 
 stands in well-defined outline against the sky. 
 
 The view from the back of tlie house is of the same mountainous 
 description, while the road to Regent and other villages ascends 
 out of the deep hollow to our left, and gradually winds upwards, 
 until hid by the hill next above this one. Beyond it again we 
 see the bleak top of Leicester Mountain, as well as that of the 
 Sugar-Loaf, another real mountain, and the identical peak that 
 struck me by its lion-like shape on looking at Sierra Leone from 
 the sea. It is not merely the highest, but tlie only hill in the 
 colony that rears up its lofty liead in all the frowning and solitary 
 grandeur of dense dark forest. 
 
 I have really been very idle to-day, doing nothing except 
 wanderino^ from one window to another to jraze on the beautiful 
 prospect of botii land and sea which lies spread out before me. 
 In the evening we took another short walk, and it seemed 
 
44 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. iv. 
 
 strange to see those trees and plants, descriptions of which 
 I have long ago read with wonder and interest, actually growing 
 before my eyes ! not pining in a hothouse, but blossoming under 
 their own native sky ; whilst besides those whose names are 
 familiar, some of which I have seen in conservatories, there are 
 here many others totally different from any I ever read or 
 heard of. 
 
 One tree, of by no means insigniticant height, with dark green 
 and curiously- veined leaves, is loaded at present with a fruit 
 called "monkey apple;" "monkey plum" would be a more 
 correct appellation, as it resembles a nectarine more than an 
 apple, being about the same size and of a bright yellow, streaked 
 on one side with crimson. It is surprising how the orange and 
 lime-trees near the house have attained to so great a height, 
 and continue to flourish as they do, on a soil apparently com- 
 posed of black ferruginous rock, great crags of which overhang 
 the brow of the hill, lie scattered about in all directions, or 
 raise themselves up like rough-hewn pedestals for the statue of 
 some spirit of the mountains. The place appears to have been 
 much neglected, for except that the top, and part of the steep 
 sides of the hill, have been cleared and planted with coffee, 
 there are no recent marks of cultivation. The luxuriant monthly 
 rose, a solitary and rather dwarfish fig-tree in front of the house, 
 with a low hedge of a large yellow-flowering cactus all round 
 the top of the parapet-wall, some plants of the purple trumpet- 
 shaped marvel of Peru,* or "four o'clock flower" as we call 
 it, and the brilliant-hued Indian shot,"]" form tlie only visible 
 attempt at artificial adornment. Yet we do not want for flowers 
 — they perk up their gay bright faces on all sides ; some, pretty 
 lowly things, others, large handsome blossoms, more properly 
 flowering shrubs. Garlands of a beautiful pale lilac convolvulus 
 twine over the loose masses of rock, and festoon their crevices 
 from top to bottom, or climb up the long grass, giving a lively 
 bloom to its brown and parched stalks. The sensitive plant, 
 with its delicate pink blossom and shrinking leaf, grows in great 
 abundance ; and one flower, not unlike the common dog-rose, 
 runs along the ground in the same manner and almost as luxu- 
 riantly as the water-lily does over the surface of a pond. 
 * Mirabilis jalapa ? f Canna indica. 
 
LET. IV.] LOCUSTS -COFFEE-SHRUBS.' 45 
 
 What we stand most in need of in the way of improvements 
 are paths, that we may walk without having to thread our way 
 throus:h tall ijrass and brushwood, at the risk of startling a 
 snake at every step. As it was, we disturbed nothing more 
 alarming than locusts, numbers of which were leaping about 
 upon the leaves and amongst the grass. This particular species 
 is elegantly marked in green, black, and yellow, with greenish 
 transparent wings. Many of the trees as well as the bush are 
 infested too with large red ants, that make their nests of the 
 leaves. Clusters of these glued-up leaves, covered over with 
 their industrious tenants, hang from every branch, disfiguring the 
 unfortunate tree more than can be described. The waspish 
 nature of the insects themselves deters me from making a minute 
 examination of their houses, which seem to be very ingeniously 
 constructed. When one of the nests receives a sharp thrust 
 from a walking-stick, the ants sally forth in great wTath, and 
 some march determinedly up to the top of the aggressing cane, 
 evincing their soldier-like disposition by sundry sharp bites on 
 the hand which conducted the attack. The bite is not venomous, 
 nor so painful as the sting of a bee, yet it is severe enough ; 
 and woe to the adventurous climber who ascends an orange-tree 
 inhabited by these ants, for in an instant he is assailed by them 
 in myriads ! They are evidently injurious to vegetable life, as 
 whatever tree or bush is loaded by their nests is sure to look 
 sickly and pining. Much of the coffee appears thus, although 
 some of it, especially near the house, is particularly luxuriant 
 and beautiful. It is kept low like a shrub, but if permitted, will 
 attain a considerable height : it has a knotted and gnarled trunk, 
 rough white bark, and, when the tree is healthy, a bay-like leaf 
 of a rich dark green. 
 
 I noticed on several of these white stems traces of what I am 
 told are termites, or, as the country people here call them, 
 " buo--a-bu"-s :" and on others the fresh earth-covered ways, like 
 veins on the surface of the trunk, tempted me to make an opening 
 in one to observe the insects within, and what a commotion it 
 excited amongst them. Instead of running away, they stop short, 
 those who were on before turning boldly back to see what is 
 the matter, and then, as if by some freemasonry amongst them- 
 selves, they instantly begin to repair the roof of their gallery 
 
46 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. iv 
 
 with an order and regularity quite astonishing. They are round, 
 fat, pearl-coloured little creatures, and either cannot see or have 
 invisible eyes, very different in appearance from the red ant, with 
 its angular body and two great, staring, vicious-looking eyes. 
 
 \Oth. — I find, to my cordial satisfaction, that there is a way of 
 keeping ants from sugar and sweet things, by placing the pro- 
 hibited article upon a plate of lime-juice, all acids being carefully 
 eschewed by the formiccB in general. Sperm-oil, also, these 
 insects shun. 
 
 Our sunset ramble was longer than usual this evening, and I 
 felt as if I had met two old friends on coming suddenly on a 
 quantity of ferns and another plant, or rather " bush," that is 
 exactly like a nettle, except in being stingless ! I looked down 
 upon the gracefully branching foliage of the first — a stalk of 
 which being neatly cut across showed the representation of the 
 royal oak within— and then on the despised, familiar leaves of 
 its coarser companion, and a vision passed before me of glad 
 home-woods and dingles with their ferny brakes, and old grey 
 ruins, whose roofless chambers were choked up by tall thick 
 nettles. I looked up, and there stood the desert palms, tossing 
 their long leaves in the fresh soft breeze that swept across the 
 western ocean ; and was amused to think that even a momentary 
 charm could be thrown round so ill-favoured a weed as a nettle ! 
 
 There are several young date and other palms dispersed over 
 the rocky summit of the hill ; but the most remarkable of all is 
 a talipat. Its leaf is exactly like an enormous fan, the folds of 
 which, separating at about four feet from the centre, taper into 
 spiked points of perhaps four feet also in length. From these 
 broad and singular-looking leaves, which are stiff and hard as 
 thin wooden boards, hang long fine fibres, used as thread by the 
 women of the interior. 
 
 The thickness of trunk which marks the palm when young, 
 would in any other tree be deemed out of all proportion to its 
 height ; but the regal crest which surmounts its massive stem, 
 renders this tree perfectly symmetrical, even when not above 
 ten or twelve feet high, whilst the chevaux-de-frisey formed by 
 the old leaves, is not only curious, but ornamental. The com- 
 parison may seem a very ignoble one, yet I know not how to 
 convey a more familiar idea of most of our young palms indi- 
 
LET. IV.] MORNING SCENES AND SOUNDS. 47 
 
 viciually, tlian by desiring you to fancy a giant wheat-sheaf, 
 slightly spread out at the base to enable it to stand upright on 
 the ground. 
 
 We passed one or two large bare mounds of earth, that look 
 remarkable in a place which, save where it is solid rock, is one 
 field of rank vegetation. These, it seems, were formerly colo- 
 nies of the " bug-a-bugs," and are constructed of mould prepared 
 by the insect citizens, so as to be entirely free from seeds or roots ; 
 and years may pass on, and still these deserted heaps remain, 
 resembling the little potato-bins round some humble cottage at 
 home — except where a few stray seeds, sown by the wind, spring 
 up in a coating of lowly flowers or plants of a more aspiring 
 height. On coming to one cofFee-tree with part of its stem com- 
 pletely hid under an earthen case, which bespoke the industry of 
 the tiny insects within, the noise of our approach gave rise to 
 what was, I suppose, a sort of warning to the busy communitj^, 
 being;' a sound somethins: between a loud hissing: and the tickins" 
 
 O CD O o 
 
 of a watch, which was distinctly repeated several times. On its 
 
 ceasing, M struck the ground with his walking- cane, and 
 
 immediately the hissing began again, the earth under the path 
 being evidently full of these insects : one or two covered ways 
 leading to the coffee-tree seeming to be only entered from below 
 gromid. The " bug-a-bugs," troublesome as they prove when 
 they get into the wood-work of a house, without doubt are bene- 
 ficial to trees in clearing away any dead bark or branches ; and 
 in a climate like this must be useful in assisting to remove de- 
 ca3^ed vegetation. 
 
 I2th. — In the morning, the coolness of the bracing mountain 
 air enables me to occupy myself in household matters, which, 
 however, do not debar me from observing the glad, bright, 
 busy aspect of everything out of doors. A band of labourers 
 are clearing and making walks ; and often as I pass by the 
 open windows do I wonder at their progress, not as yet com- 
 prehending how M manages to direct the operations of 
 
 people v.ho can scarcely speak, far less understand, a word of 
 English. One or two go out to cut grass for the horses — them- 
 selves half hid by the tail bunches which grow up so luxuriantly 
 on the farm. A third is seen at a distance, emerging from the 
 ravine, poising on his head a bucket of the clearest water, on 
 
48 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. iv. 
 
 whose surface, to prevent splashing, float a few leafy twigs, or 
 a piece of wood shaped like a St. Andrew's cross, which answers 
 the same purpose ; and if it should strike one side of the bucket, 
 warns the bearer to preserve a more equal balance. The goats 
 are quietly browsing amongst the coffee, and the kids skipping 
 and bounding from one huge stone to another. Birds and but- 
 terflies of the gayest hues sport amid the orange and lime 
 branches ; lizards glide about with a sly yet rapid motion, or lie 
 basking in the sun on the parapet wall. From the bush comes 
 many a strange wild note, that tells of the more timid birds it 
 slielters in its tangled shades ; while louder, though more distant, 
 from the winding mountain-path beyond, the laugh and shout 
 of human voices reach the ear ; and even without the aid of a 
 glass I can count the groups of figures descending to market 
 with their laden baskets of fruit and vegetables. 
 
 The afternoon is another pleasant period of the day, and that 
 in which I have the best opportunity of examining out-of- 
 door objects. I noticed this morning that a shower of rain had 
 caused many of the coffee-shrubs to send forth their white stel- 
 lated blossoms, and the house was filled with the heiivy perfume, 
 resembling that of an English bean-field, which the sea-breeze 
 wafted in at the open windows. But on going out in the evening, 
 I found the trees despoiled of their transitory glory, the petals 
 of the flowers lying like snow-drifts beneath. There are several 
 mango-trees on the grounds, but none are in blossom this season. 
 I think this the most beautiful fruit-tree I have yet seen in the 
 colony. Its bark is rather rough, and of a very light brown 
 shade. The leaf is nearly a foot long, and grows so richly as 
 quite to hide the form of the smaller branches, so that at a distance 
 you see nothing except a beautifully rounded mass of foliage, 
 supported by a straight and well-proportioned stem. 
 
 One very distinguished looking object among the many 
 strange and interesting which surround our new abode, is a 
 clump of bamboos. These tall tapering canes, fringed with twigs 
 bearing a narrow, pointed, willow-like leaf, are constantly in 
 motion. Even when scarcely a breath of wind stirs abroad, we 
 hear a creaking and rustling sound amidst these stately and 
 gracefully-bending reeds, which can be compared to notliing 
 else than a colossal plume of ostrich feathers fit to deck a still 
 
LET. IV.] INSECTS— LIZARDS. 49 
 
 more enormous helmet than the enchanted one of the Castle of 
 Otranto. The ground beneath the bamboos is perfectly clear, 
 like what it is in a plantation of old Scottish firs ; and an open 
 space being made in the centre, with an entrance at one side, 
 they form a natural arbour, which at all times affords a pleasant 
 shade from the sun. 
 
 The insect chorus, which commences at sunset, seemed louder 
 than usual to-night, and I peeped into several crannies of the 
 dilapidated remnant of the old house to try and discover a cricket 
 that sang out so shrilly from its covert that it sounded like the 
 note of a good-sized bird. But I saw nothing except a stray 
 grasshopper or two jumping among the remarkably pretty grass 
 with which the ground adjoining the house is partially overgrown. 
 It has a small delicate-looking blade, and is called " Bermuda 
 grass," but instead of growing up like other grasses, spreads out 
 much in the same manner as strawberry plants do, forming a sort 
 of thick matted work, that although, as at present, somewhat dry 
 and withered up, still feels soft and springy under the foot like 
 a Persian carpet ; while here and there over the parapet wall 
 one of the long wiry stalks streams forth in the wind, or clings 
 closely to the old mossy stones, as if trying to clasp their cracks 
 and crevices together with its strong climbing fibres. This old 
 wall is a favourite retreat for lizards, of which there seem to be 
 several kinds, though I have only as yet observed two particu- 
 larly. Those of one species are called " cundoos," and are of 
 different sizes, with heavy awkward gaits and clumsy bodies, but 
 brightly coloured in purple, yellow, red, and blue. They are 
 voted very harmless, whilst a smaller and prettier kind, of an 
 unvarying grey, and with a snake-like head, bead-like eyes, long 
 tapering tail, and very rapid movements, is said by the blacks to 
 bite venomously as a snake — of several of which reptiles I have 
 
 had occasional glimpses since coming up here. One that M 
 
 shot close to the house was exactly like the thong of a whip, 
 and of the same grey shade as the little lizards. Anotlier larger 
 one, that some of the servants killed, was banded black and lead- 
 colour. I have 2fot one or two snake-skins that were found in 
 the bush ; they are fine and brittle like paper, and are marked 
 in a regular network -like pattern. 
 
 £ 
 
50 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Flight of Locusts — Noxious Exhalations — Ride to Mount Oriel — Ruined 
 Cottage — View of Bullom Shore — Solitary Grave — Rough Roads — 
 Dreary Mountain Scenery — Salutations of the Natives — Strange At- 
 mospheric Picture — Flying Ants — Mason Bees — Out-door Improve- 
 ments — Plants — Specimen of Negro Intellect — Acquirements of 
 Female Domestics — Isles de Los — Sangaree Mountains — Leopard's 
 Island. 
 
 Extracts from Journal. 
 
 May \st. — This forenoon, which was exceedingly hot, my 
 attention was roused by a simultaneous shout from our servants 
 and farm-labourers, while from the low ground a similar cry arose, 
 accompanied by what sounded like the beating of native drums. 
 On looking out, I saw apparently a thick cloud of dust coming 
 down the hills and moving rapidly towards the town. It was a 
 flight of locusts ; not the green and black ones, which are yet 
 too plentiful in our " bush," but the real migratory locusts. I 
 was not surprised at the looks of dismay with which this sudden 
 appearance was greeted by our people, one of whom exclaimed 
 in a truly pathetic tone — " Ah ! day make hungry too much in 
 dis country ! hungry too much ! " whilst he and his fellow- 
 servants created the utmost possible din, jingling the lids of 
 saucepans and kettles, beating upon large tin jars, and shouting 
 to prevent, if possible, these destructive insects from settling 
 on the grass or orange-trees near the house ; thousands of them 
 fell as if exhausted, and were speedily pounced upon by the . 
 fowls. 
 
 ■ These locusts are very large, with substantial bodies, and four 
 broad extended wings ; their colour is a sort of yellowish brown ; 
 they are not half such disgusting-looking things as the other 
 locusts, although certainly I should not suppose them to be, as a 
 young black lad declared, with much emphasis, " good, good, 
 fried in palm-oil ! " They made a shrill whirring noise as they 
 
LET. v.] NOXIOUS EXHALATIONS. 51 
 
 flew along, but where they came from we could not guess. I 
 noticed in several places beneath, the living clouds suddenly dis- 
 appearing, and then as suddenly rising to renew their flight, until 
 I lost sight of them altogether : some must have winged their 
 way across the river, as I saw many of the dust-coloured masses 
 hovering: above the water. 
 
 And now it is evening, and we have just had a heavy tor- 
 nado. When the rain somewhat moderated, I went to the 
 piazza windows, and, heedless of the strong land wind, watched 
 for a long time the grand and beautiful appearance of the sea, 
 illumined with purple and blue-looking lightning. The peals 
 of thunder at first shook the very house ; but it has now rolled 
 to a distance, and the coolness of the air after the storm is per- 
 fectly delightful. 
 
 At first when the rain comes down, the smell from the earth is 
 excessively unpleasant, and, as I should suppose, unwholesome : 
 like that arising from stagnant water and decayed vegetable 
 matter. Though every window is shut as close as possible, this 
 detestable smell penetrates even into the inner rooms ; so that 
 once or twice at night, when there has been no wind, I have 
 been aware of there being a light shower, by the strong earthy 
 odour which accompanied it. To-night the violence of the v, ind 
 has wafted away all traces of this noxious exhalation, and indeed 
 I feel quite strengthened by the beneficial influence of the tor- 
 nado. The heat in this climate induces a feeling of lassitude, 
 even when there has been no exertion ; and I do not think it is 
 possible for any one in healthy, happy England, to understand 
 how easily one becomes fatigued here with the very slightest 
 bodily effort. 
 
 3rd. — Yesterday evening, in the course of a very lovely ride 
 which we took to Mount Oriel, a strange scene presented itself. 
 
 Amid old orange-trees dying from neglect, a tall remnant of 
 a lime-hedge, choked up by wild acacias, guavas, and clamber- 
 ing bush plants — with the burnt stumps, withered and leafless 
 branches of other trees, appeared a detached gable-ended build- 
 ing with rent and broken walls ; and beyond it a pavilion-roofed 
 cottage, in a state far more dreary looking than a complete ruin, 
 owing, I suppose, to all the outside work of the house being of 
 wood. The boarded sides of its low piazza were clean and 
 
 E 2 
 
52 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. v. 
 
 bleached by exposure to the weather, while through the open 
 spaces, where doors and casements had formerly been, the white- 
 washed walls seemed fresh and out of character with the moss 
 •which carpeted the flag-g-ed floor of the verandah. But clean and 
 solid as the woodwork appeared, most of its planks and posts 
 were mere honey-combed cases, having been destroyed by bug- 
 a-bugs, so that the tap of a finger broke through the shell of 
 paint, that caused the building all the time to look so deceit- 
 fully solid. 
 
 From under a broken flag at the threshold of one of the inner 
 apartments, a young pine-apple shot forth its pointed purple 
 leaves ; while lizards darting up and down on the walls, and 
 spiders weaving their webs between ihe decaying rafters, seemed 
 to dispute the territory with a few bats, which fled from their 
 hiding places on our approach. Across what had once been the 
 principal entrance, a beautiful China-rose is grown up to the 
 roof, and some flowers of the Marvel of Peru, mingling with 
 rank grass and unsightly weeds, had just opened their eyes to the 
 afternoon sun. Clusters of the scarlet and orange " Pride of 
 Barbadoes,"* and the African lilac, looked bright amid all the 
 loneliness of this deserted habitation, and with one or two bunches 
 of a sort of climbing lily, whose long bright crimson petals 
 streamed to the wind, bore evidence that there had once been a 
 time when both care and taste were expended on the place, 
 although now a clump of bamboos and several mango-trees in 
 full leaf are the only things evincing no traces of neglect and 
 decay. 
 
 A broad platform covered with high grass intervenes between 
 the house and the overhanging brow of the mountain, and along 
 this piece of table-land we proceeded — the view to the right de- 
 lighting me by its tranquil yet magnificent beauty. There lay 
 the wide Sierra Leone river, studded with green and lovely 
 islands, and dividing its waters into two or three different 
 branches, which stretch into an interminable tract of wooded 
 and apparently fertile country ; M'hile immediately beneath us 
 the race-course (on which we could distinguish one solitary park 
 phaeton and about three equestrians), the many little bays on our 
 own side of the estuary, several villa-like mansions, with their 
 
 * PoBciana pulcherrima. 
 
LET. v.] SOLITARY GRAVE— ROUGH ROADS. 53 
 
 cultivated grounds, formed a pleasing contrast to the vast con- 
 tinent beyond, where, as far as the eye could reach, nothing- was 
 to be seen except forest and jungle, among which partial glimpses 
 of creek and river shone like so many embowered lakes. 
 
 The chain of hills extending up the river shut out any nearer 
 view of the branch that flows round, as it were, by their back, 
 and forms this side of the peninsula ; but above their lower slopes 
 we could still see far into the interior, where a curiously-shaped 
 rangfe of mountains rises like some immense tumulus. Riding a 
 few paces downwards on the left, I came upon an object which 
 from my windows had seemed to he an old gate off its hinges, 
 standing against a stone near the foot of a great plum-tree, but 
 which I now discovered to be a wooden paling surrounding a 
 single tomb, formed by a built-up mass of stones roughly plastered 
 over. It is that of the gentleman who last lived in the now 
 deserted house, and who shortly before his death desired that his 
 remains should be interred in that wild spot— probably chosen by 
 him from being more suitable for the resting-place of a member 
 of the Church of Rome, and the subject of a foreign realm, 
 than either of the two burial-grounds which form features in our 
 everyday view. The black people regard this tomb with some 
 superstition, from the fact that, notwithstanding the numerous 
 times the bush and grass in its vicinity have been set on fire, the 
 wooden paling round it has still remained unscathed by the 
 flames. The sight of this solitary grave, and the desolate aspect 
 of what had once been a cheerful dwelling among its orchard 
 and gardens, brought some rather gloomy thoughts into my mind ; 
 and the sun sinking into the glittering sea, warning us how late 
 it was, we left the melancholy-looking place to its solemn still- 
 ness, and commenced our ride homeward. 
 
 4:th. — The new w^alks, so far as they go, afford comfortable 
 rambles, while some of the old tracks on the farm — including 
 that coming up in front of the parapet — have been given up as 
 the strangest breakneck inventions ever devised by man's inge- 
 nuity. I ventured yesterday upon one rougher than the stony 
 bed of a river, and for steepness resembling an old-fiishioned 
 flight of steps more than anything else. You may think this 
 borders on exaggeration, but indeed you never saw such rocky 
 gullies as they dignify by the name of roads in this country, to 
 
54 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. v. 
 
 add to the danger of which the horses here are in general very 
 badly broken in, and appear ignorant of all paces but a lazy walk 
 or a furious gallop. 
 
 The road to Regent merits more praise. Nothing can obviate 
 its precipitous nature, but, being the Queen's highway, bands 
 of workpeople, under the superintendence of a constable, are at 
 certain seasons put on to keep it in repair, and it is therefore a 
 very tolerable path — always excepting one or two places, of 
 which you can have a pretty correct idea by imagining upon the 
 ridge of a hill, or the channel of a stream, some dozens of huge 
 barrels laid endwise across in rows, and then spread over with 
 sand firmly trodden down. 
 
 To-day we ascended this road of "ups" and "downs." A 
 few flowers bloom among the grass by the wayside, and there is no 
 lack of verdure, any one leaf of which, taken individually, would 
 be a source of interest to me from its novelty. One tree, its own 
 branches almost destitute of foliage, was wreathed round by the 
 stems of climbing plants, that, hanging dangling down like real 
 ropes, had quite as whimsical an appearance ; but there is scarcely 
 another living tree on either side of the road, although naked trunks, 
 charred and broken at the bottom, rear up their skeleton forms 
 in m.any places, or lie hacked by axes amongst the grass and 
 brushwood — the sole vegetation, to which repeated burnings have 
 reduced the hills that, but ten or a dozen years ago, were dark 
 with the shade of magnificent trees. Not a hut, not even a 
 patch of cassada-ground, appeared near; but the presence of 
 several wild-looking cows and frightened sheep betokened that, 
 though " all unseen and all unheard," there were other human 
 beinsfs besides ourselves amons: the mountains. Indeed a few minutes 
 longer would have brought us in sight of some of the villages, 
 but darkness sets in so suddenly in this country that we found 
 there was no time left to prolong the ride. So taking another 
 look of the scenery, which presented a picture of dreary grandeur 
 it is difficult for words to pourtray^ — the seal of silence and soli- 
 tude stamped upon its every lineament, from the bareness of the 
 completely cleared hills in one direction, and the riotous growth 
 of the low underwood in another — we turned back again. The 
 bird's-eye view was very fine, and I looked wistfully over the 
 deep-blue waters in hopes of espying a ship in the north ; but 
 
LET. v.] STRANGE ATMOSPHERIC PICTURE. 55 
 
 no such M elcome object gleamed on the horizon, although, creep- 
 ing close in-shore from the south, a low black-hulled schooner, 
 with sails of the purest white, suddenly appeared beyond Wilber- 
 force Hill, and sweeping boldly within the dangerous Carpenter 
 Rock (which lies between Signal Hill and the Cape, and at 
 high- water is marked but by the curling breakers), glided round 
 the shelving promontory like a graceful seabird ; but whilst I 
 expressed my admiration of this beautiful little yacht-like craft, 
 
 M , more skilled than myself in the rig of a vessel, told me 
 
 she was nothing else than a slaver. 
 
 The Cape itself appears low and level from the height at 
 which we were this evenins:. It is not visible from our windows 
 here, being screened by a higher headland called Mount Pleasant. 
 We met several country people returning from Freetown ; and I 
 was much amused by the invariable salutation of "How do, 
 maamie?" which was addressed tome alike by old men, women, 
 and little children. Yet I was struck by the extreme quietness 
 of everv thino: around, so different from a home excursion, even 
 in the most unfrequented rural district ; and although where one 
 of the lonely mountain-sides showed perhaps two or three spots 
 of a fresher green and somewhat uniform shape, I tried to fancy 
 them tiny patches of turnips or potatoes reclaimed from "among 
 the heather," there was nothing to correspond with the idea. 
 On coming within view of our own house again, the smiling 
 plain below still open to our gaze, the house so strange and 
 solitary, perched on the very pinnacle of that oddly-shaped hill, 
 so unlike the social dwellinos which shelter our fellow-creatures 
 in the Sierra Leone capital, I felt more than usual what a com- 
 plete out-of-the-world place our present habitation is, eight hun- 
 dred feet above the level of the sea. 
 
 "Jth. — The weather presented a most remarkable appearance 
 this mornino'. A lead-coloured mist hid the top of the Sugar- 
 Loaf mountain entirely from view, and gathered dark and 
 gloomy on the range of hills to our left. This ma.ss of black 
 rain-clouds moved onwards, gradually obscuring the horizon : sea 
 and sky seemed to meet, and the whole firmament became over- 
 cast. Still the storm did not reach the town, but apparently 
 expended its fury on the water, though a shower fell partially in 
 one of the streets. But while this dense, wet fog brooded above 
 
56 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. v. 
 
 sea and land, as if it would swallow them both, throwing a 
 ghastly shadow over every object, the sun's rays contrived to 
 penetrate through an unseen opening, and caused part of one 
 of the creeks, and a patch or two of the river out near the Cape, 
 to glitter with a cold glassy aspect — not the bright fervid look 
 usually given by sunshine, but a most uncelestial gleam ; the 
 black hovering mist, with these white spots on the water, forming 
 altogether a more extraordinary atmospheric picture than it is 
 possible to describe. 
 
 After I had wondered at this appearance for a short time, the 
 rain came like a deluge, falling over the long eaves of the house 
 in actual sheets of water, but did not continue violent above 
 twenty minutes : a small drizzling rain followed, and then it 
 entirely cleared away, leaving everything looking more fresh 
 and green ; the sun broke out with meridian splendour, and, as 
 suddenly as the locusts did, appeared some millions of trans- 
 parent-winged insects, buzzing round the tops of the orange- trees. 
 Then what a chirping and chattering amongst all the birds on 
 the hill, as they fluttered in the branches and wheeled in the air, 
 darting upon and destroying myriads of these insects, some of 
 which were large black ants with a most disagreeable odour, so 
 powerful, that although in the inner rooms, I could instantly 
 detect when one flew into ttie piazza ! I often see on the fresh 
 earth of the walks individuals of this species, but in an unwinged 
 state, many of them more than an inch long. The blacks say 
 these ants have rather a venomous sting, but as their peculiarly 
 disgusting scent is increased tenfold should they unfortunately 
 chance to be trodden upon, I am inclined to think it is also a 
 means of defence. 
 
 Nor are they the only winged creatures that take a fancy to 
 our sunny piazza. I do not know how many mason-wasps have 
 built their mortared cells against its planked roof. There are 
 numerous kinds of these wasps. One is a warlike creature fully 
 two inches long, with a very hard head and strong hooked pro- 
 boscis. It is rather richly clothed in yellow and black, and 
 has a double sting. Another has its head and trunk separated 
 from the rest of its body by a ligament no thicker than a horse- 
 hair, and is rather a handsome insect, with its long slender 
 waist, primrose-coloured legs barred with black, and dark-blue 
 
LET. v.] OUT-DOOR IMPROVEMENTS. 57 
 
 shining wings. A very large one of the latter sort makes its 
 nest of the same substance as the common British wasp, but 
 differently constructed, a cluster of perhaps ten to twenty hexa- 
 gonal cells being attached to a stalk made by the insect, and 
 hung from under a broad leaf, or it may be fastened to a roof or 
 agrainst a wall, as are the curious earthen houses of the other 
 bees. 
 
 10^/i. — The improvements in the way of road-making get on 
 very well, considering it is but for an hour or two before break- 
 fast that M has leisure to look after the workpeople. 
 
 Already, by dint of clearing and weeding, the place has assumed 
 a different appearance from what it had when we first came up. 
 Although wild and solitary in the extreme, still it is a sort of 
 tidy wildness and cheerful solitude. Tall, ugly brush-weeds no 
 longer disfigure the velvety plats of Bermuda grass ; and all other 
 grasses (of which there are many sorts) are discouraged from 
 approaching the house. Any very pretty flower, however lowly 
 in aspect or unknown in name, is carefully left in whatever 
 situation it chooses to adorn ; or, if a great favourite, care- 
 fully transplanted to bloom under the windows, where one very 
 delicate and beautiful little specimen, brought from places where 
 it abounds on the farm, is planted round a huge country basket, 
 over which twines, with much grace, the small feathery leaf of 
 soft pea-green. Beyond the front parapet, on the very brow of 
 the hill, growing among great blocks of stone, is a date-tree, 
 planted long ago, though still of humble stature ; the leaves of 
 which are of a bluish-green, and narrower, stifFer, and less dense 
 than those of the oil-palms. Next to it appears, as if springing 
 from the ground, a bunch of lance-like leaves, with a highly 
 polished surface, and of a beautiful green : these belong to a 
 young dragon's-blood tree,* the stem of which is as yet hid. 
 There are a great many of these trees in the colony : they are 
 commonly planted in rows at either side of an avenue, and 
 present a strange aspect with their tall, slender shafts, and 
 crowns of stiff-looking leaves, that grow from the trunk like the 
 boughs of a palm, except in branching out into two or three 
 tufts, which the palms never do. The fruit, which rather re- 
 sembles in shape and appearance cherries of a bright orange red, 
 
 * Dracaena ? 
 
58 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. v. 
 
 hangs in thick clusters, and when ripe greatly sets off the dark 
 glossy foliage. 
 
 I observed to-day, growing on one side of the path here, a 
 tall spreading plant, with broad palish green leaves of a soft 
 texture, each divided into seven sharp segments ; and bearing 
 little round bunches of three-celled nuts, covered over with blunt 
 prickles. This is the Palnia Christi,* and its leaves are used 
 by the blacks as an excellent soothing application for bruises. 
 
 I4th. — I have been greatly amused to-day to discover that I 
 am not the only individual who keeps a sort of journal up here. 
 I found upon the broad window-sill of the dining-parlour, which 
 sundry marks showed some one had been using as a writing-table, 
 a small stitched book lying open at a page headed — 
 
 " Wednesday, April 7th, 1841.— Come up to hill. 
 April 8th, „ Bought a pig ;" 
 
 whilst the opposite page was written over in pencil, with what I 
 concluded, from the glance I threw over the manuscript, to be 
 the directions for laying the cloth, and the proper mode of plac- 
 ino- dishes upon table at breakfast and dinner, which I gave to 
 one of our pantry-servants on liis first coming. The diction was 
 really most laughable ; the handwriting, on the contrary, very 
 good. Yet with all the apparent mtellect evinced by making 
 this memorandum, I almost invariably find my fork placed at the 
 ri^-ht side of my plate, and knife at the left; the cloth, instead of 
 beiu"- put on straight, every day actually laid bias upon the table, 
 while all dishes are set angularly before us. 
 
 I am now very fortunate in having tiuo female domestics — the 
 good, clever nurse-maid, who was spirited away from me before, 
 to be her mother's " foot, hand, and head," having been brought 
 back again by the old woman herself. But they are very different 
 indeed from people of the same pretensions at home, which is 
 not wonderful, since those who do not think it beneath them to 
 go out to service, have never, except when at school, seen any 
 less savage mode of life than that which prevails within the mud 
 walls of their parents' grass-thatched huts. 
 
 One of my handmaidens having obtained leave to visit her 
 friends up in the mountains, returned with the humble message 
 
 * Ricinus Africanus. 
 
LET. v.] FEMALE DOMESTICS. 59 
 
 that " her mother was to be married again in a month, and said 
 that I must make her a cap to wear on her head, and a lace 
 tippet like my own for her neck, to be worn on the grand occa- 
 
 sion ! " 
 
 This woman is not singular in her penchant for European 
 fashions, for the old Maroon nurse one day begged in the most 
 earnest manner that I would make a dress for her the very same 
 shape as one of my own ! The request proceeding from pure 
 ignorance, I did not like to mortify the good woman ; so replied, 
 that although I could really not spare time to make her a dress, 
 I would try and cut one out for her, provided she brought me 
 the materials. But whether the rhetoric of some of her more 
 enlightened sisters of the sable race rendered her ashamed of 
 having asked such a thing, or whether she was hurt by my re- 
 fusal, T cannot tell, never having seen her since. 
 
 Certainly great pains must be taken by the teachers at the 
 different schools, for these girls read very well, pronouncing the 
 most difficult English words with perfect fluency. Yet it is 
 astonishing to me that they understand so little the m.eaning of 
 even the simplest sentence. I try to make them comprehend 
 what they read, by explaining its sense in the broken language 
 used by themselves ; but though the youngest seems as if she 
 would in time learn to exercise her mental faculties, the other 
 appears to think that it is quite enough to be able to read, and 
 shows no desire to be more learned than the famous pig which 
 knew its letters. 
 
 The old-fashioned acquirement of darning seems never to 
 have been heard of here — at least I have not yet seen any negro 
 woman who possesses it ; but all the girls who have been at school 
 can mark very nicely, and pique themselves highly upon it. 
 On inquiring what a young person who offered herself as an 
 assistant to the others could do, in hopes of finding one instance 
 in which I miGfht not have to "O through tlie tiresome routine of 
 teaching the most trifling and common-place household employ- 
 ment, I was told that she could " mark," in a grave, proud tone, 
 that fidly proved the importance in which the attainment was 
 held ; and nothing else was added to the list of her qualifications. 
 A cherished piece of finery with them is an apron all done over 
 in sampler stitch, with verses of hymns and texts from the Bible, 
 
60 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let, v. 
 
 bordered with many a strange hieroglyphic and device meant to 
 represent birds and beasts, houses and trees. Even their printed 
 cotton shawls, and common gowns of coarse baft, have as an 
 ornament upon them the name of the owner elaborately worked 
 at full length. 
 
 16th. — We had a strong land wind last night ; and I was quite 
 astonished this morning .by the brilliant clearness of the atmos- 
 phere. The many headlands on the opposite shore — forming 
 the entrance into some of the rivers, and stretching far towards 
 the north — were entirely divested of the shadowy haze which had 
 softened their outline during the dry season ; and their white 
 beach, and red bank above with its green trees, shone so vividly 
 distinct, that were such a landscape represented to the life in 
 a picture, its colouring would be deemed unnatural. Beyond 
 the most distant point — which looks like a long, high wall, curb- 
 ing the ocean — I could see Tamara, one of the Isles de Los. It 
 rises abruptly from the water, and reminds me of Palma, of which 
 we had a glimpse in passing the Canaries. These islands are 
 seventy miles off. Formerly we had a garrison there ; but the 
 situation was found to be more unhealthy than even this place, 
 and now they have no European residents. The name is cor- 
 rupted from the Portuguese, Ilhas dos Idolos — Islands of the 
 Idols — given to them long ago on account of the paganism of 
 their inhabitants. 
 
 But they were not the only variety in our view this morning. 
 The usually flat-looking Bullom shore displayed a magnificent 
 background of mountains — those of Sangaree. They run up 
 from the sea into the interior in a range of separate hills, broken 
 into steep rugged cliffs ; then after a space ascend in a continuous 
 slope, and at the highest point abruptly terminate in this remark- 
 able shape — 
 
 AYith the glass I could distinguish that they are covered with 
 forest, and the bluff precipice seems to have a black rocky face. 
 
LET. v.] LEOPAED'S ISLAND. 61 
 
 This lofty mountain-chain and the distant island at first appeared 
 of the darkest and richest violet hue, far surpassing the deep 
 azure of the water from which the latter rose, and even that of 
 the heavens, though more brightly blue than I ever saw before 
 in this climate. But as the forenoon waned on, the outline became 
 fainter and fainter, until it blended with the floating masses of 
 clouds which gradually rose up, and, as it were, expunged both 
 island and mountains from the sky ; so that on riding over to 
 Mount Oriel in the evening, the view was not more extended 
 than it had been before. 
 
 We have always one green and rocky islet in sight, lying out 
 from one of the nearest points on the opposite shore, to which it 
 is joined by a sand beach at low tides. It is called Leopard's 
 Island, but I know not whether any animals of that name have 
 ever been found there, any more than lions amongst these hills. 
 
 The natives say that a demon lives on this pretty little isle, 
 and nothing will induce them to pass a night there. It seems 
 that a party were once driven from their canoes to take shelter 
 during a storm either under a large tree or in a cave, on the 
 dread spot. The tree or rock, as it was, fell during the night, 
 dragging a portion of land with it, and burying the poor blacks 
 beneath ; and of course so unfortunate an occurrence has rooted 
 the superstition regarding Leopard's Island more deeply in the 
 minds of these ignorant people. 
 
62 
 
 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. vi. 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Changes in the Weather — Sail in the Offing — Anchorage Localities of 
 dififerent Vessels — The Middle Ground — Anxiety for Home Letters — 
 Ship from England — Country Vegetables — National Dishes — Manu- 
 facture of Cayenne Pepper. 
 
 June i. 
 I SEND you a few pages from my little diary, by which you will 
 see that the weather, since the date of my last letter, has changed 
 very much, so that often of an evening the rain prevents my 
 going out to ride or walk. We have tornadoes almost every 
 nio-ht. Upon the days preceding these storms it is always hotter 
 than at other times, and with little or no sea-breeze. Some 
 idea may be formed of the intense power of the sun when I 
 tell you that the oiled floor-cloth was spread out on the grass 
 at the back of the house the short time it was being measured 
 and cut to fit the different apartments, and next morning I could 
 plainly trace where it had been, the grass underneath appearing 
 completely burnt up, as if a blight had passed over the spot; 
 from which state, in spite of much heavy rain, it only now shows 
 symptoms of recovery, after an interval of nearly a fortnight. 
 These great heats and then sudden chills, with the daily in- 
 creasing damp and wet, indicate the approach of the " rains." 
 On the 23rd of May a fire was lit for the first time in the stove 
 upstairs : there is another in the parlour below, and, by keeping 
 them constantly burning, we hope to preserve a drier and more 
 equal temperature. 
 
 We had a tremendously heavy tornado on the evening of the 
 26th, and next morning, to my great delight, I discovered a sail 
 in the offing — in the north, too ! There having been no arrival 
 from England for nearly two months, you can imagine with 
 what eager anxiety I looked forward to the receipt of home 
 letters ; but a dead calm following the tornado, every time that 
 I went to look at the interesting object, standing out like a speck 
 on the horizon, it seemed to be exactly in the same place. 
 
LET. VI.] THE ANCHORAGE. 63 
 
 Vessels, after xliscliargiiig their cargoes here, usually return 
 to England with timber, to procure which they go up the Sierra 
 Leone river, or away for the same purpose to some of those 
 northward, as the Scarcies or the Mellacourie. When, therefore, 
 they heave in sight very far to the north, they turn out always 
 to be laden ships returning from the rivers, and commonly 
 anchor out at the Cape or off King Tom's Point ; or, it may be, 
 come in on the left of the harbour, the same place where prizes 
 g-o, and hence called " Prize Ground." But when the vessel is 
 from home, she sails up the capacious haven, and anchors in 
 Susan's Bay — a small cove formed on one side by a tiny pro- 
 montory', on which stand a few guns within a green enclosure 
 bearing the sounding title of Fort Falconbridge, or, more fami- 
 liarly, " The East Battery." 
 
 The powder-magazine being situated a little above Susan's 
 Bay, the anchorage on that side we term '' Powder-Ground," 
 and merchantmen from England have almost always gunpowder 
 on board. In the barque by which we came out, the apartment 
 under which it was stowed extended under our cabin — a com- 
 fortable reflection of an evening when I have seen the ship's 
 steward dive into this dark hole with a tallow-candle and inch- 
 long: wick flarinor in his hand. 
 
 Well ! although the vessel made no progress, my hopes were 
 very great, remembering how many hours we had been becalmed 
 at the mouth of the estuary; so I patiently awaited the morning, 
 having: no doubt but that a favourable breeze would meanwhile 
 spring up, and that by sunrise we should see her snugly anchored 
 off the powder-magazine. Before daylight I was trying to dis- 
 tino:uish the hulls and masts of the different vessels in the har- 
 bour, but to my excessive disappointment there was nothing new ; 
 it was wet and foggy, no trace of the approaching sail visible, 
 although the red flag at both signal-staffs denoted that it Avas 
 still in sight from these look-out stations. Once only I got a 
 peep of what, in the thick state of the atmosphere, might have 
 been taken for a bewildered crow hovering in the mist between 
 sea and sky, had it not been that the stationary black object was 
 in the identical spot where tlie anxiously-watched ship had last 
 been seen. Late in the day I heard that the hopes of all eager 
 expectants in Freetown had vanished, and that the signal was 
 
64 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. vi. 
 
 universally supposed to be "a deep ship from the rivers," ex- 
 cept when the more fanciful declared it could be no other than 
 the Flying Dutchman venturing upon a northern cruise. A 
 kind little note, however, from one of my own countrywomen 
 showed that there was still some one to encourage my idea of 
 its being an English ship ; and a fierce tornado coming on, I 
 welcomed the wind, thinking it would waft the unconscionably 
 provoking craft a little farther south — for vessels, unless of a 
 very light draught, and even then only at high water, cannot 
 come straight in, as a dangerous bar, called the " Middle 
 Ground," extends across the mouth of the river. At low water 
 it is often dry, although at other times the foaming breakers on 
 the shoal warn the inexperienced mariner to avoid it by going 
 south as far as the Cape ere attempting to come in. The ebb- 
 tide setting south, and the flood-tide north, retard, therelbre, or 
 facilitate the approach of vessels. 
 
 In the morning, which was beautifully clear after the tornado, 
 I found that between tide and landwind the sail had got a little 
 farther to the southward ; and, a slight sea-breeze setting in, she 
 now made some progress. Oh ! dear people at home ! you little 
 know the sensation of watching a vessel coming into port when 
 one is in a strange and distant land — the exciting, feverish an- 
 ticipation of receiving the " good news from a far country," so 
 truly and touchingly designated as being even " as cold water to 
 the thirsty soul." 
 
 Reading, writing, working, were all out of the question ; I 
 jumped up every half-minute to see if the ship were any nearer. 
 She looked so heavy, and progressed so slowly, that I was at last 
 reluctantly convinced it was very foolish to expect her to be 
 from England, and went out as usual for an evening walk. It 
 was so delightfully cool that on returning, instead of going 
 upstairs, I remained on the parapet feeding one of the goats with 
 oranges, which it ate greedily, only seeming to prefer the rind 
 "to the pulp ! The long looked-at vessel, which I had some 
 time before perceived to be a large brig, was now off King 
 Tom's, and I expected to see her come to an anchor, when the 
 sun's very last ray shed such a bright momentary gleam on her 
 side, that I saw it was her copper sheathing which had flashed 
 in the dying light ; and the sight raised up all my hopes again. 
 
LET. VI.] SHIP FROM ENGLAND. C5 
 
 She was light ! that was evident ; and then out fluttered the 
 union-jack in the freshening- evening breeze, and the clumsy 
 mercliant-brig, which had for three days appeared like a log on 
 the waves, now seemed girt by all the grace and beauty in the 
 world, as with swelling canvas she sailed proudly past all the 
 other vessels, and just ere darkness rendered objects indistinct, 
 furled her sails and dropped anchor in Susan's Bay. 
 
 1 knew now that she was from England ; and although eisfht 
 o'clock is our usual hour for shutting doors and windows for the 
 night, I waited, expecting every minute to feast my eyes upon 
 at least one letter with something more than one's mere name on 
 the address, and the bareness of the white envelope relieved by 
 sundry magical stamps. But then I remembered how unreason- 
 able it was to suppose that any person would come up with 
 letters to this lonely place at so late an hour, and that it be- 
 hoved me to exercise the grace of patience until next day. 
 However, between ten and eleven o'clock a loud shoutino: and 
 knocking aroused the household, and the hall-door was opened 
 to a trusty Kroo messenger, who, although one of a tribe who 
 would visit any of its members in their own country with death 
 who could " savey whiteman's book," seemed to comprehend 
 something of our feelings at receiving letters, as I overheard 
 him exclaim with evident glee, '•' Ah, massa! here de right book 
 come at last!" Everything, whether a brown paper parcel, a 
 newspaper, an official despatcli, a private letter or note, is here 
 denominated a " book ;" and tliis man understands quite well 
 that newspapers are never so gladly received amongst '• books 
 from England " as letters, of which we had a goodly share by 
 this most welcome opportunity. 
 
 It does not seem, however, to have brought out many things 
 which were wanted, as I hear there is neither ale nor cheese to be 
 bought in the colony. The locust visitation has raised the price 
 of all country vegetables ; still they are wonderfully cheap. 
 Since coming up here, I have seen several of these productions 
 growing near enough to me to allow of my examining them. 
 One tall plant called " okra,"* which appears to me to be a sort 
 of mallow, has a handsome flower somewhat like that of the 
 single yellow hollyhock, and seed-pod resembling that of our 
 
 * Hibiscus esculentus. 
 
66 LITTIES FB0M itllRA LlONl. [let. vi. 
 
 common gardtn irii, Tbig© podi, which with the pea-like seeds 
 inside are of a giktinoui nature, form, when gathered quite 
 young, an excillint thiekening for ioup. The natives use the 
 leaf of the okra in th© same way, as well as countless different 
 sorts of leaves that grow wild, many of which have a highly 
 bitter flavour. Among those they eat, a plant is common on 
 this hill, in flower, leaf, and manner of growing exactly re- 
 sembling Qur purple foxglove, except in the leaves being 
 smoother. Another, that has a small fragrant leaf, not unlike 
 that of lemon-balm, and bears a pale green commonplace little 
 flower, flourishes plentifully close to the kitchen, seeming to be 
 carefully cherished even by the servants, and is called the *' fever 
 plant," from being used medicinally in fevers, The smell of 
 its leaf is very grateful and refreshing, 
 
 A good crop of cassadft* has, when growing, a very luxuriant 
 appearance, although there is nothing striking in its little star- 
 shaped flower, which is of a greenish-white hue and grows in 
 bunches. Thi bush itself rises to eight or ten feet, but when 
 allowed to get so high, the roots become coarse and fibrous ; 
 and indeed, if suffered to remain in the ground, become in 
 process of time hard, like wood. Still, if in good soil, even 
 when old, it is very suitable food for cattle ; but it is after having 
 been about six months planted that the root is best to use, and 
 then only whin freshly taken out of the earth, when a milky 
 juice exudes from it that speedily dries up on exposure to the air 
 or sun. 
 
 The plantain has been termed the Negro's " staff of life,'* but 
 with those of Sierra Leone it is certainly this sweet manioc, 
 which possesses neither a bitter nor poisonous principle like that 
 of America, being equally safe when eaten raw, in which state I 
 have myself tasted the young root, and thought it not very unlike 
 a chestnut. The black children are very fond of it raw : it is 
 easily cultivated by slips being cut off and planted ; and the stem 
 or " stick,'* as the natives call it, takes root and flourishes after 
 having been merely thrown aside on the ground. 
 
 Every country has its national dish, and " ground-nut soup," 
 a rich white compound of boiled fowl and the almond-like kernel 
 of the ground-nut, is one of the grand dishes of this part of the 
 
 ♦ Jatropha— ? 
 
■LET. VI. J COUNTRY VEGETABLES. 67 
 
 world. " Kous-kous," a mess of millet, or some such grain, 
 with pork or salted fish chopped up into it, is another ; and there 
 is also *' palaver sauce," the basis of which is a highly flavoured 
 herb. But these are used by the wealthier class of people, as the 
 chiefs of the interior, and not by the mass of the population here, 
 who are upon the whole a frugal and abstemious race so far as 
 reerards eatins; and drinking^. I am inclined to think that " foo- 
 foo," a preparation of cassada, is the decided national dish of the 
 liberated Africans. 
 
 The manioc roots, somewhat resembling parsnips in appear- 
 ance, are taken up after they have attained to a considerable size ; 
 as, although preferred when very young for roasting or boiling, 
 it is wlien rather old that they are used to make this favourite 
 article of food. They are then pared and washed, and left to 
 soak for a day or two, next rubbed upon a coarse grater into a 
 sort of pulp, which is put into a " bly," and stones placed on it to 
 press out the moisture. This is then worked up with the hand 
 into balls about the size of ostrich eggs, each sold at the moderate 
 rate of " one small copper," and the process of cooking converts 
 them into a tough, grey substance, twice as bulky as before, and 
 not at all inviting in aspect, but which the liberated Africans 
 nevertheless seem highly to relish, with its accompanying " soup," 
 generally a mixture of fish or beef, with a little palm-oil, a few 
 ground-nuts, or "green-leaf," as they term all native olitory 
 plants. One of my handmaidens telling me she was tired of 
 eating meat cooked in European fashion of roast, broil, or stew, 
 and " no been savey to eat soup same as live on our table ;" at 
 the same time begging I would have " foo-foo and green-leaf" 
 bought for her especial use, has made me acquainted with the 
 appearance of this barbarous-looking mess in its cooked state. 
 The refuse of the cassada left from grating is exposed to the sun to 
 dry, afterwards pounded in a large wooden mortar, and the tlirifty 
 foo-foo manufacturer keeps this coarser food for his own use ; as, 
 althougli he believes it wholesome enough when fresh made, it is 
 of a dark colour, and too full of " sticks," or hard pieces of root, 
 to sell in the market ; neither can he obtain purchasers when the 
 manioc has not been steeped, as it then becomes sour very soon. 
 
 The yam* when growing requires a support, and reminds me 
 
 * Dioscorea ? 
 
 F 2 
 
68 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. vi. 
 
 of the hop, though its foliage has none of the luxuriance of that 
 useful and beautiful climber. There are several varieties. The 
 best are white and mealy, but some are yellow and watery, with a 
 slightly bitter tarste. Tomatoes, differing in nothing from those 
 we hav^ in Britain, except that the berries are small and round, 
 grow wild ; a rich harvest of glowing scarlet capsicums loads 
 many a dark-green shrub in the " bush ;" and with the wild 
 tomato, and sundry other native pot-herbs, springs up round 
 your detached kitchen and stables whether you choose or not. 
 With every meal the negroes use these chillies, which are cer- 
 tainly, even to my taste, much better in their fresh and juicy 
 state than when made into " Cayenne pepper," which spice is 
 simply prepared here. The " peppers," when quite red and ripe, 
 are gathered and dried in the sun or harmattan wind, and then 
 beat in a mortar. Some of the mountain villages make it for 
 sale, but it is generally pounded so coarsely as to require sifting 
 before using it for culinaiy purposes. 
 
LET. VII.] NARROW ESCAPE IN A TORNADO. 69 
 
 LETTER yil. 
 
 Narrow Eseape in a Tornado — Violence of such Storms — Native Hut 
 destroyed by Lightning — Another Locust Visitation — Crickets — Little 
 Apprentices — The Niger Steamers — Slave Vessels — Damp of the 
 Climate — Svrarm of Fat Ants — Rainy Season Vegetation — Beautiful 
 Flowers — Best Method of preserving Health in the Tropics — A Snake 
 in the House. 
 
 July 6. 
 Since last writing to you, the smooth routine of my mountain 
 life has been interrupted by several mischances, the first being a 
 narrow escape from serious injury, or even death, in a tornado ; 
 the bare remembrance of which leads me to think the unhealthi- 
 ness of the climate, and all the lesser discomforts attendant on 
 living in so outlandish and uncivilised a place as Sierra Leone, 
 nothing in comparison to the horror of these tropic storms, that 
 now make me tremble, though at first I used to watch their pro- 
 gress with admiration. But I shall give you as distinct an 
 account as possible of the cause of this miserable sensation of 
 alarm. 
 
 About ten o'clock on the night of the 4th of June, I was 
 awoke by the sound of an approaching tornado ; and the air 
 becoming very chilly, as usual in these tempests, I got up for 
 an additional coverlet ; after placing the lamp in a corner quite 
 sheltered from the wind, I had scarcely returned and taken baby 
 on my arm, wrapping him up warmly, ere I was startled by a 
 
 strange loud noise, that at once brought M to see what was 
 
 the matter. He had hardly got to one of the windows between 
 which my bedstead stands, and where we thought an outside shut- 
 ter had burst open, when, with a sudden and reverberating crash, 
 a mass of falling bricks rattled about my ears, the head of the 
 bed came violently to the ground, and the tester was forced 
 down over the mattress, leaving me in utter darkness. There 
 was the rolling of thunder and the yet more awful sound of a 
 mighty wind ; and in that moment of terror a thousand thoughts 
 
70 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. vii. 
 
 rushed into my mind — of hurricanes, earthquakes, and lightning- 
 struck houses. I could not tell what had happened, but al- 
 though free from bodily hurt, believed that the whole house was 
 tumblinar down, and that the hour of death was come to us all. 
 I could raise neither the infant nor myself, being literally jammed 
 amidst broken fragments of masonry and plaster. Although it 
 takes long to describe, this all occurred in the shortest space of 
 time — the heavy gust of wind not lasting three minutes ; while in 
 
 one instant M had torn the curtain through, and then, 
 
 almost choked by the lime and mortar which showered upon me, 
 I was enabled, by the flickering light of the lamp, to see baby, 
 whom I drew out as I best could and held Jfirmly, M extri- 
 cating me at the same time, and then hurrying us from the room. 
 There was vivid lightning, and the rain beat against the window- 
 panes as if it would have dashed them to atoms ; but although the 
 continued howling of the storm-wind caused me to shudder, 1 
 never before felt so intensely the full truth of that sublime expres- 
 sion of the Psalmist, as rendered in our Prayer Book version, 
 " God is the Lord by whom we escape death." We could hardly 
 believe it possible that baby had sustained no injury whatever, 
 beyond having his little face thickly besprinkled with the suffo- 
 cating and blinding lime-dust ; while not until I had put him to 
 rights, and washed the particles of mortar from my own mouth 
 and eyes, did I become aware that my forehead was painful and 
 swollen. Except that trifling bruise, and another upon my hand, 
 I also was unhurt ; although that either of our lives was saved 
 appears almost miraculous. 
 
 The accident happened thus. Instead of being solidly built of 
 stone, the ends of the house upstairs are what is called " brick- 
 nogged." Outside are boards folded over each other, and nailed 
 to wooden posts within, the wide spaces between these supports 
 being filled up by a very thin wall of brick simply plastered 
 and painted. The wind contriving to enter through some 
 crevices of the boarding, and having no mode of egress, had first 
 bulged out, and then forced down all the brickwork between the 
 windows until within about three feet from the floor — a space of 
 nearly ten feet in height and five in breadth. The only human 
 means by which it is probable we escaped were, that the strong 
 niahogany headboard being bent down over the bolster acted as 
 
im.yu.) WONDESFUL DILIVIBANCI, 7i 
 
 & sort of shklcl=Hay, mm th# flimsy hm mrtdn and the tiglitly- 
 gtfetched Gotton mttopy mmt bavi brokiti th# form ©f the bricks 
 §» they Ml ; ytt ttoif w^§ immm e§mmt§d t^f #th^' found in 
 th# vefy gpot wheft th§ )mby had bf'^fl lyiflf bttt the moment 
 before 1 took hittt ©fl Biy aiia, that mmi lim§ §rm\m\ his weak 
 fraffit to death had they Mlm apofl hifli. It wa^ alt^pther a cleli- 
 vtrance to eall £w^h th# ttic^t gokffltt fediflgg of d^ thankfulness ! 
 
 Before daylight iies^t fljofflijif th# rum had b#fHt]^ t^ be cleared 
 away, and althottgh flearfy a eatt-load of btkk^ aiid ftibbish had 
 i& be reffioved, by th^ aft^fiooa all wa§ §muf§ if alii, a tarpaulin 
 beifig fir^t iiailed mrom upofl th# wood#fi mpp§fUj and then 
 boanb ^v§f that/ 0#tt*Hg a fouf-po&i bed^t€iad yepired in this 
 eotf fiitfy wm fle> ga^h ^impk tflattef ^ whik tb# ewftains were of 
 em^fm fedaeed to ^hf^d^ in mm§plmmf md in oihm§ completely 
 destroyed with lifiB#, atid th^^ raifl whi^h Ija4 bmi in through the 
 boards^ r^»iaiti^ to a s^ ofl ih^ i3^©f-«ktb ttfitii ffiopped up. 
 M(mm^tf ih# b^ i^ s#r »p mm mm§ in ii§ otigim^l place, and 
 th# tmm uppmr§ a§ ii did M§r§, Y#t in §pii§ 5f knowing that 
 all i^ p^Hkmif mh ^ mmh mf^ thaii it wa§ hdm^ the acci- 
 4mt imppm^f m th# wfeok ^ ih§ oat^ beafdiflf has been exa- 
 wdn€d^ afld nmnf a sail M^m in wh§t§ it Ja^k^^ through the 
 eatek^swe^ or f^mrf ^ Affi^au mrp^nt§f§^ asd although I 
 a«i ^ffl^ibk thiU. iti^m^ milj foolish, bai ^#fy wf^g, to expe- 
 ri&nm smh ^tfmm i#rr^ ©» ih^ upptm^h ©f a ^term, when, 
 wefe it W8^'#ly In ^ jr^e^ei €m§ M §m ^^g^r^ation, the 
 power of the* Muhr ^ ilm §t©fw ba# h§m fsad^ §§ manifest ; in 
 .«pite of all (rn^ing p^fiiff perhaps, f«^ ifm w§§A^nm§ §i body con- 
 seqaewt oa a s^harp attack of Ifever a few day§ aftefwaMs, though 
 flot ^^^ IWef, I Mm told) 1 be)g6>ffl^ §© ffighi^n^ ihat I never 
 €a» s'Wp darifiig a t^rwad^, hut §lmmt mp^ iimt every gust 
 will blow iim hmm Mtiy ^ it§ §imm fms^ii^nf md send it 
 topplittg im^ ih^ deiep Mkm h^md* 
 
 We ha^#, it i§ ifn^^ had mfy iw^ dnm^^^mlf iW6, but such 
 tmm4m» t On the irtgfet ^ ih# ^^tfe^ ih# ifmn^ndous fury of 
 th# whwi alofl^ wa^ terri^ $ y^ it wm nmMii§ to ih^ awful vio- 
 hm^ (4 tim limnd^^'Mmm wfei^fe Mlo^ed, ^ frter accom- 
 pmtkd k, CfSdi §S€€m4^ mitdif H§if » ihmmsd j^avy pieces 
 
 ^mtilkff imd mpkd^d i^Him' npm- ib§ MU$ md it seemed 
 i& m^ ^^pp^S^ hmjik^ ^mj sm€^§^'§ ihmd^ls^U sent down 
 
72 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. vii. 
 
 its stream of forked lightning upon the blocks of ironstone wliich 
 surround the house. For more than two hours the elements 
 raged in this manner, every apartment being illuminated by the 
 constant flashes of fire ; considerably past midnight, one peal 
 louder than the rest, and the continued shrieking of human 
 voices, called us to the windows ; looking out, we saw upon the 
 low ground near the foot of the hill a native hut in flames, the 
 lurid light of which showed several dusky figures hurrying 
 towards the spot. Next morning we heard that, besides the 
 Commissariat — one of the largest buildings in Freetown — having 
 been struck by lightning, a thunderbolt had also fallen on this 
 hut (in which was a quantity of gunpowder), and killed two 
 unfortunate people. The grief or horror of their friends found 
 vent in wild unearthly lamentations, and — combined with the 
 shouting of some and howling of others, occasioned by a great 
 flight of locusts that moved in a dark and ominous cloud over 
 the colony — was beyond expression calculated to impress the 
 mind of a stranger. The peculiar stillness of the atmosphere 
 after the storm caused every sound to ascend ^vith unwonted 
 distinctness ; and as T listened to the wailing of the mourners, 
 and witnessed the almost frantic energy with which a naturally 
 indolent and apathetic people strove to drive away, and prevent 
 from settling on their small herb-plats, the winged band of 
 enemies that seemed every moment to increase in density, I 
 felt, even amidst all the glory of tropic sunlight and everlasting 
 verdure, a sort of indefinable dread connected with the climate, 
 which, but a few weeks before, I should have despised in any 
 one else, and now condemned in myself. It was but short-lived, 
 for my attention was soon directed into another channel ; a 
 branch of the main army of locusts passing over the hill, ren- 
 dering it imperative on our servants and labourers to exert 
 themselves to scare the invaders, which was effectually done 
 by the help of sundry ingeniously-devised noises, including the 
 same duets and quartettes upon tin found beneficial on a former 
 occasion. On the night of the 30th, there was a tornado, in 
 which the vehemence of the wind set all the bells in the house 
 ringing (for here we have managed to have them at least half 
 hung), while the boarding at my head seemed to creak and 
 
LET. VII.] LITTLE APPRENTICES. 73 
 
 groan like a ship in a heavy gale ; but we had not much tliunder 
 and lightning. 
 
 On the first burst of a tornado, all the crickets, grasshoppers, 
 and other such insects become silent ; but whenever it is over, 
 their chirping and humming commence again. Many people 
 dislike the incessant note of the cicada ; but for my part I 
 should not object to have a few pet crickets to keep up their 
 familiar chorus during the sway of that terrible wind, which 
 seems to awe even the inferior animals. Yet I must admit that 
 the noise of even one is so shrill and grating, that in the midst 
 of a storm the loud hum of a solitary cricket which had hid 
 itself somewhere in the fiont piazza, sounded unnatural when 
 all its out-of-door companions had ceased, and rather added to 
 the desagremens of a minor hurricane than diminished them ; 
 especially as for some time I could not make out what the extra- 
 ordinary noise was. 
 
 But troubles of a different nature have lately conspired to take 
 np much of my attention. Discovering that first one and then 
 another of my abigails (accomplished in marking) were rapidly 
 carrying off great part of the contents of my wardrobe, I was, of 
 course, obliged to dismiss them both ; and being really tired of 
 the evil habits possessed by each and all of the "colony-born" 
 girls who had volunteered to learn " white-woman fashion," have 
 actually taken a liberated slave-child as an apprentice ! I never 
 saw an indenture before ; but wiiere I suppose is commonly men- 
 tioned the trade or occupation to learn which the individual is 
 bound, here it is "covenanted, promised, and agreed," that the 
 said apprentice is to be taught and instructed " in the English 
 language, the principles of the Christian religion, and useful 
 personal domestic services." 
 
 A friend of ours went to tlie mountain schools and chose this 
 little girl for me ; and also a boy, who came at the same time, as 
 an apprentice to the craft of waiting at table. He speaks English 
 very well, and when asked if lie would like to remain here and " work 
 for white-man?" his merry black eyes twinkled with delight, the 
 broad row of glittering teeth became visible in an animated laugh, 
 and he replied, with a shuffle of the foot (the usual accompani- 
 ment of a negro obeisance), " I like." The constable who brought 
 
74 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEOKE, [i^Ef, rif.- 
 
 them hither then asked the girl a similar question in her own 
 language. She replied to the same import with her companion, 
 but was evidently rather frightened, her grave and gashed Aku 
 features appearing as if they could not smile — until she saw baby, 
 and then, before I knew what she was about, she snatched him 
 and began to hug him with the utmost glee. I find her intel* 
 lio-ent, quiet, and active ; but she cannot speak above two Ot 
 three words of even the strange sort of broken English used by 
 the natives at Sierra Leone. When she wishes to get some 
 needlework, which she wisely seems to consider a sort of civilized 
 amusement, she comes up, imitating the act of sewing with het 
 little black fingers, that do not, however, as yet know mticli 
 about holding a needle. In many other instances she talks by 
 gestures ; but I daily give her a lesson in more intelligible Ian* 
 guage by pointing out each article of furniture, &c., and 
 naming it distinctly, until she slowly pronounces " chair, table, 
 window," or " door," after me. This household change, trifling 
 as it seems, has added to my responsibilities, and encroaches 
 greatly upon my time, as, in duty bound, I try to teach my ''ap* 
 prentice " not only her letters, but their meaning, and find it 
 almost impossible to make myself understood. She looks about 
 nine years old, and although — as far as reading goes—she knows 
 nothing more than her alphabet, can yet repeat the Prayer-book 
 catechism by rote, and one or two hymns— utterly ignorant all 
 the while of the import of a single word ! 
 
 The three steamers for the Niger Expedition have given th& 
 harbour somewhat of a hotne look these some days past. The 
 general opinion is that they have come out at a very unhealthy 
 season, and that much sickness may be expected amongst theif 
 officers and crews : but I believe the reason of this time having" 
 been chosen is, that now the rivers are full, owing to the " rains/ 
 and thus better calculated for the passage of vessels of evei* so> 
 ligfht a draug-ht as these are. 
 
 Two Brazilians, equipped for carrying slaves, also came in^ 
 lately : the crew of one of them, the most beautiful little brigan-' 
 tine I ever beheld, made a stout resistance, in which two' of the? 
 capturing cruiser's men were killed, and three woundedy besides 
 the officer, who was dangerously so. 
 
 "We liave had almost constantly for the last month, wet sto^iftty 
 
LET. VII.] SWARM OF FAT ANTS. 75 
 
 weather, and so cold that I find a thickly-lmed silk dress and 
 warm cape, made for winter's wear at home, quite comfortable, 
 even here within nine degrees of the line. Is it not strange that 
 the land-wind, which is considered so unhealthy, is nevertheless 
 a dry wind, while the delightful sea-breeze, to whose bland 
 influence we v\ illingly throw open all the windows, is, on the 
 contrary, moist ? One day that we had a very strong land-wind, 
 I took advantage of it to have a general airing of such articles 
 of clothing as are liable to be. injured by damp, even although kept 
 in leather trunks lined with tin. I found everything of silk mil- 
 dewed, though I had inspected them but a few weeks before. 
 Black especially is spotted all over with stains like those of iron- 
 mould, while no dress, bonnet, handkerchief, or ribbon has 
 escaped, except when of a pink colour, which seems to stand the 
 climate better than any other. White muslin is certainly the 
 only fabric suited to such a country ; yet if your dress come in 
 contact with the red dust of the footpath, the washerwoman sends 
 it back to you covered with indelible stains of ironmould, that 
 fully testify the brightness of the soil to arise from the iron con- 
 tained in it. Fine thin printed muslins may be worn, but the 
 colours fade so rapidly that they only look well for a short time. 
 
 I mentioned in my last the swarms of insects which come out 
 in the sunshine after heavy rain. On the 16th of June appeared 
 a different species from any I had previously seen, and in such 
 myriads that they reminded me of a thick fall of large flakes of 
 snow. They actually darkened the windows, showering in vast 
 numbers through the shingles and boarded roof to the floor of the 
 piazzas. It was indeed an inundation of fat ant-like creatures, 
 black on the upper part of their body and grey underneath, with 
 four clear gauzy wings, which seemed, however, too weak to 
 bear the weight of the insect, for most of those that came into 
 the house had lost their wings, which appendages, having appa- 
 rently done their duty by sending the creature itself abroad, were 
 now wafted into heaps on the ground. They were evidently 
 bug-a-bugs in another stage of existence, for although much 
 larger, somewhat differently formed, and vrith two visible eyes, 
 there was too great a resemblance to the original to be mistaken. 
 
 Really these insects swarmed so in the house that I involun- 
 tarily thought of the plagues of Egypt. As I sat at work in the 
 
76 LETTEES FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. vii. 
 
 verandah they dropped upon my head and neck by the dozen, so 
 that I was at last obliged to retreat into an inner room, whilst 
 with hearth-brushes and dustpans the servants set to sweep away 
 the living masses on the floor. We were glad to shut the windows, 
 preferring the oppressive heat to encountering the additional 
 hordes of our unwelcome visitants that poured in through the 
 open casements. Very commonly of an evening now another 
 flying ant makes its appearance : it is a small red insect, and 
 though not coming in such numbers as its fat predecessor, teases 
 us sufficiently by tumbling upon the books or newspapers we may 
 be reading, falling upon the lamp-shades and getting burnt, or 
 into our teacups and getting drowned. On making the early 
 cup of tea, for which I have everything set ready over night, 
 I sometimes find the sugar-basin completely covered over (not- 
 withstanding its acid moat) with very large brown ants, that 
 have evidently exerted their wits in vain to find a means of 
 lifting up the lid. They are an out-of-door species, each seeming 
 at least half an inch in length, and with long spider-like legs ; 
 but they are verj'' timid, and apparently quite harmless, scam- 
 pering off whenever the light of the lamp falls on them, and 
 vanishing so rapidly that I cannot tell where they go or how 
 they come. One certainly could dispense with such household 
 inmates ; but I have once or twice found some of the vicious red 
 ants of the coffee-bushes drowned in a glass of sherbet which had 
 been left on a table all night. I have also several times seen a 
 few of them marching along the floor of my little store-room 
 (part of which I am obliged to appropriate as a sort of larder), 
 and am told that meat attracts them. I understand a rather 
 strange method of destroying them is sometimes adopted in the 
 colony : it is to hang a piece of uncooked beef on the bough of 
 a tree infested by these ants, and as soon as it is alive with them, 
 to sweep them down into pails of water set below. 
 
 One or two dahlias have lately added their familiar faces to the 
 many flowers of unknown name that grow around the house ; and 
 one extremely wet morning there suddenly appeared in the centre 
 of the parapet a few pointed pale green leaves, evidently belonging 
 to some higher order of plant than the " bush," which the rains 
 cause to flourish amongst the Bermuda grass in defiance of the 
 utmost diligence in weeding. Upon a duly careful examination 
 
LET. viT.] BEAUTIFUL FLOWEES. 77 
 
 the mysterious leaves were pronounced to be those of a magni- 
 ficent bulb, brought many years before from some place " up the 
 river," as a fine specimen of the floral treasures of Africa: 
 but after watching the progress of the stately stalk with im^ atient 
 interest, I was prevented by illness from seeing it in its splen- 
 dour. One bud, however, was placed in a vase of water in my 
 room, where it gradually opened its delicate folds until it became 
 quite full-blown : it proved to be a truly beautiful white lily, 
 now, I rather think, introduced into most of our home hothouses. 
 We have here another variety of the same Amaryllis, also very 
 handsome, with six petals of light streaky scarlet, a sliade of 
 green on the outside near the base adding still more to its rich 
 appearance. 
 
 M brought me in lately the branch of a shrub he found 
 
 growing in some nearly inaccessible part of the " bush," and 
 which is delightful, from its glossy light green leaves having 
 a grateful scent, resembling that of new -mown hay, or, when 
 gathered and dried, woodruffe, — that dear wild flower of home, 
 whose very name, like those of the violet and primrose, is fraught 
 with glad fond memories of shady dells and lonely woodpaths ; 
 bringing to the wanderer in foreign climes a whole host of 
 visioned landscapes, where the purple heath, the golden broom 
 and furze, in their fforg-eous thoug-h uncultivated beautv, blend 
 with all the humble and fragrant flowers that are alike prized 
 as being his country's own, whether cherished in the garden of 
 the cottager or blooming in pleasure-grounds. The black people 
 bind the leaf of the shrub I have mentioned round the forehead 
 during fever : they use the leaf of tlie country-fig in the same 
 manner for a common headache. I am sorry to find that you 
 see so many alarming paragraphs in the newspapers about the 
 deadliness of tliis climate : that it is not at all suited to European 
 constitutions it would be worse than folly to deny ; still, owing 
 to the cutting down of trees, the clearing of " bush," with more 
 general cultivation, the colony is much more healthy tlian it used 
 to be. One great method of preserving health is to banish all 
 anxiety on the subject ; therefore at the same time that I scru- 
 pulously obey every injunction to avoid all over fatigue, exposure 
 to the sun, land-wind, damp and draughts, I can truly say I 
 do not fear for myself. The discomforts of the climate, by their 
 
7s LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. vii. 
 
 very novelty, add to ray amusement as well as occupation ; 
 household duties affording here pretty constant employment even 
 for the mind ; whilst with no more experienced nursemaid than 
 my little apprentice, you may be sure that baby is seldom out of 
 my sight ; indeed I never go out to ride or walk without him. 
 Imagine our horror the other day at a large snake being dis- 
 covered in the piazza quite close to the spot where he had been 
 but a few minutes before, lying asleep on his cool grass mat, for 
 which, during the heat of the day, his cot is now discarded. 
 How the reptile got there it is difficult to understand, unless it 
 had ascended by a guava-tree growing under one of the windows, 
 and which, of course, has been since cut down. The colour of 
 this snake was the most beautiful bright green I ever saw, except 
 in an emerald. 
 
J.ET.VIII.] WET WEATHER— CASS AD A EATS- DEER. 79 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Wet Weather — Cassada Rats — Deer — Bamboo Thatcli — Country Um- 
 brellas — Rapid Growth of Plants — Walk to the Brook in the Ravine 
 — Excessive Humidity of the Atmosphere — An unexpected Visit — 
 Monkeys — Travelling Ants — Whimsical Gown-Patterns — Magnetic 
 and iSIusical Stones, 
 
 Extract from Journal. 
 
 July I2th. — Three wet days in succession, with scarcely a breath 
 of wind to vary the sound of the ever-dropping rain. Unable to 
 go out. One of the people caught a " ground-pig " or " cassada 
 rat," so called from its eating the manioc-roots. It is a formidable- 
 looking grey animal, about four times as large as the common 
 black water-rat of Britain, which it perfectly resembles in shape. 
 It is said that once upon a time, a commissariat officer here, in 
 despair at the annual havoc committed in the Government stores 
 by a colony of these animals, actually transmitted with his ac- 
 counts to the Treasury a stuffied cassada rat, with a piece of paper 
 marked " Voucher No. 3" significantly pinned upon it. 
 
 Even the more civilized among the liberated Africans esteem 
 the ground-pig as very good food ; and our domestic servants 
 constantly lay snares or make traps for it and other *' bush-meat," 
 such as squirrels, monkeys, deer, and the philantomba — a beauti- 
 ful little creature of the antelope kind — one of wliich was lately- 
 caught in this manner, and, to our just indignation, killed 
 and devoured without compunction. A deer and fawn were ob- 
 served to-day bounding across one of the M'alks : and I often 
 trace their foot-prints on the paths leading to the brook, where, 
 on the fine moonlight nights, they evidently go to drink. I have 
 
 seen the skin of a deer M formerly shot on this hill. It is 
 
 of a buflf-brown, prettily barred and spotted with white. A gentle- 
 man here had a tame one of the same kind, the natural marks on 
 its side forming the letters I. H., which happened to be the 
 initials of its owner's name. 
 
80 
 
 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [lkt. viii. 
 
 We have now got the staircase all nicely sheltered with a 
 portable thatch made from a sort of bamboo, though not the 
 same as that growing on the farm. It is formed of leaves like 
 those of the water-flag, doubled over a narrow bar of wood, 
 varying in length to suit whatever may be required. The leaves 
 are sewed together by ribbon-like strips, or rather splinters, of 
 themselves. The pieces of this basket-work fabric are then 
 fastened by means of country-rope upon a frame of split bam- 
 boo, and lap over each other in the style termed by carpenters 
 " feather-edged." These light moveable walls, which effectually 
 keep out the heaviest rain, are made to let up and down after 
 the fashion of a portcullis, according to the quarter whence the 
 wind blows. If from the sea, we keep them fastened up to pre- 
 vent the rain beating in at the hall-door. If from the land, we 
 let them down, lest a sudden puff should whisk them away alto- 
 getker, with perhaps the zinc roof of the staircase and landing- 
 place as company ; but generally, unless in a tornado, they have 
 merely to be lowered at night. 
 
 The leaves of the palm and cocoa-nut trees are used, in the 
 same way as these bamboos, to make country umbrellas — ingeni- 
 ous contrivances which cause the persons they shelter to look 
 exactly like so many walking mushrooms of giant stature, being 
 in fact mere flatfish baskets inverted, and supported by the head. 
 The laundress brings home her burthen of clothes quite dry on 
 the wettest day by the aid of her umbrella, which acts as a cover 
 to her " bly," and at the same time extends a kindly screen to 
 her shoulders, turning off every drop of rain as completely as the 
 " best patent waterproof" could. Of a wet morning the moun- 
 tain road presents a universal forest of these thatched canopies, 
 as, though cotton umbrellas are common enough among the 
 blacks, the others are much more easily carried, and therefore 
 preferred by the market-people. 
 
 l^th. — Found, on walking out this afternoon, that one of the 
 young canes has gained a foot in height since yesterday ! They 
 Start out of the ground as straight as an arrow, and resemble an 
 artichoke running to seed. Each joint is wrapt round witli a 
 sort of hard leaf, coated over with a brown silky-looking sub- 
 stance very irritating to the fingers. As the green and polished 
 reed shoots upwards, this protective covering shrivels up, aiid its 
 
LET. VIII. LOCUSTS— MONKEYS. 81 
 
 roughness wears off, leaving a smooth shining husk of a pale 
 straw colour. Numbers of these woody shells lie strewed be- 
 neath the bamboos ; and I think neat little circular boxes mio^ht 
 he made from them, something like those of the American birch- 
 bark. 
 
 20fh. — Walked down this afternoon to that part of the brook 
 which lies almost immediately under my room-windows. An 
 opening in the "bush" admits to a romantic path, cut ledge- 
 wise in the rocky irregular side of the ravine, and which nume- 
 rous springs, trickling from under the high stony bank to our 
 right, render at present scarcely better than a shallow running 
 stream, while it is so canopied and shut in by spreading branches, 
 that the sky is visible only through their interlacing foliage. 
 Several wild fig-trees grow almost in the stream ; but their 
 crimson-streaked fruit, so tempting in appearance, and sprouting 
 so curiously out from the bare trunk, was as usual full of small 
 black ants, quite as destructive to vegetable life as the red species, 
 plenty of whose nests hung in the branches at no great distance 
 from where we stood ; but excepting several giant dragon-flies 
 — some brown and blue, others of a bright metallic green tint — 
 with a few large and very feombre-hued moths, I perceived 
 nothing new of insect life in this secluded spot ; and watched in 
 vain for birds, none being either seen or heard; indeed it was 
 impossible to hear aught save — 
 
 " The merry waters falling 
 With sv/eet music in their sound." 
 
 2\st. — Another flight of locusts to-day; and the bush alive 
 with monkeys springing from one tree to another — skipping up 
 and down the trunks and shaking the branches. 
 
 24th. — A very strange-looking little animal was brought in 
 this morning ; it is shaped like a mouse, but with a rabbit's tail ; 
 has the most delicate, velvety, dark-brown fur it is possible 
 to imagine, and soft bright eyes. I have tried to feed it with 
 various things, but it will eat nothing. Until four o'clock to-day 
 it was fine and sunny. It is now nine in the evening, and rains 
 violently, with great black clouds hanging over both high and 
 low ground. 
 
 2HtJi, — Rain, with heavy squalls from the sea. 
 
82 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. viii. 
 
 29th. — Still as wet as yesterday, with a thick fog obscuring 
 our view of everything except the eaves of the house. The 
 wind from the sea nearly as fierce as a tornado. 
 
 30th. — A day like the two preceding. The damp is excessive ; 
 the ink sinks into the best and thickest Bath post, as if it were 
 blotting-paper; and my leather writing-case, with the boards of 
 most of our books on the drawing-room table, have become 
 ornamented since last night with a greenish-blue bloom of actual 
 mould ! It is very chilly also, despite bright fires burning in 
 both stoves, with the wood of the bungo-tree for fuel, which 
 diffuses a most agreeable perfume throughout the house. Little 
 bush-rat died. 
 
 31*^. — Showery in the morning ; brightened for some hours, 
 then came on a heavy gale from the sea. Smv the rain, like a 
 moving wall, half an hour ere I heard it pattering amongst the 
 bushes on the sea-side of the house, and heard it at least three 
 full minutes before it reached the roof and boarded walls — 
 
 " Blown all aslant, a driving dashing rain ;" 
 
 it caused me to stand still in amazement, listening to the noise 
 it made, which was indeed like the roar of a cataract. 
 
 Shortly before this squall came on, I observed a black figure — 
 oddly dressed, in a compound of European and country garments 
 • — walk quickly up the steps, and attempt opening the hall-door, 
 to the great alarm of baby's little nurse, who sat in the entrance 
 within. Having got quite accustomed to tliis isolated situation, 
 I never feel lonely, although left much to myself during the 
 forenoon. But some how or other to-day, a sort of panic seized 
 me at so extraordinary an apparition, and ringing tlie bell hur- 
 riedly, I inquired how it was that a stranger had been allowed 
 to pass the pantry-door unnoticed ; desiring that the person, if 
 
 he wished to see M , should wait below until he returned 
 
 from town. 
 
 I now feel quite out of humour with myself at this ungracious 
 
 reception of my unknown visitor, to whom it seems M had 
 
 formerly granted permission to make a farm on our ground ; and 
 the poor man had come to say that he was about to embark for 
 Badagry, his " own country," and had brought a farewell offer- 
 ing. This was a large basketful of the rich green ears of the 
 
LET. VIII.] ANT EAILWAY. 83 
 
 young Indian corn — the first fruits of his crop ; and he was very- 
 much disappointed that " Missis" had not spoken to him, espe- 
 cially as the present was chiefly intended for her and the 
 *' piccaninny " {Aiiglice, baby). Evidently quite incredulous on 
 being told (as an extenuation of what appeared so rude in the 
 conduct of his benefactor's " ma-amie " *) that she could not as 
 yet very well speak, or even understand " blackman's English" 
 • — neither good things from my cupboard, nor a more substantial 
 
 gift from M 's purse, could entirely appease the wounded 
 
 pride of this simple-minded emigrant ; which has really vexed 
 me, being touched by an instance of gratitude so entirely dis- 
 interested, as the man going away for ever from this place could 
 expect to receive no further favours from M . 
 
 August 1 \th. — In spite of the rain, which day by day bursts like 
 waterspouts over the colony, we contrive almost every evenino- 
 to take a ramble, of perhaps ten minutes' duration, along the 
 pretty walks on the hill, which dry up as if by witchcraft. 
 
 I stood a long time this afternoon watching the monkeys as 
 they skipped about from one branch to another among the tall 
 trees at one side of the road leading to the Rose-Apple Glen, 
 and counted six of different sorts, none of them appearing in the 
 least afraid of us. Suddenly we came upon an ant railway — a low 
 walled gallery of sand, the centre occupied by a mass of travel- 
 ling black ants, that, at a short distance, looked like a narrow 
 running stream of pitch — stretching right across our path. I 
 unwittingly stood still to examine them, but in an instant their 
 sharp teeth had pierced through my very shoes, so that I was 
 glad to make a rapid retreat. 
 
 If in the dry season I marvelled at the dense vegetable growth 
 in this country, I may marvel still more at the appearance it 
 presents now ; for where before there were brown withered-up 
 grass and underwood, through the interstices of which one could 
 see a few feet into the bush, now the trees, shrubs, grass, and 
 weeds together at each side of some of the walks form quite an 
 
 * In " How do ma-amie ?" the word is used as a title of respect, equiva- 
 lent to " madam." But " How j our ma-amie to-day ?" to a servant would 
 signify "How is your mistress?" to a little child, its vwther; and to a 
 husband, his wife. 
 
 " Da-a ie," in the same manner, signifies ** sir," " master," " father," or 
 " husband." 
 
 g2 
 
84 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. viit. 
 
 impervious wall of matted verdure. At present the wild vine * 
 is most to be distinguished for the luxuriance of its wreathing 
 
 foliage. 
 
 A species of indigo grows abundantly both on this hill and 
 Mount Oriel. The black washerwomen gather these leaves and 
 prepare them for tingeing linen, which they do to an extent 
 that is very ugly. A favourite pattern upon their own dresses is 
 formed by large, shapeless, blue patches dispersed irregularly 
 over a white surface. This is made by tying a little indigo into 
 as many places as they choose of the cloth, and then boiling it, 
 after which it is opened out and displays the singularly elegant 
 design above described. I have seen a faded calico gown ren- 
 dered quite fashionable in this way. Some of my own white 
 muslin dresses are nearly as grotesque, being bordered round 
 with spots of iron-mould that it is impossible to remove, although 
 I have tried the effect of lime-juice and exposure to the sun — 
 such sun as we have at this season. From the red appearance 
 of the soil I should suppose that there is iron-ore in some places. 
 There is loadstone in many of the pieces of rock in front of the 
 house, although one whose power we tested attracted nothing 
 heavier than large needles. The bare rocky ascent at one par- 
 ticular spot on Mount Oriel looks as if it had been exposed to 
 fire at some remote period, having a crumbling red and black 
 surface that could never be the results of mere bush-burnings : 
 I have observed that several other rocky situations have the 
 same appearance, which leads me to think that the mountains 
 here are of volcanic origin ; indeed, their peculiar formation — 
 all peaks and chasms — bears out the supposition. 
 
 We have a few large flat stones, carelessly piled one above 
 another under the orange-trees, which, when struck in a particu- 
 lar way by a smaller stone, give forth distinct musical sounds. 
 One rings out a treble note, another a deep tenor, and so on, 
 according to their different tones, which seem to vary with the 
 size and thickness of the stone that is struck, and the degree of 
 force with which it is touched. 
 
 In your last letter you ask many questions, which I can 
 only answer very briefly. I cannot tell exactly how many Euro- 
 peans there are in the colony, but am pretty sure they do not 
 
 * VUis csesia. 
 
LET. VIII.] EUROPEANS IN THE COLONY. 85 
 
 altogether amount to a hundred. They are made up of civil 
 and military officers, merchants, and missionaries ; while occa- 
 sionally the presence of a man-of-war in the harbour gives a 
 pleasant addition to the colonial society. There are no public 
 amusements, except annual races. Dancing parties cannot well 
 be got up, where there is seldom even 07ie unmarried lady in 
 the whole place ; but there are dinner parties as at home ; and 
 a solitary friend quietly drops in, now and then, to breakfast, 
 or to spend the evening. 
 
86 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let, ix. 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 Discomforts of the Rainy Season — Dense Fogs — Fine Days — Brilliant 
 tinted Foliage — Humming-birds — Palm-birds — Whydah Finch — 
 Rice Buntings — Butterflies — Millepedes — Spiders — Description of a 
 Tornado — Continued heavy Rain — Bush Novelties. 
 
 August 21. 
 The most unpleasant thing about the wet season is tlie impos- 
 sibility of getting out every day to take proper exercise. Some- 
 times it looks so radiantly clear and sunny, you feel assured 
 there is opportunity for at least a short quick walk, and set out 
 accordingly. But after proceeding a few steps, you are per- 
 haps intent upon examining a flower, or watching some bird or 
 butterfly, feeling the sun so intensely hot, that you do not dream 
 of rain ; when a sudden sound like hailstones falling, causes you 
 to look towards the quarter whence it proceeds, and there moves 
 on a shower of water, so rapidly, that though you do run back 
 with railway speed (no very comfortable pace in this climate), 
 still, generally speaking, your dress is so thoroughly wetted as 
 to render an immediate change imperatively necessary. If wish- 
 ing to ride, it is still worse. No sooner is your horse saddled 
 than all the clouds seem to congregate upon the hill tops, and at 
 once disperse themselves in a deluge, of which but ten minutes 
 before there was not the slightest appearance throughout the 
 whole sky ! Then the mornings are sometimes so cold that you 
 feel chilly though in a winter dress, — at the same time that a 
 blazing fire is on in the house, and every window shut ; while 
 by-and-byethe breeze dies away, dull dark clouds hang in all 
 directions, and though tiie sun only shines partially, the sultri- 
 ness of the atmosphere continues most oppressive for several 
 hours ; then a violent gale may con e on from the sea, accom- 
 panied by heavy rain, and you feel ready to shiver, with the 
 thermometer at 76*^. It must be these sudden heats and chills 
 that render the climate so trying. 
 
 I do not dislike the incessant rain so much as the dense damp 
 
LET. IX. J DENSE FOGS— FINE DAYS. 87 
 
 fogs of Sierra Leone ; not from the miasma they are said to 
 bring-, but from their unpleasantness. They often rise out of the 
 ravines at either side of us, and from the plain, over which 
 they brood for hours, looking from this height like masses of 
 solid lead. But commonly the land-wind in the morning sends 
 these vapours drifting over Mount Oriel ; thence they pass 
 along tiie hills behind and the low ground in front (dividing, as 
 it were, to avoid our house) ; whirling about like the smoke 
 of some great conflagration, and banking up in grey and 
 heavy volumes, until they completely obscure our view of every 
 place beyond the brow of our own hill. Occasionally they favour 
 us with a nearer approach ; then we keep all the windows shut, 
 to exclude as much as possible the air, which is raw, damp, and 
 chilly beyond expression, when the fog is actually on the house. 
 It is this shutting out of air and prospect together that renders 
 these " smokes," as they are termed by the blacks, so extremely 
 disagreeable to me ; the temperature within doors being then 
 (notwithstanding the many crannies in the boarding of the piazzas, 
 and air-holes left by African carpenters and masons under the 
 eaves, and through which the damp can easily penetrate) more 
 unbearably oppressive than I ever experienced it when the full 
 glare of the sun was on the house. When these most extraor- 
 dinary mists go out to sea, we may almost always look for rain ; 
 but if, after they have hung about for some time, giving us a 
 peep now and then of the barrack buildings (like a huge bird- 
 cage suspended by invisible means in the air), a glimpse of 
 the church steeple, and one or two of the tall masts of the 
 vessels in the harbour, the vapour rises and rolls up towards the 
 hills again, we may expect it to turn out fine and sunny, although 
 in the depth of the rainy season. 
 
 And a fine day in the " rains " is always so much more lovely 
 and bright than the finest day of tlie dry season ; not because 
 coming so seldom, and contrasted with the many dull gloomy 
 days, but really on account of its own intrinsic beauty. There 
 is no haze in the atmosphere, — the distant horizon — hills — shore 
 — all seem brought near by a magic glass ; the sea lies stretched 
 out with the gleam of a sapphire, and, except for the floating 
 here and there of one of those pure white, fleecy clouds, called 
 in the emphatic language of Germany " Heaven's lambs," the 
 
88 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. ix. 
 
 sky realizes all the beautiful imagery wherein poets are apt to 
 embody their ideas of the firmament's spacious and shining vault. 
 
 The sky then is indeed blue, the sun bright, and the earth 
 green ! Yet the woods do not present a uniform hue which 
 would tire from its sameness. Not only do you behold every 
 shade of green, but many of the trees put forth leaves, at first 
 of a delicate crimson, wliich look like magnificent tufts of flowers, 
 and thus give to the bush a richly variegated aspect. I have 
 seen one young tree showing in its upper branches very nearly 
 the hues of the rainbow, — faint red, deepening into orange and 
 scarlet on one shoot, contrasting vividly with the pale primrose 
 and pea-green of another, while on a third, lower down, the 
 colours gradually blending, tinged the same leaves at once with 
 shades of the brightest purple and darkest olive — the whole 
 glancing in the sun like jewels. 
 
 Still, while I look on these gorgeous boughs, and mark the 
 wisdom and benevolence of the Power who decks the face of the 
 world, in whatever land our lot may be cast, with objects to 
 excite our interest and wonder, do not suppose that I could for 
 one moment prefer the glowing colours of African foliage to 
 those tints of British autumn, which in their chastened and 
 changing beauty convey, even to the most thoughtless mind, 
 a solemn though silent lesson of the fading nature of all earthly 
 glory. 
 
 Ever since the " rains " set in, the birds seem to have become 
 tamer. Besides the dark- crested brown one and the brilliant 
 humming-birds, we have, fluttering amongst the orange branches 
 of a morning, the " palm-bird " (so called from building its 
 nest in palm-trees), a lovely creature with bright orange and 
 black plumage, and another scarcely less elegant in form, 
 which reminds me of the greenfinch and canary, having a 
 light safl'ron-coloured head and breast, with wings and tail of 
 yellowish-brown, beautifully glossed with green. Yet more 
 striking in aspect than any of these is the graceful little whydah- 
 finch, or, as it is familiarly called here from its jetty plumage, 
 the " widow-bird." Its head and neck are far more shining and 
 smooth than the richest velvet, and its tail-feathers, which are 
 above twice the length of its body, seem as much as its wings 
 to waft the bird through the air. To see this mournful-looking 
 
LET. IX.] RICE-BUNTINGS— SPLENDID BUTTERFLIES. 89 
 
 beauty floating from spray to spray, or Kghtly perching on a 
 stalk of grass with a motion as stately as it is ethereal, you would 
 imagine her to be the most dignified, gentle, a-nd sweet-tempered 
 dame in all the feathered creation, instead of which she is one 
 of the most quarrelsome, noisy, and self- sufficient ; pecks, scolds, 
 and pursues her equals, and flies in the face of birds three times 
 as laro;e as herself. Nor must I fors^et the little rice-bunting-s, 
 pretty in spite of their rotundity of figure, and clothed in sober 
 suit of iron-grey, almost black, with white cravats round their 
 necks. They are lowly, social, loveable little birds, flying in 
 flocks of from twenty to thirty, and seem fonder of hopping 
 humbly about in the Bermuda grass, than of contrasting their 
 quaker garb with their gaudier-attired fellows in the orange and 
 lime-trees. I have heard that in the dry season my unassuming 
 favourites put on a scarlet costume, but cannot tell whether it 
 be the case or not. 
 
 I wish it were in my power to send you a description of the 
 splendid butterflies I see every sunny day ; but like all of their 
 tribe, they never remain still long enough for me to examine 
 them distinctly, merely settling upon a leaf and flower a single 
 moment, or enamelling the grass with their gorgeous hues. A 
 very common one looks as if cut out of black satin, and embroi- 
 dered with purple silk. Another is black with white spots ; and 
 a third, broader across its wings than a humming-bird, is also 
 of a rich blue-black, with a belt of bright green stretching from 
 the tip of one wing to another. There are also many lesser 
 ones all of one colour, such as pale blue, yellow, or lilac, that 
 look like flower-blossoms flitting through the air. I particularly 
 observe a small white butterfly in the bush here, that seems as 
 if it were carrj'ing oflf a few threads of a silk fringe that had got 
 entangled with it. But I found on a narrower examination this 
 appearance to be caused by the hinder wings of the insect being 
 lengthened out into flexile tapering points, which give a still 
 lighter air to its graceful body. 
 
 Altogether, I must candidly confess that the view, the weather, 
 the flowers, birds, and the butterflies render me somewliat idle 
 at times. But we have other and less agreeable insects, although 
 I have only twice seen a scorpion since coming to this country, 
 and, within doors, centipedes nearly as seldom. Millepedes, 
 
90 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. ix. 
 
 very ugly and large, abound on the walks, and infest the trees. 
 They have many feet like the centipede, but instead of being 
 flat like it, are round, and of a dark shining brown, annularly 
 marked with red. Some of them are fully seven inches long, 
 and as thick as a young snake, but they are not poisonous. We 
 are very little annoyed by mosquitos, though this is the season 
 tliey are usually most troublesome and numerous ; but I suppose 
 the liill is too stormy a place for them to exist upon it. Spiders 
 seem more industrious in this country than anywhere else, and 
 are really serviceable in catching flying ants, and all such 
 winged pests ; therefore in the open piazzas down stairs I do 
 not object to a solitary gossamer web being occasionally left 
 undisturbed, especially as some of the out-of-door spiders are 
 so beautifully and curiously marked. The one at present do- 
 mesticated below has a large oval body, that looks exactly like 
 an ivory ball, covered over with great, black, Hebrew characters. 
 The liouse-spiders are of diflerent sorts ; some are small, round, 
 jumping creatures ; others so large that a crown -piece could not 
 cover them, and flat as scorpions. They are very numerous and 
 troublesome, making nests everywhere, and on everything. You 
 see, fastened perhaps against a shelf in the store-room, or like a 
 label on a bottle, what appears to be a circular patch of white 
 paper, but turns out to be a tough opaque substance, more like 
 calico than paper in texture, and on tearing it off", some dozen 
 of eo-o-s or as many young spiders are discovered within. 
 
 Every drawer and wardrobe shelf has to be emptied and dusted 
 out oftener than one would deem at all necessary in England. 
 Heavy pieces of furniture against the walls have to be moved 
 very often to prevent an accumulation of these spiders, with 
 cock-roaches and moths ; the species of the latter we have here 
 being of all other insects the most difficult to extirpate. The 
 most careful sweeping and dusting cannot prevent these cater- 
 pillars in their brownish-grey angular cases from continually 
 creeping along the walls, hanging suspended from the bottom 
 of chests of drawers, tables, chairs, &c., as if they hid in every 
 place to which they think you cannot reach. 
 
 This letter goes by the very Brazilian brigantine whose mas- 
 ter and crew, like pirates as they are, fired upon the man -of war's 
 boats. Slave-vessels and their cargoes, after being condemned 
 
LET. IX.] DESCRIPTION OF A TORNADO. 91 
 
 here, are sold at auction. By the provisions of our treaty 
 with Spain her sliips are cut up, so as to render it impossible for 
 them to return again into the slave-trade ; but those of Brazil 
 are sold entire, and all such craft beino: built for fast sailino-, I 
 am always glad when one of the British merchants of the colony 
 buys and sends home one of these beautiful little vessels, feeling 
 assured that my letters will reach you so much sooner than 
 when sent by a dull-sailing " timber-ship." 
 
 Extract from Journal, 
 
 August 2*Jth. — Last night we had a slight tornado, the first of 
 the season ; and although foggy this morning, it cleared up fine and 
 sunny, sea and sky alike having that peculiarly vivid blue observ- 
 able in this country only during the "rains," and then merely at 
 times. About five o'clock p.m. it threatened a tornado by 
 the great fleecy clouds rising above Mount Oriel ; their curled out- 
 lines forming many a Hogarth-like portrait against the sky. At 
 six, the sun, divested of all his rays, seemed to sink sullenly into 
 the sea, appearing like a gigantic moon, only redder, and more 
 fierce-looking. All this time there was scarcely a breath of 
 wind, and that from the land. After the sun set, the north-east 
 became of a gloomy lurid hue, diversified only by the piled-up 
 masses of threatening clouds, which every instant assumed more 
 fantastic shapes as they rolled down the river, and were lost in 
 the pitchy darkness over the Bullom shore. The thunder 
 sounded nearer and nearer, as the storm passed down to the point 
 at Leopard's Island ; and then the sea was lit up one moment 
 by flashes of intensely bright lightning, and the next shrouded 
 in an ominous gloom. We had left two windows open in the 
 front piazza, ami at a iew minutes before seven I felt the sudden 
 chill which precedes a tornado, and heard the rushing of the 
 wind, although it had not even reached the town, the outline of 
 which I could yet trace, with its lights just beginning to enliven 
 the dusk of evening, whilst the water for some distance out in 
 the harbour seemed black as ink from the reflection of the heavy 
 clouds above. The chirping and humming of insects ceased all 
 at once, as the storm came sweeping on from the sea, and at 
 seven o'clock exactly, it was upon the hill ; the wind coming in 
 heavy gusts and passing away with a wild wailing sound, like 
 
92 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. ix. 
 
 the howl of some baffled power of evil ; while the peals of 
 thunder, fearfully loud, with scarcely a moment between them — 
 with the lightning flashing amid the surrounding darkness, most 
 forcibly illustrated the words of the Psalmist, " The voice of 
 thy thunder was in the heaven ; the lightnings lightened the 
 world ; the earth trembled and shook." 
 
 And then with a force as if it alone, of all the elements, were 
 capable of curbing that mighty wind, on came the rain, dashing 
 upon the shingled roof like a shower of stones, and forming a 
 drift so thick, that notwithstanding the brightness of the lightning 
 it was impossible to see anything from the windows, save the 
 leafy tops of the orange-trees close to the house, quivering and 
 struggling in the blast, and the long feathery branches of the 
 cocoa-nut tree bending before its fury. 
 
 At half-past seven, the monotonous, but to me most cheering 
 music of the crickets announced that the tornado was over, 
 although the thunder and lightning continued for some time, 
 accompanied by torrents of rain ; while the land-^vind even now 
 differs in nothing from the hurricane gusts, except in blowing 
 more steadily. The curtain drapery, table-covers, &c. in the 
 inner apartments, still wave to and fro, as if all the piazza win- 
 dows were open, and the atmosphere has become so cool and 
 pleasant, it is difficult to remember that exposure to this wind is 
 fraught with danger to Europeans. But, wrapped in a shawl, 
 I have watched the storm as it went round by the Cape, and 
 died into silence and gloom far out at sea ; thankful that so 
 violent a tornado has passed over us without my experiencing, 
 to any great degree, that annoying nervous sensation w^hich, ever 
 since the memorable night of the 4tli of June, I have felt even 
 on the very slightest puff of land-wind. 
 
 28th. — Lovely sunny day, but oppressively warm. The tor- 
 nadoes of the two preceding evenings betoken the breaking off 
 of the " rains." 
 
 29th. — My prognostications and hopes of fine weather doomed 
 to be disappointed, for after a treacherously beautiful morning, 
 came on heavy rain which continued all day. 
 
 30^/i. — Heavy gales from the sea without five minutes' inter- 
 mission. The humidity of the atmosphere exceeds anything I 
 have yet seen. The rain has swollen all the brooks into the 
 
LET. IX.1 BUSH NOVELTIES. 93 
 
 magnitude of rivers. Frothy torrents gleam on the distant 
 mountain-sides in places where I never saw the semblance of 
 moisture before. One or two of the " grass-fields " are partially 
 under water ; and where the different streams empty themselves 
 into the harbour, the waves, owing to the quantity of red soil 
 that has been washed down, are for a considerable space out- 
 wards all 
 
 " Crested with tawny foam 
 Like the mane of a chesnut steed." 
 
 September \st. — Once more fine enough to admit of walking 
 out. I observed many novelties in our ramble. One branch 
 stretching out from the wilderness-like maze hedging the path on 
 the ravine-side was laden with bright red pods much the shape 
 of long thick pendants for the ears, each pod containing a single 
 bean of a dark brown colour, encased in a yellow cup streaked 
 with scarlet. I saw several other shrubs with very curious 
 fruit, being hard nuts with a rough cloth-like surface. One, 
 with this outer coating of a greenish yellow, is called by the 
 natives " broke back," because, according to them, whoever eats 
 the kernel will never afterwards be able to walk upright, as it 
 possesses the miraculous property of breaking the back ! 
 
 Many trees have the bark of their branches almost hid by 
 small berries, of various colours, growing on bough and twig so 
 close and thick, that you can have some idea of their appearance 
 by supposing how twigs would look, covered over witli some 
 adhesive matter, and then dipped into a heap of glass beads. 
 One handsome plant with a thorny stem, straight branches, and 
 leaf a little like that of the laburnum, has a small, shinino-, 
 crimson berry, growing like strings of red currants — only not 
 so transparent. I particularly noticed another from its deep 
 orange clusters, reminding me of those of the mountain-ash. 
 This tree is about the size of a laurustinus or lilac, and has a 
 light green leaf. From its being the first to attract the locusts, 
 it is sometimes called by the blacks here " locust-tree," thou^-h 
 not in the least resembling those splendid tree acacias which 
 commonly bear that name. 
 
94 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. x. 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Tropic Storms — Worshippers of Lightning — Garden in a Glen — Beau- 
 tiful wild Fig-tree — Parasitical Vegetation — Bush Ropes — " Knife- 
 grass" " Chouca-choucas " — Sky -birds — Interest excited by Vessels 
 
 coming into Harbour — Thoughts in Rhyme. 
 
 October 30. 
 This is the land of storms. With three exceptions, those that 
 ushered in the wet season were nothing to what they now are. 
 We have had a gradual abatement in rains and fogs, but for the 
 last two months have had a tornado almost every night. This 
 hurricane wind generally comes on at first from the land, but 
 beats round and round the house, causing me often to imagine it 
 blows from every point of the compass at once. Sometimes 
 wind, rain, thunder, and lightning continue together for upwards 
 of two hours; then again, we have the storm-wind and rain with 
 little or no thunder and lightning. The heaviest tornadoes are 
 those where the wind blows for perhaps half an hour before any 
 rain falls, or when accompanied by only a small rain. One day, 
 after a strong sea-breeze with a clouded sun, we may have a 
 fierce tornado ; the next day there majr be a dead calm, with a 
 fiery-hot sun, and yet as fierce a tornado at night again ; after 
 which, at one time follows a calm, at another a violent land- 
 wind. 
 
 One peculiarity is observable regarding these storms; they 
 most commonly occur between sunset and sunrise, and, as far as 
 I can judge, always at low-water. 
 
 On the 26th of September we had two within twelve hours. 
 It was a dull, dark, cold, rainy morning after a thunder-storm, 
 and as I sat absorbed in reading a newly-arrived English letter, 
 
 M observed that a tornado was coming; on looking up, 
 
 I beheld the river and opposite shore black as ink. There 
 was scarcely time to close the jalousied window-shutters of the 
 eastern room, ere a blast came on with terrific violence; the 
 branches of the palm-trees were swung round in all directions, 
 
LET. X.] TROPIC STORMS. 95 
 
 and even the stubborn orange-trees shook as if being uprooted. 
 The A> ind did not last above seven minutes, when it was beat down 
 by heavy rain, the sound of which was most welcome to me. A 
 second edition of the morning's thunder-storm then rolled over 
 the house and went out to sea, the land-wind continuing to blow 
 for some hours. The afternoon was fine, clear, and sunny, but 
 now and then we heard the echoed rumbling, which betokened 
 the elements at war among the mountains. Although the sun 
 in setting gave to every cloud hues of purple, crimson, and 
 orange, in their very darkest and richest dyes, yet the heavens 
 had a wild, unsettled appearance; wliile long narrow iron-grey 
 clouds lay like bars of iron stretched over the river, the Bullom 
 shore, and the sea towards Leopard's Island, — from which, im- 
 mediately the sun sank below the horizon, the most vivid light- 
 ning flashed forth. 
 
 After it became dark, I watched the sky above Mount Oriel, 
 where each flash showed distinctly as at noon-day the ruined 
 house and its neglected trees ; and if you imagine a far view of 
 ranges of snow-coloured hills, seen by the reflected flickering 
 light of volumes of flame — you have an idea of the distant aspect 
 of a coming tornado. Such was the appearance of the clouds in 
 that quarter until about eight o'clock, when the scene completely 
 changed ; the black fog, rising over the other hill like an im- 
 mense body of soot set in motion by the wind, seemed for a 
 moment as if about to fall avalanche-like upon ours; and then 
 rushing furiously down the river, the pent-up wrath of the storm 
 burst in one fierce gust, not lasting above three minutes before 
 it was somewhat moderated by rain, which, with the thunder and 
 lightning, gradually passed on, leaving a very strong land-wind 
 that blew all night. 
 
 The word " tornado" in Portuguese literally means "returned," 
 but is also used to signify the time in which the sun goes back 
 from the tropic of Cancer. " Torneado " is the Spanish for 
 " tiiunder ;" but I cannot tell from which lan^uacje we have 
 adopted it into ours ; I think from the former, as the spelling is 
 the same. 
 
 You will conclude that I think of nothing save tornadoes. 
 But, indeed, though confessing that these sublime natural pheno- 
 mena are the beneficial agents of a wise and merciful Providence 
 
96 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. x. 
 
 — fitted for the country in which they take place — and, by puri- 
 fying- the atmosphere, rendering the fever-pestilence of this coast 
 less prevalent, and less fatal in its effects ; still, my philosophy does 
 not carry me far enough to enable me to witness them without a 
 feeling of awe, and an admiring remembrance of our own blessed 
 climate, where there is no occasion for storm and tempest to 
 occur to the same tremendous extent. 
 
 The former building on this hill was twice struck by light- 
 ning, the second time being partly burnt down ere assistance 
 came from town. The marks of fresh plastering in one of our 
 rooms show the rent made in the wall, when this present house 
 was struck also. Yet notwithstanding the frequency and violence 
 of thunder-storms here, incidents of any one being killed by 
 accidents from lightning are very rare. Many of the liberated 
 Africans worship lightning. During a tornado these deluded 
 people beat tom-toms, and make such horrid yelling noises, that 
 I could believe a herd of wild beasts were prancing through the 
 suburbs of Freetown in full cry. The two persons killed during 
 the night of the 28th of June were, I have been since told, en- 
 gaged in these heathen customs at the time of their awfully 
 sudden death, which is looked upon by the superstitious of the 
 blacks professing Christianity as a terrible warning to the rest. 
 
 An Aku man came one day to offer himself as groom ; and 
 on our referring for some information respecting his character 
 to an upper servant, who happened to be of the same tribe, he 
 shook his head, and said very gravely, " Dat man no do for 
 horseman, massa ; no, no, can't do at all." 
 
 As the candidate had some credentials of having before served 
 
 in a similar capacity, and to his employer's satisfaction, M 
 
 made further inquiries, and at last elicited from our awe-struck 
 domestic, not that his countryman was incompetent to perform 
 the duties of groom, but that his disqualifications arose solely 
 from the fact that " he worship de tunder !" 
 
 November 6th. — One necessarily leads rather a hermit life in 
 such a situation as this. A walk of but half an hour's duration 
 is the utmost I can possibly take without feeling over fatigued ; 
 the intense heat of the sun renders riding by no means a pleasant 
 exercise, except in the morning or afternoon. The mountain 
 roads are too steep to admit of driving. I dislike the confine- 
 
LET. X.] BEAUTIFUL WILD FIG-TREE. 97 
 
 ment, as well as the jolting motion, of a palanquin ; therefore 
 you will perceive that my excursions seldom extend very far, and 
 allow of but little variety. Almost every evening I walk down 
 to the garden made some time ago in the glen at the waterfall, 
 where the neatly laid-out beds, in which the familiar leaves of 
 cresses, parsley, peas, with other honie herbs and vegetables, have 
 just begun to show, form a pleasing contrast to the wilds on 
 either side. 
 
 One morning, whilst M was overlooking the farm-people 
 
 clearing the path by the side of the brook near the garden, on 
 coming to a very fine fig-tree that grows there, oiae of them 
 exclaimed, quite enthusiastically, " Ah, massa ! dey plant plenty 
 dem in my country for somebody to sit under !" and appeared 
 
 quite delighted at the sight of the tree. Even had M not 
 
 told me it was just what I would like to see, I would have 
 wished to visit the wonderful vegetable production capable of 
 calling forth admiration from a negro — all of that race, so far 
 as my observation extends, however they delight in the artificial 
 adornment of gay clothing and glass beads, seeming to take a 
 positive pleasure in hacking, hewing, destroying, and burning the 
 stateliest trees of the mountains ; and will not permit a mere 
 jiowerhig plant to remain in their ground, looking with com- 
 passionate contempt on the simplicity of Europeans in cultivating 
 flowers, disdaining themselves the most fragrant and beautiful 
 blossoms, solely because, according to their theory, " him no no 
 use — somebody caiiHt eat um^ 
 
 In the cool of the evening I rode down to the garden, so that 
 I mio:ht not be too tired for the real bush ramble wiiich was to 
 follow ; and leaving horse and horseman to wait our return, 
 
 accompanied M along a freshly -opened path to the right, 
 
 and which was strewed with leaves and boughs of the bush that 
 had been cut down to permit entrance. "We walked on, care- 
 fully picking our steps through the stumps of young trees, with 
 the brook on one hand, into which several plantains and bananas 
 dipped their broad leaves, whilst the other side, dark with trees, 
 climbing plants, and long tangled grass, formed too impenetrable 
 a front to tempt my exploring its recesses farther, infested as the 
 bush there is by red ants ; and only that day a large green snake 
 had been killed in one of the banana-trees. 
 
 H 
 
98 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. x. 
 
 But I was amply repaid for the exertion of scrambling through 
 the intricate path. This peculiar species of wild fig is, indeed, a 
 noble tree. Its trunk rises like a fluted column, whilst its roots 
 send themselves several yards over an immense stone that slopes 
 down into the middle of the stream, in whose restless waters they 
 disappear ; and the lofty branches, with their light-green leaves 
 stretching far overhead, forming a delicious canopy from the 
 scorching sun, do indeed most completely convey the idea of 
 repose and peace, contained in the Scripture expression of '^ sitting 
 under one's own fig-tree." The boughs are wide and spreading, 
 but not too densely foliaged, for through their interstices a 
 chequered light is admitted, whose dim softness greatly relieves 
 the gloomy shade of that end of the green arched avenue leading 
 to the spot. With this striking ornament of the wilderness a 
 natural curiosity is connected, as apparently out of its trunk 
 another tree shoots up, tall, straight, vigorous, and leafy, although 
 the lower part of its stem is enclosed within the body of the fig- 
 tree, which is not in the slightest way disfigured by this strange 
 adherent, although the colours of the bark and leaves, with their 
 shape and texture, are quite diiferent. I am now inclined to 
 think that the apparent parasite in the centre has been a young 
 tree encased whilst growing up, by the fig twining round it ; as 
 I have more lately seen other and far loftier trees, round which 
 many climbing stems had wreathed themselves in tortuous 
 meshes, tracing in their turnings and windings the most elaborate 
 network-like patterns on a truly gigantic scale ; and, no doubt, 
 had they done this before the trunk from which they derived 
 support had attained its full growth, in time they must have 
 formed a wooden case for it by uniting all together, as those of 
 the fig-tree have evidently done. 
 
 M tells me of a tree, which he saw at the Gambia, with 
 
 a smooth bark and common sort of leaf, but its uppermost boughs 
 surmounted by the nodding crest of a palm, thus presenting a 
 most extraordinary appearance, looking as if out of a hollow 
 tree the palms had sprung up ; when, in reality, its ringed trunk 
 had been at first completely encircled by the twining stems of a 
 climber that had, as they increased in age, grown all into one 
 mass of wood under an unbroken crust of bark, and thrown out 
 healthy and spreading branches of their own. Another evening 
 
LEI. X.J KNIFE-GRASS— CHOUCA-CHOUCAS. 99 
 
 we went to the fig-tree by a still rougher path, where I particu- 
 larly noticed, from their being in such abundance, the pliant and 
 twisting stems of these plants used as rope by the natives in 
 fastening the posts of their huts, and sold regularly in the market 
 of Freetown. Tough and flexible as any hempen cordage, some 
 of these bush-ropes are small as whipcord, others thick as cables. 
 They mostly run up amongst the boughs of trees, and hang down 
 in the form of vine-tendrils, but many of them in time become 
 trees of a very fair size themselves. 
 
 " Knife-grass " is a formidable opponent to bush-explorers 
 in general. It mounts up amongst the highest branches, to 
 fall downwards again in long ravelled masses ; crossing and 
 re-crossing ; and, though neither a climber nor creeper, holding 
 on with the tenacity of a burdock, forming in some places at the 
 sides of this path a barrier as thick and impervious as any 
 thatch. Unlike other grasses, its root is bulbous ; its stalk 
 three-sided like a prism, each edge being serrated, as are those 
 of the long, narrow, spear-pointed blade, and also the under sur- 
 face of the fibre running up its centre, with which I have 
 actually made a deep dent in soft wood, by using (as an experi- 
 ment of its power) one of the blades as a saw ! This grass, if 
 but accidentally touched by the finger, immediately draws blood, 
 and the jagged, uneven nature of the wound renders it less tri- 
 fling than one w^ould suppose, therefore I by no means wonder 
 at the fear in which the labourers stand of coming in contact 
 with the " knife-grass." All plants of a briery nature are called 
 " chouca-choucas " by the blacks, and one most delicately fo- 
 liaged acacia that runs along the ground is especially dreaded 
 by them, from its long spines like needles. This species has a 
 very pretty and fragrant white blossom. 
 
 Of the novelties which have attracted my attention since 
 the cessation of the " rains," a bird, seen for the first time 
 about ten days ago, deserves particular notice. Sitting quietly 
 
 alone one forenoon, M as usual in town — baby asleep — 
 
 and his little attendant taking her daily bath at the brook, after 
 the fashion of the natives, — I suddenly heard the most clear and 
 melodious notes sounding high up in the air, and looking out, 
 saw darting in the sunshine, with movements as strikingly new 
 to me as their song, a flock of birds with two curious long 
 
 H 2 
 
100 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. x. 
 
 tail-feathers, in colour something between green and blue, and 
 tawny wings dashed with gold. Sometimes they soared up on 
 expanded wing until nearly out of sight, and then floating down- 
 wards gently as flowers bending to the wind, would rapidly wheel 
 round, till almost touching the earth, and then up and away 
 again ! now balancing themselves with a motionless buoyancy, 
 then rising and sinking by turns, until I could not but think they 
 kept time to their own music. 
 
 The notes of their song are few, but quick, thrilling, and 
 joyous. The lark, of all our British birds (warmly as I would 
 also accord my meed of praise to the clear whistle of the black- 
 bird and the warbling of the thrush), can alone embody in sound 
 the feeling of gladness so forcibly as does this blithe denizen of 
 a baneful climate. It may be that the general absence of melody 
 amongst the feathered tribes here causes me to prize the notes 
 of this one bird so highly. But whilst listening to the gay, glad 
 song of these bright- winged creatures, and watching their dancing 
 evolutions, I should think it impossible for a single desponding 
 thought to cross one's mind ; for, excepting the lively carol of a 
 healthy, happy child — or, perhaps, the murmuring voice of the 
 blessed sea-breeze at sultry noon-day — there are here few sounds 
 in nature more heartily cheerful than the clear, silvery, ringing 
 chorus of these beautiful '• sky -birds " of Sierra Leone. 
 
 24^/i. — The weather has been so warm for the last fortnight, 
 that we dispense with a fire, except for three hours in the 
 morning and as many at night. We have had no tornadoes 
 now since the night of the 10th, but then a very heavy one. It 
 was followed by a dry hurricane- wind that lasted several hours, 
 during which the flag-staff at the barracks was blown down, 
 much to my chagrin, as I see no signs of its being replaced ; and 
 there has been for the last six days a sort of haze in tlie atmos- 
 phere, attended by harmattan wind, and which wdioUy obscures 
 my view of the other at Signal Hill. "Whenever I hear the deep 
 booming sound that tells of a sail in the offing, I look eagerly 
 out to see what flag is hoisted, and then search through the 
 haze for the vessel itself — having now become rather practised in 
 the art of guessing from appearance whence and what she is 
 likely to turn out ; an idle occupation, but nevertheless one in 
 which I take a kind of childish delight, my thirst for home news 
 

 LET. X.] THOUGHTS IN EHYMF.,' ^ ». J '^ ■ itfl 
 
 continuing as unquenchable as ever, as the I'ttb rhjiniig' t^il^clp' 
 sure in this will testify. 
 
 TO A LIGHT BARQUE FROM ENGLAND. 
 
 October 27th. 
 The echo of the signal-gun ! the banner red streams forth ! 
 For on the wave a snoM'-white sail gleams brightly in the north. 
 Blow strongly now, thou ocean-breeze, and waft her to the strand ; 
 Mayhap she brings us tidings good from Britain's honour'd land. 
 What art thou, rover of the deep, that hither bend'st thy way ? 
 In what far sheltering haven didst thou last at anchor lay ? 
 Art thou a cruiser of our Queen's ? well manned by seamen bold, 
 To check the slaver's course dost thou a Royal warrant hold ? 
 Or dost thou come, a captur'd prize, in hands humane and brave. 
 To that grave court whose high decree sets free the pining slave ? 
 But / care not a gay " St, George," nor pennant broad to see, 
 A merchant-barque with news from home far welcomer would be. 
 Flow swiftly back, thou ebbing tide ! Thou slumbering Avind, awake ! 
 I wish not note the deep to view like some calm inland lake. 
 O wherefore dost thou lag, sea-breeze ? befriend the good ship still ! 
 Beat back the wild tornado-clouds fast gathering o'er you hill ; 
 Again to lone Sahara's plains drive thou the storm-wind back, 
 That nought may cause that vessel proud to change her landward track. 
 
 Our hearts with hope are fraught, white sail ! while gazing upon thee. 
 
 That shortly we, of friends remote, both sign and seal may see — 
 
 That soon of British Church and State all tidings we may hear, 
 
 With each event which bears upon our country's welfare dear. 
 
 Oh ! bring'st thou any letters penn'd beside my father's hearth — 
 
 Where words are sometimes blotted through the children's noisy mirth ? 
 
 Do still my youthful brothers there our childhood's jokes revive ? 
 
 Or in the cold world's wildering maze have they gone forth to strive ? 
 
 While sadness o'er my father's heart asserts its weary power, 
 
 So few now claim his blessing at the wonted " good-night " hour; 
 
 At which still time the youngest's prayer, lisped at her mother's knee, 
 
 The infant orisons recall of those beyond the sea — 
 
 For whom so many anxious tears that mother's eyes have wept, 
 
 Since fond they watch'd the cradle where her first-born sweetly slept I 
 ***** 
 
 ***** 
 
 Aye near me are the dearest ties for which this earth hath name, 
 
 Yet each of ye, my parted ones ! affection's thoughts still claim ; 
 
 And one there is, who dwelleth lone by grey yet kingly towers, 
 
 Whose image with the memory blends of my most radiant hours. 
 
 Dost thou some letter kind from her, O gallant vessel, l)ring, 
 
 Fraught with the recollections old to which 1 love to cling ? 
 
102 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. x. 
 
 Kein^EiT)ran(ie etill 'thoso purple hills — that winding stream brings back, 
 
 Even still I seem with that true friend to tread some woodland track, 
 
 While mingleth with her accents low that deep and thrilling tone 
 
 Whose music to mine ear hath since so sweet familiar grown ! 
 
 — Back to thine inmost cells, fond thoughts ! I dare no longer dream. 
 
 And lo ! upon the waters wide shines out a sunny gleam ! 
 
 Away hath rolled the storm-cloud dark — the sea-breeze proves its might, 
 
 And safely in the deep blue bay that barque shall ride ere night. 
 
 The tide hath long since turned which strove to bear her further south. 
 
 And bravely past the jealous shoal that guards the harbour's mouth. 
 
 The white foam dashing from her bows, before the wind she goes. 
 
 As if she knew her voyage now was near its prosperous close. 
 
 Those upright masts, that hull's stout build, no foreign craft denote, 
 
 Eight pi'oudly at her gaff I see the flag of England float ! 
 
 Oh ! ever may that ensign bright all alien colours brave, 
 
 And Britain reign triumphant still, the empress of the wave ! 
 
 I welcome thee to port, fair ship ! but I shall hail thee more. 
 If kindly scrolls from kindred mine thou briug'st in goodly store ; 
 And afterward, whene'er thy sails unfurl to meet the breeze. 
 For thee a happy clime I'll wish, fair winds, and friendly seas ! 
 
LET. XI.] HARMATTAN— GRASSES. 103 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 Effects of the Harmattan — Grasses — Anecdote — Migrations of Europeans 
 — Loss of Friends — Christmas " Bunyahs " -:- Pincushion Plants — 
 Negro Gifts — White Mists — Dry Season Prospect — Cotton Shrub — 
 Farms — Birds. 
 
 December 14th. 
 
 A MILD kind of harmattan has been blowing for the last fort- 
 night, which still causes the paper on which I write to curl up 
 at the edges, as if it were held to the fire, and our most strono-ly- 
 bound books to open their leaves of themselves. The grass looks 
 dry and withered ; and although there is a constant succession 
 of leaves on the trees, yet at present they fall in multitudes, 
 and the orange-bouglis especially have a bare and scorched 
 appearance. We rode over to Mount Oriel a few evenings 
 ago, where, though some of its inner walls have fallen down, 
 the ruined house still stands, despite the many heavy storms 
 that have swept through its broken casements. The Guinea 
 grass on the flat ground in front met far over our heads, even 
 
 when on horseback. M measured one stalk, which was fully 
 
 seventeen feet in height, and about the thickness of a common 
 walking-cane. It seems to average about fifteen feet, but often 
 is as high as twenty, and, being in flower just now, looks like a 
 particularly rich and stately crop of some sort of grain. Horses 
 are very fond of this grass, and when, as at this season, in lieu 
 of its fine succulent blade — a little like that of green wheat, only 
 much broader — the groom gatliers its tops and gives them to the 
 horses, they become as frisky as if it were as much corn. Anotlier 
 grass, of lesser stature, with a bluish tinge, downy stalks and 
 blades, springs up in thick separate tufts, and is called "• cow- 
 grass," from its being a favourite with these animals, but horses 
 will not feed on it. I also observed that evening-, among-st the 
 stones near the brow of the other hill, some patches of a delicate 
 kind of low, thin, wiry grass, that reminded me of flax growing. 
 Its trembling crests of seeds appeared, on close examination, as if 
 
104 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xi. 
 
 formed of silken threads, fine as the finest hair, with at the top 
 of each a green knob, about the size of a pin's head, yet so light 
 as scarcely to bend its fragile support. I was not a little asto- 
 nished to learn that this grass is the poisonous sort which has 
 given the name of mere " grass-fields" to these low rocky plains, 
 where it is almost the only appearance of vegetable life. 
 
 Once upon a time an English gentleman here, fancying per- 
 haps, like myself, that such a pretty grass could not but be a 
 most innocent sort of herbage for cattle, would listen to no re- 
 monstrances from his black servants, but insisted on their making 
 it into hay for his horses. This was accordingly done ; and 
 whether it were the cause or not, of course I cannot tell, but all 
 the horses that were forced to eat this new-fashioned hay cer- 
 tainly died whilst undergoing the experiment — a catastrophe at 
 which their owner was so indignant that he resolved to patronize 
 no such unreasonable quadrupeds in future ; and forthwith pro- 
 moted four handsome asses to the honour of drawing' his 
 equipage. 
 
 30//^. — Another feverish attack prevented me sending this 
 letter by a ship which sailed on the 23rd with a great many- 
 passengers. People are continually going home from Sierra 
 Leone for the recovery of their health, or with no intention of 
 returning ; and new people coming out, to leave shortly again for 
 the same causes, so that there is no fixed or permanent society. 
 But more melancholy changes have thinned my extremely limited 
 circle of acquaintances. Of the very few European ladies resi- 
 dent here when I arrived, three have since died, and amongst 
 these my kind and lamented friend Mrs. — . 
 
 We had actually a tornado so late as the 16th. It was in the 
 morning, and followed by heavy rain and distant thunder, whilst 
 the whole day continued dull and gloomy. 
 
 On Cliristmas-day, which was particularly cold and chilly for 
 the dry season, there was also loud thunder amongst the hills. 
 The musical performances of the " waits," the night preceding, 
 were heard distinctly up here; and the beating of tom-toms 
 was louder even than usual, accompanied by the incessant firing 
 off" of overcharged muskets. The ships were all gaily adorned 
 with flags, and they kept the harbour in a continued atmosphere 
 of smoke, quite misleading me at first by the report of their small 
 
LET. XI.] BUNYAHS— PINCUSHION PLANTS. 105 
 
 o-uns, that sounded like a succession of signals from tlie far hill. 
 Hosts of people besieged the house for Christmas-boxes, or 
 '• bunyah," as they call such presents ; and each receiving some- 
 thin'T — from a duck shirt or trowsers, a bright scarf or handker- 
 chief, a book, or an old pair of boots, down to a few cocoa-nuts, as 
 suited the pretensions or merits of the applicant, with, of course, 
 the usual " glass-grog," all went off again in high glee. 
 
 One trustwortliy old Timmanee man declined the rum, having 
 taken a pledge against drinking spirits, but accepted a glass of 
 wine instead. This step in civilization has been effected at the 
 instance of a Missionary, who has devoted himself to the study of 
 the languages spoken by the different tribes in this part of Africa, 
 with the intention of travelling in the interior, and has, I be- 
 lieve, written a Timmanee grammar. 
 
 On oivino: the little aporentices their usual lesson, I inquired 
 of the boy, who has been three years at school in the colony — if 
 he knew why people went to church on Christmas-day — in 
 short, what was the meaning of this festival ? — asking the ques- 
 tion in the most approved country fashion of speaking. He im- 
 mediately replied, with a peculiarly sage expression of counte- 
 nance, and in a tone of some complacency at the consciousness of 
 his own learning, " Yes, I savey him good — him mean day for 
 get someting;" and, evidently whatever he had been taught with 
 reo^ard to the holiday, it remained associated in his mind with 
 the idea alone of " getting someting." 
 
 Upon the whole, both of these negro children have made some 
 progress since they came; but whilst the boy is remarkably 
 quick at getting his lessons, at least by rote — and the girl very 
 backward in learning hers, however anxious and willing to 
 " savey book," — she is by far the more helpful, industrious, active, 
 and attentive of the two. 
 
 A bunch of an extraordinary kind of " bush " was brought to 
 me a short time ago. It consisted of thick pods, each nearly flat 
 underneath, but rounded on the upper surface, where was a cleft 
 like that on a plum. Three of these, joined together much in 
 the same manner as I have seen hazel-nuts, but sometimes only 
 two, hung at the end of the long flexible stalks, and looked 
 exactly like whimsically-shaped pincushions made of scarlet 
 velvet. I kept the leafless twig in the house until next day, in- 
 
106 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xi. 
 
 tending to send you a little sketch of its appearance, but before 
 mornino- several of the pods had opened at the cleft, from which 
 sprouted a single black bean. The pulpy substance surrounding 
 this seed is full of an acid juice, and the natives use it to polish 
 their teeth. 
 
 Our people have a strange way of proving their regards for 
 your little nephew. An old servant brought in one day a land- 
 crab which he wished to deprive of some of its claws, and then, 
 after fastening a string to those remaining, give it to the baby as 
 a plaything ! One of the farm-labourers thought he would not 
 be behind in his offering, and sent up a young humming-bird, 
 beo-crincr it might have a string tied to one of its feet, and made 
 to flutter for the amusement of the child. Both of these geiie- 
 rously-disposed barbarians were much astonished at receiving 
 in return a lesson on the subject of cruelty to animals. They 
 must be in the habit of indulging their own children in such 
 refined pastimes, as shortly afterwards another man brought an 
 enormous cricket, quite as large as a full-grown mouse, and 
 suspending the poor insect by a piece of fine country rope, seemed 
 quite proud of presenting so grand and noisy a toy to the white 
 piccaninny ; and witnessed its being set at liberty with a stare of 
 indignation and surprise. 
 
 Since the dry season set in, I think this situation more delight- 
 ful than ever, and really must say, that in spite of its unhealthy 
 character and the privation incident to its position, I like Sierra 
 Leone extremely. The heat, no doubt, is very great, but then 
 house and dress are alike adapted to the climate, so that it is quite 
 endurable. I felt it much more this time last year, when living 
 in town. I think the hill a great deal more cheerfid, too, as a 
 residence, than Freetown ; for here I can run out and in as I feel 
 inclined, and amuse myself by looking at plants, flowers, birds, 
 lizards, and insects : whilst in the streets there was nothing to 
 be seen but the same groups of market-people day after day 
 plodding along, with now and then a solitary European figure. 
 
 Extracts fr^om Journal. 
 January ISth, 1842.— The harmattan is accompanied by a 
 thick reddish haze, through which the sun on setting looks like 
 a globe of fire every evening, as shorn of all his rays he sinks 
 
LET. XI.] WHITE MISTS. lo: 
 
 gloomily behind the western horizon. Leopard's Island has been 
 for a long time invisible, and instead of the bold, clear outline 
 presented by the opposite shore during the rainy season, it now 
 appears indistinct as land looming from a great distance at sea. 
 Sometimes of a morning a white mist steals down the river, and 
 floats about in light isolated wreaths above the water, until form- 
 ing, if I may be allowed the expression, several tiers of curl- 
 clouds ; beyond which, by some illusion of perspective, the Bul- 
 lom shore seems like part ci' another world, far up in the sky. 
 These snowy vapours detach themselves again from the dense 
 body, and skim away out to the ocean, gradually mingling with 
 those in the higher regions of the air; and are altogether much 
 more agreeable to look at than the grim black fog of a tornado, 
 or the murky " smokes " that used to settle on the adjoining 
 hills, almost daily, before the final cessation of the " rains." 
 Kovv and then we have a day with some strong puffs of sea- 
 breeze, but still every object is shrouded in a dim soft haze. 
 
 20th. — This weary harmattan withers up all vegetation. The 
 roads look like dry frosty roads, except in being excessively 
 dusty ; and indeed the country has altogether the aspect that 
 our own presents in time of frost, only here the trees are still 
 clothed with leaves, whose verdure, however, is both dimmed 
 and faded. 
 
 Throughout all our extensive views — beyond our own wooded 
 knolls and glens, and the green fringes of the numerous brooks — 
 I see only two refreshing spots to rest the eye upon, the dry- 
 season gardens attached to the country residences of two colonial 
 gentlemen. There a silvery stream, shaded wuth bowery fruit- 
 trees, winds its way through plots of dark-coloured earth dotted 
 over with green vegetables ; contrasting strongly with the un- 
 weeded and riotous luxuriance of the garden-patches round the 
 innumerable grass-thatched huts in the vicinity. These neat and 
 pretty villas, with their white painted exteriors, relieved by 
 bright green window-shoots, with an occasional picking out of 
 yellow, and surrounded by a rich profusion of the rarest and 
 most ornamental exotic plants and trees, are always here called 
 " farms," though all tlie crops cultivated in their adjoining 
 grounds may be but a few rows of the round-topped, formal 
 coffee-bush ; or the cotton-shrub, with its saffron-coloured, 
 
108 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xi. 
 
 cistus-like flower, and green seed-pod sheltering its downy 
 riches. 
 
 A solitary cotton-plant flourishes amongst the choked-up trees 
 on Mount Oriel. Previously to becoming ripe and brown, the 
 husk is hard and green. I foolishly cut open one of them lately 
 with a penknife, and found that the watery fibrous substance 
 within — and which is dry cotton when the pod opens — stained 
 my fingers with an ugly burnt-umber sort of shade, that the 
 continued bathing of them in lime-juice, after I had in vain tried 
 plain water, would scarcely remove. 
 
 I find the old house on our sister hill is not the only 
 ruined habitation in our view. On the slope of one of the hills 
 of the Wilberforce range, and quite in a lonely locality, stand 
 four roofless whitened walls in the midst of a thick grove of 
 orange and shaddock trees, and through the glass I can see that 
 these are all that is left of what apparently was formerly a 
 country-seat, like the two I have just mentioned as looking so 
 neat and nice in their pretty garden-grounds. There is some- 
 thing melancholy in house and land together in this climate 
 falling into decay and desolation on the death or departure of 
 their owner. 
 
 Like the others, our mountain residence is also denomi- 
 nated a " farm," though there is nothing farm-like about it. A 
 place less adapted for agricultural purposes can hardly exist ; as 
 the coffee, ever since we came up here, has been entirely left to 
 itself, only a few of the bushes, which owing to their situation 
 by the sides of the walks had obtained a sort of random pruning 
 or rather lopping, have borne this season, and of that, by far the 
 greater part has been left to the birds. When, therefore, I 
 speak of farm-men or labourers, you must understand these are 
 merely people wliose sole employment is cutting wood for fuel, 
 carrying water, weeding the garden, keeping the walks, &c. near 
 the house free of bush, or, as at this time of the year, cutting 
 down the long grass that had sprung up during the " rains," on 
 the comparatively cleared spots on the hill ; rank vegetable 
 matter growing close to one's abode being considered highly 
 injurious to health in this country, besides the risk it is exposed 
 to, when dry and parched by the influence of the harmattan, of 
 being set on fire, which will not spread amongst the ever- green 
 
LET. XI.] BIRDS. 109 
 
 and leafy coffee-trees, so long as the surface of the earth under- 
 neath them is kept clear. They are thus a sort of safeguard to 
 the house itself. 
 
 2lst. — I observed this morning, stealthily hopping about behind 
 a young lime-liedge near the house, a bird with brownish-red wings 
 and tail, and slate-coloured head and breast, but remarkable from 
 its eye being in the centre of a long and arched white mark that 
 gives it a peculiarly odd espiegle expression. It is about tlie 
 size of a thrush, and rather clumsily formed. We call it the 
 " Spectacle-bird," and I have watched it for a long: time, and 
 think it appears a most unsocial and greedily-disposed creature, 
 for as soon as it seizes upon something to eat, it hurries off the 
 precious morsel, to devour it at leisure in a corner. 
 
 Those gay warblers to which I have given the name of " sky- 
 birds" from their graceful movements while on the Aving, re- 
 minding me of the soaring flight of the lark, have also the same 
 kind of almond-shaped outline round their eyes. There is 
 miother bird in shape and hue, with the exception of some black 
 and white feathers, not unlike the " spectacle-bird." It is as 
 large as a magpie, and never ventures near the house, although 
 its shrill distinct cry of " Hoot-hoot ! hoot-hoot !" which has 
 obtained for it the title, amongst Europeans here, of the " Scotch- 
 man," is continually heard resounding in the " bush." 
 
 29fh. — A few days of constant sea-breeze have cleared the 
 atmosphere so much, that this morning Leopard's Island was once 
 more displayed to my watchful gaze ; while in the afternoon the 
 view from the adjoining hill of Tagrin Point, the islands of 
 Bunce and Tasso, with several others shining out in the calm 
 light of a declining sun, appeared lovely beyond comparison, 
 after having been so long veiled by a harmattan fog. I felt quite 
 iiivigorated by a brisk canter across the level ground on the 
 summit, the sea-breeze, too, being so soft and refreshing after 
 such an uninterrupted reign of the harsh land-wind ; while the 
 sight of a merchant-vessel coming in under full sail, with tlie 
 union-jack flying from her mast-head, added to the interest and 
 cheerfulness of the scene by the anticipations it raised of receiving 
 home letters. 
 
no LETTERS FEOM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xii. 
 
 LETTER XII. 
 
 IMethod of watering Garden — European Vegetables in African Soil — Sorrel 
 Beer — Black Cooks — Negro Patois — Sweet Potatoes — Marketing 
 Troubles — Fishing Boats — News of the Niger Expedition — Fanning 
 Rice — Burnt Trunks of gigantic Trees — Malaguetta Pepper and other 
 Plants — Green Locusts — Chameleons — Snails. 
 
 The garden has not suffered much from the hot dry weather, 
 as, independent of the daily service of watering-pots, it obtains 
 a constant supply of water from a higher part of the brook, 
 conveyed through very thick bamboos, which, although split, 
 answer the purpose of leaden pipes most admirably. Each 
 vegetable plat is raised, and the divisions between them, where 
 water-cresses flourish nicely, are kept like running streams by 
 means of this bamboo aqueduct, whose contents are turned otf 
 and on as occasion requires. 
 
 Parsley, thyme, sweet marjoram, mint, and sage thrive down 
 here. We have also French beans and salad in abundance. 
 But out of all the other seeds sown, we have only as yet been 
 able to obtain a few meagre heads of celery, one small dish of 
 green peas, two turnips hardly bigger than potato apples, and 
 about half a dozen stringy, taper roots, which from their leaf and 
 colour alone are entitled to the name of carrots. However, 
 we have some most luxuriant tomatoes ; and both cauliflowers 
 and Brussels sprouts having come up, though they have not 
 flourished, we hope for better things next season. 
 
 Among several native productions which have been left in the 
 garden by the labourers, when weeding and cleaning, is a 
 species of mallow,* the leaf of which is used as a soup vegetable 
 by the blacks. The flower is yellow, and very small ; but from 
 the calyxes and capsules, which are of a fleshy nature, and 
 (when the seed is ripe) become of a deep red hue, a very plea- 
 sant acid drink is prepared. It is of a beautiful transparent 
 
 * Hibiscus Sabdariffa. 
 
LET. XII.] BLACK COOKS— NEGRO PATOIS. Ill 
 
 pink, and on being- poured out sparkles like champagne. Ginger 
 and sugar are added in making, and it is much used as a refresh- 
 ing beverage in fevers. What I have seen was sent us by a 
 friend, but it is likewise to be bought in the market under the 
 name of "sorrel beer." 
 
 The negroes seem to think that a vegetable is eatable only 
 when made into soup. The broad heart-shaped leaf which we 
 dress like spinach, they serve up to themselves swimming in the 
 water where it was boiled, and which they eat with it. There are 
 two kinds of this plant, one being more palatable than the other, 
 and it they distinguish by the name of " English coco," though 
 I am sure none of it has ever yet appeared in England. Xot 
 long after coming to this country, we happened to get some 
 green peas, which I gave out to the cook to have plainly boiled 
 for dinner. Fancy my surprise, when dinner-time came, to find 
 the anticipated dish metamorphosed into a very thin soup-maigre 
 and sent up in a tureen. We were much amused at the man's 
 mistake, and I found it rather difficult to make him comprehend 
 that we did not like soup made without meat or stock of any 
 kind. He was a new-comer, and having evidently not under- 
 stood my directions, thought it better to follow his own approved 
 fashion, than condescend to say " no been savey what missis say." 
 
 I remember my wise reflections on hearing a European lady 
 talk " country fashion" to a black servant one day very shortly 
 after my arrival, and my mental resolve that / would never pro- 
 fane my mother tongue by adopting so extraordinary a mode of 
 speech ; nay, I was even so uncharitable in my ignorance as to 
 think it slightly bordered on affectation, patronizing and using 
 this most inelegant and unintelligible language ; and was quite 
 as ridiculous as if an Englishwoman were to deem it incumbent 
 upon her, when visiting Scotland or Ireland, to learn to speak in 
 the broad dialect and harsh accent of either of those countries. 
 But necessity has gradually taught me to think very differently, 
 and I now give my household orders with perfect fluency, in a 
 patois that would certainly puzzle both a linguist and gramma- 
 rian. 
 
 But to return to the vegetable kingdom. To the Freetown 
 market we are indebted for yams, country spinach, okras, and 
 shalots ; with any sort of fruit excepting oranges, which our own 
 
112 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xii 
 
 trees yield us most munificently. Guavas too and pine-apples 
 we have in abundance, but the blacks appropriate the former, 
 and the monkeys the latter to their own use. A man who has 
 got leave to plant a large piece of ground near the brook, at the 
 Rose-apple Glen, supplies us, at his own prices, with nice freshly- 
 du'>' cassada (a favourite vegetable of mine, though despised by 
 most Europeans), and sweet potatoes,* roots but very little 
 approximating in appearance, and still less in taste, to those from 
 which they are named, being more the shape of large pears, 
 buff-coloured, and when broken in their raw state, giving out a 
 glutinous milk -white juice. Boiled, they are as sweet as common 
 potatoes would be if mashed up with sugar. The plant itself 
 trails along the ground, and a patch of it in bloom quite embel- 
 lishes the usually flowerless negro-gardens. 
 
 Partly from a fear that their own domiciles may be robbed 
 during the night, and partly because they consider this situation 
 BO very lonely, some of our servants manifest great reluctance to 
 remain, save in the daytime. We therefore divide them into 
 two sets, which are allowed to go to town by turns every second 
 evenin-T at six o'clock, a more convenient time to give directions 
 for market than at five o'clock in the morning. But this indul- 
 gence does not bring the market-man up a minute earlier next 
 day. " Please, ma'am, no beef been live in market until so late ;" 
 •' Bread no go oven till past seven o'clock ;" " Too soon for 
 catch fruit dis morning," are every-day excuses, rendering it 
 fortunate that we have not to depend for breakfast upon any- 
 thing to be brought up then. Indeed, we very seldom patronize 
 the Sierra Leone bakers at all, as their bread is especially bad, 
 and commonly flavoured with some outlandish herb or other ; 
 while the leaven used instead of yeast, is almost always sour. 
 The home-made bread I have seen here, I thought no better 
 than that to be bought. The climate renders it impossible to 
 superintend anything of the kind oneself, unless it be now and 
 ,then, perhaps, such trifles as cake and pastry ; and even these 
 you generally receive from the oven burnt or otherwise spoiled. 
 Excellent hard biscuit is, however, brought to the colony by 
 American traders, and we also have it sent out from England. 
 The market is well supplied with fish — mackerel (which, though 
 
 * Convolvulus Batatas. 
 
LET. XII.] NEWS OF THE NIGER EXPEDITION. 113 
 
 larger and coarser than that caught on the English coast, is yet 
 very good) ; soles, mullet, snapper, not unlike in its bright colours 
 and shape a very gigantic gold-fish, and barra-couta, a grand 
 looking and richly tasted fish, those I have seen beino- laro-er 
 than most salmon. In the West Indies, where it is also common 
 the barra-couta is said to be poisonous at particular seasons, but 
 I have never heard of its being considered so at any time here. 
 Enormous oysters are found on the Carpenter Rock, and I am told 
 that the twisted stems and branches of the mangroves in the 
 creeks and rivers are thickly crusted over with a much more 
 delicate oyster. Most of those I have seen were in clusters of 
 two or three together, the shells having thus quite a different 
 appearance from ours. The river also abounds in cray-fish, 
 shrimps, and many otliers boasting of such names as '' old wives " 
 "jumping-fish," and " gropers," but of these I cannot speak 
 from observation ; while sometimes the cook brings up a very 
 nice sort of fiat-fish whose name I do not know. The remora 
 is plentiful, and is actually eaten by the negroes, who also cure 
 great quantities of a tiny fish, appropriately called minnows. 
 
 I sometimes count so many as thirty fishing-boats comino- in 
 at once of an afternoon, their white sails looking like wino-s ex- 
 panded in the sea-breeze, and altogether conveying the idea of 
 a fleet of colossal butterflies skimming on the surface of the 
 waves. 
 
 From time to time we have had deplorable accounts of the 
 Niger Expedition. Besides the many who have fallen victims 
 to the climate, one gentleman has been, it is supposed, treacher- 
 ously murdered by the natives. Pie had gone down the river for 
 change of air, on account of his health; and in returning met 
 with a large canoe, in which he was induced to embark ; the 
 people by whom it was manned agreeing to take him to Brass 
 Town, but since that hour lie has neither been heard of nor seen. 
 
 I8th. — I have been attending to some domestic matters of a 
 novel character to-day. As a very great quantity of rice is con- 
 sumed in the household, we have laid in a large stock, which, 
 previously to being stowed away, required to be nicely sifted. 
 As the huge bags were brought up in the morning, they were 
 emptied in heaps upon clean grass-mats spread out under the 
 orange-trees. The servants, provided with round bamboo fan- 
 
 I 
 
lU LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xii. 
 
 iiers, then set to work as if winnowing- grain ; their tall swarthy 
 ficrures, in their chequered robes, enveloped in clouds of white 
 (iust — the sight of cocoa and other palms, with bright birds 
 flittino- among their branches — the hordes of gay-coloured lizards 
 tiiat kept boldly helping themselves from the edge of each heap, 
 quite reminding me of an Oriental picture. 
 
 The country at present looks very bare and parched-up, be- 
 sides being in many places black from " bush-burnings " — a 
 most untidy way of clearing land. Here is none of that neatness 
 which marks cultivation in our own country. The blackened 
 stumps of trees are left standing amongst the maize, ginger, and 
 sugar-cane ; and the large boughs, that have not been consumed 
 by fire, being allowed to remain where they fell, 'give a still 
 more slovenly look to the cleared patches of farm-ground. The 
 trunk of an immense tree, to which the natives have repeatedly 
 set fire, lies prostrate in a part of our bush I managed to reach 
 one day. It is quite hollow, and w^ould make an excellent shel- 
 ter from rain — nay, a negro family might almost contrive to 
 live in it, as, in spite of being hacked, hewn, and burnt outside, 
 it is still considerably above five feet in diameter. Still, in spite 
 of such curiosities, and all the tropic exuberance of " bush," I 
 should think a broad belt of dark brown furrows, straight and 
 regularly defined, to the utter exclusion of all graceful curves ; 
 or a single wheat-field, though ever so limited, with but a haw- 
 thorn-hedge round it, quite a relief to look at, amidst the wild 
 and neglected aspect of even the cultivatio?i of this place. 
 
 I have often noticed growing close out from the roots of trees, 
 clusters of crimson pods, evidently the seeds of a plant whose 
 reed-like branches, a yard or two in length, bending across the 
 pathway, show themselves to be clothed with opposite alternate 
 leaves, much in the same manner as a palm-bough. Observing 
 that these pods were always gathered by our attendants, I had 
 some brought to me, and found they contained rows upon rows 
 of small black seeds closely packed in a fibrous pulp wdth an 
 agreeable, acid, black currant sort of taste, and an aromatic 
 smell. This plant is a kind of Malaguetta pepper,* and these 
 seeds are the famous " grains of paradise." 
 
 A low bushy shrub, that in its small bright glossy leaves 
 
 * Amomum ? 
 
LET. XII.1 GREEN LOCUSTS— CHAMELEONS. 115 
 
 reminds me of both the myrtle and box, greatly adorns the 
 craggy face of our hill. Its flowers, taken alone, are unpretend- 
 ing little pea-blossoms of white and lilac mixed ; but though 
 growing singly, are placed so close to each other on the spray as 
 to have quite an ornamental appearance. These produce very 
 pretty berries of the brightest orange-colour, and divided 
 into three compartments, each of which contains one flat seed 
 wrapped in a downy coat. They are about the size of small 
 cherries, and have rather a sweet taste ; and are esteemed by the 
 blacks as very good to eat. 
 
 But there are less charming natural objects abroad just now. 
 On ridiiig over to Mount Oriel the sound of the locusts skipping 
 about amongst the cassada is like that of the pattering of rain 
 upon leaves. These insects, when full-grown, have small green 
 upper wings, heads handsomely variegated in bars and chequers 
 of red, green, black, and yellow, that remind one of mosaic- 
 work, shoulder-plates of greenish yellow, great eyes like spots 
 of red sealing-wax, and two long feelers. One gigantic species 
 we call the " Monarch locust" is altogether green, with the ex- 
 ception of the yellow armour across its shoulders, but its under 
 wings are of light scarlet, shading into green at the tips, and 
 regularly spotted with black. The wings of the young insect 
 are not visible, and its dorsal shield is black and yellow striped. 
 They have four short fore-legs, and two hinder ones, the latter 
 being w^ell armed with spines up to the first joint. 
 
 Since the dry season set in I sometimes observe chameleons 
 slowly moving along the orange-tree branches, quickening their 
 pace on perceiving they are looked at, and hiding amongst the 
 foliage, where it is scarcely possible to distinguish them from the 
 leaves themselves. The usual colour of the cliameleon is a vivid 
 green, which, according to tlie hue of the object on which the 
 animal is placed, changes to light or dark, yellowish or olive, 
 occasionally intermixed with nearly black spots. Its skin is elastic, 
 and the creature has the singular power of puffing itself out, or 
 contracting its body until it is quite flat. You would fancy it 
 lived upon air, did you not perceive its food to be small flies and 
 such insects, which it entraps by means of stretching out its long 
 tonsfue. Unlike the bold-faced nimble little lizards, the chame- 
 Icons (which are of various sizes) are shy, frightened things, 
 
 I 2 
 
116 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xii. 
 
 particularly slow and solemn in their movements ; while the 
 strangeness of their appearance is heightened by the peculiar 
 form of the eye, which, set as it were in the centre of a convex 
 circle which turns with the pupil, can look up and down, back- 
 wards, forwards, or sideways, the head at the same time remain- 
 ino- quite stationary. The black people are afraid of this species 
 of the lizard tribe, and fancy it can put out your eye by spitting 
 into it. My little Aku handmaiden cannot conceal her alarm 
 and disgust on seeing me take a chameleon into my hand. 
 
 ]VX had a tame one at a house where he formerly lived, 
 
 and where there was a great fixed bath that used to attract 
 hordes of mosquitoes, against which the chameleon waged deadly 
 war, and thus made itself more useful than " pets" commonly are. 
 
 I saw a giant snail the other day : it was black, and really 
 seemed to me to be very nearly a quarter of a yard in length, 
 and proportionably thick. The shell of this sort of snail is 
 pointed, instead of being rounded at the end, and many of them 
 are above four inches in circumference. 
 
 A few days ago I noticed, growing at the side of the road 
 along which we were riding, a branch of what I fancied, from its 
 apricot appearance, must be a fine sort of tropic fruit, and bid 
 one of the horsemen break it off and bring it to me, which he 
 did, assuring us at the same time it was a deadly poison. Though 
 at a distance it seemed to have quite a peachy bloom, I found on 
 a nearer view that its bright yellow rind M^as covered with spines. 
 Inside it contained a pulp more tempting to look at than most 
 of the bush fruits, and as full of small seeds as a gooseberry. 
 
 And such productions, with their gorgeous colours, strange 
 forms, and altogether unfamiliar aspect, insignificant as they may 
 appear in themselves, yet greatly contribute to the whole that 
 here reminds a European eye it gazes on the vegetation of the 
 torrid zone. Except roses, and wood-sorrel (which grows richly 
 at the base of our old tamarind-tree), there are no familiar 
 flowers and plants of any sort here. I saw lately a slight- 
 stemmed tall weed, with a flower exactly like groundsel, only 
 it was pink instead of yellow ; and you may be sure I hailed it 
 as an old friend, and my thoughts winged back to the days that 
 we used to gather our pinafores full of groundsel for our tame 
 rabbits. 
 
LET. xiii.l FIRES IX FREETOWN. , 11 ■ 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Fires in Freetown — Bush Buruiugs — African Cows — Goats — Squirrels 
 
 — Monkeys — Bush Cats. 
 
 March 16. 
 There has been a great fire in the outskirts of Freetown lately. 
 Happily, no lives were lost, but it is said that 1500/. worth of 
 property was destroyed ; and when you remember, the buildings 
 burnt were either mere wooden frames, or mud and wicker-work 
 huts, the furniture, too, but of a very rude description, you can 
 imagine how very many poor families have suffered. The fire, 
 which broke out in the night, is said to have originated in the 
 dwelling of a man whose employment is that of curing fish, 
 which, w^hen salted and dried, forms a favourite article of food 
 amongst the blacks here. A party of soldiers were sent to the 
 spot immediately on the alarm being given, but some of the 
 sufferers complain that they lost as much, by the property they 
 contrived to save being stolen in the alarm and confusion, as 
 they did by the fire itself. 
 
 A few days afterwards there was another fire, in a street border- 
 ing one of these arid-looking grass-fields. With the glass I could 
 see the whole scene distinctly. There was a strong sea-breeze, 
 M'hich caused the flames to rush with inconceivable rapidity, one 
 hut after another blazing up like a heap of flax, and vanisliing 
 before tlie eyes. Some persons tore the thatch from the roofs of 
 these fragile structures, the combustible nature of which, added 
 to the extreme dryness of everytliing, and the want of engines 
 to convey water, render a fire at this season in Freetown a most 
 serious event indeed. Others of the people, again, ran for fresh 
 green bouglis, breaking down the branches of even their few 
 fruit-trees, and with these beat the roofs and wattled walls of 
 their huts. Women hastily conveyed their country tables and 
 chairs, with baskets, calabash vessels, and articles of clothing 
 into the street. I could even hear, rising above the hurried 
 ringing of the fire-bell, the screams of children, the vociferations 
 
118 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xiii. 
 
 of the crowd, and the barking and yelping of dozens of the half- 
 starved dogs which infest the town and its suburbs. One or 
 two European gentlemen had galloped to the place, and evi- 
 dently by their orders some of the huts w^ere pulled completely 
 dow^n, thus leaving a wide gap, by which means the progress of 
 the flames was at last stayed. 
 
 Considering the risk to which houses are exposed by the burn- 
 ing of bush in their vicinity, it is quite astonishing to me that 
 fires occur so seldom here as they do. In clearing for purposes 
 of cultivation, the natives cut down the young trees, and, with 
 the exception of those taken for fences or huts, leave them lying 
 on the ground, until perfectly dry, when they are set on fire, 
 their ashes serving as manure. But the blacks also very often 
 set fire to the standing underwood and tall thick grass, for the 
 purpose of scaring away snakes, or oftener to seize upon the game 
 the flames dislodge from its hiding-place, and I have little pa- 
 tience with such wholesale burnings. Flocks of doves, and other 
 feathered favourites of mine, are to be seen slowly flying about 
 with drooping wings in the smoke of these fires, while countless 
 numbers of hawks hover above on the watch for the poor half- 
 stupified and bewildered birds. Then the brown and scorched 
 track left by the fierce element is particularly unsightly amongst 
 the surrounding verdure ; and it is provoking to know that trees, 
 which might in time have become valuable for their fruit or 
 other properties, are recklessly destroyed in the general confla- 
 gration, as the natives take no heed about the matter. Palms 
 and young timber share the same fate as the most ignoble bush, 
 and no farther away than Mount Oriel a multitude of blackened 
 stems are all that is left of a large plantation of guava-trees that 
 have been burnt, with many others of an equally useful nature 
 and far more ornamental aspect. 
 
 It is only at night that I can contemplate a " bush " fire with 
 any satisfactory feelings, and then it forms quite a characteristic 
 feature in the darkened landscape. One evening I could have 
 fancied that a stately building had suddenly started into existence 
 on one of the hills towards Wilberforce,* twelve large stationary 
 lights, that in their regidarity of disposal resembled as many 
 illuminated windows, marking where some decayed stumps, ox 
 * A village on a hill near the Signal Station. 
 
LET. xm.] AFRICAN cows— GOATS— BUSH-CATS. 119 
 
 dry thickets, continued to burn after the grass, in which they 
 stood, had been reduced to ashes. 
 
 We have now had a month of delightful sea-breezy weather, 
 varied, however, upon the nights of the 27th ult. and 1st inst. 
 by dry tornadoes, with beautifully vivid lightning out at sea, 
 but I heard no thunder. It is three months to-day since a drop 
 of rain fell here, and the country looks very brown and bare, 
 both from the effects of drought and the constant " bush burn- 
 ings," The ugly green locusts, too, continue to skip about, so 
 that we have little chance of any green herb or blade, until heavy 
 rain has drowned these unwelcome annual visitants. 
 
 I have been attempting to set up a dairy, M having 
 
 bought two cows lately; but one of them seems to have no 
 milk to give, and the other, a very prettily-spotted creature, is 
 so cross, that there is no getting any of our people to milk her. 
 It strikes me too, that they rather think it beneath a black man's 
 dignity to handle a milk-pail. The calf trots about with its 
 mother, and has several times taken it into its head to run away, 
 followed, of course, by the old cow, the cowherd scampering 
 after them, and one black supernumerary after another bringing 
 up the rear, until all the servants and workpeople are half-way 
 down the hill. Then the unreasonable quadruped, on being 
 caught, rebels most strenuously, and having once succeeded in 
 dragging the person courageous enough to keep hold of the 
 rope attached to her horns, into the heart of the bush on a steep 
 part of the hill-side, whoever performs the exploit of seizing 
 her thinks himself as bold as if he had taken a lion alive. Tired 
 of a cow-hunt every day, she has been tied up under the trees 
 with a rope long enough to give her enough of liberty to graze 
 quietly ; but her constant bellowing is so wild and unpleasant, 
 that I shall be quite content in future with my tame and gentle 
 goats, the milk of wliich, too, is so much richer than that yielded 
 by the cows of this country. Besides these and our horses, some 
 poultry, and a tame cat^ form all our domestic live stock, though 
 we have more of a different denomination on the " farm." Bush- 
 cats prowl about of a morning, and often succeed in destroying 
 our chickens, while not only have we beautiful little green squir- 
 rels, but several different kinds of monkeys in the " bush." Our 
 hill is indeed a complete preserve for monkeys, which are be- 
 
120 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xiii. 
 
 coming scarce elsewhere in the vicinity, owing to the ruthless 
 clearing and burning of every thing in the shape of wood. I 
 often watch them from the windows springing from tree to tree, 
 climbing up and down the trunks, and shaking the branches, 
 while one seems always to be set quietly by itself to watch, and if 
 disturbed by any person approaching, immediately gives notice 
 to the others by a single hoarse bark, or rather guttural sort of 
 quack, repeated several times. Some monkey-skins brought here 
 for sale were of a deep glossy black with a flowing mane cover- 
 ing the upper part of the shoulders, and I believe the animal 
 from which these are obtained is found higher up in the moun- 
 tains here. The Mangrove monkey has a pretty fur of greenish 
 grey, except on the neck and breast, which are paler, and its 
 hands and feet, as well as its face, are of a dark purple slate- 
 colour, almost black. I have seen several tame ones of this 
 species, but do not think it is a denizen of our " bush." 
 
 One bush-cat we have here is called " atta " by the blacks. 
 It has a brown fur with a tinge of green in it, a long tapering 
 nose, sharp ferret-like eyes, and ears like those of a rat. It has 
 a very long tail, and is a slenderly made creature like a weasel, 
 possessing also the same propensities. The other bush-cat is 
 much larger, and is of a reddish yellow colour. 
 
LET. XIV.] ATTACK OF CLIMATE FEVER. 121 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Attack of Climate Fever — Black Nurse — Indolence of Settlers — Wild 
 Country Ride — A Native Farm — Bush Thieves — Anecdote. 
 
 May 9. 
 
 Upon the very day that my last letter to you was ended, I was 
 seized with country fever, which confined me to bed for twenty 
 days, and I had scarcely gained strength enough to move from 
 one room to another, when my little boy was taken ill of ague, 
 from which most enfeebling malady he has suffered severely, 
 poor child ! But as he is now recovering, and I, although still 
 weak and unfit for much exertion, have, at last, safely got over 
 the seasoning fever, you have no reason to feel uneasy on our 
 account. 
 
 There is something inexpressibly solemn and affecting con- 
 nected with illness in a country so uncivilized and remote as this. 
 Instead of the numerous members of a family, or benevolently- 
 disposed friends — who, in one's own land, hasten to join in each 
 anxious vigil by a sick bed, to lessen the cares of the sorrowing, 
 as well as soothe the anguish of the sufferer — there is in most 
 cases here no person save the hired nurse to tend you. In a few 
 others, only one sympathizing heart to bear all the agony of 
 apprehension, only one friend to undergo all the fatigue of 
 watching ; while the trouble of mind and weariness of body, 
 everywhere, and in every station of life, in some degree insepa- 
 rable from the abode of sickness, is increased tenfold in a place 
 where at times gold can avail as little as affection in procuring 
 the most trifling and common-place comfort. Instead of the 
 many old and tried domestics of a home household, who feel a 
 kind of pride, besides an interest, in ministering to your every 
 want, so far as their humble abilities permit ; there is here but 
 the mercenary attendance of persons of another race, whose 
 habits and manners are as strangely dissimilar to what you have 
 been accustomed, as is their personal appearance j and who 
 
122 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xi^. 
 
 cannot be expected to care whether you live or die ; to whom, 
 indeed, you are nothing, except in how far you can remunerate 
 
 their services. 
 
 Then there are the savage noises during both night and day : 
 the incessant beating of tom-toms and Mandingo kettle-drums, 
 the firing of muskets, the shouting and singing of the black 
 population, mingled with the yelping, howling, and squealing of 
 a horde of half-starved dogs and pigs ; all which convey but too 
 truly to your mind the remembrance that your home is indeed 
 on a foreign shore. 
 
 Even my nurse was surprised at the distinctness with which 
 these wild sounds ascended to our dwelling, and launched out 
 rather bitterly against the idle and evil-disposed of the liberated 
 Africans, to whom alone (though I believe both Maroons and 
 settlers themselves have their share in it) she ascribed this 
 never-ceasing tumult. 
 
 How the din of native drums, and the discordant nightly 
 clamour of human voices, to which in hours of health I had only 
 given an amused thought, grated upon my ear, and seemed to 
 pierce into my very brain, during the sleepless nights of tropic 
 
 fever ! 
 
 And I have now no doubt that such disturbances have, in 
 more instances than one, contributed to render fatal the clima- 
 torial attack, that with quiet and rest, in all human probability, 
 might have been subdued. There was a pleasant lulling sound 
 in the monotonous hum of the crickets and other insects, that I 
 wished in vain might drown the louder and more unwelcome 
 noises of drums and dogs, and dismal singing of the natives. 
 
 But if /regarded these midnight sounds as an annoyance when 
 so far removed from their immediate vicinity, to what must the 
 sufferers in town be subjected ? I am indeed convinced that the 
 mortality of this place arises not solely from the unheal thiness of 
 the climate, but from the privations consequent upon its situation, 
 and the discomforts to which refined and civilized persons are 
 exposed, by the customs of its ignorant, coarse, and barbarous 
 inhabitants. 
 
 You must not, however, allow my grumbling to render you 
 uneasy about us. If the vision of Death on the pale horse is 
 more frequent in this country, — here, as elsewhere, he strikes 
 
i,ET. Mv.] BLACK NURSE. 123 
 
 only at God's bidding, — in whose hands we are. And you may 
 be the less anxious, when you remember that we live in the 
 healthiest situation in all the colony. Had I had so very violent 
 an attack of fever in town, I doubt, humanly speaking, there 
 would have been little chance of my life. But here the air is 
 comparatively purer, and the atmosphere several degrees cooler 
 than down in the plain below. 
 
 The nurse who attended me, and who, as she moved about in her 
 high-peaked head-dress, by the shaded light of the apartment 
 seemed the very personification of one of the witches in Macbeth, 
 was pre-eminently superior in intelligence and manner to any of 
 the sable-complexioned community I have yet seen. She was a 
 Settler, had, like the rest of them, a little money, and was a most 
 unwearied, though not unwearying talker, giving me occasionally 
 outlines of histories that seemed to possess incident for either 
 tragedy or novel. Sometimes she spoke, and spoke well, on 
 religious subjects ; and now and then she ventured upon an 
 admonition, that amused me : — " Now, marm, if you do not take 
 care, you will get a delapse, and den no noting at all vill save 
 you." 
 
 She evidently thought that in coming to such an out-of-the- 
 way situation as this, where she could have iew to gossip with, 
 and none to look at except the work-people and servants, she had 
 performed a most heroic and meritorious action ; and when I 
 requested her to remain a few days longer, most pathetically 
 advanced as a reason why so great a sacrifice was impossible, 
 that really being always accustomed in her own house to sleep 
 on a feather-l)ed, her bones ached with a fortnight's lodging on a 
 mattress. The idea of a feather-bed in this climate \Aa^ cer- 
 tainly a very novel one to me. There was a flying shower of 
 rain one day which quite alarmed her, for a cause I give to you 
 as showing sometliing of the character of the Settlers in general. 
 She said tiiat if she herself were absent from her home durinc: 
 the first tornado of the dry season, every thing in the house 
 would be destroyed, as the roof leaked ; and although she had 
 several grown-up daughters, they were too indolent not only to 
 dry up the water, but even to set a basin to catch it as it fell. 
 She added that all the work of her little menage devolved upon 
 herself and her liberated African apprentice. 
 
124 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xiv. 
 
 In my observations upon the serious evil she did her children 
 by permitting them to indulge in such slothful habits, she seemed 
 to acquiesce ; but all she said proved most truly, that to the 
 unconquerable repugnance of the younger Settlers to engage in 
 any employment apparently menial, or that requires the slightest 
 exertion, and to the pride or weak good nature of the older 
 people who encourage this feeling, may be traced their degene- 
 racy in every respect from what they originally were as a body. 
 Why the roof of her house should have been in so insufficient a 
 state when one of her sons professes to be a carpenter, I did not 
 inquire, after the very unpleasing account she gave of the rest of 
 her family. 
 
 One of the first times I was able to go out after my illness, 
 we rode along the brow of the hill behind Mount Oriel, looking 
 down on one hand to the gorge through which our brook flows, 
 and beyond that again to the wood-crowned hill above our own. 
 Amidst the wild and bleak aspect of these mountains, with their 
 few cleared spots planted with cassada, huge skeletons of trees 
 standing erect, and many others lying half burned and still 
 smouldering away on the scorched and blackened ground, I 
 was agreeably surprised by the sight of a large hut, wattled and 
 mud-plastered, with a few humble outbuildings of the same 
 description peeping up from the glen, being situated on the verge 
 of the water, and surrounded by a more extensive and better 
 kept native farm than I have yet seen. Pigs, goats, and sheep 
 too were there, whose cries, with those of several kinds of poultry 
 echoing among the silence and solitude that reigned around, 
 actually conveyed an idea of rural civilized life, and gave me 
 quite a favourable opinion of their owner. He is a liberated 
 
 African, to whom M gave permission to plant part of our 
 
 ground in that direction, on condition it was to be cleared other- 
 wise than by burning, and provided the man did not cut down 
 the few living forest-trees that still remain in our " bush ;" 
 although at liberty to take as much fuel as he likes from the 
 seemingly inexhaustible supply in the shape of dead though 
 not decayed trees, which stand pointing with their leafless 
 branches to the spoliation around, or lie prostrate among the 
 underwood. The industrious occupant of the Glen farm, as I 
 call this (for Africa) tidy homestead, now and then brings us some 
 
LET. XIV.] BUSH THIEVES. 125 
 
 token of his good-will, such as a basket of cassada, a few roots 
 of coco, or a great quantity of firewood, which he doubtless con- 
 siders as a sort of acknowledgment to the lord of the manor. 
 
 He is very useful in keeping off trespassers from our wild 
 pleasure-grounds near his dwelling. Ever since coming up here 
 we have been subject to the depredations of a peculiar class of 
 vagabonds, known in the colony by the name of " bush thieves," 
 who are sometimes newly emancipated slaves, run away before 
 their short term of service at Government work is completed ; 
 but more commonly liberated long ago and comfortably settled 
 down on their allotted pieces of ground, but who find it much 
 more agreeable to steal than to work. These people come into 
 the bush and cut down whole loads of the straightest young 
 trees to sell in the market for posts to huts, wattles, &c., set fire 
 to the base of any ancient forest-tree that still stands, and after 
 a tornado has in due time sent the stately trunk crashing to the 
 earth, the thief watches his opportunity, and comes sometimes 
 by moonlight, but oftener during the day, and from this fallen 
 piece of timber continues to provide himself with logs, which he 
 generally carries off whole, but occasionally remains to split into 
 fas^orots for sale. 
 
 They also think nothing of setting fire to the young trees on 
 another person's property, and planting the spot thus cleared 
 with country vegetables of some sort or other ; making at the 
 same time tracks through the bush, where they prowl about 
 looking for anything to steal, and laying snares for deer and 
 monkeys. 
 
 I have no sympathy with such plunderers, because they 
 destroy a great deal more than what they even carry off. The 
 entire wide range of hills here still abound in timber for fuel, 
 and the Sugar-loaf Mountain, were there no other place nearer, is 
 covered with green wood fit for every imaginable purpose : there- 
 fore I cannot see why all the "bush thieves" in the vicinity 
 should, out of laziness to walk a little farther (for of time they 
 do not appear to know the value, or they would not as they do 
 spend so much of it in dancing and idleness), always commit 
 their depredations on our limited shelter for men and monkeys. 
 Our plan has always been to bring the aggressor up to tiie 
 house, and find out, if possible, by inquirj' into his circumstances. 
 
126 LETTEES FROM SIERRA LEOXE. [let. xtv. 
 
 whether he be trespassing through ignorance or design, whether 
 he be stealing for himself, or is merely an apprentice (as is often 
 the case) sent out on the same mission by a hard negro task- 
 master. Of course we wage no war against any really poor 
 people who may come with their " blys " to pick up dry sticks ; 
 but when carpenters, soldiers, and barrack labourers, as well as 
 the less respectable sort of bush thieves, do not scruple to obtain 
 supplies of wood from our doomed " bush," such a system re- 
 quires to be kept in check. Accordingly all who cannot give a 
 satisfactory account of their proceedings are either marched back 
 to their employers, as the case may be — dismissed with a friendly 
 warning or admonition — or, if the inroad made be very flagrant, 
 and the culprit have offered battle to those sent to seize him — 
 handed over to the police office. 
 
 The Mandingo portion of these vagabonds are the worst, and 
 they have more than once drawn their long knives, and threatened 
 the first person who attempted to hinder them from prowling 
 about at their pleasure and taking what wood they wanted. But 
 in general, as soon as our servants or work-people come within 
 sight, the thief takes to his heels, leaving both wood and weapon 
 for felling it behind him. The instrument they use is a clumsy 
 axe fixed in a rude wooden handle, instead of having, like an 
 English iiatchet, the handle fixed into it. " Axe " is one of the 
 words it is impossible to teach the blacks to pronounce properly ; 
 they say " akkis," and in the same way call a hox a " bokkis." 
 In chopping wood they also use a huge unwieldy iron tool termed 
 here a " cutlass," and which is not unlike a hedging-bill of the 
 roughest and coarsest manufacture. On being brought up and 
 accused of " bush-trespassing," their excuse is commonly, " Please, 
 massa, me no been savey dat wood I been cut belong for you /" 
 To which the usual reply is " Well ! but you savey good he no 
 belong for you yourself! What for then you go cut some 
 tother man's trees?" To this unanswerable query, a humble 
 apology and many a reiterated vow of never again offending in 
 like manner is made, and the culprit set at liberty ; but perliaps 
 the very next " bush thief" that may be caught hacking and 
 hewing in the depths of the ravine is the identical individual who, 
 having been so profuse in his promises and excuses, was let off so 
 easily a couple of days before ! 
 
LET. XIV.] BUSH THIEVES. 127 
 
 One day at an hour when all the work-people were within 
 view, the stealthy sound of wood-chopping indicated the employ- 
 ment of an unauthorized hand, and a careful attention soon 
 directed the eye to a place where a man was committing sad 
 havoc among the bush, cutting down, and piling into bundles, 
 some of the very finest young trees. An Aku servant being 
 
 despatched to summon the intruder, M with spyglass in 
 
 hand watched the scene, and was rather surprised to see his 
 domestic shake hands with the stranger, hold a long and evi- 
 dently friendly palave?' with him, assisting him at the same time 
 to make off with his burthen of fine straight sticks. On return- 
 ing to the house, he gravely informed his master that " dat teef 
 been strong too much," and had run away before he himself 
 
 reached the spot. M at once asked how he could tell so 
 
 great an untruth, and then stated to him all that had taken place 
 in the " bush." Quite unaware of how " massa " had become 
 possessed of the real facts of the case, the man was utterly con- 
 founded and alarmed, attributing the extraordinary circumstance 
 to a knowledge of magic ; and in the most abject manner possible 
 entreated for pardon, on the plea that '' dat teef," being an Aku, 
 was a countryman of his. 
 
128 LETTERS FKOM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xv. 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 Preyalence of Ill-health in the Household — Attempts at Housebreaking — 
 
 Mangoes — Magnificent Moth, 
 
 June 5. 
 
 I REGRET I cannot send you very cheering accounts as to health; 
 we each and all suffer much from the effects of climate. A 
 home trip is recommended for my little boy and myself, but I 
 greatly shrink from it. 
 
 ^ ^F ^F ^ # 
 
 Juli/. — Illness still prevails amongst us, and I grieve to say 
 
 M is the chief sufferer now. This is the season of ague 
 
 and every complaint incident to a tropical climate. Dismal fogs 
 brood over the hills, and there are many days that one cannot 
 obtain even five fair minutes to snatch a little out-of-door 
 exercise. 
 
 I have nothing new to tell you, except that one stormy night 
 an attempt was made to break into the house, by cutting two 
 panes out of the hall door. I had for some time heard a stealthy 
 sound, as of some one gently turning the handle, but at last was 
 roused by the crash of glass. An immediate search was insti- 
 tuted, but excepting the weapon which had been used, no trace 
 of the thief could be found. He had evidently hoped, after 
 getting in his hand at the broken pane, to unlock the door and to 
 obtain an easy entrance. But he would have been frustrated 
 there, as besides the lock, we have the door further secured by a 
 padlock, and I take both keys into my own custody every night. 
 We have now discarded the glass door for a more substantial 
 wooden one. Government House was broken into about the 
 same lime by means of a ladder of split bamboo and country rope 
 which the negroes can construct in a few minutes; but they 
 could not, after entering by a window, penetrate further than the 
 verandah, and all their booty was a mail bag of despatches. 
 
 Thieves here commonly choose tornado nights for their opera- 
 
LET. XV.] ■ MANGOES-MAGNIFICENT MOTH. 109 
 
 tions, as they fancy that the increased coohiess of the air causes 
 every person to sleep more soundly than at any other time. 
 Since that housebreaking endeavour on our quiet hill, I confess 
 I do not feel quite so courageous as before, and indeed would 
 be rather frightened, when M is in town, notwithstand- 
 ing the broad daylight and host of servants, were it not for the 
 companionship of a loaded gim in a snug corner of the piazza ; 
 and once, when a band of wild-looking Mandingo hunters with their 
 
 dogs (having evidently first watched M fairly off) thought 
 
 proper to make a right of way almost beneath the very windows, 
 I desired one of our people to go to them with a threatening 
 message, although my warlike demonstrations are simply made, 
 with no other weapon than a very heavy spy-glass, that, at a 
 distance, no doubt looks like a musket. 
 
 Our mango-trees have borne plentifully this season. Their 
 pendulous clusters of pale blossoms, though less rich in appear- 
 ance, remind me of those of the Spanish chestnut-tree. The 
 fruit varies in size upon different trees, but is usually about twice 
 as large as a magnum-bonum plum, of a somewhat oblong shape, 
 not unlike that of a kidney potato — has a firm leathery rind, 
 green when young, but of a beautiful yellow when quite ripe. 
 It consists of a juicy pulp with a slightly turpentine flavour, sur- 
 rounding a large stone, which you have no doubt seen in those 
 in a pickled state. Hanging in bunches of three, eight, ten, and 
 twelve, upon a single twig, this fruit looks particularly luxuriant 
 and beautiful. At first I did not at all like it, bat now think 
 the mango one of the finest of our tropical productions. 
 
 A magnificent moth, measuring fully six and a half inches 
 across the wings, has just been brought in. It is all of a rich 
 dark-brown colour, with the exception, upon each of the hinder 
 wings, which are also barred with white, of a large eye-like spot, 
 with a brown centre surrounded first by a circle of black, then 
 of crimson, and lastly a white one. But the peculiarity of this 
 fine insect is that when lying flat with its head towards you, it 
 exactly represents the face of a cat ; the head of the moth being 
 like the cat's nose, and the spots the eyes, even partaking of the 
 same sly grimalkin expression. 
 
 K 
 
130 LETTERS FROM SIEPiEA LEONE. [let. xvi. 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Change of Climate recommended — Gloom of the Weather during the 
 Rainy and Tornado Seasons — Difficulty of getting a fresh stock of 
 Woi'k-box Indispensables — Set about making Little Shoes — Reluctance 
 of Sempstresses to ascend the Hill. 
 
 October 12. 
 
 At last all my terror and anxiety consequent upon M 's 
 
 lonof-eontinued and severe indisposition are abated, and there 
 is a prospect of our all living to follow the repeated urgent 
 recommendations of our medical adviser, to return to Europe, so 
 soon as the public duty (which has been doubly arduous ever 
 
 since poor Mr. 's death) admits of M 's quitting his post 
 
 in this most insidiously destructive climate. O what an effect 
 the state of one's own mind has upon every external object ! 
 Last year even the " rains " had their positive charms ; the 
 novelty, the rapid change on the face of the country, with the 
 insects, birds, and flowers, formed a source of constant interest 
 and amusement to me ; whilst of the present I have actually 
 noticed only that which was unpleasant or disagreeable. Yet I 
 think it has, independently of my fancy, been more wet and 
 stormy this season than it was the last; for although my thoughts 
 have been too much pre-occupied by anxieties to allow of my 
 writing anything that deserved the name of a letter, I kept a 
 journal of tlie mere weather, an abstract from which will give 
 you some idea of what it has been for four montlis past. 
 
 By the 12th of Jime the rains appeared to be fairly set in, and 
 the country looked green and beautiful. On the two succeeding 
 nights were heavy tornadoes, in one of which several tall forest- 
 trees in different places were rooted up by the violence of the 
 storm. During^ the remaininor fortnio;-ht of that month we had 
 thunderstorms, rain, and fog, with a few glimpses of sunshine, 
 admitting of an occasional short walk or ride. 
 
 The first day of July, that bright summer month of home, 
 dawned cold, wet, and gloomy. Heavy showers succeeded each 
 
LET. XTi.] RAINY AND TOENADO SEASONS. 131 
 
 other throughout the second, on the evening of which the shock 
 of an earthquake was said to have been heard by some of our 
 friends in Freetown. The third and fourth were finer, but from 
 then until the 31st we had only seven tolerably fair days; the 
 rest being without exception foggy, rainy, windy, squally, chilly, 
 and damp beyond expression, with, on the 8th, one terrific thun- 
 derstorm ; and at another time, for four and twenty hours to- 
 gether, the sound of thunder never ceased. 
 
 August was ushered in by cold wet mists, and downright rain. 
 From the 1st until the 14th only one fine day intervened. Then 
 we had heavy gales from the sea, and constant rains till the 
 end of the month, with the exception of two days which Mere 
 merely showery. 
 
 The first four days of September were wet, without much 
 wind ; but on the night of the 4th came on a tremendous squall 
 from the sea, during which several small schooners and boats in the 
 harbour were lost. Our front piazza was flooded with rain, that 
 drove in under the eaves and between the window-frames. Nest 
 evening we had a tornado, which rendered the 6th a fine clear 
 day. Heavy showers, and some stray sunshine, brought us to 
 the 14th — a mo?t fearfully wild and dismal day of wind, fog, 
 
 and torrents of rain ; in spite of all which, M was obliged 
 
 to go to town, and being as yet too weak to sit on horseback, 
 was carried down in his hammock. The loth was almost equally 
 dark and dreary. Then we had a respite of six showery days, 
 followed by two of incessant heavy rain, and blasts from the 
 south-west approaching to hurricanes. The concluding week of 
 September was rather fine, the thermometer varying from 74° 
 to 86°. 
 
 You may wonder at this exactness as to the weather, to the 
 exclusion of everything else ; but, indeed, my experience of it 
 chiefly arose out of my eager watchings from the windows, for 
 
 the approach of Dr. upon his daily visit to M , and 
 
 also for a five minutes' cessation of the drifting rain, that poor 
 
 little R miu:ht set out to have a breath of fresh air even in 
 
 the under front piazza, which, however, is not screened from the 
 heavy beat of tlie storm when it blows from the sea. 
 
 The first days of this month were extremely wet and 
 windy; but since the 6th they have been oppressively sultry^ 
 
 K 2 
 
132 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xvi. 
 
 •with a great deal of thunder and lightning, and threatenings of 
 tornadoes that seem always to divide, as it were, far up the river 
 — one-half rolling down the Bullom shore, the other apparently- 
 going round by the back of the mountains towards Wilberforce, 
 leaving us free from all their accompaniments save rain, although 
 the atmosphere derives the usual benefit of increased coolness. 
 So you may perceive from this detail, that setting aside all other 
 circumstances, the state of the weather alone this season has not 
 been calculated to inspire one with very cheerful ideas. 
 
 Since my stock of sundry trifling things — such as tape, 
 ribbon, thread, needles and pins, which I fancied on coming out 
 to be inexhaustible — has been gradually wearing lower and 
 lower, I have become more aware of some of the inconveniences 
 attached to domestic economy in a settlement of this description. 
 The damp of the climate is such that nothing saves needles from 
 rusting, except they be kept in a phial of oil, or rubbed over 
 with some sort of grease that does not attract ants. Still a few 
 needles must always be in one's work-basket, and these my little 
 apprentice, in learning to sew, used to break by the dozen ; so 
 that I lately found it necessary to apply to a Freetown shop for 
 an augmentation of so precious an item of my paraphernalia. 
 All my commissions have, of course, to be executed at second- 
 hand ; therefore, it is possible that even the most intelligent of 
 my negro messengers may make strange blunders. Be that as 
 it may, the answer brought to me was, that nothing excepting 
 papers containing ten thousand needles each were to be had ! 
 On further inquiry, it appeared that the market was the proper 
 place to which to send for such things, unless wishing to pur- 
 chase wholesale ; and there, to be sure, were got as many as I 
 required, at the rate of two or three " copper " a-piece, according 
 to their size. 
 
 My stock of child's shoes having also come to an end, I sent 
 to every shop or store in town, where, in conjunction with 
 cheese, tea and sugar, gun and curry-powder, saddles and bridles, 
 saucepans and gridirons, ale and brandy, such things were likely 
 to be sold ; but none were then to be had, although the next 
 English ship was expected to bring out a supply. Meanwhile, 
 one vessel after another arriving unprovided with the object of 
 my wants, I contrived to make some perfectly comfortable, if 
 
LET. XVI.] NATIVE SEMPSTRESSES. 133 
 
 not very elegant, shoes for tiny feet, of flannel with pasteboard 
 soles — improved upon as the weather became more cold and 
 damp, and my hand more expert at the craft of St. Crispin, by 
 a pair made of cloth, nicely bound with ribbon, and soles formed 
 
 of the soft upper part of a pair of my own, and with which R 
 
 trots about now very steadily. Before an " assortment " arrived 
 (which it did at last), I had begun to feel not a little vain of 
 my novel acquirement, different as it was from embroidering 
 fancy slippers in Berlin wool. 
 
 I w^ould at the first have begged you to send me a fresh ward- 
 robe for your little nephew, as w^ell as a second outfit for my 
 work-box ; but we have long hoped to be on our way to Eng- 
 land before an answer to any of my late letters could reach the 
 
 colony. 
 
 The difficulty of getting a person competent to assist in even 
 the plainest sort of needle-work is very great. All the black 
 people appear to think themselves as much out of the world upon 
 the top of this breezy hill, as if they were buried alive ; for no 
 reason I can divine, unless it be because they cannot personally 
 distinguish every individual in the busy streets of the capital, it 
 beins: at the formidable distance of half an hour's ride ! Even 
 in the dry season scarcely any bribe v,ill induce a professed 
 needlewoman to come up except for a single day, or rather a few 
 hours of a forenoon, and then not unless attended by some one 
 considered as an inferior. 
 
134 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xvii. 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Climatorial Discomforts — Bright-coloured Beetles — Portuguese Slaver — 
 Arrival of the Prince de Joinville — Music on board the French Frigate 
 — Power of the English Flag — A Spanish Man-of-war — Night Alarms 
 —Weary Reign of the Harmattan — New Fruit — Sea-breezes — Wealth 
 of Spain. 
 
 January. 
 
 The weather is painfully hot just now, despite the harmattan: 
 the consequence is, that when out in the open air we are at 
 one moment overpowered by the strength of the sun, and the 
 next quite cliilly and uncomfortable from the wind. It is the 
 dry season, so long- eagerly looked forward to as the restorer of 
 health to all exiles on these shores; but we are amongst those 
 who have been disappointed in such hopes — so that were it not 
 for the prospect of so soon leaving Sierra Leone, it would be 
 scarcely endurable at present. 
 
 Yet every thing has a bright as well as a dark side, and every 
 place has some counterpoise to its disadvantages. Indeed, when 
 I reflect on the very many who have sunk under the effects of 
 this climate since we came out, and on all the illness through 
 which I myself, and those who are dear to me, have meanwhile 
 been safely brought, I am sensible how little allied to discontent 
 my feelings ought to be, however solemn such remembrances 
 may render them at times. 
 
 To go back to the last date I wrote aught save a mere bul- 
 letin. The remainder of October and all November were 
 marked by heavy tornadoes almost every night ; in one of which 
 some of our trees, including one near the house laden with 
 beautiful oranges, were blown down. Both of these months 
 were more unbearably sultry than I ever felt here before ; there 
 w as so often, for the greater part of a day (and that even up on 
 this cool spot), a total lull of both sea and land breeze. Espe- 
 cially before many of the tornadoes, every leaf was so rigidly 
 motionless that the trees seemed as if they were cut out in 
 
LET. XVII.] BEETLES-PORTUGUESE SLAVER. 135 
 
 marble ; while the very birds, aware of the approaching storm, 
 having fled to their coverts, the calm \vas thus rendered still 
 more death-like. Then the contrast of the sudden roar of the 
 wind and the rolling of the thunder, with the comfort of the 
 cool refreslied feeling that succeeds to the languor and faintness 
 occasioned by the previous oppressive heat ! a comfort which 
 reconciles every person to a tornado. Amongst other signs of 
 these storms, one is the manner in which cattle eat — goats and 
 horses cropping up the grass more greedily then than at any 
 other time. 
 
 A greater number of radiantly-coloured insects, mostly of the 
 beetle shape, if not all of that tribe, appeared abroad than I had 
 observed at the same season last year. One day a long slender- 
 winged insect, that looked as if wrought in silver and coated 
 over with a thin plate of transparent green glass, flew in at the 
 open window of the piazza, and really was more beautiful than a 
 polished gem. They greatly help to brighten the air, shrouded 
 as it now is in a dull harmattan haze. Here a beetle, in violet 
 mantle banded with scarlet, hums past ; there darts a crimson 
 dragon-fly ; while a host of butterflies, white and golden spotted, 
 black and purple, green and blue, in short, shining in all the 
 prismatic colours, witli moths in robes no less rich in material 
 though more sombre in shade, mingle with yellow honey-laden 
 bees, glittering little emerald-like flies, and myriads of other 
 happy winged things, in enlivening the walks among the coflTee- 
 bushes. One large magnificent creature, that I never see except 
 when it pursues its rapid flight in the air — and therefore cannot 
 tell whether it be a beetle or not, is of a brilliant glossy golden- 
 green hue, and makes a not unmusical whirring sound as it flies 
 along. I rather wage war against one very common and coarser 
 species, which thinks proper to live upon my roses on the 
 parapet; I have often counted four of these plant-suckers firmly 
 fixed upon a single bud. They have large, round, beetle-like 
 bodies, with very hard upper wings of a dull black bordered with 
 bright yellow. 
 
 A Portuguese prize came in one day in November. It was 
 a most gracefully synnnetrical vessel, and laden with slaves. 
 With the glass I could see the miserable beinus huddled so 
 closely together on deck. There were neither second deck 
 
136 LETTEES FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xvii. 
 
 laid nor mats — merely loose grass strewed over the water-casks 
 for the poor unfortunate creatures to sleep on. A feeling of 
 patriotic pride always mingles with my pity on seeing a slaver 
 brought in, to think that — thanks to Britain above all the other 
 kingdoms on the face of the globe- — how soon these, our so 
 unjustifiably oppressed fellow-mortals, will be blessed with a 
 happier freedom than they ever knew in their heathen homes of 
 the far interior, and the younger portion, at least, with a know- 
 ledge of religion, to w'hich they could never have attained on 
 the bigoted shores of Brazil or Cuba. 
 
 The name of this vessel showed the callous, hardened disposi- 
 tion of her owners in regard to the unhallowed traffic, literally 
 signifying in English " What does it matter? " 
 
 We had storm and tempest in December, diversified by cool 
 sea-breezes of a morning and red-hot suns afterwards. On the 
 31st there w^as enough of thunder, lightning, land-wdnd, and rain 
 to have served for a day in June here. Rain, cold and dull fogs 
 hanging over the town and low ground — with slight harmattan 
 and a settled haze — introduced January, on the 5th of which, 
 the Prince de Joinville's frigate. La Belle Poule, in "walking 
 the coast," came into harbour, and the customary compliments 
 to the flags of the two nations were augmented by a royal salute 
 as the Prince stepped on shore. I was then able to take a short 
 walk every evening, and the delightful music of the band on 
 board the frigate, wafted up to our lonely hill by the balmy 
 sea-breeze, was a treat none can appreciate whose ears, like 
 mine, have not been daily as well as nightly doomed to hear the 
 horrid and everlasting tom-toms, and other equally inharmonious 
 noises, of Freetown and its suburbs, for more than two years past. 
 The stated bugle-calls from the garrison, which I used to hail as 
 a relief to the din of African drums, sounded quite discordant 
 after these few days of real, spirit-stirring, military music. 
 
 M tells me the Prince is a fine frank sailor, and good- 
 looking withal ; he conversed very affably on various subjects, 
 and altogether the interview left a pleasing impression. To my 
 unnautical eyes our own old frigate the " Madagascar " is, though 
 not so large, quite as grand looking an object in the water as the 
 Prince's ship, but I confess the English flag casts a " glamour " 
 over all the vessels it floats above ; and better judges than 
 
LET. xYii.] PRINCE DE JOINVILLE. 137 
 
 I pronounce the French cruiser the handsomer craft of the 
 two. 
 
 " The Bell-pull, Prince of Jointveal master" (as a facetious 
 friend gravely informed me was the orthography of the entry of 
 the frigate's arrival on the shipping list of the only literary 
 gazette of the colony), left after a sojourn of three days ; when 
 quite as singular a phenomenon as a Royal visitor appeared in 
 the harbour, in the shape of a smart armed brig, with the Spanish 
 ensign flying ; and which of course was taken for a slaver, 
 until up went the union-jack to the mam, and her guns flashing 
 forth at the same instant, announced her to be a cruiser of her 
 Most Catholic Majesty's, Queen Isabella of Spain ! 
 
 But as if the good people of Sierra Leone had not had enough 
 
 of echoed artillery for one week, 
 
 " At twelve o'clock at night, 
 When the moon shone bright," 
 
 on the 19th, we were roused by first one gun and then another, 
 until I counted full twenty-one. Various were the conjectures 
 that floated through my bewildered brain, and I have no doubt 
 tliat of others too, at this unexpected cannonade. At first I ac- 
 tually thought that the strange cruiser might be possibly a 
 pirate-slaver in disguise, and was now about to storm the citadel, 
 and wreak vengeance on the heads of all and sundry concerned 
 in putting down the slave-trade, and 1 inwardly congratulated 
 myself that our eyrie was so far out of reach. But all my wild 
 imaginations were put to flight upon hearing next morning that 
 a new set of colours having been presented the day before to the 
 
 gallant regiment, an after (dinner) thought suggested 
 
 the burying of the old, if not with " candle, book, and bell," at 
 least with full military honours, at the witching hour of midnight. 
 Our niglits were fated to be disturbed at that time, as more 
 than once, the horses stamping in the stable, the goats crying, 
 and poultry screaming, betokened some unusual commotion 
 below, which on inquiry was found to be caused by an incursion 
 of travelling ants. The stable swarmed with them, and even the 
 low piazzas, whither the poor horses were conducted for security, 
 were not exempted from their intrusion. They swarmed up 
 from their subterranean dominions in such myriads, that blowing 
 them up with gunpowder, and strewing hot wood-ashes upon 
 
138 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xvii. 
 
 their trail, were the only possible means of turning their line of 
 march. As they came during the night, I did not myself see more 
 than one daring party of stragglers, that deliberately ascended 
 the staircase, a few evenings ago, and took possession of the 
 landing-place, whence they were with much trouble turned back 
 by boiling water being poured over the advance-guard. From 
 the service they afford in destroying other insects, these ants are 
 not generally to be regarded as pests, yet I can very well dis- 
 pense with their visits. 
 
 The harmattan this season is stronger than it was the last, 
 and much more disagreeable. It renders the skin hot and dry, 
 lips parched and chapped as in the severest frost of a northern 
 climate, and I feel quite ill from its effects. The paper on which 
 I write curls up like a scroll, the shingles and boards continually 
 make noises as if so many squibs and crackers were being fired 
 off. The dark reddish haze not only completely obscures our 
 view of distant objects, but for five days past even King Tom's 
 Point and the vessels in the harbour have not been visible, while 
 the trees and grass have a drooping, lifeless appearance. The 
 water, to be sure, tastes as if it were iced, yet that luxury does 
 not to me compensate for the uncomfortable sensations given by 
 this gloomy, withering wind. 
 
 29th. — A slight sea-breeze sprang up this afternoon, which I 
 hailed as a blessing to the land. 
 
 To-day Dr. sent us a basket full of shaddocks (grown 
 
 on his own farm) and Cape Verd oranges. The former rich- 
 looking golden-coloured fruit, you have, no doubt, often seen. 
 These oranges are, I think, the same as those of Malta. They 
 are of a pale crimson hue ; have a beautiful, smooth, thin rind, 
 nearly as deep red as the pulp, but do not much differ in size or 
 taste from common ones. We had lately some colony-grown 
 mandarin oranges, which are small and delicate-looking, and 
 exactly shaped like the shell of the Echinus. It destroys the 
 flavour of this fruit to cut it with even a silver knife, but it 
 peels quite readily with the fingers. 
 
 Our friends have of late taken a generous fit in the fruit-giving 
 v»'ay. Besides the above, I have received some of the first pro- 
 duce of a sugar-apple * plant raised from seed sent from the 
 
 * Anona glabra. 
 
LET. XVII.] NEW FRUIT— SEA BREEZES. 139 
 
 West Indies. It is of an irregular shape and size ; — those I have 
 seen were rather conical, and in their rough brown exterior re- 
 minded me more of a large French roll than anything else. It 
 is full of long-shaped, shining, dark seeds, buried in a luscious 
 mass, and is an apple that would certainly be prized in England. 
 Nor must I omit in my list the avocado,* or alligator pear 
 (why either this or the before-mentioned fruit should be called 
 apple or pear, I cannot explain). It is about the size of a goose's 
 egg, has a plum-like skin, deep mottled red when perfectly ripe, 
 before which it is dark green ; inside is a fatty sort of greenish- 
 yellow substance, which on being spread on bread with a little 
 salt, forms an excellent substitute for sweet, fresh, English 
 butter. A cavity in the centre contains the seed, a large white 
 kernel enclosed in a brown husk. The leaf rather resembles that 
 of the laurel, but is of a more vivid and darker green. It is a 
 substantial and palatable fruit, though not very elegant in 
 appearance. 
 
 The only fruit of this country to which I have never become 
 reconciled is the pawpaw. I think the tree, too, one of the 
 stiffest we have. But my prejudice does not extend to its pale 
 primrose-coloured blossoms, which are singularly fragrant, and 
 quite as great favourites with the humming-birds as with me. 
 The beautiful " sky-birds," or '' blue-birds," as we sometimes call 
 them, again made their appearance towards the end of October, 
 and their joyous cries are often heard, at present, when the thick 
 haze prevents them being seen. 
 
 February \Oth. — The weather has improved. We have had 
 deliiihtful sea-breezes for two days past, and this morning a heavy 
 shower of rain, which has cleared the atmosphere. Leopard's 
 Island is again visible, and the horizon beautifully defined. 
 
 The captain of the Spanish man-of-war, bedecked with one or 
 more of the countless orders of his nation, breakfasted with us 
 lately. He gave me an interesting account of grafting lime- 
 trees, so as to produce scarlet fruit. But I was extremely amused 
 by his description of the wealth of his country, which, I rather 
 suspect, corresponded more to what it could boast of in the days 
 of Cortes than in the present. Spoken in broken English the 
 following speech was rather ludicrous : — " Suppose you are 
 
 * Laurus Persea. 
 
140 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xvii. 
 
 travelling in Spain, and go into a house, and ask for a draught 
 of water, vy, no such thing is to be got ! all vine, de best of 
 vine I And when de new vine is ready for de cask, before de 
 oder be done, we just throw it out, though quite good and sweet, 
 to make room for de new. Den when we want to build house, 
 to mix what you call de mortar, we do mix it all with vine ; 
 vine is so very plentiful. Oh, Spain is de fine rich country !" 
 
 Poor Dinah, the laundress, died of consumption a few weeks 
 ago, and her husband has just sent us an epistle notifying his 
 intention of marrying again, and requesting an advance of money 
 on the occasion. 
 
LET. xviii.] HOMEWARD-BOUND VESSELS. 141 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 Homeward-bouud Vessels — Preparations for a Sea Voyage — Ague and 
 Anxiety — Instances of Kind-heartedness in a Liberated African Woman 
 — Palm-oil — A Comet. 
 
 March. 
 
 Our preparations for leaving being now completed (even to the 
 
 installation of Petah and his family, by whom the house is to be 
 
 taken charge of in our absence), we merely wait for an eligible 
 
 opportunity for a passage home. 
 
 Vessels of the class commonly trading between England and 
 this coast are barques or brigs, seldom less than 200 or more 
 than 300 tons burthen. Sometimes they bring out cargoes of 
 coals, salt, or government stores, but more frequently arrive in 
 ballast, or with only a small consignment of goods to some of the 
 principal colonial merchants, and timber forms almost invariably 
 the return lading. 
 
 Brigantines and schooners do now and then come out and take 
 back palm-oil, while occasionally a stray barque returns with a 
 cargfo of e:round-nuts. But never havino^ been built for the con- 
 veyance of passengers, the accommodations of these vessels are 
 rude and limited to a degree you can scarcely comprehend. 
 Those on the passage that may possess superior accommodations 
 are, with few exceptions, old worn-out craft. 
 
 All about to sail at the time we wish to go are at present in the 
 rivers, being, unfortunately for our comfort, timber-laden ships. 
 
 Some that M lately looked at, after their return to port, 
 
 loaded, were fitted up with nothing more than a couple of sleep- 
 ing berths on deck, no bigger than dog-kennels. Others had a 
 few berths round a small close cabin below, one or two of which 
 were filled with spare sails. Another had her best stern cabin 
 stowed full of camwood. A third had ginger disposed of in a 
 similar manner. One fine large ship, with really good airy 
 cabins, had had the bulkheads between them knocked down to 
 admit of taking some more logs of timber, only a day before the 
 
142 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xviii. 
 
 master heard there was a chance of passengers. It seems that, 
 except the consignees or masters are sure of as many passengers 
 as will pay the difference, their cabins are always encroached upon 
 in this way. To secure a comfortable passage one should make 
 arrangements with the captain immediately on a ship's arriving 
 from England, or at least previously to her departure for the 
 rivers ; yet even then her time of sojourn there is so uncertain, 
 that several others may be ready first, and when your ship does 
 appear, the sickness of her captain and crew may cause another 
 delay, by no means favourable to your plans. One of our latest 
 arrivals brought out passengers, and is comfortably enough fitted 
 up, with an obliging chief officer and good steward, but she has 
 not yet discharged her cargo, and cannot be ready for probably 
 two months after we ought to be away. But what greatly 
 amuses m.e is, that however willing to take any gentlemen-pas- 
 sen o-ers for whom room can be found, some of these merchant 
 seamen demur outright to a lady, a child, and a female servant 
 forming part of their shipment, fancying, I presume, that such 
 passengers will, as a matter of course, give a greater amount of 
 trouble than any other. It reminds me of the advertisements of 
 *' Furnished apartments to let for single gentlemen," ladies and 
 children being at a discount at most London lodgings. 
 
 ISth.—The preparations on leaving England are widely dif- 
 ferent from those necessary on quitting this country, which I can 
 compare to nothing except those one would naturally make on 
 going to live on a desert island for a period which at least would 
 be eight weeks, but far more likely twelve, or even fourteen ; 
 one half of that time to be intensely hot, the other cold to 
 an extreme. Where everything, save fresh water, has to be 
 provided by ourselves, you may be sure it needs no trifling exer- 
 cise of one's housekeeping faculties to think of all that is actually 
 required, all that mai/ be wanted, and to contrive substitutes for 
 whatever cannot be obtained here. I have little trouble my- 
 self about these matters, however. European women cannot in 
 this country look after things in the same manner they do at 
 home. How easy it is to enter a shop in a great town and give 
 orders for everything you require ! Here you must first see that 
 it is possible to have your orders, such as getting stores, live 
 stock, &c., executed, and then look after their execution yourself. 
 
LET. XVIII.] NATIVE KIND-HEARTEDNESS. 143 
 
 I have been otherwise very well assisted in minor matters 
 (down to getting a ship stock of white frocks and pinafores made 
 for your little nephe^v) through the obliging agency of a lady 
 better accustomed to the black sempstresses than myself. A similar 
 outfit for his attendant, now a great stout girl, and in high glee 
 at the thoughts of seeing " white man's country," has been duly 
 prepared by the help of Petah's wife, an intelligent liberated 
 African, and who has the gentlest disposition and best heart of 
 any negro woman I ever saw, as the following anecdote will 
 
 partly prove : — Since she came up here, poor little R has had 
 
 some fearfully severe attacks of ague, so that for many nights I 
 could snatch but a few minutes' rest, and that upon a mat on the 
 floor beside him. Nor was his the only chamber of sickness in 
 the house, and I went from one room to another with a heavy 
 heart. Although this woman had her own child, a fine lively 
 little fellow, to attend to, she was constantly tendering her ser- 
 vices to me, and after having often begged me to try the experi- 
 ment of giving country medicines to my boy, at last appeared to 
 think that my unwillingness to follow her advice arose from an 
 inability to procure such treasures. Next day I heard her '* pic- 
 canniny " fretting sadly, and on sending down to inquire what 
 was the matter, was informed the child cried because his mother 
 had gone away early in the morning, and was long of returning 
 to him. The day passed on, her husband came up from his daily 
 employment in town, but still no tidings of Mary. In passing 
 an open window shortly before sunset, I observed, slowly ap- 
 proaching the house by a path at the back, a figure so covered 
 up with the green boughs it carried, that until it moved nearer 
 I did not recognise it to be Mary. She it was^ however, and 
 without stopping to speak to any of her own people in the piazza 
 below, she came at once up stairs, and, looking round with such 
 a complacent, good-humoured expression, in spite of the dusty 
 garments, and marks of " chouca-choucas " on her bare arms 
 and feet, informed me slie had brought some medicines that 
 would soon make the " piccan " quite strong and well again. 
 Then unfolding her apron she displayed a great many yellowish- 
 brown roots, like those of gentian, and, opening her handkerchief, 
 showed a hoard of several long pepper-pods with a highly aroma- 
 matic smell and hot pungent taste. These, she said, should with 
 
144 LETTERS FROM SIERRA LEONE. [let. xviii. 
 
 the roots be bruised and boiled in a quantity of water, in which, 
 after it was carefully strained, the child should be bathed. The 
 leaves of the different branches, with which she was laden, were 
 likewise to be boiled and strained, and the liquid then given 
 as a medicine, whilst their bark was also to be used in the same 
 
 way. 
 
 Here had the poor creature gone without saying a word of her 
 intention to any one, and, unaided by either hoe or cutlass, w^an- 
 dered through the intricate bush during the whole of that hot, 
 dusty day, searching for those herbs that she deemed infallible in 
 the cure of all infant ailments. It was an action springing alone 
 from her own good feelings ; the simplicity and earnestness of 
 her manner evinced its perfect disinterestedness ; and I could not 
 but promise that all should be done according to her directions, 
 provided the doctor thought it would be of benefit. But I need 
 hardly say that he advised me to put no faith in all the carefully 
 gathered roots, peppers, leaves, and bark ; and I had to manage 
 between hurting the poor woman's feelings, and wasting the 
 things she had been at such pains to procure, by telling her they 
 were no doubt very efficacious remedies for native children, but 
 
 that, as our physician did not approve of them in R 's case, 
 
 she should have tliem all to herself, with as many thanks as if 
 they had been applied as she wished. 
 
 She seemed vexed, but only because her faith in the virtues 
 of the country medicines was so strong that she thought it 
 a piece of great injustice towards the "piccan" not to give 
 him the benefit of them. Yet her little kindly attentions did 
 not cease here: on hearing that he would scarcely eat any- 
 thing since his illness, another day she went out into the bush, 
 and, having gathered a few handfuls of palm-nuts, made from 
 them about half a teacupful of rich, fresh, crimson oil, which she 
 sent up to me to see if we could tempt the little languid child to 
 eat it with his plain boiled rice. A small jar of bright, amber- 
 coloured wild honey, and some beautifully white arrowroot of 
 her own manufacture, were also offered for his acceptance, while 
 more than once she begged me to try one or two of the strange 
 eatables sold in the market under such names as Cabona and 
 Abra, and which, from their appearance, struck me as being 
 pretty fair specimens of native culinary art. For the first time 
 
LET. XVIII.] A COMET. 145 
 
 in my life I did taste some kind of viand flavoured with palm-oil 
 — a perfectly wholesome condiment, yet one to which I should 
 certainly never become familiarized, though I have heard of 
 Europeans actually liking it as an ingredient in some dishes. 
 
 The colony has lately been favoured by a sight of one of the 
 most magnificent of all the heavenly luminaries. The shutters 
 of an apartment looking towards the west having been left un- 
 closed until long after sunset on the evening of the 4th, I noticed 
 a long, broad, bright streak of silvery light, like something be- 
 tween part of a lunar rainbow and what I supposed a comet to 
 be. The moon was brilliant as usual, the stars shone in their 
 wonted clearness, and the galaxy in all the radiance peculiar in 
 this climate to its soft pure light ; but nothing could equal the 
 splendour of this glittering body, that, extending as it were over 
 land and sea alike, gave tlie idea of a snow-white pennant, witli 
 the sun shining full upon it, suddenly flung across the dark, 
 spangled surface of the western sky. By the third evening of 
 its appearance, its train having waned in brightness, I distinctly 
 saw the star-like centre or nucleus, which threw even the planet 
 Venus into shade. The comet rises soon after the sun sets, re- 
 maining visible several hours ; but some cloudy evenings it was 
 not seen, and has now faded into dimness in its departing track. 
 The blacks in general were at first in the greatest consternation 
 at this nightly visitor, thinking it portended awful things for 
 Freetown, at which we need not wonder when we read tiiat 
 Halley's comet, in 1456, alarmed the Pope so much tliat, taking 
 it in connexion with the great spread of Mahommedanism in tlie 
 world, he actually adjured the astonishing phenomenon, as if he 
 believed it to be a malignant spirit. 
 
146 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 Embarkation for England — A Leak — Accommodations — View from the 
 Ship — A carefal Helmsman — Fever on Board — Master and Men — 
 Scarcity of Provisions — Last Evening on Deck — Daily Discomforts — 
 Friendly Vessels — Anecdote of a Pirate — The Queen's Birth-day — 
 Sailor's Gratitude — The Azores — Cold Weather — Heavy Gale — The 
 English Coast — A Fishing-boat — Row to Hastings — Night Journey to 
 London. 
 
 London, June 19th, 1843. 
 
 By the help of a very meagre log I must try to convey to you 
 some idea of our life during the eleven weeks and three days of 
 our sojourn on board " a timber-ship." 
 
 On the 20th of March the brig X arrived from the rivers, 
 
 with plenty of room in her cabins, and M immediately se- 
 cured our passage. 
 
 Although I did not see half of what was sent on board until 
 after I went there, yet the biscuit, rice, flour, and other stores 
 seemed, from their abundance, as if we were laying in a stock 
 for a year's consumption. We had to provide our own plates 
 and dishes, cups, glasses, with cooking utensils as well ; however, 
 by Saturday evening all was ready, from farina and corn for the 
 live-stock to bunches of bananas for your little nephew. 
 
 My heart was full of thankful joy when I could say at last, 
 " To-morrow we actually leave Sierra Leone." Ah, how often 
 had I stood in despair in the darkened sick-room, and trembled 
 to think we might not all live to embark for our native country ! 
 
 March 21th. — At half- past one yesterday we left home. The 
 sun was painfully hot, M'hich obliged me to keep the sliding-doors 
 
 of the palanquin open, to the danger of R 's falling out, as 
 
 the novelty of his situation made him quite restless. His little 
 attendant trotted alongside, occasionally gathering a very bright 
 flower for her young charge, and as he sometimes caught a 
 glimpse of his papa and the horse, matters went on as smoothly 
 as possible in the vehicle, which the steepness of the descent 
 
LET. XIX.] EMBARK FOR ENGLAND. 147 
 
 caused to jolt about rather uncomfortably. As we reached the 
 foot of the hill, we received many a greeting of " Ah ! look, 
 white piccaninny ! how do ma-amie ? how do piccan ? " from 
 the mothers of the little ebony children, who, in their turn, start- 
 ing from their seats among the shady plots of cassada and okra 
 ill front of their huts, stood gazing in expressive wonder at the 
 apparition of my poor R 's pale face. 
 
 We met with few people after leaving the mountain-road, and 
 on entering the capital the streets were deserted, their inhabitants, 
 as it was Sunday, being at meeting. Several Kroomen, Timmannee 
 canoe-people, and a very few white sailors from the different 
 merchant-vessels, were loitering about on the wharf, and I was 
 impressed by the stillness that reigned around, so different from 
 a similar scene at an English seaport. 
 
 The air felt much more cool and pleasant than on shore, as we 
 
 rowed to the X , which lay the farthest out of all the vessels 
 
 in the harbour. The decks were crowded with hen-coops, casks, 
 and boxes. Goats and sheep trotted about at their ease, whilst a 
 large savage-looking monkey climbed up and down the rigging, 
 ran along the bulwarks, and skipped from place to place, making 
 very free with our bunches of bananas and plantains which hung 
 
 from one of the yards. I remained on deck with R , our people 
 
 meantime carrying down what luggage we had brought with us, 
 
 and assisting, under M 's directions, in putting things a little 
 
 to rights below. The voices of the sailors, remarkable only in 
 loudness and harshness, joining in full chorus at every pull they 
 gave to a rope, raised a noise that was almost deafening at first. 
 But my attention was soon roused by the sound of the working 
 of the pumps, and I watched the operation with some interest, 
 never having seen it before, thinking all the wliile in my igno- 
 rance, as they splashed the deck all over, what a comfort it was 
 that there was no disagreeable smell of bilge- water, but that that 
 wliich came up was as clean and fresh-looking as the waves them- 
 selves. 
 
 In the evening, after the bustle of spying out that everything 
 
 was on board, and arranging our berths, was fairly over, R 
 
 asleep, and poor Sarah sitting on her mat, saying that her '' eyes 
 run all about," I was startled by hearing an altercation on deck, 
 and on looking up to the open hatchway, or rather skylight, close to 
 
 L 2 
 
148 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 which M stood talking to an officer from a government trans- 
 port that was anchored near us, I perceived a sailor with face 
 by no means of a prepossessing expression (and almost as red as 
 the hair that stuck like porcupine's quills off his forehead), bared 
 arms, and broad clenched hands, engaged in a loud and angry dis- 
 pute. He spoke so violently that I could only make out that he, 
 and some of the rest of the men, refused to go to sea, because the 
 vessel leaked to an alarming degree, and was also short of hands. 
 
 It seemed, a blue shirt had been hoisted to the gaff, a signal 
 from a merchant-vessel to a man-of-war, that the seamen of the 
 former want an officer to come on board and inquire into their 
 grievances. 
 
 On hearing the complaint of the man, who, it appeared, was 
 second mate, and after a discussion with the master, who agreed 
 that the vessel was not sufficiently manned in lier present state, 
 
 M wrote to the owner demanding two additional hands. In 
 
 a short time the boatmen returned with a note from Mr. Z , 
 
 to the effect that he thought the X had her full complement, 
 
 and therefore he would send no more men. This was anything 
 but pleasant. We consulted as to whether we would remain in 
 the vessel, or give up all thoughts of returning to England before 
 the rains. The only difference in the risks appeared to be that 
 the one was more immediate than the other ; that of hazarding 
 ourselves in a leaky ship with an insufficient and discontented 
 crew, to standing the chance of another wet season with our im- 
 paired state of health, to say nothing of the inconvenience that 
 would result from our change of plans. Some friends of ours, 
 two seasons before, when their vessel put back in a leaky con- 
 dition, a fortnight after she had left Sierra Leone, gave up all 
 idea of sailing by her, and did not quit the colony until nearly a 
 year after. 
 
 "We were shown the ship's register, which proved her age to be 
 but three years ; and were also positively assured, both by master 
 and owner, that she had leaked from a few months subsequently, 
 owing to having been clumsily repaired after an accident to her 
 keel. Convinced therefore that, with two additional men, the leak 
 would be of little consequence, another note was written to Mr. 
 
 Z , telling him that if he did not forthwith engage and send 
 
 on board the men asked for, we would leave the vessel, and take 
 
LKT. XIX.] ACCOMMODATIONS. 149 
 
 steps to recover tlie passage-money. Some of our friends recom- 
 mended us to call a survey upon the brig, and others advised us 
 not to think of going by her. I did not feel at all alarmed after 
 
 M explained the matter to me, but only wished to get fairly 
 
 under weigh. The boat bearing the last message could scarcely 
 have reached tlie wharf, when " tornado " was sung out through 
 the ship, and a heavy one it was, but we rode it out well. 
 
 Early this morning we found that the last application had been 
 successful, for two new hands have been sent on board, which 
 seems to liave restored good humour to the rest of the crew. I 
 am glad it is settled, but we have had to deal with not the most 
 
 straightforward man in the Avorld, in the person of the X 's 
 
 owner. But everv one in the colony knows Mr. Z . 
 
 Certainly the dullest time on board ship is in harbour, and I 
 cannot understand wliat has delayed us all this long day. Mr. 
 
 Q came off in the forenoon to bid us good bye, and rather 
 
 approves of our accommodations, which are no doubt good so far 
 as room goes. TVe have a main cabin with nice large hatchway, 
 a state-room at each side also lighted, and a pantry sacred to 
 Sarah's use. We boast of only a couple of chairs, but two trunks 
 placed lengthways, and covered with a broad mattress, compose 
 our extempore sofa. We sent a little countiy table on board, 
 wliich, hid by a coarse scarlet cloth, looks quite grand ; whilst 
 such unusual sitting-room ornaments as casks of biscuit, rice, 
 ale, and wine, in bottle of course, are by no means disagreeable 
 objects, where one has the prospect of a long voyage. 
 
 It has been oppressively hot all day, so that I have been unable 
 to go on deck until the afternoon, when the fine cool breeze and 
 view from the ship has compensated for the preceding discomfort. 
 The town, with its houses painted all colours, peeping out from 
 tlieir orange-trees ; the grassy streets with their beaten pathways, 
 and groups of people in every costume ; the green hill on which 
 the barracks stand ; the fort with surrounding masses of black 
 rock, — altogether present a yery different aspect to what my eye 
 has been so long accustomed. But it is the bold mountains be- 
 yond that give a grandeur and sublimity to the view, as it is 
 the broad blue water which relieves the prospect of everlasting 
 verdure, on gazing down on the sleeping valley, from our pin- 
 nacled dwelling, that looks so quiet and lonely, with its home 
 
150 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 aspect, far, far above us, and seems more out-of-tlie-tvorld now 
 than it ever did to me before. Higher yet lies the ruined cot- 
 tage on the other wild and solitary hill ; and as the light and 
 shade rest on the irregular heights and deep ravines of Sierra 
 Leone, the whole landscape is mellowed into softness, that con- 
 trasts strangely with the sights and sounds on board the good 
 
 brig X . I do not Ivuow how it is, but the vessel strikes me as 
 
 having a most forlorn and confused appearance, while her crew 
 seem to be a very unruly and mismanaged set. Our own boat- 
 men are now ranged in the waist of the ship, bidding their 
 respectful adieus to us all, and it is expected we shall soon be 
 off. There are several Kroomen assisting at the pumps and 
 anchor, but they are to leave with the pilot. 
 
 2^th. — A heavy tornado again last night, which might have 
 blown us out of sight of land ere this, had we only been off. 
 Moved out this morning with a brisk land-breeze, which soon 
 died away. Sea-breeze set in with the tide. Both being against 
 us, dropped anchor and lay off the Cape for several hours, the 
 
 monotony of which was relieved by a kind visit from Dr. F , 
 
 who evidently does not envy us our vessel. When the pilot and 
 Ivroomen went off, some of the sailors got leave to go ashore 
 also ; and, meanwhile, we had the mortification of seeing the 
 
 V and the G sweep past us with all their sails set. 
 
 Dark ere the boat from shore returned, and we have once more 
 weighed anchor, as I hear the loud *' cheery, men — cheerily 
 oh !" resounding through the ship. 
 
 29th. — The Mountains of the Lions are still in sight, which I 
 take as the presage of a slow voyage. The heat during the 
 day is suffocating, while the evening air feels chilly. 
 
 ZOth. — That blue mountain mass of bold outline follows in our 
 wake ! There it is this evening, scarcely less distinct than yes- 
 terday ! Although by no means fond of the vessel being pitched 
 about by the wind, I would actually hail a good tornado that 
 would waft us far away from the pestilent shore, that seems re- 
 solved to haunt us by its shadowy presence. Early this morning 
 the sullen roar of a gun on the waters startled me, and shortly 
 after we were visited by a boat from H. M. brigantine S . 
 
 April \st. — Fairly out of sight of land at last. Beautifully 
 fine, with a slight breeze. Numerous birds flying about. 
 
LET. XIX.] A CAREFUL HELMSMAN. 151 
 
 2?id. — Nearly a calm ; sailing through shoals of dolphins. In 
 tr}ang to catch them the sailors have hooked a young shark in- 
 stead, and hoisted the hideous-looking creature on deck. 
 
 3rd. — Spoke the barque "Adeline" of Newcastle, twenty-eight 
 days out from that dear land which, alas ! we cannot expect to 
 reach for much more than twice twenty-eight days ! 
 
 There are no entries in this important log for some days, and 
 I can fancy you smiling at the idleness of noting down such 
 trifles, but their very nothingness may give you some idea of the 
 monotony of sea-life on board such a vessel as ours. 
 
 We were the only passengers, with the exception of the owner's 
 son, a little mischievous boy, who was continually sowing strife 
 between the master and sailors, playing tricks upon the monkey, 
 and behaving impertinently to the crew, of whom there were 
 twelve men. 
 
 The first mate was old and superannuated. He had formerly 
 seen better days, having been captain of more than one East 
 Indiaman that, unfortunately for him, had all been wrecked. 
 Though said to be a great deal too fond of brandy and such like 
 cordials, he seemed to be one of the most careful and properly 
 conducted people on board. Especially untidy-looking during 
 the rest of the week, Sunday invariably saw this "ancient mari- 
 ner " in his best attire with a large-typed jDrayer-book in his 
 hand ; whilst his slippered and shuffling footstep, which never 
 ceased pacing the deck during the hours of his nightly watch, 
 proved that he at least knew his duty better than some of the 
 others, whotoo often left the ship to the guidance of the steers- 
 man alone. Once, about midnight, and with a fair wind that 
 had for some days kept the vessel steadily upon one tack, she 
 began to roll in so extraordinary a manner that it roused the 
 master, who discovered, on going up, the deck deserted, the wheel 
 lashed, and the carpenter, whose duty it was to have been there, 
 fast asleep on a hencoop ! 
 
 The master was very unfit for tlie post he held, being tyran- 
 nical, unfeeling, and cowardly. Two of the crew were sick 
 when we sailed, yet he never sliowed the least concern about 
 them, taking no heed as to whether they had medicines or suit- 
 able food. One of them, in particular, was very ill, having had 
 country fever, followed by a relapse ; and M prescribed for 
 
152 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 the poor man, ordered liim to be removed from his close berth 
 to a more airy part of the ship, and took care that he had proper 
 things to eat, such as sago, arrow-root, gruel, &c. Pie seemed 
 to be convalescent, when one day's very severe illness amongst 
 ourselves prevented M going on deck. The steward, how- 
 ever, promised all obedience to our orders, and affirmed that poor 
 Jackson had everything he required. Imagine how shocked I 
 
 was next day to hear a commotion above, and M 's voice 
 
 asking " how the men could leave their comrade to die before 
 their eyes." Sarah at the same time rushing down the com- 
 panion, placed R hastily on my lap, and said her master had 
 
 sent her for limes and a sponge to bathe the hands and face of 
 the poor man, who could not move nor utter aught save low 
 
 moans. In a few minutes M came liimself to prepare some 
 
 brandy and hot water for the apparently dying man, who it 
 seemed had been left to lie on the deck, exposed alike to the 
 burning sun and occasional chill air from the water, unable to 
 articulate, and still less able to stretch out his hand to the mess- 
 tins of dun-coloured sago that had been permitted to turn sour 
 and hard by his side. Evidently his comrades had thought all 
 chance of his life was over, or such apathy could not have been 
 
 shown. Fortunately, M 's indignant appeal to their feelings 
 
 was successful ; and I was thankful to hear about an hour 
 afterwards that Jackson had revived, and another of the sailors 
 was reading his Bible beside him. 
 
 There was something frightful in the idea of a fellow-creature 
 perishing amongst us through downright carelessness, and yet 
 
 Captain P actually never went that afternoon to ask after 
 
 the man or look at him, but contented himself by telling the 
 steward to see that the cook made whatever we thought necessary 
 
 for the invalid, who from that day M took under his own 
 
 especial care. But you may be sure that we formed no good 
 opinion of the unfeeling master, who seemed to think it beneath 
 liis dignity to take any interest in the welfare of his men. He 
 was not properly a "master mariner" (the rightful title, I 
 believe, of a merchant captain), but on the death from fever of 
 
 the X 's original master, liad been appointed to take the vessel 
 
 home. Our captain (by courtesy) and the second mate (the 
 same wild-looking sailor whose appearance had so alarmed me 
 
LET. XIX.] MASTER AND MEN. 153 
 
 the evening of our embarkation) had once been sliipmates 
 together, and this former familiaritv seemed to have caused, on 
 the part of the mate, a total want of respect for the authority of 
 his present superior, and continual loud disputes between them 
 did not add to the comforts of our passage. But, indeed, not 
 
 one of the crew looked up to Captain P ; and stories of his 
 
 having been fined fifty pounds for assaulting a black man in the 
 West Indies, and of his brother having been imprisoned for 
 causing tlu-ough cruelty the death of four Spanish saihirs, used 
 to be noised throughout the vessel, rendering things still worse. 
 The carpenter was one of the oddities on board. Being often 
 engaged in repairing the pumps, and working with his tools near 
 the place where I sat propped up in a skeleton of a Canadian 
 
 manufactured arm-chair, R always made interest to obtain 
 
 a quantity of scraps of wood, and with a little wooden mallet 
 used to hammer away in great glee on the lee-side of the ship 
 with Sarah beside him. On such occasions " Chips " often 
 would lay down his saw and hatchet, and taking a pinch of 
 snuff, push his broad blue Scotch bonnet off his weather-beaten 
 forehead, and give utterance, in a very strong northern dialect, 
 to a few remarks as to the great difference in his opinion between 
 Europeans and Africans. 
 
 " Aweel ! according to my thocht, they're little better thae 
 black folk than monkeys. Gif that lassie Avas in a show noo, 
 I'se warrant it wadna be lang ere a hunder punds was made 
 o' her. She be't to learn some bits o' tricks first, though— weel ! 
 just to see how mickle the bairn maks o' her !" 
 
 But the carpenter was one of the laziest and most unruly of 
 all the crew. He hated being at the helm, and took great delight 
 in boasting that upon one occasion on board a vessel, when it 
 was his first turn at the wheel, he steered the ship several points 
 out of her course, peering at the same time eagerly into the 
 binnacle ; and on the captain's inquiring whether he was short- 
 sighted or not, replied, '• Yes," and that he could not see the 
 compass, whereupon the master immediately called another i-ailor, 
 and srave orders that the " new hand " should on no account be 
 sent to the helm again. 
 
 One of the two men who had been sent on board the day after 
 we embarked, was an Irishman, named Andrew, who worshipped 
 
154 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 O'Connell and prayed for repeal ; but nevertheless attended zeal- 
 ously to his duty. He was considerably above six feet in height, 
 and in his red woollen blouse, leather belt with a knife hanging 
 from it, and rather conical-shaped felt-hat,, looked less like a sea- 
 man than a brigand. His companion was one of the most effi- 
 cient sailors in the vessel, quiet, orderly, and active. He had once 
 worked his passage home from the East Indies in a man-of-war, 
 where he probably had acquired his fine sailor-like deportment. 
 *' Old George," as he was called, and Andrew his comrade, had 
 each saved a little money, and it was only the desire to get home 
 
 that had led them to enter the X as seamen. Then there 
 
 was " Young George," who used to read the Bible to Jackson, 
 and who was overheard one Sunday evening talking of his family, 
 and expressing his satisfaction at being able to assist his old 
 mother from his wages. He was a fresh-looking lad, evidently 
 from the country, very different in appearance and manners from 
 the cook and the boy who attended on the live-stock, two 
 youths one could never see without thinking of London pick- 
 pockets. Jackson and the other sick sailor had both served in 
 American vessels. They were very quiet and civil, but the 
 first was by far the better seaman of the two. The steward and 
 
 cabin-boy brought up the rear of the hands on board the X . 
 
 The former was useless as a steward, and seemed to me to be 
 crazy ; the latter was a good steady boy, and steered the ship 
 better than any man on board. It may seem rather incredible, 
 but very soon we came to know quite well who was at the helm. 
 A good steerer made so great a difference to our comfort, if that 
 word be at all applicable in this instance, but I only speak by 
 comparison. 
 
 On the 10th of April we got the trade-winds, and the evening 
 after, as I sat below under the open skylight, near which, on 
 deck, the steward and mate were engaged in weighing out to the 
 cook the unwieldy lumps of salt pork and beef for the next day's 
 consumption, I perceived nearly all the sailors were congregat- 
 ing on the quarter-deck, while loud voices were engaged in 
 angry remonstrance with the captain, as to the quantity and 
 quality of their provisions. Foremost stood Andrew, in oratorial 
 attitude, setting forth, in the richest of Irish brogues, that " it 
 was very hard that they had not a dhrop of tay or coffee, let 
 
LET XIX.] SCAECITY OF PROVISIONS. 155 
 
 alone rum or spirrits of any kind," whilst the captain assured him 
 it was all very well to grumble, but that the cabin small stores 
 were exhausted as well as those for the men. " Och sure, but 
 it's wondrous aisy for you to be talking,— when you have your 
 wine and your ale, and your white biscuit, and the sugar and the 
 taij quite comfortable-like, down in the cabin there ; but if you 
 had to ate rice for your breakfast, and rice for your dinner, and 
 rice for your supper, and that coarse red rice too, only fit for 
 bastes, ye would know what it was maybe, and had the hard work 
 to do besides." 
 
 More than one other voice mentioned the cabin in such 
 threatening tones, as if all the tea, and the rum, and the biscuit 
 of which they felt the deprivation were unjustly withheld from 
 them and stowed there, that the idea gradually crept over me 
 that I should feel less surprise than terror if the whole ship's 
 crew, with the tall Connaught-man at their head, were to make 
 a sally down the companion and assert " the right of search " in 
 our cabin, as well as in that of the captain. The latter worthy 
 personage meanwhile continued to pace the quarter-deck, and 
 smoke his pipe with the apathy of a Dutchman, only occasionally 
 muttering as he opened his mouth to puff out the smoke, " It's 
 little you'd find in the cabin, though you should go to look." 
 
 Even the grave and orderly " Old George " came forward to 
 vote for a redress of their grievances, saying that he had served 
 in many a ship, and been to all the quarters of the globe ; and 
 that had they been out for six months, he would be the last man to 
 complain ; but to think that they had now been but one fortnight 
 at sea, and all the bread finished, he did not know how they were 
 to be at the end of another fortniglit ; and that though it was all 
 very well to have nothing except water to drink in fine warm 
 weather, by-and-bye, when we got into colder latitudes, and 
 might meet with squalls, it would be hard for them to have 
 neither tea nor coflTee, nor yet ' grog.' " 
 
 Was not this a pleasant prospect ? But on discussing matters 
 quietly among ourselv es, my fears were allayed by learning that, if 
 we met with no ship to supply the men, the captain would no doubt 
 put into some port or other for provisions, as after that evening 
 he allowed the small remaining store of biscuit to be portioned 
 out to the crew. Still many and long were the grumblings as to 
 
156 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 the want of tea and coffee, and the very sparing quantity of meat 
 that was weighed out. As this operation was always performed 
 just over our cabin, we were usually favoured by hearing the 
 dispute as to its being " beef-day " or " pork-day," the latter of 
 which they would have preferred coming always, instead of 
 alternately. 
 
 After a day of noise, murmuring, and discomfort, I used to 
 hail the calm silent evening with a refreshed mind. I remember 
 well that the beauty of that of the 14th was enough to make 
 
 me forget all minor misei'ies, for at least one half- hour. M 
 
 and I sat on deck after the night-watch had been set, and all was 
 still and quiet on board, and there w^as the magnificent full moon, 
 seeming to sail along as fast as we, — one moment shining clear 
 and high above our heads ; the next, veiled under a thin fleece 
 of snowy clouds ; and at another, completely hid behind a black 
 and threatening mass, which reminded me of that dense shroud 
 the burst of a tornado alone can dispel. The wind was fresh and 
 fair, and the vessel, lying over on one side until her deck formed 
 a steep slope, cut her way steadily, if not swiftly, through the 
 curling waves — which as the variable clouds flitted over the 
 moon, or left her in all her splendour, alternately presented a 
 face as sullen and dark as molten lead, or as clear and beautiful 
 as frosted silver. That faint and shadowy light lent a character 
 of grace and grandeur to the vessel, which no one could dream 
 of during the day, for however the poetic terms of tapering 
 masts and swelling sails may convey picturesque images — none 
 such attached themselves in any shape to the craft in which we 
 had left the pestilent shores of Africa. Although better than 
 mere pleasurable emotions at the loveliness of an evening could 
 not but be often raised by the remembrance of our continued 
 safety, yet perhaps, as the heavy-laden ship pursued her solitary 
 course that passing hour, the heart might be lifted up in more 
 fervent adoration to Him who is " the confidence of all the ends 
 of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea." 
 
 That was the last time I was on deck until the day we landed 
 in England. My log tells me that on the 16th, which was 
 Easter Sunday, a request from M was replied to by the cap- 
 tain tliat he had no objection to our giving the crew an allowance 
 of spirits upon Sundays. I have before mentioned that our first 
 
LET. XIX.] DAILY DISCOMFORTS. 157 
 
 mate, in spite of his venerable aspect and quiet deportment, Mas 
 reported to have rather a too friendly feeling towards stiinulatino- 
 beverages. It might have been but the whisper of malice : on 
 
 board the X Me had no opportunity of proving either its truth 
 
 or falsity. But certainly the expression of that old man's coun- 
 tenance as the M'eekly goblet M^as handed round, exactly resen)- 
 bled that of a child who Matches with keen and smiling interest 
 the distribution of a packet of bon-bons, in Miiich he is to share. 
 
 We were glad also, at this time, to spare sundry little stores 
 for the use of the master's cabin, as it M^as very unpleasant over- 
 hearing, M'hich M^e could not avoid doing, the reiterated com- 
 plaints of mates and stcMard, about their having been sent to sea 
 with only as much tea, coffee, sugar, pepper, and mustard as 
 could last for one fortnight. 
 
 Gradually, however, we began to find that we might have 
 abundance of provisions, yet be very little the better of any of 
 them, save hard biscuit and preserves, from the inability or 
 unM'illingness of those who acted as cooks on board. It Mas 
 never quite certain to Mhich of the Uvo ill-looking lads the 
 honour of M'orking in the galley properly belonged. He M'ho 
 originally held the office had been ignobly dismissed forbeino- 
 lazy and dirty, and the task of feeding the live-stock and scrub- 
 bing the decks M^as assigned to him instead. 
 
 The qualities which had caused his degradation from the 
 higher post told sadly upon the poor goats, pigs, and sheep, and 
 still Morse upon the fowls, who died and disappeared ; until, to 
 save their lives, as an Irishman Mould say, we Mere obliged to eat 
 them. Several of the other sailors would willingly have made time 
 
 to look after our live-stock, but Captain P rudely refused to 
 
 allow a better hand to feed them. It Mas needless to expostu- 
 late with a person Mho, finding that the daily comforts of his 
 superiors were greatly in his power, determined to take advan- 
 tage of the circumstance in an uuM'orthy manner, yet it required 
 a philosophic degree of forbearance to pass over many instances 
 of this bad spirit. We had long ceased to require further at- 
 tendance from the ship-steward, than bringing breakfast and 
 dinner to our cabin door ; and now, with the prospect of a lonrr 
 voyage before us, it was absolutely necessary that Sarah should 
 be spared to attend to the poor animals on deck. 
 
158 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 "We had generally to wait an hour or more before our scorched 
 fowl, half-boiled yam, and pulpy rice appeared, and then the ex- 
 cuse was that the captain's dinner had taken up all the fire, and 
 all the cooking utensils, which we ourselves had sent on board ; 
 therefore, it was very fair that passengers, who did not eat at the 
 same table, should exercise the grace of patience as they best 
 could. You may laugh at my recollecting such petty troubles 
 and vulgar cares, far more at so elaborate a detail ; but nearly 
 three months' experience has convinced me that if the every-day 
 comforts of life excite little thankfulness, it is only because we 
 are too much accustomed to receive and possess them more as 
 our rio'ht than as the gifts of a generous Providence. Let us 
 be deprived of the most trivial of these mercies, for such they 
 certainly are, and then we become sensible of how greatly our 
 human frame depends upon things so very unimportant in them- 
 selves. 
 
 I had often heard stories of the disgraceful neglect and aggra- 
 vatino- behaviour of more than one master of homeward-bound 
 Sierra Leone traders to their passengers, and was then unchari- 
 table and conceited enough to believe that it must have been all 
 the fault of the passengers themselves, in being unaccommo- 
 dating, overbearing, finical, or troublesome, and that we should 
 meet with nothing of the kind. My opinion was fated to be 
 changed. 
 
 The sun was dreadfully hot about this time, but even when 
 the first mate was thoughtful enough to desire the awning to be 
 spread, the captain ordered it to be furled instantly ; and once 
 that some of the men had brought an old sail and spread it over 
 the hatchway through which the broiling sun was shining full 
 into our cabin, their superior officer actually found fault with the 
 poor fellows, although he was ashamed to bid them take it away 
 
 again. The want of the awning confined poor R below the 
 
 fore part of the day, but with his salt-water bath in the morning, 
 and run on deck in the afternoon, the little fellow's health im- 
 proyed wonderfully. Indeed he was not like the same child that 
 had embarked only three weeks previously, and this was more 
 than a counterbalance to all other evils. 
 
 As far as lay in our power, we tried to conciliate the mighty 
 little man, the secret of whose growing dislike to ourselves, we 
 
LET. XIX.] DISAGREEABLE CAPTAIN. 159 
 
 discovered to be partly jealousy of the respect and attention 
 shown to us by the subordinate officers and crew, and partly 
 offended pride because he did not " mess " with us, as the sea 
 term is. Fair warning had been given me by our friends on 
 shore, that when captain and passengers had separate establish- 
 ments in this way, the former invariably made things as uncom- 
 fortable as was in his power. On first coming on board, there- 
 fore, we had invited him, and indeed always intended that he 
 should form one of our party at meals, but he himself refused, 
 alleging that the mates and boy would think themselves neglected 
 if he left them. Now, however willing we were to accommo- 
 date ourselves to circumstances, the society at table of these 
 three additional " hands," one of whom was less refined in manner 
 than some of the men before the mast, was what we did not 
 think it at all incumbent upon us to endure ; nor did the idea 
 seem ever to have suggested itself to them. One instance of the 
 master's animosity towards us was so excessively ludicrous, that 
 I think it must make you laugh, as it certainly made us. 
 
 Of course in that hot latitude, though we " killed our own 
 mutton," we could not eat it all, and we were glad to give part 
 to both captain and crew, by the latter of whom fresh meat 
 would otherwise never have been tasted. One day the second 
 mate, who always performed the part of butcher on board, had 
 given orders himself as to the particular cooking of a dish of 
 fresh pork, which was no sooner served up in the perfection of 
 ship-culinary art, than the captain commanded it to be taken at 
 once off his table, declaring he would not accept of anything 
 from us. The tempting viands accordingly retreated up the 
 companion, followed no doubt by the longing eyes of all save the 
 lord paramount of the feast. But the great gruff mate sprang 
 up after the steward, and declaring that he at least would not be 
 balked of a good dinner when he could get it, seized the dish 
 and sat down on a log of deck-timber to enjoy his meal, with all 
 the appetite of a hungiy man. 
 
 Oh ! how these days dragged on, under a burning sun, in a 
 ship that with a fair wind never made more than three knots an 
 hour : with a disobliging, illiterate, and obstinate man for cap- 
 tain, quarrelsome officers, and grumbling crew ! But, indeed, the 
 latter had some cause for discontent. The want of provisions 
 
IGO RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 began now to be subject of serious discussion amongst the people, 
 and, except in trifling instances now and then, it was out of our 
 power to supply them. 
 
 Vessels leaving Sierra Leone for Britain go to the south-west 
 to catch the ti-ade winds, and it was three weeks after the time of 
 our quitting port ere we found ourselves in the latitude of the 
 colony again ! At the least, we had therefore a prospect of being 
 eio-lit weeks longer at sea, and iiaving to put into some place for 
 provisions, would render it still later before we could hope to 
 reach England. 
 
 Upon the 1st of May we were all but becalmed, and the 
 sailors were fortunate enough to catch several dolphins and 
 bonetos. One pleasing trait in these people was that the first 
 fine fish they hooked was always sent down to our cabin, with a 
 hope that it might be liked by me. The captain had then been 
 ailino- for some days, during wliicli he had not appeared on deck ; 
 but next morning, being worse, and in great alarm about him- 
 self, M oflfered to go and see him, and, without waiting for 
 
 an answer, went to his cabin, prescribed for him, and sent every 
 requisite from our medicine-chest. For nearly a week Captain 
 
 P was very ill, but it had the beneficial effect of rendering 
 
 him ashamed of conducting himself towards his passengers as he 
 had done, and things were restored to a more pleasant state. 
 
 On the night of the 2nd there was very heavy weather, and we 
 were disturbed by water flowing down the companion way, while 
 the deck leaked so that we had to hold umbrellas over our heads. 
 "We heard next day that a huge sea had pooped the vessel and 
 washed over the deck, and that, had the steersman not suddenly 
 brought the ship round, another such sea must have sent her 
 down by the stern. Truly we are little aware of the many special 
 providences of God towards us ! 
 
 We were now past the tropic, and the weather became colder, 
 with occasional rain and squalls. Upon the morning of the 8th 
 we found ourselves in company with two ships, and the captain 
 
 took M' 's advice to try and get provisions from them, and 
 
 thus avoid the necessity of touching at the Azores. One was 
 bound from Liverpool to Bahia, and our ship's boat went off" to 
 her, and succeeded in obtaining cabin stores, such as tea, sugar, &c. 
 There were the usual signals, and .shouting through speaking- 
 
LIT. xi.x.] ANECDOTE OF A PIRATE. 161 
 
 trumpets, and then the other came alongside the X , and the 
 
 captain paid us a visit. He was a goodhumoured-looking Dutch- 
 man, with frank and friendly manners, now returning to Rotter- 
 dam from a voyage to Java, and his ship, " Les Deux Maries," 
 was freighted, amongst other things, with numerous monkeys, 
 cockatoos, parroquets, and sparrows. He spent the day on board 
 the X , talked of his family, told stories of pirates and sea- 
 life, ordered numerous bags of bread from his vessel to ours, and 
 
 tried to make up an acquaintance with R , who was verv 
 
 shy, notwithstanding the many sincere regrets that all '' de good 
 gingerbread " which he had taken out with him from Rotterdam 
 was unluckily finished, or he should have had much pleasure in 
 
 begging R 's acceptance of some. On hearing that the child's 
 
 mamma was below and in bad health, the worthy Dutcinnan said 
 that his ship carried a skilful physician, whose advice was at our 
 service ; but, knowing that a firm footing on land would be my 
 only remedy, this oflfer was gratefully declined. " Les Deux 
 Maries " was a large ship, carried six guns, and had, according 
 to her captain's description, splendid accommodation for pas- 
 sengers. I believe we might have transhipped ourselves to her, 
 had we liked, and thus got a much quicker passage home. The 
 Rotterdam captain told a story of having, some years before, 
 whilst in another ship, neither so well manned nor armed as his 
 present, fallen in with a suspicious-looking brigantine, wiio, after 
 asking the latitude and longitude, and the usual questions of 
 "Whence from?" and "Whither bound?" all of which were 
 duly answered, added, — 
 
 " What's your cargo?" 
 
 " What's that to you ?" was the courteous answer the Dutch- 
 man sent from his speaking-trumpet to the craft, whose real 
 character he more than suspected. Nothing foiled, the brigan- 
 tine hailed again — " How many men have you ?" 
 
 " What's that to you ?" was the response, as gruffly as before. 
 
 The strange sail then sheered off to a more respectful distance, 
 but early next morning, having altered her appearance a little, 
 bore down again upon the merchant vessel, and repeated the 
 very same questions, receiving also the same answers as he. had 
 previously. All doubt as to the brigantine's being a pirate had 
 vanished on board the Dutchman, but he hoped by his presence 
 
 M 
 
162 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 of mind to induce a belief that he was both armed and manned 
 strongly enough to keep his own ground. A third time the 
 manoeuvre was repeated in the dusk of the evening, after which 
 the stranger tacked and made fairly off, evidently convinced 
 that he would gain nothing by attacking a vessel that had shown 
 so little fear ; while in the first port the Dutchman made, some- 
 where in the West Indies, he learned that this very brigantine 
 which had spoken to him thrice within so short a period, was a 
 pirate with a crew of fifty men, and carrying several guns, as 
 she had entered the harbour a prize but a few days previous to 
 his arrival. 
 
 It was evening ere the ships separated, that bearing the flag of 
 Holland attended by the good wishes of all on board our own. 
 
 The people were now liberally supplied with bread, which, 
 though hard, brown, and coarse, was heartily approved of by 
 them all, after living so long upon red rice, the carpenter de- 
 claring the Dutch biscuit to be " maist as gude as ait-cake." 
 
 Matters now went on more smoothly. The grumbling and 
 squabbling gave place to mirth and good-humour, and often 
 whilst sitting in our cabin at night, it was pleasing to hear the 
 rude voices of the men " forward" joining in some well-known 
 sailor's song or old-fashioned ballad. 
 
 As the weather became colder and more damp, poor Jackson 
 was attacked by violent fits of ague, and once more, laudanum, 
 quinine, and brandy were in requisition. But nothing else would 
 he accept of, different from the fare of his messmates, except a 
 cup of tea, which was sent him morning and evening, with the 
 accompaniment of a " white biscuit," which he might take or 
 not as he liked. 
 
 Dolphins and bonetos were still caught, and one day a pilot-fish 
 that had followed the vessel for a long time was hoisted in 
 triumph upon deck. I used always to fancy that its name was 
 derived from the fish being longitudinally striped blue and white 
 like the pilot-flags, and was horrified to find it was so called 
 from being always the forerunner of a shark. 
 
 On the Queen's birth-day my loyalty displayed itself by 
 hunting out from among our stores all the necessary ingredients 
 for a huge plum-pudding for the crew, who drank her Majesty's 
 health with great good-will, and sent one of the men aft in the 
 
LET. XIX.] THE AZORES. 163 
 
 evening to make a speech to M and thank him for their 
 
 good dinner. But it was not merely by speaking that the men 
 showed, rough as they were, that they possessed the feeling of 
 gratitude. The carpenter had in the first place constructed out 
 of one of our hen-coops a swinging cot for our cabin, for which 
 the master himself actually contributed canvas ! Others at their 
 spare hours had made some pretty mats of Manilla cordage, 
 which they would have been hurt had we refused to accept. 
 Jackson begged us for two empty and nicely-shaped bottles from 
 our medicine-chest, that he might cover them with netted cord, 
 which, with no other assistance than a large needle, he did very 
 neatly in pretty patterns ; whilst the captain further gave orders 
 that a more comfortable chair, with clean canvas-protected 
 
 ropes to hold by, should be prepared to favour R 's and my 
 
 descent from the vessel. 
 
 Her Majesty's birth-day brought us a fair wind, which con- 
 tinued for a whole week ! — a wonderful event in the annals of 
 
 our X voyage. On the 27th the island of St. Michael's 
 
 was in sight, and next day Terceira, another of the Azores. It 
 was bitterly cold here, and my hands were fully occupied in 
 
 making little warm gloves and socks for R out of scraps of 
 
 flannel, as no such things were to be had in the colony when 
 we left. Sarah felt the cold sadly, and all the warm clothing 
 I had provided seemed not enough for her African sensations. I 
 had, therefore, to devise means of giving her more such habili- 
 ments, and you would have smiled at the outre costume I con- 
 trived for her by the help of old flannel jackets, thick-lined 
 dressing-gowns, and blanket shawls. She, at least, imagined 
 herself a model of European fashion. 
 
 Hea\y squalls at night, calms and foul winds by day, brought 
 us to the 7th of June, when, about opposite Ushant, we encoun- 
 tered a tremendous gale of wind. The vessel rolled about most 
 fearfully. One moment a sea washed over the deck, and drenched 
 every article in our cabin, throwing them violently to the lee- 
 side ; while, as she righted again, it required some strength to 
 
 keep even our own footing. M 's ingenuity had before caused 
 
 more than one formidable leak to fall into conduits formed by 
 the troughs taken out of the hen-coops, and fastened where they 
 could receive the water, and let it run into a basin set below, 
 
 m2 
 
164 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 instead of upon our mattresses. But now that the salt-water 
 
 poured down from every seam into our berths, M nailed upon 
 
 the planked roofs and sides all the African mats we had brought 
 with us, and then made a canopy of tarpaulins and Macintosh 
 cloaks under the skylight in our main-cabin, but which were 
 yet insufficient to prevent us getting a share of each succeeding 
 " sea" we shipped. The skylight itself was closed and covered 
 with a canvas " cap ;" but still the liquid enemy contrived to 
 dash in, until poor Sarah was actually crying, not from alarm, 
 
 but from sheer vexation. I sat with R on my lap for many 
 
 a weary hour that day, as even when asleep there was not a dry 
 corner in which to lay him down. But when awake it was 
 almost impossible to get him to remain quiet, as, like all chil- 
 dren, he did not mind the violent rocking to and fro of the 
 vessel, always contriving to balance himself though I could not, 
 and only remarking with his merry voice in country language, 
 as a chair or cask broke from its lashings and rolled along the 
 floor, "ship run all about." 
 
 I overheard the men on deck remonstrating with the captain 
 for keeping on too much sail, and going right before the wind ; 
 but naturally he concluded himself the best judge of what 
 ought to be done, though of the many vessels now m sight some 
 were scudding under bare poles, and others had merely one or 
 two sails set ; whilst we carried lower studding-sails until they 
 were blown from the yards. 
 
 That was a sleepless night. As the shock of each giant wave 
 struck the vessel, I could not help experiencing the shivering 
 dread of her sinking at once ; and then, as she recovered herself, 
 to be again thrown almost on her beam-ends, there was the sure 
 conviction that He " who bringeth the winds out of his hid 
 treasures " was her guide, for human fancy could not understand 
 how she escaped destruction. Amongst the alarming sounds of 
 the wind, the sea, and the shouting of men's voices, we constantly 
 heard the breaking of plates and glasses in our little pantry, 
 and the knocking about of everything in the cabin, however 
 firmly secured it had been ; and these last sounds were by far 
 the most distressing to poor Sarah, who would have thought 
 nothing of the storm, had it only let the cups and platters alone. 
 
 At length the morning light breaking through the bulls' eyes 
 
LET. XIX.] THE ENGLISH COAST. . 165 
 
 raised our hearts and hopes to see the promise of another day. 
 But still, although the sun shone, and there was no rain, the 
 same heavy seas continued to strike us, drenching everything 
 below, despite of all contrivances. Then the cargo of timber 
 shifted, and as the ends of the logs kept knocking against the 
 bulkhead that separated them from our cabin, I dreaded that 
 they would burst through, and even be the means of sending 
 the vessel down. One of the sailors who got jammed between 
 two huge logs, narrowly escaped with some bruises, and this 
 new dano-er called many into the hold, who could not well be 
 spared from their duty on deck. The leak, which had been so 
 lono- kept under, began to gain once more on us, and the constant 
 working of the pumps added to the men's fatiguing labours. 
 The captain now begged us to supply them with " grog," and I 
 felt so 2-lad we had taken on board what I had considered at first 
 a very unnecessary and useless addition to our stock of drinkables, 
 namely, a case of the best brandy and gin. Andrew had had 
 his foot dreadfully crushed a short time before this, by the fall 
 of a heavy iron, and Jackson was still very weak and unfit for 
 active exertion, so the benefit of the two additional men was now 
 
 fully felt and acknowledged, the master himself thanking M 
 
 for having insisted on their being sent. That night was calmer, 
 and we rose with grateful hearts and refreshed frames, to make 
 some preparations for leaving the vessel, as the storm, although 
 it had not caused us to go faster than seven knots an hour, had 
 yet helped us on so far that we hourly expected to see land. On 
 the 10th we sighted the Start, with a fair wind ; next day the 
 
 Isle of Wight, and on the 12th Beachy Head. R and Sarah 
 
 were in ecstasies at once more seeing " bush," and I equally 
 rejoiced not only to be able to pack, but to see the necessity of 
 doing so with expedition. 
 
 How gaily the ship-linen was stowed into one box, and Avith 
 what high spirits anotiier set aside ticketed " for landing," wliilst 
 larf^e trunks and sea-chests were roped with marvellous activity ! 
 Still, although so near the " long-sought, long-looked-for " land, 
 we were by no means free from exposure to danger, and owmg 
 to light winds, tides, and carelessness, were very nearly aground 
 off Dieppe, the last place our ship had cause to be near. 
 
 We rose at four o'clock on the morning of the 14th, and learnt 
 
166 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 that we were becalmed in a fog off Hastings. The X was at 
 
 anchor in the midst of a fishery, and had by some means or other 
 broken the nets. It was therefore not unlikely that some boat 
 might speak us ; and we — having serious thoughts, if such an 
 opportunity presented, to take advantage of it to leave the vessel, 
 and thus avoid the slow passage she would inevitably make up the 
 Thames — proceeded to complete our disembarking arrangements. 
 
 At seven o'clock a fishing-boat was alongside, and after M 
 
 had spoken to the men, who said they would lose considerably 
 by the damage done to their nets, and were glad to earn a little 
 money unexpectedly, we decided to go ashore with them, and 
 agreed to be ready not later than nine o'clock, as then the tide 
 would be in our favour for reaching Hastings. You will believe 
 I was too happy to eat breakfast, and too much engaged to boot, 
 for there were all the busy little last things to be done, to the 
 packing away of spoons and forks. A despatch-box was put to 
 the ignoble use of having, amongst other sundries, biscuits and 
 
 raisins stowed in it for E, and Sarah, during the pull to land ; 
 
 my work-bag was filled with an additional warm spencer and 
 travelling-cap for the little head that now looked so gay in its 
 broad-brimmed African grass hat of " three copper" value. 
 
 We had heard that barely as many pieces of pork and beef as 
 would serve for three days' consumption remained in the har- 
 ness casks, therefore it was with double good-will that the 
 remainder of our rice, flour, biscuit, and other stores was 
 handed over to the steward, and the men told that the remaining 
 pigs were theirs. I was sorry to leave our two pretty milch- 
 goats, one of the latter was such a lovely black and white spotted 
 creature, with eyes and feet like a gazelle's, polished black horns, 
 and long white beard like floss silk ; but the two individuals to 
 whom the animals were given, would, I had no doubt, treat them 
 kindly. 
 
 At nine we were ready, the luggage left on board being 
 stowed into one of the berths, and what we were to take tossed 
 into our new conveyance, with nearly a boat-load of cloaks, 
 shawls, and pea-jackets. It was with feelings, I hope, of deep 
 thankfulness, that I once more found myself with the sky over- 
 head, but my two months' imprisonment below had rendered my 
 eyes so weak, I could scarcely bear the light. The anchor had 
 
LET. XIX.] EOW TO HASTINGS. 167 
 
 just been weighed again, and all the sailors were clustered on the 
 side of the ship where the boat waited for us ; and how yellow 
 and sickly their faces seemed, compared with the ruddy though 
 w^eather-beaten countenances of the three fishermen, into whose 
 
 rude but strong-built craft R and I were first lowered ! 
 
 We soon found ourselves all seated in one compartment of the 
 little sloop, the rope was cast adrift, and the oars splashing in 
 the water, bore us some paces from the X , when we per- 
 ceived the whole crew, still with heads uncovered, standing on 
 the quarter-deck ; while three hearty English cheers, timed by 
 the little captain himself, bore testimony to the kindly feeling of 
 all on board as we left them. 
 
 It is inherent in human nature to take an interest in a place 
 where — let the lodging have been ever so humble — we have 
 spent some part of our life ; and after we had silently acknow- 
 ledged the honest parting greeting of those who for nearly three 
 months had shared the same risks with ourselves, we watched 
 the brig as she floated lazily onwards with the tide, until the haze 
 completely hid her from our view. 
 
 There was just enough of a breeze to render a sail a slio-ht 
 assistance to the rowers, and to overpower me with the keen 
 freshness of the air, so that I was glad to lie down on the rouo-h 
 
 bench, and fall sound asleep, R happily following my 
 
 example. 
 
 The exhaustion was quite gone on awaking — whilst the wind 
 and tide were so favourable, that the men laid aside their oars, 
 and busied themselves with the fish they had caught. 
 
 The boat was divided into three compartments — that next us 
 being filled with gravel and sand, with a well in the midst, where 
 one man washed the fish, the other pouring bucket after bucket 
 of salt-water over them. In the bow was a little covered cabin, 
 where occasionally one went in and returned with a tankard 
 of ale. 
 
 The men seemed to be father and sons, all with a very in- 
 telligent and thoroughly good expression of countenance. Their 
 dress was rustic and picturesque ; — short red and blue woollen 
 frocks, black " south-westers," and gigantic leather " overalls," 
 recalling to imagination the seven-leagued boots of our nursery 
 chronicles. The fishermen said these enormous boots cost a 
 
168 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 great sum of money at first, but were invaluable, beinp^ strong 
 and quite water-proof. The old father spoke of the great damage 
 
 the X had done in breaking his nets, and said he had seen 
 
 many a vessel from a far country, but never one with her sides 
 and bottom so overgrown with sea- weed, and covered with bar- 
 nacles. These had been the means of entangling the nets. The 
 men had picked off several, which he wished to take home to 
 show as a curiosity. As we rowed quietly on, suddenly a well- 
 remembered sound arrested our attention with the power of 
 magic, whilst the good old man, who seemed to participate in 
 our feelings, smilingly exclaimed — " Ye hear them : the birds, — 
 the birds singing on shore : we are quite near, though we cannot 
 see them for the mist." 
 
 The clear, sweet carol of the lark and thrush rose up in such 
 a gush of melody, and brought so many memories on its breath, 
 that I could have exclaimed with Izaak Walton, " Lord, what 
 music hast thou provided for the saints in heaven, when thou 
 permittest such to bad men on earth ! " On looking at our 
 watches, we were surprised to find that we had been more than 
 three hours in the boat ; the time had passed so very quickly ; 
 yet after we had heard the dear home-sound of the birds singing, 
 it seemed very long ere we saw the shore. 
 
 At last through the cloudy grey atmosphere we caught a 
 glimpse of a beautiful sandy beach ; and then a wall of low white 
 cliffs appearing every moment more distinct, and relieved at 
 irregular distances by many a patch of green grass or climbing 
 shrub that grew on the face of the rocks. As we approached 
 they gradually assumed a higher and bolder aspect, resembling, 
 in their fantastic mould, magnificent pillars, arches, and Gothic 
 windows, till we could actually have affirmed the one moment 
 that a marble palace lay before us, and the next, that a dila- 
 pidated castle, or venerable abbey, frowned above the quiet 
 little bays which indent the coast. Then came the view of 
 green pasture-fields, with sleek, contented-looking cattle grazing ; 
 whilst the blue curling smoke amongst trees gave token of some 
 ^' cottage home of England " hidden in its warm sheltered nook. 
 How beautiful everything appeared ! The mist had rolled 
 away, and the summer sun, shining out brightly, discovered at a 
 short distance the pretty and nmiantic-looking little town of 
 
LET, XIX.] NIGHT JOURNEY TO LONDON. 169 
 
 Hastings, with many a vessel at anchor before its crowded street, 
 from the slow and heavy sand-barge to the graceful yacht and 
 privileged pennant-bearer in her Majesty's service. The men 
 begged us to sit quiet in the boat whilst they hauled it up on 
 the beach, which, with the assistance of some of their fraternity, 
 was dexterously accomplished ; and as one of the near bystanders, 
 evidently a friend of our fishermen, stepped forward to proffer 
 his assistance as I was lifted from the boat, his hearty " Welcome 
 once more to English ground, madam !" sounded quite musical, 
 
 A crowd of nursery-maids with their young charges, washer- 
 women watcliing their clothes bleaching on the sands, school- 
 boys, and laughing little girls gathering shells and pebbles, 
 added to the motley character of the group of seafaring people 
 who stood still to witness the novel spectacle of our landing. 
 They looked at us in silent wonder, especially at Sarah, who 
 seemed more alive to the consciousness of walkinsr- for the first 
 time in boots than to the gaze of the multitude. But no marvel 
 that a general stare was directed towards us, for the capacious 
 front of her bonnet, and the narrow high crown of mine, bespoke 
 a fashion now obsolete even amongst the laundresses of the busy 
 watering-place; whilst my veteran chequered cloak must have 
 seemed gipsy-like in its ample folds, to eyes daily accustomed to 
 admire the graceful cardinal and bewitching mantelet of later 
 adoption. 
 
 But through the gaping and laughing crowd we threaded our 
 way with due nonchalance^ and, allowing the custom-house officer 
 to take charge of our boxes, followed a very civil self-elected 
 guide to a neat and comfortable hotel ; where the pretty rosy- 
 cheeked damsel, who offered to carry R upstairs, stood in 
 
 utter amazement to see the child clasp his little black maid 
 tightly round her neck, and refuse to accept of any other 
 assistance. 
 
 When the good old fisherman came to receive his due, I was 
 suri)rised to learn that we had rowed fourteen miles. Our lug- 
 gage was not passed without all, excepting the privileged tin box 
 of papers, first undergoing a more inquisitive than necessary 
 search. I wonder if we were taken for smugglers of French 
 lace and gloves ! 
 
 After various inquiries and consultations we decided to start 
 
170 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 by the nig-ht-mail for London, securing- all the inside places. 
 Meanwhile, writing home-letters, reading the newspapers, dining, 
 and drinking tea, passed the time quicklj^ the intervals being 
 employed in looking out of the windows, one of which was im- 
 mediately opposite an ancient church, seemingly built of flints : 
 the other overlooked the bustling street ; and the interest excited 
 by each passer-by, from the lady equestrian to the ragged urchin 
 trundling his hoop along the pavement, can only be understood 
 by those who have been, like ourselves, the residents of a strange 
 country as uncivilized as Africa. 
 
 At ten we left Hastings. It was a beautiful moonlit night, 
 which invested every thing, to the very sign-posts and turnpike 
 
 gates, with a fairy-like radiance. R soon fell asleep in my 
 
 lap, and Sarah's bewilderment at the flying house, so different 
 from the low open phaetons of Sierra Leone, was soon absorbed 
 by sleep also. 
 
 There had been several slight showers of rain, just enough to 
 make every leaf and blade of grass appear in the grey of the 
 morninsr as if orlitterino; over with diamonds. Part of our route 
 lay through fine wooded scenery ; and the novelty of the rapid 
 travelling at that hour, the thankful delight of being safe on 
 land only one week after the terrible night of the 7th ; with 
 a thousand home-emotions, conspired to throw a charm over 
 every solitary kitchen-garden and wayside cottage ; while each 
 quiet country labourer plodding along to farm-yard or field, 
 every early dairy woman amongst her pretty and patient cows, 
 seemed objects worthy of the pencil of Edwin Landseer. Then 
 as we drew nearer'to London, the road became more and more 
 alive. Butchers' carts, and waggons laden with cabbages, 
 turnips, and all sorts of seasonable vegetables, decked with 
 bright nosegays of dear English flowers, appeared as never 
 market-gardeners' and butchers' carts appeared before. Omni- 
 buses, stage-coaches, donkey-carts, horse and foot passengers, 
 dairymen, cattle and dogs, multiplied at every step, and the 
 great dray-horses looked quite colossal in my eyes, after being 
 so long accustomed to the slenderly formed steeds of Sierra 
 Leone ; whilst the rows of suburban brick-built houses, with the 
 soundin"- names of " Bellevue Cottas^es " or " Elm-Row Villas," 
 stuck up on a board at a corner, wore a more lively and country 
 
LET. XIX.] FEELINGS ON RETURNING HOME. 171 
 
 air than I am sure they had done since their foundation. A 
 golden halo seemed to rest even on the muddy Thames as we 
 drove across London Bridge, exactly as the various clocks 
 pealed forth the hour of six. But, ah ! to me the broad 
 waters of that noble river, — with its forest of masts which have 
 bent to the gales of every climate, and towered above the 
 decks on which our brave seamen have kept lonely watch alike 
 in the arctic and tropic seas, whilst their good ships were 
 proudly bearing on the riches of every country under the sun 
 to the one sea-g-irt isle that boasts the dominion of the ocean, — 
 have ever been waters endowed with some mystic influence over 
 my thoughts, which causes all around to look bright and sunny ; 
 and that neither from their vastness, nor yet for their beauty, 
 but simply from their being connected with pleasant and happy 
 associations. 
 
 But leaving the royal Thames to its own undisputed majesty, 
 we passed through the streets until we reached Charing-Cross. 
 It was seven o'clock ere we were once more comfortably do- 
 miciled ; as, after quitting the coach, we had to drive to no 
 less than three different hotels before finding one with spare 
 accommodations at that early hour of the morning. You will 
 readily understand that as the sleepy-looking waiters severally 
 answered our inquiries, we felt that to be the most wearisome 
 half-hour which had passed by since four o'clock of the morning 
 before, when for the last time we left our berths on board the 
 
 good brig X , which good brig, by-the-bye, was a week 
 
 longer ere she arrived at the port of London, and lost one of 
 her anchors in coming up the river. 
 
 ****** 
 
 I had often, and long before tliat day of excitement, heard it 
 remarked by older and more experienced travellers than myself, 
 that it is only on approaching your own country from a first 
 absence abroad that you feel a joyous and impatient eagerness 
 to land. I used always to express my disbelief of this creed, 
 and fancied that every succeeding return from a sojourn in 
 foreio-n climes, especially if frauglit with danger by storm and 
 pestilence, would bring a stronger degree of thankful feeling and 
 unclouded hope. But I now join in the opinion, tliat amongst 
 those days in human life whose peculiar brightness can shine 
 
172 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xix. 
 
 but once, must rank that on which an individual first sets foot in 
 his native country after a residence in a strange and distant land ; 
 for, oh ! how soon may the glad memory of a first safe return 
 be blended with that of a first lieavy soitow ! You may bound 
 on shore in the full anticipation of a happy greeting from those 
 w4io are at that hour on their dying bed, and whose prayer to 
 live long enough only to see your face once more, their Hea- 
 venly Father hath not seen fit to grant ! Your eyes may rest 
 again on your childhood's haunts, they may look with more in- 
 terest than ever on the well-remembered flowers of your home- 
 gardens, while the gentle hand that planted those very flowers 
 to welcome the travel-worn brother or sister back again, is 
 mouldering away in the cold and silent grave ! 
 
 I saw once more my country's clover leas 
 
 All sparkling with the pearls of summer showers, — 
 I mark'd the drowsy murmur of the bees 
 
 That humm'd amidst her old familiar flowers, 
 And heard the low soft rustle of the breeze 
 
 That gently moved among her garden bowers. 
 Long-yearn'd-for sights and sounds were mingled there, — 
 
 In one calm smile were wrapt both earth and sky, 
 Healthful and pure we knew the sweet warm air 
 
 That with its blossom'd breath went flitting by, 
 And yet o'er all the landscape fresh and fair 
 
 A shadow deep, and solemn, seem'd to lie ! 
 For midst those left before— all now were not — 
 
 One form was absent from the household band, 
 Even hers — of whom we deem'd the earthly lot 
 
 Was cast afar on some bright southern strand — 
 Alas ! one darkly lone and narrow spot 
 
 Had bound her evermore within her native land ! 
 
LET. XX.] RETURN TO SIERRA LEONE. 173 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 Return to Sierra Leone — Passengers. 
 
 ^o^ 
 
 On board the barque V , off the Nore, 
 
 January 16th, 1844. 
 
 My dear C. — Here we are under weigh again to return to 
 Sierra Leone. We came down by a steamer to Gravesend on 
 Saturday, and as we stopped at the pier, a cry of " Any one 
 
 here for the V ?" — directed our attention to a waterman, who 
 
 said he had been looking out for us some days ; so we embarked 
 in his boat and pulled to our vessel, which laj'- far down ; I 
 think we had to row at least two miles. On nearinsf the V 
 
 o —^ • > 
 
 and making fast the boat, M- of course asked if there was a 
 
 " whip." " Carpenter, have you a whip forward there ? " was 
 passed down the ship. " Whip ! no : anything heavy to come 
 up?" ''Only a lady; that's all, sir!" replied one of our 
 watermen, whereupon the Captain came forward, and begged I 
 would endeavour to ascend by the swinging and perpendicular 
 rope-ladder, which I managed to do. Our state-room is large 
 and airy, light and convenient. We have put down our carpet, 
 which looks quite grand ; but it is bitterly cold on board, except 
 in the main cabin, which is heated by a comfortable stove. Be- 
 sides ourselves, there are Iwo English, three German passengers, 
 and one little African bov, returning' to his native countrv after 
 having completed his education ! My thoughts linger in the 
 land we are once more quitting for the African shore. * * * * 
 
 At Sea, January, 1844. 
 Far from our parted treasures borne — 
 
 Whatever may betide, 
 No longer now each night and morn 
 
 Shall find me by their side ! 
 Ere gladly I return once more. 
 
 My cherished babes ! to thee, 
 My foot must press another shore 
 
 Beyond the broad blue sea. 
 
174 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xx. 
 
 There is no lot without alloy, 
 
 For back thy sire must hie 
 Where thy far birth-place stands, my boy ! 
 
 Beneath the tropic sky : 
 The lime-flower there its perfume sheds, 
 
 And clear sweet waters flow ; 
 And palm-trees bend their graceful heads 
 
 To all the winds that blow. 
 
 There mid the orange boughs, the breeze 
 
 Its fitful music makes ; 
 Now murmuring like the hum of bees 
 
 Among the flow'ry brakes ; 
 Or moaning like the surge of seas 
 
 When the wild storm- voice wakes : 
 
 While butterflies on jewell'd wing 
 
 Skim through the amber air, 
 Bright birds are ever fluttering 
 
 Mid shining foliage there ; 
 For ever seems the garb of spring 
 
 That glowing clime to wear. 
 
 But now, sweet child ! depriv'd of thee, 
 
 Lone shall that land appear ; 
 For still thy buoyant infant glee 
 
 Was wont my home to cheer, 
 And throw a sunny gleam of joy 
 
 O'er all the weary day. 
 The while thy father's grave employ 
 
 Had summon'd him away. 
 
 When fierce and mighty o'er our hill 
 
 The dark tornadoes rush'd, 
 Within thy mother's arms thou still 
 
 Wert safe and warmly hush'd ; 
 But now no more her anxious voice. 
 
 When dreams have made thee weep, 
 Shall with old cradle-songs rejoice 
 
 And lull thee back to sleep. 
 
 But though no longer on her breast, 
 
 Nor on thy father's knee. 
 Thy welcome place of happy rest. 
 
 My little son ! must be. 
 Our Father from his throne above 
 
 Will hear us when we pray, 
 And shield thee with his wings of love, 
 
 Though we be far away ! 
 
LET. XX.] THOUGHTS IN KHYME. 175 
 
 Our ship her solitary path 
 
 Pursues along the deep, 
 And He who quell'd the tempest's wrath 
 
 Hath bid the storm-wind sleep ; — 
 The rippling of the waters lone 
 
 Is all the sound I hear — 
 Yet hour by hour thy pi'attling tone 
 
 Seems whispering in mine ear. 
 
 And still before my yearning sight 
 
 Thou comest glad as when 
 We last beheld thy warm delighi 
 
 To see us both again : — 
 Ah ! little recked' st thou, whilst they smil'd 
 
 And kiss'd thy rosy cheek, 
 Thy parents' hearts were full, dear child, 
 
 Of thoughts too sad to speak ! 
 
 And oh ! though all unwatch'd by me, 
 
 Young daughter of my hope, 
 With all the ills of infancy 
 
 Thy fragile frame must cope. 
 The God who gave thee, opening flower ! 
 
 Will guard thee night and day, 
 And bear thee through each perilous hour 
 
 That yet may cloud thy way. 
 
 When parting fears across me stole, 
 
 How placid was thy smile !— 
 Unconscious that thy mother's soul 
 
 Was wrung with grief the while ; 
 But thou shalt guide thy tiny feet 
 
 Across their guileless track, 
 And lisp in childhood's accents sweet 
 
 Ere she again comes back ! 
 
 Meanwhile with hearts of fervent trust 
 
 Before Heaven's throne we bend, 
 And to His care all-wise and just 
 
 Our absent babes commend. 
 For His blest sake who felt on earth 
 
 What little children feel, 
 And died, like man of mortal birth, 
 
 For mans immortal weal ! 
 
RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxi . 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 View of Madeira — Case of African Fever — Arrival at Sierra Leone — 
 Eveuin"- Ride — Burying Grounds — Unsettled state of the House — 
 "Cooking" Clothes — Improvements — Flower of Sour-sop — Fire on 
 Mount Oriel — Burning Trees — Colonial Superstitions — Cocoa-Nuts 
 — The White Man's Grave. 
 
 Sierra Leone, March 30th, 1S44. 
 A PASSAGE of twenty-seven days from Gravesencl, but only 
 tv/enty-one from the Downs, has brought us out once more to 
 this most unhealthy quarter of the globe. That day fortnight 
 from our embarkation we sailed near enough to Madeira to dis- 
 cern a liohthouse, a village, and several small white buildings, 
 which, I was told, were monasteries, on the bold rugged sides of 
 the barren-looking rock, which indeed, from the point at which 
 we viewed it, gave little sign of being the fertile island it 
 
 really is. 
 
 We had a slight squall one night whilst sailing between the 
 Cape de Verdes and the land, and next morning foimd that the 
 ropes and canvas of the vessel were covered with the minute red 
 sand the wind had brought from the Sahara. 
 
 One forenoon, when about ninety miles north of Sierra Leone, 
 the ship seemed as if surrounded by shoals, the sea having ex- 
 actlv the same earthy tinge it has on the Goodwin Sands. In 
 those latitudes this peculiar appearance is said to portend a calm, 
 and I should suppose is caused by animalcula, as, on passing 
 through this coloured water, it looked thick and slimy. The 
 different currents there also presented an extraordinary aspect, 
 and quite new to me, as I had seen nothing of the kind in my 
 two previous voyages. A broad sheet of comparatively smooth 
 water stretched out for miles in one direction ; while beyond, 
 the foaming waves of the sea were hemmed in, appearing like 
 another and more turbulent stream ; bounded again at a short 
 distance by a third distinct portion, whose surface, as it rose and 
 
LET. XXI.] ARRIVAL AT SIERRA LEONE. 177 
 
 heaved, yet did not break into wreaths of froth. The ship was 
 thus at one moment pursuing lier course through crested billows, 
 and the next borne with a strange rocking motion over the 
 sullen swell of a strong counter-current. Imagine a vast ex- 
 panse of water, extending as far as the eye can reach, formed of 
 alternate rows of sluggish canals and brawling rivers, and you 
 will perfectly understand the appearance that struck me as being 
 so remarkable. 
 
 The day before we landed it was a dead calm, with a scorching 
 sun and thick close atmosphere, and to us proved the longest and 
 
 dreariest of the passage — my poor brother R suffering from 
 
 severe illness, which, as soon as Dr. F came on board next 
 
 morning, after our ship dropped anchor in the harbour, he pro- 
 nounced to be the dreaded coast-fever. This alarming cause of 
 anxiety, combined with the turmoil of the first few weeks on 
 shore — a turmoil, be it understood, peculiar only to a climate 
 and situation like this — drove everything else out of my thoughts 
 
 for a time ; and now M and I have each come as safely 
 
 through a sort of second " seasoning," to which, I am told, most 
 Europeans are subjected on their return to this country, however 
 they might previously liave become acclimated. 
 
 We found everything looking exactly as it had done when we 
 left the colony ten months before. The wide grass-grown streets 
 had the same deserted air they always present to a new-comer ; 
 and, as I walked from the landing-place to a house in town, 
 appeared as unfamiliar to me as if I had never gazed down upon 
 them from my cloud-capp'd eyrie, with much of the vague 
 wonder at their motley groups that a stranger might be supposed 
 to feel regarding London itself, during a sojourn of two years in 
 the cupola of St. Paul's, were that celebrated pile some hundreds 
 of feet higher than it is. 
 
 It was late ere we mounted our horses, and left Freetown for 
 our own residence ; and the great lone hills, over which the 
 shadows of evening were rapidly falling, looked as if they would 
 fain repulse, by tlieir frowning and desolate aspect, all wanderers 
 from another land, who thus dared to invade these dreary soli- 
 tudes. But upon turning on to the mountain road, the darkness 
 of night had shrouded every surrounding object ; and the howling 
 and moaning of the wind througli the branches of the palms and 
 
 N 
 
178 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let, xxi. 
 
 masses of waving bush added to the melancholy of our silent 
 and weary ride. Even the very air, alive with the shrill 
 sound of myriads of insects, seemed to laugh in exultation at its 
 own deadly influence : and while I remembered with gratitude 
 that ray children were safe under the genial skies of our native 
 country, I did not forget those parents whose young son was now 
 undergoing the climate's sure ordeal, to rally in God's good 
 time, or add another to the countless numbers whose early graves 
 crowd the burying-grounds of Sierra Leone. 
 
 And here let me quote a remarlv of the settler-nurse who 
 
 attended K . On looking at the view from our windows, 
 
 after saying it was all very fine, suddenly some new object seemed 
 to arrest her attention, and her whole features brightening into 
 animation, she exclaimed, pointing to the cemetery at the foot 
 of our hill, " Ah ! you can see funeral when one go ! — how 
 nice ! And 't other burying-ground, too — how very nice and 
 beautiful ! " 
 
 Now, though there are, in more loveable lands than this, many 
 and many a green and shaded churchyard, whose tranquil still- 
 ness and beautifully secluded situation might well give rise to 
 the passing wish that some one of these might be our own last 
 resting-place — the spots appropriated to such a purpose in Free- 
 town have something more forlorn about them than I can either 
 account for or describe. They are, in the first place — as is usual 
 in all warm climates — very properly, situations chosen at a dis- 
 tance from church and street alike. The original one — a square 
 enclosure, upon a rising ground at this end of the long formal 
 avenues of houses leading down to the harbour — is marked by its 
 gravestones being more widely scattered, and also of a more 
 venerable appearance than those of the other ; but with the 
 exception of one or two trees at a solitary corner, its old grey 
 walls surround but a bare and shadeless spot ; although it is kept 
 in tolerable order by the Nova Scotians, almost the only persons 
 who reserve to themselves a right of interment there ; and who, 
 in their strong and sacred regard to this burial-place of their 
 own people, evince feelings that, however condemned as preju- 
 dices, I cannot help liking, from their general accordance with 
 those of both patrician and peasant of Britain. The larger and 
 more recently-formed cemetery lies between our hill and that on 
 
LET. XXI.] BUEYING-GROUNDS. 179 
 
 which the Barracks stand, and from this point of view has a 
 strikingly wild and neglected appearance, although many of its 
 freshly-plastered and white-washed tombs have something revolt- 
 ingly bright and glaring about them, thickly clustered together 
 as they are in one quarter, and half hid by tall grass and low 
 dense busli ; the remaining portion of the ground being a com- 
 plete jungle of matted underwood. It is first enclosed by a 
 mouldering stone-wall, and then neatly enough fenced by a lime- 
 hedge, which enlarges it by taking in four angular corners ; 
 and encompassed beyond that again by the wattled huts of the 
 Liberated Africans. But (except a locust-tree of moderate size, 
 whose feathery branches, with their pendent crimson blossoms, 
 droop over one or two of the graves) it contains not even 
 shrubs capable of giving it a picturesque effect — or, what is of 
 far more consequence in a climate where exposure to heat or wet 
 proves so often fatal, of affording a screen from either sun or 
 rain to those in attendance at the rites of sepulture. Monuments 
 have been erected to the memory of public individuals who have 
 perished in the colony, as well as testimonials presented to those 
 spared to leave its fatal coast ; but as the most graceful Avay of 
 showing our esteem for the dead is by associating his remembrance 
 with some essential benefit conferred on the living, I have some- 
 times wondered that a plain edifice — a mere roof, supported by light 
 pillars, has never been raised as one of these monuments — to 
 shelter alike from the glare of tropic noon and the fury of tropic 
 storm — the clergj'man who reads and the assembly who listen, 
 on a foreign and deadly shore, to the touchingly sublime and 
 consolatory burial-service of the church of our country and 
 fathers.* 
 
 The interior of the house looked strange the evening we ar- 
 rived, yet everything was exactly as we had put it on going 
 
 away ; several of poor little R 's country toys were found 
 
 where he had left them. Until some of our cliests that had 
 been left for security with a friend in town could be got up and 
 opened, we had to borrow some horrid tin knives and forks 
 
 * The white residents are so few that a small building might be sufficient, 
 as, for the use of the natives, whose funerals are always very extensive, it 
 would be comparatively unnecessary — the same degree of exposure not 
 affecting them injuriously. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxi. 
 
 from Petah. For a considerable period after landing we were 
 far from being settled. The front piazza — resembling more the 
 hold of a ship than any place else — was full of packages, chests 
 of drawers, and trunks — one apartment being completely emptied 
 of all superfluous furniture, to give more air to our convalescent 
 fever-patient. In the midst of this confusion dire, in walked 
 
 Mr. X one afternoon, and in laudable compassion for the 
 
 '' bush" state of my salon, sat down on a deal box in preference 
 to a chair, joining in our laugh at the strange drawing-room 
 ornaments of hammers, pincers, and other unpacking tools that 
 were scattered about. And such was the apartment in which I 
 received all visitors for a time. Many of our quondam black 
 servants and dependants came up with their " good mornings " 
 
 to little R , and seemed quite disappointed that he has not 
 
 returned to his native country with us. 
 
 All manner of care had been taken of the house by its tem- 
 porary inmates ; but I was speedily reminded of the difficulty 
 encountered in preserving anything here, by finding a large 
 cushion tliat was sent out to be sunned brought back in a very 
 short space of time with part of its covering completely eaten 
 throuo-h by bug-a-bugs, who at the same time had left traces of 
 their earthen galleries over the whole of its surface. Cock- 
 roaches and ants seem to have multiplied during our absence ; 
 but Sarah proves, by the active manner in which she sets herself 
 to the operations of sweeping, dusting, and scrubbing, that she 
 has profited by the example of tidy English servants. 
 
 It is quite edifying to see her newly-acquired importance ; 
 and, indeed, I find her a valuable treasure, compared with the 
 rest of her countrypeople in our domestic establishment. Kot 
 but that her zeal to show off" the many things she has learnt in 
 " white man's country " is sometimes carried to a ludicrous 
 excess. One day I saw her busily engaged under the shade of 
 the orange-trees, having in one hand a large wooden spoon, with 
 which she kept stirring and shaking up the mysterious-looking 
 contents of a huge saucepan held in the other. On beckoning 
 her from the window, and inquiring what she was about, she 
 came running up-stairs, and with a countenance beaming with 
 self-satisfaction gravely informed me that she had just been 
 " cooking her pinafores !" and was about to spread them out 
 
LET. XXI.] IMPROVEMENTS. 181 
 
 to dry, having observed the manner in which washerwomen 
 " cooked " and bleached clothes in England ; and, uncovering 
 the saucepan at the same time, showed me her once bright blue 
 gingham pinafores, now scarcely distinguishable from those of 
 brown holland, with which they were indiscriminately mingled 
 in boiling soap-suds ! 
 
 Servants are rather scarce in the colony just now, owing to the 
 erreat demand for free emio^rants in the West Indies. We have 
 fortunately got back several of those who were with us before ; 
 and besides the unusual circumstance of a young Liberated 
 African damsel, whose apprenticeship in a negro family is just 
 out, offering herself as a handmaiden; one of those identical 
 little sfirls whose idleness and dulness used to annov me so much 
 when I first attempted to make house and nurse maids of this 
 country's sable daughters, appeared up here a few days after 
 our arrival, in the shape of a tall portly figure, with kerchiefed 
 head, shining silver rings, and coral necklace, saying she wished 
 to come back again in the capacity of needlewoman. 
 
 Since coming out this time I am glad to find bread is wonder- 
 fully improved in quality to what it was before. We can get 
 really very good rolls from at least one baker — a Spanish or 
 Portuguese negro who has set up in business here. Apropos of 
 improvements, I formerly saw several numbers of a newspaper 
 conducted entirely by the people (who are all black or coloured) 
 of the settlement of Monrovia, which publication, although bear- 
 ing the sounding title of ' Africa's Luminary,' contained at that 
 time little besides articles of original composition, suited only 
 to a very low intellectual standard, or quite ridiculous from their 
 inflated style. But a recent number of the same newspaper, noM^ 
 published under the more appropriate name of the ' Liberia 
 Herald,' has actually in its columns, amongst some other very 
 well- chosen extracts, that admirable essay upon Secrecy written 
 
 bv Lord 's secretary, the appreciation of which, in my 
 
 opinion, speaks much for the advancement in mental taste of the 
 Liberians. 
 
 We have had damp hazy weather, with strong sea-breezes, 
 ever since our arrival, varied latterly by an occasional heavy 
 shower. It is at times, however, very liot indeed, the tlier- 
 mometer being: 88° in the shade, thoui?h at others so low as 74°. 
 
182 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxi. 
 
 The mango-trees are laden with young fruit — the rose-apple 
 covered with its splendid blossoms ; and I have just observed for 
 ihejirst time that of the sour-sop, more like an ornament stiffly 
 cut out in wood than a flower. Three sepals — in thickness and 
 general appearance resembling the rind of a lemon — open like 
 the outer husk of the beech-nut, and show three scarcely finer 
 petals, that form a cup about the size of a walnut, enclosing a 
 single round and hard green button. 
 
 The ruined house still stands on Mount Oriel, although it 
 seems there was one terrific tornado in June last, during which 
 the church-spire was struck by lightning, and all the colony 
 thrown into a state of consternation by the almost unparalleled 
 violence of the thunder-storm. 
 
 This is the season of bush-hurnings ; and though you might 
 suppose that I was now accustomed to the sight, it is one which 
 still attracts me to the windows. There is something — especially 
 if it be in the evening — so inconceivably wild and romantic in the 
 appearance of fires all over the face of the country so far as the 
 eye can reach, from the dull and sullen glares that redden the 
 atmosphere at irregular distances throughout the whole extent 
 of the Bullom shore to the blazing beacons on the far range of 
 hills- towards Wilberforce and the signal station. But these in 
 our immediate vicinity have a still more striking aspect. The 
 sight of Mount Oriel and the hill above it, on fire the other day, 
 recalled to my mind some of Cooper's animated and faithful 
 descriptions. The Guinea grass, like that of the prairies, burns 
 with tremendous rapidity, roaring and crackling with a noise 
 that can be heard at a distance of several miles. As I stood at 
 the open eiid window of the piazza late at night, and looked 
 across the ravine guarded by the young and vigorous " bush " 
 beyond ; which, though scorched on the outskirts, had yet re- 
 pelled the flames from penetrating far into its fresh green depths, 
 these silent and untenanted mountain-sides were covered with thou- 
 sands of glimmering lights, that rivalled in numbers and bright- 
 ness those of Freetown and its busy environs ; so that out of the 
 burning remnants of venerable trees and stumps that look so dreary 
 and ugly by day, imagination created the cheerfully lit-up case- 
 ments of a city that sat queen-like on her proud and lofty hills. 
 
 Another evening that the "bush" on the eminence above us 
 
LET. XXI.] BURNING TREES. 183 
 
 had been set on fire, suddenly (although by what means I cannot 
 explain, unless the strong sea-breeze had wafted a brand there) 
 flames ascended out of the top of a tall and time-worn tree as 
 from a chimney, and it continued to burn for days, sending its 
 scintillating showers in all directions — myriads of sparks, with 
 the aspect of sky-rockets, being thrown up in the air, falling, I 
 am sure, half a mile from the tree itself, to the extreme danger 
 of the tarred shingles composing the roof of this house. During 
 the broad light of day, sometimes, nothing save a light-grey 
 smoke is seen issuing from a smouldering tree, but at night a 
 "fiery-tressed star" appears, gleaming low and redly in the 
 darkened sky, and which has more than once startled me, until 
 remembering that one of these lofty and hollow relics of the 
 forest stood in that direction, and was thus slowly and surely 
 consuming away. 
 
 But one afternoon the smoke and flame togetlier seemed leading 
 down into the very choicest of our " bush," from a part of the 
 farm that a man had been permitted to clear and plant, and all 
 our people were despatched to attempt putting it out. I was 
 
 glad to be able to accompany M , by means of a new and 
 
 delightful path that he has had cut through a mass of dark shady 
 trees ; and then, clambering up the steep front of the hill, we 
 came upon the scene. 
 
 The ground was one heap of hot ashes, amongst which numer- 
 ous stumps, each several feet high, were burning like so many 
 stoves, whilst the prostrate trunks of several trees of magnificent 
 dimensions were being devoured in the same manner by the swift 
 flames. It was not, however, to save these that any effort was 
 made, but to cut off' tlie fire so as to prevent it rushing into the 
 undulating sea of foliage through wliich we had just passed ; and 
 that being full of dried leaves, decayed branches, and withered 
 grass, must have been, although not totally destroyed, at least 
 disfigured, and also rendered useless as a shelter to this walk, 
 whicli is ever cool and pleasant at tlie liottest hour of the day. 
 
 Green boughs and ashes were therefore put in instant requisi- 
 tion — the few pailfuls of water were soon spent — but a heap of 
 exhausted embers thrown upon a burning stump had a wonderful 
 effect in smothering its fire, while leafy branches in the liands of 
 some of the people who did not fear the heat partially arrested 
 
184 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxi. 
 
 the progress of the flames, though it was quite impossible to 
 extinguish them. It was, however, mainly owing to the wind, 
 which had been blowing almost a gale, gradually lulling, that 
 before it grew quite dark all apprehension of danger was removed. 
 
 JMeanwhile I had wandered onwards amongst the loose and 
 thickly-scattered stones, stumps, and huge branches, occasionally 
 coming upon a patch of burning brushwood, or startling still 
 more by the sound of my footsteps the few melancholy birds 
 that hovered around the place, where many of their nests and 
 half-fledged broods had no doubt shared the fate of the shrubs 
 and grass that sheltered them. Thick and tangled " bush," out 
 of which rose a few high and hoary trees overshadowing the 
 spot where I stood, bounded the view on one side. On the other 
 Mount Oriel, black from its recent burning, was softened by the 
 tranquil river, against whose glassy surface, instead of the sky, 
 the ruined house and trees now seemed to rest ; and further 
 still stretched the indistinct outline of a wide range of opposite 
 coast. The higher hill above the " Mount," divided by another 
 deep yawning fissure, with its thread-like stream and fringe of 
 verdure, from the third and yet more lofty and bleak-looking 
 hill, completed the picture in that direction ; while in front I 
 saw the bare rounded top of Leicester Mountain, relieved in its 
 turn by the pyramidal crest of the darkly-wooded and more dis- 
 tant Sugar-Loaf. 
 
 There was something dreary in the prospect : broad tracts 
 of apparently not unfertile land, where the few attempts at cul- 
 ture showed thems(?lves alone in the surrounding desolation by 
 fire and hatchet ; vvithin sight was no domestic animal, nor yet 
 human being, save the party engaged at the burning trees ; 
 while besides the ruined house and our own — upon both of which, 
 on turning round, I looked far, far down — I could distinguish no 
 habitation of any kind, except a great conical ant-heap that ri- 
 valled in size most of the watch-huts I had ever seen. But on 
 ascending still higher, and taking another retrospective glance, 
 Freetown itself, the vessels in the harbour, and the horizon of 
 waters beyond, became visible over the roof of our house and the 
 tops of our loftiest trees — presenting in its quiet valley-like fea- 
 tures a more incongruous aspect, compared with the immediate 
 scenery around, than it is possible to describe : indeed our own 
 
LET. XXI.] ' THE WHITE MAN'S GRAVE.' 185 
 
 cottage and grounds, which are certainly lonely, wild, and rustic 
 enough, looked quite cheerful, cultivated, and artificial, from the 
 position where I stood, and which I had never reached before, 
 owing to the absence of a suitable path. 
 
 I never saw a cocoa-nut tree so richly laden as the young one 
 at the back of the house has been this season : there were one 
 hundred nuts gathered off it a few days ago, and there still remain 
 several bunches not quite ripe. 
 
 A friend who possesses a pretty farm happened to call lately, 
 and, seeing a basket-full of the beautiful cocoa-nuts, wished to 
 have them to plant. Meaning to plant several ourselves, I sup- 
 pose we did not feel so generously disposed as usual, and men- 
 tioned our intention of having a cocoa-nut nursery on our own 
 
 farm. Mr. then asked me if I had never heard that when 
 
 a white person plants a cocoa-nut at Sierra Leone he dies shortly 
 afterwards ; and seemed surprised I did not know of the supersti- 
 tion. AVe all laughed a great deal, and insisted that this was 
 merely said to ensure his getting all the cocoa-nuts to himself. 
 But in spite of our raillery on the subject— since it is really a 
 Sierra Leone " freet," as they say in Scotland— I confess this 
 conversation rather damped my zeal for planting cocoa-nuts ; not 
 because it could in any way have an influence over our living or 
 dying, but simply because were we to die soon afterwards the 
 event would assuredly be attributed to the planting of the cocoa- 
 nuts ! Another standard superstition among the Europeans here 
 is that if one, who may even as yet have escaped so well that all 
 imagine him to be climate-proof, set about building a house in 
 the colony, he will never live to inhabit it. I presume this arises 
 from there having been scarcely an instance, so far as I-^can 
 learn, of a white man ever living to take up his abode in the 
 dwelling he had erected here; at least if any one has done so, it 
 was but for a very limited period. So setting all superstitious 
 ideas aside as arrant nonsense, this is nothing but a simple proof 
 that the climate is a very fatal one. 
 
 We brought out, amongst other books, that on this colony 
 entitled ' The Wliite Man's Grave.' It is remarkably well 
 written ; and I recommend it to you, as giving a great deal of 
 information about the place. Its chief fault is that it makes 
 everything too couleur de ro^e— denying even the extreme insa- 
 
186 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxi. 
 
 lubrity of the climate. I believe its author was here only for a 
 few weeks ; and no one until after a longer residence can admit 
 that this lovely land is the unhealthy spot it really is. Within 
 late years it has no doubt become less destructive to Europeans ; 
 but still I have myself watched the funerals of too many fever- 
 victims out of the narrow circle of white residents, to allow that, 
 humanly speaking, the chances for life are here in people's 
 favour the same as in England : on the contrary, I quite coincide 
 with Chamier when he writes—" It is needless to say one word 
 about the climate of the coast of Africa ; we have been taught 
 to regard it as the worst under the sun, and certainly I, for one, 
 am not going to gainsay it." * 
 
 * See ' Life of a Sailor.' 
 
LET. XXII.] MOUNTAIN PATHS. 187 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 The Zigzag — Mountain Paths — Village of Leicester — Elephants — 
 A Leopard — Orange Grove — Climate Hinderances to Excursions — 
 Story of the Kobloo War — Mandingo Merchant — Leather Pouches 
 — Marmalade- making — Illness of a Pony — First Vessel from Home 
 since the V " Agouchee " — Water Melon — Storm Curtains. 
 
 April 30th. 
 The delightful path through the bush, that led me to the burning 
 scene of which I wrote to you, has been carried up the face of 
 that steep hill, by a line whose innumerable turnings, necessary 
 to render the ascent at all practicable, resemble notliing more 
 nearly than the figure traced by a stream of forked lightning. 
 This tortuous route, which enables us to give the name of the 
 " Zigzag" to one of the many hills in the neighbourhood, passes 
 under a group of real forest-trees — not like your beautiful, leafy- 
 sycamore, elm, and beech ; nor yet like our stately pullam cotton, 
 locust, and bungo trees ; but trees with w eather-beaten trunks, 
 fearfully high, gaunt, and bare, ere a single branch shoots out, 
 and clothed with foliage, that, whilst it flings a sombre shadow on 
 a distant part of the hill side, affords no more shade to any one 
 beneath than a parasol would do if you chose to carry it over- 
 head on a tall pole. Then there is no semblance of life about 
 these centenarian trunks, except w^hat is lent them by the little 
 grey lizards, and the red and blue cundoos, as they dart up and 
 down the bleached bark ; or perhaps we catch a passing glimpse 
 of a bird we know to be a woodpecker by the loud and mono- 
 tonous sound that is made by its broad bill as it scales up out of 
 sight to tlie boughs above. Down in the hollow from this path 
 there is certainly one very beautiful tree, with gracefully-droop- 
 ing branches and light-green leaves, and not with such an awe- 
 inspiring height as the forest patriarchs I have just told you of. 
 It is commonly called the shingle-tree, from its wood being used 
 to make shingles here, and has really a very picturesque appear- 
 ance, having dense yet lightly-disposed foliage. 
 
188 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxii. 
 
 My first trial of our alpine road was upon a pony, newly im- 
 ported from the Gambia, and which had never been shod until 
 coming here, the sandy surface of that part of the coast generally 
 rendering shoes unnecessary. Yet equally unaccustomed to any 
 such protective auxiliaries to its untaught paces as to hilly tracks, 
 or the accompaniment of a sweeping riding-dress, my steed went 
 very nicely along. Except in a couple or so of cassada-farms 
 reclaimed from the wilderness, with a more than ordinarily snug 
 and neat mud domicile in their centre, I observed no change in 
 the bleak and bare aspect of the near scenery from what it ap- 
 peared to me three years ago ; until, winding up a continued steep 
 acclivity, the path at last proceeds across a level surface, where, 
 through a wide opening in the hills to our left as we ascend, the 
 view is varied by a beautiful glimpse of the river, one or two of 
 its peaceful-looking islands, and some of the jutting-out points of 
 the opposite shore. Then in front we come in sight of Gloucester 
 village, a scattered assemblage of huts which appear to border 
 the road for upwards of a mile as it undulates over the hills. 
 Leicester lies towards the right, up at the very foot of the moun- 
 tain so named, and, turning into a broad and beaten track, fenced 
 by low copse wood and tall grass, we soon entered the little village. 
 The path, crossed here by a brook, or rather watercourse, runs in 
 some places over the bare rock, and is edged by structures in the 
 usual style of negro- architecture : square cabins of basket-work 
 covered over with red mud, thatched with grass or bamboo, and 
 placed within small enclosures, laid out with yams, ginger, or 
 coco, and formed by rude fences of sticks hid by luxuriant toma- 
 toes, capsicums, and other edible plants, shaded in their turn by 
 the formal pawpaw and graceful banana and plantain trees. 
 Here and there appear a few frame cottages raised on foundations 
 of rough masonry, and adorned by the wild cucumber climbing 
 over the thatch ; and about the centre of the street stands a neat 
 white church, that serves also as school-house. I at first used 
 to fancy that, independently of its wild and solitary situation, 
 this village looked wofully deserted ; but custom has reconciled 
 me to its appearance, I suppose, for my visits now do not give 
 the same impression of dreariness and neglect. When it was all 
 forest in the neighbourhood it must have been a pretty spot, 
 though then, I believe, a favourite abode of ague. 
 
LET. xxiT.] VILLAGE OF LEICESTER. 189 
 
 About twenty years ago an elephant made its appearance in 
 Leicester, and when the people pursued it with guns it turned 
 round and gored one man, while all the otliers fled in terror. 
 Next year another " huge earth-shaking beast," followed by a 
 young one, was discovered near Gloucester, and both were ruth- 
 lessly killed. In those times a leopard used to visit Leicester 
 every day, and the inhabitants always ran and shut themselves 
 up in their huts, until tlie unwelcome guest thought proper to 
 depart. 
 
 Although thus romantically situated on the very shoulder of a 
 fine mountain, the only real beauty of Leicester consists in a 
 magnificent orange-grove surrounding tlie spot where an hospital 
 for the troops once stood. Everything in the shape of building 
 falls rapidly into decay in this climate, if not constantly kept 
 in repair, and trees seem universally doomed to disappear from 
 the face of the landscape by dint of axe and fire, so that a relic of 
 the art or taste of man is rare indeed : however, the liaughty hills 
 remain in their primeval formation ; and these stately orano-e- 
 trees, the finest of the kind I ever saw^, having a peculiarly vener- 
 able stamp in their height and leafiness, contribute to tiirow an 
 imposing air over the otherwise insignificant hamlet, that seems 
 to claim for it the merit, amidst all its loneliness, of not beino- a 
 mere mass of rude sheds raised by a semi-barbarous people, but a 
 place associated with the early annals of the colony's civilization. 
 I vvisli the climate were such as to admit of my exploring every 
 place I have a mind to see, instead of limiting me to rides so 
 short that you would hardly tliink it worth while to have your 
 horse saddled for them in England. I should like to ascend the 
 Sugar-Loaf — to go up the river as far as the village of Waterloo, 
 famous for its pretty grass-woven mats and bags — I sliould deli^-lit 
 in climbing the far signal-liill — I have even a fancy to visit the 
 scene of tiie Kobloo war, of which colonial historical event I must 
 tell you. 
 
 Our tropic peninsula is bounded inland to tlie south-west by 
 a morass or swamp of mangroves, wliich is only passable at high 
 tides, the Bunce river having an inlet to this shallow lagoon. 
 Several years ago a party of runaway liberated Africans took 
 refuge on the borders of this swamp, and formed a settlement 
 called Kobloo. Here tiiey set the law at defiance, and at times 
 
190 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxii. 
 
 sallied out and robbed plantations attached to some of the vil- 
 lao-es. The Governor of the colony, on hearing- of these doing-s, 
 despatched a body of two hundred volunteers to seize the delin- 
 quents and bring them to justice. The warlike body marched 
 on very valiantly till near their destination, when, coming to a 
 stockade erected by the enemy, the brave volunteers in the van, 
 astonished at finding themselves resolutely opposed, turned and 
 fled ! This sudden running away threw the rear into confusion ; 
 several were killed, and others drowned or suffocated in the 
 morass. On the remainder returning to the seat of the colonial 
 government, a party of regular soldiers was sent against Kobloo; 
 but on reaching the spot they found it almost deserted. They 
 succeeded in taking one or two only of the offenders, numbers of 
 whom were, however, drowned in the swamp, or starved to death 
 in the woods, whither they had fled for security on approach of 
 the troops. The village itself was neatly laid out, and had pro- 
 bably been founded on the site of some old English or Portu- 
 guese slave-factory, as there were regular rows of fine orange- 
 trees down the centre and at the sides of the street ; and other- 
 wise the spot bore marks of former occupation by people more 
 enlio-htened than these runaway negroes. There was much 
 discussion as to whether Kobloo was within the bounds of the 
 colony or not, and consequently of the right of the local autho- 
 rities to try parties for the murder of British subjects not upon 
 British territory ; and at last it was decided that Kobloo was 
 without the colony's jurisdiction, and therefore no cognizance 
 could be taken of the matter. 
 
 A Mandingo merchant lately brought for sale a country saddle, 
 bridle, and several whips. The saddle was very flat, with a high 
 piece of wood both at back and front, covered with sheepskin 
 dyed crimson. On the seat a square piece of embossed leather 
 was stretched tight, and fastened with a round and hard knobby 
 button at each corner. There were straps for stirrups ; but none 
 appended. Except as a ponderous curiosity it could, I should 
 think, be of no use ; and I was content to obtain the bridle and 
 whips only. The bridle-reins are made of crimson leather, 
 platted like the thong of a whip, and instead of straps and 
 buckles to fasten round the horse's head there are loops and 
 buttons. The whip-handles are of knotty wood, with black 
 
LET. XXII.] MANDINGO MERCHANT. 191 
 
 leather sewed rather roughly over them, and platted crimson 
 lashes. Having shown the man my little riding-whip, he pro- 
 mised to make one according to the same pattern ; and did return 
 shortly afterwards with some very good imitations formed of 
 brilliantly dyed leather platted over bamboo instead of whale- 
 bone. Not having- enough of dollars, we made up the sum 
 required for the purchase in English money, which the wily 
 Mandingo pretended not to "savey" at all, nor w^ould indeed 
 receive, until we had called one of the workpeople, also a Ma- 
 hometan, who assured his fellow-disciple that English shillino-s 
 were " good money, — good past Spanish or American dollar." 
 
 This old Mandingo merchant has quite a Jewish cast of coun- 
 tenance, with a cunning rather than intelligent expression in the 
 keen restless eye and compressed lip ; and except in his swarthy 
 complexion has no feature resembling a negro. Encourao-ed by 
 getting his goods disposed of, he comes back occasionally Avith 
 others — such as powder-horns, roughly bound with row^s of brass 
 and what appears like thin sheet lead, though gravely declared 
 to be solid silver ; cloth caps, richly embroidered in silk of all 
 colours, and really done with great neatness ; coarse sandals ; 
 curious-looking leather bags ; and huge wooden bowls, cut out 
 of the trunk of some enormously-sized tree, almost as well as if 
 done by a turning-lathe. One of the pouches struck me as beino- 
 very ingeniously contrived. It was shaped somewhat like those 
 morocco or Russia leather reticules, with chains and clasps, 
 that 07ice were fashionable, though long since out of date — only 
 that this had flaps the same as those of a saddle, which had to be 
 lifted up ere you could put your hand into the deep pockets 
 forming the bag itself. A solid and heavy tassel, covered with 
 narrow strips of coloured leather, neatly interwoven into alter- 
 nate squares of red and black, hung from the bottom ; whilst the 
 handle was fastened by strong loops at each end to a large round 
 button, finished off in the same manner. Several smaller purses 
 drawn close by thongs, had the leather cut into chequered or 
 vandyked patterns, and were ornamented by thick frino-es. These 
 pouches are made, I believe, for the warlike service of cariyino- 
 shot. It is a sort of workmanship in which the Mandinfrnes 
 excel, and I have seen several knife or cutlass scabbards made 
 of the same stained leather. The process of tanning is performed 
 
192 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxii. 
 
 by rubbing the skins in water in which the bark of the man- 
 grove has been steeped, and both the red and black dye are ob- 
 tained from an infusion of different barks. 
 
 I have been making marmalade ! The other day M was 
 
 passino" some orange-trees laden with large fine fruit on a wild 
 hill at a spot that had once been cultivated ; and he asked the 
 man who now farms the place, and who was busy in his cassada- 
 field, why he did not take them to market. He replied, " Oh ! 
 
 massa, because them bad too much — them sour, sour." M 
 
 examined one, and, finding that they were Seville oranges, bar- 
 gained with their owner to bring me a basketful ; which he soon 
 did, evidently laughing at white people's ignorance in buying 
 oranges that were " bad too much." But the marmalade they 
 have yielded is excellent, quite diflferent in appearance and 
 flavour from that I have tasted here, made of the thin rind of 
 the sweet orange. I am told that in Brazil the kernel of the 
 cocoa-nut is prepared in the same manner, and makes a very 
 good preserve. 
 
 My pony was ill some days since, and would eat nothing. In 
 vain the young blades of the Guinea grass were carefully 
 S'athered and oflfered to it, — in vain it was coaxed to taste the 
 fresh plantain -stalk and sugar-cane that horses usually esteem 
 as good food here. It was in fair danger of dying for want of 
 nourishment, when I bethought me of our hoarded little store of 
 oatmeal that we had brought out with us, and, none of the blacks 
 understanding how to make gruel, I set to work and prepared 
 some for the poor animal, of which new delicacy it seemed 
 greatly to approve ; and every day after being put upon this 
 strange diet, it got better and better until it is now able to re- 
 sume its accustomed food, and show its gratitude by carrying me 
 over the rugged mountain-paths as fleetly and steadily as ever. 
 
 May Qth. — A small brigantine arrived yesterday with a few 
 home letters — the first mail from England since the vessel by 
 which we came out three months ago. It is a long period to 
 yearn for news of our dear and distant ones. H. M. sloops 
 
 E, and S arrived last month ; but it is a rare thing for 
 
 any man-of-war to bring a mail. I heartily wish the Admiralty 
 would allow them to do so.* 
 
 * Mails are now taken to the colony every month by H. M. ships. 
 
LET. XXII.] STORM-CURTAINS. 193 
 
 I saw lately a patch of ground planted with a particular sort 
 of small yellow gourd, of which the negroes are very fond. They 
 dry the seeds of it and pound them into a powder called "agou- 
 chee," which they use in soups, &c. It has a pretty yellow 
 flower and light green leaf, Pompions and cucumbers grow 
 plentifully liere, and the water-melon is cultivated ; but though 
 beautifid to look at with its pinked-tinged icy pulp, I think it 
 by no means a safe fruit for Europeans to eat in this climate. 
 Tornadoes have begun some time since. The wind from the sea 
 beats so furiously at one end, and that from the land at the other 
 end, of our front piazza, that we have fixed iron rods across, 
 several feet from each end window, and hung up storm-curtains, 
 which can be drawn backwards and forwards as the weather de- 
 mands. We brought out common holland sun-blinds, which 
 are quite an improvement, even in appearance, as the windows 
 in this part of the world look so odd and staring for want of a 
 recess at that part of the thin wooden walls where they are 
 placed. 
 
194 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxiii. 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 
 Acrue — The " Rains " — Baobabs — Village Church and Congregation — 
 Melancholy Loss of a Boat — A Morning Walk — Early Market- goers 
 
 Gradual Distaste of Europeans for African Vegetables — Dogs — 
 
 Unfrequency of Communication with England a great privation. 
 
 June 26th. 
 
 Ague is the order of the day with us all here — a tiresome com- 
 plaint ! yet one of which seasoned Europeans think nothing, as 
 during its sway we seldom dream of sending for medical advice. 
 However, it and the "rains" together keep me rather a close 
 prisoner in the house at present. You have often heard of the 
 baobab,* or celebrated sour gourd-tree of Senegal, with its 
 enormous trunk that can be hollowed out into chambers ? I have 
 lately seen its singular-looking flower. It hangs from a very 
 thick and strong footstalk about a quarter of a yard in length. 
 The calyx is of a texture resembling plush, pale green outside 
 and cream-colour within. It has a very disagreeable perfume. 
 This tree is commonly called the monkey-bread ; but whether 
 from its fruit being eaten by these animals, or because when hang- 
 ing from the boughs it somewhat reminds one of a young monkey 
 suspended by its tail, I cannot tell. It is an oval-shaped sort of 
 nut, twice as large as the most gigantic apple or pear which ever 
 grew, with the outside of the brittle shell covered with a rough 
 substance like the nap of coarse woollen cloth. On breaking 
 the husk, we find the seeds encased in a white farina of a plea- 
 sant acid taste, each layer of which is preserved by strong 
 woody fibres. The fruit is ripe about April, when the inside 
 is quite dry and mealy ; and in this state it is not only good to 
 eat raw, but the natives of the country around the Gambia 
 make of it a cooling and nourishing fever-food they call reu-a. 
 The baobab grows abundantly there, and small vessels sometimes 
 
 * Adansonia digitata. 
 
LET. XXIII.] BAOBABS— VILLAGE CHURCH. 195 
 
 come here from the Gambia, partly laden with its farina, which 
 is eagerly bought up by the Joliffes of Freetown. 
 
 We have one young specimen growing under the w^estern 
 parapet, and which I often find stripped of its beautiful green 
 leaves by our servants, wiio use them in their soup as a vegetable 
 possessing the gelatinous property of the okra. The leaf is very 
 like that of the pullam cotton-tree. The baobabs, from which I 
 have obtained both flowers and fruit, stand on Mount Oriel, and, 
 except in the richness and hue of their foliage, or when covered 
 with their ornamental blossoms, are not at all fine objects — 
 trunk and branches alike being in their massive thickness quite 
 out of proportion to the height of the tree. After a short reign 
 of the harmattan the leaves fall off, and it is then that tlie un- 
 gainly form of the stem and boughs strikes the eye as a frame- 
 work made to stand riveted to the ground during the storm and 
 tempest of succeeding centuries. It is said this tree attracts 
 liohtnino', for which reason the neQ;-roes do not allow it to remain 
 near their dwellings. The dimensions of the trunks of the 
 baobabs growing in the colony by no means convey any idea of 
 the great size they are said to attain in the Senegal. 
 
 Thanks to the Zigzag road, I was able one day ere the 
 setting in of the wet season to ride to church at Gloucester. It 
 was a gloomy but cool morning ; and at ten o'clock we mounted 
 our horses, proceeded leisurely through our own shady bush- 
 paths, ascended the Zigzag, turned into the Queen's higiiway, 
 and in due time entered the village. The huts there are almost 
 all built on an elevation at each end of the winding road, which 
 is carried over two ravines, both forming beds for noisy moun- 
 tain brooks, crossed by rude bridges made of planks. The 
 descent into these dells and ascent out of them are equally steep 
 and sudden, requiring a sure-footed steed. 
 
 The village is entirely composed of embowered negro-dwell- 
 ino-s, with the exception of two houses built of stone, with 
 painted wooden verandahs ; one formerly the Liberated African 
 Department of the parish, the otiier the clergy^man's abode. 
 The church is a neat building, and would be thought unpretend- 
 ing- and plain even to meanness at home ; but here, amongst the 
 thatched huts, it looks very conspicuous, with its dark shingled 
 roof, large windows, and nicely whitewashed stone walls. We 
 
 o2 
 
196 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxiii 
 
 passed a yet smaller and more humble-looking place of worship 
 — the meeting-house of the Wesleyan Methodists; and then, 
 climbing the hill, at last reached the open door of the church. 
 
 A respectably-dressed black man, who seemed by his garb and 
 demeanour to be an official, pointed out the seat to which we 
 were to go : and as we walked up the narrow passage, I noticed 
 many of the women had infants strapped upon their backs. 
 Some of the little things could not have been above a few months 
 old ; and yet there the mothers knelt, quietly and attentively, 
 only, as the children became restless, lulling them again by a 
 shaking movement of the body. The men sat on benches in one 
 part of the building, the women at another; the schoolboys 
 occupied a small gallery ; whilst round the rails of the altar, at 
 one side of which in the clergyman's pew^ (and the only one the 
 church contains) we sat, were ranged children, many of them 
 evidently not more than two or three years old, and even they 
 conducted themselves with grave decorum. But, indeed, a black 
 beadle, armed with a long wand, kept strict watch over them, 
 going round to all who showed the slightest symptoms of impa- 
 tience or weariness, and giving them some pretty smart taps on 
 their heads. As they sat immediately in front of us, it was im- 
 possible not to observe these infant w^orshippers particularly; and 
 they looked all perfectly clean and neat in their little scanty 
 frocks of blue baft or coarse print, most of which had, however, 
 body and sleeves of a pattern different from the skirt ; while 
 some had the letters of the alphabet and a name carefully 
 worked en tablier, in that particular stitch known to all little 
 girls who have mastered their first sampler as " eyelet stitch." 
 
 We had a plain and emphatic sermon, well suited to the 
 
 capacity of its hearers ; the service was occasionally somewhat 
 
 interrupted by the crying of the babies ; yet as, unless they too 
 
 be taken to church, the mothers cannot go themselves, it would 
 
 be a great pity, for the veri/ trifling distraction of attention this 
 
 practice occasions, to have it altered. A strange peculiarity in 
 
 the people's voices caused each response to end with a loud 
 
 hissing sound, which rendered the singing especially harsh. But 
 
 it w^as very pleasing to notice that the little children were the 
 
 first to raise their young voices in the psalm or hymn ; so that 
 
 even on this limited Ciiristian spot of a heathen land are found 
 
LET. XXIII.] CHURCH AND CONGREGATION- 197 
 
 those who prove the truth of these words — ^' Out of the mouths 
 of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise." The devout 
 attention which was manifested by all — their sober and respectful 
 demeanour — their rteat and suitable apparel — were alike credit- 
 able to themselves and gratifying to us. AYhat a witness they 
 bear to the patient and untiring zeal of many missionaries, whose 
 earthly lives have formed the price at which tliis civilization has 
 been bought ! 
 
 We entered the clergyman's house by a long outside flight of 
 steps, which had an English look, despite the roughness of their 
 structure, with the balsams, roses, and other cultivated flowers, 
 that were in full bloom in pots and boxes ranged up one side. 
 The apartment into which we were shown luxuriated in the sea- 
 breeze that was wafted in ; whilst the heat of the sun was com- 
 pletely curtained out at one window by the thickly-spreading 
 leaves of a stately orange-tree, and partly at another by the 
 graceful branches of the mango. Before the other windows rose 
 a living picture — a green hill-side, studded over with the village 
 huts, interspersed with foliage rich in the thousand glowing tints 
 of the rainy season. The view was lovelj^, after the grand yet 
 wild river and mountain scenery on w^hich we had gazed with 
 admiration during our morning's ride ; and there was a sweetness 
 and simplicity about this patch of, as it were, more artificial 
 landscape, which, notwithstanding the foreign aspect of the lowly 
 dwellings with their bamboo roofs and wattled walls, reminded 
 us of some rural hamlet in our own distant and civilized country. 
 
 July 5th. — We heard this morning of a most appalling acci- 
 dent having occurred j^esterday, in which the colonial chaplain 
 and four other individuals were drowned. They had gone out 
 
 in a small boat to the G emigrant transport, and after 
 
 spending some time on board were returning, when, about two 
 miles from the cape, the boat was upset, and all perished, except 
 two or three black men, who swam until picked up by a fisiiing- 
 canoe. The story they give is very lamentable. It would seem 
 that, owing to some mismanagement on the part of an American 
 sailor who was steering, a sudden squall cauglit the sail, which 
 unfortunately ^vas lashed to the tiller, and the boat instantly 
 shipped a heavy sea. All sprang forward, theKroomen clinging 
 in alarm to the mast ; when the next lurch poured in another 
 
198 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxiii. 
 
 sheet of the overwhelming water, upon which Mr. clasped 
 
 his hands, and prayed for nriercy upon them all. Others at- 
 tempted to prepare for their contest with the waves by throwing 
 off some of their garments ; but no time was given, for the boat 
 — which was of the particular build called by sailors " a death " 
 — almost immediately went down. Oh ! how awful mu>t the 
 terrors of these last moments have been ! How awful to be the 
 one minute in health and life, the next in eternity ! One of the 
 men who brought the melancholy news says he seized a loose 
 plank, which served as a seat, and several of the rest swam for a 
 few minutes, but, alas ! the burthen of tlieir clothes soon weighed 
 them down, and the last was seen to sink after the fishing-canoe 
 had been descried which rescued the others. Never has any 
 accident excited so painful and terrible an interest in this grave 
 of Europeans before. I hear that some think it strange that out 
 of eleven people none save blacks should have been saved ; but 
 there is nothing remarkable in this when it is remembered their 
 clothing was so different. The unfortunate men who lost their 
 lives were all wrapped up for a storm in cloaks and blanket 
 dresses, while the others wore nothing more than the usual garb 
 of native boatmen. Last night the dreadful accounts were in 
 Freetown, and literally, it may be said, " the voice of mouriiing 
 was heard in the streets," for the natives raised the same wild 
 wailing sound they do when any of their own people die, and 
 which they call " making cry for them." Although some hours 
 had elapsed from the time of the accident until the news reached 
 town, at least one boat with lanterns went out to where the 
 other had been swamped, in the hope that, if the tidings of 
 the loss of all were indeed too true, nevertheless the bodies 
 might perhaps be found. But the search has been vain ; and 
 they who M^ere but yesterday as full of earthly hope as ourselves, 
 can be seen no more until " the sea shall give up her dead." 
 
 27th. — Just after sunrise this morning I accompanied M ■ 
 
 in a walk up the Zigzag, down the Regent-road, and home again 
 through the more level path that leads round by the bamboos, 
 being altogether about two miles — a good stretch for this cli- 
 mate. But the morning was so delightfully cool during the 
 climbing part of the way, I did not feel at all tired. Upon tlie 
 flat summit of the Zigzag hill, which was before covered with 
 
LET. xxiii.J EARLY MARKET-GOERS. 199 
 
 tall Guinea grass, several large patches have been cleared and 
 planted with arrowroot,* the leaf of which, though more reedy- 
 like, glossy, and upright, reminds me of*that of the lily of 
 the valley. The flower is a delicate little white blossom, and a 
 small field of it is altogether a pretty-looking object. I was 
 greatly amused by the groups of women going to market ; and 
 they seemed in the zenith of astonishment at seeing me walking 
 on the road so very early. I confess rather liking to receive the 
 cordial lionest " good-morrows " of these primitive sort of people, 
 and they were not wanting as we passed. Here one dimi- 
 nutive fi^-ure of an ancient ma-amie, in blue baft petticoat and 
 white country cloth round her shoulders, trotted along under 
 the burthen of a huge basket of cassada ; there, another and 
 younger one — with a little woolly head peeping from behind 
 under the arm raised to steady the bly heaped over wdth balls of 
 foo-foo — walked with rather a graceful step in spite of the double 
 load ; while, farther on, a party of three young girls, dressed 
 with much care in bright colours, and wearing strings of trans- 
 parent green glass beads as a set-off to their complexions, moved 
 with a grave, slow step and erect carriage, never, even in the 
 steepest and roughest part of the road, lifting their hands to 
 balance the shining calabash basins or small round baskets carried 
 on their heads. These baskets were filled wath light commo- 
 dities, such as bananas and plantains (of course I mean in small 
 bunches of six or eight broken off the parent bunch, as it is 
 often between thirty and forty pounds in weight), ground-nuts, 
 pineapples, and green leaves. Bronze-like elves, with no other 
 garments than coarse, short, blue-chequered shirts, sped quickly 
 on, most of them with little blies of Indian corn and coco-roots ; 
 and we met two such coming up from town, one with a load of 
 dried fish — his companion witli a very large and (notwithstand- 
 ing its contents) clean-looking bottle-gourd, t full of palm-oil. 
 Being Saturday — the chief market-day here — numbers of men, 
 some with rough planks, billets of firewood, bundles of fagots, 
 long straight sticks for hut-posts ; others with perhaps a rude 
 country table, sofa, or couple of chairs; besides many more with 
 bunches of grass, baskets of yams, &c. &c., were wending their 
 May to the grand emporium of Sierra Leone. 
 
 * Maranta arundiaacea. f Cucurbita lagenaria. 
 
200 KESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxiii. 
 
 Seeino- some very fine yams in one woman's bly, I proposed to 
 buy them from her, and she— evidently delighted at getting rid 
 of her merchandise so readily— very willingly agreed, and fol- 
 lowed us up to the house with my purchase. But our Aku cook, 
 who always makes the markets, looked, although he said nothing, 
 as if by no means pleased at my having for once encroached 
 upon his prerogative. 
 
 Our small garden flourishes nicely this season, and we take the 
 same interest in raising carrots, turnips, French-beans, Brussels- 
 sprouts, and celery, that you do in tending your fuchsias and 
 geraniums. We have some boxes, it is true, of beautiful little 
 rose-trees, but we have a greater number filled with pot-herbs ! 
 I no longer think African vegetables so good as I did at first, 
 unless it be, perhaps, the usually despised cassada ; nor do I even 
 care now for tropical fruits— always excepting oranges and (in 
 their season) mangoes. I believe it is the same with most Eu- 
 ropeans after a residence of a few years in this country. 
 
 A little Encrlish dog we got some months ago has just died. 
 These animals when brought from colder climates do not thrive 
 here ; and the blacks steal them to kill and eat. But is it not 
 a comfortable reflection that, amidst all the half-wild, half-starved 
 native dogs to be seen here, no instance of one being mad has 
 ever been known at Sierra Leone ? 
 
 November 26th. — On the 23rd came in the " Greenhow," the 
 first vessel from England that has dropped anchor in the har- 
 bour since the 19th of August. Being so many months without 
 hearing from home is one of the greatest privations we have. 
 Every one in the colony shared in the general anxiety for home 
 
 news. M tells me when he was here at a former period, 
 
 above four months have sometimes elapsed without a vessel 
 arriving from England ! 
 
LET. XXIV.] HAEMATTAX— HOUSEHOLD REVOLUTION. 201 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 Horrors of the Harmattan — Household Revolution — Natti-barra — Mistakes 
 made by domestic Novices — Visit of a Bride — Negro mode of Washing. 
 
 January 26th, 1845. 
 The harmattan has blown steadily for the last fortnight. It is 
 said that it especially favours new comers, but is rather against 
 old residents. I suppose I am entitled to rank with the latter 
 now ; but, indeed, though it is generally extolled as being a 
 healthy wind, I have never found it so. Its only good qualities 
 I can discover are, that it cools the water, wine, &c., and dries 
 up all damp paper : I have aired the contents of my writing- 
 desk, as well as those of my wardrobe, in its parching blast ; and 
 there it certainly is of service. 
 
 A great revolution has lately taken place in my household 
 kingdom. Sarah having married and gone to a house of her own, 
 her place is filled by a recently emancipated little African girl, 
 whom I got a few weeks ere Sarah left, that she might initiate 
 tlie new Aku maiden into the mysteries of lier novel situation. 
 She appears to be about eleven years of age, has a pleasins: ex- 
 pression of countenance, with a sweet soft voice, neither of which 
 are common to the Aku nation. She can speak no English, 
 being now not a month landed from a slave-ship, and is, as you 
 may understand, in a state of pristine barbarism. Her country 
 name was Natti-barra, and I have given her the more euphonious 
 one of Lucy Barrow, of which she appears very proud. On 
 first coming up she was quite afraid of me, and it seems actually 
 imagined I would eat her ! a dread which wondrously soon wore 
 off, and she is now always laugliing and singing. She appears 
 as if she would learn, tliough evincing her readiness of imitation 
 in rather inconvenient ways at times. For instance, she had 
 been shown how to wash rice, vermicelli, &c., previous to its 
 being sent down to the cook, and I found one evening that I 
 was called away whilst about to make tea, that she had seized 
 
202 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxiv. 
 
 the cup and carefully soaked its contents in cold water ere I 
 went back, no doubt thinking that, tea being so much darker 
 looking, it stood in greater need of washing than the other things. 
 Many laughable mistakes occur with such novices for one's 
 attendants. This reminds me of a similar anecdote. Shortly 
 after a newly liberated and clever little Nufi boy had been added 
 to our domestic establishment, we found it impossible to drink 
 the tea I had just poured out, it tasting of nothing except salt. 
 On inquiry I discovered that this boy, fancying the white powder 
 used at dessert was salt (a prized rarity with the negroes of the 
 interior — two small wicker hampers of it being in some places 
 the price of a wife !) — had, unnoticed by the other servants, 
 emptied the saltcellars into the sugar-basin, which happened that 
 day to contain pounded sugar. 
 
 Sarah, decked in all her bridal finery, came up to visit me 
 yesterday. She wore a chequered white muslin dress, with pre- 
 posterously wide sleeves ; a red woollen petticoat shining beneath 
 the muslin ; a yellow-spotted silk handkerchief for a shawl ; a 
 Dunstable bonnet, trimmed with white ribbons, and a coarse 
 white veil over it. Two silver rings, gilt earrings and neck- 
 chain, formed her jewellery. In one hand she held a capacious 
 silk umbrella to do duty as parasol ; in the other, a small coarse 
 cotton pocket-handkerchief, with equally coarse cotton edging. 
 Her hair was frizzed out in the most extraordinary fashion, and 
 actually bound round with a narrow velvet ribbon, while two 
 large side-combs, more for ornament than use, were stuck over 
 each ear. Shoes and stockings completed the costume, of which 
 its wearer seemed not a little proud, as, complaining of the heat 
 of the stove in her old apartment, the back piazza, she went 
 out and paraded up and down under the orange-trees with an air 
 of conscious dignity, attended by her sister-in-law, a plainly 
 dressed and rather nice-looking Creole (as all the children of 
 liberated Africans, born after their parents' arrival in the colony, 
 style themselves), who, as if fully aware of the great difference 
 in their respective situations, humbly followed her new relative 
 at the distance of a few paces. 
 
 I miss Sarah's services in many ways. She had learnt to be a 
 very good needlewoman, and was an invaluable assistant at the 
 mendings and makings which the negro system of washing 
 
LET. XXIV.] NEGRO MODE OF WASHING. 203 
 
 renders constantly necessary. Choosing a convenient spot upon 
 which to stand in the brook, the washerwomen here, with some- 
 times a baby on their backs, and another paddling at their feet 
 among the crabs and minnows, either take up a portable and 
 tolerably smooth stone, and apply it as if it were a pestle in a 
 mortar to the piece of linen spread out on the rocky channel of 
 the shallow stream ; or else, lifting with both arms the doomed 
 table-cloth, or whatever it may be, high in the air, dash it down 
 repeatedly on the stones with as much force as if it were a sledge- 
 hammer, and with nearly as much noise. The sound of this 
 beating, or, as they call it, *' pounding" of clothes, is incessant, 
 and the mode of washing universal to all classes of the blacks, so 
 that even the most liberal outfit, ere many months pass over, 
 shows symptoms of approximating into a state of rags. Indeed, 
 without the aid of machinery, our laundresses could in an in- 
 credibly short space of time reduce a good strong piece of cloth 
 into the pulp you have seen at a paper-mill. The only redeem- 
 ing point so ruinous a method has, is its being so very picturesque. 
 The brook that separates Mount Oriel from this hill is a favourite 
 resort with these good folks, who venture as high up its banks 
 as they can, until awed by the murky recesses of our " bush" in 
 the ravine, which their imagination peoples with snakes and 
 alligators. The clear sparkling water, released from its mountain- 
 hold, and bounding down with a song of glee to mingle with 
 the waves of the blue estuary, refreshing the plants of many a 
 humble garden-plot in its course, and shaded by the broad ever- 
 green leaves of the banana and plantain, conveys the delicious 
 idea of never-ceasing coolness even under this tropical sun ; 
 while the busy groups of women and children, the sound of their 
 merry voices, the monotonous and eciioing beat of their occupa- 
 tion, give a liveliness to the scene that contrasts pleasantly with 
 the silence and solitude of the hills around. 
 
204 KESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxv. 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 Moonlight — A Tornado — Difficulty of civilizing a Barbarian — Fanyah 
 — Flower-seeds — Associations with the Names of particular Flowers — 
 Gardenias — A Vision of British Scenery. 
 
 March 25th. 
 
 On the ni2:lit of the 19th we had the first tornado of the season. 
 It was lovely moonlight, so that I could see the white sails of a 
 vessel gleaming- on the dark surface of the water, as far out as 
 the cape ; but on looking out about eleven o'clock, a light-grey 
 shadowy fog seemed creeping stealthily down from Mount Oriel, 
 as if to overwhelm our hill. Some moaning gusts came and 
 went, and then all was obscured in the black cloud of the whirl- 
 wind, as with its wrathful voice it swept over us, shaking the 
 poor house unmercifully in its giant teeth, 
 
 I told you in my last of my new attendant Natti-barra, or 
 Lucy. After a trial of nearly two months I found the task 
 of teaching her to be useful in the house, quite beyond my 
 abilities. Instead of making up the beds, sweeping and dusting 
 the rooms, she used either to ftoj) down upon a stuff-bottomed 
 chair, and commence beating the cushion of another as if it had 
 been a tom-tom, or would stand before the dressing-glass making 
 grimaces of delight at her own likeness, jumping and capering 
 there for half-hours together. To learning the use of a 
 needle Lucy preferred taking up the pens on my writing-table, 
 deluging them with ink, and scrawling all sorts of hieroglyphics 
 on whatever paper or even book lay in her way. She was, 
 besides, as mischievously inclined to pilfer as any magpie ; there- 
 fore I gave up the ambitious attempt of civilizing a barbarian, 
 thankful to obtain one comparatively quite " finished " at school; 
 and now more than ever I think with admiration of the missionaries 
 and school-teachers, who, with their good wives, have all the 
 trouble of rough-polishing these wild native children and fashion- 
 ing them into that which, however removed from our ideas of 
 
LET. XXV.] FLOWER-SEEDS. 20.5 
 
 what is useful and industrious, is still strikingly superior to the 
 rudeness, ignorance, and indolence of their aboriginal state. 
 
 Being too ill to go out myself, Mrs. was kind enough to 
 
 select for me a girl of eight years old from one of the village- 
 schools. She is a Sarah too ; but I shall distinguish her by her 
 country name of " Fanyab," which besides is the prettiest of the 
 two. She is a stout-made little thing, with particularly plain 
 features, but fine large intelligent and good-tempered eyes. She 
 has been three years in the colony, can read tolerably well, sew 
 neatly enough, and seems very quiet, though rather slow and 
 untidy. She and the little Nufi boy Dan are such mere children, 
 that I teach both of them to work with a needle, as well as to 
 read and write ; and after the lamps are lighted of an evening, 
 they sit down by themselves in high spirits to their lessons with 
 books and slates. I like hearing their young voices sounding 
 merrily after their day's employments are over. The boy has 
 quite a good idea of copying large printed letters of the alphabet, 
 and shades them in with his pencil until they are black as the 
 originals. 
 
 I am making a collection of flower-seeds for you, which I 
 hope to send home in a few weeks. Beautiful and curious as are 
 the blossoms of many of the shrubs and plants of the " bush,'* 
 people accustomed to the full, rich, double flowers of English 
 gardens, detect, with few exceptions, amidst all the simplicity 
 and delicacy of some, and the bright colours and rare forms of 
 others here, a poverty of appearance that seems to plead the 
 want of cidtivation ; and so far as my observation extends, there 
 are few, if any, coloured blossoms possessing the least fragrance, 
 the scented flowers being almost always white, though it by no 
 means follows that all the white-petalled plants are odoriferous. 
 
 Orange and lime blossoms are familiar to everybody. That 
 of the coffee-plant does not rank far beneath them ; but while 
 the former are associated in our ideas with love, youth, and 
 bridal hope, would not the vision of a West Indian planter and 
 his negroes — or at least of a city shopkeeper making up brown - 
 paper parcels of groceries — rise up before the mind's eye, did 
 we attempt the introduction of "a wreath of co//ee-blossoms " 
 into our sentimental ballads ? while the pretty pink-white flower 
 of tobacco is doomed to neglect from the same cause. 
 
206 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxv. 
 
 One tree bears a large cream-coloured bell of velvety texture, 
 with a long fleshy tongue exactly like an ivory ear-pendant 
 hanging from its centre. The viscous juice by which the seeds 
 are surrounded is what the natives use to mark their faces with 
 patterns a degree more jetty than even their complexions. I 
 have heard it said that this plant was originally brought here 
 from Australia ; but as it is found abundantly in the wildest 
 part of the " bush," and in some instances has attained a con- 
 siderable height, I am inclined to think it indigenous to the 
 climate.* 
 
 We have one rare and beautiful trumpet-shaped white flower 
 I distinguish by the name of the " tree-lily." This pendulous 
 blossom is eight inches long.f 
 
 Flowers are one of the gifts of nature for which we should be 
 grateful ; there is something about them so cheerful, refreshing, 
 and innocent, as well as lovely : but though I always try to look 
 on the sunny side of things, there are times here, even in the 
 dry and comparatively safe season, that sorrow to see the failing 
 health of others, to say nothing of the weakness of my own 
 frame, contrives to shroud every visible object in a gloomy hue. 
 It is then that the noble land and water-scenery, with all its 
 adjuncts of magnificent flowers, rare plants, brilliant- plumaged 
 birds, and strange insects ; seems but a miserable and paltry com- 
 pensation for the wearing-out anxiety and suffering caused by 
 the climate to which they all owe their beauty ; and the rebellious 
 thoughts turn away equally with the eyes from the everlasting 
 tropic glare ; or dwell more on the neglected, uncultivated, and 
 even desolate portion of the landscape before you ; while a con- 
 trast presents itself to your memory, that causes you to long for 
 the pillions of a bird to bear you over that blue ocean — for one 
 thankful gaze at the broad pastures of old England, with their 
 smooth green carpet spangled with primroses, buttercups, and 
 
 * In the 31st volume of the ' Botanical Register ' is a plate of another 
 variety of this plant, and a description of what I think must be the above- 
 mentioned bell-flower, there named after Mr. Whitfield, the well-known 
 botanist, " Gardenia Whitfieldii." 
 
 t I cannot find out, by comparing my dried and now blackened specimens 
 with the beautiful plates in the ' Botanical Register,' whether this homely- 
 termed "tree-lily" be the there-designated "Gardenia Stanleyana " or 
 " Gardenia Devoniana," but am inclined to believe the latter. 
 
LET. XXV.] VISION OF BRITISH SCENERY. 207 
 
 daisies, and enlivened by herds of cattle ; the furrowed fields 
 where the husbandman is blithely ploughing or sowing ; the 
 white church-spires, busy homesteads, and ivy-covered cottages, 
 that speak of piety and peace, content, comfort, and plenty ; 
 the hedgerows of budding hawthorn, with their grassy banks 
 underneath all bright with violets, cowslips, and Wordsworth's 
 *' little celandine;" the moist shady dells, with their hoards of 
 wild hyacinths, wood anemones, and cuckoo-flowers, which you 
 can stoop down and gather, unchecked alike by tangled masses 
 of riotous and briery jungle, or the fear of snakes ; for one long 
 look at the blooming heather, the broomy hollows, the furze- 
 covered knowes of the familiar but far distant 
 
 " Land of the mountain and the flood," 
 
 with its rich and verdant lowlands, and its own especial grandeur 
 of Highland scenery ! Oh ! how doubly beautiful do the cul- 
 tivated fields, the wide meadows, the stately woods, the green 
 lanes, the purple and golden hills, and the pure healthsome rivers 
 of our own happy country appear, as they pass in clear review 
 before the mind's eye, while before the bodily eye all the time 
 lie stretched out the lonely sierras, the swampy plains, the 
 mangrove-bordered creeks, and the rank vegetation of the 
 noxious western coast of Africa ! 
 
208 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxvi. 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 Slavers — Contested Cases— Equipment Articles— Evasion of the Treaties 
 by Slave Captains — Mixed Commission Courts — H. M. S. Cruisers — 
 Slave Trade — Names of captured Vessels. 
 
 April 30th, 1845. 
 
 Vessels seized for being engaged in the slave-trade come in 
 almost daily. Sometimes they are full of tlieir miserable human 
 freight, and then, of course, there is no difficulty in having them 
 condemned and the negroes emancipated ; but oftener they 
 are merely " equipped for the traffic," being captured before 
 they enter a slave-port, or when lying there at anchor waiting to 
 receive slaves. In the latter case it is astonishing to find, not- 
 withstanding every palpable proof of the nature of the vessel, 
 how her captain and seamen deny at their examination that they 
 were on a slaving expedition, not unfrequently going so far as to 
 employ counsel to defend their cause. They protest against the 
 leo-ality of the capture, more especially if the vessel be Brazilian, 
 as they adapt the wording of our treaty with Brazil as if a 
 slaver were liable to confiscation only when seized with slaves on 
 
 board. 
 
 Happily, however, the treaty does prohibit the subjects of the 
 empire engaging in the slave-trade in "any manner whatsoever," 
 and therefore many thousands of the poor negroes have been 
 saved from being carried into bondage by the vessel, previous to 
 embarking them, being seized and condemned. 
 
 These "contested cases," as they are called, usually prove 
 both tedious and troublesome, as, even when there is not the 
 slightest moral doubt as to the objects of the voyage on which 
 the prize was taken, still, owing to the precautions resorted to 
 by the slave-dealers to evade the terms of the treaty by substi- 
 tuting other articles for those forbidden to be carried, with 
 innumerable other artifices, I believe it is no easy matter at 
 times to put forward enough of proof to admit of a legal con- 
 demnation. , 
 
LET. XXVI.] SLAVERS— EQUIPMENT ARTICLES. 209 
 
 The articles of equipment, specified by our treaty with Spain 
 as oriving- cause for detention of vessels sailing^ under the flag: of 
 that country, are — a slave-deck laid, or a quantity of planks 
 fit to be used for that purpose ; shackles and handcuffs ; bolts or 
 bars, used for securing the hatchways ; hatches with open grat- 
 ings, so as to give air to the unfortunate beings confined below ; 
 more divisions or bulkheads than are necessary for merchant- 
 vessels ; a larger quantity of farina or rice, of water and w^ater- 
 casks, and of mess-kits or wooden bowls, than is required for 
 the crew ; also a boiler of great size. 
 
 The slave- dealer, however, substitutes mats, or even grass 
 strewn on the top of water-casks, for a slave-deck, or it may 
 be sand or hides ; little woven baskets instead of mess-kits ; a 
 great many small cooking utensils in place of the interdicted 
 boiler. Then jerked beef, coarse biscuit, calavances or beans, 
 yams, Indian corn, in large quantities, render those of the ob- 
 jectionable farina and rice less ; while often during the chase 
 great part of the provisions, as well as the slave-irons and other 
 suspicious articles, with sometimes flag and papers besides, are 
 thrown overboard. 
 
 Thus there are frequently scarcely any of those equipment 
 articles found on board, while again there may be others not 
 specified by the treaty, and yet whose presence is enough to 
 indicate the vessel's real character — such as an excessive quantity 
 of firewood, many dozens of tin or wooden spoons, a large brick- 
 lined fireplace with a moveable top, that, on being lifted, 
 would admit of boilers being placed over the fire ; medicines 
 in excess ; casks of vinegar ; syphons, or long tin suckers used 
 by the slaves to drink from the leaguers, so as to avoid the 
 waste of water occasioned by their struggling and pushing 
 when permitted to drink out of iron cups ; wooden clappers, 
 used instead of a bell to summon the slaves to their meals, 
 and to warn them to desist when quarrelling or makin^ a 
 noise. 
 
 Another circumstance betraying engagement in the illicit 
 traffic is a crew far exceeding in number what is necessary to 
 navigate the vessel as a merchant-man ; the sailors being entered, 
 too, at an enormous rate of wages. Having guns mounted on 
 board is also more than suspicious : whilst sometimes the nature 
 
 p 
 
210 EESIDENCE AT SIEREA LEONE. [let.'xxvi. 
 
 of the cargo, and often its total absence, afford a clue to the real 
 objects of the voyage. 
 
 Then there is a build peculiar to almost all the craft now 
 employed in the slave-trade — a long, low, sharp hull, with 
 slender and sloping masts, than which nothing that sails can 
 look more graceful on the water, the effect being heightened by 
 the body of the ship being generally painted black, whilst the 
 canvas is more dazzlingly white than that used by English vessels. 
 A schooner or brigantine being fitted for and carrying sweeps — 
 gigantic oars, easily worked by the slaves or large crew carried by 
 a slaver, and which enable her to make way during a calm or in 
 light winds — is another outward mark that cannot deceive. 
 Yet even when nearly all these proofs exist, the ingenuity, 
 or rather the effrontery, of the slave-captain appears in the 
 excuses he puts forth in his own evidence. The surplus crew he 
 terms passengers ; the slave-deck is laid for free emigrants to 
 be obtained sometimes on the coast of Brazil, or perhaps at 
 the Azores ; the excess of water-casks and provisions of the 
 kind used solely by captive negroes are merely for the con- 
 sumption of the emigrants, or else are said to form part of the 
 vessel's cargo, or the leaguers were to be filled with palm-oil, 
 of which the return lading was to consist. To the query, why 
 his vessel was found so far out of his pretended course as to be 
 about entering some one of the noted slave-haunts in the bights, 
 he replies that either contrary winds or currents have driven her 
 in that direction, or she had sprung her mast, or otherwise re- 
 ceived damage in a heavy gale, and was accordingly obliged to 
 put into the nearest port for repairs — that nearest port always 
 chancing very conveniently to be Lagos, Whydah, Angola, 
 Ambriz, or Cabinda. The plausible apology for too large a 
 hatchway is that the vessel was originally built for carrying 
 sugar among the West Indian islands, or on the coast of Brazil, 
 and which, being packed in long boxes, could not be got into the 
 hold at a smaller hatchway ; and as for mats, " Oh ! they were 
 to be laid over the sand ballast, and a cargo of salt stowed upon 
 them." 
 
 The word " slave " is carefully eschewed in the correspond- 
 ence found on board these prizes, and all pains taken, by am- 
 biguous wording, to mislead and deceive the captors into the 
 
LET. XXVI.] MIXED COMMISSION COURTS. 211 
 
 belief that the lading destined to be shipped was a legal one. They 
 talk of a cargo of " salt," "^ palm-oil," " country cloths," " cam- 
 wood," or '• wax, ivory, and gold-dust;" when perhaps the in- 
 junction to obtain enough of provisions is all the clue afforded 
 by the papers to the .real nature of the intended return cargo. 
 " Bales " used to be a favourite and common term for slaves, until 
 the real signification became too well known. The postscript of 
 a letter found in a vessel employed in that most inhuman of all 
 traffics is sufficiently amusing : " Please let tiie bale be a female." 
 
 " Cakes of wax" and " kolas" are also used to designate 
 slaves. 
 
 At times even when no negroes have been found on board at 
 the period of capture, but the equipment too complete to admit 
 of any dispute, the master and seamen freely admit on their 
 examinations that they came to the coast on a slaving adventure, 
 and so save an immense deal of labour and trouble to the adju- 
 dicating parties. 
 
 Latterly, however, some of the merest nutshells of vessels 
 under the Brazilian flag, with little beyond excess of water-casks 
 and fuel, and crews more than double what would be sufficient 
 in lawful traders of the same size, have been sent in here for 
 trial ; and though they may have goods on board suited only to 
 the slave-market, and consigned from one well-known slave- 
 dealer in Brazil to another on this coast whose name is equally 
 notorious, the real fact of their being concerned in the illegal 
 traffic is found no easy task directly to prove. 
 
 It always has been proved as yet, nevertheless ; and since 
 coming out this last time, I rejoice at not having seen even one 
 of these misery-spreading craft released. 
 
 The civilians connected with putting down the slave-trade 
 comprise the Judges and Registrar, or Secretary, of the Courts 
 of Mixed Commission, with their respective clerks. 
 
 After a period of eight years of actual service at Sierra Leone, 
 the Commissioners and Registrar are entitled to retiring pen- 
 sions. Previously to 1835 the period of service was six years, 
 under which arransrement two commissioners did survive to 
 
 o 
 
 obtain their retirins;' salaries, and these two are the sole instances 
 of a pension having been claimed by any officer of the Mixed 
 Commissions since the establishment of the Courts in 1819 — a 
 
 p2 
 
212 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxvr. 
 
 speaking proof of the fatal nature of the climate, against which 
 all Europeans who come out here have to combat. 
 
 After the term of twelve years' service the commissioners' 
 clerks have likewise retiring allowances, which, however, not 
 one of them as yet has lived to claim. .^The registrar's clerks 
 have no pension. 
 
 There is a surgeon to the Courts merely to visit the slaves 
 before emancipation. There is also a marshal, whose duty it is 
 to visit and report the newly-arrived slaver, and take charge of 
 her until she is broken up or sold ; a commissioner of appraise- 
 ment and sale, who arranges in lots and sells by auction the 
 prize and her cargo ; two surveyors, who survey the detained 
 vessel, and send in their report of her equipment ; an admeasurer, 
 who measures the ship to ascertain her tonnage, on which the 
 captors are entitled to receive bounty ; and a translator of 
 Spanish and Portuguese (when a proficient in these languages is 
 to be found, otherwise the Judges translate as they best can 
 themselves). All these subordinate officers, with the exception 
 of the surgeon, have no fixed salary, but are paid by fees, and 
 all are under the direction of the Commissioners, who examine 
 and pass every paper connected with the sale of the different 
 slavers. 
 
 There are also, as in other Courts, proctors to conduct the 
 case of captor and claimant. 
 
 "When neither Brazilian nor Spanish Commissioners are here, 
 the British are empowered to act on behalf of the foreign Court, 
 and when either of the latter is absent the governor of the 
 colony officiates instead. There has been at least one Brazilian 
 Commissioner here for more than three years past, and Spanish 
 ones are expected. When the British and foreign Judges differ in 
 opinion as to a vessel's liability to confiscation, an arbitrator (the 
 junior or sub- Commissioner) is chosen by lot, and all must abide 
 by his decision. In the only instance in which I have seen a 
 slaver sweep out of the harbour, with her gay green and saffron 
 flag flying triumphantly, the lot had fallen on the Brazilian Com- 
 missioner, who declared her capture illegal. 
 
 I believe the annual average for nine years of cases brous^ht 
 before the Courts is about thirty-two. But there have been as 
 many as fifty-seven and sixty-two adjudicated during one year ; 
 
LET. XXVI.] SLAVE TRADE. 213 
 
 and within the last six months alone there have been about thirty 
 vessels condemned by the Mixed Commissions, where you see it 
 is not " idlesse all." * 
 
 The " Mixed " Courts owe their rather singular title to their 
 being empowered to try the vessels of so many different coun- 
 tries; but wliile the British and Brazilian Court is one of Mixed 
 Commission, tliose of Spain, the Netherlands, Argentine Con- 
 federation, Chile, Bolivia, and Uruguay (with all of which we 
 have treaties for the suppression of the slave-trade) are termed 
 " Mixed Courts o^ Justice.'' Until the establishment last year 
 of British and Portuguese Courts at Boa Yista, Loando, the 
 Cape, and Jamaica, vessels belonging to Portugal were also 
 tried here, but only if they had slaves on board. 
 
 That part of the correspondence of the British Commissioners 
 which includes, amongst other matters relating to the traffic, 
 the evidence of all the slave-vessels tried, is annually laid before 
 Parliament, and is somewhat voluminous. 
 
 When a man-of war captures a slaver, the latter is despatched 
 for adjudication under charge of a prize-officer and crew, the 
 captor forwarding a written declaration of his reasons for seizing 
 the vessel. Several of the Spanish and Brazilian crew are also 
 detained and brought up as witnesses, the remainder being 
 generally sent on shore at the nearest port. But occasionally 
 a considerable number, if not all, of the piratical seamen are 
 landed here, to the no small annoyance of lier Majesty's colonial 
 subjects.* 
 
 At the different noted slave-harbours, some of which, those 
 of Sherbro' and Gallinas for instance, are not much more 
 than a day's sail southward from the colony, the slave-dealers 
 have large baracoons, where the negroes on being procured are 
 penned up, and kept waiting for a convenient opportunity of 
 being shipped. The destruction of these baracoons at various 
 times by some of our cruisers has been one of the most effective 
 blows the slave-trade ever met witli on this coast. Now the 
 squadron is restricted to blockading and chasing, and the 
 number of prizes sent in betokens its vigilance. 
 
 Last year two notorious slavers, the Volador and the Ja- 
 
 * More than once, these pirates have exceeded in number the English 
 residents by three to one. 
 
214 EESIDENCE AT SIEERA LEONE. [let. xxvi. 
 
 cinto, were captured, condemned, and cut up ; the former was an 
 old brigantine, but would still have made a good figure in a 
 yacht regatta. A still more formidable and equally successful 
 vessel, the felucca Huracan, was taken in February last. She 
 was very heavily manned and armed, and would not " heave to " 
 vmtil the sixty-eight pounders of the capturing steamer reached 
 her. I saw the prize come into harbour, and was astonished at 
 the thickness of her mast, that looked enormous, though not 
 seen through the spy-glass. I believe it was constructed so that 
 it could be folded down out of sight, to render her less likely 
 to be observed, while her large crew at the sweeps would give 
 no cruiser, unless a steamer, a chance in the chase. She had 
 seventy slaves on board, and was taken by H.M.S.V. Hydra. 
 
 We have lately heard of the dreadful and melancholy fate 
 which has attended the prize-officer and crew of one slaver, the 
 equipped Brazilian brigantine Felicidade, which was taken a 
 few hours after another, the Echo, laden with slaves, had been 
 detained. The crew of the latter, being too great to remain 
 with safety to the captors in one vessel, was divided, and a 
 portion of the men sent on board the Felicidade, where they 
 rose and massacred the young British officer and all the sailors 
 left in charge. 
 
 Oh ! vile trade ! — is it never to cease ? How long is its 
 name to remain a blot upon the nations whose flags it dis- 
 honours? How many more of the good, the gallant, and the 
 brave of Britain's sons are doomed to fall victims to her endea- 
 vours for its suppression ? There is still the old question 
 occasionally whispered, " Oh, what would become of all the 
 native prisoners of war were there not the slave trade to rescue 
 them from death ? Better be slaves in Brazil or Cuba, than 
 undergo a worse fate in Africa ! " 
 
 There would not be so many prisoners of war did no slave- 
 trade exist. We all know that the chief of a tribe, or district, 
 makes war on another for the purpose of obtaining slaves for 
 the foreign market, and in too many cases accuses his own 
 people of crimes they never committed, that he may have a 
 pretence for selling them to the Brazilian or Spanish captain ; 
 nay, even the Africans who bring from the interior bees'-wax 
 and other articles of legitimate trade, to be exported to England, 
 
LET. XXVI.] NAMES OF SLAVERS. 215 
 
 never return, but are embarked in the first slaver that touches 
 at the place. These evils would not be were there no demand 
 for slaves. But whether this vast continent, buried in the ig- 
 norance of centuries, is herself to lift up a remonstrating voice, 
 and declare that she shall yield no more of her children into 
 bondage ; or Brazil, with the rest of the comparatively enlight- 
 ened countries which countenance and keep up the debasing 
 traffic, is to send forth an imperial decree that they shall no 
 more owe their riches to the lives and liberty of their enslaved 
 fellow-creatures, is a point that years alone will decide. 
 
 The names chosen by the slave-dealers for their vessels have 
 often struck me as being singular enough, considering the busi- 
 ness in which they are to be engaged. I remember one called 
 the " Senhora da Bom Viagem," or " Lady of Good Voyage." 
 Another, condemned last year, was actually named " El Grand 
 Poder da Dios." The " Regenerador," " Feliz Ventura," " San 
 Joa Bautista," " Ave Maria," " Bom Fim," " Libertad," " Es- 
 peranze," " Triumfo," are all equally inappropriate. One, 
 called the " Onze de Novembro," was, by an odd coincidence, 
 condemned on the 11th of November, and its worthy slave- 
 captain declared it was meant as an intentional insult to him. 
 " El Imperador Don Pedro," and " Sua Majestad," are sounding 
 titles enough, while " Pepita," "Vivo," " Fantasma," and 
 " Flor de Rio," convey the idea of something swift, graceful, 
 and beautiful. 
 
 Then, according to their peculiar build or rig, they are not 
 only honest old brigs, brigantines, schooners, and topsail 
 schooners ; but outlandish polaccas, sumacoes, feluccas, launchas, 
 paille-botes, yachts ; and one, fitly christened " El no se," was 
 designated a " mystico." 
 
216 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxvii 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 « 
 
 Expiration of our Treaty with Brazil — Incursion of Travelling Ants — 
 Spiders — Mantis — Bungo Mason-bees — Waterspout — A Lost Child 
 — Ludicrous Mistake — Touraco — "Kill-Fowls" — Equestrian In- 
 terruptions — Grey Grizzel — Cape Coast Conveyances — Mango Tree 
 killed by Lightning. 
 
 August 19th, 1845. 
 Since I last wrote to you about the slave-trade, our treaty with 
 Brazil has expired, and until a new one be entered into, the 
 vessels taken under the flag of that country will be tried in the 
 Vice-Admiralty Court, under an Act of Parliament. 
 
 I have had a more novel than pleasant interruption. Whilst 
 sitting on a sofa in my room busily writing, I suddenly perceived 
 first one black ant, and then a second and third, scampering over 
 my papers, and, looking round, saw a portion of the wall covered 
 with straggling ants, while another moment showed me that the 
 floor was alive with them. Boiling water was immediately put 
 in requisition, and, for upwards of an hour, poured over the outer 
 boarding of the house, where the ants swarmed pretty thickly. 
 A huge centipede was attempting to crawl from under one of 
 the planks, but quite unable to extricate himself from a few ants, 
 who, at regular distances from each other, held their colossal 
 prey undauntedly, while large spiders were running about in 
 terror, trying to hide themselves. The track of the main army 
 was nowhere to be discovered, and, as our vigorous opposition 
 had caused them to retreat from the room, I thought this had 
 been merely a reconnoitring party, until an outcry was raised 
 that they mustered in great force in the piazzas below. I ran 
 down stairs, and beheld the floor, pillars, walls, and boarded roof 
 literally black with myriads of ants, while here a great scorpion, 
 startled out of his den, stood boldly at bay, and there another 
 centipede was being dragged away alive after having in vain 
 tried to elude pursuit. But it was not one or two — several dozens 
 of cock -roaches, venomous-looking spiders, millipedes, and innu- 
 
LET. XXVII.] SPIDEES— MANTIS. 217 
 
 merable other ugly forty-footed creatures, were first pounced 
 upon by a few of their Lilliputian enemies, and then in an instant 
 hidden by the accumulating masses, which fastened upon each 
 opponent, and bore it off the field with the utmost regularity. I 
 forbade the people to kill any more of the ants, so long as they 
 were kept from entering the house — really feeling compunction 
 in waging war against the destroyers of such detestable reptiles 
 as scorpions and centipedes, with their many almost equally un- 
 welcome cousins of other tribes. 
 
 Yesterday I discovered on the branch of a coffee-tree a most 
 magnificent spider, which I should be sorry to see fall a victim 
 to ants or to any other enemies. It was about as large as a 
 pigeon's eg^^, the back primrose-coloured, with eight round black 
 spots ; the sides and under part barred with black ; the upper 
 part of its fore legs primrose-colour, the rest black. It had 
 spun a large web of silky yellow gossamer, and was quite a fat 
 good-humoured-looking spider — very different from one that is 
 sometimes found out of doors here, and whose bite the blacks 
 aver to be highly venomous. It has a round flat body nearly as 
 large as a crown-piece, with legs several inches long, and tremen- 
 dous lobster-like claws thickly armed with sharp hard teeth. It 
 is odd enough that I have never seen a tarantula here, although 
 I hear of one being discovered now and then by the labourers. 
 
 An insect, of which the negroes also stand in unaccountable 
 terror, is the mantis, or " Hottentot god " as it is often called. 
 It is a singular-looking creature, with its great prominent eyes, 
 elongated and winged form clothed in pale green, and six long 
 legs ; those in front being more of the nature of arms, — with keen 
 serrated edges and spiked fore-fingers, which inflict a pretty severe 
 scratch. I sometimes hold out a pen or pencil to a mantis, when 
 it immediatelv raises itself on its hind-legs, and, seizing hold of the 
 object presented, tries to tear it with these weapons of defence. 
 It has a strange shaking motion when walking, resembling that 
 of a coach set on springs, and a very common attitude of this 
 insect is standing up with its well-armed hands meekly clasped 
 togetlier. Hence, I presume, the title mantis religiosa. I was 
 watching one that had alighted on a window in the piazza, and 
 which seemed nearly four inches long, when Fanyah happened 
 to come in, and, as soon as she caught a glimpse of the object of 
 
218 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxvii. 
 
 my examination, cried out in a voice of horror, '' Oh ! ma'am, 
 what matter you go look dat thing ? — it go tear your eye out for 
 true — it can tear somebody's eye out too much in my country." 
 I once got a Hottentot god's nest, which somewhat resembled that 
 of an English wasp, only of much smaller dimensions, and had a 
 polished outside ; it was nearly oval, and hung from a spray of 
 sweet-scented cream-coloured little blossoms. 
 
 Insects here construct many strange abodes. The Nufi boy 
 Dan, knowing I am fond of natural curiosities, brought me lately 
 a leaf with a tiny cup very neatly made of clay fastened upon it, 
 and which seemed greatly to have struck his own fancy, as he ex' 
 claimed on giving it to me, " Please look dis lilly lilly country 
 pot someting make on dis leaf!" — and to be sure it was exactly 
 a country pot in miniature. 
 
 The fragrant gum called bungo is the principal material one 
 mason-bee here uses for his dwelling, and, the sunny side of a wall 
 being usually chosen as a site, a community of these harmless 
 bees has established itself on the outside of a window-sill in the 
 front piazza. 
 
 But I have been always rather backward in collecting insects' 
 nests, ever since shortly after coming up here, I found a very 
 pretty one, formed of small twigs firmly cemented together with 
 great neatness in a fluted style, and which I carefully stowed 
 away in a small box ; when some days afterwards, wanting to 
 exhibit my treasure, I opened the lid, and behold a hideous gray 
 caterpillar crawled out, while the nest seemed as if it had been 
 broken down and half devoured by its late inmate. 
 
 Sept. 5. — Last night we had a thunder-storm and a deluge of 
 rain, which must have been something of the nature of a water- 
 spout, the roads are so dreadfully cut up. On riding down to 
 the garden this morning I find that the brook has burst over its 
 banks at one place, and sent a rapid stream branching through 
 the vegetable-beds, washing the mould completely off them, and 
 sadly destroying the pretty little spot. Fortunately, a nursery 
 of dwarf roses had been transplanted to the parapet, or they must 
 have been every one lost. Our neighbours in the low ground 
 have suffered equally. One has a dry -season garden nearly car- 
 ried away, and I see a hut, standing on a newly-formed island, 
 with the impetuous red waters rushing through its broken walls 
 
LET. XXVII.] A LOST CHILD. 219 
 
 — its poor inhabitants vainly trying to turn back the rebel cur- 
 rent to its allegiance again, while dozens of children are paddling 
 at the edge of the stream in excessive enjoyment. Much damage 
 has evidently been done in every direction. 
 
 On walking out in the forenoon I was alarmed by hearing re- 
 peated shrieks of distress coming as it were from the Eose- Apple 
 Glen, and, on calling out to know what was the matter, a wild- 
 looking half-clothed figure issued from the path leading to the far 
 brook, who by her frantic gestures and exclamations I at first 
 fancied was mad ; but after some questioning I learned that she 
 had been gathering sticks on the other hill, and had sent her child 
 with a message to a farm-man who was working on the opposite 
 side of the water, — that the little thing never came back, and, 
 although she had been called and looked for, was not to be found. 
 I tried to lead the poor creature up to the house, but she con- 
 trived to slip out of my hold every minute, and, dashing herself 
 on the ground, gave way to the most lamentable outcries. " 
 ma piccan ! — ma piccan go lose in de bush by de water side — 
 
 ma-amie — ! ! !" M came out, and, taking all the 
 
 servants and labourers, went off" to search, sending some into the 
 bush, and others along the banks of the brook, both of us dread- 
 ing that the poor child had been carried away by the water, now 
 running so fiercely. The woman accompanied them to point out 
 the place where she had left her " piccaninny," but, instead of ren- 
 dering the slightest assistance, continued to weep and wail like 
 one distracted. She evidently believed her child was kidnapped 
 by some prowling Mandingo, and therefore deemed it minecessary 
 to look diligently for her — instances of kidnapping being by no 
 means unfrequent even at Sierra Leone. ])ut in about half 
 an hour afterwards I had the satisfaction of hearing that they 
 had found the little girl quite safe, and sitting quietly in the 
 bush awaiting the return of her ma-amie, whom she in her turn 
 fancied was lost. 
 
 I was amused by a curious mistake of one of the servants yes- 
 terday. Shortly after breakfast this man came to tell us that 
 another, who had gone to cut wood, was come back in great 
 alarm, being afmid to pass a tree where he had seen a large un- 
 common-looking bird roosting. We asked if it were a hawk or 
 a '' kill-fowl." 
 
220 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxvii. 
 
 " No — big bird past dem, massa. 
 
 " An eagle, perhaps?" 
 
 " Not so big as eagle neider — he one black bird all same like 
 turkey — no more no fedder live on him neck." 
 
 I imagined this strange bird would turn out to be a vulture, 
 and was surprised that the servants appeared all to stand in so 
 great an awe of the black object which we saw sitting on the 
 branch of a tree on the verge of the bush, not very far from the 
 house. But on taking the glass to have a more minute view, 
 I discovered this extraordinaiy bird was nothing else than a 
 very large monkey, that was presently joined by several others, 
 and there they frisked, and chattered, and jumped from one tree 
 to another for the greater part of the forenoon. The poor wood- 
 cutter was very much ashamed of having mistaken a black 
 monkey for a bird. 
 
 M lately shot one of those beautiful birds called here 
 
 the African woodcock, but whose proper name is the touraco, or 
 plantain-eater. It has a magnificent green crest, while the 
 upper eyelid being scarlet, and the under one black, with a white 
 mark stretching between them and the short bill, adds to the 
 brilliant appearance of the head. The neck and breast are both 
 of the same light green as the coronet, but this green has not 
 the metallic gloss seen in the darker green of some of the hum- 
 ming-birds. The wing-feathers are part bright shining purple, 
 part gorgeous crimson, while those forming the tail are of a 
 rich velvety blue-black : it is a noble-looking bird, and seems 
 scarce. 
 
 A " kill-fowl," or " gog-magog," as the country people call 
 it, is a hideous-looking bird, building its nest, as the hawks do 
 here, at the top of high trees, and being, like them, a most for- 
 midable enemy to the poultry-yard : they are also at enmity with 
 less useful creatures, for I have seen one bearing a large snake 
 
 through the air to its nest. One that M shot the other day 
 
 measured fully five feet three inches across the extended wings, 
 and two feet from the bill to the tip of the tail. The '' kill- 
 fowl" has a particularly fierce expression in its glaring eyes 
 and great hooked bill of a yellowish-white colour. The head 
 and iDreast are white, as are the pinions and shoulders ; the rest 
 of the wings and back are black : a broad bar of dingy white 
 
LET. XXVII.] EQUESTRIAN INTERRUPTIONS. 221 
 
 stretches across the centre of the tail, the top and tip of wliich 
 are black. Under the feathers the body is covered with a thick 
 down like that on a duck. The feet are strong and large, with 
 sharp black hooked claws exactly like those of the eagle. The 
 crows here are also black and white ; they are very numerous, 
 and quite as fond of making a noise as the crows of Britain. 
 "Writing of birds reminds me that some time ago the old Aku 
 servant who took the monkey for a vulture, and who you must 
 know pretends to be very valiant, came up after dark to beg 
 for one of " massa's" guns, because " one big bird been live in 
 tamarind -tree," that he thought he could shoot. No specimen 
 of the feathered tribe being forthcoming, notwithstanding a 
 succession of shots on two different evenings, I began to think 
 the gun was wanted for some other purpose, and that the bird 
 existed only in imagination. But on going to the window, 
 expecting to see nothing, I was rather surprised at perceiving a 
 very large dark-coloured bird roosting on the topmost branch 
 of the tamarind-tree ; and in spite of having been so often shot 
 at, back it comes almost every night, until the people seem to 
 regard it with considerable suj)erstition, although the gun is 
 occasionally asked for as a matter of course. 
 
 Having: lately orot a new horse, I bemoan once more over the 
 impossibility of teaching African steeds to canter nicely. They 
 toss and shake their heads at a lady's paces, and, no matter 
 what the road be, the verge of a precipice or the slope of a hill, 
 they persist in galloping at full speed. Now one requires a 
 steady horse in this part of the world : here you come upon 
 a band of the tcrmes viarum, or travelling ants, some strag- 
 glers of which, even supposing your steed escapes planting his 
 foot in the centre of their line, Mill be quite enough to make 
 him dance and curvet in a way that, however graceful to look 
 at, is by no means comfortable to you : there a huge black 
 monkey springs out of the bush at one side of the road, just 
 under your horse's nose ; and neither he nor you may have 
 recovered from the surprise caused by the sudden apparition, 
 when a more violent start, followed by a tremor all over, gives 
 notice that a snake is in sight ; whilst all the time, as you are 
 obliged, if possible, to hold a parasol over your head, you have 
 only one hand at liberty to guide the animal. Some extremely 
 
222 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxvii. 
 
 narrow paths are cut and carved out 1 edgewise up the face of the 
 hill near the top ; and the horses, on coming up from town, 
 usually of their own accord turn off the main avenue on to these, 
 which make a much shorter way than going to the end of the 
 other, and round by the orange-tree terrace. 
 
 There is certainly, in this country, no more cheerful mode of 
 taking exercise than riding, and none where you can see around 
 you so well. I have as yet been very fortunate in quiet ponies : 
 after parting with my pretty bay sorrel from the Gambia, omng 
 to its shying at crossing the brook, I got a sedate white horse ; 
 
 I call it Grizzel, after one M had formerly, and which 
 
 eventually went into the possession of a native chief. I believe 
 this last-mentioned horse had originally been sent out from 
 England, and having, at any rate, seen better days, it was by 
 no means disposed to be ridden by a shoeless master, even 
 though he were a Mahommedan potentate : therefore Grizzel 
 managed to throw its owner whenever he attempted to get into 
 the saddle, so that at last the simple natives said, " Ah I dis 
 horse fine too much for black man for ride ! " and contented 
 themselves by leading it up and down in their state processions. 
 On dit an English merchant jokingly told the negro purchasers 
 of this grey that it had always been accustomed to drink porter ; 
 whereupon they ordered a supply, and actually gave it a bottle 
 of porter every morning ! 
 
 But my poor Grizzel fell a victim to the early part of this 
 
 rainy season, after which I used occasionally to ride M 's 
 
 very spirited horse, at first only on that tolerably level walk 
 leading to the gate at the foot of the Zigzag, as even though he 
 ran away there, the bush is too thick on each side to allow of his 
 going oft the path. The terror of the grooms at this animal is 
 perfectly ludicrous : he is young and spirited, though not what 
 one would call vicious ; but these men are such cowards that no 
 wonder with them he is sometimes unmanageable. Once when 
 
 M • had ridden my pony to town, and the other was to be 
 
 sent for him to ride up, the new groom who was to lead it down 
 came to me crying and wringing his hands, saying he could 
 not lead massa's horse to town because " it would surely go 
 kill um ! " 
 
 I am told that the grass at Cape Coast is of such a poisonous 
 
LET. XXVII.] MANGO-TREE KILLED BY LIGHTNING. 223 
 
 quality no horses can live there, and the only mode in which 
 Europeans are conveyed from one place to another on land, is 
 by large baskets, which are carried on the heads and shoulders 
 of the negroes ! I never hear of Cape Coast Castle without 
 thinking of poor Miss Landon ; how strange to think that her 
 grave should be there of all the uncivilized spots on the earth ! 
 Our view of the near burying-ground is now more exposed than 
 ever, owing to our having been obliged to cut down a mango- 
 tree in front of the house, the foliage of which screened our 
 prospect in that direction. This tree was blighted in a tornado 
 during the night of the 1st of June this year, when the wind 
 and storm together came on before eleven o'clock, and lasted 
 until after twelve. One terrific blaze of lightning, accompanied 
 by a most dreadful crash, alarmed me fearfully, as I could 
 scarcely believe the house was not struck. Next morning we 
 found the earth all torn up close beyond the parapet, and the 
 flourishing young mango-tree, though not rent, still with marks 
 that showed it had not stood unscathed. 
 
224 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxviii. 
 
 LETTER XXVIII. 
 
 H. M. S. " Eclair " — First Couviction of the Pestilent Nature of the Climate 
 — Impaired Health of even the Acclimatized — A Self-willed Donkey — 
 Phases of the Sierra Leone Landscape — Verdure of our own Hill — New 
 Mode of carrying Pigs — Fanyah's History — Caterpillars — Unwel- 
 come Recollections. 
 
 December 8th. 
 
 The Dalepark arrived from England on the 30th of November, 
 
 when our suspense regarding R was happily relieved. We 
 
 heard, towards the end of October, of the fearful mortality on 
 board the Eclair, and of the communication between her and the 
 Growler at the Cape-de-Verds, and dreaded that the fever might 
 spread to the latter ship. Lest by any chance we should not 
 have had letters by the Dalepark, Mr. , with most con- 
 siderate kindness, wrote up immediately to let us know that a 
 friend of his had seen my brother safe in London ; and you will 
 understand tliat amidst our distress and horror at reading the 
 heart-rending details respecting the unhappy Eclair, we felt most 
 
 thankful on R 's account. I remember, not long after coming 
 
 out here first, the shock I experienced when, on sending to inquire 
 at what time a particular merchant- vessel would be ready to sail, 
 as we wished to send letters by her, the answer was, " The Ann 
 Grant has been laden for some time, but cannot come down the 
 river, all hands being dead^ I recollect too the very first time 
 the conviction flashed on me of what this place really was. I 
 had heard of the illness of a European resident who had called 
 shortly before, looking quite well. The next thing I heard was 
 that his horses were to be sold. I inquired if he were going 
 home for his health. " He is dead !" was the reply. Such like 
 tidings soon came too thick and fast for the same shock to attend 
 them all : the surprise has long been when any one recovers. 
 But of all the lamentable instances I know or ever heard of the 
 deadly nature of the climate of Africa, that of the Eclair is the 
 most harrowing ; and to think too, even when the ship had 
 
LET. xxviii.] SIERRA LEONE LANDSCAPE. 225 
 
 reached our own England, still there was no respite ! Oh ! how 
 many childless parents — how many widows and orphans — has this 
 fatal country made ! 
 
 And for those who do survive on its baneful shores, what 
 
 broken health and suffering is theirs ! M has just recovered 
 
 from another of those attacks of intermittent fever to which the 
 acclimated are so subject, and even hail as a proof that they are 
 acclimated ; but repeated fits of ague in time produce their 
 effect, obliging one at last to hasten home for a few months' 
 change of air, and this is what we have been long recommended 
 
 to do. The Q 's sailed last week, and Mr. and Mrs. 
 
 are on the point of leaving, all of them having come through a 
 great deal of sickness. I again am much stronger and better 
 than I have been for very many months past, which beneficial 
 change I partly ascribe to taking daily easy exercise on assback. 
 When too weak to manage my fiery steed, which twice ran 
 away with me, once on the very brow of the Zigzag, I got an 
 humble donkey, on which I ride out every morning ; and though 
 at first it was so obstinate as actually to require one person 
 to walk behind to urge it on, and another before to prevent 
 it running away, I have now got it nicely broken in, and amenable 
 to everything except being saddled, which necessary process, 
 owing to the worthy quadruped's kicking propensities, always 
 takes three men upwards of half an hour to execute ! However, 
 I have not quite given up my wild horse as incorrigible, and was 
 lately indebted to it for the longest ride I have taken under a 
 tropical sun. 
 
 There are three distinct phases of the landscape here. The 
 first is hill and dale, clothed in all their original exuberance of 
 stately forest, and appearing in their primeval grandeur, as it 
 were, fresli from the hands of their Maker ; the second is the first 
 denuded and laid waste by fire and hatchet, as are now the greater 
 number of the hills in this locality, and that is the scenery I 
 would gladly see changed ; the third is the second rich in partial 
 cultivation, and which, with the first, constitutes the peculiar 
 beauty of the tropics, and in it I certainly desire no variety. 
 Here fruits and flowers, which attain to but a dwarfish height 
 when coaxed in our home hothouses, spring up and flourish spon- 
 taneously in all their own native loveliness. Setting aside the 
 
 Q 
 
226 RESIDENCE AT SIEREA LEONE. [let, xxviii. 
 
 many graceful scions of the acacia tribe, from the noble locust- 
 tree to the slender shrinking mimosa — overlooking the queen-like 
 palm, with her not less regal sister the feathery-branched cocoa- 
 nut tree — here the broad-leaved plantain and banana form a 
 natural arcade that breathes of coolness even under the sun of 
 Africa; there the pawpaw raises its slight shaft, which you 
 wonder can support the green and golden load at top, while its 
 yellow blossoms perfume the air, and form the centre of attrac- 
 tion to a flock of bright-winged humming-birds. But it is not 
 here and there. Mingled in one rich mass of harmonious colour- 
 ino-, and flinffino- their sweet scent to the welcome sea-breeze, 
 orange and lime trees, spangled with snowy flowers, and bending 
 under the weight of their gorgeous fruit, vie with those of the 
 luxuriant mango, the bay-leaved coffee, the pale-stemmed guava, 
 the dark densely-foliaged rose-apple, the sour-sop, with its 
 orchard-tree aspect and portly produce, upon our own pretty 
 little hill, that boasts of many hundred others in the bush, whose 
 names I cannot tell, but the descriptions of a few of which you 
 shall have at some future period. 
 
 Whilst riding towards Regent one forenoon, suddenly we 
 heard a most discordant sound, which first I fancied was a 
 child crying in a passion ; and then, as it came nearer, believed 
 to be the neighing of a wild horse : both grooms, however, said 
 gravely it was merely a " dog." Presently a man appeared in 
 sio-ht on the brow of the hill, bearing on his head something 
 evidently very weighty, that we soon discovered to be the object 
 from which the unaccountable yelling proceeded. This was 
 nothing else than a huge black pig, bound with withes across a 
 flat board, and surmounted by the straw hat of the man, who 
 trudged quietly along, merely balancing his extraordinary and 
 noisy burthen with one hand, and with the other flourishing a 
 cane, after the most approved negro fashion. 
 
 It has been excessively hot for some time, but a few mornings 
 ago a heavy squall cooled the air so much that I went out for a 
 little walk under the mango and orange trees. Fanyah, with 
 whom on such occasions I usually hold a conversation, on passing 
 a bush infested with ants, told me that in her country they take 
 the red ants' nests, open them, and drink the white water inside 
 for " cough medicine." So saying, she plucked down a nest, 
 
LET. XXVIII.] FANYAH'S HISTORY. 227 
 
 and, heedless of the valiant little insects which covered her hand 
 and arm in a moment, tore the leaves open, and exclaiming, 
 " Ah, ma'am, dey smell sweet ! " — held out to me what she 
 called the " cough water," and which was actually the ant in its 
 grub state ! Fanyah is of the Kosso tribe, whose locality is not 
 far to the southward of this colony. She has told me that when 
 a very little girl, about, as I should think (from the time she 
 has been liberated), not more than five years old, she remembers 
 of the village in which she lived being set on fire by a neio-h- 
 bouring chief and his party ; and whilst her father went to fight 
 against them, her mother gathered her little household valuables 
 together, and fled with Fanyah into the bush. They were dis- 
 covered, however, taken prisoners, bound, and driven away as 
 slaves, with a great many more of their country-people. Pre- 
 sently they came to a river that was very " potta-potta," or 
 muddy, and which they were to cross. At this juncture the 
 marauders were attacked by another tribe, and in the confusion 
 Fanyah and her mother contrived to hide themselves again in 
 the bush. The poor child had a loud and severe cough, which 
 she was implored by her mother to try and check, or it would 
 betray them to their enemies, who, having beat ofFthe other partv, 
 were searching for the woman and child everywhere. Fanyah 
 tells me that she crouched down, pressing her face close to the 
 ground to try and stifle her cough, and, though the efforts nearly 
 choked her, she succeeded in keeping quite silent Avhile the 
 band were beating the bush all around the spot where the mother 
 and cliild lay trembling with pain and terror. This was an 
 instance of great fortitude in one so young, and she was rewarded 
 by hearing at last the retreating steps of the hostile tribe. After 
 it was quite dark, Fanyah and her mother, who had managed to 
 free herself from the rope with which her arms were secured, 
 stole from their hiding-place back to the site of their home — 
 now a mass of blackened ashes. She forgets how they reached 
 another village, where, to their great joy, her father was found 
 quite safe. 
 
 She remembers that he was a weaver of the stronof narrow 
 cloth made by the natives of the interior, and her mother manu- 
 factured crockeryware in the shape of country-pots, and that 
 both died but a short time after their escape, leaving Fanyah in 
 
 q2 
 
228 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxviii. 
 
 charge of an old woman. But ere long the poor little thing 
 found herself journeying, with several others, towards the same 
 " potta-potta" river she had formerly reached with her mother, 
 having either been sold to a slave-dealer or kidnapped. She 
 distinctly recollects the baracoons in which they were confined 
 for a day or two previous to being embarked at the Gallinas. 
 They had been but a short time on board when a great commo- 
 tion took place in the vessel ; the slaves were told the English 
 were chasing them, and would most assuredly eat the negroes if 
 the vessel were taken ! All sail was made, a quantity of the 
 provisions thrown overboard, but at last the slaver was captured 
 by the British cruiser. " And," to give the words with which 
 Fanyah concludes every time she speaks to me of her own 
 country, '^ pose me leff ma own country, and nebber see it no 
 more, me not sorry, cause me come here ; me free, and me learn 
 good book ; somebody no savey book in Kosso country, no 
 Christian live there, and me glad for be Christian ; and pose 
 ma moder dead, you all same good to me as ma own moder, 
 
 ma'am." 
 
 I never saw a better disposed negro child than my present 
 little handmaiden ; so thoughtfully attentive whenever I am ill, 
 and so contented wiih. her situation, which is rather an isolated 
 one, as she never, except on the occasional coming up of her 
 predecessor Sarah, or at the washerwoman's weekly visits, has 
 any other girl to gossip m ith, which is a great change to what 
 she was accustomed to at school among so many little companions 
 of her own age. However, she chiefly amuses herself now with 
 dolls and patchwork. One pleasing trait in her character is, that, 
 having observed my interest in the productions of this country, 
 she never misses an opportunity of bringing me in a pretty nose- 
 gay, or some curious bush-fruit, in apple, berry, or pod — even 
 conquering her natural aversion to insects in bringing me a 
 strange-looking one whenever she can. She found a huge 
 caterpillar, with a furry coat of dark-brown, and eight white 
 spots on each side, feeding upon a bush-apple leaf, and brought 
 it to me the other day. I am sure it was nearly five inches long, 
 and proportionably thick. Its furry covering was coarse as 
 norsehair, and very prickly. I suppose it would in due time 
 turn out one of our most magnificent butterflies. I counted 
 
LET. xxviii.] CATEI^PILLARS. 229 
 
 thirty-two smaller caterpillars upon one leaf lately. They were 
 remarkable-looking things, green wath red heads ; and instead of 
 the hairy spines common to the species, were all stuck over with 
 little sharp points. 
 
 I have often observed the young leaves of a particular tree 
 here, hanging from the spray by two and two, and looking like 
 flat pea-pods, from being so closely doubled. I have repeatedly 
 examined them to try if I could open one, but not even a needle's 
 point could penetrate the edges, that are thin as the finest lawn, 
 though next day perhaps, the same spray would be clothed with 
 properly-shaped glossy leaves. This morning, however, I dis- 
 covered one just beginning to unfold at the upper end, and easily 
 opened it out, until it displayed itself a fully-formed, light-green 
 leaf, as soft as silk. 
 
 Extract f I om Journal. 
 
 December 24th. 
 
 A HEAVY shower of rain this morning. Strong sea-breeze. 
 Opened the windows in front piazza as her Majesty's steamers 
 Penelope and Avon were getting under weigh, and distinctly 
 perceived the smell of co«/-smoke, which I inhaled as a remem- 
 brance of home. Rode out after the rain cleared off. Saw a 
 curious-looking plant, its branches being clothed with flowers, or 
 rather berries, of pure white-wax, with a tuft of short capillaments 
 at top. These pretty sno^^•y capsules are in the centre of petals 
 exactly resembling those of the orange and lime blossom, and, 
 only containing a few pearly little seeds, crack like dry sea- 
 weed. They have a most artificial appearance, and, like many 
 other flowers in this country, grow from the under side of the 
 
 twig. 
 
 A ride or walk in the cool of the morning at this season is 
 delightful, there is such a galaxy of fragrant flowers in full 
 bloom. But, indeed, I do not know the time of year here when 
 there are no flowers. In sauntering along the wooded paths 
 round the house — where, through the green interstices of the 
 arched folia<z:e overhead, the blue sky is looking down lovingly 
 upon vou, and you look up with delight at the festoons of beau- 
 tiful blossoms, which are so twisted among the tree stems and 
 branches on either side, that you cannot distinguish what sort of 
 
230 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxviit. 
 
 leaf individually belongs to each, while rare birds and glittering 
 
 insects are flitting about among the boughs that are just beginning 
 
 to rustle in the cheerful morning wind — it is almost impossible 
 
 to believe that, amid all the bloom and beauty of nature in this 
 
 climate, 
 
 " There breathes through human life 
 
 A waft of death." 
 But so it is : and as I turn round to look at the fine sea-view, 
 uith its peaceful bays, fringed like the green shore opposite with 
 a belt of gleaming wliite sand, there, at anchor, above the 
 powder-magazine, lies a vessel, with the flaunting stripes and 
 stars of the United States at one mast-head, and the ominous 
 yellow flag waving at the other — every one of her crew having 
 been swept off by mangrove-fever in the Rio Pongas ; and back 
 comes the painful recollection of the Eclair's fate, and of the pre- 
 sent appalling mortality at Boa Vista, both of which resulted 
 from the pestilent atmospliere of this very place, with all its de- 
 ceitfully bright and inviting aspect. 
 
 But our times are in the hands of God, who, in preserving us 
 from the evil itself, can also keep us from the fear of " the pes- 
 tilence tliat walketli in darkness, and the destruction that wasteth 
 at noonday." 
 
LET. XXIX.] THE SETTLERS. 231 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 The Settlers — Mr. Clarkson — Trials of the Infant Colony — Attack by 
 the French — Timmanee rising —The " Widow's Brook " — Influence of 
 a Missionary's Wife — Mrs. Kilham. 
 
 Januarj' 12th, 1846. 
 
 Hitherto my opportunities for observation with regard to the 
 general character, disposition, and manners of the various castes 
 of the negro population have been almost exclusively limited to 
 the settlers and Liberated Africans — two classes as disproportioned 
 in numbers as opposite in their habits and tendencies ; the 
 former comprising only about two hundred individuals — the 
 latter, many thousands, who, in their turn, are composed of 
 numerous separate tribes. 
 
 The history of the settlers is rendered interesting by their 
 being so closely connected with the foundation of the colony, 
 and an old settler- woman, who was but a girl when they landed 
 here in March, 1792, once gave me a graphic description of 
 that period, which however, owing to the quaint style of her 
 expressions, can never be written down witli the same force. 
 
 Sixty-five, out of the eleven hundred and ninety-six who left 
 Nova Scotia, died on the passage hither ; and many of the sur- 
 vivors were ill when they landed. The place was all so rankly 
 overgrown with forest and jungle, that the men employed in 
 cutting patlis suffered greatly from the mere wounds caused by 
 the knife-grass and prickly plants that obstructed their progress 
 at every step ; while, although the natives were kind in bringing 
 to the new-comers country productions, sucli as casaada-roots 
 and ground-nuts ; tlie poor Nova Scotians, having been all 
 their lives accustomed to tlie ricli maize and rice of Carolina, 
 did not know how to prepare the strange vegetables, and, not 
 understanding a word of the native language, could receive no 
 information on the subject. 
 
 The women and cliildren remained in the ship until a small 
 space had been hurriedly cleared for a tent for them, but there, 
 
232 EESIDENCE AT SIEERA LEONE. [let. xxix. 
 
 lying on the damp ground, with no other than a screen of can- 
 vas, in a wilderness exposed to wild beasts, and swarming with 
 venomous reptiles and noxious insects ; unable to procure some 
 kinds of food, and almost as unable to prepare others — death by 
 hunger as well as sickness rapidly thinning their numbers — this 
 unfortunate body of people, previously habituated to comfort 
 and plenty, were reduced almost to despair. 
 
 Mr. Clarkson, under whose management they had been 
 brought from Nova Scotia, did all in his power to better their 
 condition, and cheer their minds under these hardships, and they 
 still mention him with grateful enthusiasm. But from the time 
 of his departure my informant's statement seems too much 
 biassed by bitter feelings to admit of its being perfectly correct. 
 She, in common with the rest of her people, attributes all their 
 misfortunes at that time to the servants of the Sierra Leone 
 Company, forgetting that these poor Europeans suffered equally 
 with the blacks themselves. 
 
 The mortality of that first wet season seems to have been 
 ominous of the future. It set in about the middle of May, 
 before many of the settlers' houses were finished building, and 
 at the same time the accommodation of the white superin- 
 tendents was so poor, that they were greatly exposed to the 
 weather. It was no wonder then that the climate fever should 
 have raged in all its virulence. Whilst about eight hundred of 
 the negro colonists were suffering from its attacks, it proved as 
 usual most fatal to the white people. At the height of the 
 pestilence, all the medical men, excepting one, were laid up, and, 
 owing to the death of the storekeepers, neither food, nor clothing, 
 nor medicine could be distributed. A large ship laden with 
 stores, frames of houses, and materials for building, that had 
 been despatched from England with a view to meet the wants of 
 the colonists, was driven back in a storm, and did not arrive 
 here till nearly the end of the " rains." 
 
 The difficulty of cutting the necessary paths, so as to admit of 
 the ground being surveyed, was increased tenfold by sickness 
 and the weary weather of a Sierra Leone rainy season. Instead, 
 therefore, of twenty acres to each man, ten to his wife, and five 
 to every child, as had been promised them, it was found im- 
 possible to give at once more than four acres to each family. 
 
LET. XXIX.] TRIALS OF THE INFANT COLONY. 233 
 
 This seems to have been the first cause of grievance to the 
 settlers, and the evil effects may be traced to this day. 
 
 Great blame has been attributed to the Sierra Leone Com- 
 pany for not adhering to its original promise ; yet it should be 
 borne in mind, that it tvus the intention of the Company to make 
 more liberal allotments ; but all the people insisted upon having 
 their individual lots in the best places, which of course could not 
 be agreed to, the lands of the English on the level belt beneath 
 the mountains not being enough. Certain proportions in situa- 
 tions nearest Freetown were therefore given, with the intention 
 of granting the remainder elsewhere, when the ground, which 
 proved to be of a much worse quality than had been expected, 
 could be surveyed for that purpose. The clearing of paths to 
 enable any measurement to be taken had of course to be done 
 by the emigrants themselves, and, supposing a man with a wife 
 and two children had (under the other disadvantages I have 
 mentioned) unassisted to clear round a space of forty acres of 
 the dense forest and matted underwood of the tropics, he could 
 not by any human possibility also find time to clear and culti- 
 vate space enough to raise provisions for his family. Indeed, 
 spite of the utmost exertions, by both Europeans and blacks, the 
 succeeding dry season was well-nigh over before the distribu- 
 tion of even the lesser portions was concluded. 
 
 One published account of the matter states that the emigrants 
 were quite willing to accept of the more limited divisions for the 
 time, which I think must certainly have been the case, if they 
 were at all gifted with common sense, as viewing the localities 
 at present, and remembering that these high hills were one mass 
 of forest at that period — taking also into consideration the diffi- 
 culties with which the Europeans had to struggle— my only 
 wonder is how, with such means as they had, the servants of 
 the Sierra Leone Company succeeded in laying out the allot- 
 ments they did apportion to the settlers. 
 
 That the numbers of these blacks, who were then, by all I can 
 learn, a diliuent and well-conducted set of comparatively civilized 
 people, should have so dwindled away within the fifty-four years 
 they have been in the colony, and that their whole nature should 
 have changed, inasmucli as now there are amongst tliem 
 generally no habits of continued industry, strikes me as being so 
 
234 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxix. 
 
 very remarkable that I hope you will forgive my expatiating 
 upon such an old story. 
 
 But I should in the first place have stated that they were the 
 negroes who had remained loyal to England during the 
 American war, after which they emigrated to Nova Scotia, 
 having received from Government promises of land there. But 
 they found the climate and soil of Nova Scotia quite unsuited to 
 them, and sent a delegate to England to represent that they 
 were therefore desirous of becoming colonists in the new settle- 
 ment which they had heard was about to be formed here. The 
 directors of the Sierra Leone Company agreed in applying to 
 Government for a free passage to the Nova Scotian Africans, 
 and hence their coming to this place. 
 
 Li 1787 a considerable district of land had been ceded, for 
 the purpose of being colonized by several hundreds of destitute 
 blacks then in London, and who were sent out here by the 
 originators of the scheme for founding a free negro settlement 
 on this coast. But these early colonists died away or departed 
 beyond British boundaries ; very few of them remaining when 
 the Nova Scotians arrived five years afterwards, and found the 
 place in the wild state I have already described. 
 
 After landing and fixing upon the site of the new town to be 
 built, one misfortune after another attended the infant colony of 
 Sierra Leone. The commencement of the war rendered commu- 
 nication to and from England very uncertain, as well as unfre- 
 quent, often detaining vessels at a time their cargoes were most 
 likely to be of use. The store-ship in the harbour was unfortu- 
 nately burnt with a considerable quantity of goods on board ; and 
 whilst the settlers naturally murmured at the privations conse- 
 quent on all these untoward circumstances, matters were made 
 still worse by an attack on the colony, in September, 1794, an 
 account of wliich I have had from more than one eye-witness. 
 
 It was upon a Sunday morning, and guns being heard out at 
 sea, the people rejoiced to think it was the long-expected " Harpy," 
 one of the Company's ships that had been for some time 
 anxiously looked out for. But daylight discovered several large 
 French ships, which as they entered the harbour commenced 
 firing upon the town. " I was in de street, poor ting ! " was the 
 pathetic beginning of one good woman, who is particularly fond 
 
LET. XXIX.] ATTACK BY THE FRENCH. 235 
 
 of relating the occurrence of that time, " and seeing one big 
 round ball skipping and jumping before me, run after it trying 
 to catch it ; — poor ting ! I was young and knew no better, when 
 one old woman did pull me back just as dis great ting burst with 
 Buch terrible noise, smoke, and flames ! Den we all flung our- 
 selves down on our faces, and de pieces passed over us. I, poor 
 tinff ! never been see one shell before, and was so frightened 
 when it did explode. Den we all been run to the bush, I and 
 some others been go to Pa Demba's town, just dere M'here them 
 fine farms live now, and this old head man give us shelter ; but 
 for two whole day my own moder not able to find me, dere was 
 such a hiding and such a panic ! Den after dey done burn Free- 
 town, de big ships sail up de river to Bunce Island, and when 
 dey pass Granville Town, dey go burn it too. De French 
 peoples did not kill or hurt any of us, but oh ! it was one terrible 
 time ! " 
 
 It was indeed a disastrous occurrence to the colony. The 
 houses it had cost so much life, as well as money, to erect were 
 "plundered and burnt, while the French wantonly destroyed 
 whatever they could not use. They scoured the town in search 
 of stock, which they kept shooting at all day, rendering it 
 dangerous to walk in the streets ; books, plants, seeds, dried birds 
 and insects, were torn, trampled upon, and scattered about ; 
 telescopes, barometers, thermometers, and an electrical machine, 
 shared the same fate ; the church was pillaged, its pulpit and 
 clock broken to pieces; the apothecary's shop with every 
 medicine in it was also destroyed ; vessels and boats were burnt, 
 and when the " Harpy " appeared at last, she was captured, the 
 passengers robbed of their property, and all the cargo taken. 
 The enemy sailed on the 13th of October, liaving, after many 
 remonstrances from the Governor, first granted provisions to 
 serve for the white people's consumption for no more than two 
 or tliree weeks. 
 
 Soon afterwards two other English vessels were seized near 
 Sierra Leone, and the crews sent ashore, to suffer, in common 
 witli the others, from a want of slielter and food. As miglit be 
 expected, a general sickness broke out amongst the Europeans 
 after all this excitement and distress, when the loss of medicines, 
 as well as provisions, was felt most severely. 
 
236 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxix. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that whilst the slave-traders, in the 
 neighbourhood, did all in their power to add to the hardships of 
 the colony at that time, the native chiefs, on the contrary, were 
 unanimous in rendering it every assistance. 
 
 In giving you the foregoing sketch of the early days of this 
 settlement, I must acknowledge being par/It/ indebted for its 
 particulars to an interesting little volume of Church Missionary 
 history that I have read since coming out last. 
 
 Taking all the circumstances of their case into consideration, 
 it is perhaps less to be wondered at than lamented, that in 1800, 
 or the year following, the Nova Scotians rose in rebellion against 
 their government, owing to a small quit-rent having been levied 
 upon the little farms, on which, under so many disadvantages, 
 they had laboured for seven years; though, when we reflect on 
 the enormous outlay of money the colony had cost, in sending 
 vessels to explore it at first, then incorporating the Company, 
 bringing home, clothing, and educating natives ; and that the 
 settlers themselves were receiving every encouragement, aid, 
 and protection from its Government, it seems to have been but 
 fair and reasonable that they were required to contribute their 
 mite to its support. 
 
 When the insurrection -was quelled, through the agency of the 
 Maroons, who arrived from Jamaica the same year, the most 
 disaffected of the settlers left their lands, and a few joined the 
 Timmanees in an invasion upon the colony. Those who remained, 
 however, seem to have acted at this crisis in a manner calculated 
 to restore them entirely to the favour and esteem of their rulers. 
 
 The Timmanees twice attempted to seize this place ; first in the 
 same year as the settlers' rising, and again in 1803. The former 
 time it w^as rumoured throughout the colony, that the surrounding 
 natives were going to rise, kill all the Europeans, and make 
 slaves of the free blacks. As the old cliief King Tom, besides 
 annually receiving many presents from the Company, was libe- 
 rally paid for the mere permission of procuring water at the 
 springs in his territory,— the then Governor would not believe 
 that any such treachery was meditated, until one day, upwards 
 of forty large canoes full of Timmanees were seen pulling towards 
 King Tom's Point. Then, according to the version given me 
 by the same person wdio boasts of her youthful attempt at catching 
 
LET. XXIX.] TIMMANEE RISING. 237 
 
 a grenade, — the settlers were the first to warn the Governor, 
 who desired the women and children to come up within the walls 
 of the fort, the old settler men arming themselves and coming 
 up too. Before gun-fire next morning, the Timmanee drum was 
 heard, and at once a large body of them attacked the fort, and 
 as the Governor proceeded with lanterns to speak to the in- 
 surgents at the gate, he was wounded by a musket shot. The 
 few old settlers within (amongst whom was this woman's godfather, 
 the sheriff of the town) having been inured to fighting in 
 America, now did good service, and shortly after daybreak the 
 foe was obliged to retreat. 
 
 *' Oh den was de terrible sight ! " continued my informant, hold- 
 ing up her hands, " and de crying amongst de women and children. 
 One said. Look my fader ! — anoder. See my broder — or my son — 
 or my husband dead ! Dere Mas my own godfader lying on de 
 ground wounded and bleeding, and I spoke and spoke to him, 
 but he not able for give me answer, because he dead too. Den 
 in came de Maroons from Granville Town, and made cry and 
 such a weeping and wailing I never been see before. Oh dat 
 was one dreadful day — poor ting ! I young girl den, and never 
 been look upon bloodshed before." 
 
 After many similar exclamations, she went on to tell me that 
 then a wall was built round the town, and three gates and watch- 
 houses erected — that at seven o'clock every evening the gates 
 were shut, and no one allowed to go out or in, until the same 
 hour next morning. Yet notwithstanding all these preparations 
 and precautions, two years had scarcely elapsed when the report 
 of a Tinmianee invasion was again heard, but now the Maroons 
 were all armed, and every one in readiness. 
 
 " It was daylight dis time, and dey been come from Port Logo, 
 and from up de river where Kissy now stands, and after landing, 
 been march right into Freetown. Some of de women and 
 children been go up to de fort, but I and two or tree oders 
 remain in de house, which was where my godfader de Sheriff 
 been live before. De Timmanees not know dey been kill him 
 toder time, so dey go straight to dat house, cause dey know it 
 one headman's house, and so de first to be taken and burnt. I 
 been look out of de window, and saw dem coming in one great 
 band. At dem head been march de gree-gree or witch woman, 
 
238 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxix. 
 
 beating" one drum and dancing and making- so many monkey 
 capers. She all hung round wid strings of beads and gree -grees, 
 and shells, to keep as dey been tink, de balls from striking de 
 Timmanees, and she went shaking, shaking, and jumping, jumping-, 
 all about, and never ceased beating de drum. When dey began 
 firing into de piazza, we been trow ourselves doM^n, and called 
 upon Providence to keep the city. But soon dat body of dem 
 forced to flee — suppose no more den three Maroon men returned 
 de fire from our windows. De Timmanee was divided into tree 
 parties to each of de tree gates, and fighting — fighting been go 
 on everywhere — but for all dat dey were all driven back, and 
 not one of us killed, but some wounded. De Maroons were so 
 blood tirsty dey would give no quarter, and all de bush about de 
 town was so full of de dead bodies of Timmanees, dat de Governor 
 been give order to trow de bodies into de sea — fearing great 
 pestilence go come by dem remaining in de bush. But dey 
 never come back no more, no ! no ! dere grand witch woman 
 not able for save dem, dey been get such fright dat time — 
 Freetown quiet ever since." 
 
 I have written down the settler's own words so far as I can 
 remember them, as they convey an idea of the correctness, upon 
 the whole, of the language of her people. But some of the younger 
 branches of the Nova Scotians speak very well, pronouncing the 
 the^s, &c. quite distinctly. In listening to these ancient records 
 of the colony (of course when I say ancient, I speak by com- 
 parison), it seems so strange to picture its now bare hills and hut- 
 covered plains, where one may walk as securely as in the streets 
 of London, as at that period dark with pathless forests, num- 
 bering among their inhabitants the spotted leopard and untamed 
 elephant, as well as the equally fierce heathen savage. 
 
 Yet after all these troubles and commotions, the Nova Scotians 
 seem to have been very happy and comfortable for many years ; 
 the old people cultivating their lands, and those of the younger 
 who had remained after their eme?<^e, either assisting their parents 
 in agricultural pursuits, or learning the trades of carpenters, 
 masons, tailors, &c., under the auspices of the Sierra Leone 
 Company, by whom the colony was transferred to the British 
 Government in 1807. 
 
 The interest evinced in their well being, the schools, where 
 
LET. XXIX.] A MISSIONARY'S WIFE. 239 
 
 rewards for reading, Mriting, and needlework were bestowed by 
 the hands of the Governor himself, are topics on wliich they all 
 love to dwell — never failins^ to contrast their then condition with 
 what it now^ is. On asking one day of a venerable settler matron, 
 what was the origin of the name of the '' Widow's Brook," which 
 she applied to a mountain rivulet at some distance — she told me 
 it was so called from all the widows of the Nova Scotians giving, 
 upwards of forty years ago, a great feast on its banks to the 
 European inhabitants of the colony — adding in a very decided 
 tone, " Ah ! dem were de good times ! white people ^vere white 
 people den !" They also speak of a Missionary's wife who a great 
 many years since endeared herself very much to all the native 
 women in the place, by her kind manners and apparent anxiety for 
 their welfare. She used to go freely into their houses, and teach 
 them how to manage their different employments in the best way, 
 giving little presents at the same time, and had already made a 
 visible improvement, not only by stimulating them to industry, 
 but bv showing: them there is a method to be observed in all 
 sorts of labour — when she fell a victim to the climate, "And 
 oh !" to use their own words, " had you only been see her fune- 
 ral — de crowds of people dat follow — crying and weeping and 
 wailing — you would have said it was dat of one great queen !" 
 
 I have spoken to them of Mrs. Kilham and wliat she had 
 done ; but the settlers, being of a contrary religious persuasion, 
 do not seem to appreciate the efforts which that lady made in 
 this part of the world. 
 
240 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxx. 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 Thieving propensities of newly emancipated Negroes — Reasons for the 
 decay of the Settlers' fortunes — Their animosity towards the Liberated 
 People — Sick-nurses — Jubilee Dinner — Freetown Spring Fashions — 
 Sukey Webb — Visit to the Site of a Settler's Farm Cottage. 
 
 February 28th. 
 From the period slaves taken by English cruisers began to 
 be landed here, the early colonists date their reverse of fortune, 
 their crops being constantly stolen — their wood cut down and 
 burnt by these barbarous new-comers — who nevertheless were 
 neither prevented from robbing and destroying their neighbour's 
 property, nor punished afterwards. This was undoubtedly the 
 case ; and now the same class of the Liberated steal with as 
 much assiduity from the older-established and more respectable 
 of themselves, and with nearly as much impunity. I have seen 
 a gang of about a hundred negroes, in going up and down between 
 Freetown and the villages, enter the cassada-fields by the way, 
 and plunder wholesale, to the utter disheartening of the industrious 
 proprietors. But other causes operated in effecting a change of 
 circumstances to the settlers. 
 
 About twenty-five years ago, house-rents and the prices of 
 labour here were exorbitantly high. Small houses, containing 
 no more than a couple of rooms on each floor, were let to 
 Government for 250/. and 300/. In a few years rents were re- 
 duced, but many of these people preferred allowing their houses 
 to fall to ruin rather than abate a few pounds of what they had 
 formerly been accustomed to receive. A carpenter's or mason's 
 daily wages were then six shillings, with three shillings additional 
 for his apprentice — most of the apprentices being Liberated 
 Africans, granted by Government, and upon them were laid all 
 parts of the work requiring the greatest manual exertion ; so 
 that the young settler-apprentice, though ostensibly learning a 
 useful trade, was not merely brought up in comparative idleness, 
 but with an overweening idea of his own importance. 
 
LET. XXX.] SETTLEI^S AND LIBERATED AFRICANS. 241 
 
 The elder people indeed continued to labour, but as I was 
 made early sensible on first coming to this place — their children 
 were never exercised in the same habits of industry and activity, 
 little Liberated Africans being apprenticed out in as great num- 
 bers as was required by any head of a family.* By and bye, when 
 these Liberated people became competent to work at the same 
 trades as their haughty fellow-colonists, wages fell of course 
 considerably. But instead of competing with those they deemed 
 so utterly their inferiors — the Nova Scotians, with few exceptions, 
 withdrew from the field in disgust, some embarking in petty 
 mercantile pursuits, where they were almost uniformly unfortunate, 
 through giving credit to the natives beyond the jurisdiction of 
 the colony ; others, without much thoughts of the future, living 
 upon the money they had acquired in the golden age, but none 
 of them making any permanently strenuous effort to acquire 
 more. 
 
 Meanwhile many of the emancipated negroes were rising by 
 degrees to comparative eminence and wealth, partly by their own 
 diligence, and partly through the favour shown them by the 
 Colonial Government ; while the settlers, feeling themselves 
 becoming more needy and neglected, in proportion as their over- 
 whelmingly numerous rivals advanced in affluence and respecta- 
 bility, regarded them with envy, jealousy, and bitter dislike. 
 
 In illustration of how high this feeling runs, I may mention 
 that one old woman, after telling me how hard it was to see the 
 captured people petted and patronized so much, as to have an 
 hospital, with ''fine boarded floors" to go to when sick, besides 
 so many schools and teachers— summed up by exclaiming, — 
 " Well ! it is only my wonder dat we settlers do not rise up in 
 one body and kill and slay — kill and slay I Dem Spanish and 
 Portugee sailors are quite right in making slaves ; I would do de 
 very same myself suppose I were in dere place !" 
 
 Indeed some years ago these charitable sentiments were par- 
 tially put in practice, a poor Liberated woman, whom a settler had 
 made his bride, being set upon by a mob of her husband's coun- 
 try women, and well-nigh beaten to death. More recently, how- 
 
 * The apprenticeship system has been since done away with, and, it is to 
 be hoped, will be followed by more industrious habits on the part of the 
 Creoles. 
 
 & 
 
242 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxx. 
 
 ever, there have been one or two instances of intermarriages 
 between them and the colony-born daughters of Liberated 
 
 parents. 
 
 Amongst the Nova Scotians as they now exist, women pre- 
 dominate in number, the greater portion of whom either go out 
 as sick-nurses, or take into their own houses those Europeans 
 who are ill, and have no settled home here, the most lucrative 
 (for the settlers) of all employments in this field of fever, and 
 one commonly admitted to blunt and deaden the finer feelings of 
 its professed followers, in whatever country. Others amongst 
 them take in washing and needle-work. Of the few men, none 
 are cultivators of the soil ; some are engaged in trade, one or two 
 are master artisans, several are pilots, but nearly all of the latter 
 are also preachers in some one of the very many chapels of 
 various sects that are sprinkled over tlie streets of Freetown 
 and its outskirts. Those who still retain their original grants of 
 land, let them out to Liberated Africans, on condition of obtain- 
 ing half the produce. 
 
 But the masons, carpenters, sawyers, &c., as well as laundresses, 
 of this caste — having the main portion of their respective employ- 
 ments performed by Liberated Africans— cannot of course aff'ord 
 their labour at the same rate as those of the latter, who unassisted 
 follow similar callings, and thus the settlers do not obtain em- 
 ployment so readily as their despised competitors. 
 
 The settlers too have not only been always accustomed to the 
 necessaries of life, but rather incline to extravagance so far as 
 reo-ards eating and drinking, whilst the habits, in that respect, of 
 even the most civilized among the Liberated are exceedingly 
 simple, temperate, and frugal. Then, while the great bulk of 
 the latter class wear anything beyond the scantiest clothing as a 
 mere gala-day ornament, to be thrown aside at all other times — 
 silk or muslin gowns, flounced and furbelowed — white veils — gay 
 shawls — a superabundance of rich coral necklaces — bright pink 
 or lilac parasols — are considered but necessary articles of dress 
 by many of the Nova Scotians. 
 
 " "When my daughter was married," said one of the elder 
 people to me, " she been wear one white silk dress I been send 
 for to England six months before — over it was one robe of very 
 fine white net, I been buy here at four shilling de yard. She 
 
LET. XXX.] SICK-NURSES. 243 
 
 had on at church one white silk bonnet, and afterwards, at de 
 dinner I give on de occasion, one white turban all trimmed wid 
 roses, — and she been look ivell, oh ! so well !" 
 
 Yet this identical family think nothing of dunning you for 
 green tea, sugar, bottles of wine and ale, w^hite cambric pocket- 
 handkerchiefs, lace edgings, and a multitude of things I cannot 
 enumerate. Nay, though you generally anticipate their requests, 
 and have some little trifle in readiness for them, its bestowal 
 seems but to open their hearts to beg for more. I am told too, 
 that some of them have beaufets decorated with old-fashioned 
 silver plate, yet they ever complain of poverty, hard times, and 
 the injustice of Government in countenancing people who once 
 Mere slaves — quite forgetting they are themselves but the de- 
 scendants of slaves. 
 
 It is merely to a few of them, who go out as sick-nurses, that 
 my personal acquaintance with the Nova.Scotians extends, though 
 in this capacity I have seen but too much of them, especially 
 since we last came out. And as they are persons of whose 
 services every European who visits Sierra Leone must sooner 
 or later have need, it may not be out of place to observe that 
 their daily wages vary from five to seven shillings ; while their 
 continually telling you of the many " foine presents" made to them 
 by every patient they have nursed, conveys a hint you may take 
 or not, as you like. Provided you keep them in good humour, 
 and let them have wine and spirits ad libitum by day and night, 
 they testify their gratitude, as soon as you begin to recover, by 
 recommending you to breakfast off Westphalia iiam ; and instead 
 of doling out the prescribed tea-spoonfuls of Madeira, will dash 
 nearly half the contents of the decanter into your glass, with a 
 liberality that speaks more for their readiness of doing as they 
 would be done by, than for their skill and common sense. 
 
 Yet, seriously, although you cannot help being uncomfortably 
 sensible of the contrast between even the most attentive and 
 intelligent of these negro women, and English attendants in 
 general, the settlers are still so immeasurably superior, in the 
 external gloss of civilization, to the common herd here, that you 
 are naturally led to regard them with favour, and easily overlook 
 such little airs and whims as they choose to amuse you witli, — 
 and which are merely exhibited to give you some notion of their 
 
 k2 
 
244 RESIDENCE AT SIEREA LEONE. [let. xxx. 
 
 all-paramount importance in this " Grave of the British," as their 
 demeanour towards yourself is far more humble and respectful 
 than could possibly be expected from people who have little idea 
 of the distinctions of society as they exist at home, and who, at 
 the same time, possess a too high opinion of themselves, with a 
 disposition deeply imbued with selfish pride and obstinate pre- 
 judices. 
 
 I have, however, seen few persons w hom you can more highly 
 stratify by showing anything like an interest in their history, and 
 although they usually give you to understand that climbing to this 
 solitary place, merely to attend upon a patient, is a stretch of 
 complaisance not lightly to be appreciated — the same individuals 
 think nothing of coming up, perhaps a week or two afterwards, 
 for the sole ostensible reason of paying me a visit ! If admitted 
 (which they often are, for the sake of my gathering a little 
 information about themselves), after many a sweeping curtsey, and 
 well-worded apology for encroaching upon my time, — they seat 
 themselves — arrange the folds of their usual garb, that consists 
 of scarlet moreen petticoat, yellow silk shawl, and light cotton 
 print gown ; lay aside the high-crowned black beaver hat, in 
 order that the almost equal jetty countenance it shades may 
 contrast to greater advantage with the snowy kerchief head- 
 dress ; or if the party be young, to display the hair either clipped 
 and disposed in fantastic shapes like some antique yew-tree of a 
 Dutch garden, or else twisted into short stiff plaits, which give 
 the head the appearance of being stuck over with so many black 
 crayons ; — after all which preliminaries they begin to talk — the 
 most venerable amongst them launching forth in querulous com- 
 plaints of their present condition, and grumbling at the 
 " Liberated," lamenting above all the things the beating of drums 
 and firing of muskets that goes on from sunset to sunrise, not so 
 much because such noises disturb people's rest, but because — 
 '' De Timmanee might come again, and shoot half of us before 
 midnight, and who could tell it was de Timmanee, when de 
 same drum is allowed to be beat from night till morning, and de 
 loaded muskets are popping off here and popping off dere, 
 when honest people should be asleep in bed !"* 
 
 * Since the above was written the negroes have been interdicted from 
 firing muskets duriug the night. 
 
LET. XXX.] FASHIONS OF FREETOWN. 245 
 
 But their animosity is not disi^layed towards the Liberated 
 Africans alone ; the Maroons are equally hated by the settlers, 
 and indeed even more so, as I was told by one of them that 
 they would sooner intermarry with the emancipated negroes than 
 with the" Maroons. I asked the same old dame, who really 
 seemed not to have a good ^vord for any body, why she did not 
 emigrate to the West Indies, now that so many fine ships were 
 sent out to convey all who chose to go ; but the very question 
 seemed to fill her with horror, *' No no, marm ! de first move we 
 settlers make will be to de church yard !" and she continued her 
 conversation in a still more discontented tone than before, 
 crying down Demerara and Trinidad as the worst places under 
 the sun, and repeating several nonsensical tales of the fatality of 
 these climates, especially to black people. 
 
 The middle-aged, on the contrary, try to impress you with an 
 idea of their comfort and respectability as a class, tell you of their 
 jubilee dinner, when all the men of the Nova Scotians sat do\vn 
 to a table graced by eight roast pigs, some dozens of roast ducks, 
 and (colonial rarity !) a " young veal," with many a luxury in 
 the shape of ham, pickled pork, cabbages, porter and pale ale; 
 of the remnants of which repast the wives and daugliters, after 
 officiating as waiters, partook in all due humility and contented- 
 ness. 
 
 But nothing amused me so much as the young matron of the 
 rose-wreathed turban, after telling me that such and such a 
 merchant had received a whole cargo of English straw bonnets, 
 so beautiful that all the settlers of any taste had henceforth 
 resolved to discard hats, gravely begging to be the medium of 
 sending me up a quantity of the said bonnets to choose from, 
 seeing they had become so fashionable amo7ig the blacks of 
 Freetoicn ! ! 
 
 Speaking of shops then reminded her that it was very diflficult, 
 if not impossible, to get needles in the stores in town, the 
 " Liberated " buying them all up to hawk through the country, 
 and therefore my very self-possessed visitant stretched her great 
 black hand, all glittering with silver ring.s, across to my work- 
 box, adding with a complacent smile, " So I shall just make bold, 
 if you please, marm, to help myself to some of your fine needles." 
 
 The settlers are very strict in the outward observances of 
 
246 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxx. 
 
 religion, attending, I believe, both morning and evening service 
 daily, at their " meeting-houses," and profess their different sects 
 to be offshoots from the Wesleyan Methodists. 
 
 jS^ot withstanding that ludicrous sort of pride and self-esteem, 
 which leads all the younger scions of the Nova Scotians to con- 
 sider labour as something far more disgraceful and degrading in 
 itself than idleness or begging; there is no question but that those 
 who were grown up when they came over here from America, were 
 an industriously disposed and intelligent class of persons. 
 
 I was confirmed in this opinion by a visit to the deserted site 
 of one of the original settler farms ; formerly the property of 
 its occupant, an old matron named Sukey Webb, famed for her 
 habit of courtesying, almost as much as for her diligence ; and 
 who, having often many a humble and importunate request, had 
 her will drawn out in the quaintest of approved forms, by the 
 colonial advocate for the crown— used to bring the precious 
 document from its place of safe keeping, and show it to her 
 visitors, as that of which she was proudest of all things she 
 possessed. 
 
 Extract from Journal. 
 
 February X^tli. — A cold sunless morning, afterwards becom- 
 ing very hot ; glass 86® to 88° in the shade. Set off early to the 
 high hill above Mount Oriel, that one over which the grey and 
 murky fogs linger so long in the rainy season, so that often even 
 when the sun is shining blithely everywhere else, still one con- 
 spicuous tree on that hill looms through the mist, like the tall 
 mast of a ship at anchor on a wintry sea. After passing tlirough 
 the Rose-apple Glen — no longer the very darkly shaded place it 
 was five years ago, though sheltered and beautiful enough yet — 
 we struck off the regular path, into one traced by ourselves as we 
 ascended, and where the brown, withered-up stalks of the Guinea 
 grass, bending across each other and twisting and tangling, made 
 the route seem as if it lay over a forest of bristling walking-canes ; 
 while the great loose rocks scattered upon the blackened surface 
 of the ground reminded me of a quarry. Stones about the size 
 of cannon-balls w^ere strewed so thickly on the steep ascent, that 
 my sure-footed little donkey could scarcely step without treading 
 upon them. A few low shrubby plants, with leaves scorched 
 
LET. XXX.] VIEW FROM AN EMINENCE. 247 
 
 brown and red, had a peculiarly dreary aspect, and nothing 
 looked green and bright on the steep slope, save the fresh young 
 blades of grass that contrived to pierce singly through the ashes. 
 We passed under the fine live forest-tree which, being about 
 fifty feet high ere it sends out a branch, has always struck me as 
 so remarkable an object, standing almost alone upon the bleak 
 hill side. The ground near it was covered with its half-burnt 
 fruit, which the country-people say is excellent for making 
 " palaver sauce." Our attendants stopped to pick up a quantity 
 of these productions, that look like coarse apples squeezed flat on 
 each side, and are hard as wood. I had some of them split open : 
 a strong fibrous substance, of a bright yellow colour, surrounds 
 a white kernel, which is the part eaten after cooking by the 
 natives. 
 
 Fanyah gathered her pinafore full, and after reaching Iiome 
 had a great deal of amusement in preparing them. I tasted one, 
 and thought it very insipid. 
 
 As we ascended I turned round every few minutes to look at 
 the diflferent pictures the view presented. First taking our house 
 as the central object, it greets us with an animated face ; there 
 the goats (at this distance diminished to the size of rabbits) are 
 bounding about from crag to crag, or browsing in the shade 
 under the cofiee-trees ; and there a couple of white-garbed 
 domestics are busy, taking advantage of the shortlived coolness 
 to gather oranges for the day's consumption ; while another in 
 blue woollen blouse and smart straw-hat, by not loitering to hold 
 a conversation with the labourers employed with pickaxe and 
 hoe upon the broad terrace walk, as he leads a prancing horse 
 from the far stable to that near the house, shows that lie is intent 
 upon being ready to attend his master to town by and bye ; and 
 here two figures appear in sight, wending their way homewards, 
 one crowned by a bundle of grass almost bulky enough to thatch 
 a house, and at which the horses' hearts must rejoice this parched- 
 up weather, the other by a huge log of wood, that would make 
 a right merry blaze on an English hearth, this same month of 
 February. 
 
 Tliree steps further, my patient donkey turns round mechani- 
 cally and I gaze down on our rocky hill, as it stands boldly out 
 in the foreground, well clothed with verdure that grows gradually 
 
243 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxx. 
 
 richer and denser as it deepens down towards the ravine, wiiich 
 forming from this point a narrow vista, gives the barraclvs as 
 its farthest extremity ; and for once the very barracks look pretty, 
 liemmed in as they appear by a frame of green trees ; the hill on 
 which the Garrison stands, and part of the buildings at its foot, 
 become visible as we mount higher ; then Freetown and its 
 adjacent huts — the Wilberforce hills and the wide blue sea, that 
 indescribably refreshing feature in tropical scenery. 
 
 At last, passing through an old dilapidated stone wall, we 
 came to the very summit — where the grass-grown mounds that 
 marked the place of the former garden-like beds — a few mango, 
 orange, and locust-trees — with the relics of a plantation of cotton- 
 shrubs growing dispersedly within a fence, whose remaining 
 sticks showed themselves in thick, broken pollard-like stems — 
 gave sure but dreary proof that the hand of carefid cultivation 
 had once been there. No trace, however, is now left of the solitary 
 dwelling which formerly stood on this mountain, and where an 
 old settler woman lived under the shade of her friendly fruit- 
 trees ; and who used to cultivate, amongst native fruits and 
 vegetables, substantial English cabbages, which she carried daily 
 to Freetown market, where they met with a ready sale, being 
 duly appreciated alike by settler and European. 
 
 As I looked round the deserted spot, that after so many years 
 of neglect and spoliation still bears witness to its ancient posses- 
 sor's industry, I felt quite a respect for the memory of the worthy 
 old woman who had once through her care and management had 
 this quite a sheltered and beautiful place. Indeed trees are all 
 it now wants, the scenery around being magnificent, 
 
 Passino- over the often-described Suo;ar-Loaf and Leicester 
 mountain ranges, with the sea-view in the other direction — 
 immediately in front rose a breastwork of hills, destitute of trees 
 and verdure, except in the ravines that partly separate them — 
 over the top of the lowest, at the extreme left, appeared part of 
 the Bunce river that branches off from the wide Mitomba, and on 
 its quiet surface one small island threw a patch of shadow. 
 Advancing a few paces further, we overlooked the road to Kissy 
 winding along at the base of the mountains — the dense bush that 
 hides the precipitous gorge formed by a rapid-running stream 
 which empties itself into Fourah bay— and the romantically- 
 
LET. XXX.] VIEW FROM AN EMINENCE. 249 
 
 situated planked bridge we drove across in one of my first ex- 
 cursions in this country. I could not distinguish the depth of 
 the ravine from the height where we were — all below us seeming 
 fiat as a map — the race-course peninsula — the site of Granville 
 Town— the roads with their border of huts and fruit-trees, 
 lookino' like strips of reddish-brown ribbon edged with green — 
 while the two or three white- washed villas of Europeans glittered 
 brightly in the now overpoweringly hot sun — in this bird's-eye 
 peep all being softened into neatness and regularity of disposal. 
 
 There are certainly few spots that can boast of so much natnral 
 grandeur and beauty as Sierra Leone, yet you feel that the want 
 of wood, the absence of cultivation and of animal life, in the 
 grim bare hills, is neither entirely counterbalanced by the 
 sublimity of the frowning peaks and yawning chasms, nor by tlie 
 distant prospect of the opposite shore, the silvery river and its 
 sleeping islands. 
 
 I looked on those to-day, and then turned to the immediate 
 
 objects around me. A large tree, charred and partially burnt, 
 
 lay prostrate and uprooted close by us, telling not only of man's 
 
 neglect, but of the strength of storm and tempest in this land. 
 
 There the once smiling orchard-trees were fast yielding their 
 
 territory to the rest of the wilderness, their unpruned branches 
 
 loaded with, instead of their own golden riches, the withered 
 
 leaf-nests of a horde of red ants. The graceful boughs of tlie 
 
 locust-trees alone w^ere exempt from these intruders. The very 
 
 grass, if I might judge from the stamping and uneasiness of my 
 
 long-eared steed, was alive with them, and as I rode under the 
 
 orange-branches a few stragglers found their way from my 
 
 bonnet to my face, whicli was far from being agreeable, and 
 
 caused me to retreat to a more respectful distance. All around 
 
 was wild beyond expression ; the yellow flowers of the few 
 
 cotton-bushes were actually the only flowers I saw. Not even 
 
 a lilac ipomea twined itself up the tall stalks of the Guinea grass, 
 
 nor yet a common blue pea-blossom amongst that of lower 
 
 growth. Only one bird, a beautiful red-winged pigeon, flew past ; 
 
 and a rustling in the grass attracted me just in time to see a 
 
 living animal, that I fancied to be a wild pig, scamper down the 
 
 brow of the hill, but which it seems was a large porcupine. 
 
 Nothing else beyond ourselves broke the silence and solitude, 
 
250 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxx. 
 
 except tlie distant apparition of a half-clothed savage, bearing- on 
 his head a bly of peeled cassada, and followed by a gaunt, sinister- 
 lookino: dos:. 
 
 We returned by another path, which was exactly a very steep 
 flight of the roughest stone steps, and when we came nearer 
 Mount Oriel, as I compared its aspect with that of the place we 
 had just left, and then glanced over to our own green hill with 
 its home features, I felt quite melancholy to think that in all 
 likelihood a few years hence will find our house fast hastening 
 to ruin, the pretty shady paths on which so much care has been 
 bestowed, all grown over with grass and weeds, and the trees 
 that shelter them given a prey to the flames and cutlasses of 
 ^' bush-thieves," as well as to those of more honest cultivators of 
 their native soil. 
 
LET. XXXI.] NATIVE CHARACTER. 251 
 
 LETTER XXXI. 
 
 First hasty Impressions regarding the Natives — Second Considerations — 
 Missionaries — Love of Learning displayed by Liberated Africans — 
 Domestic Servants — Their Fondness for Writing — An " Affectionate 
 Butcher " — Good disposition of a little Kosso Girl — Different Tribes — 
 National Marks — Ornaments. 
 
 February — March 16th. 
 However philanthropically disposed you may be towards the 
 negro on taking up your residence at Sierra Leone, so soon as 
 the first novelty of situation wears off, the indolence, stupidity, 
 and want of tidiness (to say nothing of graver faults) of the only 
 persons you have to depend upon as domestic servants, throw 
 you into a sort of actual despair. You teach, persuade, remon- 
 strate, lecture, by turns ; your words are listened to with a 
 good-humoured apathy, but neither your rhetoric nor example 
 effecting the slightest improvement, you begin to doubt whether 
 the negro be gifted with any good quality or mental capacity 
 whatever, and feel irresistibly led to include the whole race in a 
 most sweeping kind of condemnation. 
 
 " Use lessens marvel," it is said ; and as time wanes by, custom 
 rendering you less fastidious, trifling physical discomforts become 
 less felt, and you look to the causes of all this semi-barbarism 
 in a place that has been colonized and under British rule for 
 upwards of half a century ; and upon duly examining and weigh- 
 ing these causes, come to a totally opposite conclusion to that 
 you were at first inclined to adopt ; the disadvantages under 
 which the blacks emancipated here have laboured, striking you 
 far more than the partial advantages they have enjoyed. 
 
 As a people, they have been enslaved and oppressed for upwards 
 of four hundred years, and even this solitary consideration tells 
 us, that to form an unbiassed judgment of the liberated Africans, 
 we must not institute comparisons between them and the lower 
 classes of our own free England. Brought here in a state of 
 utter degradation and barbarism, where the language, laws, 
 
O.'O 
 
 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxi. 
 
 manners and customs are totally new to them — where European 
 society is by far too limited to afford an example of civilization 
 as it exists at home, and where, excepting the patient, pious, and 
 indefatigable Missionary, there are very few to guide, teach, and 
 instruct the minds of these ignorant heathens, — it is surprising^ 
 to find so many of the liberated Africans advanced to the degree 
 tliey are; more especially as shiploads of negroes, in their rudest 
 condition, constantly arriving here, are the means of keeping up 
 and perpetuating amongst the others all the prejudices and 
 practices of their own savage nations. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the pains taken in teaching the people by 
 the different Missionaries, among whose ranks mortality is most 
 avv'fully frequent : but yet their numbers are not adequate to 
 ensure to the ivltole of the vast population here the benefits 
 of instruction in the thorough manner it must be conveyed, 
 ere we can look for its fruits in that improvement of mind, 
 heart, and soul which a right knowledge of our holy religion in 
 all its truth, purity, simplicity, and beauty, is calculated to 
 produce. Still, to a certain degree, they have seen their labours 
 rewarded, and of their dense and orderly congregations it is to 
 be hoped that the greater part are not merely Christians in 
 outward profession, but to the utmost extent of their abilities. 
 Yet many, many of the liberated Africans are savages in every 
 sense of the word, whilst numerous others, who M'ere either 
 never at school, or else taken away ere they had made the least 
 progress, apprenticed out in early childhood to the rudest and most 
 ignorant of their country people, although they have grown up 
 conformino: externallv to a few of the most striking- usages of 
 civilized life, in every other respect are as barbarous as the lowest 
 slave in their own country. 
 
 But when we read and think of the miserable degradation of 
 mind, the superstitions and horrid practices of the tribes of the 
 interior ; and then look at the quiet, sober, lighthearted, indi- 
 viduals of these very barbarous tribes, whether pursuing their 
 way to market, going out in their tiny fishing-skiffs, cultivating 
 tiieir little farms, waiting upon you at table, or in the superior 
 occupations of tradesmen and mechanics ; we perceive that it is 
 not so much intellect the negro wants, as a wider field of example 
 and encouragement from others, to teach him to exercise the sense 
 
LET. XXXI.] LIBERATED AFRICANS. 253 
 
 his Creator has given him. They are undoubtedly a lazy and 
 indolent race naturally, yet it should be borne in mind that the 
 same degree of exertion can never be expected from them, as 
 from the inhabitants of more temperate climates, for under the 
 fiercely burning sun of these latitudes, the strength even of the 
 black man flags. This want of energy shows itself in the mind 
 as well as the body, yet when obliged to exert their thinking 
 faculties, I have found some of the liberated children not only 
 intelligent, but M^hat one would actually term clever. The 
 younger people and children, whether liberated or colony-born, 
 show^ a much greater aptitude and fondness for learning than you 
 commonly find amongst the lower classes at home ; very possibly, 
 however, because here there are no factories, no collieries, no 
 mines, in short no employment of any kind calculated to cramp 
 mind and body alike of the happy negro-child, who passes away 
 his life in an atmosphere of idleness and freedom, the pride of 
 his unlettered parents, who think every thing desirable or needful 
 fully gained when their son can read and write ; or w hen their 
 daughters can read, sew, and mark. 
 
 But gratifying as it is to see a hitherto despised and degraded 
 people making rapid progress in the plain branches of education, 
 it is not to be denied that something more is wanted in our 
 servants than a knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic; — 
 and a striking error in the judgment of the negroes is the opinion 
 that anything in the shape of work is not compatible witli even 
 the slightest degree of education. I can only account for this by 
 supposing that in their own minds the idea of slavery is as yet 
 too closely associated with that of ivork. You never, in conse- 
 quence, see them taking that pride in their ordinary manual 
 occupations w'hich we often perceive in persons similarly em- 
 ployed at home. Your pantry domestics (in many instances 
 mere boys, it is true) sit down to read, write, or otherwise amuse 
 themselves, leaving plates, knives, cups, and platters, just as they 
 had been used, and your only chance of a clean glass, spoon, 
 or fork, is to say, on finding them put on table after but a very 
 superficial cleaning, '' Now until these be properly done, I shall 
 give you neither paper, pens, nor ink." 
 
 I have discovered this to be the only means of getting the 
 younger servants to be attentive or tidy, and I think it a good 
 
254 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxi. 
 
 sig-n of their dispositions that it is always successful. How often 
 at school is a double lesson given as a punishment ! — I find here 
 it is counted a reward. 
 
 If these young people would only show the same alacrity and 
 cheerfulness in learning to work, that they do in learning " book," 
 they might soon become valuable servants, as indeed some of 
 them, comparatively speaking, have. My first Sarah, for in- 
 stance, became exceedingly useful, though a mere ignorant child 
 when she came to me ; and Fanyah too is now not far behind 
 her predecessor, though she has not had the same advantages 
 in seeing how things are managed in " white man's country." 
 When teaching them anything new in the way of useful house- 
 hold duties, both of these little people have often remarked in 
 rather a querulous tone — " Ah, ma'am ! me can nebber do dat 
 tins: ! " to which I would answer, 
 
 *' Oh yes ! — but you will by and bye, when you try again : 
 you see /can do it, and why should you not ? " " Cause black 
 person can't do all same as white person, — dey no savey ! " was 
 invariably the next answer, uttered with great decision. 
 
 " And what matter they no savey ? Let me look at your hand " 
 (the hand being held out, the head would be then hung down 
 and the lips pouted) : " well ! now you have quite as many fingers 
 as I have, and I don't see why black person's hand not as good 
 as white person's hand to do anything, — come now, like a good 
 girl, and let me see how nicely you will do this." 
 
 By this time the lips had usually relaxed their pouting — the 
 eyes would brighten up, and the duty being set about, they found 
 that when once they tried willingly they seldom failed of success ; 
 so that now I have considerably less trouble than I had in my 
 first experience of this outlandish menage. 
 
 Hackneyed and subject to ridicule as the theme be, I must 
 observe that this is a country and climate wliere the want of 
 proper domestic attendance falls heavily upon Europeans. You 
 may form some idea of the uselessness of the generality of native 
 female servants here, when I mention that out of the very few 
 European ladies in the colony, several have often preferred being 
 without a female attendant, to the trouble and annoyance of 
 breaking one in. 
 
 Sometimes a white nurse or lady's maid has been brought out. 
 
LET. XXXI.] NATIVE LITERARY ACQUIREMENTS. 255 
 
 but they have, with perhaps but two exceptions, fallen victims 
 to the baneful climate ; and indeed it is a responsibility not 
 lightly to be incurred, bringing any one in such capacities out 
 to a pestilent land like this. 
 
 But to return to the blacl^s. One of our Liberated African 
 servants, who has been with us nearly all the time we have spent 
 here, rather surprised me lately, by begging that his colony- 
 born son might be taken and initiated into the mysteries of 
 white man's service, in our household ; and really this boy does 
 credit to the school (conducted by the Church Missionaries) at 
 which he has been brought up. He not only can explain the 
 meaning of what he reads, but every day fills a page of his 
 " copy-book " with a story, usually out of the Bible, but written 
 down from memory. The handwriting is good and the history 
 always correct, but being composed in " black man's English," 
 it is really impossible not to smile sometimes at the language. 
 In a treatise (or whatever it may be called) on England, the com- 
 mencing sentence is, " England is one very fine colony, the 
 very best of all the colonies in the world." 
 
 The negroes here are certainly touched with the " cacoethes 
 scribendi." If one come to offer himself as cook, groom, or 
 pantry servant, besides his written character obtained from 
 former masters, he sends up a document, purporting to be written 
 by himself, which sets forth his qualifications in a highly original 
 style ; while a person coming on any other business commonly 
 announces his errand in the same way. Nay, one morning 
 the market-messenger brouglit me up the following ludicrous 
 note : — 
 
 " Please, madam, I very sorry no mutton live in market this 
 morning, 
 
 '' Your affectionate butcher, 
 
 " JoHx Macaulay." 
 
 I mean to send you some other specimens* of their literary 
 acquirements, from which you will perceive they delight in 
 using fine sounding words, though evidently often without 
 knowing their meaning. The love of learning exists equally 
 in Fanyah, who gives proof of a mental capacity I never saw 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 
256 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxi. 
 
 excelled by any black child, whether Liberated or colony-born, 
 tliough the latter are generally thought to surpass the others in 
 abilities. After her Bible lesson one Sunday, she asked me 
 whether I thought, had Adam not eaten the forbidden fruit when 
 it was offered him by Eve, he would have been allowed to 
 remain in Paradise ; — a question which betokened a depth of 
 thouoi^ht one could never have looked for in a child of her years. 
 I cannot better give you an idea of Fanyah's disposition than by 
 the following incident: — She had been rather rebellious and 
 headstrong one day, and on being found fault with, showed so 
 much ill temper, that as a punishment I desired her to go and 
 stand in a corner of my room, telling her she was at liberty to 
 come out whenever she wished to be good. I dare say eight 
 minutes elapsed ere she entered the piazza, and coming up to 
 me, asked pardon in quite a mild tone of voice : I spoke to her 
 a few serious words, when slie interrupted me by saying, " When 
 I first been wish to lelf corner and come ask pardon, de devil 
 always say to me. No, don't go— but de good spirit say. Go — and 
 I listen to de good spirit and come : and so you been forgive me, 
 
 ma'am." 
 
 Although by no means active^ this little girl's docility and 
 diligence lead me to think, if she be a fair specimen of her people 
 generally, that the Kossoes are very superior to all the rest of 
 the Liberated negroes. Not that I have had experience of 
 individual character out of more than one or two of the various 
 tribes composing that portion of the black community known as 
 Liberated Africans, some idea of whose diversity may be gathered 
 from the fact, that though externally forming one vast social 
 body of people, nearly forty distinct languages are spoken 
 amongst them. Indeed I know but little of the tribes, beyond 
 the names by which they are distinguished, and which are usually, 
 though not always, identical with that of the country whence 
 they were taken. There are Congoes — Coanzoes — Coromantins — 
 Calabars — Bon ny s-^ Bassas — Mokoes — Ey gies — Tapuas — Kos- 
 soes — Pawpaws — Eboes — and Akus, or Eyoes. 
 
 The latter, from whose ranks our domestic servants are chiefly 
 obtained, and so called from the salutation in their own dialect on 
 meeting, — come from Yarribah, — a country lying between the 
 kingdom of Dahomey and the Niger, with the great slave-mart 
 
LET. XXXI.] AFRICAN TRIBES. 257 
 
 of Badagry in the Bight of Benin for its principal seaport. They 
 are unquestionably the most painstaking and industrious amongst 
 all the Liberated population ; and probably the most numerous, 
 although dividing themselves again into several different clans. 
 " My country is to the other Aku countries what England is to 
 this place," said an old Aku in reply to some questions respecting 
 his nation, and, evidently much flattered thereby, added he would 
 write a book about his country and send it to me ; and shortly 
 afterwards I received a written paper, in which, after mentioning 
 that it was six days' journey from " the great salt water," the 
 grandeur and extent of his country, with its king's house, fifty 
 feet high, strong walls, and seven gates, through which any person 
 wishing to enter the town would have to pass, was set forth 
 in somewhat extravagant terms, its only drawback being that 
 other nations always come and steal his country-people and sell 
 them for slaves. In this carefully-penned history, a Tvdsh that 
 Missionaries might go to Ephee, as he called the place, was more 
 than once expressed in these words : " If those Missionaries 
 catch to my land, there will be no more war in any country, for 
 we will have peacemakers." 
 
 The Eboes are natives of the town and district of that name, — 
 or, as it is sometimes written, Ibbo — Aboh — or Heebe, — situated 
 on the right bank of the Niger, and I believe the first of any 
 importance reached after crossing the bar of the river. Though 
 perhaps equally enterprising with the Akus, the Eboes are con- 
 sidered to be, even in their civilized state, a more savagely disposed 
 race ; yet their women are said to have made the most Milling 
 and laborious slaves in the West Indies, in days when the inhuman 
 traffic was considered legal ; as of the men of all the Slave-tribes, 
 the Joloffs were esteemed the best. The Pawpaw^s, who appear, 
 from the few examples I have seen, to be a peculiarly quiet and 
 harmless set of people, come from that part of the coast on the 
 Bight of Benin called Great and Little Popoe. The Calabars and 
 Bonnys are natives again of the sea-coast, towards the left of the 
 Niger, in the Bight of Biafra. These Bights — great -wide bays 
 at each side of the mouth of the Niger— swarm everlastingly with 
 slave-ships, and are amongst the places most closely guarded by 
 our cruisers. I think it was a Calabar negro of whom the story 
 is told, that when on his trial at the sessions here for some crime 
 
 s 
 
258 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxi. 
 
 or other, he was asked if he had any objection to the persons 
 serving as jurors. The first pointed out to the criminal was a 
 fat ruddy-faced European, and on the Calabar-man shaking his 
 head with " I no savey," — the question was translated into negro- 
 English by the interpreter as he again pointed to this juror, saying 
 '• Do you like um ? " A grin of intelligence spread over the 
 sable countenance of the prisoner as he replied with great fer- 
 vour, — " Yes — me like for nyara iimr* The stigma of man- 
 eating rather attaches itself therefore to the Calabars and Bonnys. 
 
 The Congoes, as their name imports, come from the kingdom 
 of Congo, many degrees farther to tlie south, and tliough an 
 exceedingly barbarous and inferior tribe in their rude state, make, 
 I am told, well-disposed and diligent members of the free negro 
 community here. Their village is prettily situated on a rising 
 ground, amidst wooded bays, between Freetown and the Cape, 
 and the inhabitants are almost all fishermen. The Coanzoes are 
 natives of Angola, and, I understand, not so swarthy as the rest 
 of the Liberated people. 
 
 The Bassas, or people of Grand Bassa, which is situated 
 considerably to the south of Cape Palmas, approach in appearance 
 and character to the Kroomen or Grebos of the latter place. 
 
 The Coromantins come from Cape Coast, a place rendered of 
 peculiar interest to Englishmen as being the grave of L. E. L. 
 The Kossoes are the natives of Mendi, that party of the country 
 to which the Gallinas river leads, and are thus quite close to the 
 peninsula of Sierra Leone. The Tapuas come from Nufi, while 
 the Mokoes, distinguished for their large and clumsily-shaped 
 hands and feet, and the Eygies also, seem, from the scanty informa- 
 tion I can glean, to be natives of the interior countries watered 
 by the Niger ; all I can learn of the latter is, that not content 
 with the usual gashing and tattooing of their complexions^ they 
 mark their foreheads in various figures, and pull the skin over tiieir 
 eyes in Vandykes ! But not only do tlie Liberated themselves 
 appear with carved faces and arms, they mark even their colony- 
 born children in the same way ; as besides the beauty to an 
 African eye, in these embossed patterns, it seems to keep up a 
 better feeling betwixt them and those of their parents' country- 
 people who are emancipated here. It is also associated in their 
 
 * " Yes, I'd like to eat him." 
 
LET. XXXI.] MARKS AND ORNAMENTS. 259 
 
 minds with a distinction of rank, having themselves disfigured 
 thus, being considered a badge of high birth. But I could 
 scarcely have fancied any of them heroic enough to inflict such a 
 torture on themselves, until, the other day when a young girl of 
 less repulsive countenance than many of the Liberated, appeared 
 with her formerly smooth black cheeks impressed witli four 
 hideous scars, the distinguishing Aku mark ; and my inquiries 
 elicited that she had done it herself with the acrid juice of the 
 cashew-nut. A leopard's tooth tied round the wrist is a badge 
 of freedom, and in the interior cannot be worn by the child of a 
 slave. A circlet of ivory round the wrist is another favourite 
 ornament. 
 
 s 2 
 
260 KESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxii. 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 Airs assumed by the Colony-born Children of Liberated Africans — Trading 
 Speculations — State of Agriculture — Sellers of Rice — Jamaica Coco 
 
 — Vegetable Gridiron — Freetown Market-place — Wooden Dressing 
 Combs — Mats and Baskets — Country-made Furniture — Different kinds 
 of Wood — Mason and Carpenter Work — Negro Domiciles — Supersti- 
 tions — Aku Devils — Dancing — Gree-grees — Watch-huts — A Grazing 
 Farm — Pilfering Habits of the Blacks — "Never-die" — Comparison 
 between Sierra Leone and West Indian Negroes in favour of the former 
 
 — Usual rate of Servants' Wages — A pertinacious Thief — Glow-worms 
 
 — A Cricket in the Store-room — Colony -fed Beef and Mutton. 
 
 April 14. 
 I THINK I mentioned in an early letter from this place, that 
 there were instances of the blacks here amassing considerable 
 wealth by their own exertions, and rising up to be influential and 
 respectable members of their own society. But it is almost in 
 every case actually those only who were once captured slaves 
 who thus distinguish themselves ; as, generally speaking, their 
 children born in the colony, forgetting their ovi'n descent, look 
 down with the utmost contempt upon all the negroes emancipated 
 here, assume equal airs with the settlers and Maroons, and do 
 little save spend the money made by their frugal parents. 
 
 So far as my observation extends, the Liberated Africans 
 appear fonder of embarking in trading speculations than of plod- 
 ding and persevering at any sort of manual labour that requires 
 settled habits of industry. While the more wealthy individuals of 
 the class compete with even the European merchants, those in the 
 very rudest and most ignorant state contrive to have somewhat 
 " to go sell in market " at Freetown ; the focus that attracts them 
 all alike, and tlie way in which money can be made with the least 
 effort of either mental or bodily energy, although certainly they 
 show considerable activity in leaving their houses in the morning. 
 I often hear their voices upon the village road as early as five 
 o'clock. Still the walk of several miles into town is an exertion 
 
I.ET. XXXII.] STATE OF AGRICULTUEE. 261 
 
 deemed not merely repaid by the profits of what they sell, but 
 also by the opportunity of seeing their fellow-people, and sitting 
 for hours in the market-place gossiping. Some go up to the 
 Sugar-Loaf or other places where wood is to be had, cut down a 
 tree, and saw it into boards for sale ; others procure in the same 
 way (or occasionally by stealing in their neighbour's bush) fire- 
 wood, posts, rafters, and wattles for building huts; fence-sticks 
 and bush-ropes; others cut down the exuberant grass on the hill- 
 sides to sell as provender for horses ; — and the price obtained for 
 such articles especially, is like foimd money to beings who have 
 no idea of the value of time, and whose time really is but of 
 little value, seeing many of them spend so much of it in complete 
 idleness. Their wants are so few, that each man, if careful, can 
 yearly raise upon his half-rood of allotted ground, fruit and 
 vegetables suflBcient for his subsistence during that period, be- 
 sides admitting of a part being sold. They have thus but little 
 motive for exertion, that of a few days being enougli to cultivate 
 so mere a spot. The patches reclaimed from the general wilder- 
 ness of underwood and Guinea grass, and planted with cassada, 
 coco, yams, and Indian corn, are also ready sources of riches to their 
 self-elected and more industrious owners, yet without costing much 
 trouble, — the art of agriculture* being in its lowest and rudest 
 stage here — the climate producing rich crops almost sponta- 
 neously. Ginger and arrow-root I see comparatively seldom ; 
 the former soon wears out the ground in whicli it is planted, and 
 the latter is an article which, when not sold in its raw state, takes 
 a good deal of care and application in its manufacture. The 
 chief demand for both of these is for exportation. Rice and 
 sugar-cane I have seen growing even less frequently ; but the 
 former, equal in quality and whiteness to that of Carolina, is at 
 times to be obtained from the Bullom shore. One common sort 
 of native rice is red, and though large in the grain, sweet and 
 wholesome enough, looks so ill upon table (it being impossible, 
 without a mill for the purpose, to separate the red inner husk) 
 that it is never used by Europeans. 
 
 I am told they have a strange system of selling this rice in 
 Freetown. The Timmanees come from ''up the country," and 
 take up their abode in a house in town, for which its inmates 
 * The sole implement is a small rude hoe fixed in a short wooden handle. 
 
262 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxii. 
 
 charge no rent from the rice-merchant ; but the buyer has to pay 
 an additional sixpence upon every bushel for the " house^^ and 
 a shilling for the use of the " tub," in which the rice is measured. 
 My informant, a poor black woman, said this custom falls parti- 
 cularly hard upon those who can only afford to purchase in small 
 quantities, as while sixpence is put upon every bushel for the 
 house, no more than one shilling is charged for measuring nine 
 or ten. It was lately four shillings and sixpence per " tub ;" so if a 
 person wanted to buy a single one, one and sixpence beyond the 
 value of the rice was charged. It is not a general article of food 
 amongst Liberated Africans, but the Kroomen and Timmanees 
 live upon little else than rice mixed with palm-oil and chillies. 
 
 It is to the culture and sale of the every-day country eatables 
 that the village-people's attention is chiefly devoted. Plantains, 
 bananas, pawpaws, ground-nuts, yams, cassada, and yaboes are 
 the vegetables obtaining the most ready sale. A very superior 
 sort of coco-root has been lately introduced here from Jamaica ; 
 and as, when properly cooked, by being first parboiled and tlien 
 roasted, it is excellent, there is quite a demand for it, even for 
 the tables of Europeans. 
 
 Amongst the different sorts of things daily carried down to 
 town, you also see foo-foo, native-made soap, tobacco of 
 poisonous-smelling qualities, plantain and other broad leaves 
 which answer the same purpose for rolling up confections in, as 
 paper does. Leaves for various purposes, both culinary and 
 medicinal, are also sold in the market. Those of a pretty reedy 
 plant very common in our " bush," with yellow blossoms, and 
 seeds like young gooseberries, — somewhat like leaves of arrow- 
 root, but much larger, harder, and more glossy, are in great 
 request with the country-people, as answering all the purposes of 
 a gridiron to broil fish, which being wrapt in one of these leaves, 
 is laid on the glowing embers, where the novel cooking utensil 
 shrivels and scorches, but does not consume, and the fish is done 
 to perfection. The stem of the same plant is dried in the sun, 
 the outer part peeled oflT and sold to be platted into hats. The 
 pith resembles that of rushes, and I think might make lights like 
 them. Eough coarse wicks for palm-oil lamps are twisted up of 
 cotton gathered here, and also form an item for sale. 
 
 Saturday is the great day on which country-made furniture, 
 
LET. xxxii.] COUNTrvY-MADE FURNITURE. 2G3 
 
 baskets, mats, boards, poultry and eggs, swell out the list of the 
 usual articles for market ; whilst thread, pins, needles, tape, with 
 many a country viand, such as agahdee and ginger-cake ; or 
 liqueur, such as brown-plum or sorrel-beer, and palm-wine, are 
 daily added by the townspeople themselves. 
 
 Never having been in the market-place myself, I cannot 
 describe its appearance from personal observation, but judging 
 from the countless numbers who on their way thither, throng 
 the mountain -road of a morning, I can imagine there is no ex- 
 aggeration in an old settler w^oman's recent account: " Dem 
 market- people, marm, are indeed in such crowds dat dare heads 
 rise up as close togedder as ever you been see grass grow in a 
 field." 
 
 The quick return of money renders market-selling the favourite 
 pursuit of the lower classes, but there are a few even of them 
 wdio follow handicraft trades of various kinds, down to making 
 the wooden combs used by the Negro women at their toilettes — 
 strange-looking things, with teeth like those of a garden-rake, 
 and which are sold at the rate of three big copper each,— a 
 branch of trade which receives great encouragement from the 
 emigrants to the West Indies, each individual amongst the 
 hundreds of passengers, always patronizing the comb-merchant 
 ere departure. Others of the industriously disposed make mats 
 and baskets of different common kinds. The finest of this sort 
 of grass-work is carried on at Waterloo, a village many miles 
 up the river. Table-covers and bags prettily woven into gingham- 
 like patterns are made there, and have found their way into shop- 
 windows in London. Such articles of native manufacture are 
 ingenious and neat; but all attempts at imitating even the 
 simplest pieces of European furniture are, however praiseworthy, 
 most particularly clumsy, and do not go beyond bedsteads, 
 benches with upright ends termed sofas, chairs and tables. In 
 one of the latter brought here for sale, was a drawer about a foot 
 square, and an inch and a half in depth, while the wood forming 
 the bottom and sides was actually nearly two inches thick all 
 round. The chairs are odd-looking things, with one leg at least 
 always shorter than the others, the seats inclined planes, or 
 warped into still more irregular shapes, and the bars across the 
 backs always fastened on crookedly. I should mention, how- 
 
264 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxii. 
 
 ever, that they are so low-priced (varying from one shilling- to 
 eighteen-penceapiece) that it will not ruin you to patronize their 
 enterprising maker, even should you burn them for firewood. 
 
 Some of the common country wood is rather remarkable. 
 One kind is the colour of brimstone ; another, dark and brown 
 as chocolate ; a third is bright red ; and one, of a finer grain than 
 any of these, is a light chestnut prettily veined. But there is 
 plenty of a very superior description found up the rivers. I 
 have seen a table and cabinet made of a beautiful yellow wood 
 variegated with broad streaks of black, that came from the 
 neighbourhood of Sierra Leone ; and we have a bookcase (the 
 neat-enough workmanship of an American black here), the wood 
 of which resembles old sombre-hued mahogany. That of the 
 coffee-tree is somewhat like box, white, hard, very finely grained, 
 and capable of taking a beautiful polish : alternate squares of it 
 and the rich crimson camwood of the country would look well 
 in a chess-ta])le. 
 
 The mason and carpenter work of even the best finished houses 
 here are exceedingly rude. A plane is evidently what the 
 blacks either cannot or will not use, and to build in a straight 
 line seems to be impossible with them. While the walls of your 
 house look alarmingly off the perpendicular, the carpet or oilcloth 
 has to be cut into graceful undulations or slopes at the edges to 
 lit the floor, owing to the unevenness of the sides of the room. 
 Doors and window-frames are sometimes obtained from England, 
 and the difference between the very plainest of them and those 
 cut and carved by negro hands is indeed striking. As the 
 colony-made casements are hung, there is generally space enough 
 between them and the sill, as well as at the hinges and fastenings 
 in front, to admit in the " rains " almost as much water as 
 would float a canoe. 
 
 The more opulent of the Liberated people have good, substan- 
 tial (if the last be a word applicable to tlie skeleton edifices here), 
 and well-furnished houses. The mortality amongst Europeans, 
 and the unavoidable migratory habits of those who survive, render 
 sales by auction of household property of very frequent occur- 
 rence ; and the high price given for second-hand furniture by 
 the better classes of the Liberated, evinces their appreciation of 
 personal comfort. For a plain mahogany chest of drawers^ not 
 
LET. XXXII.] NEGRO DOMICILES. 265 
 
 worth even when quite new above five or six pounds, these blacks, 
 fond as they are of money, will sometimes readily give nine or ten. 
 
 But the great mass of the " emancipados " are the occupiers 
 of these mud-walled and grass-thatched huts, that form amidst 
 their banana and pawpaw trees one of the most striking features of 
 our Sierra Leone landscape. They vary in size and neatness 
 of finish ; some consist of but a solitary apartment, others 
 have two, and, with few exceptions, all have narrow piazzas in 
 front. Many of these cabins are simply wattled, others plastered 
 inside only, but the greater portion are done so both within and 
 without. Here stands one with no inlet for light or outlet for 
 smoke beyond the low doorway ; next to it another displays one 
 small opening, we may term a window ; while a third boasts 
 perhaps of two with boarded shutters. 
 
 I have lately watched the erection of one or two very humble 
 huts, not far from the foot of our hill, and in a part of the 
 suburbs occupied by a body of the poorest of the Liberated 
 Africans ; and it seems to me their common mode of 
 building is this : — First four rough posts, the stems of as many 
 voung- trees, or the straio:ht branches of older ones, are driven at 
 equal distances into the ground so as to form a square ; other 
 uprights of the same sort are placed between the corner posts ; 
 when a piazza is intended, another row of stakes is made about 
 three or four feet out from the inner wall, and on them the roof 
 rests, the top of each being hollowed out to receive the " plates " 
 (as a carpenter would say), which are also formed of rounded 
 poles. But when, as in the case of these lowly huts I have 
 observed, there is no piazza, and before the roof is begun, the 
 ligrht-coloured flexile sticks called "wattles" are woven between 
 the uprights, the structure looks like nothing more nor less than 
 an enormous clothes-basket. Beams are then thrown across, 
 upon the centre one of which, two straight posts, notched at the 
 top, are fixed to receive in their turn the horizontal and short 
 upper beam, that on being fastened into the notched poles shows 
 the domicile is to be like all those surrounding it — pavilion-roofed, 
 gable-ended buildings not being a fashionable style of architec- 
 ture here. The rafters, consisting always of fine, straight, young 
 trees cut for the purpose, are next put up, and the slighter sticks 
 crossing them again are simply tied with bush-ropes. The roof 
 
266 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxit. 
 
 may remain in this chequered state until the walls are plastered 
 with black or red mud, but more commonly thatching is the 
 next process, the native mode of which is anything but neat, the 
 grass seeming as if flung on by a pitchfork, and left to put itself 
 into shape. When done with green boughs, the roof looks 
 unique and picturesque for a short time, but soon fades and 
 becomes ragged. Bamboo thatch is by far the prettiest, and 
 being less apt to catch fire, people have been lately prohibited 
 to use any other in Freetown. 
 
 In the Mandingo quarter of the town, which we partly over- 
 look (our own brook running through it, after emerging from 
 the depth between the two hills), many of the dwellings are 
 built solidly of mud alone ; and they have, previously to being 
 roofed in, a still more novel appearance than the wattled huts, 
 having invariably no windows of any description in the walls, 
 which seemed to be occasionally two or three feet thick. Some 
 are really spacious oblong buildings, divided by partitions of 
 clay into several apartments, but the thatch being made to 
 project very far, causes them all to look lower than they 
 really are. 
 
 I have never seen the interior of a native hut, but from what 
 the people themselves tell me, it would seem that the poorest and 
 most indolent boast of no more household stuff than perhaps an 
 iron pot, a spoon, tin panikin, and rug or blanket, such as they 
 were provided with on emancipation. To these some may afford 
 to add a few delf plates and calabash-bowls, with a country chair, 
 bench, and table. Their beds are usually raised heaps of hard 
 mud, over which, after being smoothed and dried, a mat is 
 spread ; though others again possess country sofas. The wardrobe 
 of the hut-occupying population is sometimes so scanty that a 
 bly is sufficient to contain it all. Others have boxes or small 
 native-made chests, while, as they gradually advance in affluence, 
 a cupboard is setup, and country pot (in which to keep the spring 
 water cool at all times), with a wooden mortar to separate the 
 husk from the rice by pounding — deemed indispensable. 
 
 The negroes are a very superstitious race. Even those who 
 have been taught better, are still deeply attached to the idolatrous 
 practices of their own nations. Devil and image worship prevail 
 to a great extent, and I have been told of one man who takes his 
 
LET. XXXII.] SUPERSTITIONS— AKU DEVILS. 267 
 
 family out every morning to pay their devotions to a great snake 
 that lives under a rock, and which they regularly feed. Some of 
 the women will not cut their children's hair until they first 
 sacrifice a white fowl, the blood of which is oflPered as a propitia- 
 tion to the devil ; and thefraQ:rant frankincense orbuno^o is burnt 
 in the interior to drive away the same evil power. They 
 have ceremonies on the decease of their friends, called, like 
 those of the Irish, *' wakes," and the wild crying and howling on 
 such occasions ascending up here in the depth of night, is by no 
 means a pleasant addition to the other inharmonious noises of 
 musketry and yelping curs. 
 
 Few days pass that I do not see from tlie windows, usually 
 early of a forenoon, a figure grotesquely dressed in a scarlet 
 mantle and peaked cap, with masked or muffled face, who, utter- 
 ing discordant shouts and performing all sorts of antic gestures, 
 as he walks, or rather runs along from hut to hut, soon gathers 
 around him a crowd of people, who follow dancing and jumping 
 after his own example. Individuals of this stamp are called 
 " Aku devils," and after fixing upon some house as the scene of 
 the amusement, seat themselves outside near the entrance, and 
 commence beating their tom-toms and tinkling their guitars ; 
 the enclosure meanwliile being densely filled by dancers, and the 
 road in front displaying dozens upon dozens of motley-attired 
 groups — men, women, and children springing and wheeling 
 about in attitudes that remind you of the ungainly gambols of a 
 shoal of porpoises. Dancing, such as it is here however, is a 
 passion with the blacks, and each different tribe patronizes a 
 different dance. 
 
 But indeed I must candidly confess myself to be totally 
 ignorant of most of the national usages and habits of tlie 
 negroes. A person may live for years here, but, unless circum- 
 stance and climate alike permitted of his going about amongst 
 the people, return to Europe at the end of that time with the 
 impression of having merely had for so long, a moving panorama 
 of tropical scenery and figures before him, further than tlie little 
 every- day incidents that fell under his own immediate observation, 
 or were told him by otliers. This w ill be the case with me ; for as 
 to any one, situated as I am, acquiring a personal knowledge of the 
 native customs and manners, it is quite impracticable, even M'ere 
 
268 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxii. 
 
 interest enough excited by the subject to tempt braving the 
 climate. 
 
 The most common superstition that has come under my notice 
 is a belief in charms, here called " gree-grees." One mornino- 
 on riding past a small field of peas, then rich in blossoms, I 
 desired Fanyah to pluck one for me, which she went to do, but 
 immediately came back without the flower, saying it was a 
 •*' medicine bush," that would kill her if she " been touch um." 
 
 Not understanding this, I asked an explanation of the Aku 
 horseman (or rather donkey-man), who said, pointing to an 
 upright stick in the midst of the plot of peas, and to which a 
 buncli of dried grass was fastened (as I had imagined to scare 
 away birds), that tied up within this grass were poisonous leaves, 
 which the proprietor of the farm had put there as a " gree-gree ;" 
 and that the general belief was that whoever stole any of the 
 produce, would die from the effects of the poison contained in 
 these leaves, as much as if he ate them. This man, however, 
 professed himself no believer in the charm, and of his own accord 
 gathered one of the flowers, on seeing which Fanyah mustered 
 courage to follow his example ; and my usual bouquet was thus 
 augmented by two pretty yellowish white pea-blossoms, with a 
 very sweet perfume. I have since seen many gree-grees of the 
 same description : a broken bottle is placed on a stone in a con- 
 spicuous part of the cassada or corn grounds, or it may be an old 
 bly or calabash, each said to contain a potion of deadly effect to 
 the daring individual who attempts to appropriate any of the pro- 
 ductions of the farm ; and such charms have effect, it would seem, 
 when all other means fail, to prevent this very common descrip- 
 tion of robbery. 
 
 There are usually upon every farm, small watch-huts, where 
 some one remains during the night to guard the property ; yet a 
 jiian, who has liberty to plant on the boundaries of our ground, 
 repeatedly complains of people coming in bands, and taking up 
 every one of his yams, sweet potatoes, and cassada-roots. Such 
 depredations must dishearten even the most diligent of those 
 engaged in husbandry ; but I have sometimes thought if tliey 
 and their families would oidy settle themselves down in humble 
 homesteads at no great distance from each other, beside their hill 
 grounds, instead of all congregating into the town and villages, 
 
LET. XXXII.] PILFERING HABITS OF BLACKS. 269 
 
 leaving their farms to be watched by single individuals, that 
 surely this stealing of agricultural produce would not be carried 
 on to such excess. It is very rare to see in an isolated situation 
 any other than a mere watch-hut ; indeed, I have only twice dis- 
 covered what I could term a Negro country-residence. One of 
 these I told you of long ago ; it was situated at the bottom of 
 the ravine between the hills behind this, but is now hastening to 
 decay, its proprietor having died lately. The other is of more 
 recent erection, but is what one would call at home a grazing 
 farm, there not being even a patch of cassada near it. 
 
 On turning off" the Gloucester road and riding for some time 
 through bush of a very low growth, we came one day to this 
 solitary habitation, in an exceedingly wild place among the hills, 
 nearly as high up as the site of Sukey Webb's ancient abode, and 
 commanding a fine sea-view. It was the barest spot I ever saw^ 
 even here, although its solitude was somewhat enlivened by the 
 presence of a horse, several cows, and a quantity of well-con- 
 ditioned poultiy, all of which live-stock seemed to be in excellent 
 quarters. This farm, and the cattle around it, belong to a 
 liberated African, who is rapidly becoming rich by his specula- 
 tion as a grazier. The cowhouse, an apartment under the same 
 roof as the dwelling itself, appeared to be very strongly built, 
 and secured by a door wdth a good padlock, the owner no doubt 
 being too well aware that dishonesty is the prevailing charac- 
 teristic of his own race. 
 
 This may seem a very harsh allegation, but it is not the less 
 true ; — a propensity to thieve, being indeed, of all the evil ones 
 M'hich appear in the Liberated African, that most difficult to 
 eradicate. It is inherent in the newly emancipated savage. It 
 clings to those who are otherwise tolerably civilized. House, or 
 rather /i?^^breaking, is a common crime in Freetown, and petty 
 thefts of all kinds are constantly committed. There is no lack 
 of constables, but those of the Aku nation will not, unless in ex- 
 treme cases, take up their delinquent countryman, nor will an 
 Eboe constable apprehend an Eboe thief, and so on through all 
 the different tribes. But while faithful to their own separate 
 clans, all alike actually seem to consider it by no means a wrong 
 thing to steal from white people. If there be fruit-trees on your 
 farm, rest assured you will, in most cases, be saved the trouble 
 
270 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxii. 
 
 of gathering more than the refuse of the laden branches, unless 
 the trees be close to your house ; and should you have the 
 smallest spot of ground planted with cassada for your own use, 
 or that of your goats and horses, it is deemed public property. 
 
 Now, although orange, mango, and cocoa-nut trees bear so 
 plentifully, that no European wants above the twentieth part for 
 himself and household, however willing one is to give away, 
 nobody likes being robbed. Even the corn, or rather rough rice, 
 given out for your horses' consumption is sometimes appropriated 
 by the grooms, who have merely to soak it in water, and beat it 
 in a mortar to take off the husk, when it is ready for their own 
 use. And not only are you exposed to thieves from without, but 
 even your household servants think fraud or cheating no dis- 
 honesty. The little Liberated children, who may be apprenticed 
 or located with you, and whom you try to train up in some sort 
 of pious and moral habits, are coaxed and bribed by your hired 
 domestics to steal tea, sugar, biscuit, butter, needles, pins, thread ; 
 in short, any little thing that falls in their way. Sometimes they 
 pretend that they merely ask the articles to keep for the other's 
 own use, when their period of servitude is expired ; but if the 
 young creatures remain faithful and honest despite of pursuasions 
 to the contrary, then they are told, " Ah ! berry well ! — soon 
 your massa and missis can go England and leff you here, den 
 you catch hungry too much, but 'pose you go beg from black 
 man, dem no gib you nothing, cause you like white people better 
 past we." 
 
 I have known some of the best-educated and well-conducted 
 servants we ever had, tamper in this way with the younger 
 members of the establishment, and it is constantly done with 
 those apprenticed out to the more wealthy classes of the blacks. 
 If the children are of the same tribe as those who would corrupt 
 them, they are seldom proof against the temptation, and think it 
 a much greater fault to expose their country-people than to rob 
 their employers. 
 
 But though I cannot say as much for the boys, who being 
 down amongst the others, are more apt to be led away to bad 
 practices, I have found, generally speaking, my own immediate 
 attendants, children though they were, not only proof against 
 
LET. XXXII.] GREE-GREES. 271 
 
 eitlier threats or bribes, but trustworthy and interested in the 
 family. 
 
 That white people should obtain eggs from their own poultry, 
 or milk from their own goats, appears a great hardship in the 
 eyes of some of your servants, who no doubt deem that their 
 country-people are deprived of custom they would otherwise get. 
 Therefore the eggs are stolen, and the nice rich goat-milk*watered 
 unmercifully, or else you are told the animals have none. This 
 would be nothing were it possible to buy the one or the other as 
 good in town ; but while the thin, blue, ill-tasted milk of cows 
 is ail you can obtain (to say nothing of the report that some 
 people keep milch-pigs as a profitable speculation), it is absolutely 
 necessary to direct your servant before buying eggs in the market 
 to try whether they be fresh or not by putting them to sink or 
 swim in a bowl of water, as out of a dozen seldom more than 
 four are capable of being used. But the country-people them- 
 selves not considering stale eggs at all unfit to eat, and some 
 thinking them much more delicate for being all save hatched — 
 the difficulty of procuring at any price that almost indispensable 
 article of cupboard economy may be understood. 
 
 By the way, I have been much amused lately to find that, 
 despite my best endeavours to weaken all faith in gree-grees, we 
 are ourselves gravely suspected of giving full credence to the 
 powers ascribed to them. Having had sent us by a friend, famed 
 here for his pretty grounds and gardens, two curious leaves 
 possessing the property of throwing out shoots if hung up in a 
 current of air, one has been suspended accordingly in each of 
 the under piazzas, and every day I watch what progress they have 
 made— no doubt with a look so profound that our servants are 
 justified in supposing, as they do, that these are " medicine-leaves " 
 hung up as charms to prevent the pilfering of eggs, which at 
 times o-reatly prevails on our premises as well as on those of most 
 of our neighbours — and they have actually takeji effect as such ! ! 
 The plant from which these leaves are procured is however 
 not quite unknown here, and is called "never-die" by the 
 blacks. It is very hardy, and always keeps green. The leaf is 
 of a fleshy texture like house -leek,* nearly oval with slightly 
 
 * Sempervivum. 
 
272 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxii. 
 
 indented edges — from the clefts of those, long thread-like pink 
 shots have first sprouted forth — followed in a few days by three 
 of the tiniest of leaves — each indentation of the parent leaf 
 actually showing a perfect plant in miniature — root, branch, and 
 foliage being there. 
 
 In concluding this sketch of the Liberated Africans, I must 
 say that, all circumstances considered, it is matter of astonishment 
 to me, that there has been so much progress in civilization made 
 at Sierra Leone, though I am well aware the general opinion is 
 quite opposed to mine. But indeed the difficulty — nay, impossi- 
 bility of rooting out the idolatry, superstitions, and barbarous 
 practices of those grown up ere they come here, or of teaching 
 humanized habits to any except the mere infants among them, is 
 perfectly beyond comprehension to those who have never tried 
 to tame or teach an ignorant savage. 
 
 It would be unfair did I not add, that the most trustworthy, 
 active, willing, and attached domestic in our household (the 
 ancient Aku whose country may be compared to England), and 
 who has been so long with us, cannot read, nor was, I believe, 
 ever at school. He was a grown-up lad on being emancipated, 
 after which he served nine years with a good European master ; 
 and is now a devout attendant upon " meeting," as they term 
 individually the places of worship of the Wesleyan Methodist 
 Society. 
 
 By what I hear and read of the West Indian blacks, I am 
 convinced that those of Sierra Leone— if not perhaps such efficient 
 servants or workpeople as their brethren across the Atlantic — 
 are at least much more humble-minded and manageable than 
 they are. Taken in a body the negroes here are a sober set of 
 people, for considering the great extent of the population, one 
 seldom sees any of them in a state of intoxication. The Liberated 
 Africans, as I have already mentioned, are a frugal-living class. 
 They follow the native custom of having but two regular meals 
 in the day ; breakfasting about nine or ten in the morning, and 
 dining, or rather supping, at any time between four and six in 
 the afternoon, but more customarily towards the latter hour. 
 Their period of daily labour is from sunrise until four in the 
 afternoon, with one hour allowed for breakfast, and the usual 
 wao'cs of out-door labourers is only four-pence to nine-pence 
 
LET. XXXII.] COLONIAL WAGES. ^ 273 
 
 a day ! Except they be apprentices (who always receive both 
 food and clothing) servants here are not fed by their employers; 
 and tlieir pay varies according to their post and abilities, from 
 fourteen, twenty, and thirty shillings per month, or "moon" as 
 they call it. From two and a half to three and a half dollars for 
 a mere boy, and from four to six dollars for a man, is perhaps 
 the most general rate of colonial wages. But I have l^nown ten 
 shillings a day given for a professed cook on a great occasion. 
 I lieard a laughable anecdote the other day, which I must tell 
 you. A gentleman here had a beautiful goat stolen from him, 
 and the thief being traced to his hut, the constables entered just 
 as he was popping part of the stolen animal into a large pot that 
 boiled merrily away upon a huge blazing fire. 
 
 On being taken into custody he was indignant at nothing ex- 
 cept at not being permitted to wait until he had eaten '• um mut- 
 ton ;" and after entreating, grumbling, remonstrating, arguing, 
 and storming — finally summed up by protesting against w^hite 
 man's injustice, not for sending him to gaol, but because he " no 
 for let um eat dat goat first, when he been hab trouble too mucli 
 for catch and cook um !" 
 
 A bright spark appearing on the parapet a few evenings ago, 
 I sent Dan to see what it was, and he brought up a fawn-coloured 
 caterpillar, having six legs, a proboscis, antennae, and two lar^e 
 eyes, with a body scarcely an inch in length, formed of eleven 
 scale-like joints. I put it under a glass in a dark room, and 
 noticed that the light (which it gave for but a few moments) 
 had a greenish tinge. I had it carried carefully back to the 
 parapet again, where every night I see its solitary lamp shinhig 
 amidst the grass. I only once observed a glowworm in this 
 country before, and that was shortly after my first arrival. I 
 remember so well seeing the luminous little speck lying in the 
 street in front of our house, and being in hopes it might be a 
 firefly resting its wings. But altiiough we have manv fine 
 insects, fireflies are not amongst their ranks. If we have not a 
 "cricket on the hearth" — seeing we have not a hearth on which 
 to have a cricket, — we have at least a cricket in the store-room, 
 a beautifully spotted one having taken up its abode there to my 
 great satisfaction, I do so very much like its merry note. 
 
 Talking of the store-room ; meat here, of which, as I have 
 
 T 
 
274 TtESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxii. 
 
 before told you, there is no other variety than beef and mutton, 
 is exceedingly poverty stricken. Really one gets from Freetown 
 market, beef that would only be considered fit to feed dogs with 
 at home. Mutton is a shade better, still it is sometimes miserably 
 lean, tough, and dry. A friend lately sent us part of a sheep 
 brouirht from Accra, and it tasted like mutton, which even the 
 best of that obtained here does not. The blacks evidently do 
 not understand the art of feeding and fattening cattle. How they 
 would stare at the " roast beef of old England ! " I sometimes 
 wonder that European families here do not club together, and 
 feed and kill their own cattle, so as to have good wholesome 
 meat at all seasons of the year. 1 was assured by a guest one 
 day (when, for a wonder, I happened to have a respectable-looking 
 joint on the table) that the sight of even a morsel of fat upon beef 
 here was quite a rarity to him. In the rains, there being better 
 pasturage, meat is not so very bad ; but since we came out last, 
 there have been times in the dry seasons, when I found it very 
 difficult, even with all good Mrs. Rundell's and Mrs. Meg Dodd's 
 valuable help, to contrive methods of rendering it presentable. 
 
 One brings out loads of hams, tongues, cases of preserved meat, 
 fish, fruit, &c., and they are occasionally to be had tolerably 
 good in the colony ; but then one cannot live upon such things. 
 They are not so high priced now, but I remember when small 
 kegs containing half a dozen pickled tongues were sold here 
 at 3/. 10*. Poultry we ca7i manage to have in very good condition, 
 but people soon tire of such shipboard fare. 
 
LET. XXXIII.] JOLOFFS— MAROONS— TIMMANEES. 275 
 
 LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 Maroons — Joloffs — Timmanees — Kroomen — Mandingoes — Foulahs — 
 " Cork-Trees," — " White Coral-Tree "— New Bush Path — Thickness of 
 stems of Climbers here — Brown Plum-tree — Cluster of Palm Nuts — 
 Manufacture of Palm Oil — Palm Wine — Uses of the Palm-Tree — 
 Beautiful Flowers. 
 
 April 2-ith. 
 Besides the Settlers and Liberated Africans, you know the 
 colony, or rather its capital, is inhabited by several other sets of 
 blacks, sucli as the Maroons, Joloffs, Timmanees, Kroomen, and 
 Mandingoes. 
 
 Since my residence in Freetown, I have seen nothing of the 
 two former classes, except having for one day only, a Joloff 
 sempstress, who seemed a very good-humoured quiet girl ; but 
 though she came up of her own accord, asking me to give her 
 needlework, evidently thought this too dull a place to venture 
 to spend another day at it. This said young lady was attended 
 by her " own maid," or, as she wished it to be understood, her 
 slave. 
 
 Although knowing nothing of the Maroons from personal 
 experience, I believe they are, as compared with the Nova 
 Scotians, a superior and more industrious people, but their 
 stumbling-block is conceit, overrating their own abilities and 
 pretensions. Outwardly they profess the Christian religion. 
 
 The Timmanees, whose territory lies up the river to the east- 
 ward, are the tribe from wiioni tlie lands of the colony were first 
 purchased. The few of tliem I have seen, though they still 
 worship Satan, and religiously believe in fetiches, are yet 
 tolerably civilized, and seem an intelligent and industrious set of 
 men ; devoting themselves at all times, not occupied by their 
 regular employment as boatmen, to the platting and manufacture 
 of strong grass hats, which for the rainy season are rendered 
 waterproof by aid of a coating of black paint, and are thought 
 
 T 2 
 
276 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxiii. 
 
 so serviceable as to be occasionally patronized even by the seamen 
 of our coast squadron. 
 
 The Kroomen, natives of the coast at Cape Palnias, are a 
 hardworking and enterprising tribe, of whom it is never possible 
 to make slaves ; though they readily give their assistance to the 
 Spaniards and Brazilians who come to the coast to traffic in their 
 fellow-creatures. But the Kroos also find ready employment in 
 a nobler cause. Many of them serve on board the cruisers engaged 
 in the suppression of the slave-trade ; and in one recent melan- 
 choly instance of the loss of a prize-vessel in a tornado, during 
 those twenty-one awful days of misery endured by the officer 
 and crew upon a raft, a Kroo sailor was mainly instrumental in 
 preserving the lives of the sufferers by his dexterity in catching 
 sharhs, which formed almost the sole food they had to subsist 
 upon.* The Kroos or Grebos (as I believe their proper name is^ 
 are pagans, and there has never yet been an instance of one of 
 them beino- converted to Christianity. Nevertheless, I am told 
 (for with the solitary exception of our old friend of the talking 
 shoes we have never had any of that nation about us) they make 
 very good and faithful servants. It is said that whilst a Kroo 
 will steal from you himself, he will permit no one else even of 
 his own tribe to do so with impunity. 
 
 The Mahommedan portion of the colonial population is com- 
 posed in its turn of several different nations, Mandingoes, Foulahs, 
 Felatahs, the two first named coming from countries to the north, 
 the latter from the south of the peninsula, and in the interior ; 
 and they have been but too successful in propagating their 
 doctrine amongst the Liberated Africans. Indeed the followers 
 of the Moslem religion here are not only numerous, but con- 
 stantly on the increase ; and although the genuine Foulahs and 
 Mandingoes are more ingenious, neat-handed, and outwardly 
 civilized, than most of the blacks around, both they and their 
 proselytes are the greatest thieves and craftiest rogues in the 
 colony. Even kidnapping the emancipated children is by no 
 ' means an uncommon crime amongst them. They are usually 
 called by the majority of the liberated African tribes, " Allah- 
 ka-barras," from a corruption of their salutation, " Alla-ba-ka- 
 
 * The singularity consisted in catching the sharks by the tail with a 
 noose there being neither hook nor harpoon on the raft. 
 
LET. XXXIII.] FOULAHS— MANDINGOES. 277 
 
 yawa-rai," or, " God give you long life ;" and are both disliked 
 and dreaded by all the orthodox negroes, who say, "Ah! bad 
 man, Alla-ka-barra ; 'pose you make palaver wid him, he go 
 poison you by force !" 
 
 They are great hunters, and when they sit down to cook the 
 game they have killed, at a large fire kindled for that purpose 
 on the hill-side, their tall figures, with the gaudy caps, flowing 
 upper garments, bare legs, and sandalled feet, flitting before the 
 flames in the dusk of evening, and handling their long formi- 
 dable-looking muskets, present quite a picture that reminds you 
 in its wildness of some of Salvator Kosa's. 
 
 On tlie breaking up of some of their fasts, they present an 
 imposing spectacle, as they assemble in one dense crowd upon 
 the " grass-field," near their own quarter ; eacli dressed in his 
 robe of state, seated on a white sheep-skin, and holding a red, 
 green, or yellow umbrella over his head ; the wealthiest of them 
 galloping on to the field on their spirited Foulah horses, as if 
 advancing to the charge at the head of a regiment; the women 
 decked out in the gayest of scarf head-dresses, with the children 
 seating themselves at some distance on the grass to listen to the 
 ])alaver. On returning to their homes the firing of muskets and 
 tlie beatincr of drums never cease during;- the remainder of the 
 day. The green and shaded banks of the brook that flows 
 through their suburb are upon Sundays especially, covered with 
 clotlies, bleaching and drying ; that day above all otliers being 
 chosen by the Mandingo waives to execute their labours as 
 washerwomen. 
 
 The Mahommedans are keen traders, and parties of them, 
 generally Bulloms from the opposite shore, have often found 
 their way up here with rice for the liorses. Instead of the usual 
 little cap, those people wore hats tliat were quite curiosities in 
 their way, and more appropriate to the climate than the other, 
 their brims being nearly half a yard deep, and as strong as 
 basket-work ; while the crowns were closely stuck over with 
 straws nearly as thick as porcupine-quills, and w^hicli, bristling 
 up all round, like the top of a wheatsheaf, gave rather an 
 unfinished look to that part of the chapeau. 
 
 The Foulahs are decidedly the best-looking of all the natives 
 I liave seen, being not so very black as the rest ; and having 
 
278 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxiit. 
 
 noses less flattened, and hair which they either plait or twist 
 into long ringlets; but they are generally tall to a fault, their 
 figures not being broad and muscular enough in proportion to 
 their height. 
 
 Though all alike, with the exception of the Foulahs and Man- 
 dingoes, possess the usual negro- features, nowhere perhaps is there 
 such a diversity of personal appearance as among the various 
 tribes at Sierra Leone. Whilst many of the Liberated Africans, 
 other than those emancipated after being grown up, present 
 countenances rendered repulsive not only by their natural 
 unsightliness, but by the expression, whether it be that of utter 
 vacancy of ideas or of the predominance of bad passions, added 
 to forms cast in the very coarsest mould ; the free-born children 
 of perhaps those very people have better features, with fine 
 intelligent eyes, and figures often w^ell-proportioned and 
 delicately made. Indeed some of the little mountain-maidens 
 I meet bringing down tlieir blys of vegetables to market, have 
 quite a prepossessing aspect ; and I have seen several amongst 
 the school-children too, both boys and girls, with that frank, 
 ingenuous, animated look, and upright graceful carriage, it is 
 impossible could belong to any one who did not knoiv he was free. 
 I should think that to no people on earth is expression of coun- 
 tenance of greater importance than to the Negroes ; flat noses, 
 thick lips, woolly locks, and all the characteristic features of the 
 race, being divested of half of their ugliness when lighted up 
 by good temper and intelligence. 
 
 And now having at length disposed of the people, I must pro- 
 ceed to finish my account of the productions of this country, as 
 at least my sojourn on its shores is fast drawing to a close, the 
 knowledge of which causes me to take an interest even greater 
 than usual in all that I see around me. 
 
 Besides the palms, which at once stamp the scenery here with 
 a tropical aspect, — among the dense underwood of this place, — 
 I mean more particularly in the richly waving bush that clothes 
 the sides of this and part of the neighbouring hill, — the eye is 
 struck by the " cork-trees," whose white branching stems rise up 
 amid their fellow-denizens of the wood, reminding you (upon no 
 doubt a very grand scale) of hemlock growing. Viewed from a 
 distance the foliage very much resembles the horse-chestnut, and 
 
LET. XXXIII.] CORK TREES. 279 
 
 it seems to quiver like that of the aspen, to which it is also not 
 unlike in colour : the under side of the leaf is indeed of a pale 
 ashen hue. AVhen quite near, the tree strikes you as equally 
 strange looking-. Instead of the trunk springing out of the earth 
 in the manner of most others, you here see the formation of the 
 roots as it were for several feet above the surface of the ground, 
 the slender shaft itself seeming thus to rest upon a straggling 
 foundation of six or eig^ht twisting- and lesser stems, which somehow 
 conveys the idea that the next puff of wind will blow the tree 
 down. 
 
 Next to the above you are attracted by a tall and very slender 
 tree, without foliage except at the very top, which is crowned by 
 a graceful tuft, formed of long straight branches regularly 
 bordered on each side by leaves, not broader, but three or four 
 times the length of a common apple-tree leaf, which they also 
 very much resemble in colour and texture. Sometimes one of 
 these trees shoots out into two or three separate heads, and 
 " overtopping " the great mass of tlie exuberant bush, presents 
 a light and elegant appearance. A near inspection shows the 
 stem closely studded with great limpet-shaped excrescences, 
 pointed with thick sharp black thorns like those of the pullam 
 cotton, only considerably larger. The natives use the leaf and 
 bark in fishing ; strewn on the water it possesses the property of 
 stupifying the fish, when they are easily caught. 
 ■ The third tree that at once strikes you as having a particularly 
 foreign aspect, is one which grows in the same manner as the 
 last ; except that instead of branches it is surmounted by a crest 
 of immense leaves as broad at the upper end as those of the 
 banana and plantain ; but never broken like them, and of quite 
 a different shape and shade, being very dark and curled at the 
 edges like no leaf I ever saw save that of " green kail." But the 
 chief curosity of this plant is its flower. T have at two different 
 seasons, in January and February, observed something white 
 growing amongst the riotous verdure on the hill side, which on 
 taking the glass I discovered to be the blossom of this tree 
 springing up from the midst of its feathery diadem of leaves, 
 and exactly resembling a magnificent piece of white branch coral. 
 
 The fertility and vigour of the underwood, that has sprung up 
 after the destruction or decay of the parent stems, in part atones 
 
280 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxiii. 
 
 for the lack of venerable forest; and once fairly in its cool and 
 shady depths, the leaf and flower of every individual plant, arrest 
 attention by their foreign aspect. 
 
 But it is not merely the leaves and flowers around that appear 
 strange to a European eye. As the dry season advances, vege- 
 tation is so much burnt up and withered, that the forms of the 
 various stems and branches become, even in the shadiest part of 
 the bush, more visible than they are at any other time of the 
 year. My daily rides for some time past have been along a new 
 path, scarcely yet finished making, and that winds through a 
 part of the grounds, until now sacred to monkeys, being on the 
 steep and well-wooded slope of the ravine at the western side of 
 the hill. From the windows the foliage of its trees presents the 
 most picturesque feature of our near view; but owing to the 
 denseness and luxuriance with which they grow, their actual size 
 and height could never be guessed, — climbers of every description 
 Avreathing themselves up to the very top of each tree, and in- 
 terweaving themselves with its boughs, until the Avhole appears 
 one indistinguishable mass of waving verdure, with few exceptions 
 beyond those trees I have already described as being pre- 
 eminently remarkable. 
 
 Extract from Journal. 
 
 Marcli 24th. — Eode down to-day by the new walk into the 
 very heart of the bush, where on every side the leafless stems of 
 those extraordinary climbers termed " country ropes " can be 
 compared to nothing else than iron, leaden, or leathern pipes 
 (according to the rusty, grey, or brown-black colour of their 
 different barks) all twisted and re-twisted, plaited and woven into 
 every grotesque and fantastical form, until the whole space under 
 the trees, as far as the eye can reach, appears occupied by a 
 succession of enormous ?tets of irregularly- sized meshes ; or if 
 you could imagine the rigging of a ship in the most remarkable 
 disorder, — the ends of the highest ropes dangling down on the 
 deck, and tying tliemselves, in a thousand intricate knots, to 
 great lengths of thick coire, that in tlieir turn wound up one 
 mast, and down another, in every strange and varied convolution. 
 
 During my residence here, T never before saw, amongst all 
 the vegetable ropes at which I have wondered, any approaching 
 
LET. xxxiii.] CLIMBERS— PIGEON-PLUM. 281 
 
 to the quantity and denseness of these, with the exception of one 
 on a hill beyond Mount Oriel, and which, formed of hundreds 
 of stems twisted together into a single rope, thick as the trunk 
 of a moderate-sized tree, rolls itself round and round an upright 
 shaft of the same circumference ; till you could fancy you gazed 
 on the writhing- form of a hug-e anaconda. But down in tiie 
 ravine-walk, here one thick stem looks like a gigantic corkscrew 
 stretching between two trees, — that which once supported it 
 having left no trace of its existence, furtlier than in the regular 
 dimensions of each twist of the climber ; and there the more 
 slender shoots of a second wintl round a quantity of straight 
 twigs, till they seem, if not " like bundles of lances which garlands 
 had bound," at least as if they had been fastened firmly together 
 by other hands than those of nature, and with a bit of sailor's 
 cordage ; while now the spiral folds of anotlier have sunk into 
 the bark of the young tree they encircle, causing it to appear 
 like a wooden pillar rich in antique carving. 
 
 These tortuous plants form so complete a barrier, that it is 
 impossible for one, except in a creeping posture, to penetrate 
 through any part of the bush where they revel in tliis wild 
 exuberance, although it be generally the spot chosen by monkeys 
 as their favourite haunt. The want of leaf, at present, of some 
 of the smaller climbers is partly made up by tlieir stems being 
 loaded with the shining bunches of the Angola and blue peas ; 
 and I noticed a slight rope to-day, bearing narrow canoe-shaped 
 pods, about a foot in length, which I found on opening to be 
 closely packed with what appeared like thistle-seeds, except that 
 this fine down was more silky-looking. 
 
 April 28th. — The weather just now is most unbearably hot, 
 the glass in the shade even up here standing at 90°. Still I 
 contrive to get a breath of fresh air eitiier morning or evening., 
 Tiie new walk is invaluable for its shade and coolness, and my 
 donkey seems to think so too, as he now trots off in that direction 
 of his own accord. 
 
 Amongst the tall trees whose trunks rise up from the lower 
 bush, and the matted ropes at each side, tlie pigeon-plum is 
 most frequently met with. Its brown mottled fruit consists of a 
 stringy pulp of a pleasant flavour surrounding but very thinly a 
 large stone, and is not only used by the natives to make a sort of 
 
282 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxiit. 
 
 beer, but affords food for the sly geckoes as well as the pretty- 
 wild doves, whilst the tree itself, with its light-coloured bark, 
 smooth shining leaves, and small greenish-white blossoms, forms 
 when young an ornament for a shrubbery ; when old, a forest-tree 
 of stately dimensions. 
 
 Here and there too a lofty pullam cotton, with its arrowy stem 
 braced in armour that defies even the touch, and its spreading 
 boughs throwing wide their sheltering canopy of light o-reen 
 leaves, contrasts pleasingly with the massive trunk and dark 
 regular foliage of the palms, the haughty plumes of which meet 
 the eye at every other step. It is but very lately that I have 
 had the good fortune to see the nuts on the tree, those in bearing 
 being generally too lofty to admit of my seeing their fruit, which 
 grows out from among the topmost branches, tliough I often 
 notice the ground underneath thickly strewed with the fallen 
 nuts, which, shaped like those of the cocoa-palm, are when quite 
 ripe about the size of walnuts. When young they resemble in 
 their manner of growth a rich cluster of grapes, but seem as if 
 made of clear reddish-brown glass, with long green spiky points 
 interspersed through the bunch, which springs out close to the 
 parent stem, and might at first be taken for a large rounded 
 lump of glittering gum. They contain a beautifully white, but 
 hard kernel, enclosed in an extremely thick strong shell, covered 
 in its turn with a fibrous but yet highly oleaginous substance, 
 protected by a fine skin of a bright red hue. The thick crimson 
 oil so common as an article of food here, is procured from the 
 pulpy outer part of the nuts, which when quite ripe are beaten 
 in a mortar, but without breaking the stones ; a proportion of 
 water is then added, and the mass strained ; the liquid is then 
 boiled, and the bright-coloured oil rising to the surface carefully 
 skimmed oflT. 
 
 Another sort of oil is made from the kernels, these, after the 
 shells are broken, being picked out — parched over the fire — 
 pounded, and mixed with water, which is then also boiled and 
 skimmed. This is called " nut-oil," gives a beautiful light when 
 used in lamps, and is, I believe, well known in England (whither 
 the nuts themselves are exported for manufacture), but in the 
 interior it is kept until it gets thick like butter, when it is eaten 
 by the natives as well as the common " palm oil." The palm is a 
 
LET. XXXIII.] USES OF THE PALM-TREE. 283 
 
 truly valuable tree to the people of this country. Besides oil 
 they obtain their favourite beverage of palm-wine by tapping the 
 trunk under every bunch of fruit ; and from each opening nearly 
 a gallon of liquid can be obtained in a single day. When 
 perfectly fresh-drawn, this wine is sweet and pleasant to the 
 taste, but soon fermenting, becomes quite an intoxicating drink. 
 The palm-cabbage too is got from a peculiar species of the tree, 
 of which we have several ; their branches being less thick and 
 shady, and far more prickly than those of the EIceis gumeensis : 
 but although now it is at times to be bought in Freetown market, 
 being brought across from the Bullom shore, the natives in the 
 interior do not cut it down for their own use, unless in a time of 
 scarcity. They also tell me that two large, fat, white grubs are 
 to be found in the heart of the palm, and esteemed by negro- 
 epicures as more delicate eating than the cabbage ! "We cut 
 down one lately, and I found that Fanyah went every day for 
 some time to try and find these said dainties, but I suppose some 
 of the other servants had been beforehand, her search proving 
 unsuccessful. 
 
 I do not wonder at the blacks being loath to destroy a tree 
 that is in every respect such a source of riches. Besides what 
 it affords as food, its leaves make a good and durable thatch, 
 while by stripping off the green part and twisting tlie fibres, a 
 strong thread is manufactured, which is not oiih' employed in 
 sewing, but to make fishing-lines and nets. I have seen too a 
 thick felt- like sort of cloth prepared from tlie inner bark of the 
 palm, and from both the leaves and outer-bark baskets and mats 
 are made. 
 
 The " bush " just now is redolent witli the perfume of the 
 '• great white bell-flower," and its sister the " trumpet-sliaped 
 tree lily," the branches of which seem more heavily laden with 
 their magnificent blossoms than we have observed in any season 
 since we first found them out. 
 
28 i RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxiv. 
 
 LETTER XXXIV. 
 
 Sudden changes of the Atmosi)here — " Ting-bing " — Bats — " Cut-Grass " 
 — Young Alligator — Fruit of Bush Plants — Forest Trees — Monkey 
 Locust — Doves — *' Pepper Bird " — Christmas and Mocking Birds — 
 Kingfishers, &c. — Palm-Bird's Nest — Convolvuluses — Acacias — 
 Tamarind Trees — The " Rose Eater." 
 
 May 8th. 
 After a morning of intense lieat, with the thermometer at 88°, 
 a heavy tornado came on about noon, when, after the glass had 
 fallen about two degrees, it was hung out of the window for a 
 few minutes, in which short space of time it actually fell 18*^ 
 further: so you see the rapidity with which the atmosphere 
 changes in this climate. Vivid liorhtninsr and violent rain con- 
 tinued for many hours afterwards, and now in' the evening the 
 land-wind is blowing very strongly. 
 
 A few days ago, the little boy Dan, who is fonder of setting 
 snares in the bush than of any other occupation, brought into the 
 house a very curious little animal, called a '' Dong," " Emma," or 
 a '' Ting-bing" in country language. Its body is scarcely larger 
 than that of a full-grown mouse, and it has a long, bushy tail. 
 Its head is shaped somewliat like a cat's, only it has a very long 
 pointed nose. It has large prominent eyes which glance like 
 diamonds, and on each foot has five fingers, precisely like those 
 of a monkey, but the fore-finger is furnished with a claw. The 
 fur is a reddish-grey, with a sort of green gloss on it. Altogether 
 it is a pretty little creature, and thrives very nicely, and although 
 seemingly very fond of sugar and sweet-things, tries to catch 
 flies and mosquitoes, which it eats. It has a very shrill ringing 
 cry, to which it only appears to give utterance when pleased ; it 
 has also a dissatisfied kind of note, but seldom allows either of 
 them to be heard.* 
 
 Another day the same boy brought me a bat of a very light 
 
 * Its ears were remarkably large, but exquisitely delicate, bare and 
 patulous — the hind legs being long and the others short, the extended figure 
 resembled that of the hare. 
 
LET. XXXIV.] CUT-GRASS— ALLIGATOR. 285 
 
 grey colour, and with a head actually shaped like that of a youno- 
 calf: I never saw an animal with so mild an eye as this bat and 
 altogether — from the siiort look I had ere it took advantao-e of 
 an open window to regain its liberty — I thought it remarkably 
 pretty ; very different from another sort more common liere, and 
 which is much smaller, with a black leathery skin and hideously 
 wrinkled face. 
 
 I have just seen for the first time a strange animal which tlie 
 country-people hunt for food, and call a " cut-grass," as it lives 
 upon herbage. It is something between a pig and a porcupine 
 and about as large as a tolerably-sized young pio-. It is clothed 
 with exceedingly strong, hard, coarse bristles, lias a cleft upper 
 lip which fully displays its large vicious-looking teeth, and is 
 very fat and ugly, with five toes upon its fore feet, and four 
 upon the hinder ones. A young crocodile w^as caught at the 
 brook about a week ago, which Dan has taken under his esoecial 
 protection, keeping it in an old cask, under the shade of an orano-e- 
 tree, close to the stables, and feeding it wdth "potta-potta " or 
 muddy water. This uncouth kind of pet is almost three feet 
 long at the least, but its dark scaly body is scarcely thicker than 
 that of a large guana which used to prowl about on the walks 
 last year, until some of the servants or workpeople cauo-ht it to 
 form the basis of their soup-dinner. Monkeys, rats, squirrels 
 and various sorts of birds, including hawks, they also think ex- 
 cellent food, and there is no end to the different sorts of leaves 
 and berries they eat. 
 
 The black people, and the monkeys together, are so fond of 
 the thin coating of pulp which surrounds the seed of the Tliun- 
 bergia Chrysops, that it is seldom I can get it in a fit state to 
 plant. It is pretty hanging in the " bush " with its hard rind of 
 a deep reddish orange colour, and about as large as a Seville 
 orange. The seeds, which resemble black kidney-beans are 
 enclosed in a slight parchment-like sheath, and then disposed in 
 compartments. One really beautiful '' bush-fruit " shaped some- 
 what like a lime, and of a bright yellow at one end, gradually 
 shading into scarlet, is still more prized by the blacks, thouc^h 
 really containing nothing except seeds like those of the tamarin°d 
 embedded in an insipidly sweet and viscous matter ; while when 
 broken, a milk-white and higlily glutinous juice oozes from the 
 
286 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxiv. 
 
 rind. The leaf is light green and rather oval in form, but the 
 flower I have never seen. The country -people say this fruit is 
 not the same as the real pomegranate, only " sister to urn." 
 
 They are also very fond of another called by them the " palm 
 ground-nut," which I presume is a corruption of pomegranate, 
 as it has a crimson rind, and is full of large black seeds surrounded 
 by an acid pulp scarcely thicker in consistence than cream. 
 Many different plants are found in the bush bearing white floM'ers 
 very similar in scent and appearance to those of the coffee-shrub, 
 the leaf of which they also resemble. The blacks call these trees 
 " wild coffee." One of tiiem has a peculiarly rich-looking round 
 berry of a bright brick colour, powdered over with a white 
 farina, but it contains three seeds quite different from those of 
 the real coffee. 
 
 I know few things that stamp our scenery with a foreign 
 aspect — always excepting the palm and plantain tribe — more 
 than the few remaining forest trees of the colony ; their trunks 
 at the base forming, as it were, high niches, whose sides gradually 
 decrease in breadth as they ascend, until they insensibly taper 
 off to notliing at a considerable height up the trees. It may 
 seem a very whimsical and far-fetched illustration, but I have 
 seen no figure at all approaching to the appearance of that part 
 of the trunk, — except a closed umbrella, held so as the handle 
 (which should not exceed the spokes in length) rests on the 
 ground, and then whirled round until all the folds stand out ; or 
 it might be better to [fancy about half a dozen great chairs, 
 deserving the name of easy from their circular form, but made 
 of hard wood, and with their backs leaning against the tree, — 
 placed closely round its stem. You may thus have some idea of 
 the odd formation of the base of these trees ; but still their 
 wooden buttresses are of enormous size and various shapes, some 
 triangular, some curving round horseshoe-wise, and others again 
 still more irregular. They are evidently a means of support to 
 the tree, many of which stand quite exposed to the fury of the 
 storm wind on a high bleak hill, and show, by their being 
 unencumbered by a single branch for perhaps upwards of forty 
 feet, that formerly they were far too darkly and closely hemmed 
 iu by their fellows of the forest, to have either room or air 
 for expanding their boughs any nearer to the surface of the earth. 
 
LET. xxxn-.] MONKEY LOCUST— DOVES. 2S7 
 
 One of the bush-patlis passes close to a splendid tree-acacia, 
 called commonly the '' monkey locust," the bark of which being 
 of a uniform shade of reddish-brown, contrasts strongly with that 
 of all the other trees, and gives the appearance of rusty iron to 
 the stately trunk — that rising like a symmetrical column, dis- 
 plays its giant boughs towering high above the surrounding 
 foliage, and richly adorned by their gracefully feathery leaves 
 of the most vivid dark-green. Early of a morning, beautiful 
 small green squirrels, with the softest of glossy furs, and brightest 
 of sly little eyes, are constantly to be seen springing from branch 
 to branch of this their favourite tree, whose long fruit-pods no 
 doubt afford the pretty creatures abundance of food. It gives 
 shelter to many a bird too, which, as my humble steed paces 
 soberly past, fly startled into some more solitary part of the bush, 
 scarcely affording me even a glimpse of their plumage. More 
 than once I have perceived near this spot a brown bird about the 
 size of a fieldfare, that on taking wing spreads its tail like a fan 
 showing it to contain two orange-coloured feathers. The wood- 
 pecker abounds in these coverts, and makes a loud monotonous 
 sound with its bill, as it runs up the old timber-trees, quite dis- 
 similar to the tapping noise of our English species. I had a 
 
 good opportunity of seeing two which M shot. Each was 
 
 nearly as large as a thrush, with the same sort of mottled breast 
 enlivened by some touches of bright scarlet. The neck and upper 
 part of the back was of an olive-green, darker on the wino-s, 
 .which were variegated with regular white spots on every feather ; 
 those of the lower part of the back were lead- colour, tipped 
 with scarlet ; and the tail, which was very short, and contained 
 only six feathers, each tapering to a point, was of a dull brownish 
 black. One of these specimens had a small scarlet crest, the 
 other's head was unadorned and of a deep glossy black. 
 
 Both the brown and green doves are very common with u?, 
 but they are extremely shy, and their plaintive note is heard 
 much oftener than they themselves are seen. I have never found 
 out a guinea-fowl here, but we have a red-legged partridge, or 
 *' bush-fowl," as the negroes term it, and which seems of very 
 solitary habits, as but one only is to be seen at the same time, 
 that, starting up, darts away on " whirring wing " like any other 
 partridge. It has a monotonous and shrill note, and a brown 
 
288 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxiv. 
 
 and red plumage. I have already described in an eaily letter 
 our prettiest and tamest birds, but there are various others about 
 the grounds that are all but complete strangers to me. There is 
 the "pepper-bird," whose note is an admirable warning to bush- 
 thieves, being nothing more nor less than this one forcible sen- 
 tence drawled out in genuine African patois, "Youteef! get 
 out o' dere !" and which is the first to be heard of a calm morn- 
 ing, of the many notes that pierce the air around our dwelling. 
 The blacks say the bird that has this singular song lives upon 
 the pods of the small red capsicum plant, but whether it be a 
 large brown bird with slender curved bill, or a very tiny and 
 dark-grey one that appears equally shy with the first, I have 
 never been able to ascertain. Twice this season I have had a 
 glimpse of a black bird with red bill, and which, except in being 
 of handsomer shape, quite resembles the " merle " of the north. 
 The natives call it " Christmas bird," because it first appears at 
 that time, but as it seemed to me to hop along the ground, 
 instead of to fly, I think it may probably be the " walking 
 drongo." One remarkably gracefully-shaped bird, exactly re- 
 sembling the yellow wagtail, except in having plumage of a 
 lighter shade, is very tame, allowing any person to approach 
 quite near it, and has the same long mark round the eye that is 
 common to several of the birds here, and gives so arch an ex- 
 pression to their generally pretty faces. Another wagtail, of 
 greyish green plumage, appears at the commencement of the 
 rains, and has a sort of familiar British aspect that I greatly like. 
 "We have the mocking-bird too, and though not aware of 
 having seen it, think I have heard it ; as after the first time that 
 a wheelbarrow was used here, we used constantly for several 
 days to hear a creaking sound exactly like that made by it on 
 being wheeled along ; and which apparently proceeded from 
 some bird snugly hidden in the trees. I have also heard a tune 
 that has been whistled, almost immediately imitated, evidently by 
 an unseen and feathered songster. 
 
 The kingfisher most common here is larger than the British 
 one, and though clumsily formed, like most of his kind, is of ex- 
 quisitely beautiful plumage. As it glances past with the rapidity 
 of a meteor, its wings gleam in every shade of blue, from the 
 palest turquoise to the deepest lapis lazuli, and are set ofl:" by 
 
I.ET. xxxiv.] BIEDS. 289 
 
 glossy black on the siioulders and edges. I liave one dried 
 
 specimen which M shot, and certainly the brilliance of its 
 
 colours rivals that of tlie humming-bird. The tail is of the same 
 rich blue as its wings, and the feathers on the back are bright 
 chestnut, bordered with blue. The neck is of a grey stone- 
 colour, and the head and breast chestnut. It has a long red beak, 
 fitted to utter a harsh, discontented, and most peevish screech, that 
 often attracts me to the windows, when I never fail to see the 
 glittering bird, either winging its arrowy flight through the air, 
 or perched upon some one of the trees close to the house. The 
 colony boasts of a small and crested kingfisher of still more 
 gorgeous colours, but I have never seen one. 
 
 On the piece of table-ground at the summit of the Zigzag, I 
 often listen in the early morning to the sprightly song of a bird 
 that, soaring up to the sky, reminds me of our own cheerful lark ; 
 and many are the strange notes heard at times in the bush, the 
 most harmonious of which is like the sound produced by a first 
 attempt at playing upon musical glasses. 
 
 A bird, whose cry at one time resembles that of a whipped 
 puppy, and at another reminds you of the whistling of a boy who 
 knows no tune, besides sundry odd noises to which I can give no 
 similitude — perched itself on the tamarind-tree one day and was 
 
 shot by M . Its head is very clumsy, flat-topped, with dark 
 
 brown eyes ; excessively broad-based, sharp-pointed, short beak, 
 slightly hooked at point, the inside of which and the outer edges 
 are yellow, the rest rusty black. The head, beak, throat and 
 upper part of the wings are a rich brown. The wing-feathers are 
 light blue on the broad side beneath, and black upon the narrow ; 
 outside for an inch from the point of each feather they are black, 
 the broad side being light, and narrow side deep blue. The tail 
 is shaded light azure, tipped with black, except the two centre 
 feathers (which are uppermost when the tail is shut) being all 
 black. The under part of the body is a pale blue, and it is 
 altogether an extraordinary bird. 
 
 During the dry season swallows visit us in great nun.bers, and 
 I have ol'ten flattered myself that they might be some of those 
 who had just spent their summer with you ; but after all, am 
 inclined to believe that the nearer shores afi()rd a better winter 
 retreat than this lor all our migratory British friends of the 
 
 u 
 
290 EESIDENCE AT SIEKRA LEONE. [let. xxxiv. 
 
 featliered class. The brown-crested birds, which from their note 
 we familiarly called " Perriwigs," are our constant companions. 
 They remain here at all seasons, never tire of their lively song, 
 and seem to fear no one. They are especial favourites of mine, 
 and notwithstanding their sober hue, liavesuch handsome figures 
 that they cause even their more gorgeously robed acquaintances 
 to look quite awiiward beside them. Another and larger brown 
 bird, with white throat and breast, plain unornamented head, 
 and mild dove-like eyes, sometimes ventures to remind the 
 perriwigs that they must not monopolize all the little yellow 
 figs of the Indian-rubber tree ; but its habits appear totally 
 different, as it climbs up the bark almost like a wood-pecker, 
 hides itself among the leaves, and takes to flight if we only look 
 at it ; whilst its coroneted hosts hop about in the most flaunty 
 manner — perch on this twig, then on that, gaily singing and 
 chattering all the time, and even seem as if they talked and 
 nodded their pretty heads to whoever looked at them from the 
 windows. A very small and primrose-coloured bird is equally 
 forward, flying almost in at the open casements, with its shrill 
 " Quy-quee-quy," which it sings out so loudly, you would think 
 the note proceeded from a body twice its size. 
 
 This is but a meagre summary of the many birds whose 
 aspects and notes alike have so often attracted my notice and 
 admiration during my residence here ; but the heat and general 
 unhealthiness of the climate, the impossibility of threading one's 
 steps through tangled and intricate thickets in some places, and 
 the total want of shelter in others, throw serious obstacles in the 
 way of attaining even a superficial knowledge of the most inte- 
 resting objects the country presents. 
 
 The nest of the palm-bird is very curious. It is round, with 
 a short covered avenue of woven grass leading to it, and having 
 only a small entrance. Nothing can equal the neatness with 
 which it is stitched as it were to a leaf or two of the branch 
 where it hangs, and by which means it is attached so firmly 
 that the twig itself will break ere the nest falls. But what 
 strikes me as being most ingenious in its little builder, is a short 
 twist of grass being fastened between it and the bough as a sort 
 of " guy " or balance, and which causes the pendent and fragile 
 structure to swing in perfect safety during the heaviest gusts of 
 
LET. XXXIV.] FLOWERS. 291 
 
 Avind. The prettiest nest I ever saw was that of a liumming- 
 bird, whicli had been blown from its snug resting-place in 
 the cleft of a coffee-tree stem, when the tree itself had broken 
 over in a violent tornado. It was made of the softest of mosses 
 — green outside, and lined with a delicate velvety grey ; and so 
 small that my little French watch could just have fitted into it. 
 ISth.—Vle had a very heavy tornado last niglit, which ren- 
 dered this morning cool, the glass being only 82°. On going 
 out I discovered in full bloom near the ancient palm-tree, 
 quantities of a bulb I have not seen for several seasons, and which, 
 from being most conmionly found growing in the grass-fields, 1 
 used to call the grass-field lily.* It is very pretty, being com- 
 posed of six lily-like petals, each about four inches long, and of 
 the most delicate white, with a peach-coloured streak up the 
 centre of each. Its six white wax-like stamens are surmounted 
 by broad black anthers. 
 
 There are at present also growing at the roots of trees, rich 
 groups of a bright deep-red flower ^ that, rising from a thick 
 o-reen stalk covered with brown spots, is composed of hundreds 
 of florets clustered closely together into one great rounded mass; 
 and another lily-flowering plant with long streaming petals of 
 scarlet and orange enlivens the underwood, where it grows so 
 hi'>-h that at first I believed it climbed among their branches. 
 
 Convolvuluses here seem lo bloom all the year round. I have 
 seen one pretty buff specimen with a crimson centre, but they are 
 generally lilac or white, each flower appearing to spring out 
 of a canoe-shaped leaf, which manages to retain the dew long 
 after the sun has dried up every other leaf and blade of grass, 
 and by this means the cup is kept moist for one day, when, like 
 the cistuses, it fades. 
 
 One very common creeper has a small bell-shaped white 
 blossom, that grows in thick bunches like our furze. Its milk- 
 white cups open only when the sun shines upon them, but they 
 are very pretty, either when embroidering the footpath reminding 
 us that it requires clearing, and looking boldly up to the brighc 
 sky from their humble situation, or when displaying their closed 
 tufts under the shade of some high branch to which they have 
 
 * Crinum Broussoneti. t Ha^manthus multiflorus. 
 
 u 2 
 
292 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxiv. 
 
 clambered. The busli on the " Zio^zao- " has attained a sreat 
 height in some places, and just now is particularly fertile in 
 flowers, especially a species of the " tree carnation," which I 
 begin to conjecture must be the Frangipane of the West Indies. 
 This new plant is of more lowly growth than the other. Its 
 blossoms are in companies of six or eight together, and their 
 petals are neither so long, nor do they twist round so much, as 
 those of our old friend, but they are quite as fragrant, and being 
 in clusters have upon the whole a richer appearance. 
 
 The flowers growing wild here, have been indeed one untiring 
 source of interest to me ever since I came amongst them ; and 
 yet I know they are, except with a few striking exceptions, 
 neither so gorgeous nor beautiful as the greater part of those to 
 be found in many other tropical lands ; especially South America, 
 that mine whence are derived some of the choicest treasures of our 
 English hothouses ; nor are they generally so sweet-scented as 
 the mass of our old liome garden favourites. Still 1 know I 
 shall never hear the name of Sierra Leone hereafter, without a 
 vision rising up before me, of the shady paths on this lonely hill, 
 with their strange trees laden with bright berries and tempting- 
 looking " bush" fruit, and enwreathed by the many-coloured 
 blossoms of magnificent climbers. Pleasant memories cling so 
 much more naturally to us than those that are unpleasant. For 
 now it is not the snows and leafless v/oods of Britain that are 
 recalled to my mind's eye half so readily as the orchards and 
 hawthorn hedges, in all the glory of their May bloom, with the 
 primrose banks of earlier spring ; and the very first tufts of the 
 yellow and purple crocuses, to the lovely roses of later summer, 
 
 " That grew -within the garden ever dear, 
 With ruddy apple blended, and the thorn 
 On which the currant ripened, humble cheer, 
 
 But well worth golden fruit of foreign climate born." 
 
 But to return to this country. Besides the African laburnum, 
 we have here two other pretty yellow-flowering shrubs. One 
 bears racemes of butter-cup shaped blossoms, the winged seeds of 
 which ere ripening are beautifully streaked with light green and 
 red, like those of our handsomest scarlet climber. The other 
 reminds me very much of broom by the way its flowers grow on 
 
LET. XXXIV.] ACACIAS. 293 
 
 the spray, and also in being- tinged with deep red, but they are 
 stellated. Those of one very rare climber with a delicious scent 
 somewhat resemble a bunch of purple auriculas ; and I once saw, 
 when out riding, a curious flower that consisted of but one finely 
 pencilled crimson and lilac petal, so shaped as to appear like one 
 of a circle of five that had fallen off", and with three long- stamens 
 projecting from it. The slirub on which this grew had a silvery 
 green leaf and looked particularly pretty, but unfortunately was 
 destroyed by fire, ere we succeeded in getting a slip of it. 
 
 One tall tree bears a flower exactly the same as London pride, 
 so far as I can recollect the latter ; and there are in the bush 
 numerous shrubs quite like the snowberry plant. 
 
 Of the acacia tribe there are here very many diflTerent sorts. 
 That with the yellow, sweet scented, globular blossom, has a 
 thorny stem, a rough brown bark, and a very pretty dark green 
 little leaf. It makes when growing a good fence, but the wood, 
 if bv chance used as fuel, has a most disajj-reeable smell ; and 
 even when it is being pruned or cut down tiiis odour is distinctly 
 perceptible. Another with the same doubly-pinnated leaves has 
 singularly pretty flowers shaped somewhat like those of the palm- 
 willow. These light drooping blossoms are pale lihxc for about 
 an inch from their stalks, where they are also thickest, but the 
 remaining half inch of minute florets is of a bright yellow. Tiiese 
 two kinds, besides the thorny creeping acacia, with the fragrant 
 round white blossom, are remarkable for the extreme beauty and 
 delicacy of their foliage. Another leguminous shrub, very 
 common in the bush here, has a smooth bark and strag-orlinf 
 branches clothed with laburnum-like leaves, while its pretty lilac 
 and white blossoms are papilionaceous, and hanging in long 
 clusters, have a rich efl^ect. This tree bears very pretty pods which 
 are quite flat, and contain four or five deep chestnut-coloured 
 seeds, each about two inches long, and about half an inch broad. 
 Tiiese are brittle as paper, than which they are scarcely thicker, 
 and every one lies closely packed and flat until shaken out, when 
 they all hang from the pod, to wiiicli tliey are attached by long 
 slender threads. 
 
 I have already told you of the noble monkey locust-tree ; 
 but the common locust-tree is almost equally beautiful. Its 
 elegant foliage is of a pale green, and the flower, which depends 
 
294 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxiv. 
 
 from a long flexile stalk, is in the form of a large crimson ball. 
 Six or seven pods, each about a foot long, and three quarters of 
 an inch broad, spring from the rough round knob left when 
 the flower is shed. One pod contains from twenty to twenty-four 
 seeds, encased in a yellow farina of a sweet taste, and of which 
 the native children are particularly fond. 
 
 The tamarind* is one of the same family. It has a venerable- 
 looking rough grey bark, and pinnated leaves of a dull light 
 green. The blossoms come out in little tufts from the sides of 
 the boughs, and are remarkable for the way in which the tliree 
 small petals of each are variegated with streaks of red ; the 
 petals being otherwise of a light yellow, as are also the calyxes. 
 The few pods borne by ours were rough and hard, about four or 
 five inches long, and of a roundish shape. The pulp inside is 
 intensely acid in its raw state. 
 
 The leaves and pods of the velvet or wild tamarindf are quite 
 different from those of its more civilized namesake, the former 
 being larger and having only four on the spray, besides a 
 terminal one, whilst they have quite a glossy surface. Its flower 
 is insignificant, but the pod, which is but a small shining black 
 shell, like a round velvet button, contains a single seed sur- 
 rounded by a mealy powder, which the blacks eat. 
 
 In riding along the bush paths, I often see lying on the ground 
 curious large pods, in texture so much resembling leather, that 
 the first one I noticed I actually fancied to be part of an old 
 shoe. But observing quantities of the same substance lying 
 near the spot, I found out my mistake, and subsequently got 
 several of them before they had split open and dropped oflT. Each 
 had closely packed in it four or five broad, flat, brown beans, 
 fully an inch and a half square. One day last February, I dis- 
 covered one or two young pods of this species, and hoped to 
 gather them when ripe to take home as curiosities, but I could 
 never make out afterwards on which tree in the bush they were, 
 and suppose they had somehow or other been plucked off. It is 
 very difficult in the dense bush to distinguish individual plants 
 when not, in flower, unless one ties a strip of coloured stuflf round 
 the stem or marks it in some way or other. 
 
 * Tamarindus mdica. f Codarium acutifoliuin. 
 
LET. XXXIV.] ROSES. 295 
 
 Our Chinese and dwarf scarlet damask-roses on the parapet 
 are in beautiful bloom just now ; but notwithstanding the bamboo 
 fence all round, — one of the goats, a pretty fawn-coloured 
 creature, with great stag-like eyes, and a startled look, contrives 
 to leap over all obstacles to get at the rose-trees, for the leaves 
 of which she has a most unaccountable liking ; so that we dis- 
 tinguish her by the title of the Rose-eater. 
 
296 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxv. 
 
 LETTER XXXV. 
 
 Rainbows — Amaryllis — Ginger — Parting notice of favourite Flowers — 
 Hog Plum — Poverty of Fruits indigenous to Africa, as compared with 
 those of other tropical climates — Water-lemon — Guava jelly — Kolas 
 — Cashew-nut — Cinnamon-tree — Talacuna — Fungus — Orchideous Plants. 
 
 June 1st. 
 The heavy rains, hot suns, chilly winds, thunderstorms, and 
 tornadoes of the present season, raise many a cheerful contrast 
 in my mind to the weather you should all be enjoying at home 
 just now ; and cause me to wish we had an Aladdin's lamp to 
 transport us to England, instead of having to \vait for so sluggish 
 a mode of conveyance as a heavily laden merchant- vessel. 
 We have often observed that the saying of 
 
 "A rainbow in the morning is the shepherd's warning, 
 A rainbow at night is the shepherd's delight," 
 
 should be reversed in this climate, at least as regards the 
 evening warning ; for very commonly a beautiful rainbow is 
 the precursor of a tornado, and it always, without a tornado, 
 betokens that the next day will be wet. 
 
 Our beautiful white amaryllis is in richer bloom now than 
 I ever saw it before, having five of its magnificent white flowers 
 crowning each stalk. The bergamot plant and the woodruflTe- 
 scented shrub are also now in full blossom ; — while on tlie cleared 
 side of the hill above tiiis, bordering the path leading out to 
 the Regent road by the bamboos and ant's-nest palm-tree, is 
 a wide patch of most flourishing ginger ; a plant that seems to 
 be much of the same habit and nature with the Malaguetta 
 pepper, only the leaves of the ginger are short and narrow, and 
 spring singly from the stalk, which is not above two feet in 
 height, and its pale rose-coloured flow^ers are much smaller and 
 more insignificant looking. I have never been satisfied with my 
 attempts at preserving its young green roots ; but since coming 
 out last have often succeeded in making very good ginger-beer, 
 
LET. XXXV.] FLOWERS— HOG-PLUM. 297 
 
 substituting- one or two bottles of porter for yeast — a thing one 
 cannot sret in this climate. 
 
 But leisure would fail me did I attempt to give you a parting 
 description o^ all my friends of the floral kingdom here. 1 have 
 from time to time made you acquainted, in a liomely manner, with 
 the most remarkable and the most fragrant:* so that although 
 the seeds sent did not flourish as I had wished, still you will have 
 some idea of many of the tropic blossoms, that are now as familiar 
 to me as the wild flowers of my native land. I have a few tolerably 
 good dried specimens too, which I hope to convey home in safety. 
 
 There are still unnoticed the various common marigolds rich 
 in golden rays, and much of a size with your petted cinerarias. 
 There are also the lowly blue and lilac pea-blossoms, great 
 favourites of mine, and about the same rank in African flower 
 society as blue-bells and pansies are at home ; and we have 
 diffierent sorts of small white starry cups, that I like from their 
 resemblance to your wood anemone. Nor must I forget a 
 humble grass that bears a feathery blue flower, a patch of which 
 in full bloom well compensates for the absence of daisies and 
 buttercups. The ground-nut with its papilionaceous blossoms of 
 bright yellow, and leaves a little like those of clover, only grow- 
 ing in pairs of four upon the stalk, deserves a word of remem- 
 brance for its pretty aspect when in flow^er, as well as for its 
 excellent fruit. Zinnias, everlastings, v/ater-lilies, and magni- 
 ficent African marigolds, I have seen here, but not growing wild. 
 We lately got from a friend some slips of a shrub with a pretty 
 laurel-like leaf, and bearing a splendid yellow flower, consisting 
 of one velvety petal, deeply cleft into five rounded segments 
 that rather turn back when full blown. Jt was found in the 
 bush in the low ground, but the slips we have planted on the 
 parapet seem likely to flourisli. 
 
 Our monkey apple-trees bore richly this season. Thickets of 
 them and of the brown-plum have, since I came first to the hill, 
 sprung up on all sides to so considerable a height, that did I not 
 rememl)er how very rapidly trees shoot upward in the tropics, it 
 would seem as if I had been here ten years instead of less than five. 
 
 The hog-plum*!" is one of the fruits that are much prized by 
 
 * Several of these descriptions have been necessarily abridged, or wholly 
 omitted. f Spondias myrobalanus. 
 
298 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxv. 
 
 the negroes. A fine large tree of this sort grows on Mount 
 Oriel, close to the old house, kindly sheltering the battered roof 
 by its spreading branches, among whose shining dark-green 
 pointed leaves the bright yellow plums look very pretty. They 
 are of an oval shape, scarcely larger than damsons, and have 
 rather a slight flavour of turpentine, that renders them, in my 
 opinion, by no means pleasant to the taste. 
 
 There is no question but that many of the vegetable pro- 
 ductions formerly found growing wild here have been lost 
 throni2:h the indiscriminate burninor of bush. Yet still it seems 
 to me that, as compared with what one hears of other tropical 
 regions, Africa is very inferior in its fruits. Those Liberated 
 Africans I have asked about their own country in the interior 
 tell me that they have none of the fruit-trees that are cultivated 
 in this place, except the banana, plantain, and (I thinks though it 
 is difficult to make out exactly from their mode of expressing 
 themselves) the pawpaw and guava also. I rather fancy that 
 even these are not indigenous, but have been brought at some 
 early period from the West Indies, or Brazil, by ships trading 
 for slaves. The bush fruits, such as I have often described to 
 you, though of ornamental appearance, are all extremely poor, 
 and these no doubt are natives of the soil, as are the palms, in- 
 cluding the cocoa-nut tree. 
 
 The sugar-apple, the avocado or alligator pear, and the water- 
 lemon,* are fruits which have been recently introduced here 
 from the West Indies. We have now on the hill a few young 
 plants of the two first raised from seed. I have never seen the 
 last growing. It is the size of a small lemon, and the same shape, 
 except in being more pointed at the ends ; and has a very soft, 
 though tough, yellow rind spotted over with white. It is much 
 liked by most people, although containing merely a pleasant- 
 tasted pulp full of flat brown seeds, which it is impossible to 
 separate from the eatable part. It has also an agreeable aromatic 
 scent, and altogether is a nice-looking fruit ; but really I do not 
 consider it worth the trouble of eating, tlie usual mode of which 
 is to suck the pulp through a hole made at one end of the fruit. 
 
 A guava,t of a deep purple colour, and not larger than a very 
 fine cherry, is now cultivated in some gardens here, and is much 
 * Passiflora laurifolia. f Psidium cattle ianum. 
 
LKT. XXXV.] KOLA AND CASHEW NUTS. 299 
 
 prettier than the common yellow sorts. I also saw lately a new 
 variety of banana, which was of a dull red, and very small. I 
 thought it too luscious, except when cut in slices and fried like 
 plantain, when it made an excellent dish. 
 
 The sweetmeats of both East and West Indies being famed, I 
 was at first very ambitious to try to make some, having the same 
 sort of fruit that grows in these countries. But I cannot say I 
 ever succeeded : although my guests politely ate and praised my 
 guava jelly, I myself thought it very inferior, and never so 
 pretty and clear as that sent home from abroad ; and being told 
 that iiano-ino: over a stove, the heat of which rendered the tern- 
 perature of the room so high as 96®, was even to the acclimated 
 a hazardous experiment, I soon gave up all idea of becoming a 
 proficient in making African preserves. 
 
 Amongst the trees growing by the banks of the brook in the 
 Rose-apple Glen, is one with a light bark and handsome 
 leaf which reminds me of that of the walnut. I have never 
 observed it in bearing, but am told it is that which produces the 
 kola-nut,* and it is decidedly a native of this part of Africa. I 
 believe the fruit grows in clusters containing several kolas. 
 Those I have seen were usually about the size of large walnuts, 
 but resembled beans rather than nuts, each having a thick 
 leathery skin, with a thinner one inside, that on being taken off 
 causes the kernel-like substance to split in two after the fashion 
 of a bean. There are two sorts of kola, one being white, and 
 the other the colour of beetroot. It is as bitter as quinine, and 
 is said to possess the same medicinal properties. The blacks, 
 after chewing the kola, take a draught of water, which they 
 say it causes to " live sweet in mouth." It does not seem to 
 grow plentifully here, but is brought as an article of native trade 
 to Freetown market, from the Bulloni shore, and is esteemed 
 very valuable by the negroes, by whom it is used as a compli- 
 mentary token, a peace-offering, and a pledge of betrothment. 
 They are all fond of chewing it, and old people, who have lost 
 their teeth, have the kernels ground into powder and eat it in 
 
 that wav. 
 
 Another favourite with the natives of this place is the cashew- 
 nut,f or acajou as they call it. This tree, which has been 
 * Sterculia acuminata. t Anacardium occidentale. 
 
300 RESIDENCE AT SIERRxl LEONE. [let. xxxv. 
 
 originally introduced here by Europeans, grows low and spread- 
 ing, and has a light green oval leaf rather depressed at the top, 
 and with white veins distinctly marked, branching out from the 
 centre fibre to the edges. The leaves are large and glossy, and 
 with the corymbs of small red flowers, which are slightly fragrant 
 and appear in January, cause the tree to look very handsome. 
 Early in March this year those at Mount Oriel were in full 
 bearing. From a yellow apple somewhat like a Keswick codling, 
 but M'ith a more beautifully polished surface than it, sprouts an 
 ear-shaped black nut, the husk or shell of which contains be- 
 tween it and the kernel a caustic oily liquid, that took the skin 
 off my fingers as I tried to break it open. When roasted, the 
 kernel has a rich flavour and is good enough to eat ; but the 
 apple, in which the juice separates like whey from curd, is, ac- 
 cording to my taste, very nauseous, and smells like coal-tar. In 
 one variety the fruit is of a deep pink. 
 
 There was an old cinnamon-tree lately growing on the other 
 hill. The leaves are narrow at both ends and gradually broaden 
 out to the middle. They are of a bright shining green on the 
 upper surface, but underneath are much paler, and have at each 
 side of the central one a white vein running from the stalk to 
 the point. The bark is smooth and of a greyish brown. I 
 never saw it in flower. We transplanted a young one to our 
 own hill, but it does not seem to flourish. 
 
 A tree, the broad curl-edged leaf of which is used by the 
 natives to thatch their huts, is very common by the sides of our 
 brook and in several places throughout the bush, and bears a 
 large, coarse, clumsy-looking brown fruit, growing in clusters, in 
 the same manner as cocoa-nuts do, at the top of the tree. These 
 rough thick husks contain eight or ten seeds, shut up in separate 
 cells and embedded in a coarse thready substance, like that lining 
 the pods of garden-beans. Each seed is about as large as a horse- 
 chestnut, and irregularly shaped ; they are brown outside, but 
 witliin are of a beautiful wliite. The Talacuna oil is made from 
 these kernels, which some of the country-people tell me they also 
 eat. Others again say this nut is not edible, but is only used 
 to make oil and soap. 
 
 On the fallen trunks and branches of trees that lie half hid 
 among the grass and bush, quantities of a species of fungus 
 
LET. XXXV.] OECHIDEOUS PLANTS. 301 
 
 grows tliat is really very pretty and curious looking. I would 
 call them funnel-shaped, only tliey spread out too flatly at top. 
 Within they are of a deep shining mahogany colour, rino-ed 
 with black ; but the surface outside is of a yellowish white, and 
 the texture, though much harder than vellum, is about the same 
 thickness, and quite as glossy. These burnished cups are of 
 various sizes, some not larger than a primrose, others broad and 
 expanded as great sunflowers. I have gathered these strange 
 cryptogamic productions repeatedly and kept them for weeks in 
 the house, where they undergo no change, — resembling all alono- 
 artificial forms cut out in thin wood, stained tawny brown, and 
 then well varnished over. 
 
 With the exception of one small red flower I often see growl- 
 ing upon young trees in the bush, I have never observed any of 
 those orchideous plants that one reads of bt^ng so common in 
 the dark damp forests of South America. Yet I know they are 
 to be found here, and I have noticed, very high up on the trunks 
 or ratlier the great branches, of our few forest-trees, tufts of 
 leaves, apparently different from those of the trees themselves 
 and which no doubt belong to this singular class. 
 
302 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxvi. 
 
 LETTER XXXVI. 
 
 Ill Health — Benefit of Tornadoes — A lingering Gaze at African Scenery 
 — Fourah Bay Institution — Snakes — Freaks of the Ting-bing, 
 
 June 26th, 
 In chronicling the pleasant things that appertain to this land, 
 those of a contrary nature should not altogether be overlooked, 
 especially as they seem themselves determined to be kept in 
 mind as well. Besides the rapid inroads the climate has made 
 
 in M 's health of late, I have also had, during the last few 
 
 months, repeated severe attacks of intermittent fever, that leave 
 me but little equal to the exertion of packing and preparing for 
 our departure. 
 
 Violent tornadoes are still our almost nightly visitors ; and as 
 the howling wind rushes against the house, till you all but feel it 
 give final way beneath the blast's impetuous strength, ami the 
 thunder rolls overhead or breaks in deafening crashes, while the 
 lio-htning gleams incessantly through the darkness of the storm ; 
 I think how often during my residence here even such fearful 
 sounds have been eagerly watched for and welcomed by me 
 as the messengers of Heaven, that, in cooling the suffocating air, 
 gave, humanly speaking, a greater chance for life to the sufferer 
 in climate fever ! And though I cannot but feel tliat the very 
 next flash of lightning may strike the house, still there is now 
 no terror mingled with that feeling, although much of awe ; 
 for, in the very consciousness of the utter helplessness of earthly 
 agency, one is naturally led to rely the more humbly and trust- 
 fully upon that Omnipotent yet All-merciful Power, without 
 whose permission a sparrow falleth not to the ground, and by 
 whom " the very hairs of our head are all numbered." 
 
 July 2nd. — We now trust to get away so as to be at home 
 early in October, and I have in my last ride to Mount Oriel 
 taken a farewell survey of the magnificent view from the brow 
 of that hill — a view that still as at first strikes the eye, by the 
 
LET. XXXVI.] FOURAH BAY INSTITUTION. 303 
 
 contrast presented between the civilized comfort of the limited 
 foreground ; and the wild uncultivated aspect of the widely - 
 stretching region beyond, upon whose beautiful natural features 
 the seal of silence and solitude seems always to rest. But 
 passing over the river and mountain prospect, alike with the 
 cheerful negro cottages bordering the road to Kissy, and the 
 white- walled duellings of our own countrymen in their wooded 
 grounds ; there, on the margin of the quiet and peaceful-looking 
 Fourah Bay, stands a large building in rapid progress of erection, 
 and which is to afford accommodation for the students of the 
 institution, established by the Church Missionary Society, for the 
 education of natives as teachers, or even to be ordained as 
 clergymen. And where is the British heart that would not feel 
 proud in reflecting to what nation alone these Liberated Africans 
 owe their redemption from hereditary bondage, their advancement 
 in civilization, and, above all, that knowledge of Christianity 
 which it is to be hoped they will in their turn propagate amongst 
 their heathen bretiiren, not only on the banks of the famed and 
 fatal jN'iger, but all along the slave-trading line of coast ? 
 
 Yes ! while she may well mourn and lament over the fearful 
 loss of human life sustained by her on this pestilent shore, let 
 England at the same time take comfort in the testimony given 
 by these reclaimed barbarians and converted pagans, towards the 
 real and lasting good effected by her heroic and persevering 
 endeavours in suppressing the slave-trade. 
 
 In returning home I saw a very large black snake glide imder 
 a stone by the side of the road ; and another daj'^, whilst riding 
 with M ■ along that shady path between the Monkey Locust- 
 tree and the gate leading up to the Zigzag, we passed near a 
 most formidable-looking snake, that was coiled round the stem 
 of a tree, with its head stretched out as if to see what we were 
 about. The horses started violently, and the horsemen shouted 
 with alarm, but the reptile did not stir. It was the largest snake 
 I ever saw here, and seemed, from the very respectful glance I 
 gave it, to be mottled black and yellow. 
 
 The grey and green wiiip-snakes are both rather fond of 
 
 prowling near the house. M shot one of the latter sort 
 
 from a window the other day, and he also shot one near the 
 stables marked in the same way, but, if a whip-snake, uncom- 
 
304 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxvi. 
 
 monly large — its body being- about seven inches round, and its 
 length fully seven feet two inches. The servants were all in 
 terror at it, and declared it to be the most venomous snake in 
 the country. Its mouth, being thrust open with the end of a 
 stick, showed its jaws were well furnished with sharp teeth. 
 
 The curious little bush-animal, caught in April, continues to 
 thrive nicely, and has become very tame. It laps up milk or 
 custard like a dog or cat, and, if a spoonful of food be held out 
 to it, advances quite boldly and begins to eat, taking up any- 
 thino- solid in its fore-paws, and nibbling it like a mouse. It has 
 got a comfortable box to live in, but by no means appro v-€s of 
 being moped up there, and it accordingly is occasionally per- 
 mitted to run free about the piazzas — and how the playful thing 
 
 skips about and enjoys itself! It even climbs upon M 's 
 
 shoulder, and then springs on his writing-table, where it plays at 
 " hide-and-seek" amongst the papers, taking now and then a sly 
 peep into the ink-bottle. Then, with the agility and action of a 
 squirrel, it makes a succession of leaps over sofa, tables, and 
 chairs, climbs up the storm-curtains, runs along the iron rods at 
 top, and, in the height of its glee, laughs out its shrill, merry, 
 ringing note, till the very house echoes again. 
 
 But when the time for putting it into its box for the night 
 comes, it generally thinks proper not to be found ; and then 
 commences a search, in which the ting-bing baffles me more 
 by showing itself every other minute, and then lightning-like 
 vanishing, than if it were to remain completely concealed. Here 
 I see the wicked bright eyes gleaming from out some snug corner, 
 but, as I put out my hand to seize the little creature, away it 
 whisks again like a vision, and aided by Fanyah (for whom by 
 the by it evinces no liking) I hunt everywhere, until there peer 
 out the brilliant living opals again at the farthest extremity of 
 the piazza, or perhaps in another apartment altogether. We 
 attempt to catch it, and the next minute it is overhead, perched on 
 the top of an open door. Sometimes, as if tired of its gambols, 
 if we hold out a hand, it will jump into it, but otherwise we have 
 to pounce upon the tiny animal and take it prisoner by force. 
 It struggles so when being put into its box, that often its impor- 
 tunity, like that of a spoiled child, prevails, and it gets leave to 
 have another frolic. But sometimes it is very naughty, and bites 
 
LET. XXXVI.] TING-BING. 30 o 
 
 our fingers with its needle-like teeth ; so I usually throw a hand- 
 kerchief round it, pop it into its dormitory, and, partially shut- 
 ting down the lid, gradually withdraw the protective coverino-, 
 and thus escape its attack ; after which I put a small piece of 
 sugar in through the window of its house, to appease its indigna- 
 tion at being treated so unceremoniously. 
 
 It does not appear so friskily disposed during the day, which 
 seems its natural time for sleeping ; but as evening comes on it 
 begins to be restless, and gets more lively the later it is. One 
 night I was awoke by hearing its shrill cry resounding through 
 the house, and, not wishing to run the risk of losing the ting- 
 bing, got up to see where it was. It had been that day in a 
 larger box than its usual one, and had contrived somehow or 
 other to push aside the loose wire grating, and was off, and no- 
 where to be found. At last, hearing a strange rustling sound on 
 passing near the clock, after a sharp search I discovered my 
 wilful pet climbing up and down the ropes to which the weights 
 are attached, evidently greatly delighted with the exercise of 
 swinging to and fro, and very unwilling it was to be marched 
 back to its box again, poor little thing ! The black people say 
 the dong, in its wild state, lives on fruit, and that it has no 
 permanent house or nest, but seeks a new one for itself every 
 night. 
 
306 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxvii. 
 
 LETTER XXXVII. 
 
 Si gilt the Irish Coast — A Retrospect — Choosing a Vessel — Farewells — 
 ^ Final Leave of the Hill — Hospitable Friends — Bread-fruit — Embark- 
 ation — Last Look of Sierra Leone — Books — Death of the Ting-bing — 
 Cape de Verde Islands — Negro Steersmen — A motley Crew — Chim- 
 panzee— Monkeys— Baboon— Parrots— Gale off the Western Islands 
 — Fair Wind — Sea Anemones — A polite Pirate — Comfort of a Filter. 
 
 On board the II , off Dursey Island, 
 
 September 15th. 
 
 Once more in sight of land — and by good fortune Lave encoun- 
 tered a pilot-boat ! A bargain, to pilot us into the Cove of 
 Cork, has been made with the honest-looking old man, its master, 
 who says we are somewhere between Dingle and Bantry Bay. I 
 ran out on deck with great eagerness to catch a first glimpse of 
 the o-reen isle of Erin, but can only distinguish brown hills and 
 rocks, of no very prepossessing aspect. Some of the latter stand 
 out frowningly in the water ; one, reminding me of the Bass, 
 thouo;h on a much smaller scale, is called the Bull ; two lesser 
 ones^near it, the Cow and Calf; which is all the lore I have 
 
 gained to-day. 
 
 Our good ship makes but slow progress, and whilst M , 
 
 the captain, and our fellow-passenger are busily engaged glean- 
 ing what information the pilot can afford respecting politics — 
 the change of ministry, &c.— I (rejoicing to be again in smooth 
 water) sit down to write to you, seeing there is now a prospect 
 of a letter reaching you in a few days. 
 
 "When we had finally decided upon leaving Sierra Leone, of 
 course the next thing to decide upon was a suitable vessel. Our 
 
 inquiries elicited that the N had excellent accommodations, 
 
 was very light for a " timber-ship," but unfortunately had a 
 
 drunken master and sickly crew. The P , also a barque, 
 
 was to have a light cargo of palm-oil, hides, arrowroot, &c. ; but 
 she had been trading on the coast for six months, her captain 
 died the day she came into harbour, and the command devolved 
 
LET. XXXVII.] CHOOSING A VESSEL. So7 
 
 upon the mate, who had never taken home a vessel before ; her 
 crew were all ill, and her time of sailing uncertain. The brigan- 
 
 tine J , which had been long expected from the rivers, we 
 
 now heard had lost her rudder, and met with so much other 
 damage as rendered it matter of doubt whether she would ever 
 go to sea. 
 
 We were recommended to wait for the E, , said to be 
 
 nicely fitted up, and now daily looked for from Yawry Bay. I 
 had become quite familiarized to her appearance whilst she re- 
 mained in the harbour, discharging her cargo of coals, on arriv- 
 ing from England ; and, though remembering it was anything 
 
 save inviting, felt very anxious for her return, that M 
 
 might inspect her accommodations. 
 
 On Saturday the 1 1 th of July, a signal and white flag led me 
 to the window, in time to see, immediately beyond Wilberforce, 
 a large ship with the English merchant-ensign displayed, stand- 
 ing in for the harbour, and, though the tide was against her, 
 making very good way. The little spyglass was in instant re- 
 quisition, but the vessel, which I knew to be the E, , looked 
 
 so alarmingly deep in the water that I felt quite disappointed. 
 
 The N sailed next day, making an enviably good offing, 
 
 and on Monday M went to look at both the P and the 
 
 R . The former had extremely limited accommodations, 
 
 consisting of a small, close, hot main-cabin down stairs, with 
 but two narrow berths off it, while the smell of hides and palm- 
 oil pervaded every corner. The master looked very sickly, as 
 did the crew, which was also deficient in numbers. Still she was 
 by no means a bad-looking craft, and had the prospect with her 
 light lading of making a beautiful passage. 
 
 The R was thirty years old by her register, and .had 
 
 latterly sunk into a second-letter ship. She was exceedingly 
 heavily laden, and owing to her peculiar build looked deeper 
 than she was. Being greatly " down by the head," as the sailors 
 say, she seemed as if the fore-part of the deck would be con- 
 stantly under water when fairly out at sea. Her decks were 
 crowded with water-casks, and, the timber being stowed forward, 
 the after-cabin below was appropriated to the crew — thus leaving 
 little room for passengers, luggage, or stores. But then, to coun- 
 terbalance these disadvantages, she had an experienced captain, 
 
 X 2 
 
308 RESIDENCE AT SIEREA LEONE. [let. xxxvii. 
 
 healthy crew, and compact if not very extensive accommoda- 
 tions —having a poop roundhouse, which, besides its small main- 
 cabin, extra berths, and steward's pantry, had rather a comfort- 
 able little state-room beyond, with two windows opening on deck. 
 Well ! we weighed the advantages and disadvantages, and 
 
 finally fixed to leave by the R . I cannot say our friends gave 
 
 us much encouragement. Even some of our black servants, who 
 from their long residence with us thought themselves privileged 
 to give their opinion, shook their heads and said, " Ah, please 
 niassa, dat ship hebby too much." 
 
 To those accustomed >o make voyages, longer ones too than 
 ours was to be, in large East Indiamen, well-appointed emigrant 
 ships, or, above all, in regular steam-packets, it may seem trifling 
 to be thus circumstantial about what appears so very easy and 
 every-day a matter as embarking for England. But the differ- 
 ence between the fitting-up, accommodations, crew, and, in short, 
 everything connected with a " timber-ship," and the generality of 
 vessels carrying passengers to more frequented parts of the globe 
 than Sierra Leone, is so great, that it becomes a matter of some 
 importance to choose a vessel, where, with marvellously few ex- 
 ceptions, all are insufficiently manned, heavily laden, and 
 miserably cramped as to room for passengers. In sliort, on 
 leaving Sierra Leone, you must make up your mind to rough it, 
 even at the best. 
 
 The R • was to sail on Saturday, and of course the few re- 
 maining days were busy ones with us, and gave rise to considerable 
 reo-ret on my part ; as being the last I was ever to spend in the 
 land which, in spite of all the bodily suffering I had both 
 endured and witnessed on its shores, and the great anxiety under- 
 gone thereby, had nevertheless been my home for so long that 
 it could not but be endeared to me by many associations. 
 
 The weather was dark, dull, and rainy, and the house, being 
 dismantled of most of its furniture, looked dreary even before its 
 time. I was sorry to see the poor horses led off to be sold, 
 
 especially M 's pretty spirited little steed. But there was no 
 
 help for this, as, left with none capable of managing it, the fiery 
 creature would have been useless ere its master's return. In spite 
 of all its fiiults, I was yet more sorry to send back my poor little 
 donkey to its former owner ; for not only had I been much in- 
 
LET. xxxYii.] FAREWELLS. 309 
 
 debted to the easy exercise and fresh air daily obtained by its 
 humble assistance, but it had become quite an amusement to us, 
 
 trotting after both M and myself like a tame dog, as it grazed 
 
 under the orange-trees, and thrusting its great broad head to be 
 patted, into our very hands. It often even walked half-way up 
 stairs to receive a piece of biscuit. However, it had also been a 
 pet with its old master, who had given it up to my use as a favour, 
 and we had promised to let him have it again in the event of our 
 going home ; so down the hill it paced, or was rather dragged, 
 evidently in a very lugubrious mood itself. But it was not only 
 saying " good by " to dumb animals. For the last few days the 
 house was besieged by all and sundry of my old black nurses, 
 sempstresses, and attendants of every description, and with this 
 primitive sort of people even in the adieus of so lowly a class 
 there was something touching. Others, not content with saying 
 farewell, penned elaborate leave-taking epistles, some of which 
 were full of kindly wishes ; although others were nothing more 
 nor less than begging petitions, that, had they been all granted, 
 would have left us with little else than the house to ourselves, 
 seeing their burthen invariably was for " a piece of land for one 
 small farm to plant cassada." 
 
 The little Liberated boy and girl shewed their feelings in dif- 
 ferent ways. The former, no doubt fancying he would then be 
 free in good earnest, appeared in high spirits at the prospect of 
 roaming through the bush, and setting snares for bird and beast, 
 from morning till night, without fear of reprimand; and, as the 
 best way of showing his desire to be obliging meanwhile, catered 
 for the tinfj-binff, brinjjing' me a stock of flies he had killed as 
 a portion of sea-stores for the little animal. On the other hand, 
 poor Fanyah was not only really sorry, but a little indignant to 
 boot, and, although quite willing ,to remain as help to Petah's 
 wife (his family being now installed in their old quarters), could 
 not refrain from an occasional grumble now and then, such as, 
 " Ah ! missis, you go leff me for work for black woman ; well ! 
 I glad for you go your own country, for see your piccans, and 
 your fader and moder, no more I sorry too much for myself 
 because you go leff me." To cheer up the little maiden's heart, 
 I gave her, in addition to various things of a more useful nature, 
 ,two nicely-dressed Dutch dolls, for which I had sent home ; and 
 
310 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxvii. 
 
 a whole cargo of scraps of silk, calico, and muslin for her patch- 
 work ; an employment of which she was very fond, and had already 
 formed out of shreds of every shape, colour, and texture, a goodly- 
 sized piece of cloth, which she thought the most becoming gar- 
 ment in the world, rolled round above her European-fashioned 
 frock, in the national style of the most uncivilized tribes. She 
 only made two requests, and these were to get, as chief parting- 
 gifts, a small japanned candlestick lamp, and a tiny enamelled 
 saucepan ; and which two things, with of course the addition of a 
 little oil, she fancied constituted a fortune in themselves as far 
 as furniture went, and it Avas really pleasant to look at her face 
 of importance and delight on receiving them as her own exclusive 
 property. 
 
 Saturday came, and with it was sent on board the pretty grace- 
 ful rose- eater, which, with a far more matronly grey goat, was 
 to yield us the luxury of milk during the passage home. We 
 were, of course, ready to start at half-an-hour's notice, but, to 
 my great relief, a day's grace was granted to us, and the evening 
 was spent in writing home-letters to go by separate ships. 
 
 Next day we left the hill before eleven in tlie forenoon, M 
 
 riding, and I as usual indebted to Mrs. D for her nice 
 
 comfortable palanquin, in wliich, with poor Fanyah's sobbing 
 farewell ringing in my ears, the ting-bing for my travelling 
 companion, and a motley train of bearers and followers, I pro- 
 ceeded down the steep shady walks, now so familiar to me, but 
 on which I was not to look again ; the last glimpse I caught of 
 any of the people, except those who accompanied us, being the 
 little agile figure of Dan, the Nufi boy, making all sorts of sa- 
 laams, and apparently uttering all sorts of parting benedictions. 
 
 As the vessel could not sail until the tide served, we passed 
 
 the few intervening hours at the house of Mr. and Mrs. D , 
 
 where, on the staircase, and all about the piazzas and saloon, were 
 disposed numerous vases of beautiful blossoms, some of them 
 quite new to me. A luxuriant granadilla vine, completely co- 
 vered with its gorgeous passion-flowers of crimson and bluish- 
 purple, and trained across horizontal espaliers, was a pretty 
 bowery object from one of the windows ; and in the same plot 
 of ground grew some graceful-looking green vegetables, inter- 
 spersed with different plants of a statelier growth. I also saw 
 
LET. XXXVII.] LAST GLANCE AT SIEREA LEONE. 311 
 
 the bread-fruit,* the leaf of which is about two feet long and 
 more than one broad, while it is very deeply indented at the 
 edges. The fruit, which grows out from the extremity of each 
 branch, has a rough knobby surface, and is round and very large. 
 When quite ripe it is of a greenish-yellow colour. I doubt there 
 must be some degree of exaggeration in the accounts, given by 
 travellers, of its eating like a fresh-baked roll : or else that 
 raised at Sierra Leone is inferior to the other sorts ; as I was told 
 that when cooked and eaten hot it is no better than a common 
 roasted yam, although cold it is very palatable. 
 
 Dessert was scarcely finished when a message was delivered 
 
 that the R had all her sails set and was waiting for us ; so, 
 
 bidding adieu to our hospitable friends, whose kind attention, 
 with their pretty house and its atmosphere of flowers, had con- 
 tributed to render my last impressions of Sierra Leone as plea- 
 sant as my first, we set out to the wharf, accompanied by Messrs. 
 
 "W and S . On stepping out of the palanquin, a heavy 
 
 shower came on, which continued as we rowed to the R , 
 
 whose anchor was up as we came alongside. 
 
 Thicker and heavier fell the rain, and M'ith a final glance at 
 the mountains, now wreathed in mist, and but a confused vision 
 of sailors, water-casks, and hen-coops, I retreated at once into 
 our little state-room, with a fellow feeling for the imprisoned 
 ting-bing. But the sight of a tolerably well-filled book-shelf — 
 containing, amongst other works of some note, ' Tales of the Co- 
 lonies,' a ' Life of Cowper,' and a stray volume of Hannah More 
 — I immediately looked upon as a good omen, speaking well for 
 the captain's tastes. Therefore, sitting down on one of the sofa 
 berths, with the bookcase at head and a window at foot, I 
 amused myself by watching the physiognomies of the different 
 sailors who passed up and down the companion-way under the 
 
 window. Mr. S- and Petah presently came to wish me good 
 
 by, and shortly afterwards M told me our boat was oflf, and 
 
 we were making rapid way out of the harbour ; whilst, as the 
 rain still came down in torrents, instead of going out on deck to 
 take my last look of Africa, I contented myself by gazing on 
 its recedinsr shores from the little stern-lis^ht, until the sudden 
 
 * Artocarpus iucisa. 
 
312 RESIDENCE. AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxvii. 
 
 movement consequent on the first order of " 'Bout ship" left no- 
 thing save the cold grey waters visible. 
 
 Beating out without a pilot — one squall after another coming 
 on — with a crew as yet unused to the ship, and evidently intoler- 
 ably awkward — that was an evening in which we resigned our- 
 selves to discomfort. Being separated merely by a bulkhead 
 from the helmsman, we overheard every direction that was given, 
 and I was not sorry when we dropped anchor off Murray Town 
 to await daylight. 
 
 Even had my usual sea enemy permitted me to lift my head, 
 the wet and windy weather was enough of itself to keep one close 
 prisoner ; so for the first week I did nothing else than read 
 and attend to the ting-bing, which gradually had become recon- 
 ciled to the fare and confinement of shipboard, especially as it 
 was taken out on deck occasionally. But, alas ! while shaking and 
 teasing out its flannel bed, as it always used to do itself, the poor 
 animal had its foot hurt by a thread twisting round it. Lock- 
 jaw followed, and, in spite of all M 's skill and my care, the 
 
 pretty little thing died, to my real regret, for it had been a great 
 source of amusement as well as interest to me ; and I missed it 
 more than you can imagine. 
 
 On Sunday, the 2nd of August, we were sailing amongst the 
 Cape de Verdes. We passed rather near to Boa Vista ; what we 
 saw of it appearing singularly desolate and barren, not a spot of 
 verdure being visible. We also sighted St. Nicolas and St. 
 Antonio, both of which seemed more hilly than Boa Vista. The 
 navigation being considered rather dangerous in these localities, 
 what with rocks, shoals, and long low reefs stretching far out 
 into the sea, I was glad when we had fairly cleared the last of 
 these islands. 
 
 We enjoyed tolerably favourable weather as far as sunshine 
 went, but our good fortune as regarded wind deserted us in three 
 weeks. We have a greater complement of men than a vessel of 
 the R 's tonnage generally carries ; yet few of them are effi- 
 cient sailors, and the captain partly attributes our long passage 
 to their bad steering. How my ears have rung during the last 
 eight weeks with the helmsman's answer to the query of how the 
 vessel's head lay ! One of our black sailors, whose perverse 
 steering greatly tried everybody's patience, once actually replied, 
 
LET. XXXVII.] MOTLEY CREW. 313 
 
 " North-west and by south," as the point of the compass in 
 which the ship was going ! We got fiirther to the westward 
 than we ought, and I have always Matched with great interest 
 the track that has been regularly pencilled upon our good old 
 chart, which I regard as an excellent companion on board ship, 
 — much indeed in the same light as a clock on shore. 
 
 Our crew is composed of people from many lands. Of blacks 
 we have two Tinmianees, both of whom are good seamen ; one 
 Joloff, who of course speaks French ; one Nova Scotian, who 
 dresses himself out in the most extraordinary manner on Sun- 
 days, and walks the fore-deck with a cane in his hand, gazing 
 up at the heavens all tlie time Mith a sagely mysterious ex- 
 pression of countenance ; a Papell or Bissao negro, who formed 
 
 one of the crew of the Y when we last went out ; one 
 
 Sherbro' man, and one Aku. The carpenter is either a Finn 
 or a Shetlander. One of the mates has really amused us by 
 the easy, good-humoured way in which he takes ever}^tliing, 
 assuring us, even when -^olus blew riglit in our teeth, and 
 "south and by east" was the answer to the incessant inquiry, 
 that " there was a fair wind coming," and prophesying, until 
 we had very nearly been six weeks at sea, that our voyage 
 would be safely completed within that period. There is one 
 Brazilian, named Antonio, a little insignificant-looking man, 
 with not nearly so honest a cast in his dark features as in 
 those of the negroes on board, yet uncommonly neat-handed at 
 making such things as monkey-jackets and trowsers, and sealskin 
 caps ornamented with tassels of his own manufacture. Though 
 at first the sound of the different lanofuasres was deafeninof to me, 
 upon the whole the sailors have been xevj quiet and orderly, 
 especially the blacks. However, three out of four European 
 apprentices are tlie veriest imps I ever beheld even on ship- 
 board ; and, amongst other of tlieir pranks, it was discovered, 
 before we had been a fortnight at sea, tliat they had (aided by 
 the worthy carpenter) drunk and distributed the greater portion 
 of our stock of porter, &c., which was stowed below; while they 
 had as little spared the captain's stores of biscuits and different 
 things. Yet the crew of this vessel have most liberal allowances 
 of pork, beef, pease-soup, duff^ (as they call dough-pudding), 
 coffee, sugar, and biscuit. They have everything good for them 
 
314 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxvii. 
 
 excepting grog, a moderate supply of which (at least in stormy 
 weather) I confess I cannot help thinking sailors do require. 
 
 At first starting we had on board, besides four other animals 
 of the monkey tribe, a hideous-looking, peevish, fretful, grinning 
 chimpa?izee, which, shame to my humanity, I was by no means 
 sorry to hear was dead, after we had had a few weeks of real 
 annoyance from the horrid noise it constantly made. The rest 
 all flourish as yet, and consist of two small mangrove monkeys, 
 that are rather amusing in their gambols, but great thieves in 
 the steward's pantry ; a dog-faced baboon, and a large grey 
 monkey, which are both kept chained forward. The last I have 
 never seen, but hear it is very vicious. The ape sometimes 
 manages to break its chain, and take a scamper round the deck : 
 it is very ugly, and has a sort of hoarse grunting bark. 
 
 We had originally four parrots, but lost one. Two of those 
 remaining are of a beautiful mottled grey, Avith scarlet tail- 
 feathers ; the third is a crow-parrot, and was taken young out 
 of its nest on the banks of the Sherbro'. It is the tamest of them 
 all, cries " pretty poll " in a loud whistling note, imitates the 
 noise of the fowls, and even the creaking of an ungreased boom, 
 to perfection ; and disdains to take a bit of sugar from any save 
 a white person's hand, and that only if ungloved. "We have had 
 by no means a disagreeable passage, though so very tedious. 
 We have a civil captain, well-informed fellow-passenger, good 
 cook, and obliging steward — all valuable helps to comfort at sea. 
 
 The Europeans had all had country fever long ere they came 
 on board, and some of them suffered a good deal from ague 
 during the early period of our voyage. The poor black people 
 
 now feel the cold very much, and are so grateful to M for 
 
 the many warm garments he has bestowed upon them. I over- 
 heard one of the Timmanees the other day begging to be taken 
 
 into our service, and only to return to Sierra Leone when M 
 
 did. Llowever, I doubt that poor George, in his red cap, blue 
 blouse, with leather belt and great knife stuck in it, though a 
 very good sailor, would make but a grotesque and awkward 
 valet. 
 
 Wlien off the Western Islands we experienced rather a heavy 
 gale, during which we w^ere more than once exposed to some risk 
 by the negligence of the man at the wheel allowing the vessel 
 
LET. xxxvn.] GALE OFF THE WESTERN ISLANDS. 815 
 
 to " broach to." The blacks, with the exception of the two 
 Timraaiiees, are so cowardly that they lost all presence of mind 
 on seeing the huge waves curling up as if to bury the vessel to 
 her very masts, so that, when even two of them were at the helm, 
 the captain was repeatedly obliged to taice it himself on the 
 sudden approach of a fresh squall. When that gale was some- 
 what abated, I took my station in one of the doorways leading 
 out on deck, being well secured against the heavy rolling of the 
 vessel, and watched with great admiration the wild commotion 
 of the sea. Several vessels were within sight, and you will have 
 some idea of the size of the waves when I tell j^ou that at one 
 minute you saw one of these tall and stately ships standing 
 steadily on her course, and the next a liquid mountain had risen 
 up between lier and our vessel, threateniijg to engulf us both 
 in its yawning depths. As I looked on the angry waters, I could 
 no longer feel provoked at the stupidity or alarm of the negroes 
 at the helm ; for it is so natural for an ignorant person utterly" to 
 disbelieve the possibility of a heavily-laden ship rising buoyant 
 on the crests of these enormous waves, but, on the contrarj^, to 
 think that the whole mass, with her living souls, would go down 
 unresisting, overwhelmed in the trough of the mighty ocean. 
 
 We had of course our share of hot weather, but under the 
 awning it was supportable, and I used to sit on deck as much as 
 possible. But when the days are only marked by speaking a 
 strange sail — seeing a couple of grampuses dancing the gallopade 
 after their fashion — speculating about where a Mother Carey's 
 chicken contrives to build her nest — counting the pieces of pink 
 gulfweed that float past — admiring the fearless way in which 
 the pretty tropic bird, with its curious long tail-feathers and 
 milk-white plumage, circles round your vessel — or watching a 
 beautiful dolphin gliding alongside in its regal robe of purple 
 and gold — they pass too monotonously for a more lengthened 
 account to be interesting lo you. 
 
 We have had to be sure some really enjoyable days since we 
 came into colder latitudes ; days with the sunshine so gloriously 
 bright, the sky so calm and clear, and the sea so deeply blue, 
 that one would feel the repose of nature to be too languid and 
 dreamy, were it not for the wind with its cheering whistle 
 among the shrouds, and its invigorating breath on your cheek ; 
 
316 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxvii. 
 
 as it gives to each wave over which the ship goes bounding 
 along, a broad feathery coronet of snowy foam, that, glancing in 
 the sunlight, seems studded with a myriad of jewels, and, indeed, 
 to your eyes, looks more brilliant than a royal diadem ; while 
 the plashing noise of the water at the bows, and the merry voice 
 of the breeze, together whispering of home and welcome, sound 
 in your ears more sweet and spirit-stirring than the finest music. 
 I do not in truth wonder at the desire displayed by so many 
 boys for becoming sailors, but must frankly own that my en- 
 thusiasm for the sea is only in proportion as the wind is fair. 
 
 A few days ago we came upon a mass of marine creatures, 
 that made the water appear as if it were strewn over with full- 
 blown anemones, of a deep purple crimson spotted with white. 
 I never saw these animals in any former voyage. The sailors 
 said their appearance betokened a storm, but we have had none 
 as yet. 
 
 How odd it is that storms, shipwrecks, and other disasters in- 
 cident to vessels and voyages, should so often form the favourite 
 theme of discourse on board ! It would seem that, before our 
 African naval force was so great as it is now, pirates were occa- 
 sionally met with off the coast. Vessels engaged in the slave- 
 trade, instead of remaining exposed to the risk of capture before 
 a slave-station, waiting till their human cargoes were ready to 
 be shipped, not unfrequently put out to sea, cruised about for a 
 short time, and plundered any unprotected ship they thought 
 might yield them a fair booty. One of these pirate-craft has 
 been known, when prevented through the vigilance of our men- 
 of-war from embarking her slaves, to attack another engaged in 
 the same trade, and possess herself both of the slaves and the 
 vessel which carried them. I have heard, especially during this 
 voyage, many a tale about pirates ; but as most of such stories, 
 though very interesting, are either melancholy or dreadful, I 
 shall only tell you a short one in which there is no bloodshed. 
 
 Several years ago an English gentleman at Sierra Leone pur- 
 chased a small vessel that had been condemned as a slaver, and, 
 having fitted it up, he embarked in it with his family for Eng- 
 land. They were fallen in with, somewhere about the vicinity 
 of the Cape de Verdes, by a very suspicious-looking sail, tlie 
 captain of which, with a party of men strongly armed, boarded 
 
LET. xxxvii.] A POLITE PIRATE. 31 : 
 
 the little British schooner, having probably at first taken her for 
 a Spaniard or Portuguese — for these lawless rovers do not often 
 run the risk of attacking- a vessel that bears our " meteor-flag-." 
 But, finding out his mistake, he put on a courteous demeanour, 
 and entered into conversation with the proprietor of the schooner, 
 at the same time prying into every nook and corner on board. 
 The stranger, which had now shown the tri-colour at her mast- 
 head, lay at a short distance, displaying the bright muzzles of 
 her guns ; whilst her commander with his armed men coolly 
 paced the deck of the defenceless English vessel, neither asking 
 nor demanding a single article, but praising everything that 
 struck his fancy after this fashion : '• You have got some very 
 fine pigs on board — very fine indeed ! Our last porker was 
 killed some days ago." 
 
 A request that he would be pleased to accept of as many as he 
 chose was instantly made by the poor owners, who were perfectly 
 aware of the real character of their visitant, who went on, — 
 " Your poultry are certainly the most beautiful poultry I ever 
 saw — I have now scarcely one fowl remaining." 
 
 He continued in the same manner to extol the appearance of 
 all the live stock on board, and to accept in good earnest of " as 
 many as he chose^^ seeing he did not leave the vessel he so 
 politely plundered as much as one goat, sheep, pig, or fowl. 
 Tlie wine, ale, biscuit, and other stores had also to pay heavy 
 tithe, the passengers and crew being left to subsist on a scanty 
 supply of salt provisions and water during the remainder of their 
 voyage. 
 
 In both of our homeward voyages we have had excellent 
 filtering vessels, which have been the means of supplying us with 
 clear fresh water for all purposes. No one should go to sea 
 without sending a filter on board as part of his (or her) cabin 
 furniture. We have found ours quite valuable, even though there 
 are others in the ship. 
 
318 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxviii. 
 
 LETTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Bays, Rocks, aud Islands — Irish Boatmen — Fish — Crookhaven — Cape 
 Clear — Stags of Castlehavea — Dangerous Position of our Ship off the 
 Old Head of Kinsale — Seven Heads — Courtmacsherry Bay •^- Clear the 
 Old Head at last — Sight of a White Woman. 
 
 16th, Wednesday. 
 To-day is lovely, aud I have been much out on deck. The 
 aspect of the coast is beyond description bleak and barren, pre- 
 senting a formidable front of steep rocks close to the water's 
 edge, and against which the waves dash up in a continual foam. 
 Upon the highest points of the bare desolate hills stand square 
 towers, built as signal-stations at the time of the threatened 
 French invasion. Not a tree to be seen — not even a morsel of 
 verdure — all of the " green isle " at present in our sight being, 
 without exception, brown and stony. Passed close to Bear 
 Island, which is situated in Bantry Bay. Passed Castlepoint. 
 Beat across Dunmanus Bay. Very tedious work weathering 
 the " heads " forming the entrance into these bays. Cape Tre- 
 pont, Sheep's Head, and Mizen Head (the two latter crowned 
 with towers that look like handles to lift the great headlands up 
 by), seem still very far distant ; and we tack every two short 
 hours, the ship " missing stays " oftener than is agreeable. But 
 with a most hard-hearted wind and heaw craft, we must all 
 practise patience as we best can. 
 
 17^/i, Thursday. — Notwithstanding our slow progress and 
 the bleak aspect of the coast, I greatly enjoy the novelty of the 
 near land view, and am mucli amused by watching the boats 
 that constantly come alongside M'ith newly-caught fish, eggs, 
 poultry, and buckets of '"'•rare'''* potatoes for sale. The owners 
 of all these good things are wild-looking Irishmen, who at first 
 offer their cargo as a present, then ask what you will give, 
 stating, at the same time, their decided preference to bottles of 
 rum and pieces of old rope compared with money; and after 
 
LET. XXXVIII.] CROOKHAVEN— CAPE CLEAR. 319 
 
 they do make a bargain always beg for more, and are never 
 satisfied. The potatoes are watery, but, though not very good, 
 are acceptable to us as fresh vegetables. The fish is excellent, 
 and is indeed a luxury at sea — preferable, I think, to the very 
 best preserved salmon, &c. The sailors caught a good deal of 
 fish during the passage. One, said to be a tunny, we all thought 
 particularly nice to eat. A small pot of fresh butter that tasted 
 of turf-smoke came on board to-day, and amongst other land 
 rarities there was also a bottle of milk, its stopper formed of a 
 piece of raw potato neatly cut to fit. So much for the county 
 of Cork ! 
 
 Have cleared Mizen Head at last, sailing at times so close 
 to the shore as to perceive some slight attempt at cultivation ; 
 the ground, barren as it is, being divided and subdivided by rude 
 stone fences into the veriest patches of fields that I ever beheld, 
 always excepting the tiny cassada-farms of our Sierra Leone 
 blacks. Passed Crookhaven, the whitewashed buildings of its 
 lighthouse forming a pleasing feature in the wild sterile land- 
 scape. Mount Gabriel, a hill of greater height than any we 
 have yet seen here, diversifies our view to-day. The pilot says 
 there is a lake on its summit. He, poor man ! is rather cast 
 down by the little way our vessel makes, and tliinks he has con- 
 cluded a very bad bargain with \]s, as we might have reached 
 Cork by this time had the wind been favourable and the ship 
 
 more obedient to her helm. M tells me the pilot pointed 
 
 out the churchyard, a lonely spot with the sea on one side and 
 the grey rocks on the other, as the place where he had, ^vithin 
 the last few months, buried a son and daughter who had botli 
 died of consumption. The tears rolled down the old man's 
 weather-beaten face as he spoke, and adverted in touching terms 
 to the loss he had sustained in the death of his children. A 
 surviving son, who came on board with the pilot, looks pitiably 
 thin and careworn. Alas ! by all we hear, there seems a 
 miserable prospect for the poor people in this quarter during 
 winter. 
 
 Lloyd's agents boarded us, but said, had they known we were 
 from Sierra Leone, they would scarcely have ventured, so fearful 
 a name has our sunny colony obtained ! 
 
 Saw the lighthouses on Cape Clear, which is itself an island, 
 
S20 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxviii. 
 
 having: a narrow channel at the back. Passed in the twilisrht 
 about half way between this point and a great round isolated 
 rock called the Fastnet, significantly pointed out to me as an 
 object from which the ship will gladly keep a respectful dis- 
 tance. It is just the sort of rock I should like to sail close to 
 in a small boat, as it has a strange mysterious look about it as it 
 looms through the shadowy dusk of evening. 
 
 There is a great difference between coasting along here and in 
 the English Channel, where soundings have repeatedly to be 
 taken as a ship beats her way up or down. Here appear to 
 be neither shoals nor sandbanks, yet in stormy weather the 
 rock-girt shore must render this a most dangerous locality. I 
 observe with what eagerness the lights on the different heads are 
 looked out for. " How does the light bear?" is now a more 
 frequent inquiry than " How does her head lay?" That on 
 Cape Clear is our beacon to-night. 
 
 We have had some idea of landing more than once since we 
 sighted land, and as yet have been deterred, not so much by the 
 certainty of having to row in a small boat for many hours, as by 
 the land-journey afterwards of thirty or forty miles to a more 
 civilized place, by no other conveyance for ourselves or heavy 
 luggage than a cart or open car. 
 
 18^^, Friday. — A very wet day, but I got for a short time on 
 deck in the afternoon. We are creeping on by degrees. Passed 
 Tvvohead, a bluff tower-crowned point, and sailed within a cluster 
 of most frightful-looking rocks called the " Stags of Castlehaven," 
 one of which seemed to change to the view every five minutes, 
 according as the ship moved on ; now appearing as if cleft in 
 three, then as if all in one like the top of a church spire ; while 
 over each rock the sea breaks in tremendous clouds of surf, 
 especially against the lowest and least of all, which presented the 
 aspect of an immense fountain, every instant throwing off mag- 
 nificent jets of boiling foam. I sat on deck until late, and felt 
 quite relieved when we had left these sea-girdled crags far behind. 
 
 , 19^A, Saturday. — Off Clonkilty, about ten in the forenoon, 
 making tolerable progress. The glass going down and a gale of 
 wind prophesied, but instead fell almost a dead calm at five in 
 the afternoon, when off the Old Head of Kinsale, against whose 
 perpendicular and rocky sides the waves lift themselves in spark- 
 ling snow-white wreaths. 
 
LET. XXXVIII.] THE SHIP IN DANGER. 321 
 
 I had been on deck for some time, pleased to see how well the 
 tide bore us on, when whispers began to arise on every side — 
 captain, pilot, and mate at the same time casting earnest and 
 uneasy glances, now up to the sails, then to the boM^s, and then 
 to the iron-bound headland on our lee, to which it soon became 
 apparent, even to me, that the vessel was steadily, though slowly, 
 drifting onwards. There was not wind enough to give her steer- 
 age way, and she refused to go about, until it was too late, from 
 our proximity to the shore, to attempt wearing the ship in the 
 usual manner. The tide was running in strongly ; each indivi- 
 dual of the crew seemed the very picture of alarm, and there was 
 not one on board who did not look anxiously across the water 
 for but a " cat's paw " to ruffle its too tranquil surface ; whilst, 
 as the necessary orders were given in a low tone, or signified only 
 by a look or gesture, instead of singing out as they always do in 
 merchant-ships on hauling the ropes, &c-, the sailors preserved 
 a profound and ominous silence. In spite of every strenuous 
 
 effort made to bring her head round, the R remained for nearly 
 
 three-quarters of an hour immovable, except in being impelled, 
 as by an unseen power, towards the dark front of the rugged 
 and perpendicular cliff that seemed waiting to receive her. A 
 pilot- boat kept hovering near, as if for the purpose of affording 
 help when the moment of extremity came, and some of the men 
 suffsrested jjetting- its assistance, witii that of our own boats, to tow 
 the ship, but it was declared that three gnats might as well 
 attempt to drag along an elephant. 
 
 I must say that, although conscious of our danger, yet the 
 calmness of the sea, and of the evening together, had the effect 
 of rendering me less really alarmed than I often was during the 
 
 gales or squalls of our homeward passage ; and, Marned by M 
 
 just as the last desperate endeavour was about to be made, I 
 returned to our little cabin, where, after looking out of the 
 window for about two minutes, I saw to my great thankfulness 
 the formidable rock astern, but so very, very close, that, although 
 nearly dark, I could distinctly trace the broken surface it pre- 
 sented. 
 
 The pilot wished to cast anchor, but in thirty fathoms water 
 the captain did not think it advisable. They say it is fifteen 
 fathoms deep quite close to the cliffs. I now see the lighthouse 
 
 Y 
 
322 EESIDENCE AT SIERKA LEONE. [let. xxxviii. 
 
 o-limmerina; rather farther off, but it is nine o'clock at night and 
 
 still no breeze. 
 
 10 o'clock.—! am glad to overhear the pilot saying we have 
 now drifted out clear enough of the Head. Yet it would seem 
 that we are too near some other rocks. The captain and pilot 
 both appear to be apprehensive, and the former means to sit up 
 
 all night. 
 
 1 1 d clock. — They are still far from easy as to the position of 
 the vessel. Every few minutes I overhear, from some one or 
 other on deck, the watchword of " We are very near the 
 
 rocks ! " 
 
 12 o'clock. — Our own little cabin looks cheerful with its bright 
 lio-ht, and there is so little motion, I somehow feel as secure as if 
 we were at anchor in a sheltered haven. Yet here we are sitting 
 up so as to be ready should the ship strike ! But the night is so 
 calm and silent I cannot realize the presence of danger. I mean 
 I do not feel in the least degree " nervous," and, as being once 
 safe on shore will bring its own occupations and interests, I am 
 glad to employ the present idle time in giving you these little 
 details, that otherwise would certainly not be written at all. 
 
 "We were spoken to-day by a pilot-boat from Cork, and told 
 that, coming from Sierra Leone, we shall have fifteen days' quaran- 
 tine. But surely, when there has been neither death nor conta- 
 o-ious sickness on board, and the vessel has a clean bill of health, 
 we cannot be detained. I almost begin to wish, however, that we 
 had landed at Bantry, or even at some one of the dreary little 
 fishing-hamlets we passed. 
 
 20th, Sunday.— Yerj wet. We have lost above ten miles 
 since last night, having been carried so far to leeward of the Old 
 Head of Kinsale, which now at nearly eleven in the forenoon is 
 but faintly seen in the distance. I am now told that, had the 
 ship not come round when she did last night, another ten minutes 
 would have rendered her going on the rocks inevitable. We can 
 now speculate on the matter coolly ; and although, humanly speak- 
 ing, with a perfectly quiet sea and our boats, no lives would have 
 been lost, still we all, I should hope, feel most thankful to a 
 merciful Providence that we have escaped such a disaster. Had 
 we struck, the cargo must have been lost, as well as the effects 
 of every person on board. 
 
LET. XXXVIII.] COURTMACSHERRY BAY. 323 
 
 Off Seven Heads, a promontory so called from its being divided 
 into as many different points, one of which is again broken into 
 several low rocks, those near to which the tide at one time set 
 us last night. The rocks, coves, islands, and bays wliich we 
 pass render the land- view very interesting to me in spite of its 
 wildness. 
 
 Sailing now in Courtmacsherry Bay, the shores of which pre- 
 sent the most cultivated aspect I have yet seen on this coast. 
 A village, several substantial-looking houses, one partially sur- 
 rounded by a plantation, and evidently a better sort of residence, 
 have been successively passed. Tacked to avoid an island rock 
 called the " Horse," and two others named the " Barrels," to 
 which we were also in most dangerous neighbourhood last night. 
 Making short tacks, and at five in the afternoon fairly cleared 
 the grim Old Head. Looked out of the stern windows, and saw 
 it on the opposite side to which we were off it the previous even- 
 ino- ; the lighthouse appearing quite in a different point of view 
 to what it did then. 
 
 21 5^, Monday. — Have again lost several miles during the night. 
 Our ship, notwithstanding iier regal name, make^ most sluggish 
 and unqueenlike progress. The poor pilot evidently does not 
 understand her disposition and habits, for he constantly contrives 
 to let her " hang in stays," and the hurrying and noise on deck, 
 with the peculiar motion at such times, cause even me, when 
 sittino- in the cabin, to know quite well what is the matter, and 
 since our danger on Saturday night I never feel quite comfort- 
 able until M makes the report that all is right again. 
 
 Passed the entrance to Kin>ale Harbour, observed several 
 prettily situated houses ; and ttie country greatly improves in 
 cultivation, although the coast is one succession of jutting-out 
 headlands, cliffs, and rocks. A small yacht cruising about with 
 ladies on board. Felt quite impatient to see the face of a Euro- 
 pean woman once more, and through the great ship-glass I had 
 a «-ood view of two nice-looking people, apparently sisters, and 
 a little fair child in a straw bonnet, about the size I suppose dear 
 
 Y should now be. On going out at three o'clock see Cork 
 
 Head, and those forming the entrance into Cork Harbour, the 
 two last still very far distant. Passed a craggy islet called 
 " Saffron Island," and two very curiously formed round rocks 
 
 Y 2 
 
3!24 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxviii. 
 
 standing high out of the water with a narrow strait between 
 them : one covered with bright green grass is really like a " gem 
 of the sea." The wind is very chilly to-day ; I think the shel- 
 tered lee side of a ship ten times more comfortable than the 
 weather side^ and cannot see why the latter should be the more 
 honourable situation. 
 
LET. XXXIX.] COVE OF CORK. 325 
 
 LETTER XXXIX. 
 
 Hubbub on entering the Cove — Health Inspectors — Quarantine — Wet 
 "Weather — Scenery around — Anxiety to be set at large — Confusion 
 on Deck — An Irish Blunder — Grumblings thereat. 
 
 On board the E , at anchor off Cove, 
 
 September 22nd. 
 
 Here we are at length ! a fair wind having sprung up about six 
 yesterday afternoon, gradually increasing to lialf a gale, that 
 carried us gallantly on ; the old sliip seeming anxious to retrieve 
 her character at the last, and show that, had she been favoured 
 by a less adverse breeze, even she would easily have run over in 
 twenty-four hours the same line of coast along which we had 
 been wearily beating for the last eight days. 1^ 
 
 The narrow entrance to the Cove requiring a careful hand, 
 the captain steered, while our old pilot gave the orders as we 
 met or passed various vessels : " Hard a-port " — " starboard " — 
 " steady " — the answer to tlie one being scarcely sung out when 
 the other followed. The orders and counter-orders were so loud 
 and reiterated, and the " yo-he-o-ing" being perfectly deafening; 
 the commotion and noise altogether caused me to feel an appre- 
 hension of experiencing a shock like that which so startled us all 
 when the steamer ran into our vessel, in Gravesend Roads, on tlie 
 evening of my first embarkation. What greatly added to the 
 hubbub was being met by the quarantine boat, and told to have 
 no communication with the shore until visited by the health in- 
 spector this morning. 
 
 When, exactly at eleven o'clock, the cheering, and, under 
 the circumstances, to me actually euphonious sound of the chain, 
 followed by the deep sullen plunge under the waves, told that 
 we had cast anclior, and if not, according to the song, 
 
 " iu the Channel of Old England," 
 at least not very far from its familiar waters, I thought surely 
 
326 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxix. 
 
 now it would be possible to have some sleep. But no ! boats 
 hailed us every five minutes, some to ask idle questions, others 
 with people wishing to come on board to sell porter, whisky, 
 meat, and vegetables, and a hundred et ceteras. It was of no 
 avail in keeping them away tliat they were told we were forbid 
 to let any one come on board — the Babel of tongues would not 
 cease ; and then our sailors, getting impatient at the prolonged 
 disturbance, answered in no gentle tones themselves. It was 
 most wearing out. Had we dropped from the moon in land 
 where never ship had been seen or heard of before, there could 
 not have been a greater commotion excited. Surely the Cove of 
 Cork is different from all other civilized harbours ! 
 
 At eight this morning we all mustered on the gangway to 
 have our numbers taken and our appearances scanned by the 
 health inspectors in their boat alongside ; the motley crew, all 
 dressed in their motley finery, leaning over the side ; the white 
 seamen, who appeared rather indignant at the whole thing, 
 chatting to each other and staring carelessly around them ; the 
 negroes^who, on the other hand, seemed to think it a most im- 
 posing ceremony, wearing a grave, solemn expression, and keep- 
 ing their eyes fixed all the time upon the consequential-looking 
 customhouse officials, who in their turn looked up at us with as 
 much wondering curiosity depicted upon their features as if we 
 had been all fresh from Timbuctoo. Their chief read the muster- 
 roll, and then, counting us slowly and deliberately over, exclaimed 
 " I want two yet," in a tone as if he suspected the master of the 
 vessel to have sworn falsely, and that two of the crew must be 
 dead. Still, when one of the loiterers, the black cabin-boy, came 
 grinning forward, and showed his goodhumoured countenance 
 with its Aku mark, " But yet I want one" was cried out more 
 indignantly than before, and called forth a most impatient and 
 angry summons to the dilatory steward, who thereupon rushed 
 out of his pantry, where he had evidently been busy at work with 
 the dough for the morning's bread, stood an instant beside his 
 comrades, and rushed back again. I was very much amused by 
 the scene altogether, but especially it seemed to me so truly 
 ludicrous and farcical to send a bevy of revenue officers, instead 
 of a physician, to judge whether it was necessary to place us in 
 quarantine or not» 
 
LET. XXXIX.] QUARANTINE. 327 
 
 But although the vessel is provided with a clean bill of health, 
 and there have been no deaths on board during the voyage, nor 
 yet any sort of infectious illness — the colony too being free from 
 
 contagious disease at the time the R left, and all of us being 
 
 equally so at the present moment — fancy our astonishment and 
 chagrin to have it intimated to us, not only that we are not at 
 liberty to land, but that, until an answer be received from authori- 
 ties in Dublin (to whom the case has in the first place to be 
 reported), it cannot be known whether we are to be admitted to 
 pratique, or to undergo quarantine for an indefinite period ! 
 And that answer, owing to the slow methods of communication 
 in this part of the United Kingdom, cannot be received before 
 the 27th, a period of five clear days ! 
 
 The Customhouse people, who appear to act as health in- 
 spectors here, liave installed one of their subordinates on board, 
 but no medical man has come near the vessel. I really wonder, 
 had there been illness in the ship, if there would have had to 
 be a reference to " the Board in Dublin " ere the sick persons 
 were permitted to have a doctor to visit them. 
 
 But I must despatch this immediately, as no letters are allowed 
 to be sent on shore except by the revenue-boat, and I hear it 
 hailing us now. I must only add that, in spite of all my grum- 
 bling, I trust we feel less disposed to fret at this temporary 
 annoyance than to be heartily grateful to the Almighty that 
 there has been no fever on board. We should then have had 
 incomparably greater cause for being dispirited. The poor pilot 
 is the person most to be pitied. He has now been on board eight 
 days, and has the prospect of being nearly as many more. He 
 says this has been an " unlucky sliip to him," and continually 
 regrets that his was not tlie pilot-boat which assisted a foreign 
 vessel in distress into Crookhaven a few days ago, and by which 
 her owner was expected to clear twenty or thirty pounds. 
 
 Extracts from Journal, 
 
 2Srd, Wednesday. — Both yesterday and to-day have been 
 dismally wet, so that, being quite unable to go out on deck, I 
 content myself by writing various epistles, reading stray news- 
 papers, working a little now and tlien, meanwhile indulging in 
 
328 EESIDENCE AT SIEREA LEONE. [let. xxxix. 
 
 philosophic reflections. The scenery around is remarkably 
 pretty, so far as I can judge by peeping out of the stern 
 windows. 
 
 24th, Thursday/. — It blew very hard last night, so that we 
 had to drop a second anchor. To-day is showery and windy. 
 The houses on the quay are all faced ^vith dark-grey slates, 
 which give them a warm but strange appearance. 
 
 The entrance to the harbour is very strongly guarded on both 
 sides, Mhile naval storehouses and fortifications stand around in 
 all directions, and add to the fineness of the landscape formed by 
 the islands, trees, hills, and fields ; the grass of the latter, in its 
 vivid brightness, doing all credit to the " emerald isle." 
 
 Up beyond the streets, close to the water banks, are several 
 pretty terraces of neat houses, with flowery garden-grounds in 
 front ; in which the sight of little merry children playing over- 
 throws all my philosophy, and causes me to feel eagerly anxious 
 for a release to our weary imprisonment. Is it not strange that 
 the anxiety people feel, regarding those from whom they have 
 been separated for a lengthened interval, should become doubly 
 intense as the long-anticipated period of meeting draws near ? We 
 cannot now hear of our dear ones until we reach them, as we trust 
 to be set at large long before an answer can be received to any 
 of our letters. Our latest home news are now nearly six months 
 old, and it does seem so singular to be for several days in one of 
 the British isles, and yet be obliged to remain ignorant of the 
 welfare of our friends in the other. Heard this instant of the 
 
 N having put into Crookhaven in distress, and ^\dth the loss 
 
 of four men during the passage. 
 
 25th, Friday. — A little sunshine to-day, but the wind is bit- 
 terly cold. Lord Mountcashel's yacht "Wandering Spirit"* 
 lies at anchor near us, and is one of the most beautiful objects in 
 view. Our vessel's decks are one mass of confusion — coils of old 
 ropes, sails, empty casks, sea-chests, packages, oil-jars, and pots 
 of paint, with a solitary pair of magnificent elephant's tusks, are 
 strewed up to the very entrance of the main cabin, putting it 
 
 * A few weeks afterwards I read an account in the newspapers of the loss 
 of this vessel, with the narrow escape of those on board, off the entrance to 
 Kinsale harbour. 
 
LET. XXXIX.] AN IRISH BLUNDER. 329 
 
 completely out of one's power to take exercise. This is the 
 fourth day of suspense, and heavy beating rain for the greater 
 part of that time has rendered it equally impossible to obtain 
 fresh air. 
 
 26th. — We are now in an absolute ferment of indignation, yet 
 can afford to lau^ h at what is after all but an Irish blunder illus- 
 trated. Here are we all in comparative good health, and liaving 
 had no deaths on the voyage, placed in quarantine ; whilst the 
 
 sickly sailors of the N , who were discharged at Crookhaven 
 
 and landed here in a pilot-boat, are now walking about on the 
 quay in our very sight. It is too ludicrous ! At an Irish port 
 they place the healthy in quarantine and allow the sick to go 
 freely ashore ! But we are not alone in our unjust detention. 
 
 The P , which came in from Sierra Leone on Tuesday 
 
 morning, is in the same agreeable position with ourselves. 
 
 That the greatest caution ought to be observed, with regard to 
 even healthy vessels arriving from places w^here contagious 
 disease rages, is evident to every person. Still greater care is 
 indispensable when the vessel is in a sickly state, even though the 
 port whence she last cleared was perfectly healthy ; and after 
 that most melancholy case of the Eclair, and the terrible conse- 
 quences to the Cape de Verdes which followed communication 
 with that devoted ship, one cannot blame the strictness with 
 which the quarantine laws may be enforced. 
 
 But wliat seems to me the peculiar hardship both of our case 
 
 and that of the P is that the authorities at Cove, or at least 
 
 at Cork, should not be deemed competent to decide whether there 
 be any necessity for placing a vessel in quarantine or not ; or 
 that they should not even have the power of sending a medical 
 man on board, who surely would be able at once to say whether 
 we were ill or well, since it would appear we are not the best 
 judges ourselves of that question. 
 
 Five days of cooping up under such disagreeable circumstances 
 is enough to injure the health of robust people ; much more 
 might so vexatious a detention operate unfavourably upon those 
 w^ho, though not labouring under an attack of fever, are returning 
 to England for the benefit of their health, after years of exposure 
 to a tropical climate, — and that the climate of Sierra Leone. 
 
330 EESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xxxtx. 
 
 What crowns the ridiculous is, that we have been permitted 
 to anchor close to the town among-st other vessels in the harbour ; 
 while so little do the people around seem influenced hj any dread 
 of our proximity, that boats come continually alongside to offer 
 things for sale, the yellow flag at our mast-head not even deter- 
 ring pleasure-yachts from sailing round the vessel, so near that 
 one could almost spring from our decks on to theirs. 
 
LET. XL.] CITY OF CORK. 331 
 
 LETTER XL. 
 
 Admitted to Pratique — Sail np the Lee — City of Cork — Irish Cars — 
 Costume of the Lower Classes — Gloomy Thoughts banished by remem- 
 brance of past Mercies. 
 
 ' Cork, September 28th. 
 
 I REJOICE to say we were released yesterday, — Sir J P ? 
 
 a Scotch physician of Cork, having at length received instructions 
 to visit the ship and decide as to our fitness or not to be admitted 
 to pratique. It did not occupy a moment. We all stood at the 
 side as before, and immediately that he had glanced at us, and 
 taken our numbers, he told us we were free once more ; so " Jump 
 up, boys ; haul down the yellow flag and hoist the ensign," was 
 the quick and cheering order, that was as quickly and cheerily 
 obeyed ; while the doctor politely shook hands with us, and 
 wished us joy of being out of quarantine. 
 
 Being Sunday, however, nothing could be done in the way of 
 clearing luggage (by the by, it cannot be managed at Cove at 
 any rate), for wliich purpose we steamed up here this morning. 
 The banks of the river from Cove to Cork are strikingly 
 pretty, their natural beauty of wooded rocks and green slopes 
 being enlivened by pleasant-looking cottage-villas, with sunny 
 gardens stretching down to the water's edge; and here and 
 there the eye gets a peep of some stately mansion with park and 
 forest; while busy little watering-places thronged with well- 
 dressed women and children, and tlie number of tine vessels 
 quietly gliding up and down, still further add to the cheerfulness 
 of the picture. 
 
 So far as I can judge, this is really a fine town, with broad 
 streets, handsome shops, and numerous carriages ; those novel- 
 looking vehicles called Irish cars — well-appointed and ill- 
 appointed — public and private— open and close — preponderat- 
 ing over every other sort of equipage ; while the streets are 
 crowded with people of all grades. The dress of the women of 
 
332 RESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [let. xl. 
 
 the lower orders strikes me as equally foreign and un-English 
 with the cars. They all seem clothed in a uniform made up of 
 brown cloth cloaks and great hoods, under which appear clean 
 cap-borders quilled full all round. The men patronize long 
 straggling great-coats, and napless, weather-beaten, black-brown 
 hats, stuck on one side the head. 
 
 M ■ is now at the Customhouse, with our fellow-pas- 
 senger and the master of the vessel ; and I sit in a comfortable 
 hotel, out of the windows of which I have looked till I am tired, 
 
 writing to you, having also dashed off a few lines to and 
 
 , telling of our being set at liberty. But we have still some 
 
 steam- voyages to perform, and railway journeys too, ere we can 
 reach , where Heaven grant that we find all our dear home- 
 people well ! 
 
 Yet, although there is something so indescribably animating 
 and gladsome in being once more safe on land in the temperate 
 zone ; after former experience of the instability of human hope on 
 a similar occasion, it is not enough to prevent gloomy anticipa- 
 tions from flitting through the mind. But I try to feel as in 
 those beautiful lines of Addison's, at once remarkable for their 
 truth and simplicity : — 
 
 " In foreign lands and realms remote, 
 Supported by His care, 
 Through burning climes I've pass'd unhurt, 
 And breath'd in tainted air." 
 
 And therefore, in the words of the same touching hymn, — 
 
 " In midst of dangers, fears, and death, 
 God's goodness I'll adore, 
 And praise Him for His mercies past, 
 And humbly hope for more." 
 
( 333 ) 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The following are a few samples of negro epistolary correspondence. 
 The address upon the first is — 
 
 "M , Esqre. 
 
 Have me excuse for the other name. 
 " Honoured Sir, Freetown, Sierra Leone. 
 
 With deep humiliation and earnest desire I come to solicite 
 you a certain thing, and that of your kindness it will grant to your 
 humble servants. Sir, will you be good enough as to employ me in the 
 business as a messenger in your otHce, Sir, and only try me, and you will 
 not see me in advertent. 
 
 I must subscribe my name under this paper. 
 
 (Sygned) Dakiel Davis." 
 
 ( No. 2. ) 
 "Sir, 
 
 Your humble petitioner brings his petition to you, showing that 
 he is about passing within your premises to his farm, and would be 
 obliged should you be good enough by allowing him to shot any birds 
 or monkey, for to be eaten, previous to his going along. 
 And your petitioner as in duty bound, 
 
 I ever pray to be your Obedient Servant, 
 
 J. S. D. Davies." 
 
 ( No. 3. ) 
 *' Dear Sir, 
 
 Your humble servant have the liberty to inform you this few 
 lines, hopin it will found you in Good state health Sir, all my wish is 
 this that I come to ask you a Ficese of Ground to cultivet, as much as 2 
 or three area {acres) of land, I will great obliged Sir, 
 
 Your most humble servant sir, 
 
 John Coffee." 
 
334 KESIDENCE AT SIERRA LEONE. [app. 
 
 ( No. 4. ) 
 " Dear Sir, 
 
 I have hard that you are in want of a Horse man, and I can re- 
 take furthering myself; should my services be required as a Horseman, 
 you will find a good horse man and a man of knowledge of aboute 
 
 Horse. 
 
 I am your very truly servant, 
 
 Moses Johnson." 
 
 ( No. 5. ) 
 <' Sir, 
 
 I have the Honour of wrighting these few lines to you Sir, I am in 
 need of work, and will be very much obliged to you if you will be 
 kind as to give me some work to do, or put me in some place as a four- 
 man. I am a cook by trade, your honour. I humble beg and pray 
 that you will be anable to give me something to do, so that I may not 
 be Idler in the town, and so your honour I will do the best of my 
 necessity to please the world. I humble beg your honour to grant my 
 offer, and answer will oblige from you. 
 
 I am your thruly and humble obed' Servant, 
 
 William Kinkess.' 
 
 " Sir, 
 
 ( No. 6. ) 
 
 I humble solicit your honour and highness. Be pleased to listen 
 unto my petition which I am about to make unto your highness, be 
 kind enough dear Sir and employ me in some business such as a school- 
 master in any of the villages. I will endeavour with all my ability to 
 serve and please you as I ought ; that is the desire of your humble 
 servant, for I have no money that I might buy large paper of address- 
 ing you this few lines Sir, but there is no money in my hand. 
 
 I humbly remain your most humble and obed' Serv*, 
 
 " To His Clemency" is rather a favourite superscription with some, 
 and one letter from a person who says he " will feel very much glad to 
 be employed as a schoolmaster," begins thus : — 
 
 " I, thy humble servant, take upon himscU' to come this day and to 
 ask a petition of thee which I hope you will grant unto me thy un- 
 worthy servant by thy clemency or tenderness.'' 
 
 Another commences — " I, a Deliberated African, do state to your 
 honor my case." " Honoured Sir," " Good Master," and " My 
 Master," with " Please your honour to hear the prayers of this humble 
 and needful petition," appear sprinkled through different epistles, while 
 
APP.] APPENDIX. 335 
 
 the following mysterious paragraph intervenes in one begging docu- 
 ment : — 
 
 "There is a way of which one cannot complain in common terms. 
 It would draw imprecations from a man that never used a stronger 
 affirmative in all his life than yea verily, and raise the indignation even 
 of the mildest father of the Oratory." 
 
 I believe there are professed black scribes, who take fees for writing 
 petitions, &c., which no doubt they have several generally approved forms 
 of wording, as I have seen two letters, each asking for the same situation 
 in exactly the same words, but written in totally different hands, and 
 signed by different names. At the same time a very great many of 
 the people can compose and write letters without assistance, though 
 they occasionally transpose the meaning of the words they use. For 
 instance, a Maroon or settler woman who emigrated to the West Indies, 
 instead of saying, in a letter written to a friend here (who showed it to 
 the person who told me of it), " Remember me kindly to yom" sister," 
 used the expression, " Remember my kindness to your sister." 
 
 But here is another genuine specimen of African literature, written by 
 a man released from prison : 
 
 " I humbly feel myself to be under every obligation to Great Britain 
 for the privileges of which I am allowed from that most Gracious, most 
 benevolent, and Fatherly Nation and well-wisher to all human race on 
 Earth. I humbly kneel down at your honour's feet b}' praying and 
 begging that your honour will pardon me for the liberty I am taking in 
 thinking that it was by your honour's Wisdom, Power, and Protection 
 that I am this day a Freeman, and that I feel that it is my bound duty, 
 my honoured sir, to make you many thousand thanks for the kind part 
 which you have taken in my behalf; and may the Almighty God Bless 
 you for it, and that you may reign for ever in your Wisdom and Power 
 to protect the Poor, and may ever reign over us all for evermore. 
 Plonoured Sir, I am truly ashamed of m3'self for not having returned 
 you the due thanks for the liberty you have given me in delivering me 
 out of the hands of the Wild Lion, and have set me at liberty the 
 mean time." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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