Captain Canot | Page 4

Islamism--My
geographical disquisitions, rotundity of the world, the Koran--I consent
to turn, minus the baptism!--Ahmah's attempt to vow me to

Islamism--Fullah punishments--Slave wars--Piety and profit--Ahmah
and I exchange gifts--A double-barrelled gun for a Koran--I promise to
visit the Fullah country 84
CHAP. X.--Mode of purchasing Slaves at factories--Tricks of
jockeys--Gunpowder and lemon-juice--I become absolute manager of
the stores--Reconciliation with Unga-golah--La belle Esther--I get the
African fever--My nurses--Cured by sweating and
bitters--Ague--Showerbath remedy--MR. EDWARD JOSEPH--My
union with him--I quit the Mongo, and take up my quarters with the
Londoner 94
CHAP. XI.--An epoch in my life in 1827--A vessel arrives consigned
to me for slaves--LA FORTUNA--How I managed to sell my cigars
and get a cargo, though I had no factory--My first shipment--(Note on
the cost and profit of a slave voyage)--How slaves are selected for
various markets, and shipped--Go on board naked--hearty feed before
embarkation--Stowage--Messes--Mode of eating--Grace--Men and
women separated--Attention to health, cleanliness, ventilation--Singing
and amusements--Daily purification of the vessel--Night, order and
silence preserved by negro constables--Use and disuse of
handcuffs--Brazilian slavers--(Note on condition of slavers since the
treaty with Spain) 99
CHAP. XII.--How a cargo of slaves is landed in Cuba--Detection
avoided--"Gratificaciones." Clothes distributed--Vessel burnt or sent in
as a coaster, or in distress--A slave's first glimpse of a Cuban
plantation--Delight with food and dress--Oddity of beasts of burden
and vehicles--A slave's first interview with a negro postilion--the
postilion's sermon in favor of slavery--Dealings with the
anchorites--How tobacco smoke blinds public functionaries--My
popularity on the Rio Pongo--Ormond's enmity to me 107
CHAP. XIII.--I become intimate with "Country princes" and receive
their presents--Royal marriages--Insulting to refuse a proffered wife--I
am pressed to wed a princess and my diplomacy to escape the sable
noose--My partner agrees to marry the princess--The ceremonial of
wooing and wedding in African high life--COOMBA 110

CHAP. XIV.--JOSEPH, my partner, has to fly from Africa--How I save
our property--My visit to the BAGERS--their primitive mode of
life--Habits--Honesty--I find my property unguarded and safe--My
welcome in the village--Gift of a goat--Supper--Sleep--A narrow
escape in the surf on the coast--the skill of KROOMEN 118
CHAP. XV.--I study the institution of SLAVERY IN AFRICA--Man
becomes a "legal tender," or the coin of Africa--Slave wars, how they
are directly promoted by the peculiar adaptation of the trade of the
great commercial nations--Slavery an immemorial institution in
Africa--How and why it will always be retained--Who are made home
slaves--Jockeys and brokers--Five sixths of Africa in domestic bondage
126
CHAP. XVI.--Caravan announced--MAMI-DE-YONG, from
Footha-Yallon, uncle of Ahmah-de-Bellah--My ceremonious
reception--My preparations for the chief--Coffee--his school and
teaching--NARRATIVE OF HIS TRIP TO TIMBUCTOO--Queer
black-board map--prolix story teller--Timbuctoo and its trade--Slavery
129
CHAP. XVII.--I set forth on my journey to TIMBO, to see the father of
Ahmah-de-Bellah--My caravan and its mode of travel--My Mussulman
passport--Forest roads--Arrive at KYA among the
MANDINGOES--My lodgings--IBRAHIM ALI--Our supper and
"bitters"--A scene of piety, love and liquor--Next morning's
headache--ALI-NINPHA begs leave to halt for a day--I manage our
Fullah guide--My fever--Homoeopathic dose of Islamism from the
Koran--My cure--Afternoon 136
CHAP. XVIII.--A ride on horseback--Its exhilaration in the
forest--Visit to the DEVIL'S FOUNTAIN--Tricks of an echo and
sulphur water--Ibrahim and I discourse learnedly upon the ethics of
fluids--My respect for national peculiarities--Our host's
liberality--Mandingo etiquette at the departure of a guest--A valuable
gift from Ibrahim and its delicate bestowal--My offering in
return--Tobacco and brandy 143

CHAP. XIX.--A night bivouac in the forest--Hammock swung between
trees--A surprise and capture--What we do with the fugitive slaves--A
Mandingo upstart and his "town"--Inhospitality--He insults my Fullah
leader--A quarrel--The Mandingo is seized and his townsfolk driven
out--We tarry for Ali-Ninpha--He returns and tries his
countrymen--Punishment--Mode of inculcating the social virtues
among these interior tribes--We cross the Sanghu on an impromptu
bridge--Game--Forest food--Vegetables--A "Witch's cauldron" of
reptiles for the negroes 147
CHAP. XX.--Spread of Mahometanism in the interior of Africa--The
external aspect of nature in Africa--Prolific land--Indolence a law of
the physical constitution--My caravan's progress--The ALI-MAMI'S
PROTECTION, its value--Forest scenery--Woods, open plains,
barrancas and ravines--Their intense heat--Prairies--Swordgrass--River
scenery, magnificence of the shores, foliage, flowers, fruits and birds;
picturesque towns, villages and herds--Mountain scenery, view, at
morning, over the lowlands--An African noon 153
CHAP. XXI.--We approach TAMISSO--Our halt at a brook--bathing,
beautifying, and adornment of the women--Message and welcome from
MOHAMEDOO, by his son, with a gift of food--Our musical escort
and procession to the city--My horse is led by a buffoon of the court,
who takes care of my face--Curiosity of the townsfolk to see the white
Mongo--I pass on hastily to the PALACE OF MOHAMEDOO--What
an African palace and its furniture is--Mohamedoo's appearance,
greeting and dissatisfaction--I make my present and clear up the
clouds--I determine to bathe--How the girls watch me--Their
commentaries on my skin and complexion--Negro curiosity--A bath
scene--Appearance of Tamisso, and my entertainment there 157
CHAP. XXII.--Improved character of country and population as we
advance to the interior--We