Know all Men by these Presents:That I DOCEMO, King of Lagos and the Territories thereunto belonging, have this day granted, assigned, and made over, unto Doctor Martin R. Delany, for his use and the use of his Heirs and Assigns forever, All that Piece of Ground, situated on the South of the Premises and Ground occupied by Fernando, in the field at Okai Po, Po, measuring as follows, Three Hundred and Thirty Feet square.Witness my Stamp hereunto affixed, and the Day and Year above written.KINGDOCEMOof Lagos.
Know all Men by these Presents:
That I DOCEMO, King of Lagos and the Territories thereunto belonging, have this day granted, assigned, and made over, unto Doctor Martin R. Delany, for his use and the use of his Heirs and Assigns forever, All that Piece of Ground, situated on the South of the Premises and Ground occupied by Fernando, in the field at Okai Po, Po, measuring as follows, Three Hundred and Thirty Feet square.
Witness my Stamp hereunto affixed, and the Day and Year above written.
KINGDOCEMOof Lagos.
British Consulate,Lagos, October 28th, 1859
I CERTIFY that the Circular Stamp, as above, withKingDOCEMO, ofLagosin the centre, is the Official Stamp of Docemo, King of Lagos, and is used by him as his signature to all Letters, Deeds, and Documents.{Seal}Edwd. F. LodderActing Consul.The Deed of Land above, granted to Doctor Martin R. Delany, by King Docemo of Lagos, has this 18th day ofOctober, 1859, been registered in the Registry Book of the British Consulate, and numbered.John P. Boyle,Clerk
I CERTIFY that the Circular Stamp, as above, withKingDOCEMO, ofLagosin the centre, is the Official Stamp of Docemo, King of Lagos, and is used by him as his signature to all Letters, Deeds, and Documents.
{Seal}
Edwd. F. LodderActing Consul.
The Deed of Land above, granted to Doctor Martin R. Delany, by King Docemo of Lagos, has this 18th day ofOctober, 1859, been registered in the Registry Book of the British Consulate, and numbered.
John P. Boyle,Clerk
On the 30th of October, I left Lagos, proceedingviaOgun river, to Abbeokuta, which I reached on Saturday, the 5th of November.
Here I met for the first time with my colleague and Assistant Commissioner, Mr. Robert Campbell, from whom, at Lagos, I found a letter waiting for my arrival in the hands of Acting Consul, Lieut. Edward F. Lodder, of Her Majesty's war vessel "Brun," which continually lies in the harbor, directly opposite and near to the Consulate. Consul Campbell (since deceased), had paid an official visit to England, and Lieut. Lodder was supplying his place.
From Abbeokuta, population 110,000, we proceeded to Ijaye, population 78,000, reckoned by the white missionaries and officers of the Niger Expedition of Her Majesty's service, who passed through once, at 80,000; Oyo, population, 75,000; Ogbomoso, population 70,000; Illorin, population 120,000; returning back,viaOgbomoso to Oyo: when by arrangement, Mr. Campbell leaving me at Oyo, returned to Abbeokuta by a new route through Isen and Biolorin-Pellu, small places: whence I, a week later, also by another strange route, returned, passing through Iwo, population 75,000; and Ibaddan, population 150,000 an immense city, the estimatednumber of inhabitants by the Civil Corps who passed through, being 250,000. It will be seen that I have made a liberal deduction of two-fifths, or 100,000 from this estimate; still, the population is immense and the city extensive, the walls embracing an outline of at least twenty-three miles.
From Abbeokuta, the water being very low, it was thought advisable that Mr. Campbell take charge of all our luggage, and proceed by way of the Ogun to Lagos, (he having disposed of his horse at Abbeokuta) whilst I, on horseback, with William Johnson our cook, the only servant we retained—a civilized native—as guide and attendant, proceeded by land, both reaching Lagos three days after, in the same hour of the same day.
The whole face of the country extending through the Aku region or Yoruba, as it is laid down on the large missionary map of Africa, is most beautifully diversified with plains, hills, dales, mountains, and valleys, interlined with numerous streams, some of which are merely temporary or great drains; whilst the greater part are perennial, and more or less irrigating the whole year, supplying well the numerous stocks of cattle and horses with which that country is so well everywhere provided. The climate is most delightful.
The first plateau or low land from Lagos, extends about thirty-five or forty miles interiorly, with but occasionally, small rugged or rocky elevations breaking the surface, when it almost abruptly rises into elevated lands, undulating and frequently craggy, broken often by deep declivities of glens and dales.
The soil of the first plateau, for ten or fifteen miles, is moist and sandy, more or less, gradually incorporating with a dark rich earth, which, extending quite through the second plateau, continually varies in quality, consistence, and color, from a sandy loam and clay-red iron pyrite appearance to a potter's-clay, and rich alluvial color and quality, the whole being exceedingly fertile and productive; as no district through which we traveled was without cultivation more or less, and that always in a high degree, whatever the extent of ground under cultivation or the produce cultivated.
The stone formation throughout these regions consist of primitive dark-gray granite, quartz, and conglomerates, with, occasionally, strata of felspar and mica, which are found mainly in the beautiful mountain regions (which are detailed extensions of the great mountains of Kong), having in these sections always beautiful gaps or passes of delightful valleys.
The minerals consist of iron in the greatest abundance, which at present is smelted by the natives from the clay, and every town of any note or size has not only its blacksmiths' shops, but the largest all have iron smelting works. At Ijaye there is quite an extensive and interesting establishment of the kind. And, as they manufacturebrass, there must be alsozinc and copper found there—indications of the last-named metal being often seen by the color of certain little water surfaces. The stone formation bears the usual indications of aqueous and igneous deposits, but more of the former than the latter.
The timber is numerous, and for the following classification I am indebted to my learned friend the Rev. Alexander Crummell, Episcopal missionary and Principal of the Mount Vaughn High School at Cape Palmas: Teak, ebony, lignum vitae, mahogany, brimstone, rosewood, walnut, hickory, oak, cedar, unevah, and mangrove.
Gum Yoruba (the same as gum Arabic), acacia or senna, castor oil, croton oil, rhubarb root, colomba-root, ipecacuanha, quasia, nux-vomica, cubebs, tobacco, and many others.
All the fruits common to the tropics are found in these regions; in fact, so redundant is Africa with these productions, that she combines the whole within herself; that is, there are some fruits found in the tropical parts of Asia, South America, the Asiatic and West India Islands, common or peculiar to one which may not be found in the other, butall of which, it may safely be said, can be found in Africa. Pineapples the most delicious in flavor and taste conceivable oranges the same, bananas the finest, plantains equally so, mangrove plums (a peculiar but delightful and wholesome fruit, said by the natives to be afebrifuge), guavas, and "soursops," a delightfulfebrifugeof purecitric acid, without the least acridness, as well as a hundred others which I cannot now name. The papaw or tree-melon also grows very finely here, and is a very useful and wholesome fruit. When green, "stewed and mashed," and well-flavored with the usual culinary spices, it cannot be distinguished from the best green apple-sauce—for which reason it makes excellent pies. When fully ripe, it cannot be told from the finest muskmelon or cantelope.
The Agricultural labor of this part of Africa is certainly very great, and merits the attention of every intelligent inquirer; from the simple fact that, so far as it exhibits the industry of the inhabitants, it shows the means which may be depended upon for a development of the commercial resources of the country.
Palm oil is produced in great abundance, as a staple commodity among themselves, as well as for exportation since the common light for houses consists of palm oil burnt in native manufactured lamps, some constructed of iron and others of earthenware. The oil of the nut is the most generalin use among the natives, both for light and cooking, because it is the richest, being the most unctuous. This use of the nut-oil is certainly an antiquated custom among the people of this region, whilst those contiguous to Liberia have recently learned that the kernels could be put to commercial use, by the discovery or rather practical application by Mr. Herron, of Grand Bassa, Liberia, and subsequent demand by the French traders. The fact that the Yorubas generally produce their charcoal from the hull of the palm nut, is an evidence of the long-continued and abundant use of the latter article for the manufacture of oil. They have regular establishments for the manufacture of the palm oil, with vats and apparatus (simple though they be), places and persons for each process: as bruising the fruit from the nut, boiling, carrying the pulp to a vat, where it is pressed and washed to extract the oil; one to skim it off from the top of the liquid—another to carry off the fiber of the pulp or bruised fruit, which fiber is also appropriated to kindling and other uses. There is no such method of extracting the oil, as the mistaken idea so frequently reported by African traders from Europe and America, that the natives bruise the nut with stones in holes made in the ground, thereby losing a large percentage of the oil. Even among the crudest they know better than this, and many use shallow troughs, made of wood in some parts of Africa, as the Grebo, Golah, and some other peoples on the western coast, adjacent to Liberia.
All through the Yoruba country the palm tree is cultivated, being regularly trimmed and pruned, and never cut down in clearing a farm, except when from age the tree has ceasedto bear, or is of the male species, when it is cut down for the wine, which is the sap, extracted from the trunk, in a horizontal position, by boring a hole near the top and catching it in a vessel, when it is drunk either before, during, or after fermentation.
Camwood is also very plentiful, but owing to its great weight and the inconvenience at present of transportation, it does not enter extensively into the commerce of these parts, except as dyestuffs in the native markets. Gum elastic or India rubber is plentiful.
Ivory enters largely into commerce, being brought by "middle men" from the distant interior.
Indian corn, the finest in the world (usually white), is here raised in the greatest quantities, we having frequently passed through hundreds of acres in unbroken tracts of cultivated land, which is beginning to enter into foreign commerce; Guinea corn in great abundance—an excellent article for horses, spoken of in another place; also peas, such as are raised for horse and cattle feed in Canada and other parts of America; white beans in great quantities, as well as those of all colors; black-eye peas; horse beans; in fact, all of the pulse vegetables; also ginger, arrowroot, red pepper in pods (the cayenne of commerce), and black pepper, all of which are articles of commerce; indigo; they also produce salt, and pea-nuts.
Yams, cassaba, sweet potatoes, onions, cucumbers, and many other culinary roots and vegetables; and I am certain that beets, parsnips, and carrots, which we did not see under cultivation, could be successfully raised, if desired. Cabbage grows freely in all parts of Africa, if planted in the right season.
Whether or not the common potato of America and Europe can be propagated here has not been tested, but such is the excellence of the yam, that served up in the same manner, there is little or no difference between them and potatoes; and I am certain that when well cooked, "mashed" and seasoned, the best judge could not tell them from good potatoes. I mean good yams, because they differ in quality like potatoes.
Crockeryware is manufactured very extensively, of almost every conceivable size and kind of vessel, for various purposes. Some of them are quite handsome, and all nearly of the ancient oriental mould. The largest earthen vessels I ever saw are made by these people, some of them being large enough for small cisterns. Iron implements for agricultural and military, as well as other domestic purposes, are made by them in every large city. They make excellent razors, which shave quite well, as also other steel-bladed knives, which prove that they have the art of tempering iron. Brass as wellas glass ornaments and trinkets are made in considerable quantities.
The people are of fine physical structure and anatomical conformation, well and regularly featured; not varying more in this particular from the best specimen of their own race than the Caucasian or Anglo-Saxon from that of theirs. They are very polite—their language abounding in vowels, and consequently euphonious and agreeable—affable, sociable, and tractable, seeking information with readiness, and evincing willingness to be taught. They are shrewd, intelligent, and industrious, with high conceptions of the Supreme Being, only using their images generally as mediators. "So soon," said an intelligent missionary, "as you can convince them that there is a mediator to whom youmay talk, but cannot see, just so soon can you make Christians of them"; their idea being that God is too great to be directly approached; therefore there must be a mediator to whom they must talk that they can see, when God will listen and answer if pleased.
After my arrival at Abbeokuta, not going out for two days, they expecting me through information from Mr. Campbell, the third day the Chief Atambala called upon me, inviting me in turn to call and see him. In a few days after, the king had a popular religious festival in the great public space, where there were assembled many chiefs and elders;but, on our approach, the old king sent his messenger to escort us to the porch of the piazza upon which he was seated, eagerly grasping me by the hand, bidding me welcome to Abbeokuta and his court; telling me, pointing to Mr. Campbell, that he was acquainted with him, and had heard of me through him.
In December, a meeting of the native cotton-traders, chiefs, and others, was held at the residence of the great chief Ogubonna concerning the price of cotton. On the meeting assembling, and finding that we were not present, the chief at once despatched a messenger, requesting our immediate attendance, as "we knew how things ought to be done." On going down, we found a large assemblage waiting, among whom were Messrs. Samuel and Josiah Crowther, H. Robbing, J. C. During, F. Rebeiro, and C. W. Faulkner, civilized native gentlemen; also Mr. J. G. Hughes, an English gentleman. By a motion from myself, seconded by J. Crowther, the chief Ogubonna was chosen chairman, and, upon a motion by Mr. Campbell, seconded by J. G. Hughes, Mr. Robbing was chosen vice-chairman. The meeting went off well, we making many suggestions during the proceedings, which were always received with approbation.
The following from the native minister, being his own writing and composition, will explain itself:
Abbeokuta, Igbore, 23rd Dec., 1857M. R. Delany, Esq.:Dear Sir—A meeting of the Wesleyan Missionary Society will be held at the Wesleyan Chapel, on Monday next, the 26th instant, at ten o'clock,a.m., precisely. Youare sincerely and respectfully solicited to be the Chairman on the occasion.The object of the Meeting is to offer Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the past years' success; and to pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit's influence upon the Church, for a further success, &c.Collection will be made at the close of the above.Yours respectfully and affectionately,Edwd. BickerstethWesleyan MinisterP.S. An early answer will be much obliged.
Abbeokuta, Igbore, 23rd Dec., 1857
M. R. Delany, Esq.:
Dear Sir—A meeting of the Wesleyan Missionary Society will be held at the Wesleyan Chapel, on Monday next, the 26th instant, at ten o'clock,a.m., precisely. Youare sincerely and respectfully solicited to be the Chairman on the occasion.
The object of the Meeting is to offer Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the past years' success; and to pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit's influence upon the Church, for a further success, &c.
Collection will be made at the close of the above.
Yours respectfully and affectionately,
Edwd. BickerstethWesleyan Minister
P.S. An early answer will be much obliged.
I replied in the affirmative to this kind invitation (the copy of reply is now mislaid), when, at the appointed time, a crowded house was assembled.
In a simple and comprehensive address made to them (being interpreted by the minister as I proceeded), such was the effect that it not only produced their unanimous applause, but aroused Mr. During (a native civilized merchant, who had never before spoken in public) to his feet, who approved of what I had said, with such an appeal of native eloquence, that when he ceased, sixty bags of cowries (£54 or $270, estimating them at 18s, or $4.50 a bag; the then current value of cowries) were paid down on the spot, to aid the spread of civilization through the gospel and education. Many, very many were the thanks given me that day by these, my native kinsmen and women. Several other gentlemen, among them Surgeon Samuel Crowther, the Pastor, Mr. Rebeiro, and Mr. Campbell my colleague, also addressed them.
Many had been the social, friendly, and official interchanges between us and the king and chiefs during our stay in Abbeokuta, when, on the twenty-seventh, the day after the missionary meeting, the following document was duly executed, with the express understanding that no heterogeneous nor promiscuous "masses" or companies, but select and intelligent people of high moral as well as religious character were to be induced to go out. And I am sure that every good and upright person in that region, whether native or foreign missionary, would exceedingly regret to see a reckless set of religion-spurning, God-defying persons sent there—especially by disinterested white societies in America, which interferingly came forward in a measure which was originated solely by ourselves (and that, too, but a few of us), as our only hope for the regeneration of our race from the curse and corrupting influences of our white American oppressors.
This Treaty, made between His Majesty,Okukenu, Alake;Somoye, Ibashorun;Sokenu,Ogubonna, andAtambala, Chiefs and Balaguns, of Abbeokuta, on the first part; andMartin Robison Delany, andRobert Campbell, of the Niger Valley Exploring Party, Commissioners from the African race, of the United States and the Canadas in America, on the second part, covenants:Art.1. That the King and Chiefs on their part, agree to grant and assign unto the said Commissioners, on behalf of the African race in America, the right and privilege of settling in common with the Egba people, on any part of the territory belonging to Abbeokuta, not otherwise occupied.Art.2. That all matters, requiring legal investigation among the settlers, be left to themselves, to be disposed of according to their own custom.Art.3. That the Commissioners, on their part, also agree that the settlers shall bring with them, as an equivalent for the privileges above accorded, Intelligence, Education, a Knowledge of the Arts and Sciences, Agriculture, and other Mechanical and Industrial Occupations, which they shall put into immediate operation, by improving the lands, and in other useful vocations.Art. 4. That the laws of the Egba people shall be strictly respected by the settlers; and, in all matters in which both parties are concerned, an equal number of commissioners, mutually agreed upon, shall be appointed, who shall have power to settle such matters.As a pledge of our faith, and the sincerity of our hearts, we each of us hereunto affix our hand and seal this Twenty-seventh day of December,Anno Domini, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-nine.His Mark, +Okukenu, AlakeHis Mark, +Somoye, IbashorumHis Mark, +Sokenu, BalagunHis Mark, +Ogubonna, BalagunHis Mark, +Atambala, BalagunHis Mark, +Oguseye, AnabaHis Mark, +Ngtabo, Balagun, O.S.O.His Mark, +Ogudemu, AgeokoM. R. DelanyROBERT CampbellWitness—Samuel Crowther, Jun.Attest—Samuel Crowther, Sen.
This Treaty, made between His Majesty,Okukenu, Alake;Somoye, Ibashorun;Sokenu,Ogubonna, andAtambala, Chiefs and Balaguns, of Abbeokuta, on the first part; andMartin Robison Delany, andRobert Campbell, of the Niger Valley Exploring Party, Commissioners from the African race, of the United States and the Canadas in America, on the second part, covenants:
Art.1. That the King and Chiefs on their part, agree to grant and assign unto the said Commissioners, on behalf of the African race in America, the right and privilege of settling in common with the Egba people, on any part of the territory belonging to Abbeokuta, not otherwise occupied.
Art.2. That all matters, requiring legal investigation among the settlers, be left to themselves, to be disposed of according to their own custom.
Art.3. That the Commissioners, on their part, also agree that the settlers shall bring with them, as an equivalent for the privileges above accorded, Intelligence, Education, a Knowledge of the Arts and Sciences, Agriculture, and other Mechanical and Industrial Occupations, which they shall put into immediate operation, by improving the lands, and in other useful vocations.
Art. 4. That the laws of the Egba people shall be strictly respected by the settlers; and, in all matters in which both parties are concerned, an equal number of commissioners, mutually agreed upon, shall be appointed, who shall have power to settle such matters.
As a pledge of our faith, and the sincerity of our hearts, we each of us hereunto affix our hand and seal this Twenty-seventh day of December,Anno Domini, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-nine.
His Mark, +Okukenu, AlakeHis Mark, +Somoye, IbashorumHis Mark, +Sokenu, BalagunHis Mark, +Ogubonna, BalagunHis Mark, +Atambala, BalagunHis Mark, +Oguseye, AnabaHis Mark, +Ngtabo, Balagun, O.S.O.His Mark, +Ogudemu, AgeokoM. R. DelanyROBERT Campbell
Witness—Samuel Crowther, Jun.Attest—Samuel Crowther, Sen.
On the next evening, the 28th, the king, with the executive council of chiefs and elders, met at the palace in Ake, when the treaty was ratified by an unanimous approval. Such general satisfaction ran through the council, that the great chief, his highness Ogubonna, mounting his horse, then at midnight, hastened to the residence of the Surgeon Crowther, aroused his father the missionary and author, and hastily informed him of the action of the council.
On our return from the interior, having previously made the acquaintance of, and had several interviews with, and visits to and from the Princess Tinuba, being a called upon by her, I informed her that during our tour I learned that she had supplied the chief of Ijaye with the means and implements for carrying on the war, which that chief was then waging against Oyo and Ibaddan.
I had previous to that, obtained her fullest confidence as an adviser, a person of integrity, a friend of my race and of Africa. She had previously expressed to a friend of mine, that she had more hope of a regeneration of Africa through me than ever before. She had promised to place the entire management of her extensive business in my hands, as much advantage was taken of her by foreigners. She has attached to her immediate household about sixty persons, and keeps constantly employed about three hundred and sixty persons bringing her in palm-oil and ivory. She had come with aprivate retinue of six or seven persons, her secretary, a man and several maid-servants, to counsel and give me a written statement of what she desired me to do. Having conversed for some time, after receiving my admonition concerning the part which I had learned she had taken with Arie of Ijaye, she sat some time after, positively negativing the accusation, when, bidding me farewell, and saying that she would "sendme a letter," retired. In the course of the afternoon, her secretary, "Charles B. Jones," a native, came to the house, and presenting his mistress's compliments, with her final adieu, handed me a written paper, from which I take the following extracts, simply to show the general feeling and frankness of these people, as well as the hopes and confidence they have in our going there:
Dr. Martin R. Delaney:Abbeokuta, April 3rd, 1860Sir—This is to certify you, that it is with a willing mind I come to you for help: and I trust you will do according to your promise.... I return you my sincere gratitude for your kind information gave me while at your house, and can assure you that all what you heard is false respecting my sending guns and powder to Arie, the Chief of Ijaye.... I beg to say, you must not forget to find the Clerk who will stop at Lagos to ship my cargo ... and make agreement with him before you send him here.... I need not say much more about the affairs, as you yourself have known my statements. With hopes that you are well, I am, dear Sir,Your humble servant,TinubaP.S. You must not forget to send the two gauge-rods. I beg you ... Yours, &c.,—TinubaPer Charles B. Jones.
Dr. Martin R. Delaney:Abbeokuta, April 3rd, 1860
Sir—This is to certify you, that it is with a willing mind I come to you for help: and I trust you will do according to your promise.... I return you my sincere gratitude for your kind information gave me while at your house, and can assure you that all what you heard is false respecting my sending guns and powder to Arie, the Chief of Ijaye.... I beg to say, you must not forget to find the Clerk who will stop at Lagos to ship my cargo ... and make agreement with him before you send him here.... I need not say much more about the affairs, as you yourself have known my statements. With hopes that you are well, I am, dear Sir,
Your humble servant,Tinuba
P.S. You must not forget to send the two gauge-rods. I beg you ... Yours, &c.,—Tinuba
Per Charles B. Jones.
I have preferred to give these extracts just as they were written, without correcting the composition in any way.
The liberality which is here accorded to the people of Abbeokuta may be also accorded to most other places. The king of Illorin sat in his court exposed to our view, because, he said, we were "his people"; a privilege which he never allowed "a strange white man," who was never permitted to look upon his royal black face publicly. He also sent with us an escort of a horseman and five footmen, with sword and spear, as a guard of honor, sending us cowries to pay the expenses. The king of Oyo paid us distinguished honors through his great Arie Kufu, calling me a relative, and sending the chief to inquire after our health. On my leaving Oyo finally, he sent with me a very large escort, at the head of whom was his commander-in-chief Kufu, as a guard of honor, and three native gentlemen, high in rank, as my special carriers. These gentle men complained to the missioners, Mr. and Mrs. Hinderer at Ibaddan, that I was quite mistaken as to their true social position at home. To this I plead guilty, as they were quite right.
Chickens (and eggs plentifully) the sweetest and tenderest, ducks and turkeys; also Guinea fowls, as well as the fine Muscovy, are abundant.
The swine consist of two distinct classes; the common,descended from the wild—a long, lean, gaunt, long-eared, long-nosed, sharp-featured, hungry-looking brute, like the American hog; and the Guinea, a short-legged, heavy-bodied, short-nosed, short-eared, fat-jawed, full-headed, jolly-looking animal, closely resembling the Berkshire of English breeding.
The goats are the most beautiful, shiny, plump, active, saucy creatures, the mutton being most excellent flesh; and the sheep, though hairy instead of woolly, in every other particular are like other sheep, and the mutton frequently equaling English mutton in flavor and sweetness. I suspect the common sheep of this country to be of another genus, as there are some very fine woolly sheep in the interior. We intend testing the woolly sheep when we get settled there.
The cattle are of two classes, and merit particular attention. The windward or Mandingo, a tall, long-horned, beautiful animal, the type of the Herefordshire; and the leeward or Golah, a short-legged, short-horned, heavy-bodied, broad-backed ox, the exact conformation of the splendid English Durham beeves.
The horses are of two distinct classes, and not only merit much attention here, but must be regarded as among themost surprising evidences (as well as the cattle and improved breed of swine) of the high degree of intelligence and heathen civilization attained by the people.
The Aku or Yoruba, is a small, well-built, generally sprightly animal, equal in size to the largest American-Indian pony. They are great travelers, and very enduring, and when broke to the shafts or traces will be excellent in harness as family hackneys.
The Bornou, a noble horse, from twelve to seventeen hands high, finely proportioned and symmetrically beautiful, and the type of the description of the sire of the great first English blood horse, Godolphin, is exceedingly high-spirited, and fleet in the race or chase. These noble animals abound in all this part of Africa; are bred in Bornou, where great attention is paid to the rearing of them, from whence they are taken by the Ishmaelitish traders, in exchange for their commodities, to Arabia; from thence they are sent to Europe as their own production; just as, a few years since, and probably up to the present day, mules were reared in great numbers in Mexico, purchased by Ohio and Kentucky muleteers, who sold them in the eastern and northern States of America, where for years the people supposed and really believed that they were bred in the western States, from whence they were purported to come. The fine Bornou, known as the Arabian horse, is a native of Africa, and raisedin great numbers. Denham and Clapperton, as long ago as thirty-five or forty years, wrote, after visiting that part of Africa, "It is said that Bornou can muster fifteen thousand Shonaas in the field mounted. They are the greatest breeders of cattle in the country, and annually supply Soudan with from two to three thousand horses." These animals are used for riding, and well exercised, as the smallest boys are great riders, every day dashing at fearful speed along the roads and over the plains.
Game is also very plentiful. Deer, antelopes, wild hogs, hedge hogs, porcupines, armadillos, squirrels, hares and rabbits, raccoons and opossums, are among the most common quadruped game.
Wild turkey, wild ducks of various kinds, wild pigeons, ocpara (a very fine quail, much larger, fatter and plumper than the American pheasant), and the wild Guinea fowl, are among the most common biped game.
The markets are also worthy of note, and by their regular establishment and arrangement indicate to a certain extent the self-governing element and organized condition of the people. Every town has its regular market-place or generalbazaar, and everything to be had in the town may be found, in more or less quantities, in these market-places. In describing the large cities through which Mr. Campbell my colleague, and I passed, and those through which I passed alone (none of which were under seventy thousand of a population) there were numerous smaller places of various sizes, from very small villages of one hundred to two thousand inhabitants, which were not mentioned in the enumerated towns. Of these market-places I may mention that Illorin has five, the area of the largest comprising about ten acres, and the general market of Abbeokuta comprising more than twelve altogether, whilst that of Ijaye contains fully twenty acres or more, in which, like the markets generally, everything may be obtained. These markets are systematically regulated and orderly arranged, there being parts and places for everything, and "everything in their places," with officially appointed and excellent managing market-masters. The cattle department of the Abbeokuta and Ijaye markets, as well as Illorin are particularly attractive, there being as many as eight hundred sheep at one time in either of the two former, and horses and mules, as well as sheep and goats exhibited in the latter. When approaching the city of Ibaddan, I saw at a brook, where they had been let out of their cages or coops to drink and wash themselves, as many as three thousand pigeons and squabs going to the Ibaddan market.
The following description of the Illorin market, extracted from "Bowen's Central Africa," is truthful as far as it goes, and will give a general idea of markets in the great cities of Africa:
The most attractive object next to the curious old town itself—and it is always old—is the market.... Here the women sit and chat all day, from early morn till nineo'clock at night, to sell their various merchandise. Some of the sheds however, are occupied by barbers, who shave people's heads and faces; and by leather dressers, who make charms like Jewish phylacteries, and bridle reins, shoes, sandals, &c.; and by dozens and scores of men, who earn an honest living by dressing calabashes, and ornamenting them with various neat engravings.[6]... The principal market hour, and proper time to see all the wonders, is in the evening.... As the shades of evening deepen, if the weather allow the market to continue and there is no moon, every woman lights her little lamp, and presently the market presents, to the distant observer, the beautiful appearance of innumerable stars.The commodities sold in market are too tedious to mention, even if all could be remembered. Besides home productions, there are frequently imported articles from the four quarters of the globe. Various kinds of meat, fowls, sheep, goats, dogs, rats, tortoises, eggs, fish, snails, yams, Indian corn, Guinea corn, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, ground peas, onions, pepper, various vegetables, palm-nuts, oil, tree-butter, seeds, fruits, firewood, cotton in the seeds, spun cotton, domestic cloth, imported cloth, as calico, shirting, velvets, &c., gun-powder, guns, flints, knives, swords, paper, raw silk, Turkey-red thread, needles, ready-made clothing, as trowsers, caps, breeches shirts without sleeves, baskets, brooms, and no one knows what all.
The most attractive object next to the curious old town itself—and it is always old—is the market.... Here the women sit and chat all day, from early morn till nineo'clock at night, to sell their various merchandise. Some of the sheds however, are occupied by barbers, who shave people's heads and faces; and by leather dressers, who make charms like Jewish phylacteries, and bridle reins, shoes, sandals, &c.; and by dozens and scores of men, who earn an honest living by dressing calabashes, and ornamenting them with various neat engravings.[6]... The principal market hour, and proper time to see all the wonders, is in the evening.... As the shades of evening deepen, if the weather allow the market to continue and there is no moon, every woman lights her little lamp, and presently the market presents, to the distant observer, the beautiful appearance of innumerable stars.
The commodities sold in market are too tedious to mention, even if all could be remembered. Besides home productions, there are frequently imported articles from the four quarters of the globe. Various kinds of meat, fowls, sheep, goats, dogs, rats, tortoises, eggs, fish, snails, yams, Indian corn, Guinea corn, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, ground peas, onions, pepper, various vegetables, palm-nuts, oil, tree-butter, seeds, fruits, firewood, cotton in the seeds, spun cotton, domestic cloth, imported cloth, as calico, shirting, velvets, &c., gun-powder, guns, flints, knives, swords, paper, raw silk, Turkey-red thread, needles, ready-made clothing, as trowsers, caps, breeches shirts without sleeves, baskets, brooms, and no one knows what all.
This description was given by Mr. Bowen in his (in many respects) admirable work, published in 1857, after a missionary residence and tour of seven years, from 1850 to the time of writing, among the people of whom he wrote.
The houses are built of unburnt clay which hardens in the sun, covered with a beautiful thatch-long, peculiar grass—exhibiting only the walls to the streets, the doors all opening inside of these walls, which are entered by a gate or large doorway; the streets generally irregular and narrow, but frequently agreeably relieved by wider ones, or large, open spaces or parks shaded with trees; all presenting a scene so romantic and antiquated in appearance, that you cannot resist the association with Babylon, Nineveh, Tyre, and Thebais. The buildings are heavy and substantial for their kind, many of which are very extensive. These towns and cities are all entrenched and walled; extending entirely around them; that of Abbeokuta with the new addition being twenty-seven miles, though the population is less by forty thousand than Ibaddan, which embraces about twenty-three miles.
Great affection exists between husband and wife, the women being mostly restricted to household work, trading, and gathering in the fields, and aiding in carrying, whilst the men principally do the digging, planting, chopping, and other hard work. The children are also passionately beloved by their parents, sometimes with too much indulgence. They are very active, and every day some of them of all sizes may be seen dashing along a road or over a plain at fearful speed on horseback. They are great vaulters and ankle-springers, and boys may frequently be seen to spring from the ground whirling twice—turningtwosummersets—before lighting on their feet.
It may not be out of place here to add, that the population of the capital of Liberia is certainly not above three thousand, though they claim for it five thousand. And what has been said of the lack and seeming paucity of public improvement may be much extenuated when it is considered that the entire population of settlers only number at present some 15,000 souls; the native population being 250,000, or 300,000, as now incorporated.
As the enquiry has been frequently made of me as to "whether there are really dogs and cats in Africa," and if so, "whether they are like other dogs and cats"; and since a very intelligent American clergyman said to me that he had read it somewhere as a fact in natural history, that dogs in Africa could not bark; I simply here inform the curious enquirer, that there are dogs and cats plentifully in Africa, which "look like other dogs and cats," and assure them that the dogs bark, eat, andbite, just like "other dogs."
A word about slavery. It is simply preposterous to talk about slavery, as that term is understood, either being legalized or existing in this part of Africa. It is nonsense. The system is a patriarchal one, there being no actual difference, socially, between the slave (called by their protectorson or daughter) and the children of the person with whom they live. Suchpersons intermarry, and frequently become the heads of state: indeed, generally so, as I do not remember at present a king or chief with whom I became acquainted whose entire members of the household, from the lowest domestic to the highest official, did not sustain this relation to him, they calling himbabaor "father," and he treating them as children. And where this is not the case, it either arises from some innovation among them or those exceptional cases of despotism to be found in every country. Indeed, the term "slave" is unknown to them, only as it has been introduced among them by whites from Europe and America. So far from abject slavery, not even the old feudal system, as known to exist until comparatively recent in enlightened and Christian Europe, exists in this part of Africa.
Criminals and prisoners of war arelegally soldinto slavery among themselves, just as was the custom in almost every civilized country in the world till very lately, when nothing but advanced intelligence and progressive Christianity among the people put a stop to it. There is no place, however, but Illorin, abona fideMohammedan kingdom, where we ever witnessed any exhibition of these facts.
Slaves are abducted by marauding, kidnapping, depraved natives, who, like the organized bands and gangs of robbers in Europe and America, go through the country thieving and stealing helpless women and children, and men who may be overpowered by numbers. Whole villages in this way sometimes fall victims to these human monsters, especially when the strong young men are out in the fields at work, the old of both sexes in such cases being put to death, whilstthe young are hurried through some private way down to the slave factories usually kept by Europeans (generally Portuguese and Spaniards) and Americans, on some secluded part of the coast. And in no instances are the parents and relatives known to sell their own children or people into slavery, except, indeed, in cases of base depravity, and except such miserable despots as the kings of Dahomi and Ashantee; neither are the heads of countries known to sell their own people; but like the marauding kidnapper, obtain them by war on others.
The diseases in this part of Africa are still more simple than those of Liberia; and even thenative fever, for known causes, generally is much less severe. In Liberia, and all that part of Africa, the entire country (except the cleared farms in the republic and the limited rice-fields of the natives) is a dense, heavy-wooded,primitiveforest, rank with the growth and putrified vegetation of a thousand ages. But the entire Aku country, throughout the second plateau, presents a very different phase. Here, one is struck with the beautiful clear country which continually spreads out in every direction around; and (except the thickets or forests left as defences, ambuscades, and arbors of rest, rugged hilltops, and gullies), there is nothing but recent timber to be found growing on the lands. Timber in Africa is reproduced very speedily; hence may be found in some parts designedly left very heavy timber; but the greatest unbroken forest through which we passed at any one time, of this description, never exceeded, I think, ten miles. All the spring (shallow wells generally) and other living water, as perennial streams, is both good-tasted, and if the constant use of running stream water be a fair test, I would decide as wholesome. There are somegood springs in Africa, and good water doubtless may everywhere be obtained by digging suitable wells.
Drinking water in the tropics should always be kept in large vessels of crockery ware (usually termed "stone" and "earthen ware") and smaller bottle or decanter-shaped jugs or vessels for table convenience. If earthen or crockery ware cannot be obtained for table use, by all means use glass bottles—the more globular, or balloon-shaped, the better.
To make and keep water cool in any crockery or glass vessel, wrap around it a cloth or any kind, but especiallywoolen—flannel or blanket being the best—which keep simplywet, and the water in the vessel, byevaporationfrom thecloth, can be made or kept almost ice cool.
A most simple method by which the cloth may be kept wet, and evaporation thereby kept up, is to have a large vessel, with the water in for common use, so placed that a small vessel with water can be suspended over it in such a manner that adripcan be kept constantly on the cloth. The cloth being first saturated, it will readily be seen that a very small drip is required to keep up the dampness. The drip may be arranged, where convenient, with a smallfaucetso as to regulate the drop, or the more primitive method of a littlespiggotorsharpened stickput into a hole made in the vessel, so regulated as to keep up a sufficient dripping to keep the cloth of sufficient dampness. Simple as this may appear to the reader, it is an important sanitary measure, besides adding greatly to the immediate comfort of the traveler or resident in those regions.
The atmosphere in this region of the continent is much purer than that of Liberia and the region round about; and, although incorporated with odors, these are pleasant and seem familiar to the sense, and not obnoxious with the rich rank fragrance so sensibly experienced in that country. There is little, comparatively, of the decayed vegetation, which sends up malaria from the surface in Liberia; and the immense fields and plains of grass not under cultivation at the time, are burnt down during the dry season, thereby bringing to bear, though probably unawares to them, a sanitary process throughout that extensive country at least once every year.
Intermittent fever, as described in sectionvi., page 280 on Liberia, though generally of a mild type,diarrhoea,dysentery(neither of which is difficult to subdue by a little rational treatment),opthalmia, andumbilical hernia, and sometimes, but not frequently,inguinal hernia, are the principal diseases. The opthalmia I suspected as originating from taint, probablyhaving been primarily carried from the coast, as it was not so frequently met with as to warrant the idea of its being either a contagion or the effects of poisonous sands or winds, as supposed to exist. The hernia is caused by the absence of properumbilical attentionandabdominal supportto the child afterparturition. Umbilical hernia is fearfully common all through Africa, I having frequently seen persons, especially females, with the hernial tumor as large as their own head, and those of little children fully as large as the head of an infant a month old.
A singular disease affects some persons, though I have never seen this upon a native, and believe it to be peculiar to the region round about Liberia. The person whose case I examined had formerly resided in Liberia, where, doubtless, the disease commenced, but for the last three years previously had resided at Ijaye, in the capacity of cook, for the American Baptist Missionaries, Revs. A. D. Phillips and J. R. Stone and lady, and then resided at Abbeokuta. This is a peculiar ulceration of the leg, immediately above the ankle-bone, where they say it usually commences; the edges of the ulcer, and the cuticle quite up to the edge, and all the surrounding parts, having a healthy appearance, as though a portion of the flesh had been recently torn out, leaving the cavity as it then was. The most peculiar feature of this singular disease is awhite fiber, which, coming out from the integuments of the muscles of the leg above, hangs suspended in the cavity (ulcer) the lower end loose, and somewhat inclined to coil (and whenstraightenedout, resuming again the serpentine curves, of course from theelasticitywithmotion), is supposed to be aworm; hence its name—Guinea worm. The fibre seems in color and texture to be in a normal condition; indeed, there appear to be little or no pathological symptoms about the parts at all, except a slight appearance ofvermillioninflammation over the surface of the ulcer, which is more apparent sometimes than others.
I have examined closely this fibre, and from its appearance, color, size, and texture, especially as it is sensibly felt high up in the leg near the tuberosity of the tibia, when pulled by the dangling end, my own impression is that the so-called "Guinea worm" is nothing more than theexternal saphenusorcommunis tibiae(nerve) exposed in a peculiar manner, probably by a disease, which, by a curious pathological process, absorbs away the muscular parts, leaving the bare nerve detached at its lower extremity, suspended loose in this unnatural space. I have never seen but this one case of Guinea worm, but had frequent opportunities of examining it; indeed, the patient consulted me concerning it, and by the advice and consent of the very clever native gentleman, Samuel Crowther, Esq., who received his professional education at the Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, insisted on my taking the case, which I declined, partly for the want of time to do justice to the patient, and aside from courtesy and equity to the surgeon who had the case in hand, mainly because Iknew nothing about it—the best reason of all. The patient was an American quadroon, black nearly in complexion, of one-fourth white blood, from North Carolina. This, of course was a black quadroon.
I should add, that the fiber at times entirelydisappearsfrom the cavity (bycontraction, of course), when again it is seen suspended as before. This is one reason why it is believed to be aworm, and supposed tocreepup and down in the flesh.
The treatment of fever in this part of Africa should be the same as that in Liberia, given on page 280. The best remedy which I have found for diarrhoea is:
℞. Pulv. Rad. Rhei. ʒj.; Syr. Simp. ℥ jv.; Spts.Terebinth, ʒj.; Tinct. Opii., gtt. x. M. ft.
℞. Pulv. Rad. Rhei. ʒj.; Syr. Simp. ℥ jv.; Spts.Terebinth, ʒj.; Tinct. Opii., gtt. x. M. ft.
Pulverized rhubarb, one drachm, (or one-eighth of an ounce); simple syrup, four ounces (or eight large tablespoonfuls); laudanum, ten drops; spirits of turpentine, one spoonful. Mix this well together to take.
For dysentery the recipe is:
℞. Pulv. Rad. Rhei. Pulv. C. Catech. a. a., ʒj.;Syr. Simp. f. ℥jv.; Spts. Terebinth. Spis.Ammon. Arromat., a. a. f.ʒj.; Tinct. Opii. gtt. x.M.ft.
℞. Pulv. Rad. Rhei. Pulv. C. Catech. a. a., ʒj.;Syr. Simp. f. ℥jv.; Spts. Terebinth. Spis.Ammon. Arromat., a. a. f.ʒj.; Tinct. Opii. gtt. x.M.ft.
Pulverized rhubarb and pulverized gum catechu, each, one-eighth of an ounce; simple syrup, eight large tablespoonfuls; spirits of turpentine and aromatic spirits of ammonia, of each one teaspoonful; laudanum, ten drops. Mix this well together to take. Of this take one teaspoonful (if very bad, a dessert spoonful) every three hours, or fourtimes a day (always beginning at least one hour before breakfast), till the symptoms cease.
During the presence of febrile symptoms, in the absence of all diarrhoea and dysenteric symptoms, even when the person is not complaining, an excellent simple antidote to be taken at discretion, not oftener than once every hour during the day, is:
℞ Syr. Simp., ℥jv.; Spts. Ammon. Arromat. ʒjss. M. ft.
Simple syrup, eight large tablespoonfuls; aromatic spirits of ammonia, one and a-half teaspoonfuls. Mix this well together. Take a teaspoonful of this preparation in a little cold water, or a glass of lemonade if preferred, and the condition of the bowels will admit, as often as thought advisable under the circumstances.
I have thus thought proper to simplify this treatment, that it may be in the reach of every person going to the tropics, as I am certain that there has been a great deficiency in the treatment and discovery of remedies in diseases of that continent especially. These prescriptions, as compounded, are entirely new, originating with the writer, who has only to add that he is in hopes that they prove as advantageous and successful in other hands as they have been in his.
Persons laboring under fever should eat moderately of such food as best agrees with their appetite; but frequently, ifrequired or desired, that the system may be well supported. When there isdiarrhoeaordysenterypresent, there should be no solid food taken, but the patient or ailing person should be confined strictly to a thin milk porridge of fine Guinea-corn flour, which is always obtainable in Africa, crumbled crackers or soda biscuits, light (leavened) wheat bread if to be had, or well-done rice boiled to a pulp. The soda-biscuit as a porridge with milk rather aggravates the bowels of most persons; therefore, whenever it is found to have this effect, its use should be immediately abandoned. In many instances, where there is either diarrhoea or dysentery present, without other prominent symptoms, I have found the mere use of cooked milk (merely "scalded," as women usually term it—being heated to the boiling point without permitting it to boil), taken as food alone, to be the only remedy required.
The laws of health should be particularly observed in going to Africa. In respect to eating, there need be no material change of food, but each individual observing those nourishments which best agree with him or her. When there is little inclination to eat, eat but little; and when there is none, eat nothing. I am certain that a large percentage of the mortality which occurs may be attributed to too free and too frequent indulgence in eating, as was the case with the Lewis family of five at Clay-Ashland, in Liberia—all of whom died from that cause; as well as others that might be mentioned.
So soon as you have taken your bath and put your morning wrapper, even before dressing, you may eat one or more sweet oranges, then take a cup of coffee, creamed and sweetened, or not, to your taste. Make your toilet, and walk out and take the cool air, always taking your umbrella or parasol, because no foreigner, until by a long residence more or less acclimated, can expose himself with impunity to a tropical sun. If preferred coffee should always be taken with cream or milk and sugar, because it is then less irritating to the stomach. One of the symptoms of native fever is said to benervous irritability of the stomach; hence, all exciting causes to irritation of that part should be avoided as much as possible. Such fruits as best agree with each individual should be most indulged in; indeed, all others for the time should be dispensed with; and when it can be done without any apparent risk to the person, a little fruit of some kind might be taken every day by each new comer. Except oranges, taken as directed above, all fruits should be eatenafter, andnotbefore breakfast. The fruits of the country have been described in another place.
Let your habits be strictly temperate, and for human nature's sake, abstain from the erroneous idea that some sort of malt or spirituous drink is necessary. This is not the case; and I am certain that much of the disease and dire mortality charged against Africa, as a "land of pestilence and death," should be charged against the Christian lands which produce andsend bad spiritsto destroy those who go to Africa. Wheneverwine, brandy, whisky, gin, rum, or pure alcohol are required as a medical remedy, no one will object to its use; but, in all cases in which they are used as a beverage in Africa, I have no hesitation in pronouncing them deleterious to the system. The best British porter and ale may, in convalescence from fever, be used to advantage as a tonic, because of the bitter and farinaceous substances they contain—not otherwise is it beneficial to the system in Africa. Water, lemonade, effervescent drinks—a teaspoonful of super-carbonate of soda, to a glass of lemonade—all may be drunk in common, when thirsty, with pleasure to the drinker as well as profit. Pure ginger-beer is very beneficial.
Bathing should be strictly observed by every person at least once every day. Each family should be provided with a large sponge, or one for each room if not for each person, and free application of water to the entire person, from head to foot, should be made every morning.
Every person should rise early in Africa, as the air is then coolest, freshest, and purest; besides the effect upon the senses, the sight and song of the numerous birds to be seen and heard, produce a healthful influence upon the mental and physical system. The land and sea-breezes blow regularly and constantly from half-past three o'clockp.m.till half-past ten o'clocka.m., when there is a cessation of about five hours till half-past three again.
The evenings and mornings are always cool and pleasant,never sultryand oppressive with heat, as frequently in temperate climates during summer and autumn. This wise and beneficent arrangement of Divine Providence makes this country beautifully, in fact, delightfully pleasant; and I have no doubt but in a very few years, so soon as scientific black men, her own sons, who alone must be more interested in her development than any other take the matter in hand, and produce works upon the diseases, remedies, treatment, and sanitary measures of Africa, there will be no more contingency in going to Africa than any other known foreign country. I am certain, even now, that the native fever of Africa is not more trying upon the system, when properly treated, than the native fever of Canada, the Western and Southern States and Territories of the United States of America.
Dress should be regulated according to the feeling, with sometimes more and sometimes less clothing. But I think it advisable that adults should wear flannel (thin) next to their person always when first going to Africa. It gradually absorbs the moisture, and retaining a proper degree of heat, thus prevents any sudden change of temperature from affecting the system. Avoid getting wet at first, and should this accidentally happen, take a thoroughly good bath, rub the skin dry, and put on dry clothes, and for two or three hours that day, keep out of the sun; but if at night, go to bed. But when it so happens that you are out from home andcannot change clothing, continue to exercise until the clothes dry on your person. It is the abstraction of heat from the system by evaporation of water from the clothing, which does the mischief in such cases. I have frequently been wet to saturation in Africa, and nothing ever occurred from it, by pursuing the course here laid down. Always sleep in clean clothes.
I am sure I need inform no one, however ignorant, that all measures of cleanliness of person, places, and things about the residences, contribute largely to health in Africa, as in other countries.
All dwellings should befreely ventilatedduring thenightas well as day, and it is a great mistake to suppose, as in Liberia (where every settler sleeps with every part of his house closely shut—doors, windows, and all) that it is deletereous to have the house ventilated during the evening, although they go out to night meetings, visit each other in the evening, and frequently sit on their porches and piazzas till a late hour in the night, conversing, without any injurious effects whatever. Dr. Roberts, and I think Dr. McGill and a few other gentlemen, informed me that their sleeping apartments were exceptions to the custom generally in Liberia. This stifling custom to save themselves does not prevail among the natives of Africa anywhere, nor among the foreigners anywhere in the Yoruba country, that I am aware of,and I am under the impression that it was the result of fear or precaution, not against the night air, but against the imaginary (and sometimes real) creeping things—as insects and reptiles—which might find their way into the houses at night.
While in Liberia, I have traversed rivers in an open boat at night, slept beyond the Kavalla Falls in open native houses, and at the residence of Rev. Alexander Crummel, Mount Vaughan, Cape Palmas, I slept every evening while there with both window and door as ventilators. The window was out and the door inside. In Abbeokuta, Ijaye, Oyo, and Ogbomoso, we slept every night with ventilated doors and windows, when we slept at all in a house. But in Illorin we always slept out of doors by preference, and only retired to repose in-doors (which were always open) when it was too cool to sleep out, as our bedding consisted only of a native mat on the ground, and a calico sheet spread over us. And I should here make acknowledgments to my young colleague, Mr. Campbell, for the use of his large Scotch shawl when I was unwell, and indeed almost during our entire travel—it being to me a great accommodation, a comfort and convenience which I did not possess.
I have started two and three hours before daybreak, laying on my bed in an open canoe, ascending the Ogun river, at different times during the six days' journey up toAbbeokuta; Mr. Campbell and myself have frequently slept out in open courts and public market-places, without shed or piazza covering; and when journeying from Oyo to Ibaddan, for three successive evenings I lay in the midst of a wilderness or forest, on a single native mat without covering, the entire night; and many times during our travels we arose at midnight to commence our journey, and neither of us ever experienced any serious inconvenience from it.
That houses in Africa may be properly ventilated during the night without annoyance, or, what is equally as bad, if not worse, the continual fear and imagination of the approach of venomous insects, creeping things, and reptiles, the residents should adapt them to the place and circumstances, without that rigid imitation of European and American order of building. Every house should be well ventilated with windows on opposite sides of the rooms, when and wherever this is practicable, and the same may be said of doors. And where the room will not admit of opposite windows, or windows at least on two sides of a room, whether opposite or otherwise, a chimney or ventilating flue should be constructed on the opposite side to the window—which window should always be to the windward, so as to have a continual draught or current of fresh air. Persons, however, should always avoid sitting in adraught, though a free circulation of air should be allowed in each room of every house.
Instead of window-sashes with glass, as in common use, I would suggest that the windows have a sash of four, or but two (if preferred) panels, to each window (two upper and two lower, or one upper and one lower—or one lower andtwo upper, which would make a neat and handsome window), each panel or space for panes being neatly constructed with a sieve-work, such as is now used as screens during summer season in the lower part of parlor windows. To prevent too great oxydization or too rapid decay of so delicate a structure as the wire must be, it should be made of brass, copper, or some composition which would not readily corrode. Inside or outside doors of the same material, made to close and open like the Venetian jalousies now in use in civilized countries, would be found very convenient, and add much to the comfort and health of dwellings as a sanitary measure. The frames of the panels or sashes should be constructed of maple, cherry, walnut, or mahogany, according to the means of the builder and elegance of the building—as these articles seasoned are not only more neat and durable, but, from their solidity, are less liable to warp or shrink. This would afford such a beautiful and safe protection to every dwelling against the intrusion of all and every living thing, even the smallest insect—while a full and free circulation of fresh air would be allowed—that a residence in Africa would become attractive and desirable, instead of, as now (from imagination), objectionable.
A word about ants in Africa—so much talked of, and so much dreaded—will legitimately be in place here, regarding them as a sanitary means, provided by Divine Providence. Thetermites, bug-a-bug or white double ant, shaped like two ovals somewhat flattened, joined together by a cylindersomewhat smaller in the middle, with a head at one end of one of the ovals, is an herbivorous insect, and much abused as the reputed destroyers of books, papers, and all linen or muslin clothing. They feed mainly on such vegetable matter as is most subject to decay—as soft wood, and many other such, when void of vitality—and there is living herbage upon which they feed, and thereby prove a blessing to a country with a superabundance of rank vegetable matter. It is often asserted that they destroy whole buildings, yet I have never seen a person who knew of such a disaster by them, although they may attack and do as much mischief in such cases at times as the wood-worms of America; and, in regard to clothing, though doubtless there have been instances of their attack upon and destruction of clothing, yet I will venture to assert that there is no one piece of clothing attacked and destroyed by these creatures, to ten thousand by the moths which get into the factories and houses in civilized countries, where woolen goods are kept. In all my travels in Africa, I never had anything attacked by the termite; but during my stay of seven months in Great Britain, I had a suit of woolen clothes completely eaten up by moths in Liverpool.
Drivers, as every person already knows, are black ants, whose reputation is as bad for attacking living animals, and even human beings, as the termites' for attacking clothing. This creature, like its white cousin, is also an instrument in the hands of Providence as a sanitary means, and to the reverse of the other is carnivorous, feeding upon all flesh whether fresh or putrified. Like the white, for the purpose ofdestroying the superabundance of vegetable, certainly these black ants were designed by Providence to destroy the excess of animal life which in the nature of things would be brought forth, with little or no destruction without them; and although much is said about their attacking persons, I will venture the opinion that there is not one of these attacks a person to every ten thousand musquitoes in America, as it is only by chance, andnot by search after it, that drivers attack persons.
They usually go in search of food in narrow rows, say from half an inch to a hand's breadth, as swiftly as a running stream of water, and may in their search enter a house in their course—if nothing attract them around it—when, in such cases, they spread over the floor, walls, and ceiling; and finding no insect or creeping thing to destroy, they gather again on the floor, and leave the premises in the regular order in which they entered. Should they encounter a person when on these excursions, though in bed, does he but lie still and not disturb them, the good-hearted negro insects will even pass over the person without harm or molestation; but, if disturbed, they will retaliate by a sting as readily as a bee when the hive is disturbed, though their sting, so far from being either dangerous or severe, is simply like the severe sting of a musquito. An aged missionary gentleman, of twenty-five years' experience, informed me that an entire myriad (this term is given to a multitude of drivers, as their number can never be less than ten thousand—and I am sure that I have seen as many millions together) passed over him one night in bed, without one stinging him. Indeed, both theblack and white ants are quite harmless as to personal injury, and very beneficial in a sanitary point.
There is much more in the imagination than the reality about these things; and one important fact I must not omit, that, however great the number of drivers, a simplelight set in the middle of the floorwill clear the room of them in ten minutes. In this case they do not form in column, but go out in hasty confusion, each effecting as quick retreat and safe escape for himself as possible, forming their line of march outside of the house, where they meet from all quarters of their points of escape.
Chloride of sodiumor common salt (fine), slightly damped, will entirely destroy the termites; andacetumor vinegar, oracetic acideither, will destroy or chase off the drivers. These means are simple, and within the reach of every person, but, aside from this, both classes or races of these creatures disappear before the approach of civilization. In a word, moths, mice, roaches, and musquitoes are much greater domestic annoyances, and certainly much more destructive in America and Europe than the bug-a-bug or driver is in Africa.