Captain Canot | Page 4

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 approach JALLICA--Notice to SUPHIANA--A halt for refreshment and ablutions--Ali-Ninpha's early home here--A great man in SOOLIMANA--Sound of the war-drum at a distance--Our welcome--Entrance to the town--My party, with the Fullah, is barred out--We are rescued--Grand ceremonial procession and reception, lasting two hours--I am, at last, presented to Suphiana--My entertainment in Jallica--A concert--Musical instruments--MADOO, the ayah--I reward her dancing and singing 162
CHAP. XXIII.--Our caravan proceeds towards Timbo--Met and welcomed in