# A pilgrimage to my motherland/Chapter 10

CHAPTER X
RETURN
"Two horsemen," and their adventure—Exchange horses—What about Vaughn—Progress arrested—New route—Voices in the bush—Village in Ashes—Isehin—A Hunting-Party—Dead man by the Koadside—Ibadan Soldiers, another adventure—"Enough, Enough, white man, go on!"—A city on a hill—Berecadu, and its defenses—Night travel in Africa—Abbeokuta again—"The Dahomians are coming"—Deputation—The Doctor is come, and how he did it—Final Departure for the Coast—The Carrier Nuisance once more—Troubles—Heroic Woman—Safe at Lagos—Departure—Kru Men—A Slaver.
ON the morning of the third day after our departure from Ilorin we reached Ogbomishaw, where we in-tended to remain only that day, to rest, and proceed early the next, as we were anxious to reach the coast to obtain our letters; but we were disappointed, as no carriers would stir out of the town on account of the hostilities raging amongst the people of Oyo, Iba-dan, and Ijaye.
Having spent the day in fruitless search for carriers, we had just returned to the house, which, through the kindness of the American Baptist Missionaries, we ​were permitted to occupy, when two horsemen rode up to the door, and dismounting, entered, weary, starved and almost in rags.
These were the Rev Mr. Stone, and a colored American carpenter in the employ of the missionaries. The surprise Of seeing them so unexpectedly, and under such distressing circumstances, being somewhat allayed, Mr. Stone briefly related to us his adventures as follows:
A colored man named Vaughn, an American, had selected for his abode a locality about three hours' journey from the city of Ijaye, on the road towards Ibadan. The Arey ascertaining that the Ibadans were moving against him, sent information to the missionaries, that they should go and bring their friend within the city, otherwise he could not answer for his safety. Mr. Stone, accompanied by Russel, almost immediately set out on horseback to apprise Vaughn of his danger, and persuade him to come with them. The horse on which Mr. Stone rode, was purchased some months before from the Arey, and was well known all through the country as his favorite war-horse; he was one of the largest, and except that the infirmities of age were be-coming manifest, one of the handsomest among the Yoruba horses; besides, only a few weeks before, two large, warlike, Mexican saddles were received from ​America, which the horses wore at the time of the ad-venture. They progressed on their journey unmolested until they reached the house of Vaughn, and unfortunately found it already entirely deserted, with much of his property destroyed, and scattered over the ground. There was every indication that the enemy was there and that something serious had befallen their friend. Nevertheless they concluded to proceed to the next village, about one hour's ride, to ascertain, if possible, his fate. They had progressed a few miles when they encountered a body of Ibadans who commanded them to halt and remain with them until the Balagun of the party arrived. Our friends, presuming on the respect always shown to civilized men, and the virtue of the horses, thought fit to disregard the injunction, and giving reins and spurs to their steeds would certainly have soon left the Ibadans far in the rear, had not suddenly before them, and on every side, a large number of soldiers, like spectres made their unwelcome appearance, and actually pointed their long guns at the fugitives, and would have fired, had they not immediately abandoned their design of so unceremoniously forsaking their company. Some, indignant at their attempt to escape, would have done them bodily injury but for the interference of their superiors. After all, they were pretty roughly used, their clothes ​torn, their hats stolen. There was no alternative, so they passively submitted.
In a few minutes the Balagun arrived, and sent the captives in charge of a few armed men to Ibadan. Arriving there, they were immediately taken before Ogumola, the chief of the city, who after much questioning, suffered them to depart. The timely interference of the Rev. Mr. Hinderer of the Church Mission, stationed at Ibadan, conduced much to their being dismissed with so little trouble. The circumstance of Mr. Stone's riding Arey's war-horse, looking, as well as the other horse, so martial in his caparison, induced the soldiers to regard him and his companion as spies, and hence the cause of their capture; and it was only after good evidence was afforded, that the horse was purchased from the Arey, and also that their mission without the walls of Ijaye was a peaceable one, that they were dismissed.
Not wishing to return by the same road, they attempted to pass through Iwo and Oyo, to Ijaye, but arriving at Iwo, they learned that the road to Oyo was in possession of soldiers who would not suffer any one to pass; on this account they were obliged to proceed to Ogbomishaw. They arrived as before narrated, hungry, tired, and pitifully distressed in mind, particularly Mr. Stone, on account of his wife, who must ​have suffered extreme agony from the apprehension that harm had overtaken her husband.
Not wishing again to be annoyed on account of the horse, Mr. Stone offered to exchange him for mine, a fine young animal, but not worth in money-value more than half his, to which I consented, as, being well known to the King of Oyo, I could take the horse into his capital without suspicion of connection with the rebel chief.
The next day we heard that some Egba traders were expected at the farm-village near Ogbomishaw, and that their carriers, who would have to return thence to Oyo, would be glad of the job of taking our parcels thither. I immediately went off to the village, and had the good fortune to engage them. I then hurried back to Ogbomishaw, and having completed our preparations, the next morning we were on the way to Oyo. Mr. Stone, in order I suppose to get as far as possible from association with the animal, rode ahead of us, so as to reach that place a day before us.
We never met a single living soul on the road to Oyo, several thriving villages being now quite deserted, the inhabitants taking refuge in the larger towns.
We arrived at Oyo early on Sunday morning, and proceeded to the compound of the Rev. Mr. Reid, ​of the American Baptist Mission, whom we did not find, as both he and Mr. Meeking, of the Church Missionary Society, accompanied by a messenger from the king, had gone to Ibadan, to seek Mr. Stone, who had arrived on Saturday evening, and, expecting us, had kindly ordered breakfast, of which, with a keen appetite, we were just about to partake, when Mr. Reid also rode up to the door. He did not go all the journey to Ibadan, having been informed at Iwo that the object of his search was safe and had gone to Ogbomishaw, thence to reach Oyo. Mr. Stone immediately after breakfast set out for Ijaye, to relieve as soon as possible the distress which his wife and friends endured on his account.
As for Vaughn, the party whom Mr. Stone had gone to seek, a few days before he had procured from Ibadan a number of men to assist him to remove his things into that town: unfortunately he got into a quarrel with some of these, one of whom struck him a blow on the head with his weapon, wounding him severely: he returned the blow, and leaving the man apparently dead, fled to Ibadan. Except his money, and a few other articles of value which he had before se-cured, he lost all his property by this adventure.
We continued at Oyo more than a week, not being able to procure carriers for our parcels. We could ​have gone on ourselves without any fear of harm, but it was impossible to leave all our things: it was at the same time essential to reach the coast within a month, as our funds were insufficient for a longer stay. After some consultation, it was determined that I should make an effort to get to Abbeokuta down the valley of the Ogun through Isehin.
Accordingly, leaving all the parcels in the care of the Doctor, taking with me only the means of living on the journey, and accompanied by our cook and interpreter, the latter to return for the Doctor if carriers could be found, we left Oyo on the morning of the 6th of March, and arrived at Isehin about eight o'clock the same evening. The road, at best but little frequented, was now completely deserted, and in many places almost impassable on horseback. Two or three hours from Oyo, we came to the iron-smelting village already referred to.
It was apparently entirely unoccupied, and I dismounted and examined the construction of their furnaces: remounting and again attempting to go for-ward, my attendants hesitated, declaring they heard voices in the bush ahead.
I affected to despise their fears, and moved for-wards, bidding them follow, which they did at a very respectful distance. True, we had not advanced a ​hundred yards when we perceived several groups of armed men on both sides of the road a little way ahead: as we approached, they directed their weapons towards us in rather a threatening manner, yet they did not seem hostile; so urging my horse to a brisk trot, I rode amongst them, laughing and cheerfully sa-luting them as I approached. They could not help laughing too, but when I presented my hand successively to the first three or four, neither would touch it: passing the others, I presented it somewhat insist-ingly to one who seemed the leader: he shook it, several others following his example. They merely in-quired whence we came, and suffered us to pass.
About two hours after, we crossed the Ogun and suddenly encountered one of the saddest spectacles in Africa, a village only a few days before full of life and activity, now entirely depopulated, its inhabitants captured as slaves, itself in ruins and ashes. The people belonged to Oyo, and were collected there on account of the employment of ferrying passengers over the Ogun during the rainy season. The King of Oyo having a short time before captured a few of the people of Ijaye, Arey in retaliation sent an expedition against the place, and suddenly pouncing upon the unsuspecting inhabitants at midnight, took every individual and burnt the place. ​During this day's journey we saw the largest number of wild animals, deer, monkeys, etc., especially near the river; and as we passed through the village we perceived a flock of Guinea-hens covering an area of over an acre. As before mentioned, we arrived at Isehin about eight in the evening. Mr. Elba, the native reader of the Church Mission, and father of the boy already mentioned, kindly afforded us accommodation. We tarried long enough the next day to pay our respects to the king. We found his majesty attired in his hunting costume, horses, attendants, dogs and arms, all ready to depart, consequently he could not afford a lengthy audience, but was very courteous, and presented me a small smoked animal not unlike the armadillo, a present, I was told, significant of much respect, but which I could not sufficiently appreciate, particularly as it partook of the qualities of venison when most acceptable to certain palates. We also called on the chief Balagun, who gave us a hearty welcome and a few dried fishes. The number of inhabitants does not exceed twenty thousand, and the town is one of the only two in this section, Iwo being the other, which have existed before the troubles which led to the formation of Ijaye, Abbeokuta, etc. We left Isehin about eleven A.M., and reached Awaye, the next town, the same evening. ​The road was quiet and deserted, the people every where fearing to leave home on account of the unsettled condition of affairs. There was the body of a man near the road, a mile from the town, where it had lain for more than a week. A few of a straggling party of Ijaye soldiers lurking in the neighborhood, having unsuccessfully pursued some farmers, were returning to their companions, who fired on them, mistaking them for the fugitives, and unfortunately killed one. The chief ordered that his body, which of course his companions had no time either to take away or bury, should remain, as a lesson to similar marauding parties.
Not more than half an hour after our arrival, the chief waited on me in person to salute me and welcome me to his town. He is the youngest chief in the Aku country, but certainly one of the most intelligent, to judge by his conversation. He sent me a large bowl of milk for supper, and the next morning a fine pig, although he knew I was not in a position to make him a return present. He was very anxious that some civilized person should come to live in his town. It is strange that while, including teachers and catechists, a place like Abbeokuta should have ten or twelve missionaries, besides an indefinite number of native readers or visitors, there should be only an ignorant ​visitor, whose sole qualification is his ability to read, allowed to a town of from sixteen to twenty thousand people.
My horse and men being tired, we rested all the next day at Awaye.
A woman with her son and daughter besought me to permit them to go under our protection to Abbeokuta. I told her she was welcome to all the protection I could afford, and we left together the next morning early. At about eleven o'clock, when half-way on our journey to Bi-olorun-pellu, we suddenly met about two hundred Ibadan soldiers. My servants, who were before me, attempted to pass by the fore-most of them, but were very roughly arrested. My-self and the rest of the party soon came up and were all immediately surrounded. They kept us, while discussing the fate of my people, for nearly two hours. At length they demanded a present as the condition on which they would allow us to proceed. I had nothing to give, having left Oyo with only two suits of clothes, one on my back, the other in a small bundle. My other things consisted only of a gutta-percha sheet and some cooking utensils. I told the man who carried them to open the things and allow them to take whatever they desired: seeing we had nothing, they informed my interpreter, after a little consideration ​among themselves, that we could depart peaceably, but they must keep as their captives the woman and her two children. It was too distressing to see three human beings about to be deprived of their liberty. The old woman wept bitterly, but her tears were apparently unheeded. I told them that it was impossible for me to leave these people; they had placed themselves under my protection, therefore I could not permit them to be taken away, except with myself also; that they could take my horse, my watch, my money, all I had, in short; but I would not permit them to take these people. They hesitated, I saw they were moved, and I kept up my entreaties. At length the balagun or captain, to whom I addressed myself, and who remained silent all the time I spoke, with almost a tear in his eye, exclaimed, "Oto, oto, oyibo, molo!" "Enough, enough, white man, go on." When one of his party attempted to take away a tin cup my interpreter carried, he drew his sword, declaring that it was at the peril of any one to touch us. Some of his people seemed much disappointed. We hurried away, and four hours after were climbing an immense rock, rising like an island from the surrounding plain, on the summit of which is situated "Bi-olorun-pellu," "If the Lord wills."
The party we had so fortunately escaped from, ​belonged to the same who had arrested the Rev. Mr. Stone, for they knew the horse, and two or three of them contended that he was the same, while others more skilled in logic showed that it was impossible, for the reasons that he was sent to Ibadan, that he was not ridden by the same oyibo, and that he had not on the same saddle. The argument was conclusive, so they contended no longer; but there seemed to be still a few who, by an occasional shake of the head as they viewed the animal, continued to indicate a lingering skepticism. The horse, in his turn, seemed to recognize his old acquaintances, and looked all the time as suspicious as possible.
The people of this town, like those of Abbeokuta, flying from place to place before a relentless enemy, had at last betaken themselves to this naturally impregnable position, and in view of its safety called it, "Bi-olorun-pellu," for, said they, only by the Lord's will, and not by the power of man, can we be removed hence. I never perhaps endured greater labor than in the effort to get my horse up the almost inaccessible cliffs, although assisted by our party, even the women; and when at last we succeeded, the poor beast was much bruised. There are only two passes into the town, one by which it is entered from Isehin, and the other from Berecadu. Three men at each of ​these could successfully defend the place against any number. It could also hold out against a long siege, for not only is there always a supply of provisions stored away to last for at least two years, but the interstices of the rocks and other places unattainable except by the inhabitants, are susceptible of cultivation, although the amount of produce thus obtained would hardly be equivalent to their ordinary consumption. The same evening we arrived I called to pay my respects to the chief, from whom I received the usual kind treatment: he presented me, as did the chief of Awaye, with a fine pig. The Balagun also gave me a large "rooster." I left the next morning with a thousand blessings from the people, for the woman who with her children I had aided in saving from slavery, had told the matter to all her friends, as she did also at Berecadu and at Abbeokuta, and they, with all the warm gratitude of the African's nature, were exceedingly lavish in their acknowledgments of the deed. We arrived at Berecadu on the evening of the same day, without any incidents on the journey worth recording. At one of the crossings of the Ogun, we met a large company of Ibadan soldiers, again lurking like wild beasts to seize any unsuspecting native who in such times should venture out to their farms. They had taken possession of a few huts on the banks of the ​river, used in the wet season by those who make a business of crossing passengers on large calabashes as already described.
First one, evidently the balagun, came out and saluted us very kindly, then another, and still another, until there were more than thirty standing around us. I strove to appear myself, quite at ease, and shook hands and joked with them, but the woman and her son and daughter gave them a "wide berth," while the interpreter and cook, the latter of whom I shall better call Johnson, could ill repress their fears, although they behaved well.
Berecadu is a town of about thirty or thirty-five thousand inhabitants, judging from the extent and character of its only market. The people are partly Yorubas and partly Egbas, paying tribute to both nations, but obliged to guard against both also, as each seems determined to compel the paying of tribute to itself alone. Its defenses are so well contrived that it would almost be as difficult a place to take as Bi-olorun-pellu, except by surprise, and this is not likely, as a large number of armed men, "keepers of the city," are stationed every night at the gates.
There are two walls encompassing the whole city, leaving a space of about two hundred yards between them, and this space contains a dense forest, with an ​interlacing undergrowth, utterly impassable to an enemy except by the use of means incompatible with the dispatch of warfare.
We sojourned with the Visitor, who lives in the compound of the chief, to whom I as usual paid my respects and explained the object of my visit. He is almost the most miserable person of the town, old, blind, neglected and in dirt and rags, yet cheerful and apparently much concerned for his people. There is a second chief or regent, who is charged with the municipal administration.
Leaving Berecadu shortly after midnight, we arrived at Abbeokuta in time for breakfast. Except in the warmest part of the day, it is always pleasant to travel in Africa, but it is particularly so at night or near day-break: the country then seen by the mellow light of the moon, or by the gray twilight, seems twice as wild and magnificent, and the flowers distill their perfume in greater abundance: now and then, it is true, one hears the dismal screech of some night-bird, or the yell or howl of some small animal disturbed in his repose by intruding footsteps, but these serve only to break the monotony; and besides, there are the gentle cooing of doves, and the cheerful voices and merry laughter of your native attendants, sufficient to cheer any heart. ​Whenever it was practicable, we always preferred travelling at such times; and although much is said in disparagement of night air in Africa, certainly in our case, if injurious at all, it was not as much so as the effects of the sun.
We found Abbeokuta in considerable commotion. Only a few days before, the Dahomians were known to be advancing against the city, but informed doubtless by their spies of the reception that was prepared for them, they suddenly wheeled about and retraced their steps, not without committing much depredation among the people through whose territory they passed.
Every one was also speculating on the war in the interior, and its probable consequences and duration. Being the only person who had returned thence for a fortnight, every one wanted to hear news from me: the king and chiefs desired an interview particularly, respecting the Ibadans we met on the road, who were suspected to be loitering there to join the Dahomians in their contemplated attack.
The morning after my arrival I was waited upon at the house of my kind friend Mr. Samuel Crowther, Jr., by a large deputation of the relatives of the woman who came with me from Awaye. She was not with them herself, being ill from the ​effect of her fright and the fatigue of such hurried travelling; but there were the son and daughter and her other children, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and their husbands, wives, children, etc. They brought with them presents of chickens, eggs, fruits, cola-nuts and many other suitable gifts.
The interpreter had accompanied me with the object of returning to inform the Doctor whether carriers could be obtained on the route, and if so, to come with him and our luggage after me to Abbeokuta; but the condition of the road, as the reader already knows, rendered it impossible even for the interpreter to return alone.
My next plan was to return myself, taking with me the letter-bags of the missionaries, which they were very anxious to receive; but both the interpreter and Johnson, who belonged to Lagos, wanted to go home, the former because his mother was at the point of death, the latter because he was longing to see his wife, but he promised to return in a week, and to indicate his sincerity refused to take his wages until then. True to his word, he came at the appointed time, and we were about to set out the next morning, my horse waiting, when our native boy Adeneje, who was left at Oyo with small-pox, came in with a note from my colleague informing me that he had just arrived at our ​usual place of abode at the Baptist Mission House. After making several fruitless efforts to procure carriers, he was at length favored by the king with the protection of a detachment of soldiers going to join the Ibadans against Kumi, Arey of Ijaye, a few of them being also detailed to the duty of carriers, an office they seemed to regard as derogatory to the dignity of soldiers, judging from the trouble they gave him. The king also sent with him a special messenger to indicate that he was the king's friend, and as such should receive proper consideration. He made the journey through Iwo and Ibadan. When he arrived at the latter place he could only procure carriers for a portion of our things, the Rev. Mr. Hinderer, with whom the Doctor sojourned at Ibadan, kindly consenting to take care of the rest for us. The reader will remember that we had already left a large portion of our property at Ijaye, which though safe, we could not procure, as we were unable to enter the city. From both these circumstances we lost most of our collections, and also some fine photographs.
By the first of April we had completed our arrangements, and were to leave on the morning of the third for Lagos. Carriers were engaged for the journey, as we intended to travel by land, it being the dry season; but when the time arrived we were as usual put off ​and annoyed by their unconquerable love of gain, and desire to make if possible a fortune out of us. They would come, examine the parcels, and charge three or four times more than the labor was worth. One refuses to pay, and they walk off. After great trouble you procure another set; they serve you in the same way; then the first return and abate somewhat, but the charge is still too great, and you refuse to pay it; they walk off again, expecting that as you are in a hurry, you will call them back, which of course you do not, having acquired some wisdom by your past experience in the country. They go out of sight for twenty minutes, and at last return again, asking an honest price, and the bargain is completed. Surviving all the annoyance, which I assure the reader is much worse than I can depict, we at length left Abbeokuta about nine o'clock in the evening on the fifth of April, intending to sleep that night at Aro, and depart early the next morning; but having attained that point, our relentless carriers placed down their loads, and declared that as they were heavy they would not carry them any further without more pay. This they did because the next day being Oro-day, it would be impossible to get others, and we could not delay a day longer without the risk of losing our passage to England. I was at a loss what to do, but of all things I ​would not submit to their extortion. At last Mr. Pedro, an intelligent young native, kindly volunteered to procure a canoe to take down the things, thus enabling us to dispense with the carriers entirely. After some effort he succeeded. It was then concluded that the Doctor, accompanied by Johnson, should proceed by land, while I should go with the canoe to look after the safety of our things. The Doctor left about ten o'clock A.M., the things were placed on board, my horse sent back to Abbeokuta, and stepping into the canoe it was pushed off. We proceeded with much labor for about two miles, when it was found impossible to go further: there was not enough water to float it. We were then left in a worse dilemma than at first, for a little more pay would have secured the services of the carriers. Leaving the canoe, I returned to Aro, to procure if possible the aid of a man to push it on, and fortunately met Messrs. Josiah Crowther and Faulkner, the latter a respectable young man from Sierra Leone, who seeing and pitying my unlucky position, sent a few of their laborers to take the luggage down to Agbamiya, a point further down the river, from which place there is always enough water to float a loaded canoe. These laborers instead of returning with the things to Aro, and proceeding thence by the direct road, attempted a ​short cut and went three or four miles out of the way, so that we never arrived at Agbamiya until about six in the afternoon. Arriving there, by a little more trouble and the offer of good pay on condition of leaving that night, I procured another canoe, and away we went at last.
There is always trouble travelling in Africa with luggage, but it is far less in the interior than among the semi-civilized, neither Christian nor heathen, natives of the coast, who acquiring all the vices of the white man, know little and practise still less of his virtues.
I never experienced real hardship until in this little journey between Abbeokuta and the coast. No sooner had we fairly started than it began to rain heavily, and it continued raining more or less until we reached Lagos, so that, sleeping and waking, I was wet the whole time, forty-eight hours; but I warded off the effects by helping the canoe-man with a paddle the entire way, by which means we also arrived at Lagos earlier. One more unpleasant incident, and I shall relieve the reader. It seemed that the canoe in which we travelled was purchased from an Ijebu, and not paid for. When two thirds down the river, the canoe-man stopped at a small market-village, not expecting to meet there his creditor, but did unfortunately. Some altercation ensued, ​when the Ijebu began to take the things out of the boat, in order to repossess himself of his property. I remained quiet until he attempted to remove my things, when I interposed. He turned from me, and began to talk very angrily with the canoe-man. Both became more and more excited. At this time an-other canoe with several men and women came up, and all these took part in the row, which grew more fierce every instant. I saw some of the crowd running away, who in a few moments returned, and with them about thirty men, all armed with knives, their chief at their head. They rushed at the poor man, and the chief seizing the resistless creature was about to slay him, when a woman heroically threw herself in the way of the weapon, and saved him. The row continued fully an hour longer, and terminated at last only from the sheer exhaustion of all concerned. Without an interpreter, and my own knowledge of the language being very limited, I was unable except by conjecture and an expression under-stood here and there, to learn the details of the dispute.
We arrived at Lagos on the evening of the 7th of April. Dr. Delany accomplished his overland journey in the same time, so that we met crossing the bay, and landed together. The next day, Sunday— ​Easter Sunday—we attended divine service, and heard a sermon from our venerable friend the Rev. Samuel Crowther, who was now spending a short time with his family, and expecting to return to his labors up the Niger in a few days. Let me here, as well for my colleague as myself, record my acknowledgments and thanks to him, his family, and to the many kind friends we met with in our travels, not omitting our friend Capt. Davis, who kindly furnished us a passage in his boat to the steamer, free of expense.
On the morning of the 10th of April we bade adieu to Lagos, and after an unusually fine passage across the bar, embarked on board the Royal Mail S. S. "Athenian," Capt. Laurie, for Liverpool. The steamer, as in the outward voyage, stopped at the inter-mediate places on the coast, and at Teneriffe and Madeira. She had on board a large number of Kru men, returning from different points of the coast, where they had been serving either on board men-of-war or trading vessels. These men are of incalculable advantage, as without them it would be impossible to work the ships, European sailors being unfit to labor in such warm latitudes, and not understanding so well the management of boats in heavy surfs. No where, I believe, can people be found so ​at home in the water. At Cape Palmas and other places on the Liberian coast, the steamer stops to allow them to land, which they do in very small canoes, brought off from the beach by their country-men, in which no other human beings would venture. They make a fearful noise as they are departing and preparing to do so, and if not hurried off by the officers, would detain the vessel much longer than necessary. Sometimes the steamer starts before they have all left, and then without the slightest hesitation they throw into the water such of their property as will float, taking the rest in their hands, and jumping overboard swim with the greatest ease to their canoes. Such a scene occurred in our ship. Those who were still on board when the steamer started, had a number of swords, iron pots, pistols, kegs of powder, etc., the wages of their labor, which they prefer rather in goods than in money. I saw several jump into the water with swords in both hands, but there was one who had five swords and two iron pots, certainly not weighing less than thirty-five or forty pounds. Their canoes often upset, but this they consider quite a matter of course; a dexterous jerk from one side rights them again, and in another instant they are in their place bailing out the water. ​At Freetown, Sierra Leone, we saw a large slaver, brought in a few days before by H.M.S.S. "Triton." Her officers and crew, consisting of over thirty persons, were there set at liberty, to be disposed of by the Spanish Consul as distressed seamen. They were as such forwarded in the same ship with us to Teneriffe. No wonder that the slave-trade should be so difficult to suppress, when no punishment awaits such wretches as these. What scamp would fear to embark in such an enterprise, if only assured that there was no personal risk—that he has only to destroy the ship's flag and papers on the approach of a cruiser, not only to shield himself and his crew from the consequence of his crime, but to receive the consideration rightly accorded distressed honest men. These villains, of course return to Havana or the United States, procure a new ship, and again pursue the wicked purpose which their previous experience enables them to accomplish with all the more impunity.
The incidents of a voyage to England under every variety of circumstance, have been so often described, that I shall both save myself the trouble of writing, and you, dear reader, the tedium of perusing them.