t.i.tle: Lander's Travels The Travels of Richard Lander into the Interior of Africa

Author: Robert Huish

INTRODUCTION.

Many are the acquisitions which geography has made since the boundaries of commerce have been extended, and the spirit of enterprise has carried our adventurous countrymen into countries which had never yet been indented by a European foot; and which, in the great map of the world, appeared as barren and uninhabitable places, dest.i.tute of all resources from which the traveller could derive a subsistence. It must, however, on the other hand, be admitted, that design has frequently had little to do in the discovery of those countries, however well it may have been conceived, and however great the perseverance may have been, which was exhibited in the pursuit. The discovery of America was, indeed, a splendid example of an enlightened conception, and an undaunted heroism, crowned with the most complete success; and the laudable and unabated ardour which this country, in despite of the most appalling obstacles, has persisted in solving the great geographical problem of the Course and Termination of the Niger, may be placed second in rank to the discovery of America.

As long as any fact is shut out from the knowledge of man, he who is in search of it will supply the deficiency by his own conclusions, which will be more or less removed from the object of his pursuit, according to the previous opinions which he may have formed, or to the credit which he may have placed on the reports of others. These remarks cannot be better ill.u.s.trated, than in the case furnished by the Joliba, the Quorra, or Niger, the termination of which river was utterly unknown until Richard and John Lander, braving difficulties which would have broken any other hearts than theirs, succeeded in navigating the river until its conflux with the ocean. Since Park's first discovery of the Joliba, every point of the compa.s.s has been a.s.sumed for the ulterior course and termination of that river, and however wrong subsequent discovery has proved this speculative geography to have been, it is not to be regarded as useless. Theories may be far short of the truth, but while they display the ingenuity and reasoning powers of their authors, they tend to keep alive that spirit of inquiry and thirst for knowledge which terminates in discovery.

Various accounts of this river had been gradually collected from different sources, which afforded grounds for fresh theories respecting its termination. That of Reichard was the favourite, he supposing that it a.s.sumed a southwest course, and terminated in the gulph of Guinea. It was observed at the time, that there was neither evidence on which such an opinion could be supported, nor any by which it could be refuted. Discovery has proved him to be right in respect to its ultimate disposal; but at the same time, he partic.i.p.ated in the general error regarding its course to w.a.n.gara.

These different opinions appeared in several publications, in which, as might be expected, much error was mixed up with the general correctness. That the river flowed into the sea at Funda, was the princ.i.p.al and chief point that was gained; but the most extraordinary circ.u.mstance attending this discovery, was, that no one knew where Funda was. The only exception to these was the theory of Major Denham, supported by Sultan Bello's information, who continued its easterly course below Boossa, and ended it in Lake Tchad.

Such was the uncertain condition in which the course of the Niger remained, when the happy idea occurred of sending the Messrs. Landers to follow its course below Boossa. By this step the British government completed what it had begun, and accomplished in a few months the work of ages.

CHAPTER I.

Previously to entering upon the immediate subject of the origin and progress of the different voyages, which have been undertaken for exploring the interior of Africa, it may be not only interesting, but highly instructive, to take a rapid survey of the great Peninsula, as it appeared to the earlier travellers, and as it was found by the last of them, amongst whom may be included the individual, whose adventures in the present work, claim our chief attention. It is on record, that the coasts of Africa have been navigated from as early a period, as six hundred years before Christ, and, according to the earliest records of history, the circ.u.mnavigation of Africa was accomplished by the Phoenicians, in the service of Pharaoh Necho. On referring to Herodotus, the earliest and most interesting of Greek historians, and to whom we are indebted for the knowledge of many important facts relative to Africa, in the earliest periods of its history, we find, in corroboration of the circ.u.mnavigation of Africa by the Phoenicians, "that taking their course from the Red Sea they entered into the Southern Ocean; on the approach of autumn, they landed in Lybia, and planted some corn in the place, where they happened to find themselves; when this was ripe, and they had cut it down, they again departed. Having thus consumed two years, they in the third pa.s.sed the columns of Hercules, and returned to Egypt.

Their relation may obtain attention from others, but to me it seems incredible, for they affirmed that having sailed round Africa, _they had the sun on their right hand._"

It is worthy of remark, that the very circ.u.mstance, which led Herodotus to attach discredit to the circ.u.mnavigation of Africa by the Phoenicians, on account of their having the sun to the right, is the very strongest presumption in favour of its truth. Some historians have indeed endeavoured to prove, that the voyage was altogether beyond any means, which navigation at that early era could command; but in the learned exposition of Rennell, a strong degree of probability is thrown upon the early tradition. At all events it may be considered, that the obscure knowledge, which we possessed of the peninsular figure of Africa, appears to have been derived from the Phoenicians. Herodotus, however, was himself a traveller, in those early times, of no mean celebrity. Despairing of obtaining accurate information of the then known part of the habitable world, he determined to have recourse to travelling, for the purpose of completing those surveys, which had been undertaken by his predecessors, and which had been left in a dubious and indefinite state. He resided for a considerable period in Egypt, during which, he entered into a friendly communion with the native priests, from whom he obtained much accurate information, as well as a great deal that was false and exaggerated relative to the extensive region, which extends from the Nile to the Atlantic. According to his description it is much inferior in fertility to the cultivated parts of Europe and Asia, and suffering extremely from severe drought; yet he makes mention of a few spots, such as Cinyps, and the high tract Cyrene, which, undergoing the process of irrigation, may stand comparison with the richest portions of the globe. Generally, however, in quitting the northern coast, which he terms significantly the forehead of Africa, the country became more and more arid. Hills of salt arose, out of which the natives constructed their houses, without any fear of their melting beneath a shower in a region where rain was unknown. The land became almost a desert, and was filled with such mult.i.tudes of wild beasts, as to be considered their proper inheritance, and scarcely disputed with them by the human race.

Farther to the south, the soil no longer afforded food even to these wild tenants; there was not a trunk of a tree, nor a drop of water--total silence and desolation reigned.

This may be considered as the first picture on record of the northern part of Africa; a country, which, even after the lapse of two thousand years, presents to the eye of science, as regards its interior recesses, a blank in geography, a physical and not less a moral problem; a dark and bewildering mystery. The spirit of enterprise has carried our mariners to the arctic seas, braving the most appalling dangers in the solution of a great geographical problem; by the same power, civilization has been carried into the primeval forests of the American continent, and cities have arisen in the very heart of the Andes. The interior of Africa, however, notwithstanding its navigable rivers, has been hitherto almost a sealed chapter in the history of the globe. The deserts, which extend from Egypt to the Atlantic, and which cover a great surface of the interior, have proved a barrier to the march of conquest, or civilization; and whatever science has gained, has been wrested by the utmost efforts of human perseverance and the continual sacrifice of human life.

It must, however, be allowed that there are obstacles existing to the knowledge and the civilization of central Africa, which cannot be overcome by the confederated power of human genius. Extending 5000 miles in length, and nearly the same extent in breadth, it presents an area, according to Malte Brun, of 13,430,000 square miles, unbroken by any estuary, or inland sea, and intersected by a few long or easily navigable rivers; all its known chains of mountains are of moderate height, rising in terraces, down which the waters find their way in cataracts, not through deep ravines and fertile valleys. Owing to this configuration, its high table lands are without streams, a phenomenon unknown in any other part of the world; while, in the lower countries, the rivers, when swelled with the rains, spread into floods and periodical lakes, or lose themselves in marshes. According to this view of the probable structure of the unknown interior, it appears as one immense flat mountain, rising on all sides from the sea by terraces; an opinion favoured by the absence of those narrow pointed promontories, in which other continents terminate, and of those long chains of islands, which are, in fact, submarine prolongations of mountain chains extending across the main land. It is, however, not impossible, that in the centre of Africa, there may be lofty table lands like those of Quito, or valleys like that of Cashmeer, where, as in those happy regions, spring holds a perpetual reign.

In regard to the population, as well as its geographical character, Africa naturally divides itself into two great portions, north and south of the mountains of Kong and the Jebel el Komar, which give rise to the waters of the Senegal, the Niger and the Nile. To the north of this line, Africa is ruled, and partially occupied by foreign races, who have taken possession of all the fertile districts, and driven the aboriginal population into the mountains and deserts of the interior. It is consistent with general experience, that in proportion as civilization extends itself, the aboriginal race of the natives become either extinct, or are driven farther and farther into the interior, where they in time are lost and swept from the catalogue of the human race.

South of this line, we find Africa entirely peopled with the Negro race, who alone seem capable of sustaining the fiery climate, by means of a redundant physical energy scarcely compatible with the full development of the intellectual powers of man. Central Africa is a region distinguished from all others, by its productions and climate, by the simplicity and yet barbarian magnificence of its states; by the mildness and yet diabolical ferocity of its inhabitants, and peculiarly by the darker nature of its superst.i.tions, and its magical rites, which have struck with awe strangers in all ages, and which present something inexplicable and even appalling to enlightened Europeans; the evil principle here seems to reign with less of limitation, and in recesses inaccessible to white men, still to enchant and delude the natives. The common and characteristic mark of their superst.i.tion, is the system of Fetiches, by which an individual appropriates to himself some casual object as divine, and which, with respect to himself, by this process, becomes deified, and exercises a peculiar fatality over his fortune. The barbarism of Africa, may be attributed in part its great fertility, which enables its inhabitants to live without are but chiefly to its imperviousness to strangers. Every petty state is so surrounded with natural barriers, that it is isolated from the rest, and though it may be overrun and wasted, and part of its inhabitants carried into captivity, it has never been made to form a const.i.tuent part of one large consolidated empire and thus smaller states become dependent, without being incorporated. The whole region is still more inaccessible on a grand scale, than the petty states are in miniature; and while the rest of the earth has become common, from the frequency of visitors, Africa still retains part of the mystery, which hung over the primitive and untrodden world.

Pa.s.sing over the attempts of the very early travellers to become acquainted with the geographical portion of Africa, in which much fiction, and little truth, were blended, we arrive at that period, when the spirit of discovery began to manifest itself amongst some of the European states. The darkness and lethargy, which characterised the middle ages, had cast their baneful influence over every project, which had discovery for its aim, and even the invaluable discovery of the mariner's compa.s.s, which took place at the commencement of the thirteenth century, and which opened to man the dominion of the sea, and put him in full possession of the earth had little immediate effect in emboldening navigators to venture into unfrequented seas.

At a somewhat earlier period, it is true, the Hanse Towns and the Italian republics began to cultivate manufactures and commerce, and to lay the foundation of a still higher prosperity, but they carried on chiefly an inland or coasting trade. The naval efforts, even of Venice or Genoa, had no further aim than to bring from Alexandria, and the sh.o.r.es of the Black Sea, the commodities of India, which had been conveyed thither chiefly by caravans over land. Satisfied with the wealth and power, to which they had been raised by this local and limited commerce, these celebrated republics made an attempt to open a more extended path over the ocean. Their pilots, indeed, guided most of the vessels engaged in the early voyages of discovery, but they were employed, and the means furnished, by the great monarchs, whose ports were situated upon the sh.o.r.es of the Atlantic.

The first appearance of a bolder spirit, in which the human mind began to make a grand movement in every direction, in religion, science, freedom, and liberty, may be dated from about the end of the fifteenth century. The glory of leading the way in this new career, was reserved for Portugal, then one of the smallest, and least powerful of the European kingdoms.

When in 1412, John I. sent forth a few vessels, to explore the western sh.o.r.es of Africa, while he prepared a great armament to attack the moors of Barbary, the art of navigation was still very imperfect, nor had the Portuguese ever ventured to sail beyond Cape Non. But what most powerfully contributed to give impulse and direction to the national ardour, was the enlightened enthusiasm, with which prince Henry of Portugal, a younger son of John I., espoused the interests of science, and the prosecution of nautical discovery. In order to pursue his splendid projects without interruption, he fixed his residence at Sagres, near Cape St.

Vincent, where the prospect of the open Atlantic continually invited his thoughts to their favourite theme. His first effort was upon a small scale. He fitted out a single ship, the command of which was entrusted to two gentlemen of his household, who volunteered their services, with instructions to use their utmost endeavours to double Cape Bojador, and thence to steer southward. According to the mode of navigation, which then prevailed, they held their course along the sh.o.r.e, and by following that direction, they must have encountered almost insuperable difficulties, in the attempt to pa.s.s the cape; their want of skill was, however, compensated by a fortunate accident. A sudden squall drove them out to sea, and when they expected every moment to perish, landed them on an unknown island, which, from their happy escape, they named Porto Santo. They returned to Portugal with the good tidings, and were received with the applause due to fortunate adventurers. The following year, prince Henry sent out three ships to take possession of the new island; a fixed spot on the horizon, towards the south, resembling a small black cloud, soon attracted the attention of the settlers, and the conjecture suggested itself that it might be land. Steering towards it, they arrived at a considerable island, uninhabited, and covered with wood, which, on that account, they called Madeira.

By these voyages, the Portuguese became accustomed to a bolder navigation, and at length, in 1433, Gilianez, one of prince Henry's captains, by venturing out into the open sea, succeeded in doubling Cape Bojador, which, until then, had been regarded as impa.s.sable.

This successful voyage, which the ignorance of the age placed on a level with the most famous exploits recorded in history, opened a new sphere to navigation, as it discovered the vast continent of Africa, still washed by the Atlantic Ocean, and stretching towards the south.

A rapid progress was then made along the sh.o.r.es of the Sehara, and the Portuguese navigators were not long in reaching the fertile regions watered by the Senegal and the Gambia.

The early part of this progress was dreary in the extreme; they saw nothing before them but a wild expanse of lifeless earth and sky, naked rocks and burning sands, stretching immeasurably into the exterior, and affording no encouragement to any project of settlement. After, however, pa.s.sing Cape Blanco, the coast began to improve in appearance, and when they saw the ivory and gold brought down from the interior, those regions began to excite the l.u.s.t of conquest. This was, however, an undertaking beyond the means of any force which had as yet sailed from Portugal. In 1443, however, Nuno Tristan discovered the island of Arguin, and as Gonzalo da Centra was in 1445 killed by a party of negroes, in attempting to ascend a small river, near the Rio Grande, the Portuguese considered an insular position to be the most eligible for a settlement, and the island of Arguin was accordingly fixed upon.

This establishment had been scarcely formed, when an important event took place, which afforded a favourable opportunity and pretext for laying the foundation of the Portuguese empire in Africa. Bemoy, a prince of the Jaloofs, arrived at Arguin, as a suppliant for foreign aid, in recovering his dominions from a more powerful compet.i.tor or usurper. He was received with open arms, and conveyed to Lisbon, where he experienced a brilliant reception, his visit being celebrated by all the festal exhibitions peculiar to that age, bull-fights, puppet-shows, and even feats of dogs. On that occasion, Bemoy made a display of the agility of his native attendants, who on foot, kept pace with the swift horses, mounting and alighting from these animals at full gallop After being instructed in the Christian religion, he was baptized, and did homage to the king and the pope, for the crown, which was to be placed on his head; for this purpose a powerful armament under the command of Pero vaz d'Acunha, was sent out with him, to the banks of the Senegal.

The circ.u.mstance, which tended more particularly to inflame the pious zeal of the Christian monarch, was the information, that to the east of Timbuctoo there was a territory inhabited by a people who were neither moors nor pagans, but who, in many of their customs resembled the Christians. It was immediately inferred, that this could be no other than the kingdom of the mysterious personage known in Europe, under the uncouth appellation of Prester John. This singular name seems first to have been introduced by travellers from eastern Asia, where it had been applied to some Nestorian bishop, who held there a species of sovereignty, and when rumours arrived of the Christian king of Abyssinia, he was concluded to be the real Prester John.

His dominions being reported to stretch far inland, and the breadth of the African continent being very imperfectly understood, the conclusion was formed, that a mission from the western coast might easily reach his capital. It does not fully appear, what were the precise expectations from an intercourse with this great personage, but it seems to have been thoroughly rooted in the minds of the Portuguese, that they would be raised to a matchless height of glory and felicity, if they could by any means arrive at his court. The princ.i.p.al instruction given to all officers employed in the African service, was, that in every quarter, and by every means, they should endeavour to effect this discovery. They accordingly never failed to put the question to all the wanderers of the desert, and to every caravan that came from the interior, but in vain, the name had never been heard. The Portuguese then besought the natives at all events, into whatever region they might travel, studiously to inquire if Prester John was there, or if any one knew where he was to be found, and on the promise of a splendid reward, in case of success, this was readily undertaken.

The conclusion of the adventure of Bemoy, was extremely tragical.

A quarrel having arisen between him and the commander of the expedition, the latter stabbed the African prince on board his own vessel. Whether this violent deed was prompted by the heat of pa.s.sion, or by well-grounded suspicions of the prince's fidelity, was never fully investigated, but the king learned the event with great regret, and in consequence, gave up his design of building a fort on the Senegal. Emba.s.sies were, however, sent to the most powerful of the neighbouring states, nor was any pause made in the indefatigable efforts to trace the abode of Prester John. Amongst the great personages, to whom an emba.s.sy was sent, are mentioned the kings of Tongubutue, (Timbuctoo,) and Tucurol, a Mandingo chief named Mandimansa, and a king of the Foulhas, with all of whom a friendly intercourse was established. All endeavours were, however, vain as to the primary object, but the Portuguese thereby gained a more complete knowledge of this part of interior Africa than was afterwards attained in Europe till a very recent period.

There is, however, one circ.u.mstance attending these discoveries of the Portuguese, and the emba.s.sies, which they in consequence sent to the native princes, which deserves particular attention. There is very little doubt existing, but that the Portuguese were acquainted with the town and territory of Timbuctoo; and the question then presents itself, by what means did the Portuguese succeed in penetrating to a kingdom, which, for centuries afterwards, baffled all the efforts of the most enterprising travellers to arrive within some hundred miles of it. The city of Timbuctoo, for instance, was, for a considerable length of time, the point to which all the European travellers had directed their attention; but so vague and indefinite were the accounts of it, that the existence of Timbuctoo as a town, began to be questioned altogether, or at least, that the extraordinary accounts, which had been given of it, had little or no foundation in truth. From the time of Park to the present period, we have information of only three Europeans reached Timbuctoo, and considerable doubt still exists in regard to the truth of the narrative of one of them. It is true that the intelligence of the Portuguese emba.s.sies, as respecting the particulars of them, and the manner in which they were conducted, has either perished, or still remains locked up in the archives of the Lusitanian monarchy. But when we look into the expeditions, which have been projected of late years into the interior of Africa, we cannot refrain from drawing the conclusion, that the character of the African people must have undergone a change considerably for the worse, or that our expeditions are not regulated on those principles so as to command success.

The Portuguese in the meantime continued to extend their discoveries in another quarter, for in 1471, they reached the Gold Coast, when dazzled by the importance and splendour of the commodity, the commerce of which gave name to that region, they built the fort of Elmina or The Mine, making it the capital of their possessions on that part of the continent. Pushing onward to Benin, they received a curious account of an emba.s.sy said to be sent at the accesion of every new prince, to a court of a sovereign named Ogane, who was said to reside seven or eight hundred miles in the interior. On the introduction of the amba.s.sadors, a silk curtain concealed the person of his majesty from them, until the moment of their departure, when the royal foot was graciously put forth from under the veil, and reverence was done to it as a "holy thing." From this statement it appears that the pope of Rome is not the only person, whose foot is treated as a "holy thing;" there is not, however, any information extant, that the Portuguese amba.s.sadors kissed the great toe of the African prince, and therefore the superiority of the pope in this instance is at once decided. The statement, however, of the Portuguese amba.s.sadors excited greatly the curiosity of the court on their return, and it was immediately surmised by them, that this mysterious potentate was more likely to be Prester John, than any person whom they had yet heard of. It must, however, be remarked, that it was a subject of great doubt and discussion to determine who this Ogane really was.

Although in possession of the extensive coast of Africa, the Portuguese had, as yet, no declared t.i.tle to it, for that purpose, therefore, they appealed to religion or rather the superst.i.tion of the age. It was a maxim, which the bigots of the Vatican had endeavoured strongly to inculcate, that whatever country was conquered from infidel nations, became the property of the victors.

This t.i.tle was, however, not completed until it was confirmed by a special grant obtained from the pope, and accordingly the reigning monarch of Portugal, John II., obtained the grant of all the lands from Cape Bojador to the Indies inclusive. Robertson, speaking of this grant, says, "extravagant as this donation, comprehending such a large portion of the habitable globe, would now appear even in catholic countries, no person in the fifteenth century doubted but that the pope, in the plenitude of his apostolic power, had a right to confer it."

The grant was no sooner confirmed by the pope, than John hesitated not a moment to style himself Lord of Guinea, giving his commanders, at the same time, instructions that, instead of the wooden crosses, which it had hitherto been the custom to erect in token of conquest, pillars of stone should be raised twice the stature of a man, with proper inscriptions, and the whole surmounted by a crucifix inlaid with lead. The first, who sailed from Elmina, for the purpose of planting these ensigns of dominion in regions yet undiscovered was Diego Cam, in 1484. After pa.s.sing Cape St. Catherine, he encountered a very strong current setting direct from the land, which was still at a considerable distance; on tasting the water, however, it was found to be fresh, from which the conjecture was drawn, that he was at the mouth of some great river, which ultimately turned out to be the fact. This river has since been celebrated under the name of the Congo, or the Zaire, lying in lat.i.tude 8 south, and longitude 13 east. On reaching the southern bank of the river, Diego planted his first pillar, after which he ascended its borders, and opened a communication with the natives by means of signs. His first inquiry was respecting the residence of their sovereign, and, on receiving the information, that he resided at the distance of several days journey inland, he determined to send a number of his men with presents for the prince, the natives undertaking to be the guides, and pledging themselves, within a stipulated period, to conduct them back again. As the natives meantime pa.s.sed and repa.s.sed on the most intimate footing, Diego took the advantage of a moment, when several of the princ.i.p.al persons were on board his ship, weighed anchor and put to themselves as good and _bona fide_ Christians, as any of the revered men, who had been sent out to instruct them. The early missionaries, however, committed the same fault, which has distinguished the labours of those of later periods, for they immediately began attack one of the most venerated inst.i.tutions of the realm of Congo which was polygamy; and to the aged monarch the privation of his wives appeared so intolerable, that he renounced the Christian faith, and relapsed into all the impurities of paganism and polygamy. The heir apparent, however, saw nothing so very dreadful in the sacrifice of his wives, and braving the displeasure of his father, remained attached to the Portuguese. The holy fathers managed their business on this occasion with that skill, for which the cowled tribe have ever been distinguished, and by the aid of the Apostle St.

James, and a numerous cavalry of angels, the old king died, and Alphonso, the zealous convert, became ent.i.tled to reign. His brother, however, Panso Aquitimo, supported by the n.o.bles and almost the whole nation, raised the standard of revolt, in support of polygamy and paganism. A civil war ensued, which is generally the attendant upon the proselytism of a people, and Alphonso had only a handful of Portuguese to oppose to the almost innumerable host of his countrymen; but the holy fathers again applied to their auxiliaries, and in consequence of apparitions in the clouds, at one time of St.

James, and another of the Virgin Mary, Alphonso always came off victorious, and as he thereby became firmly seated on the throne, the missionaries secured for themselves a safe and comfortable establishment at Congo. The following account of the conduct of these missionaries, as it is given in the Edinburgh Cabinet Library, cannot fail to afford a considerable degree of entertainment, at the same time, it is much to be deplored, that men engaged in so sacred a cause, "could play such fantastic tricks before high heaven," and disgrace the doctrine, which they meant to teach.

Being reinforced by successive bodies of their brethren, the missionaries spread over the neighbouring countries of Lundi, Pango, Concobella and Maopongo, many tracts of which were rich and populous, although the state of society was extremely rude. Everywhere their career was nearly similar; the people gave them the most cordial reception, flocked in crowds to witness and to share in the pomp of their ceremonies; accepted with thankfulness their sacred gifts, and received by thousands the rite of baptism. They were not, however, on this account prepared to renounce their ancient habits and superst.i.tions. The inquisition, that _chef d'ouvre_ of sacerdotal guilt, was speedily introduced into their domestic arrangements, and, as was naturally to be supposed, caused a sudden revulsion, on which account the missionaries thenceforth maintained only a precarious and even a perilous position. They were much reproached, it appears, for the rough and violent methods employed to effect their pious purposes, and although they treat the accusation as most unjust, some of the proceedings, of which they boast with the greatest satisfaction, tend not a little to countenance the charge. When, for example, they could not persuade the people to renounce their superst.i.tions, they used a large staff, with which they threw down their idols and beat them to pieces; they even stole secretly into the temples, and set them on fire. A missionary at Maopongo, having met one of the queens, and finding her mind inaccessible to all his instructions, determined to use sharper remedies, and seizing a whip, began to apply it l.u.s.tily to her majesty's person: the effect he describes as most auspicious; every successful blow opened her eyes more and more to the truth, and she at last declared herself wholly unable to resist such forcible arguments in favour of the catholic doctrine. She, however, hastened to the king, with loud complaints respecting this mode of mental illumination; and the missionaries thenceforth lost all favour with that prince and the ladies of his court, being allowed to remain solely in dread of the Portuguese. In only one other instance were they allowed to employ this mode of conversion. The smith, in consequence of the skill, strange in the eyes of a rude people, with which he manufactured various arms and implements, was supposed to possess a measure of superhuman power, and he had thus been encouraged to advance pretensions to the character of a divinity, which were very generally admitted. The missionaries appealed to the king, respecting this impious a.s.sumption, and that prince conceiving that it interfered with the respect due to himself, agreed to deliver into their hands the unfortunate smith, to be converted into a mortal in any manner they might judge efficacious. After a short and unsuccessful argument, they had recourse to the same potent instrument of conversion, as they had applied to the back of the queen. The son of Vulcan, deserted in this extremity by all his votaries, still made a firm stand for his celestial dignity, till the blood began to stream from his back and shoulders, when he finally yielded, and renounced all pretensions to a divine origin.

A more intimate acquaintance discovered other irregularities amongst the natives, against which a painful struggle was to be maintained.

According to the custom of the country, and it were well if the same custom could be introduced into some particular parts of Europe, the two parties, previously to marriage, lived together for some time, in order to make a trial of each other's tempers and inclinations, before entering into the final arrangement. To this system of probation, the natives were most obstinately attached, and the missionaries in vain denounced it, calling upon them at once either to marry or to separate. The young ladies were always the most anxious to have the full benefit of this experimental process; and the mothers, on being referred to, refused to incur any responsibility, and expose themselves to the reproaches of their daughters, by urging them to an abridgment of the trial, of which they might afterwards repent. The missionaries seem to have been most diligent in the task, as they called it, of "reducing strayed souls to matrimony." Father Benedict succeeded with no fewer than six hundred, but he found it such "laborious work," that he fell sick and died. Another subject of deep regret, respecting the many superst.i.tious practices still prevalent, even among those who exhibited some sort of Christian profession, was, that sometimes the children, brought for baptism, were bound with magic cords, to which the mothers, as an additional security from evil, had fastened beads, relics, and figures of the Agnus Dei. It was a compound of paganism and Christianity, which the priests turned away from with disgust; but still the mothers seemed more inclined to part with the beads, relics, and figures of the Agnus Dei, than their magic cords. The chiefs, in like manner, while they testified no repugnance to avail themselves of the protection promised from the wearing of crucifixes and images of the Virgin, were unprepared to part with the enchanted rings and other pagan amulets with which they had been accustomed to form a panoply round their persons. In case of dangerous illness, sorcery had been always contemplated as the main or sole remedy, and those who rejected its use were reproached, as rather allowing their sick relations to die, than incur the expense of a conjuror. But the most general and pernicious application of magic was made in judicial proceedings: when a charge was advanced against any individual, no one ever thought of inquiring into the facts, or of collecting evidence--every case was decided by preternatural tests. The magicians prepared a beverage, which produced on the guilty person, according to the measure of his iniquity, spasm, fainting, or death, but left the innocent quite free from harm. It seems a sound conclusion of the missionaries, that the draught was modified according to the good or ill will of the magicians, or the liberality of the supposed culprit. The trial called Bolungo, was indeed renounced by the king, but only to subst.i.tute another, in which the accused was made to bend over a large basin of water, when, if he fell in, it was concluded that he was guilty. At other times, a bar of red hot iron was pa.s.sed along the leg, or the arm was thrust into scalding water, and if the natural effect followed, the person's head was immediately struck off. Snail sh.e.l.ls, applied to the temples, if they stuck, inferred guilt. When a dispute arose between man and man, the plan was, to place sh.e.l.ls on the heads of both, and make them stoop, when he, from off whose head the sh.e.l.l first dropped, had a verdict found against him. While we wonder at the deplorable ignorance on which these practices were founded, we must not forget that "the judgments of G.o.d," as they were termed, employed by our ancestors, during the middle ages, were founded on the same unenlightened views, and were in some cases absolutely identical.

Other powers, of still higher name, held sway over the deluded minds of the people of Congo. Some ladies of rank went about beating a drum, with dishevelled hair, and pretended to work magical cures.

There was also a race of mighty conjurors, called Scingilli, who had the power of giving and withdrawing rain at pleasure; and they had a king called Ganja Chitorne, or G.o.d of the earth, to whom its first fruits were regularly offered. This person never died, but when tired of his sway on earth, he nominated a successor, and killed himself; a step, doubtless, prompted by the zeal of his followers, when they saw any danger of his reputation for immortality being compromised.

This cla.s.s argued strongly in favour of their vocation, as not only useful, but absolutely essential, since without it the earth would be deprived of those influences, by which alone it was enabled to minister to the wants of man. The people accordingly viewed, with the deepest alarm, any idea of giving offence to beings, whose wrath might be displayed in devoting the land to utter sterility.

We cannot trace any record, stating the period or the manner in which the Portuguese and their officious missionaries were expelled from Congo; it is, however, supposed that they at length carried their religious innovations to such a length, as to draw down upon them the vengeance of the people, and that some bold and decisive steps were taken to liberate the country from its usurpers. It is, however, certain, that Capt. Tucky, in his late expedition, did not find a single trace of either the Portuguese or their missionaries on the banks of the Zaire.

The traveller has ever found much greater difficulty in making discoveries in Mahometan than in Gentoo or Pagan countries, and from this cause the great continent of Africa is much less known to Europeans than it was in ancient times. Until the present age, and a very recent part of it, our knowledge of that immense portion of the globe extended but very little way from the coast, and its enterprises have made great advances to a knowledge of that interior before unexplored. The design of examining on land Africa, to find out the manners, habits, and inst.i.tutions of its men, the state of the country, its commercial capabilities in themselves, and relative to this country, formed the African a.s.sociation. From the liberal sentiments, knowledge, and comprehensive views of that society, were the courage and enterprise of adventurers stimulated to particular undertakings of discovery.

CHAPTER II.

We are now arrived at the period when England, aroused by the commercial advantages, which Portugal was deriving from her African possessions, determined, in defiance of the pope of Rome and "the Lords of Guinea," to partic.i.p.ate in the treasures, and to form her own settlements on the African coast, although it must be admitted, that one of the motives by which the English merchants were actuated, was not founded on humanity or patriotism. The glorious and splendid results, which had arisen from the discovery of the East and West Indies, caused the ocean to be generally viewed as the grand theatre where wealth and glory were to be gained. The cultivation of the West India Islands by the labour of Europeans, was found to be a task almost impracticable, and the attention was thence drawn to discover a source, from which manual labour could be obtained, adapted to the climate, and this resource was soon found in the black population of Africa. It is not to be doubted, that many of our African settlements were formed for the purpose of procuring a supply of slaves, for the West India possessions, at the same time, the attention of others was excited by a far more innocent and brilliant prospect. It was in the beginning of the seventeenth century, that an unbounded spirit of enterprise appears to have been excited amongst the British merchants, by vague reports of an Africa _El Dorado_. The most flattering reports had reached Europe, of the magnitude of the gold trade carried on at Timbuctoo, and along the course of the Niger; despatches were even received from Morocco, representing its treasures, as surpa.s.sing those of Mexico and Peru, and in 1618, a company was formed in London, for the express purpose of penetrating to the country of gold, and to Timbuctoo. Exaggeration stepped in to inflame the minds of the speculators, with the enormous wealth which awaited them in the interior of Africa. The roofs of the houses were represented to be covered with plates of gold, that the bottoms of the rivers glistened with the precious metal, and the mountains had only to be excavated, to yield a profusion of the metallic treasure.

From the northern part of Africa, impediments of almost an insuperable nature presented themselves, to the attainment of these great advantages; immense deserts, as yet unexplored by human foot, and the knowledge of the existence of tribes of barbarous people on the borders of them, were in themselves sufficient to daunt the spirit of adventure in those quarters, and ultimately drew the attention to the discovery of another channel, by which the golden treasures of Timbuctoo could be reached, without encountering the appalling dangers of the deserts, or the murderous intentions of the natives.

The existence of the great river Niger, had been established by the concurrent testimony of all navigators, but of its course or origin, not the slightest information had been received. The circ.u.mstance of its waters flowing from the eastward, gave rise to the conjecture, that they flowed through the interior of the continent, and emptied themselves either by the Senegal or the Gambia, into the Atlantic. It was, therefore, considered probable, that by ascending the Senegal or the Gambia, which were supposed to be merely tributary streams of the Niger, of which they formed the estuary, that Timbuctoo and the country of gold might be reached; and so strongly was this opinion impressed upon the minds of the merchants, and other adventurers, that a journey to Timbuctoo became the leading project of the day, and measures were accordingly taken to carry it into execution.

The first person sent out by the company established for exploring the Gambia, was Richard Thompson, a Barbary merchant, a man of some talent and enterprise, who sailed from the Thames in the Catherine, of 120 tons, with a cargo valued at nearly two thousand pounds sterling. The expedition of Thompson was unfortunate in the extreme, but the accounts received of his adventures and death, have been differently recited. It is certain, that Thompson ascended the Gambia as far as Tenda, a point much beyond what any European had before reached, and according to one account, he was here attacked by the Portuguese, who succeeded in making a general ma.s.sacre of the English. Another account states, that he was killed in an affray with his own people, and thence has been styled the first martyr, or more properly the first victim in the cause of African discovery.

The company, however, nothing daunted by the ill success of Thompson, despatched another expedition on a larger scale, consisting of the Sion of 200 tons, and the St. John of 50, giving the command to Richard Jobson, to whom we are indebted for the first satisfactory account of the great river districts of western Africa.

Jobson arrived in the Gambia, in November, 1620, and left his ship at Ca.s.sau, a town situate on the banks of that river. Here, however, his progress was impeded by the machinations of the Portuguese, and so great was the dread of the few persons belonging to that nation, who remained at Ca.s.san after the ma.s.sacre of Thompson, that scarcely one could be found, who would take upon himself the office of a pilot to conduct his vessel higher up the river. In this extremity he had no other resource than to take to his boats, but, on ascending the river, he found his merchandise in comparatively little request, and repented that he had not laden his boats with salt. He soon afterwards met with Brewer, who had accompanied Thompson to Tenda, and remained with the English factory established up the river. He also filled Jobson with "golden hopes." Wherever the English stopped, the negro kings, with their wives and daughters, came down to the river side to buy, or rather to beg for trinkets, and still more for brandy. They also showed themselves by no means ignorant of the art of stealing, but their thefts were, in some degree, obliged to be winked at, for fear of offending the royal personages, and drawing down upon themselves the secret vengeance of the uncivilized hordes.

On Christmas day Tirambra, a negro prince, a great friend of the English, sent them a load of elephant's flesh, which was accepted with tokens of the greatest respect and grat.i.tude, although the whole gift was secretly thrown away.

After a navigation in boats of nearly thirty days, Jobson reached the rapids of Barraconda, the highest point to where the tide flows, and where he found himself involved in great difficulties. The ascent was to be made against a current running with the greatest rapidity; the great number of hidden rocks made it dangerous to pursue their course during the night, the same time, that in attempting to avoid the rocks, they struck upon sand banks and shallows, which often obliged the crew to strip and go into the water, for the purpose of clearing the boats from the sands. In the performance, however, of this task, the greatest danger was run from the vast number of crocodiles, that infested the river, and which, in several instances, seemed to be in waiting for any prey with which the boats could supply them. The river was also filled with "a world of sea-horses, whose paths, as they came on sh.o.r.e to feed, were beaten with tracts as large as a London highway." The land on either side of the river was covered with immense forests of unknown trees, which appeared to team with living things, feathered and quadruped, making a roar sometimes, which was sufficient to instil terror into the stoutest heart.

Amongst the latter, the baboons appeared to hold the sovereignty of the woods, and whenever the navigation of the river obliged the travellers to keep close in sh.o.r.e, where the banks were covered with trees; the baboons posted themselves on the branches, and kept up a regular attack upon the navigators, throwing at them the largest branches, which they could break from the trees, and apparently holding a palaver with each other, as to the best mode of prosecuting the attack against the lawless intruders into their territory. They appeared actually to be aware when a branch hit one of the navigators, for they immediately up a shout of triumph, screaming hideously, and "grinning ghastly a horrible smile," as if expressive of their victory. The voices of the crocodiles calling, as it were, to each other, resembling the sound "of a deep well," might be heard at the distance of a league, whilst the elephants were seen in huge hordes, raising their trunks in the air, and snorting defiance to all who dared approach them. The latter are objects of great fear to the natives, scarcely one of whom dare approach them, but they appeared to have an instinctive sense of the superiority of the English, for they no sooner made a movement against them, than they hurried away with the speed of the forest deer, and were soon lost in the depths of their native forests. Three b.a.l.l.s were lodged in one of the animals, but he made off with them; he was, however, soon after found dead by the negroes. The most formidable animals, however, were the lions, ounces, and leopards, which were seen at some distance, but the sailors could not obtain a shot at them. At one of their halting places, the baboons appeared like an army consisting of several thousands, some of the tallest placed in front, marshalled under the guidance of a leader, the smaller ones being in the middle, and the rear brought up by the larger ones. The sailors showed some disposition to enter into an acquaintance with the leader of the army, but the desire was by no means mutual, for nature has very kindly infused into the hearts of these creatures a strong distrust in the friendly advances of their brother bipeds, knowing them to be, in many of their actions, false, hollow, and deceitful, a proof of which, one of the leaders of the army received in a very striking and forcible manner, in the shape of a bullet, which pa.s.sed directly through his body. The baboons were, however, determined that their treacherous friends should not obtain possession of the body of their murdered leader, for before the sailors could arrive at the spot where the deceased general lay, his indignant and patriotic companions had carried his body away. On following these creatures to their haunts in the recessess of the forest, places were found, where the branches had been so intertwined, and the ground beaten so smoothly, as to make it rather difficult to believe that the labour had not been accomplished by human hands.