They formed a const.i.tution, established tribunals of justice, and adopted a form of worship similar to Christianity. The chiefs chosen for life were elected by the people.
They fortified their princ.i.p.al towns, cultivated their gardens and fields, and reared domestic animals. They lived in prosperity and peace, until 1696, when the Portuguese prepared an expedition against them. The Palmarisians defended themselves with desperate valor, but were overcome by superior numbers. Some rushed upon death, that they might not survive their liberty; others were sold and dispersed by the conquerors. Thus ended this interesting republic. Had it continued to the present time, it might have produced a very material change in the character and condition of the colored race.
In the seventeenth century, when Jamaica was still under the dominion of the Spaniards, a party of slaves under the command of John de Bolas, regained their independence. They increased in numbers, elected the famous Cudjoe as their chief, and became very formidable. Cudjoe established a confederation among all the Maroon tribes, and by his bravery and skilful management compelled the English to make a treaty, in which they acknowledged the freedom of the blacks, and ceded to them for ever a portion of the territory of Jamaica.
The French National a.s.sembly admitted free colored deputies from St.
Domingo, and promised a perfect equality of rights, without regard to complexion. But, as usual, the white colonists made every possible exertion to set aside the claims of their darker-faced brethren. It was very short-sighted policy; for the planters absolutely needed the friendship of the free mulattoes and negroes, as a defence against the slaves. Oge, one of the colored deputies, an energetic and shrewd man, was in Paris, watching political movements with intense interest,--resolved to maintain the rights of his oppressed companions, "quietly if he could--forcibly if he must." Day after day, a hearing was promised; and day after day, upon some idle pretext or other, it was deferred. Oge became exasperated. His friends in France recommended the only medicine ever offered by the white man to the heart-sick African,--patience--patience. But he had long observed the operation of slavery, and he knew that patience, whatever it might do for the white man, brought upon the negro nothing but contempt and acc.u.mulated wrong.
Discouraged in his efforts to make head against the intrigues of the slaveholders, he could not contain his indignation: "I begin," said he to Clarkson, "not to care whether the National a.s.sembly will hear us or not. But let it beware of the consequences. We will no longer continue to be held in a degraded light. Despatches shall go directly to St.
Domingo; and we will soon follow them. We can produce as good soldiers on our own estates, as those in France. Our own arms shall make us independent and respectable. If we are forced to desperate measures, it will be in vain that thousands are sent across the Atlantic to bring us back to our former state."
The French government issued orders to prevent the embarkation of negroes and mulattoes; but Oge, by the way of England, contrived to return to St. Domingo. On his arrival, he demanded the execution of decrees made in favor of his brethren, but either resisted or evaded by their white oppressors. His plea, founded in justice, and sanctioned by Divine authority, was rejected. The parties became exasperated, and an attack ensued. The Spanish government basely and wickedly delivered Oge to his enemies. He asked for a defender to plead his cause; but he asked in vain. Thirteen of his companions were condemned to the galleys; more than twenty to the gibbet; and Oge and Chavanne were tortured on the wheel.
Where rests the guilt in this case? Let those blame Oge, who can. My heart and conscience both refuse to do it.
_Toussaint L"Ouverture_, the celebrated black chieftain, was born a slave, in the year 1745, upon the plantation of Count de Noe. His amiable deportment as a slave, the patience, mildness, and benevolence of his disposition, and the purity of his conduct amid the general laxity of morals which prevailed in the island, gained for him many of those advantages which afterwards gave him such absolute ascendency over his insurgent brethren. His good qualities attracted the attention of M. Bayou de Libertas, the agent on the estate, who taught him reading, writing, and arithmetic,--elements of knowledge, which hardly one in ten thousand of his fellow-slaves possessed. M. Bayou made him his postillion, which gave him advantages much above those of the field slaves. When the general rising of the blacks took place, in 1791, much solicitation was used to induce Toussaint to join them; but he declined, until he had procured an opportunity for the escape of M. Bayou and his family to Baltimore, shipping a considerable quant.i.ty of sugar for the supply of their immediate wants. In his subsequent prosperity, he availed himself of every occasion to give them new marks of his grat.i.tude. Having thus provided security for his benefactor, he joined a corps of blacks, under the orders of General Bia.s.sou; but was soon raised to the princ.i.p.al command, Bia.s.sou being degraded on account of his cruelty and ferocity. Indeed, Toussaint was every way so much superior to the other negroes, by reason of his general intelligence and education, his prudence, activity and address, not less than his bravery, that he immediately attained a complete ascendency over all the black chieftains. In 1797, Toussaint received from the French government a commission of General-in-Chief of the armies of St. Domingo, and as such signed the convention with General Maitland for the evacuation of the island by the British. From 1798 until 1801, the island continued tranquil under the government of Toussaint, who adopted and enforced the most judicious measures for healing the wounds of his country, and restoring its commercial and agricultural prosperity. His efforts would have been attended with much success, but for the ill-judged expedition, which Bonaparte sent against the island, under the command of Le Clerc. This expedition, fruitless as it was in respect of its general object, proved fatal to the negro chieftain.
Toussaint was noted for private virtues; among the rest, warm affection for his family. Le Clerc brought out from France Toussaint"s two sons, with their preceptor, whose orders were to carry his pupils to their father, and make use of them to work on his tenderness, and induce him to abandon his countrymen. If he yielded, he was to be made second in command to Le Clerc; if he refused, his children were to be reserved as hostages of his fidelity to the French. Notwithstanding the greatness of the sacrifice demanded of him, Toussaint remained faithful to his brethren. We pa.s.s over the details of the war, which at length, ended in a treaty of peace concluded by Toussaint, Dessalines and Christophe, against their better judgment, but in consequence of the effect of Le Clerc"s professions upon their simple followers, who were induced to lay down their arms. Toussaint retired to his plantation, relying upon the solemn a.s.surances of Le Clerc, that his person and property should be held sacred. Notwithstanding these a.s.surances, he was treacherously seized in the night, hurried on board a ship of war, and conveyed to Brest. He was conducted first to close prison in Chateaux de Joux, and from thence to Besancon, where he was plunged into a cold, wet, subterranean prison, which soon proved fatal to a const.i.tution used only to the warm skies and free air of the West Indies. He languished through the winter of 1802-1803; and his death, which happened in April, 1803, raised a cry of indignation against the government, which had chosen this dastardly method of destroying one of the best and bravest of the negro race.
Toussaint L"Ouverture is thus spoken of by Vincent, in his Reflections on the state of St. Domingo: "Toussaint L"Ouverture is the most active and indefatigable man, of whom it is possible to form an idea. He is always present wherever difficulty or danger makes his presence necessary. His great sobriety,--the power of living without repose,--the facility with which he resumes the affairs of the cabinet, after the most tiresome excursions,--of answering daily a hundred letters,--and of habitually tiring five secretaries--render him so superior to all around him, that their respect and submission almost amount to fanaticism. It is certain no man in modern times has obtained such an influence over a ma.s.s of ignorant people, as General Toussaint possesses over his brethren of St. Domingo. He is endowed with a prodigious memory. He is a good father and a good husband."
Toussaint re-established religious worship in St. Domingo; and on account of his zeal in this respect, a certain cla.s.s of men called him, in derision, the Capuchin.
With the genius and energy of Bonaparte, General Toussaint is said to have possessed the same political duplicity, and far-sighted cunning.
These are qualities which almost inevitably grew out of the peculiar circ.u.mstances in which they were placed, and the obstacles with which they were obliged to contend.
Wordsworth addressed the following sonnet to Toussaint L"Ouverture:
"Toussaint, thou most unhappy man of men!
Whether the whistling rustic tends his plough Within thy hearing, or thou liest now Buried in some deep dungeon"s earless den;-- Oh, miserable chieftain! where and when Wilt thou find patience? Yet die not; do thou Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow: Though fallen thyself, never to rise again, Live, and take comfort. Thou hast left behind Powers that will work for thee; air, earth and skies; There"s not a breathing of the common wind That will forget thee; thou hast great allies.
Thy friends are exultations, agonies, And love, and man"s unconquerable mind."
G.o.dwin, in his admirable Lectures on Colonial Slavery, says: "Can the West India islands, since their first discovery by Columbus, boast a single name which deserves comparison with that of Toussaint L"Ouverture?"
If we are willing to see and believe, we have full opportunity to convince ourselves that the colored population are highly susceptible of cultivation. St. Domingo produces black legislators, scholars, and gentlemen. The very negroes who had been slaves, formed a const.i.tution that would do credit to paler-faced statesmen--Americans may well blush at its _consistent_ republicanism.
The enemies of true freedom were very ready to predict that the government of Hayti could not continue for any length of time; but it has now lasted nearly thirty years, constantly increasing in respectability and wealth. The affairs of Greece have been managed with much less ability and discretion, though all the cabinets of Europe have given a.s.sistance and advice. St. Domingo achieved her independence alone and unaided--nay, in the very teeth of prejudice and scorn. The Greeks had loans from England, and contributions from America, and sympathy from half the world; the decisive battle of Navarino was gained by the combined fleets of England, France and Russia. Is it asked why Hayti has not produced any examples of splendid genius? In reply let me inquire, how long did the Europeans ridicule _us_ for our poverty in literature? When Raynal reproached the United States with not having produced one celebrated man, Jefferson requested him to wait until we had existed "as long as the Greeks before they had a Homer, the Romans a Virgil, and the French a Racine." Half a century elapsed before our republic produced Irving, Cooper, Sedgwick, Halleck, and Bryant. We must not forget that the cruel prejudice, under which colored people labor, makes it extremely difficult for them to gain admission to the best colleges and schools; they are obliged to contend with obstacles, which white men never encounter.
It might seem wonderful that the descendants of wise Ethiopia, and learned Egypt, are now in such a state of degradation, if history did not furnish a remarkable parallel in the condition of the modern Greeks.
The land of Homer, Pericles, and Plato, is now inhabited by ignorant, brutal pirates. Freedom made the Grecians great and glorious--tyranny has made them stupid and miserable. Yet their yoke has been light, compared with African bondage. In both cases the wrongs of the oppressed have been converted into an argument against them. We first debase the nature of man by making him a slave, and then very coolly tell him that he must always remain a slave because he does not know how to use freedom. We first crush people to the earth, and then claim the right of trampling on them for ever, because they are prostrate. Truly, human selfishness never invented a rule, which worked so charmingly both ways!
No one thinks of doubting the intellect of Indians; yet civilization has certainly advanced much farther in the interior of Africa, than it did among the North American tribes. The Indians have strong untutored eloquence,--so have the Africans. And where will you find an Indian chieftain, whose pride, intellect, and valor, are more than a match for Zhinga"s? Both of these cla.s.ses have been most shamefully wronged; but public prejudice, which bows the negro to the earth, has borne with a far less crushing power upon the energies of the red man; yet they have not produced a Shakspeare or a Newton. But I shall be asked how it is that the nations of Africa, having proceeded so far in the arts of civilization, have made a full stop, and remained century after century without any obvious improvement? I will answer this by another question: How long did the ancient Helvetians, Gauls, and Saxons, remain in such a state of barbarism, that what they considered splendor and refinement, would be called poverty and rudeness, by their German, French, and English descendants? What was it that changed the intellectual and moral character of these people, after ages of ignorance and ferocity? It was the _art of printing_. But, alas, with the introduction of printing, modern slavery was introduced! While commerce has carried books and maps to other portions of the globe, she has sent kidnappers, with guns and cutla.s.ses into Africa. We have not preached the Gospel of peace to her princes; we have incited them to make war upon each other, to fill our markets with slaves. While knowledge, like a mighty pillar of fire, has guided the European nations still onward, and onward, a dark cloud has settled more and more gloomily over benighted Africa. The lessons of time, the experience of ages, from which we have learned so much, are entirely lost to this vast continent.
I have heard it a.s.serted that the Indians were evidently superior to the negroes, because it was impossible to enslave _them_. Our slave laws prove that there are some exceptions to this remark; and it must be remembered that the Indians have been fairly met in battle, contending with but one nation at a time; while the whole world have combined against the Africans--sending emissaries to lurk for them in secret places, or steal them at midnight from their homes. The Indian will seek freedom in the arms of death--and so will the negro. By thousands and thousands, these poor people have died for freedom. They have stabbed themselves for freedom--jumped into the waves for freedom--starved for freedom--fought like very tigers for freedom! But they have been hung, and burned, and shot--and their tyrants have been their historians! When the Africans have writers of their own, we shall hear their efforts for liberty called by the true t.i.tle of heroism in a glorious cause. We are told in the fable that a lion, looking at the picture of one of his own species, conquered and trampled on by man, calmly said, "We lions have no painters."
I shall be told that in the preceding examples I have shown only the bright side of the picture. I readily grant it; but I have deemed it important to show that the picture _has_ a bright side. I am well aware that most of the negro authors are remarkable princ.i.p.ally because they are negroes. With considerable talent, they generally evince bad taste.
I do not pretend that they are Scotts or Miltons; but I wish to prove that they are _men_, capable of producing their proportion of Scotts and Miltons, if they could be allowed to live in a state of physical and intellectual freedom. But where, at the present time, _can_ they live in perfect freedom, cheered by the hopes and excited by the rewards, which stimulate white men to exertion? Every avenue to distinction is closed to them. Even where the body is suffered to be free, a hateful prejudice keeps the soul in fetters. I think every candid mind must admit that it is more wonderful they have done so much, than that they have done no more.
As a cla.s.s, I am aware that the negroes, with many honorable exceptions, are ignorant, and show little disposition to be otherwise; but this ceases to be the case just in proportion as they are free. The fault is in their unnatural situation, not in themselves. Tyranny always dwarfs the intellect. Homer tells us, that when Jupiter condemns a man to slavery, he takes from him half his mind. A family of children treated with habitual violence or contempt, become stupid and sluggish, and are called fools by the very parents or guardians who have crushed their mental energies. It was remarked by M. Dupuis, the British Consul at Mogadore, that the generality of Europeans, after a long captivity and severe treatment among the Arabs, seemed at first exceedingly dull and insensible. "If they had been any considerable time in slavery," says he, "they appeared lost to reason and feeling; their spirits broken; and their faculties sunk in a species of stupor, which I am unable adequately to describe. They appeared degraded even below the negro slave. The succession of hardships, without any protecting law to which they can appeal for alleviation, or redress, seems to destroy every spring of exertion, or hope in their minds. They appear indifferent to every thing around them; abject, servile, and brutish."
Lieutenant Hall, in his Travels in the United States, makes the following just remark: "Cut off hope for the future, and freedom for the present; superadd a due pressure of bodily suffering, and personal degradation; and you have a slave, who, (of whatever zone, nation or complexion,) will be what the poor African is, torpid, debased, and lowered beneath the standard of humanity."
The great Virginian, Patrick Henry, who certainly had a fair chance to observe the effects of slavery, says, "If a man be in chains, he droops and bows to the earth, because his spirits are broken; but let him twist the fetters off his legs and he will stand erect."
The following is the testimony of the Rev. R. Walsh, on the same subject; he is describing his first arrival at Rio Janeiro:
"The whole labor of bearing and moving burdens is performed by these people, and the state in which they appear is revolting to humanity.
Here were a number of beings entirely naked, with the exception of a covering of dirty rags, tied about their waists. Their skins, from constant exposure to the weather, had become hard, crusty, and seamed, resembling the coa.r.s.e black covering of some beast, or like that of an elephant, a wrinkled hide scattered with scanty hairs. On contemplating their persons, you saw them with a physical organization resembling beings of a grade below the rank of man; long projecting heels, the gastronymic muscle wanting, and no calves to their legs; their mouths and chins protruded, their noses flat, their foreheads retiring, having exactly the head and legs of the baboon tribe. Some of these beings were yoked to drays, on which they dragged heavy burdens. Some were chained by the neck and legs, and moved with loads thus enc.u.mbered. Some followed each other in ranks, with heavy weights on their heads, chattering in the most inarticulate and dismal cadence as they moved along. Some were munching young sugar-canes, like beasts of burden eating green provender; and some were seen near the water, lying on the bare ground among filth and offal, coiled up like dogs, and seeming to expect or require no more comfort or accommodation, exhibiting a state and conformation so unhuman, that they not only seemed but actually were, far below the inferior animals around them. Horses and mules were not employed in this way; they were used only for pleasure, and not labor. They were seen in the same streets, pampered, spirited, and richly caparisoned, enjoying a state far superior to the negroes, and appearing to look down on the fettered and burdened wretches they were pa.s.sing, as on beings of an inferior rank in the creation. Some of the negroes actually seemed to envy the caparisons of their fellow-brutes, and eyed with jealousy their glittering harness. In imitation of this finery, they were fond of thrums of many-colored threads; and I saw one creature, who supported the squalid rag that wrapped his waist by a suspender of gaudy worsted, which he turned every moment to look at on his naked shoulder. The greater number, however, were as unconscious of any covering for use or ornament, as a pig or an a.s.s.
"The first impression of all this on my mind, was to shake the conviction I had always felt, of the wrong and hardship inflicted on our black fellow-creatures, and that they were only in that state which G.o.d and nature had a.s.signed them; that they were the lowest grade of human existence, and the link that connected it with the brute; and that the gradation was so insensible, and their natures so intermingled, that it was impossible to tell where one had terminated and the other commenced; and that it was not surprising that people who contemplated them every day, so formed, so employed, and so degraded, should forget their claims to that rank in the scale of being in which modern philanthropists are so anxious to place them. I did not at the moment myself recollect, that the white man, made a slave on the coast of Africa, suffers not only a similar mental but physical deterioration from hardships and emaciation, and becomes in time the dull and deformed beast I now saw yoked to a burden.
"A few hours only were necessary to correct my first impressions of the negro population, by seeing them under a different aspect. We were attracted by the sound of military music, and found it proceeded from a regiment drawn up in one of the streets. Their colonel had just died, and they attended to form a procession to celebrate his obsequies. They were all of different shades of black, but the majority were negroes.
Their equipment was excellent; they wore dark jackets, white pantaloons, and black leather caps and belts, all which, with their arms, were in high order. Their band produced sweet and agreeable music, of the leader"s own composition, and the men went through some evolutions with regularity and dexterity. They were only a militia regiment, yet were as well appointed and disciplined as one of our regiments of the line. Here then was the first step in that gradation by which the black population of this country ascend in the scale of humanity; he advances from the state below that of a beast of burden into a military rank, and he shows himself as capable of discipline and improvement as a human being of any other color.
"Our attention was next attracted by negro men and women bearing about a variety of articles for sale; some in baskets, some on boards and cases carried on their heads. They belonged to a cla.s.s of small shopkeepers, many of whom vend their wares at home, but the greater number send them about in this way, as in itinerant shops. A few of these people were still in a state of bondage, and brought a certain sum every evening to their owners, as the produce of their daily labor. But a large proportion, I was informed, were free, and exercised this little calling on their own account. They were all very neat and clean in their persons, and had a decorum and sense of respectability about them, superior to whites of the same cla.s.s and calling. All their articles were good in their kind and neatly kept, and they sold them with simplicity and confidence, neither wishing to take advantage of others, nor suspecting that it would be taken of themselves. I bought some confectionary from one of the females, and I was struck with the modesty and propriety of her manner; she was a young mother, and had with her a neatly-dressed child, of which she seemed very fond. I gave it a little comfit, and it turned up its dusky countenance to her and then to me, taking my sweetmeat and at the same time kissing my hand. As yet unacquainted with the coin of the country, I had none that was current about me, and was leaving the articles; but the poor young woman pressed them on me with a ready confidence, repeating in broken Portuguese, _outo tempo_. I am sorry to say, the "other time" never came, for I could not recognise her person afterwards to discharge her little debt, though I went to the same place for the purpose.
"It soon began to grow dark, and I was attracted by a number of persons bearing large lighted wax tapers, like torches, gathering before a house. As I pa.s.sed by, one was put into my hand by a man who seemed in some authority, and I was requested to fall into a procession that was forming. It was the preparation for a funeral, and on such occasions, I learned that they always request the attendance of a pa.s.sing stranger, and feel hurt if they are refused. I joined the party, and proceeded with them to a neighboring church. When we entered we ranged ourselves on each side of a platform which stood near the choir, on which was laid an open coffin, covered with pink silk and gold borders. The funeral service was chanted by a choir of priests, one of whom was a negro, a large comely man, whose jet-black visage formed a strong and striking contrast to his white vestments. He seemed to perform his part with a decorum and sense of solemnity, which I did not observe in his brethren.
After scattering flowers on the coffin, and fumigating it with incense, they retired, the procession dispersed, and we returned on board.
"I had been but a few hours on sh.o.r.e for the first time, and I saw an African negro under four aspects of society; and it appeared to me, that in every one, his character depended on the state in which he was placed, and the estimation in which he was held. As a despised slave, he was far lower than other animals of burden that surrounded him; more miserable in his look, more revolting in his nakedness, more distorted in his person, and apparently more deficient in intellect, than the horses and mules that pa.s.sed him by. Advanced to the grade of a soldier, he was clean and neat in his person, amenable to discipline, expert at his exercises, and showed the port and bearing of a white man similarly placed. As a citizen, he was remarkable for the respectability of his appearance, and the decorum of his manners in the rank a.s.signed him; and as a priest, standing in the house of G.o.d, appointed to instruct society on their most important interests, and in a grade in which moral and intellectual fitness is required, and a certain degree of superiority is expected, he seemed even more devout in his impressions, and more correct in his manners, than his white a.s.sociates. I came, therefore, to the irresistible conclusion in my mind, that color was an accident affecting the surface of a man, and having no more to do with his qualities than his clothes--that G.o.d had equally created an African in the image of his person, and equally given him an immortal soul; and that a European had no pretext but his own cupidity, for impiously thrusting his fellow-man from that rank in the creation which the Almighty had a.s.signed him, and degrading him below the lot of the brute beasts that perish."
The honorable A. H. Everett, in his able work on the political situation of America, says, "Nations, and races, like individuals, have their day, and seldom have a second. The blacks had a long and glorious one; and after what they have been and done, it argues not so much a mistaken theory, as sheer ignorance of the most notorious historical facts, to pretend that they are naturally inferior to the whites. It would seem indeed, that if any race have a right claim to a sort of pre-eminence over others, on the fair and honorable ground of talents displayed, and benefits conferred, it is precisely this very one, which we take upon us, in the pride of a temporary superiority, to stamp with the brand of essential degradation. It is hardly necessary to add, that while the blacks were the leading race in civilization and political power, there was no prejudice among the whites against their color. On the contrary, we find that the early Greeks regarded them as a superior variety of the human species, not only in intellectual and moral qualities, but in outward appearance. "The Ethiopians," says Herodotus, "surpa.s.s all other men in longevity, stature, and personal beauty.""
Then let the slaveholder no longer apologize for himself by urging the stupidity and sensuality of negroes. It is upon the _system_, which thus transforms men into beasts, that the reproach rests in all its strength and bitterness. And even if the negroes were, beyond all doubt, our inferiors in intellect, this would form no excuse for oppression, or contempt. The use of law and public opinion is to protect the weak against the strong; and the government, which perverts these blessings into means of tyranny, resembles the priest, who administered poison with the Holy Sacrament.
Is there an American willing that the intellectual and the learned should bear despotic sway over the simple and the ignorant? If there be such a one, _he_ may consistently vindicate our treatment of the Africans.
CHAPTER VII.
MORAL CHARACTER OF NEGROES.
"Fleecy locks and black complexion Cannot forfeit Nature"s claim; Skins may differ, but affection Dwells in black and white the same.
"Slaves of gold! whose sordid dealings Tarnish all your boasted powers, Prove that you have human feelings, Ere you proudly question ours."
THE NEGRO"S COMPLAINT; BY COWPER.
The opinion that negroes are naturally inferior in intellect is almost universal among white men; but the belief that they are worse than other people, is, I believe, much less extensive: indeed, I have heard some, who were by no means admirers of the colored race, maintain that they were very remarkable for kind feelings, and strong affections. Homer calls the ancient Ethiopians "the most honest of men;" and modern travellers have given innumerable instances of domestic tenderness, and generous hospitality in the interior of Africa. Mungo Park informs us that he found many schools in his progress through the country, and observed with pleasure the great docility and submissive deportment of the children, and heartily wished they had better instructers and a purer religion.
The following is an account of his arrival at Jumbo, in company with a native of that place, who had been absent several years: "The meeting between the blacksmith and his relations was very tender; for these rude children of nature, free from restraint, display their emotions in the strongest and most expressive manner. Amidst these transports, the aged mother was led forth, leaning upon a staff. Every one made way for her, and she stretched out her hand to bid her son welcome. Being totally blind, she stroked his hands, arms, and face, with great care, and seemed highly delighted that her latter days were blessed by his return, and that her ears once more heard the music of his voice. From this interview, I was fully convinced, that whatever difference there is between the negro and the European, in the conformation of the nose, and the color of the skin, there is none in the genuine sympathies and characteristic feelings of our common nature."
At a small town in the interior, called Wawra, he says, "In the course of the day, several women, hearing that I was going to Sego, came and begged me to inquire of Mansong, the king, what was become of their children. One woman, in particular, told me that her son"s name was Mamadee; that he was no heathen; but prayed to G.o.d morning and evening; that he had been taken from her about three years ago by Mansong"s army, since which she had never heard from him. She said she often dreamed about him, and begged me, if I should see him in Bambarra, or in my own country, to tell him that his mother and sister were still alive."
At Sego, in Bambarra, the king, being jealous of Mr. Park"s intentions, forbade him to cross the river. Under these discouraging circ.u.mstances, he was advised to lodge at a distant village; but there the same distrust of the white man"s purposes prevailed, and no person would allow him to enter his house. He says, "I was regarded with astonishment and fear, and was obliged to sit all day without food, under the shade of a tree. The wind rose, and there was great appearance of a heavy rain, and the wild beasts are so very numerous in the neighborhood, that I should have been under the necessity of resting among the branches of the tree. About sunset, however, as I was preparing to pa.s.s the night in this manner, and had turned my horse loose, that he might graze at liberty, a woman, returning from the labors of the field, stopped to observe me. Perceiving that I was weary and dejected, she inquired into my situation, which I briefly explained to her; whereupon, with looks of great compa.s.sion, she took up my saddle and bridle and told me to follow her. Having conducted me into her hut, she lighted a lamp, spread a mat on the floor, and told me I might remain there for the night. Finding that I was hungry, she went out, and soon returned with a very fine fish, which being broiled upon some embers, she gave me for supper. The women then resumed their task of spinning cotton, and lightened their labor with songs, one of which must have been composed extempore, for I was myself the subject of it. It was sung by one of the young women, the rest joining in a kind of chorus. The air was sweet and plaintive, and the words literally translated, were these: