Travels into the Interior of Africa

by Mungo Park

  In the construction of their dwelling-houses, the Mandingoes also conform to the general practice of the African nations on this part of the continent, contenting themselves with small and incommodious hovels. A circular mud wall about four feet high, upon which is placed a conical roof, composed of the bamboo cane, and thatched with grass, forms alike the palace of the king, and the hovel of the slave. Their household furniture is equally simple. A hurdle of canes placed upon upright stakes about two feet from the ground, upon which is spread a mat or bullock’s hide, answers the purpose of a bed; a water jar, some earthen pots for dressing their food, a few wooden bowls and calabashes, and one or two low stools, compose the rest.

  As every man of free condition has a plurality of wives, it is found necessary (to prevent, I suppose, matrimonial dispute) that each of the ladies should be accommodated with a hut to herself; and all the huts belonging to the same family are surrounded by a fence, constructed of bamboo canes split and formed into a sort of wickerwork. The whole enclosure is called a sirk, or surk. A number of these enclosures, with narrow passages between them, form what is called a town; but the huts are generally placed without any regularity, according to the caprice of the owner. The only rule that seems to be attended to, is placing the door towards the south-west, in order to admit the sea-breeze.

  In each town is a large stage called the Bentang, which answers the purpose of a public hall or town-house; it is composed of interwoven canes, and is generally sheltered from the sun by being erected in the shade of some large tree. It is here that all public affairs are transacted, and trials conducted; and here the lazy and indolent meet to smoke their pipes and hear the news of the day. In most of the towns the Mohammedans have also a missura, or mosque, in which they assemble and offer up their daily prayers, according to the rules of the Koran.

  In the account which I have thus given of the natives, the reader must bear in mind that my observations apply chiefly to persons of free condition, who constitute, I suppose, not more than one-fourth part of the inhabitants at large; the other three-fourths are in a state of hopeless and hereditary slavery, and are employed in cultivating the land, in the care of cattle, and in servile offices of all kinds, much in the same manner as the slaves in the West Indies. I was told, however, that the Mandingo master can neither deprive his slave of life, nor sell him to a stranger, without first calling a palaver on his conduct, or, in other words, bringing him to a public trial; but this degree of protection is extended only to the native or domestic slave. Captives taken in war, and those unfortunate victims who are condemned to slavery for crimes or insolvency, and, in short, all those unhappy people who are brought down from the interior countries for sale, have no security whatever, but may be treated and disposed of in all respects as the owner thinks proper. It sometimes happens, indeed, when no ships are on the coast, that a humane and considerate master incorporates his purchased slaves among his domestics; and their offspring at least, if not the parents, become entitled to all the privileges of the native class.

  The preceding remarks concerning the several nations that inhabit the banks of the Gambia, are all that I recollect as necessary to be made in this place, at the outset of my journey. With regard to the Mandingoes, however, many particulars are yet to be related, some of which are necessarily interwoven into the narrative of my progress, and others will be given in a summary at the end of my work, together with all such observations as I have collected on the country and climate, which I could not with propriety insert in the regular detail of occurrences. What remains of the present chapter will therefore relate solely to the trade which the nations of Christendom have found means to establish with the natives of Africa by the channel of the Gambia, and the inland traffic which has arisen in consequence of it between the inhabitants of the coast and the nations of the interior countries.

  The earliest European establishment on this celebrated river was a factory of the Portuguese, and to this must be ascribed the introduction of the numerous words of that language which are still in use among the Negroes. The Dutch, French, and English afterwards successively possessed themselves of settlements on the coast; but the trade of the Gambia became, and continued for many years, a sort of monopoly in the hands of the English. In the travels of Francis Moore is preserved an account of the Royal African Company’s establishments in this river in the year 1730, at which time James’s factory alone consisted of a governor, deputy-governor, and two other principal officers; eight factors, thirteen writers, twenty inferior attendants and tradesmen; a company of soldiers, and thirty-two Negro servants, besides sloops, shallops, and boats, with their crews; and there were no less than eight subordinate factories in other parts of the river.

  The trade with Europe, by being afterwards laid open, was almost annihilated; the share which the subjects of England at this time hold in it, supports not more than two or three annual ships, and I am informed that the gross value of British exports is under £20,000. The French and Danes still maintain a small share, and the Americans have lately sent a few vessels to the Gambia by way of experiment.

  The commodities exported to the Gambia from Europe consist chiefly of firearms and ammunition, ironware, spirituous liquors, tobacco, cotton caps, a small quantity of broad cloth, and a few articles of the manufacture of Manchester; a small assortment of India goods, with some glass beads, amber, and other trifles, for which are taken in exchange, slaves, gold dust, ivory, bees-wax, and hides. Slaves are the chief article, but the whole number which at this time are annually exported from the Gambia by all nations, is supposed to be under one thousand.

  Most of these unfortunate victims are brought to the coast in periodical caravans, many of them from very remote inland countries, for the language which they speak is not understood by the inhabitants of the maritime districts. In a subsequent part of my work I shall give the best information I have been able to collect concerning the manner in which they are obtained. On their arrival at the coast, if no immediate opportunity offers of selling them to advantage, they are distributed among the neighbouring villages until a slave ship arrives, or until they can be sold to black traders, who sometimes purchase on speculation. In the meanwhile, the poor wretches are kept constantly fettered, two and two of them being chained together, and employed in the labours of the field; and I am sorry to add, are very scantily fed, as well as harshly treated. The price of a slave varies according to the number of purchasers from Europe and the arrival of caravans from the interior; but in general I reckon that a young and healthy male, from sixteen to twenty-five years of age, may be estimated on the spot from £18 to £20 sterling.

  The Negro slave merchants, as I have observed in the former chapter, are called Slatees; who, besides slaves and the merchandise which they bring for sale to the whites, supply the inhabitants of the maritime districts with native iron, sweet-smelling gums and frankincense, and a commodity called shea-toulou, which, literally translated, signifies tree butter. This commodity is extracted, by means of boiling water, from the kernel of a nut, as will be more particularly described hereafter; it has the consistence and appearance of butter; and is in truth an admirable substitute for it. It forms an important article in the food of the natives, and serves also for every domestic purpose in which oil would otherwise be used. The demand for it is therefore very great.

  In payment of these articles, the maritime states supply the interior countries with salt, a scarce and valuable commodity, as I frequently and painfully experienced in the course of my journey. Considerable quantities of this article, however, are also supplied to the inland natives by the Moors, who obtain it from the salt pits in the Great Desert, and receive in return corn, cotton cloth, and slaves.

  In thus bartering one commodity for another, many inconveniences must necessarily have arisen at first from the want of coined money, or some other visible and determinate medium to settle the balance, or difference of value between different articles, to remedy which the natives of the i
nterior make use of small shells called cowries, as will be shown hereafter. On the coast, the inhabitants have adopted a practice which I believe is peculiar to themselves.

  In their early intercourse with Europeans, the article that attracted most notice was iron. Its utility, in forming the instruments of war and husbandry, made it preferable to all others; and iron soon became the measure by which the value of all other commodities was ascertained. Thus, a certain quantity of goods, of whatever denomination, appearing to be equal in value to a bar of iron, constituted, in the trader’s phraseology, a bar of that particular merchandise. Twenty leaves of tobacco, for instance, were considered as a bar of tobacco; and a gallon of spirits (or rather half spirits and half water), as a bar of rum; a bar of one commodity being reckoned equal in value to a bar of another commodity.

  As, however, it must unavoidably happen, that according to the plenty or scarcity of goods at market in proportion to the demand, the relative value would be subject to continual fluctuation, greater precision has been found necessary; and at this time the current value of a single bar of any kind is fixed by the whites at two shillings sterling. Thus a slave, whose price is £15, is said to be worth 150 bars.

  In transactions of this nature, it is obvious that the white trader has infinitely the advantage over the African, whom, therefore, it is difficult to satisfy; for, conscious of his own ignorance, he naturally becomes exceedingly suspicious and wavering; and indeed, so very unsettled and jealous are the Negroes in their dealings with the whites, that a bargain is never considered by the European as concluded, until the purchase money is paid, and the party has taken leave.

  Having now brought together such general observations on the country and its inhabitants, as occurred to me during my residence in the vicinage of the Gambia, I shall detain the reader no longer with introductory matter, but proceed, in the next chapter, to a regular detail of the incidents which happened, and the reflections which arose in my mind, in the course of my painful and perilous journey, from its commencement, until my return to the Gambia.

  Chapter 3

  The Author sets out from Pisania – His attendants – Reaches Jindey – Story related by a Mandingo Negro – Proceeds to Medina, the capital of Woolli – Interview with the king – Saphies or charms – Proceeds to Koler – Description of Mumbo Jumbo – Arrives at Koojar – Wrestling match – Crosses the wilderness, and arrives at Tallika, in the kingdom of Bondou.

  ON THE 2ND OF DECEMBER 1795, I took my departure from the hospitable mansion of Dr Laidley. I was fortunately provided with a Negro servant, who spoke both the English and Mandingo tongues. His name was Johnson. He was a native of this part of Africa; and having in his youth been conveyed to Jamaica as a slave, he had been made free, and taken to England by his master, where he had resided many years; and at length found his way back to his native country. As he was known to Dr Laidley, the Doctor recommended him to me, and I hired him as my interpreter, at the rate of ten bars monthly, to be paid to himself, and five bars a month to be paid to his wife during his absence. Dr Laidley furthermore provided me with a Negro boy of his own, named Demba; a sprightly youth, who besides Mandingo, spoke the language of the Serawoollies, an inland people (of whom mention will hereafter be made), residing on the banks of the Senegal; and to induce him to behave well, the Doctor promised him his freedom on his return, in case I should report favourably of his fidelity and services. I was furnished with a horse for myself (a small, but very hardy and spirited beast, which cost me to the value of £7, 10s.), and two asses for my interpreter and servant. My baggage was light, consisting chiefly of provisions for two days; a small assortment of beads, amber and tobacco, for the purchase of a fresh supply, as I proceeded; a few changes of linen, and other necessary apparel, an umbrella, a pocket sextant, a magnetic compass, and a thermometer; together with two fowling-pieces, two pairs of pistols, and some other small articles.

  A freeman (a Bushreen or Mohammedan), named Madiboo, who was travelling to the kingdom of Bambarra, and two Slatees, or slave merchants of the Serawoolli nation, and of the same sect, who were going to Bondou, offered their services as far as they intended respectively to proceed; as did likewise a Negro named Tami (also a Mohammedan), a native of Kasson, who had been employed some years by Dr Laidley as a blacksmith, and was returning to his native country with the savings of his labours. All these men travelled on foot, driving their asses before them.

  Thus I had no less than six attendants, all of whom had been taught to regard me with great respect, and to consider that their safe return hereafter, to the countries on the Gambia, would depend on my preservation.

  Dr Laidley himself, and Messrs Ainsley, with a number of their domestics, kindly determined to accompany me the two first days; and, I believe, they secretly thought they should never see me afterwards.

  We reached Jindey the same day, having crossed the Walli creek, a branch of the Gambia, and rested at the house of a black woman, who had formerly been the chère amie of a white trader named Hewett; and who, in consequence thereof, was called, by way of distinction, Seniora. In the evening we walked out to see an adjoining village, belonging to a Slatee named Jemaffoo Mamadoo, the richest of all the Gambia traders. We found him at home; and he thought so highly of the honour done him by this visit, that he presented us with a fine bullock, which was immediately killed, and part of it dressed for our evening’s repast.

  The Negroes do not go to supper till late, and in order to amuse ourselves while our beef was preparing, a Mandingo was desired to relate some diverting stories; in listening to which, and smoking tobacco, we spent three hours. These stories bear some resemblance to those in the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments; but, in general, are of a more ludicrous cast. I shall here abridge one of them for the reader’s amusement.

  ‘Many years ago (said the relater), the people of Doomasansa (a town on the Gambia), were much annoyed by a lion, that came every night, and took away some of their cattle. By continuing his depredations, the people were at length so much enraged, that a party of them resolved to go and hunt the monster. They accordingly proceeded in search of the common enemy, which they found concealed in a thicket; and immediately firing at him, were lucky enough to wound him in such a manner, that, in springing from the thicket towards the people, he fell down among the grass, and was unable to rise. The animal, however, manifested such appearance of vigour, that nobody cared to approach him singly; and a consultation was held concerning the properest means of taking him alive; a circumstance, it was said, which, while it furnished undeniable proof of their prowess, would turn out to great advantage, it being resolved to convey him to the coast, and sell him to the Europeans. While some persons proposed one plan, and some another, an old man offered a scheme. This was, to strip the roof of a house of its thatch, and to carry the bamboo frame (the pieces of which are well secured together by thongs), and throw it over the lion. If, in approaching him, he should attempt to spring upon them, they had nothing to do but to let down the roof upon themselves, and fire at the lion through the rafters.

  ‘This proposition was approved and adopted. The thatch was taken from the roof of a hut, and the lion-hunters, supporting the fabric, marched courageously to the field of battle; each person carrying a gun in one hand, and bearing his share of the roof on the opposite shoulder. In this manner they approached the enemy; but the beast had by this time recovered his strength; and such was the fierceness of his countenance, that the hunters, instead of proceeding any further, thought it prudent to provide for their own safety, by covering themselves with the roof. Unfortunately, the lion was too nimble for them; for, making a spring while the roof was setting down, both the beast and his pursuers were caught in the same cage, and the lion devoured them at his leisure, to the great astonishment and mortification of the people of Doomasansa; at which place it is dangerous even at this day to tell the story, for it is become the subject of laughter and derision in the neighbouring countries, and nothing will enrage an i
nhabitant of that town so much as desiring him to catch a lion alive.’

  About one o’clock in the afternoon of the 3rd of December, I took my leave of Dr Laidley and Messrs Ainsley, and rode slowly into the woods. I had now before me a boundless forest, and a country, the inhabitants of which were strangers to civilised life, and to most of whom a white man was the object of curiosity or plunder. I reflected that I had parted from the last European I might probably behold, and perhaps quitted for ever the comforts of Christian society. Thoughts like these would necessarily cast a gloom over the mind, and I rode musing along for about three miles, when I was awakened from my reverie by a body of people, who came running up and stopped the asses, giving me to understand that I must go with them to Peckaba, to present myself to the king of Walli, or pay customs to them. I endeavoured to make them comprehend that the object of my journey not being traffic, I ought not to be subjected to a tax like the Slatees and other merchants who travel for gain; but I reasoned to no purpose. They said it was usual for travellers of all descriptions to make a present to the king of Walli, and without doing so I could not be permitted to proceed. As they were more numerous than my attendants, and withal very noisy, I thought it prudent to comply with their demand, and having presented them with four bars of tobacco, for the king’s use, I was permitted to continue my journey, and at sunset reached a village near Kootacunda, where we rested for the night.

  In the morning of December 4th, I passed Kootacunda, the last town of Walli, and stopped about an hour at a small adjoining village to pay customs to an officer of the king of Woolli. We rested the ensuing night at a village called Tabajang, and at noon the next day (December 5th) we reached Medina, the capital of the king of Woolli’s dominions.