The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-03-29

tion. had been taken on as freight.
brake on u plantation OF Gen. Maury. a guard
was placed over them. and with the crew OF the
SiotildG On board the Gar IN the darkness Of
rivers ~ meet the fancy. On meeting her. the
low ottlle SLAYER were transferred tUtho Texas,
supplied with supper. cards, and whiskcy. and
keDt .Ocsed In until the boat arrived ut Mont
goinery, where they were, placed on the. cars,
scattered, They could Of course he depended on
NOT to tell the story "f Their last cruise.
apOlOgtzed for the l~ateness OF the supper, took
his usual place ut the head of the table, said
something about his SICK cook, and went on
with his, usual duties as II no unusual event had
occurred. The reason for this. proceeding viii
appear later. The negroes had been landed, but
the troubles Of their importers were not over.
Ills vessel had not been announced at the Custom
House, and, OF course. the revenue officers were
soon searching for II. The story ~ the i'm
t~.tation soon became public and the officers
otth United states Court Joined in the hunt
The location Of the negroes was several times
changed aud the gang was broken into small
squads for easier concealment. Day after day
the Cknebrnkes along the river were scrutiui2rd.
but though old camps were found none could he
reached prior to abandonment. While many of
the more conservative citizens did not favor tho
importation, none would furnish any ini"rrna.
ton which would tend to impcril tie neck ut a
noighhnr. Dceming himself, secure from Irtec,
tioh, the siipcrrargO. with almost unparalleled
audncity. mingled freely with the crews of the
searching craft. and was thus enabled to sioil
not be given for any change, if the
,'"'' pohh " hNND lIplh Nlbbltt IIbllIIly.
liquor was smuggled on board aud given to the
crew, who all became drunk. OBTAINING the craft
time the camp. which had been located. was
empty. But so much valid information was oh
share in it. that he was indicted by the Grand
jury at the next term of the United States
Court and PLACED on trial, Tor piracy. the specific
charge being that he had personally imported II
cargo. But he was able easily to prove an nlibi.
lie shovel by persons serving on board the
during, the year ending with the time Of
the alleged landing. or tho slaves lie had
not missed making IA single weekly trip in COM
nnnd as usual. In short, 80 well had his plans
been laid and carried out that conviction
was impossible, and he was released. The SUI
percarg", was never arrested. nor his identity
publicly known till after the outbreak of hoStiI-
lin a small fortnnc' IrirIt UTns 'i uy G th.
hunt and trial, several who had agreed
TO purt base II number of the slaves Withdrew
IRON their contract. the trial with its accom-
panyhlg expenses absorbed money, the schooner
and its outfit had cost him about $50
transaction he found the sum OF 500. 900 on
he wrong side Of his profit and loss account.
now, found himself burdened for they were
really a BURDEN with about 100 more. When
to work for the Confederate Government, but
many were left to SHIFT for themselves.
alter me surrender q man Of the CAPTAINS
business. employing as freedmen most of the
Africans stu living near his home; They speak
OF him as being IA kind master. They were IN
formed that they were free. and that IL they
chose they could work for him for wages: and
many Of them did so. and bought from him
tracts OF land about three miles from Mobile. on
which they have erected cottages. thus obtain
ing houses OF their own perhaps sooner than any
other of their race in the vicinity.
y. Employed as many of the men are in getting
in Major Mn" R Rrepsr,at u the ,Sr s psrfe mos. f0 Of
their time away from home. and a sunday visit
to the settlement was necessary If | would see
them. On II hot sabbath afternoon in June in
company with MIR. Augustine Meaher. son OF
Capt. Mealer. drove out from Mobile to the
a Nm TN sn u Kaa t,ns Qua AN, -r. Lat. !
wife in a good road cart. drawn by a good horse
which they owned, en- route to church in the
Mr.. Meaher stated the object of my visit, we
drove on; they stating we would not find many
return the next Sabbath they would notify all
whom they could and / could see them.
rs we were not far from tine village. We
broken ground, half a mile or more from the
Mobile River. surrounded by pine forests. in
carthworks thrown up for covering the ap-
proaches to, tho city during the war. About
thirty small houses are scattered irregularly
over an area of forty acres, many OF them quite
structures compared with the ordi-
nary cabins of the country. On adjoining land
owned by Mr.: Meaher are several others occu-
pied by families OF country negroes working
with the first generation the oldest inhab-
itants of Little Africa do not seem to mingle
much. Two churches are located IN the settle.
outsiders, and the other is II Baptist mission
chapel of a city church, for the Africans.
tpS V io nv h'Sh u ulo'lN- |
guish those Africans from the other colored
persons in the vicinity. One thing can be said
them. Their morals are said TO be better than
those Of their, race. debauched by centuries OF
to feelings at first entertained against them a.
bar harians IS prohlematical. They are good
AIeaher and others who employ or trade with
them. They support u day school taught by a
young colored woman from the city. and during
relating to their locations in Africa. a girl OF
who acted as interpreter when their
failed. showed a knowledge not only of
geography but OF the United States as
well, and used good language IN the translation.
Her name written in my note book was in clear.
legible. well-rormed letters.
Most OF the colony were from Dahomey, or.
versing with each other they use their native
which Is harsh and cultural In sound.
but still more labial than that Of the American
citation of their names from what portions Of
the surrounding country those not Of Dahomey
from Moandi and was captured first by
I'Acosta probably the name OF a raiding chieh
themselves Tecki, and say they came from the
north Of Dahomey and were cap
Maun Police, who says she was nine
teen Al the time she was brought to this coun-
She was Altarco query, 'Taurick ~ and came
long way from IDahomey,' probably from the
Of Lake Tchad.
I'm former years most OF them look ell up TO
one woman. said to have been the wife of u
rhief, AS IA kind OF queen or head woman, and
now one old Dahoman named Peter Gooltah is
regarded as head man. together with Cudjoe.
both Of whom are shrewd but comical individ-
nails. who must have been men in middle life
when brought over. Peter still has "A warm spot
n his heart for his native land. In reply to u
question as to which country he preferred he
'Dahhomah,' repeating hiSanswer three
,r four times. This was echoed by one OF the
who added:
I'm Dnhhomah Ian all free. no payee any tax.
go wu'k any Ian you want nobody else wu'k.'
"When reminded of slave raids she said. oh.
A. AtplI Ill ' AZ IA ~ In fnf RFtA IIa ali nay |
IL was by bad luck
when | informed Peter OF the DahOmey viii
age Mt the Chicago Exposition he expressed
surprise, exclaiminE, Who catcheeE' He tiatlY
10 credit the stories Of French victories
over the forces Of the King.
NE. no, no man whip DnhhOmRh. Got EN-
90 much pen. got EN- too much fight women.
80 man whip D|ahhOmah,' said he.
Peter wears IA belt nj tattOoing around his
waist deliberately put on. some Of the Others
have bits OF tattOOing on their faces and arms.
Luma wears a huge crescent IN her face across
he nose from cheek to cheek. made by tho
smile of her father in early glrlhood. one mans
'heeks ar" SCARED by horizontal lines parallel
about two inches in length. and "A woman has IA
N aCplet oil each wrist done nv hprhplf before