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We stopped a few Hours atAximin our Passage fromApollonia, and anchored hereJune7, most Ships doing it for the Conveniency of watering, more difficultly supplied at any parts above. It is calledThree Points, from that number of Headlands that jutt one without the other; within the innermost is a commodious Bay, nigh the watering-place.John Conny, who is the principalCabiceer, exacts a Duty from all Ships, of an Ounce of Gold, for this Privilege; and sends off a Servant with his Commission, a large Gold-headed Cane, engravedJohn Conny, to demand it. Our Neglect herein, with some opprobrious Treatment of the Agent, occasionedJohn Connynext day to come down with aPosseand seize our Water casks ashore, carrying away ten or a dozen of our Men Prisoners to his Town. The Officer among them endeavouring to distinguish toJohnthe Difference of a King’s Ship from others, got his Head broke:John(who understoodEnglishenough to swear) saying, by G—— me King here,and will be paidnot only for my Water, but the Trouble has been given me in collecting it. Drink on, says he to theSailors, (knocking out the Head of a Half-Anchor of Brandy,) and eat what my House affords; I know your part is to follow Orders.John, after some trouble in negotiating, accepted in recompence, six Ounces of Gold, and an Anchor of Brandy.
His Townstands about three Miles Westward of the watering-place; large, and as neatly raftered and built, as most of our North or West small Country Villages. Every Man his Coco-trees round the House, and in the Streets (such as they are) sit People to sell the Nuts, Limes, Soap,IndianCorn, and what is a great part of their Food,Canky, the Work of the Women. It is made ofIndianCorn, after this manner; they pound it in a Mortar for some time, then malaxing it with Water and Palm-Wine, they grind it still finer with a Mull upon a great Stone, which every House almost has at the Door for that purpose; baked or boiled in Cakes, it makes a hearty and well-tasted Bread.
TheDanish(or, as they say, theBrandenburghers) Fort was on an adjacent Hill, of four or five Bastions, and could mount fifty Guns. The Garison, when in being, probably taught the Natives the way of marketing, observed only where the Factories are; but being some few years since relinquished by them, it’s now inJohn Conny’s possession, and has raised up some Contests andPalaaverswith theDutch: for they pretendinga Title of Purchase, sent a Bomb-Vessel and two or three Frigates last Year, to demand a Surrendry; butJohnbeing a bold and subtle Fellow, weighing their Strength, answer’d, that he expected some Instrument should be shewed him to confirm theBrandenburghersSale; and even with that (says he) I can see no Pretence but to the Guns, the Brick, and Stone of the Building, for the Ground was not theirs to dispose of. They have paid me Rent for it, (continues he) and since they have thought fit to remove, I do not design to tenant it out to any other white Men while I live. This sort ofPalaavernettled theDutch; they threw in some Bombs and Shot; and heating more with Rage and Brandy, very rashly landed forty of their Men under the Command of a Lieutenant to attack the Town: They fired once without any Damage, and thenJohnat the Head of his Men, rushing from under the Cover of the Houses, outnumbred and cut them in pieces; paving the entrance of his Palace soon after, with their Skulls.
This Advantage made him very rusty, upon what he called his Dues from every body, tho’ just in Trade; and when we had returned to a good Understanding, my self, with some other of our Officers paid him a Visit: Our landing was dangerous, the Southerly Winds making so great a Surff, nor could we do it by our own Boats, but Canoos of his sending,paying anAccyfor the Service; they count the Seas, and know when to paddle safely on or off.Johnhimself stood on the Shore to receive us, attended with a Guard of twenty or thirty Men under bright Arms, who conducted us to his House; a Building pretty large, and raised from the Materials of the Fort. It ascends with a double Stone Stair-case without, of twelve Steps; on that Floor are three good Rooms; one his Armory, another his Chamber, with a standing Bed in it, and the third for Entertainment of Guests, furnished with Tables, Chairs, &c. We came to it thro’ two Court yards; the outermost has Houses for Officers and Servants belonging to him, the inner (a spacious Square) has a Guard-Room and good Armory fronting the Entrance, with Piazzas to accommodate his Guard, and imitate in some measure the Grandeur he had observed in thePrussianGovernours;Johnhaving been some Years a Servant with them, and thence had taken his Punctilio and Ceremony, and knew how to put on a significant Countenance. He is a strong-made Man, about fifty, of a sullen Look, and commands the Respect of being bare headed, from all theNegroesabout himthat are worth Caps. To us he shewed very great Civility; we had returned his Salute of six Guns with[20]anequal Number, and made up the Breach of Watering, on his own terms; things that pleased him, and he gave us leave to fish in a River on the back of his Town; but returning with very little Success, whichJohncould not foresee, we were disappointed of our Dinner, and had a hard Look into the Bargain, for he told us, this ill Luck was owing to our neglect of giving the Waters aDashee, for it was a Grandee-man’s[21]Fetish, he said, and deserved more notice; however we got someCanky-Bread, salt Butter, Cheese,Palm-Wine, and Beer, served up with clean Plates, Knives, Napkins,&c.One of his Wives (for he seemed to have many) sat all the time he entertained us behind his Chair, big with Child, a clean Wrapper round her, and handsomly fetished; both together, I believe, had in Gold Chainsabout their Necks, their Wrists, Ancles and Legs, with the Drops in their Hair, to 8 or 10lib.Troy-Weight.
Finding our Landlord cheerful and familiar, I ventured to ask him what was become of theDutchmen’sSkulls that lately paved the entrance of his House. He told me very frankly, that about a Month before our Ship’s Arrival, he had put them all into a Chest with some Brandy, Pipes, and Tobacco, and buried them; for, says he, it is time that all Malice should depart, and the putting up a few Necessaries with the Corps, such as they loved, is our way of respecting the deceased. Among themselves, I learned it was customary with the Rich, to sacrifice a Slave or two also at their Funerals. The under Jawbones of theseDutchmenhe shewed me strung, and hanging on a Tree in the Court-yard.
From this odd Ceremony in their Funerals, and what is above noted upon the WordFetish, it looks as though there were some dark Notions of a future State among them, and an Expectance in it of Retribution.
It is impossible to expect in such a State of Nature as theirs, naked of Education and Science, that they should be able to form any refined Notions of a Deity; which, we experience among our selves, receives the Improvement with our growing Understanding, purely the Effect of Art and Study; the Philosopherand Countryman being at as much distance in their Explanation of divine Points, as it is possible the Christian Sailor and theNegrocan be. Let us imagine then, apart of our Species started up in the World, without knowing how or why, (theNegroesCase) and examine strictly in our own Thoughts, what religious Notions could be framed by them?
To me it appears, that their Appetites and Passions would have the first Regard; they are gnawing and troublesome, requiring immediate Care and Redress; and the Intervals from supplying them; it’s very natural to suppose, would some of them be employed in ruminating upon their own Beings, in what manner, and to what end they were placed here; and on all those other Beings that surround them; the Consequence of which must be, Amazement and Wonder: And as they experienced Pain and Sickness, some things would terrify, and some please, according as they were persuaded they promoted or averted such ill or Good. Now as the Understandings of Men, supposed as above, would be mean and low, not able to account for these Effects from their Causes, the natural Power and Tendency in this, to promote that: I say, not knowing this way of Induction, they will readily ascribe somethingsupernaturalto any Materials used about them; they may want the Word, butthe Meaning would be confirmed in the use ofFetish.
That this is not barely a Supposition, but an experienc’d Truth, is evident in the Condition, the Actions, and Manner of these poor People. They are set down as from the Clouds, without Guide, Letters, or any means of Cultivation to their better Part, but what immediately strike their Senses from beholding this Universe, and the Beings contained in it; their Deductions from whence, as to a Deity devoid of Matter, is next to impossible, therefore we say mean and pitiful. They can go no further without Learning, than concluding all things about them good or evil, to have a God or a Devil in it that immediately either benefits or hurts them; and thence their Worship.
That these People could arrive to better Knowledge by the use of proper Means and Instruction, there is no manner of doubt. They give proof enough that their natural Endowments are capable of following any Pattern; but as it is, their Actions demonstrate that the Soul wants a proper Nurture as well as the Body, and will hardly, without a Miracle, increase its Knowledge to any degree above what at present it appears; but when the Seeds and Principles are laid by letter’d Nations, it is not then nigh so difficult to improve.They want all, and theirUnderstanding therefore in spiritual Matters is poor and naked, like their Bodies, which if they cannot provide of Necessaries with the Materials about them; how insuperable is the other, where all is out of sight?
To come to the point, theNegroeshave choseWoods,Lakes,Hills, or a part of these, abundle of Chips,or Roots,a Stone,a piece of Metal, or the like, for theirFetishes. Now what is more likely, or indeed grateful, than assigning a supernatural Power, and of course reverential Respects, to those very things they are immediately conversant with, and experience their Effects? For the Hill, the Wood or the Lake may afford Sustenance from time to time; perhaps in Extremity, either may have contributed to their Preservation or Defence from wild Beasts; orPanyarring, a more dreadful Evil. And others of them (for there are a great Diversity) have as a Charm, cured a Sickness, been propitious in their Journeys by Land or Water, in their Hunting, Fishing, or other Exercises; that is, they have been safe, they have observed, and protected from Danger, Distress, or Hurt, while they bore such aFetishabout them, or in the House, or Boat, they lodged or travelled in; which are the Reasons, and all the Reason they can give for their Choice. And some have descended from Father to Son with great Reputation, two, three; or more Generations, until theProprietor could not observe any of the usual Effects, or was improsperous; and thus, whether he imputes it to the Age and Decay of theFetish, I cannot tell; but he rejects it, and from some lucky Accident to him takes a newer, and consequently a better: Immemorial Custom giving strength to the Persuasion and the Practice.
Nor does this appear that unaccountable and ridiculous Folly some would have it. All material Beings are equally incomprehensible as to their Seed and real Essence; the Existence of a Straw as mysterious as the Existence of the Sun:Quodcunque vides,Deus est. No Man can comprehend how Matter came first into being, nor, which is nigher him, how the Atoms that compose a Stick, Stone, or Metal, are supported and hang together in that Bulk; or what diversifies them, that one should be fusible, another malleable, some both: I say, to consider these, and some other Attributes of Matter in the Essence, it will be impossible to explicate, without putting the Deity to it; and if infant Reason cannot reach above a material God, what I think would first and most naturally occur, would be the Objects about us, as they did us good or hurt, theFetishesof theNegroes. The original Gods, obvious to the first and darker days of Reason, were in my opinion,StocksandStones,Serpents,Calves,Onions,Garlick, &c. Not that these thingsappeared to them in the exalted Attributes of Spirit, Creator, Omniscience,&c.then inconceivable: No; they only could observe that all the parts of Nature were mysterious in their Essence and Operations, and therefore attracted their Esteem and Worship.
That the wiser Idolaters (as called) set up the Sun to worship, from the prodigious Advantages of Light and Life to the World, I take to be a Refinement on this ancienter Heathen Mythology; an improved Understanding that perceived the Heavenly Bodies, the Sun in particular, to be the Source of all Benefit and Fertility to the Earth. That this was so, I am more inclined to think, from the ignorant and contrary Conclusions still made by many People born in more enlighten’d Countries, concerning the Influence and general Benignity of them. It is hard to persuade some of such universal Good, when they are evidently, they think, Sufferers in the failure of their Crops, Plagues, and Famine. Too much Rain or Sun-shine must ever have disturb’d some body, and mixed Murmur with Devotion, removed only, as Knowledge increased:
The drippingSailorscurse the Rain,For which poorFarmerspray in vain.
The drippingSailorscurse the Rain,For which poorFarmerspray in vain.
The drippingSailorscurse the Rain,
For which poorFarmerspray in vain.
Again, if we can think they have conceived any Notions of a future State, as isnot improbable; have a natural Affection or Respect; the Custom was on neither account; preposterous ofJohn Conny, to bury Pipes, Tobacco, Brandy, or what else the deceased loved or wanted. It answers to the Pomp and Decency of our own Funerals, only more significant.
From theNegroesReligion, may be drawn these Observations.First, The Foundation of all Men’s Religions is taken from this visible Universe, as ancient as the Creation. The greater Lights that have from time to time appeared in the World, are only Refinements and Superstructures upon this Prop; first Milk, and then Meat.
2. The grossest Idolatries are not a proper Subject of Laughter: It is a case all Mankind seem bewilder’d in, some more grossly than others indeed, and bespeaks the Pity of greater Light and Knowledge.
3. TheNegroesIgnorance of Good and Evil was equal, before their Acquaintance with us; and as they are acknowledged to advance with greater pace in the latter, discerned between the trading and the country People brought down for Slaves; the question might be ask’d, Whether ours or their own Religion contributes most to it?
4. The essential Point in all, is to mend Men’s Morals, to make them good and virtuous to their Neighbours, obedient to Superiours, and where it fails, the true Politicianwill account it bad by whatever Name denominated. The Faiths that cannot produce good Works, are certainly faulty, and may be spiritualiz’d into Vapour and Shadow, as well as materializ’d into Dross and Chaff.
Lastly, The Fear of theFetishkeeps them from injuring one another a little, that is, one another in the same Combination; but has little or no Influence in respect to us; whom they rob, cheat, or murder, as best answers their Conveniencies. They are like the Articles of Pyrates, which keep up a sort of Honesty among themselves, tho’ they despoil every body else.John Connyis very upright and just himself in all Bargains; but then he does not want what the others are thieving; it is below his Game: rigorous also in exacting his Dues, or inflicting Punishments. There was a Murderer a few Weeks since, (we understood) whomJohnhad condemned, altho’ there were some Circumstances of excuse, (ase defendendo, whichJohndid not understand) and made the Criminal’s own Brother, one of his trustiest Servants to be the Executioner before his Face, by tying a vast great Stone like aMill-Stone about his Neck and throwing him into the Seafrom a Canoo.
He has engrossed by his Riches and Power, the Trade of the Place; and by that means has reduced the Traders Profits to 20per Cent.a Disadvantage they themselves have contributedto in some measure, by underselling one another. His People allow less, for in the little Traffick they had with us, they paid all inCrackraGold, not a quarter the value it was taken at. They are all marked with a Cross in their Cheek, unlessJohn Connyhimself (who told me it was only Ornament) and none are circumcised.
The Womenfetishwith a coarse Paint of Earth on their Faces, Shoulders and Breasts, each the Colour they like best. In Marriage the Husbands spend four Ounces of Gold more or less, according to their Ability, on her Friends and Acquaintance; who by this are brought together as Witnesses, that he may have redress in case of Adultery; a Crime for which the Transgressor becomes the injured Person’s Slave. A Man likewise forfeits his Liberty for thievery among themselves; and Trade has so infected them with Covetousness and Fraud, that the Chiefs will put Snares both for the one and the other, driving at the Profit, and not the Punishment of a Crime.
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