[i]

TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA;

WITH
THE NARRATIVE OF A RESIDENCE IN
MOZAMBIQUE.

BY
LYONS McLEOD, Esq., F.R.G.S.,
HONORARY FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
AND OF THE METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, MAURITIUS
LATE H.B.M. CONSUL AT MOZAMBIQUE.

“Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.”—Psalm LXVIII. v. 31.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,
SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN,
13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1860.

The right of Translation is reserved.

[ii]

On the afternoon of the 22nd September, 1857, the city of Mozambique was in a great state of excitement, for in the offing was the frigate “Don Ferdinand,” having on board the new Governor-general, sent by the government of Portugal to[2] supersede Vasco Guedes de Carvalho e Menezes, for carrying on the slave-trade in the province of Mozambique.

Slowly the old frigate threaded her way into the harbour, and took up a berth, opposite the town, between Fort San Sebastian and the Palace of the Governor-general.

On the next day invitations were issued for the principal personages at Mozambique to attend the ceremony of the installation of the new Governor-general, on the following Saturday, the 29th, at eleven o’clock.

An invitation was sent to the British consul as a matter of course, but it was for Saturday the 30th, at half-past eleven o’clock. The object of wording his invitation in this manner was that it was hoped he would attend on the 30th instead of on the 29th, by which he would be “a day after the fair,” and by this means a misunderstanding might be at once created between the new Governor-general and the British consul. The consul found that he was evidently asked for the wrong day, but hoping that this might be a mistake, he proceeded to the palace at[3] a few minutes before half-past eleven, as invited.

On his arrival, he found that the ceremony of presentation to his Excellency was almost finished; and, while elbowing his way through the reception-rooms of the palace, crowded with brilliant uniforms, the Jesuit secretary of Vasco Guedes met him, and informed him that he “regretted exceedingly that the British consul had arrived too late to be presented to the new Governor-general.” The British consul quietly replied by pulling the letter of invitation out of his pocket, and pointing out that by reading it in one way, he was just five minutes and a quarter before the time invited; and reading it another way, he was at the palace twenty-four hours, five minutes, and one quarter before the hour indicated in the letter. The secretary smiled, apologized, wished to explain, and, in fact, do anything to cause delay until the presentation was over. But the British consul at once requested him to present him to the new Governor-general; when this nephew of a cardinal positively declined, alleging, as an excuse, that it was too late. Hereupon the British consul produced his commission,[4] and, politely bowing to the cardinal’s nephew, reminded him that the Exequatur of the King of Portugal, &c., gave access at all times to the Governor-general of Mozambique. The secretary smiled, showing all his white teeth, and bowed low in acknowledgment of his defeat. The consul passed on, and at last, just before the ceremony was over, reached the astonished Vasco Guedes, to whom, after paying the usual compliments of the day, he preferred a request that he would at once present him to his successor, Colonel Almeida, who was standing on his left hand.

The new Governor-general shook hands with the British consul, and requested him to take his proper place, on his left hand, and then inquired if he had brought over with him, from the mainland, a machilla, for the purpose of attending the ceremony, which was to take place in the principal church. A machilla, I ought to explain, is a sort of cot, or swinging sofa, with an awning over it, in which persons are carried by four slaves, bearing on their shoulders the large bamboo pole to which it is attached.

[5]

Finding that the British consul had no machilla with him, and would, consequently, have to walk in the sun, Colonel Almeida asked Vasco Guedes if a machilla could not be procured for the consul; to which the latter replying in the negative, his Excellency called a young aide-de-camp, a nephew of the Sa de Bandeira, and asked him to procure a machilla; but this the polite young aide-de-camp found impossible, for every one had made up his mind to make the British consul walk.

The ceremony being ended, and no machilla making its appearance for my use, the new Governor-general said, “Now, gentlemen, we will repair to the church; but, as Mozambique cannot provide a machilla for the use of the British consul, we must all accompany that gentleman on foot.”

I have been particular in mentioning the above, to show the animosity of the slave-dealers towards myself; and how it was at once perceived by the new Governor-general.

On the way to the church, Colonel Almeida insisted that I should take my place with himself[6] and Vasco Guedes, under the large purple velvet umbrella, which, on state occasions, is held over the Governor-general of the province.

After the religious ceremony in the church was over, I was requested to repair to the palace, with the officers of H.M.S.V. “Geyser,” who were present at the ceremony, and there to await the return of the procession from Fort San Sebastian, to which the new Governor-general had to repair for the purpose of receiving the keys of the fort.

On his Excellency’s return, we were again presented, and congratulated him on his taking possession of the government of the province. In the evening there was a ball, where all the “beauty and fashion” of Mozambique attended.

On the following Monday I called the attention of the new Governor-general to some serious charges preferred by me against the Governor of Ibo, in being openly engaged in the slave-trade.

Vasco Guedes had told me that he could not supersede the Governor of Ibo for these practices,[7] as he was appointed directly by the King, but Colonel Almeida made short work of it, by appointing another governor to Ibo, and requesting me to obtain a passage for him in H.M.S.V. “Geyser.”

This request I was not able to comply with, as an urgent order had arrived from the Cape of Good Hope, recalling the “Geyser.” At that time I had only just heard of the Indian mutiny. I expected that Sir George Grey would send every regiment and vessel on to India, and that he would be anxiously looking out for the “Geyser.” Although I saw hot work for the new Governor-general and myself, I hurried the “Geyser” to the Cape, where, I hoped, she would be useful to my country.

On the arrival of the new Governor at Ibo, he found a vessel under French colours lying there waiting for slaves, which his predecessor was about to supply. This vessel, called the “Marie et Caroline,” the new Governor, Lieutenant J. Romeiro, sent down to Mozambique; and there being a French Delegate on board, who stated that she had sailed from[8] Réunion for the purpose of embarking free labourers from the east coast of Africa, he was informed by the Governor-general of Mozambique that this traffic in human beings was forbidden, and had to enter into a bond that he would not endeavour to carry on this species of slave-trade within the precincts of the province of Mozambique. The “Marie et Caroline” was then released; and another vessel, named the “Maria Stella,” under the French flag, being sent down from Ibo to Mozambique, was treated in the same manner.

The new Governor-general had thus shown himself determined to put an end to the slave-trade, and to carry out faithfully the treaties entered into by Portugal and Great Britain, for the suppression of the slave-trade in these seas.

In the middle of November I had received intelligence that slaves were to be shipped close to Mozambique, and had communicated this fact to the Governor-general, during an interview which I had with his Excellency.

On the evenings of the 17th, 18th, and 19th[9] of November, I observed from my house that signals were being made from Cabaçeira Point, by means of fires, to some sail in the offing. On the last of those evenings the Fort San Sebastian was communicating with the vessel in the offing by means of lights; and I afterwards found that for these three days a large three-masted vessel was in sight from the fort. The commandant of the fort, an old colonel of artillery, I knew to be a notorious slave-dealer, and when he was telegraphing to the vessel in the offing I felt convinced that the rumour which I had heard relative to slaves being about to be shipped in the neighbourhood of the fort was but too true.

On the following day I received an intimation in writing from the city of Mozambique that a three-masted vessel was lying in Conducia Bay, shipping slaves; and having, on the 21st November, satisfied myself that two refractory slaves belonging to my neighbour, Brigadier Candido de Costa Soares, had been shipped on board a slaver in Conducia Bay, I no longer hesitated to address the Governor-general on the[10] subject, simply writing to his Excellency “that I had received intelligence that a three-masted vessel was at anchor in Conducia Bay; and that there was reason to suppose that she was shipping a cargo of slaves.”

Now, this vessel was the celebrated “Charles et Georges,” and she was visible from the fort during the whole time that she was at anchor in Conducia Bay. Slaves were taken from the city of Mozambique, and put on board of her, and everyone in Mozambique was aware what trade she was engaged in.

No one moved in the matter until I addressed an official intimation to the Governor-general, and it is quite certain that if there had been no British consul at Mozambique she would never have been seized.

As soon as the Governor-general received my despatch, he sent a force overland, past my house, to Conducia Bay; and one of the obliging merchants of Mozambique offered his Excellency the use of the “Enigma” schooner to take the troops to Conducia Bay to seize the slaver. The troops embarked on board the “Enigma” at one[11] o’clock in the afternoon, and that vessel did not raise her anchor until five in the evening. She dropped her anchor again in about an hour’s time, and remained in harbour until the next morning.

When the “Enigma” reached Conducia Bay, the slaver was gone; of course she was warned off, and the “Enigma” had been offered simply to detain the soldiers until the slaver escaped.

The Governor-general refitted the “Zambesi” schooner, already well known to the reader, and she was sent to sea in three days’ time.

The “Charles et Georges” had shipped some portion of her slaves, and as she left four thousand dollars on shore with the Portuguese official, the Sheik at Matabane, for the purchase of more slaves, it was natural that she should return.

Accordingly, while cruising off the coast, the “Zambesi” observed a strange three-masted vessel at anchor in Conducia Bay, and, bearing down on the stranger, boarded her on the 29th of November.

She was conveyed to Mozambique, and handed over to the judge, who condemned her, as he[12] found that there were four thousand dollars on board of her, the handling of which he would of course have.

A small French war schooner was sent from Réunion to demand her restoration. The judge immediately represented that the slave barque “Charles et Georges” was improperly condemned, and advised the Governor-general to restore her.

The reason for the head of the law reconsidering his decision was that he was told he might retain the four thousand dollars found on board the “Charles et Georges,” and that one thousand more would be added if the vessel was restored.

The Governor-general was not to be trifled with in this manner, and decided that, as the judge had condemned her, he would send the “Charles et Georges” to Lisbon.

So far so good. The slave-trade was being effectually suppressed, as the British consul urged the Governor-general of Mozambique to do his duty. But another actor appeared on the scene, and soon altered the position of H.M. Consul at Mozambique.

[13]

On the 3rd of December H.M. frigate “Castor” called at Mozambique. The captain of that vessel, Henry Lyster, Esq., was quite astonished at the energy and determination displayed by the Governor-general of Mozambique, acting under the advice of the British consul. The day after his arrival he called upon the latter functionary, and remained with him about ten minutes.

In this short space of time H.M. Consul informed Captain Lyster, R.N., that on the night the “Charles et Georges” anchored in Mozambique harbour, the slaves belonging to the slave-dealers stoned the band of the Governor-general, while playing before the palace, and that he was obliged to flog a number of the slaves of the town, to prevent a repetition of this offence; that the slave-dealers, baffled in their attack on the Governor-general, twice attacked the consul’s house, through the medium of their slaves, whom they sent to stone the consul in his house; that he was served with a notice to quit the house he was then residing in, and that there was not one in the town which he could get to live in; that some short time previous, having gone to look at a house[14] in the country, which he was told was to let, he was attacked by infuriated natives, who had been urged to this act by the slave-dealers, and that he escaped with his party by having been shown a road which led him from the natives to his own house.

He further showed Captain Henry Lyster, R.N., that he was without servants—all the slaves, with the exception of a child, which would not leave, having been taken from the house. He claimed his protection, and also asked him for a small boat by which he could communicate with the Governor-general.

To which Captain Lyster replied that he must immediately return to the Cape of Good Hope, and apprize the admiral of the serious state of affairs at Mozambique; and requested the consul to close his despatches, as his departure was immediate. He promised to send over in the evening for the consul’s despatches, if they did not reach him; and hurried out of the consul’s house, stating that he had to make arrangements for watering the ship at once.

The next morning at daylight, the “Castor” was observed, under her topsails, standing out to[15] sea. It was imagined that H.M. frigate had gone in chase of some strange sail in the offing, but as day passed after day, the fearful and humiliating truth dawned on the inmates of the British consulate, that they had been abandoned to their fate.

The captain of H.M. frigate “Castor” left Mozambique without the consul’s despatches, either for the admiral at the Cape, or the British government. On the arrival of the “Castor” in England, Captain Lyster, R.N., was made superintendent of a naval dock-yard. Comment is needless, but sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

Soon after the desertion of the British consul and the Governor-general of Mozambique by H.M. frigate “Castor,” a marked change took place in the conduct of the Governor-general of Mozambique; for he anticipated that the British government would not support Portugal in the struggle which he saw that weak power would have with France. Those who have studied this subject may pronounce their own opinion, but one thing is certain, that to the base desertion of the British consul at that critical period may be traced the subsequent[16] insolence of the slave-dealers, the increase of the slave-trade, and the sufferings of H.M. Consul and family.

As long as Vasco Guedes remained at Mozambique, the slave-trade party felt that they had nothing to fear; but now that Colonel Almeida had arrived, and had published the Portarias of the King of Portugal, forbidding the French Free Labour Emigration, and his own declaration that it was his determination to persecute that traffic wherever he might find it in the province of Mozambique, the slave-dealers found that the British Consul and the Governor-general united were too much for them; they therefore determined to do all in their power to drive the former out of the colony, believing that afterwards they would be able to do as they pleased with the new Governor-general.

Three days after the sailing of H.M.S.V. “Geyser,” by which vessel Mr. Soares believed I had sent an application to England to have him appointed H.M. Vice-Consul at Mozambique, (but which I did not forward in consequence of learning to what extent he was engaged in the slave-trade,[17] and by his own admission to me that he had been the principal person in establishing the French Free Labour Scheme at Mozambique):—Mr. Soares sent me a written intimation that he would require both his houses, the one on the island in twenty-four hours, and that on the mainland in a month or forty days. Until I received this intimation, I had not the slightest knowledge of anything of this sort which was going on, and, indeed, looked forward daily to getting into the house on the island.

I immediately called Mr. Soares to an account for treating me in this manner. His reply was, “They say, Mr. M’Leod, that I give you all the information about the slave-trade, and that I must leave the place, or that you must.” I asked him who they were, but he would not answer my question.

He told me that his father said that he must put me out of his house, to clear himself of the charge that had been brought against him by the Mozambique people. I asked him to tell me—if I was so foolish as to give up to him a house which I had taken for twelve months—where I could find[18] another house vacant? He told me that there was not one in Mozambique; and that, if there was, the people had determined among themselves not to let me even have a room for an office, much less a house to live in.

I reminded him that he was differently treated at the Cape of Good Hope; he begged me, with tears in his eyes, not again to allude to what he could never forget; and stated that what he was doing he was compelled to do, and that if he left Mozambique it would be much worse for me.

Finding that he was quite insensible to reason, I gave him to understand that since, under numerous pretexts, he had prevented my taking absolute possession of that portion of the house on the island which was let to me, and that he was now in possession of it, why, I must submit to be deprived of it; but that, with regard to the house on the mainland, I intended to remain in it until the time agreed upon was completed, or until such time as I obtained another house. He got into a great rage, and told me that “he would remove all the slaves, and that I would be unable to live in the house then.” To which I replied “that then he[19] would break his agreement with me.” This caused him to answer that he “did not care what he did to get me out of the house, for that his father said I must leave the place.”

From that day the slaves were gradually removed, until there was only one little child, called Azinte, left, who refused to leave.

Azinte was about eight years of age; she was a melancholy child, with intelligence far above her years. Her face was good, and there was a sweet resigned smile upon it, which interested the commonest observer.

She came especially under my wife’s notice in the following manner:—

The grown up slaves, while employed at their work, left one of the little ones always to watch their meal while it was cooking, and to keep a good fire under the pot.

On one of these occasions Azinte was left guardian; and, whether it was the pangs of hunger, or the curiosity inherent to her sex, and inherited from our common mother, Eve, which urged her, I know not, but she uncovered the pot to look at its contents, and, like many children of an[20] older growth and a fairer skin, the temptation was too much for her, and she was caught in the act of helping herself to the old folks’ dinner. To the Mozambique negro mercy is never shown; and therefore, in the hour of his might, we cannot expect him to be merciful. Nay, cruelty for successive ages has made him cruel. Azinte’s little hand was seized by a powerful grasp, and held upon the burning faggots.

For three days and three nights she endured excruciating torments. Rosa, my wife’s maid, inquiring for her little favourite, found her hid away in an outhouse, neglected by all her companions, who would not even take her a drink of water. Rosa took the suffering child to her mistress. The little hand was in a frightful state; but by careful dressing and constant attention it was saved. The little Azinte was ever afterwards kept in the house. She would never point out the monster who had seared her hand. The little negress was very grateful, and loved my wife dearly. Many attempts were made to steal the child from us, but she escaped them all. At last, the hour of parting came; I asked Mr. Soares to[21] give the child her freedom. He told me to buy it, and to name my own price. He would have sold me the child for one shilling; but not even to liberate could I buy a slave. Poor Azinte, you were sacrificed to a stern sense of duty. Here was a little being humanized, if not civilized; those who had raised her to that state had no control over her. She was a chattel belonging to a Portuguese of Mozambique descent, and was to be used as such. We often think what may be her fate!

When the slaves were removed from Mr. Soares’ house, in the hope of driving us away, I used every endeavour to hire some from persons in the city of Mozambique. A German merchant would have procured me the services of some, but as he could not hold slaves more than myself, he was dependent on the will of the Mozambique people, who hired their slaves to him on the express condition that he would not lend them to the British consul. On all sides, I was now beset with offers of slaves, cheap slaves to sell.

In this dilemma, I applied to the Governor-general for the loan of government slaves. At[22] first he said he would, of course, give me what I required; but afterwards, he stated that he found it was impossible to supply me with a crew for my boat, or even one government slave.

Anticipating that things might come to this, when the Mozambique people found that what I did on my arrival to suppress the slave-trade, I continued during my sojourn among them, I had written to a Parsee house at Bombay to send me a suitable number of servants. Since my arrival in England, I have received a letter from the Parsee merchant, containing the envelope of my letter from Mozambique, to show me by the post-mark the date of its arrival at Bombay, and to prove that my order not being executed was no fault of his. The simple fact is that my letter was detained at Mozambique.

Being without any assistance in the house, if I except a sick Portuguese soldier, who used to oblige us occasionally by attending on table, I was obliged to face the work manfully. The Portuguese refused to light the fire, alleging that it was negroes’ work, and so the British consul had to do it. For months, I drew water from the[23] well and cut up the fire-wood. The Portuguese said his arms were not strong enough to draw water from the well, and that cutting up fire-wood made his back ache; so, of course, this necessary work devolved upon me.

But there were some things I could not do—for example, cook our meals; this devolved on my wife and Rosa. Those who have a fancy to know what this was like must get some mangrove-wood, the arsenical fumes from which, after suffocating and blinding them, will render them unfit to eat anything for that day. Hard-earned was the morsel that was cooked for dinner; but the day came when we had no wood and no food, and God, in his mercy, sent our countrymen, who were the survivors of the crew of the unfortunate “Herald,” to save us.

At Mozambique, no one would wash our clothes; and for months this necessary work was performed by my wife and poor weak Rosa, with no assistance but the little Azinte, who, poor child, learned in the course of time to lay the clothes upon the grass. This necessary labour had to be performed by two delicate Englishwomen, with the thermometer[24] ranging from 80° to 96° in the shade, and yet they are both alive at this moment.

All this had to be endured; we were in the hands of the Philistines, and we had to do battle with them; ours was the battle of patient endurance.

The Portuguese wished to degrade us in the eyes of the negroes; to show them what an inferior race the English were; that they could not keep one slave, whilst the Portuguese had hundreds.

After the severe toil of the day, we were all glad when night came, and thankful that health and strength were granted to us.

Such was the state of affairs in my house, when my German friend offered me a passage in one of the vessels belonging to his firm, which was then in port, and proceeding to Zanzibar.

Although resolved to remain at Mozambique, and maintain my post, despite all persecution, I reasoned with myself on the sinfulness of sacrificing the lives of two other persons, and, therefore, determined to avail myself of this opportunity of sending my wife[25] and her maid to Zanzibar, to await my arrival there; as, in that case, I would have been able to find accommodation for myself on board some vessel or dhow in the harbour, until such time as the hour of deliverance arrived, by the presence of one of Her Majesty’s ships.

On proposing to my wife a visit to Zanzibar, her countenance revealed with what joy she hailed any change from that continued toil under which herself and her maid were rapidly failing. But, instantly divining that it was my intention to remain at Mozambique, and maintain my post, while she and her maid were expected to proceed to Zanzibar, with her eyes suffused with tears, she claimed, and successfully pleaded, her wife’s privilege to share her husband’s trials.

Soon afterwards my wife sent for her maid, and told her that there was a passage provided for her to Zanzibar, where arrangements would be made for her conveyance to the Cape of Good Hope, where her mother lived. But that noble girl, Rosa Smith, refused to desert her mistress; and, when this offer was again made to her, after the desertion of H.M.[26] frigate “Castor,” she adhered to the same resolution.

From that evening, during our stay at Mozambique, in all our sufferings and privations, with sickness, hunger, and even death in my house, I never heard a murmur. Both these Englishwomen felt that they were called upon to perform a sacred duty. They suffered in a holy cause—that of the slave—and HE who “tempereth the wind to the shorn lamb” gave them strength to endure.

The following is an account of an act of brutality towards a domestic slave which came under my own eye, and the particulars of which I extract from my journal at Mozambique:—

“On Monday, the 15th of March, 1858, at 8.30 A.M., we were greatly distressed by screams, which proceeded from some fellow-being in the compound of the next house, the wall of which was about thirty yards distant from our own. Mrs. M’Leod was at the time slowly recovering from the effects of the fever, and the treatment she had received from Dr. Fonseca, and it may be easier imagined than described, what a serious[27] effect this affair had on her system. The screams proceeding from that house were, on this occasion, more alarming than those that were heard from time to time, daily, when the female overseer was employed in punishing the slaves under her control. At last, they became so alarming that we came to the conclusion that the slaves had risen upon Portuguese Rosa, the overseer, and having succeeded in getting her into one of the outhouses, they were employed in avenging themselves for the gross and continued wrongs which they had suffered at her hands.

“Believing that this was the case, and urged by the entreaties of my wife and her maid to endeavour to save the woman from the fury of the negroes, I repaired to Mr. Soares’ house, in the court-yard of which the following revolting scene met my view:—

“Portuguese Rosa was lying on a native bed, or sofa, which was placed with its head about three feet from the doorway of an outhouse, in which cocoa-nuts were stored until required for the use of the house.

[28]

“This Portuguese woman was reclining at full length on the sofa, her chin supported by her hand, and contemplating, with evident pleasure, the disgusting scene of barbarity which was being enacted inside of the cocoa-nut house. A negro, one of the finest specimens of man I have ever looked upon, and one that an artist would have wished for a model of Apollo, was lashed up to a ladder by his hands and legs; two negroes were castigating him on his posteriors; two spare ones were waiting to relieve them, and one old negro stood by, who appeared to be a doctor, witnessing how much the sufferer could bear without being killed. The poor creature’s posteriors and thighs were covered with blood, and a pool of blood was around his feet. There lay the Portuguese woman, calmly enjoying this scene of blood, occasionally instructing the actors where to strike, when a cry of more thrilling anguish would testify to her refinement in torment.

“Anxious to put an end to this revolting scene, I asked—nay, I begged—this fiend in woman’s form to pardon and release the man.

[29]

“Instantly her dark eye was lighted up with the frenzy of intense hatred, and, turning to me, she said, ‘For anything with a white skin, I would pardon—but for you, thou champion of the slave!—never!’ Then turning to the executioners, she yelled, ‘Flog, sons of hell, flog! or else I’ll pour the boiling oil upon you.’ This drew my attention to a neighbouring fire, on which stood a pot, which, I afterwards learned, contained boiling oil. To have remained longer would have only added to the sufferings of the slave. This was a case of domestic slavery, in which, of course, I could not interfere. A late Portaria of the King of Portugal declares that this slavery shall cease in twenty years time; that is to say, continues it for that period. Subsequently, I heard that this slave was punished for disobedience of orders. Inquiring further into the matter, I learned that this noble black had refused to castigate his own mother. Women of England, and mothers of Portugal, hear me; and when you hear, speak—so that Don Pedro the Fifth, of Portugal, shall cause slavery to cease in his African[30] dominions, and leave to his dynasty a name, the memory of which shall awaken prouder associations than those even of the Era of Conquest.”

A few days after witnessing the frightful atrocity just related, I had a letter sent to me from the master of the cruel Portuguese woman, and the owner of the godlike manly form, with a black skin, whose ignominious tortures I had witnessed, in which I was called a spy, and sundry other equally complimentary epithets, for having unfortunately witnessed a scene revolting to humanity, when I imagined I was bound on an errand of mercy, in an endeavour to save the life of a fellow-being. Of this I took no notice; but, from that moment, I felt convinced that my neighbours’ slaves were more rigorously dealt with than even before. With a refinement of devilment, during the remainder of my stay at Mozambique, the Sabbath of the Lord was set aside specially for the punishment of Mr. Soares’ negroes; and, as that Portuguese gentleman knew that the Consul of Protestant England performed the service of the Church[31] of England, every Sunday, at eleven o’clock in the forenoon, that hour was chosen for the commencement of these harrowing tortures, which were continued until one P.M., when he imagined that the prayers of the heretic were ended. Where those cries of anguish ascended to the throne of the Omnipotent, the song of praise will, assuredly, be heard at no distant period.

The Portuguese, entirely devoted to slavery, have neglected the natives in religion, as in all other matters; and as the Makuas have not imbibed Mahometan principles from the Moors or Arabs, who do not here attempt any proselytism, there is an admirable opening at Mozambique for Protestant missionaries; but Moloch, in the shape of the slave-trade, must first be done away with, when a noble field for missionary labour will be laid open.

As a further example of the cruelty which Portuguese women perpetrate on their slaves, the following barbarity was related to me as having been inflicted in the city of Mozambique:—

A Mozambique lady, having been clearly[32] convicted of some delinquency, by the evidence of one of her female slaves, adopted this method of punishment, which,—even among those who are in the habit of burning their slaves with red hot iron, pulling out the nails of the fingers and toes for punishment, and otherwise perpetrating, in that remote region, the horrors of the Inquisition—is spoken of with disgust. The unhappy girl was seized and firmly secured; an egg was boiled, and, on being removed from the pot, was forcibly placed in the mouth of the wretched slave. A sail-needle was then driven as a skewer through both lips, when the girl was released, and the lady owner viewed her torments. This she-devil, not yet satisfied with the punishment inflicted on her fellow-being, ordered the slave-girl to be struck on both cheeks until the egg was broken, and the scalding contents went down her throat.

The slave-trade thrives only in the African dominions of the King of Portugal; and the late Portaria of that monarch at once places His Majesty foremost among the advocates of slavery. Until slavery is entirely abolished in[33] the African dominions of Don Pedro the Fifth, the slave-trade will flourish, while outraged humanity and the suffering Africans exclaim to that potentate, “Thou art the man!”

There being some misunderstanding as to what portion of the coast between Cape Delgado and Delagoa Bay has belonged to Portugal, and, as the British government has never been represented by any agent on that coast until within the last three years, it naturally devolved upon me, as the first British functionary employed by Great[35] Britain in the province of Mozambique, to make myself thoroughly acquainted with the real state of the question of Portuguese possession in Eastern Africa, on which, in a great measure, hangs the future commercial development and civilization of Central Africa; and I now lay before the intelligent reader the result of my patient and impartial inquiries on the subject.

On referring to the accompanying chart of Eastern Africa, the reader will observe that the Portuguese territory consists of positions almost entirely insular—namely, Ibo, Mozambique, Killimane, Sofala, Bazarutto, Inhambane, Delagoa Bay, and Pemba Bay; at which last named place the Portuguese have made a settlement within the last year.

On the river Zambesi they also have the towns of Seña and Tete.

Some of these positions—Ibo, Mozambique, and Bazarutto—are beyond gun-shot distance of the coast, virtually exercising no authority whatever over the mainland; and, strictly speaking,[36] from my own personal observation, the Portuguese authority, even nominally, does not extend five miles above high-water mark, nor more than that distance from any flag-staff erected by Portugal anywhere on the whole line of coast from Cape Delgado to Delagoa Bay.

Excepting at the points indicated in the accompanying chart, and already named, the Portuguese do not, and have never, even for a short period of time, held even nominal possession of the coast referred to, with the exception of what is known as the kingdom of Angoxa.

The kingdom of Angoxa, having a sea-board of ninety miles, and reaching into the interior 180 miles, is reigned over by an independent sultan, having under him from thirty to forty chiefs. It is rich in produce, which is fully described in the chapter on the “Resources of Eastern Africa.”

Soon after my arrival at Mozambique, my attention was called to the very arbitrary measures which the Portuguese authorities can adopt when it suits their purpose, showing[37] that it is not want of power, but want of inclination, which prevents them stopping the slave-trade, and encouraging legitimate commerce. A merchant at Mozambique had a serious difference with the Governor-general, the subject of their quarrel being the French Free Labour Emigration. It appears that the merchant, having a high character for probity, had been entrusted by the French agents with the division of the head money, which was allowed to the authorities at Mozambique for the generous supply of slaves for this traffic.

The merchant acquitted his task to the satisfaction of all parties, retaining, for himself, a certain portion, to which he was entitled by agreement, as one of the promoters of this very successful scheme. During the absence of the merchant from Mozambique the Governor-general had divided the plunder, and he refused to account for the amount which was due to the merchant as his share of the transaction.

On the merchant’s return, he became again the person in whom all parties placed confidence, and he therefore re-imbursed himself from the[38] Governor-general’s share in the next slave cargo which was supplied to a French Free Labour Emigration ship.

The Governor-general was furious, while every one applauded the justice of the merchant. Shortly afterwards, a vessel belonging to the merchant was about to sail; the Governor-general refused her permission to leave the harbour, and would assign no reason. The merchant threatened to sell the vessel to the English consul, much under her value, and to communicate the whole of the circumstances attending the transaction, unless the Governor-general allowed his vessel to sail. The Governor-general was obstinate, but at last relented. During his fit of obstinacy the uncontrollable rage of the other party caused him to make the circumstances of the case known to the English consul, who thus got a deeper insight into the slave-trade as carried on at Mozambique, and was timely prevented forwarding the application of the honest Portuguese merchant to the British government for the appointment of H.M. Vice-Consul at Mozambique, for which he had been[39] strongly recommended to me, both verbally and in writing, by the officer commanding Her Majesty’s naval forces at the Cape of Good Hope. It requires a residence at Mozambique to unmask the slave-dealers there. One casually visiting the place is hospitably entertained, and those deepest engaged in the traffic are the loudest in their apparent denunciations of it. Thus our naval officers have been misled, and made to believe that parties there were opposed to the slave-trade when they were actually conversing with the prime movers of the whole scheme.

From the seizure of Mr. Sunley’s brig off Angoxa, and the tacit manner in which legal trade is carried on between Angoxa and Zanzibar by the Arabs, under the protection of their immediate dreaded neighbour, the Imâm of Muskat, it will be seen that a different policy is pursued by the Mozambique government towards a prince who has taught them to fear him, and the great English nation, whom they look upon as a good-natured people, inoculated with a Quixotic idea of improving the moral, intellectual, and physical condition[40] of a race which they consider irreclaimable, and so degraded that they treat them as the brutes which perish. The sacrifices made by Great Britain in this cause are ever a subject of ridicule with the Mozambiquers; and they never lose an opportunity of retaliating in their own way upon those persons belonging to the English nation who may unfortunately fall into their power. Each individual is made answerable for the wrongs which they perseveringly assert have been heaped upon them by the suppression of the slave-trade, and even this feeling is carried out to the natives of India who may be under our rule or our protection.

I heard, from time to time, of some arbitrary measure adopted towards the Banyans, who are natives of India, trading in their sailing vessels called dhows, from various places on the Malabar coast to that of the coast of Africa. These men come over in their dhows from Goâ, which is a Portuguese settlement, and from the British settlement at Bombay, and also from Cutch, where there is a British resident, in the season of the N.E. monsoon, which blows from the month of[41] April to that of September or October. They bring over to Mozambique what may be called the refuse of the European goods sent out to the Indian market, where they find a ready sale.

In exchange, they take back principally ivory, which, being resold in India, finds its way to Europe and America, as the best Indian transparent ivory, which is really obtained at Zanzibar and Mozambique. The profits derived from the trade which they carry on with Mozambique, to which place all the ivory of the province generally finds its way, are so considerable that the Banyans are induced to submit to great exactions and considerable injustice. They have no appeal, and must either put up with the robberies to which they are liable, or entirely abandon the trade.

It may be easily imagined that they rejoiced on seeing a British consul established at Mozambique; and they testified their satisfaction at my arrival in a variety of ways, more especially those who were sailing their dhows under the British ensign. They complained to me generally of the exorbitant tariff, and that they had been led to believe, year after year, that it would be altered.[42] They complained of the unjust manner in which the duties were levied, and the robberies to which they had to submit from the officials in the Custom-house, against whom they dare not complain without incurring considerable delays in their business, and for which there was no redress; that the only means left to them was by bribing the officials, which was a great burden on their fair gains; and ended by saying, that if some protection was not afforded them, they would be compelled to abandon the trade altogether, as numbers had already done. These men were so intimidated by the Portuguese officials, that they feared to state even to me, their consul, the particulars of their losses, saying that, in the event of anything happening to me, they would be marked by the officials, and ruined; and they only prayed that I would generally supervise their affairs, and, in the event of any flagrant act of injustice occurring while at the port, that I would afford them that protection which they were always led to expect from a British functionary. It was with my mind thus prepared that the following piratical affair was brought under my notice:—

[43]

The Cutch dhow, “Ari-passa,” on a trading voyage, arrived at Zanzibar, in the African dominions of the Imâm of Muskat, in the month of July, 1857, which port she left on the 14th July, bound for Port Mozambique, with instructions to call at Ibo on the passage down. On leaving Zanzibar, her passport was duly visé by Colonel Hamerton, the British consul at that port, and all her papers were correct.

After going into the harbour of Ibo, the captain found that there was a great difficulty in obtaining his passport from the Governor; and as there was a considerable amount of money on board the dhow, he became alarmed for its safety, and also, I may add, for his own. However, after loudly complaining of the detention, and making some very strong observations on the cause of his detention, he was permitted to leave Ibo, and proceeded on his voyage to Mozambique. He found the wind south, or dead against him, and consequently, every night, he, as is customary with the dhows, stood in and anchored under the land, getting under weigh at daylight every morning.

It will be remembered that Vasco Guedes, then[44] Governor-general of the province of Mozambique, had refused to supersede the governor of Ibo,[1] for supplying slaves to the “Minnetonka” American slaver, which left Ibo with a cargo of 1,200 slaves for Havannah de Cuba. The real reason for the Governor-general not superseding this delinquent governor was, that he kept his accounts properly—or, in other words, gave to the Governor-general a share of the head money for the slaves exported from Ibo, this share being (as I have already stated) six dollars for every negro shipped on board the French Free Labour ships, or the Spanish and American slavers.

We have seen these two officers, representing the King of Portugal, in defiance of all laws and commands to the contrary, engaged in the nefarious traffic in their fellow-beings.

One would imagine that this was bad enough, but the Governor-general had received an intimation that his successor had left Lisbon in the month of May, and there was no time to be lost—every opportunity must be seized for making money; so thought his worthy coadjutor at Ibo.[45] He dare not take upon himself to plunder a vessel openly in the harbour of Ibo, but he wrote to the Governor-general of Mozambique, to inform him that this dhow was on its way to Port Mozambique, and he detained her at Ibo to give his superior time to act.

About the 20th of August, I heard that a Portuguese schooner of war, called “19 de Maio,” had left Port Mozambique, and was bound to the northward to intercept a dhow coming from Ibo, with a large quantity of bullion on board. At that time a number of extraordinary revelations were made to me relative to the slave-trade, and French Free Labour Immigration; and I naturally inquired if it was usual to intercept traders in this manner. I was told that it was not usual, but that such things did occasionally occur. I asked if the authorities had no fear of the matter being inquired into? I was answered with a laugh, and informed that “there was no one to inquire into these matters.” If inquiry was made, the reply was that the vessel had been seized for attempting to smuggle with the shore, or that it had been done to suppress the slave-trade. This[46] was always satisfactory. But in making such a capture occasionally vessels were scuttled, when they gave no further trouble. It was evident that I was living in a nest of pirates. Let us come to the facts again.

The dhow “Ari-passa” had been gradually working down to Port Mozambique. On the 26th day of August, 1857, blowing fresh from the southward, she endeavoured to get into Conducia Bay (since celebrated by the “Charles et Georges” affair), but did not succeed in fetching it; she therefore bore up, and ran away before the wind to the entrance of Quicimajulo Bay, where she anchored, the wind still blowing fresh from the southward. Soon after she had anchored, the Portuguese schooner of war, “19 de Maio,” dashed alongside, and threw a party of soldiers on board of her. These soldiers, under the direction of their officer, forced open the hatches; and proceeded at once to the place where the boxes containing the bullion were stowed; evidently being well instructed from Ibo. They removed the money to the schooner, and then amused themselves by breaking open the boxes containing[47] the cargo, after which the night was passed in scenes of revolting debauchery which cannot even be alluded to.

The captain and three of the crew were taken on board the schooner as prisoners; and, the next day, the schooner and her prize weighed, and after two days arrived at Mozambique.

As no house could be obtained for me in the city of Mozambique, I was obliged to live on the mainland; which had the object desired by the slave-dealers at Mozambique, who had all conspired not to let me have a house in the city, namely, to prevent my obtaining a knowledge of all their movements. In consequence of this, it was a day or two before the real state of the case came to my knowledge.

It appears that, on the arrival of the “Ari-passa” at Mozambique, the Banyans became very excited, and induced the captain to demand his release, and the immediate restoration of the vessel, asserting their intention of appealing to the British consul. The Governor-general, it appears, regretted the occurrence when he found the vessel had been brought into harbour, and[48] had a British passport; but as the foolish captors had not sunk the vessel, it was necessary to put a bold face on the matter, and therefore a temporizing course was adopted. The prisoners were set at liberty, and vague promises made to them, with which not being satisfied, they asked permission to visit the British consul on the mainland; at first this was refused, but at length permission was granted, and a deputation waited upon me, and stated the case. The information which I had received relative to the destination of the Portuguese schooner, “19 de Maio,” came to my recollection, and I found that the “Ari-passa” was the vessel which she had been sent to capture.

The facts of the case were duly deposed before me by Hery, the captain of the dhow; and I made myself thoroughly master of the whole subject, by examining a number of the crew, and inquiry into the whole circumstances of the affair.

I then addressed the Governor-general in writing, and asked His Excellency to inform me, why the dhow “Ari-passa” had been seized, and[49] her crew, under British protection, had been ill-treated and imprisoned? To which he replied that the “Ari-passa” was “found in communication with Quitangonha, which was forbidden, and in consequence she was seized, as being suspected of smuggling, and she was delivered to the tribunals according to law.”

Now, I knew that being delivered to the “tribunals according to law” meant that, having been plundered of the bullion by the Governor-general, she was then handed over to the judge, to see what he could make out of her in the way of a bribe, or fine, to release her and her cargo; and was only submitting to be further robbed. It was, therefore, necessary to adopt bold measures, and to let Vasco Guedes know that I was acquainted with the circumstances connected with her capture. And although I could not write and state what I knew about the Governor of Ibo writing to him relative to the “Ari-passa,” and the arrangements which were made in consequence, because I would then have to state who my informant was, still I addressed His Excellency in such a manner that he could not doubt[50] that I was fully aware of all that had taken place. I particularly pointed out that the vessel was seized at anchor at the entrance of Quicimajulo Bay, which was, at least, twenty miles from Quitangonha; that she had simply anchored from stress of weather; that it was usual for dhows working along the coast to anchor every night, and that the vessel had not communicated with the shore. I then stated the manner in which the dhow had been boarded by the “19 de Maio,” by dashing alongside like a pirate, and throwing a party of armed boarders on to the deck of a peaceful trader, laying emphasis on the manner in which the soldiers had broken open the boxes containing money, and rifled the cases containing cargo, and designated the whole affair as an illegal and piratical seizure. “Suaviter in modo et fortiter in re,”—is a good diplomatic motto; but, in dealing with Portuguese one must not forget the “fortiter in re.”

The Governor-general’s reply is one of the richest things on record. He commences by stating:—

“That it is with regret that he sees a vessel,[51] the flag of which is under the protection of Great Britain, engaged in illicit commerce, more especially as in the province of Mozambique every facility is afforded for legitimate commerce to ships of all nations, and particularly to those of a friendly ally.

“That in regard to the deposition of the captain of the ‘Ari-passa,’ which I had sent to him, he doubts its correctness; for the captain does not mention her stay at Ibo, which was the most important circumstance connected with his voyage. That the dhows from India bear very suspicious characters; as a proof of which, one of the dhows from India lately entered the port with a cargo of fire-wood! But, however the matter may be, it was not for his Excellency and myself to settle it, but the tribunals, before which the depositions ought to be made.”

His Excellency then indulged in a geographical disquisition relative to Quicimajulo and Quitanhonga, and admitted that my knowledge might be correct as to their relative positions.

With reference to the conduct of the soldiers who boarded the “Ari-passa,” he reminded me of[52] what the illustrious Lord Wellington himself states as to the conduct of his soldiers in the Peninsula, contained in his letters addressed to Viscount Castlereagh; and, also, begs me to bear in mind that, it is said, similar acts are practised by the British cruisers on the coast of Angola, and also on that of Mozambique; and that, in fine, he possesses a document of a recent date, in which the depositions of the crew and passengers are given, of one of the Portuguese vessels coming from India, which, being at anchor in Conducia Bay, was boarded by a boat from a British cruiser; that the officers searched the Portuguese vessel, broke the seals of the dispatches addressed to the custom-house, and endeavoured also, during the night, to introduce chains, or slave-irons, on board the vessel, so as to seize her as a slaver.

The fact of the matter was, that the Governor-general, at that time, was hard pressed by me on the subject of the slave-trade. I had discovered, in the short space of a month, all the ramifications of the slave-trade which he had established at Mozambique, under the denomination of the[53] French Free Labour Emigration Scheme, and how the victims for that traffic were supplied from the interior of Africa, renewing the horrors of the slave-trade in the heart of that continent.

This letter was evidently written to annoy and irritate the British consul; but, coming from such a source, I could well afford to smile at the insult to my country, in comparing the glorious soldiers of Wellington, who, on their victorious bayonets, carried liberty to Spain and Portugal, to the convicted and degraded felons who formed the soldiery of Mozambique. In regard to the statement directed against the British navy, I simply let that matter rest until the arrival of a British ship of war, the commander of which considered it beneath notice.

The Scotchman kept his temper, and simply renewed his demand for the unconditional release of the “Ari-passa.” Some days afterwards I received an invitation for my wife and myself to drink a cup of tea at the palace; and a postscript was added by his Excellency, intimating that the “Ari-passa” was restored!

[54]

Yes, the “Ari-passa” was restored, because there was a British consul there to protect her; but how many “Ari-passas” have been seized and plundered without redress! Some portion of the money which had been robbed from this vessel could not be found when restoration was ordered; this was put down to the soldiers, who had been compared to the companions of Wellington; but the Banyan appeared well contented with what was given back to him, and begged me to let the matter drop.

It is necessary to show how this affair affected the owner of the “Ari-passa.” In consequence of her seizure, and the delay in restoring the vessel, she could not get away from Mozambique for her return voyage to Bombay, whither she was bound, until late in the month of September. On the voyage across the Indian Ocean the south-west monsoon failed her, and she was obliged to bear up for Zanzibar, from which place she returned to Mozambique in the month of December, 1857. She was in Mozambique harbour during the hurricane on the 1st of April, 1858, during which she suffered considerable[55] damage, and was nearly lost. Had she reached Bombay in the end of 1857, her valuable cargo would have arrived at a good market; but as she could not leave Mozambique until after the setting in of the south-west monsoon, she did not reach her destination until late in 1858, when we all know she found a depreciated market for her cargo, owing to the Indian mutiny. Add to this the loss sustained by the depreciation of the value of her cargo by being so long in her hold, the wages and keep of her crew, and the loss of the vessel’s earnings during twelve months.

At Mozambique I obtained her release; and the same sense of duty to my country induces me to make the affair known in England, in order that the merchants of Great Britain may urge upon the British government that redress to which the mercantile community of this country are entitled. Be it remembered that these dhows frequenting Mozambique from Bombay, and other places in India, are laden with British goods sent to supply the Indian markets, and thence exported to East Africa.

[56]

I have already mentioned that when at Natal, on my way to Mozambique, a deputation from the Chamber of Commerce of Natal did me the honour of waiting upon me, in order to bring forcibly before my notice the great desire of the enterprising merchants of that young and energetic colony to trade with the neighbouring Portuguese possessions, and to explain the great and apparently insurmountable obstacles to carrying on any relations with the rich tract of country lying between Cape Delgado and Delagoa Bay.

The following letter, among others, was addressed to me by Mr. Cato of that place:—

From the above letter it will be observed what a strong desire there was for trade with the province of Mozambique, and an anxious inquiry as to the capabilities of the country, of which little is known even at Natal, and much less in the mother country. It is to be hoped that this work will supply the wants of the mercantile community as to information regarding the productions of this rich country, and also as to the proper means of establishing commercial relations on a healthy basis.

[59]

Various attempts have been made to establish trade between Natal and Delagoa Bay; and it is openly stated by the Portuguese at Delagoa Bay, that more Englishmen have perished in these attempts from the poisoned cup than from the deleterious climate. In England people may be startled at this statement, but the Natal people will be only too glad to hear that such a statement has gone forth to the world, as it may call for a searching inquiry into the fate of those who have perished, and give some hope that property, belonging to British subjects, now lying there, may be restored. Any one who will visit Delagoa Bay may make himself satisfied with the correctness of these statements; and, once for all, let it be said, that nothing is asserted in this work which, if an opportunity is given, cannot be proved.

I have already drawn attention to an able letter which appeared in the Natal Mercury, from Mr. G. W. Duncan,[2] of Natal, on his return from a trading voyage to Delagoa Bay. Not many months afterwards—viz., on the 15th of November,[60] 1857, a small cutter named the “Herald,” of eleven tons burthen, set sail from Port Natal, duly registered, and licensed for a trading coast voyage. She was bound to the river King George, which discharges itself into Delagoa Bay. The cutter was commanded by Mr. G. W. Duncan, and his friend, Mr. Charles Hilliard, who had been on a former voyage with Mr. Duncan, accompanied him as mate. The crew consisted of three men.

To make this affair clearly understood, it will be necessary to explain that the southern extreme limit of the Portuguese claim to possession on the east coast of Africa was but ill defined until, in 1823, it was settled by Captain W. F. Owen, R.N., when making his remarkable survey of that coast. Without entering into minute details of the arrangement made on that occasion, which it will be found is fully entered into in another part of this work,[3] it will be necessary to state that a line drawn due west from Cape Iniack marks the boundary of the Portuguese and British possessions in that bay; the territory to[61] the south of the said line having been ceded to the British government by the natives of the country in 1823. To the northward of that line lies that extensive and valuable tract of country claimed by the Portuguese, to which the natives everywhere dispute their right, and along which the Portuguese have, as already explained at the opening of this chapter, a few insular positions, from which they interfere with legitimate, and carry on slave, trade.

The mouth of the river King George, to which the cutter “Herald” was bound, is in Delagoa Bay, to the northward of the line already described, and, consequently, within the line of coast claimed by the Portuguese. The river King George is called by the natives Manakusi; they claim sole right of dominion over the river, and acknowledge no superior power but that of their king, Manakusi, and his subordinate chiefs.

It will be seen by the letter of Mr. Duncan, already referred to, that he was fully aware that the Portuguese, in the adjoining small settlement of Lourenço Marques, claimed the entrance to the river King George, and that they informed him,[62] in reply to a request to trade there, that if he attempted to enter the river he was liable to seizure going in and coming out. Nevertheless, the “Herald,” on this voyage, entered the river from the sea, by a channel discovered by Mr. Duncan, and proceeded up it.

The object of the expedition was to open friendly relations with the natives; to engage a hunting party, and establish an ivory trade, for which purpose a piece of ground was to be purchased, and a wooden house built for a depôt of goods and ivory.

The cargo of the “Herald” was well selected for the trade proposed to be established. The cutter and cargo were valued at 1,200l., and the estimated clear profit, after paying the amount invested, and all expenses and charges, was 2,400l., being a return of 200 per cent. on the original outlay. This instance alone will show what immense profits would be derived from trading with the natives, if the east coast of Africa was thrown open to legitimate traffic; and how the immediate neighbouring British colony of Natal would be enriched.

[63]

The Portuguese, from their neighbouring settlement of Lourenço Marques, are occasionally permitted to ascend the river in boats; this permission must first be obtained from the king of the river. When the application is made, it is always accompanied by a present; and if granted, which is only done in the trading season, the king demands a present from each boat ascending the river. Whenever the Portuguese have attempted to ascend the river without permission from the king, they have been attacked by the natives, and, if captured, compelled to pay a heavy ransom.

The “Herald” proceeded up the river, and the king, Manakusi, having heard of the arrival of an English vessel in the river to trade, immediately sent messengers with a welcome, who were returned with presents for their master.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese at Lourenço Marques heard of the entrance of this small English vessel into the river King George, and in her immediately recognized the “Herald,” which had been trading with themselves some months previous. Governor Mochado had received a copy of Mr. Duncan’s letter, which[64] appeared in the Natal Mercury, and so fearfully exposed what was going on at Lourenço Marques; and he longed to be revenged on the Englishman who had dared to publish what he had seen. Lieutenant Silva was despatched in charge of nearly the whole of the available force at Lourenço Marques, and that officer found himself placed at the head of a formidable force, consisting of about 100 men, armed with old flint muskets, principally negroes belonging to the Crown, assisted by a few of the convict soldiers who formed the garrison of that place. They were embarked in three large launches, without any sails, and a very short supply of oars, ammunition, and provisions. It is therefore not surprising that they took more than two weeks to overtake the “Herald,” which, at that time, was about 120 miles up the river. On the 6th of December, the “Herald” was overtaken by this formidable party. The advanced force consisted, of course, of armed negroes; and Captain Duncan, imagining that they might be the natives of the country meditating an attack, anchored the cutter, and prepared to defend the vessel. But on the other[65] two launches, with troops in them, making their appearance, he began to surmise whence the hostile force had come. Observing the “Herald” anchor, and prepare to defend herself, the Portuguese launches dropped down the river, landed a party on each bank, and took up a position on either side, abreast of the cutter. Mr. Duncan hereupon hailed the soldiers in Portuguese, to request their commandant to come alongside, informing them that he was not a pirate, but a trader.

The commandant accordingly came alongside, and informed Mr. Duncan that he had orders from the Governor of Lourenço Marques to take the cutter, and all she contained, together with all on board, to Governor Mochado.

Mr. Duncan, believing that he was in native waters, over which King Manakusi had dominion, asked Lieutenant Silva for his authority. That officer replied that intelligence had been received from a native chief that a boat, unlike any which had been seen before, had gone up the river; and that the chief, fearing those on board, had solicited the assistance of the Portuguese government at[66] Lourenço Marques. Mr. Duncan replied that he was quite sure that such was not the impression at that time, for he had already established friendly relations. To which the commandant replied that he had his orders, and must comply with them.

Mr. Duncan now informed his captor that he had two men on shore, and that he could not consent to leave without them; and Lieutenant Silva consented to their being sent for.

The news soon spread of the interruption to the trade which was just about opening between the natives and the English, and a formidable number of negroes collected from all parts. The position of the English was soon made known to the natives, by the negroes belonging to the Portuguese; and the natives claimed the cutter for their prize, alleging that she was in their waters, where the Portuguese had never been before. Shortly afterwards, a conference took place between the contending parties, viz., the Portuguese officers and the native chiefs. The native chiefs declared that if they gave up their claim to the vessel, they certainly would have a handsome[67] ransom. Lieutenant Silva sent for Mr. Duncan, and informing him what had passed at the conference with the chiefs, stated that he thought Mr. Duncan would have to sacrifice half, if not the whole, of the cargo to get out of the river, and begged him earnestly to sacrifice the cargo to save the lives of the party. Mr. Duncan said it was too late that night to do anything; he would consider the matter, and give his decision next morning. On the following morning, December the 8th, Mr. Duncan took an early opportunity of informing Lieutenant Silva that he considered himself his prisoner, and the vessel his capture—whether illegal or otherwise, was a matter for after-consideration; that he consequently ceased to exercise any authority over the cargo, and the commandant might do as he pleased. But that, although a prisoner, if it was the commandant’s intention to fight his way, he might depend upon him for assistance.

Meanwhile, the natives had not been idle. Under the direction of their king they had made the river impassable, until such time as their wants were satisfied. During the previous day,[68] and on the morning of the 8th, canoes were observed floating down the river—sometimes one alone, at other times two or three lashed together; these were collected at a narrow part of the river, and with them a boom was formed, rendering all exit from the river impossible. Above this boom, on each side of the river, an army (as the natives called it) was placed; and the king gave Lieutenant Silva to understand that it was his intention to enforce his sovereign rights, and make the commandant pay handsomely for the ransom of himself and party, when he might take the cutter with him; warning him that next time he came up the river, without previously receiving permission from King Manakusi, the consequences would be more serious. Another attempt was made to induce Mr. Duncan to pay the ransom, but he simply replied that he was no longer a free agent, but a prisoner.

At last, after much disputation with the natives, Lieutenant Silva, commandant of the Portuguese force, took from the cargo of the British cutter “Herald” sixty pounds sterling worth of goods, to pay for the release of himself and party, and[69] to be permitted to take with him the “Herald.” The boom was then removed, and King Manakusi bade him “go!”—at the same time warning him what the consequences would be, not only to any Portuguese whom he might find in the river without his permission, but to the settlement at Lourenço Marques, if they again attempted to infringe on his territory. This Lieutenant Silva knew was no idle threat; for the fort, as it is called, at Lourenço Marques, is frequently in imminent peril from the natives, who generally inflict some punishment on the Portuguese annually, after the trading season is ended, as a return for some injury inflicted during that period.

Previous to getting under weigh, the two men who were missing from the “Herald” joined the party, one being ill with fever.

Soon after weighing, it became apparent that the captors were quite incompetent to manage the prize, and Lieutenant Silva was obliged to ask Mr. Duncan to navigate the “Herald” to Lourenço Marques. The following remarks are from Mr. Duncan’s journal, and show the relative position of the English and the Portuguese in this affair:—

[70]

“On our way down the river, it was somewhat novel that, although prisoners, we were left on board to enjoy our floating home, contrary to all instructions; a condescension worthy of esteem, had it emanated from a feeling of sympathy or kindness; for although the accommodation on board our cutter was far from being sufficient for any length of time, yet it was a palace compared with the wretched condition which those miserable creatures were in, in their open boats, and which we should have had to endure, had it not been that on us alone they depended to take their cutter with a deck-load of their vermin to Lourenço Marques; for though so many in number, there was not one sailor among them who could work the craft.

“This doubtless will appear strange, especially to persons who understand the nature of such an expedition, not to be provided with a few mariners to carry out, to the strict letter, their orders. What could be more absurd than to entrust those whom they considered their prisoners to take the cutter, and a host of their force on board, to where they had orders to take her? Doubtless[71] it was to their overwhelming numbers compared with us, more especially as they were armed to the teeth, that they trusted. But could they have conceived the danger they placed themselves in, they would have been glad to take to their boats when we got into the open bay, and let us go; for nothing could have been more easy, with a strong breeze blowing from the southward and eastward, having a good offing, and the sea running considerably high, than to have washed the deck, and rid ourselves of the nuisance. Nothing but an opinion of their proceedings being unlawful, and a hope of having full damages awarded through the official interposition of H.M. Consul, Mr. M’Leod, prevented me ridding the world of an intolerable portion of its offscourings.

“On the evening of the third day’s sail down the river we arrived at Lourenço Marques harbour, and shortly after coming to an anchor, an order came for the rudder of the cutter to be unshipped and sent on shore; between ten and eleven o’clock another order, for her mainsail to be unbent and sent on shore, together with the guns, which had been kept loaded in the cabin,[72] and the ship’s papers. Next day, an order came for the cutter to be got under weigh and laid on the beach, without her rudder and mainsail, and a fresh breeze blowing off the land.

“As it was to me the Governor sent the orders, I refused to comply, telling him that I would not undertake to do any such thing—that I considered his orders absurd,—that I thought I had done sufficient in bringing the vessel, cargo, Portuguese troops, and his people safe into port—that if he wished to humbug the boat about, he must send men of his own, and at his own risk. Shortly afterwards, a large barge was sent off, manned with negroes, to tow her on shore, which was accomplished, but not without considerable difficulty.

“On the following day, Saturday, the 12th December, everything was taken out of her and carried into the fort. That done, we were all ordered to land, and marched into the fort, the sick among us being placed in the same room.

“In the afternoon, myself and two others were ordered back to the boat, the sick sent to a place on the opposite side of the square in the fort,[73] called an infirmary, a most wretched apology for one; it was far inferior to the one attached to the D’Urban Gaol in comfort, although much larger. The scenes witnessed there by our sick I leave them to describe, should they be disposed to do so. As to the district surgeon, his attention, and the use of means placed at his disposal, nothing can be said against him.

“A Portuguese who had shipped with us as cook was kept in the fort, and allowed greater latitude than any of us who were sent on board the cutter. He was allowed to walk in and out of the fort at pleasure, and to dispose of a number of articles which, with the assistance of the Portuguese guard, he had stolen from the cargo of the ‘Herald.’

“Why this Portuguese should be allowed to remain in the vessel when all were ordered on shore, he being one of the crew, seems strange, and more so that he should be kept in the fort when we were ordered back to the ‘Herald;’ except it is, as I have since imagined, to make him an instrument to effect some purpose for which he is very capable; for a more unmitigated scoundrel[74] never could exist. I said that he is an instrument to effect some purpose; for, on our embarking on board the brig ‘Clara,’ all the officers belonging to Lourenço Marques were on board; and on their leaving the vessel I heard the Commandant-Lieutenant Silva say, ‘You know what has been said to you, take care!’ To which he replied that he would.

“On Monday, the 21st December, 1857, we set sail for Mozambique, on board of a Portuguese brig, called ‘Clara,’ commanded by Señhor José Antonio de Olliveira. Their object in sending us is as yet a mystery, nothing having been said to us by any of the authorities. Nor was I summoned to appear before any one to answer for myself, except before the Collector of Customs, to whose office I was marched under a guard of four soldiers and a corporal, armed with muskets and fixed bayonets,—treated more like a brigand than a man endeavouring to establish friendly and peaceable commercial relations among that portion of the uncivilized inhabitants dwelling on the banks of the river King George.

“Our passage to Mozambique was more than[75] persons in our circumstances could possibly expect. Strange to say, after the barbarous treatment I had received during my stay of nine days, a close prisoner on board the cutter, with a guard of four soldiers over me, that a cabin passage should have been provided for me, with everything necessary for my support and comfort at discretion. Those of the crew, five in number, were not so comfortable as I should have wished, there being no other accommodation for them than the longboat, with a tarpaulin for an awning. Two of them were very ill from the effects of marsh fever, one especially being, as I considered, in a dangerous state; but who has up to the present gradually improved, by taking the medicines that I had fortunately provided, their properties being very efficacious.

“With respect to the kindness of Captain José Antonio Olliveira, his officers and crew, to assist in promoting the comfort of our party while on board the ‘Clara,’ too much cannot be said; more especially the captain, who was a perfect gentleman, and worthy of that name in its purest sense, the very opposite, indeed, of almost all of his countrymen[76] at Lourenço Marques, Governor Mochado included. I had, indeed, many fears, on embarking, that ill-treatment would have been continued during our passage; but happy am I to state that, amidst many troubles, the passage to Mozambique was an interval of ease and plenty, added to which was the pleasure derived from delightful weather. Nothing could have proved a greater relief and change (except that of being homeward-bound in our little craft), from what we had suffered under the Russian despotism of the Portuguese Governor Mochado, at Lourenço Marques.

“The care of those of our party who were sick, and the fear that they would not survive the passage, caused me great anxiety; but when in that I was favoured, having the daily pleasure of seeing them rapidly improving, nothing, at last, seemed to burden my mind, excepting a strong desire of arriving at Mozambique, buoyed with the hope that through the official interposition of H.B.M.’s Consul, Mr. M’Leod, we would meet with a speedy settlement of the affair, and thereby enable me the sooner to return to Natal.

[77]

“This composure and satisfaction for myself, and for those who were with me, was not continued to me long, for on the 31st December I had the pain of reading the burial-service over the remains of one of my crew, John Fysh, a young man, aged nineteen years, who not many days previous enjoyed perfect health, and who was remarked by all on board as a fine, healthy young man. On the 23rd December, about ten o’clock in the evening, I was pacing the deck, when the deceased appeared coming from the forepart of the ship; I seriously reproved him for his imprudence in being on deck so late in a heavy cold dew, after an excessively hot day, with nothing on but light trousers and a very thin flannel. The following day he did not appear well, but did not complain; the day after I went to see him, found him very feverish, and gave searching medicine.

“On Sunday, the 27th, according to his own statement, feeling as well as he ever did, he dressed himself, and in the hottest part of the forenoon I saw him under the port-bow of the longboat, on his knees, cutting out a pair of trousers for one of the ship’s company. I reproved him,[78] telling him that it was the Sabbath-day, and that the scorching heat of the sun under the lee of the boat might affect him more than the dew had a few days previous. On Monday he complained of not being well, but did not seem much indisposed. On Tuesday he was very bad. I gave him medicine, and blistered him on the back of the head, kept him on low diet, &c., but the treatment adopted had no effect.”

On the 3rd January, 1858, the Portuguese brig “Clara” arrived at Mozambique, when Mr. Duncan and his unfortunate companions claimed the protection of the British consul, and the next day they were provided for by me.

The following extract from the statement of Mr. Charles Hilliard, a highly intelligent man, who accompanied Mr. Duncan as his mate, in the “Herald,” throws additional light on this affair, and shows us that considerable changes among the Portuguese on the east coast of Africa must take place if commercial relations are to be established with the interior of the country by way of the magnificent rivers on that coast:—

“On a previous trip to Lourenço Marques, Captain[79] Duncan had, out of charity, taken three poor starving wretches, by permission of the Portuguese Governor of that place, to Natal. One of these men, João Alberto, shipped with us on this voyage as cook and interpreter, pretending also to a knowledge of the language of the natives to whom we were going. After the seizure of the vessel by the Portuguese on our way to Lourenço Marques, he ingratiated himself with the half-starved soldiers who were on board, by stealing the ship’s bread for them at night, in which he was several times detected. On the removal of the cargo from the vessel to the fort, at Lourenço Marques, he gained the patronage of the guard by treating them with liquor he had stolen from the cabin, part of which I took from him while serving it out; and in the confusion and pillage that took place, and which neither the captain, myself, nor the custom-house officers could restrain, he was leader, throwing articles out on the beach, breaking, and wasting their contents. And in a scuffle that ensued for some private articles between him, assisted by the guard, and a fellow from the shore called the[80] harbour-master, and one of the crew, John Fysh, he attempted the life of Fysh, by stabbing him twice with a clasp knife; and I got some blows on the breast from the butt of the corporal’s musket in endeavouring to save Fysh.

“When we were sent back to the vessel, he was allowed to remain in the fort, and to keep for his own use a number of articles, beads, handkerchiefs, pieces of blue calico, &c., belonging to the cargo of the vessel, which he had stolen with the assistance of the guard, and afterwards sold; and in a few days many of the Portuguese troops were dressed in new blue cotton jackets, the property of J. D. Koch, Esq., of Natal.

“At Lourenço Marques he wanted to leave the cutter’s crew, but, finding that if he did so the Portuguese would make him carry the musket again, and give him a sound flogging into the bargain, he claimed the protection of the British flag, and was sent on board the ‘Clara,’ where he again refused to do anything, even to carry refreshments from the galley to his sick shipmates; for which he was treated with just contempt by his countrymen.

[81]

“During our stay at Delagoa Bay, no examination of any one, not even the captain, took place respecting our voyage, nor were any questions asked upon the subject.

“The object of the expedition was to open friendly commercial intercourse with the natives of Manakusi, or River King George, for which we had an assorted cargo, to engage a hunting party and obtain a place from the natives, or build a house for a depôt of goods and ivory.

“As great stress has been laid on the monstrous ingratitude of Captain Duncan (in the Portuguese despatches) in firing a pistol at Lieutenant Silva (who had so generously come to save him), I assert that it is a base falsehood, as Captain Duncan neither burnt a grain of gunpowder, nor had a pistol in his hands during the affair. What did take place was done by myself. One barrel of my rifle, which I was loading, not being clear, I blew some loose powder out of it to clear it, but which I don’t believe either the lieutenant, or any of his party, so much as saw the smoke of, they having pulled away round a bend of the river below us,[82] and were wholly hidden from view by a thick border of high reeds.”

How it fared with the master and crew of the “Herald” at Mozambique will be related in the following chapters. Meanwhile, enough has been stated in this one to show the restrictions which are thrown in the way of legitimate trade.

Having learned that there was a house to let at Messuril, I called upon the owner of it in the city of Mozambique, and as he asked me a yearly rent of seventy-five pounds sterling, and assured me “that it was just the residence suitable for a British consul,” I determined to go and see what it was like; and according to arrangement with[84] the owner of it, the next afternoon I went to Messuril, accompanied by Mrs. M’Leod and her maid. On approaching the house, we saw at once that sending us to look at it was intended as an insult, for it was nothing more than a large hut with the walls whitewashed, and indeed was but little better than the stable of the house I was then living in. However, as we had seen the outside, we determined to look at the inside, and entered it for that purpose, when we found there was not an apartment in it that would contain my bed. Before entering the house, I had made a remark on the loneliness of the situation, and what a distance it was from the sea; and while examining the house, and smiling at the impertinence of those who had played off such a practical joke on us, I observed that a number of people were collecting round the carriage. I hurried my wife and her maid into the carriage, and made the best of my way to the palace, as the native war-drums were sounding, and a number of the natives, armed with assegais and muskets, were collecting round us, yelling and shouting. As soon as I got in sight of the guard[85] at the palace of Messuril, the natives stopped and made off to the road by which we usually went to Messuril. Here I was met by one of the native Portuguese soldiers, who desired me to save my party by taking the lower road nearer the sea. I therefore pushed on for my house by that road, and when the natives observed that we had escaped, they began yelling and shouting at their own discomfiture.

In the time of Vasco Guedes, when he was encamped at Messuril with all the available force in Mozambique, and the war was going on between him and the natives, my wife, accompanied only by her maid, frequently drove fearlessly through numbers of the natives; she was never annoyed, but always treated by them with great respect.

I therefore brought this matter under the notice of the Governor in a semi-official note, and he took care to have the guard on the alert at Messuril after that occurrence.

Subsequently I had inquiries made among the natives, and I found that a party of strange people, who had come in to barter, were engaged to attack us; and that, humanly speaking, we[86] owed our safety to going to Messuril at an earlier hour than was anticipated.

Soon after this event, finding that we were not to be tempted into the country again to our destruction, Mr. Soares sent one Sunday morning to borrow the carriage and horse, and forgot to return them.

After this occurrence, the natives were ordered by their masters, the neighbouring Portuguese, not to sell us anything; and some of them having been seen to enter my house for the purpose of selling fowls and eggs, they were waylaid by the overseers of the neighbouring plantations and cruelly beaten.

Those slaves who were in the habit of bringing fire-wood to my house, by the sale of which they obtained food for themselves, were forbidden to come near the house; and there was a cordon of slaves established for the purpose of preventing any supplies coming near us. But the slaves were more considerate than their masters, and for a time some of the very slaves who were set to keep a watch over the house, and prevent any supplies reaching us, came after dark with wood, fowls, eggs, and milk.

[87]

This went on for some time, until they were betrayed by the other slaves of our neighbours, when a more rigid look-out was established, and regular night parties were told off, not only to watch the house for the purpose of preventing any supplies arriving, but also to disturb us at all hours of the night.

In the dead of the night a tremendous thumping would be heard at the door of the house, disturbing us out of our sleep; when, on going to one of the windows to see the cause of this disturbance, there would be no one near the house. Hardly had I returned to my bed, when again I was obliged to rise from the same cause.

I had recourse to the Governor-general in this state of affairs, and he promised that he would establish a night patrol. Finding that this was only a promise, after putting up with it for three weeks longer, during which I had been frequently disturbed four, five, and six times of a night, I addressed his Excellency officially, when he informed me that this was the first intimation which he had received of my having been molested, and forthwith he supplied me with a night patrol.[88] The annoyance ceased at once, and we had some rest at night.

However, the Capitain-Mor, commanding on the mainland, ordered the patrolling to cease, and the slave-dealers, apprized by him of the circumstance, ordered their slaves to renew their midnight attacks on my house.

I was obliged to make another official intimation to the Governor-general, when the patrol was restored, with an intimation from the Governor-general that it had been discontinued without his knowledge, and contrary to his express orders, and that he had, in consequence, visited the Capitain-Mor with a severe reprimand, and directions to continue the patrol as long as I remained resident on the mainland.

The Portuguese patrol now informed me that they were directed to intimate to me their presence, and that they would do so as long as I desired it. They arrived about eleven o’clock at night, and intimated their presence by battering the house-door with the butts of their muskets. They patrolled the house and grounds until four o’clock in the morning, and during the whole of[89] that time they kept up an incessant yelling from one to the other. There were four men and a sergeant, and every time they came to the front of the house they made an attack on the front door with the butts of their muskets, accompanying the assault with the most frightful oaths in Portuguese. When I remonstrated with the sergeant, he coolly informed me that he was obeying his orders by thus intimating his presence, and that he was instructed to do so on every occasion that he visited the house; that my remonstrances were in vain, and that he would continue this as long as I required a patrol. For three more nights this continued, we in the house being obliged to go without any sleep. On the fifth night a violent storm rid us of our persecutors; and, as I did not make another official complaint to the Governor-general, the patrol was discontinued.

As soon as the slave-dealers were aware of this, their slaves were sent again to disturb us, during the night, not only by stoning the house at all hours after dark, but even, at times, by firing musketry close under the windows.

[90]

This state of affairs went on until, at last, we had no fire-wood to light a fire, and all the old casks and packing-cases in the house were being fast consumed. Since the desertion of the “Castor” frigate, things were worse and worse, and I even found that the Governor-general could not be prevailed upon to carry out the promises of assistance which he had made me.

Finding that I had been so shamefully deserted by one of Her Majesty’s ships, immediately after the seizure of the “Charles et Georges” he began to be quite careless about the suppression of the slave-trade, and informed me that, with the best intention, he found himself quite powerless to protect me; in fact, he began to dread the consequences of the decisive step which he had taken by seizing the “Charles et Georges;” and, I believe, had made his mind up to see myself and family perish from the state of starvation which we were in by the rigid blockade established by the slave-dealers.

He knew that I had not a slave in my house, and that the only means of communication which I had with him was in writing, by way of his[91] palace at Messuril. To get a letter there, I had to fee a negro well, for he ran the risk of being flogged for having any communication with my house; and, on his arrival at Messuril, he was obliged to fee the sergeant of the guard to send the letter to Mozambique. The Governor-general had promised to provide a house for me on the island, and in the city of Mozambique, but he found he could not procure one—at least, so he said. His Excellency had asked me to wait for some servants until the “Charles et Georges” was condemned, and that then he would place under my protection as many of the slaves comprising her cargo as I was willing to take charge of, knowing, as he said, that they could not be in kinder hands, until it was decided what was to be done with them. But here I found that he had otherwise arranged, for, it having been represented to him that if those slaves got into my hands I should be able to learn who their masters were, and also who were the owners of the other slaves on board of that vessel, it was decided that they should be returned to their owners in the city of Mozambique.

[92]

On being apprized of this distribution of the slaves, it became more certain that the state of imprisonment in which I was held on the mainland was decided to continue.

Fortunately for me, at this juncture, the crew of the British cutter “Herald,” which had been illegally seized by the Portuguese, when trading with the natives in the Manakusi river, arrived at Mozambique, and the Governor-general, now that I had some more witnesses to testify to the treatment to which I was subjected by the officials and slave-dealers, attended to my requisition for a government boat to communicate with him relative to the cutter “Herald.” The Superintendent of the Dock-yard, a notorious slave-dealer, sent this boat over for me without an awning, in the mid-day sun, although, at all other times, the boat was fitted with an awning. The object which he contemplated by this arrangement was to give me fever by exposure to the sun. He succeeded in this. The government slaves, who rowed the boat, were ordered by this officer not to carry me into the boat, so that I would be compelled to walk through the[93] water up to my knees. The coxswain of the boat was made drunk, so as to be excessively insolent to me.

On this occasion I was accompanied by the late Mr. G. W. Duncan, the captain of the “Herald,” who, from having been in the Brazils some five years, spoke Portuguese fluently. I had cautioned him not to speak a word but English on the passage across to the town; and, on my arrival at the palace, I complained to the Governor-general of the conduct of the coxswain of the boat, and of his not allowing the crew to carry me through the water into the boat; also, of his insolence on the passage across. The Governor-general apologized for the absence of an awning, which he said must have been accidental. He sent for the coxswain of the boat, when he was satisfied of his not being sober. When asked for an explanation of his conduct, he at first denied everything in toto, and, of course, said that I had entirely mistaken his meaning. The Governor-general hoped that I was satisfied, when I informed him that I was by no means satisfied by the explanation given[94] to him by the drunken coxswain of the boat, and requested Mr. Duncan to explain to His Excellency the nature of the language made use of by the Portuguese coxswain.

Hereupon Mr. Duncan pulled out a small pocket-book; and to the consternation of His Excellency, the coxswain, and the negroes, read out of it some of the oaths made use of by the coxswain on the passage across; and, commencing with our arrival on the beach, he, in the purest Portuguese, described everything that had occurred until our arrival at the palace, particularly dwelling upon the curses heaped upon the British consul and the English nation by this Portuguese felon.

The Portuguese coxswain, finding the tables completely turned upon him, informed the Governor-general that in all he had done he was only obeying the orders of his superior, who took the awning out of the boat with his own hands, and directed him not to allow the crew to carry me into the boat.

The slaves, interrogated by the Governor-general, confirmed the statement of the coxswain,[95] while they stated that every word uttered by Mr. Duncan in recounting the passage across was perfectly true. The Governor-general made a most abject apology, and begged that I would make great allowances for him when I saw him surrounded by such people.

Mr. Duncan and I now proceeded through the city, and prevailed upon some of the Banyans to allow their slaves to come and serve in my house. By this means we were enabled to collect a crew for my boat, which had been lying idle, for want of hands, on the beach in front of my house for many weeks.

Mr. Duncan took the boat in hand, and employed her between the house and the city until we laid in a large stock of fire-wood, fowls, ducks, two sheep, a goat, and two cows.

During this time the most strenuous endeavours were used to get the slaves in my employment away, but we made the Banyans stick to the agreement, which was in writing, and by that means got the consulate provisioned.

We could not get the Portuguese to sell us any flour, but we hoped to get some from[96] vessels coming in. In this we were disappointed, for Mr. Duncan was only able to get 12lbs. of flour from a German brig, and this had to be obtained through the Portuguese custom-house officer on board of her.

Soon after the arrival of the survivors of the crew of the British cutter “Herald” at Mozambique, I succeeded in obtaining the house of Señhor José Vincente de Gama, at the yearly rental of 400 dollars; and now that there were a few more Englishmen in the port, the Governor-general was pleased to furnish me with a guard consisting of four native policemen belonging to the city of Mozambique, under the command of a Portuguese sergeant from His Excellency’s body-guard.

The slaves of the neighbouring slave-dealers were not allowed to insult me; the natives were permitted to approach the house and furnish us with supplies; and the Banyans were persuaded to allow their slaves to come and serve in my house. All this was in consequence of the presence of a few Englishmen, and the persevering energy of Mr. Duncan, who thought he could[97] not do too much for the consul of his nation, to enable him to maintain his post against the slave-dealers. Loud were the complaints among all classes of the shameful desertion of H. M. Consul and the Governor-general by the British frigate “Castor,” and by no party at Mozambique was the captain of that vessel more thoroughly despised and abused than the very slave-dealers who had been assisted by the absence of a British ship of war.

Mr. Duncan and his mate, Mr. Charles Hilliard, both resided in my house, while the remainder of the crew of the “Herald” lived in the city of Mozambique.

Mr. Duncan gave the Portuguese very clearly to understand that their treatment of the British consul should be made known to the world; and as they already were aware that he had exposed slaving practices at Lourenço Marques, by his letter in the “Natal Mercury,” they were afraid of him, and consequently hated him intensely. I cautioned him at all times to avoid eating or drinking with them when he had occasion to visit the city of Mozambique to[98] look after his crew. But having escaped the poison cup at Lourenço Marques, he said that he felt he would live to expose the infamy of these people to the world. Among other good offices which he rendered us, he induced a Portuguese lady in the city of Mozambique to allow her slaves to wash our linen; and thus my wife and poor Rosa were relieved from labour which was absolutely killing them, with the approaching sickly season before us.

Everybody spoke of the fearful season which was approaching; that it was the seventh year since the awful hurricane and fatal season of 1851, and that it was sure to be most destructive of life. Constant inquiries were made relative to the health of the British consul and his family as the season advanced, but Providence wonderfully protected us, as will be seen in the following pages.

For a brief space after getting into our new house we had peace, and we made the best use of our time by putting everything in order, and laying in a good stock of supplies; we were successful in obtaining all we stood in need of, excepting[99] flour; but as we were able to buy bread at Mozambique, after the arrival of the crew of the “Herald,” we hoped that we would be able to hold out until the dhows began to come over from Bombay.

The slave-dealers at Mozambique remonstrated with the Governor-general for giving me a guard of police from Mozambique. His Excellency explained that all the trustworthy men of the garrison were sick, and that it was useless his sending men to guard me, who would give as much trouble as the negroes who were sent to persecute me; and that, as he was compelled to protect me, he could but furnish me with a police guard.

The Governor-general of Mozambique is entirely in the hands of the Finance Committee, and they are governed by slave-trade interests. Finding that remonstrance was useless, the Finance Committee informed the Governor-general that they, from motives of economy, had disbanded the police force, and, of course, next morning my guard vanished.

A few days afterwards the two cows and[100] nearly all the poultry were stolen. The butcher at Mozambique, from whom I had purchased the cows, sent me word that they were at the palace of the Governor-general at Messuril. At first the Governor-general refused to return them, alleging that they were his property. The butcher went to his Excellency, and stated that I had purchased the cows from him, they being his property. Some days after the butcher had seen the Governor-general on this subject, the cows were returned to me, and the butcher was put in prison.

Some days previous to this occurrence, Mr. Charles Hilliard, the mate of the “Herald,” was attacked with fever, and after Mr. Duncan and myself had completely despaired of his recovery, by the blessing of Providence on my wife’s treatment of this fever, and her unwearied nursing, he was enabled to get about again. He had five different attacks of this most malignant fever before we left Mozambique, but, owing to his good constitution and the treatment adopted in his case, he recovered, and is now, I believe, in the enjoyment of the best health at Natal. Mr. Duncan,[101] in consequence of the illness of some of his men at Mozambique, exposed himself a good deal, and, in fact, had never felt quite well since his arrival at Mozambique, having suffered considerably from the treatment he underwent at the hands of the Governor of Lourenço Marques.

On the 24th of February, he complained of headache, lassitude, loss of memory, and pains in his back and limbs, being the usual symptoms of this fever.

Having studied for the medical profession in his younger years, he had some knowledge of the treatment of fevers in general, and adopted what he considered was a most efficacious mode for his recovery. For this purpose he had recourse to emetics, to clear the stomach; and, although remonstrated with, he, by this treatment, so reduced the system, that when we took him in hand, although we were able to keep him alive by the use of quinine for some short time, still he never recovered sufficiently to rally against the fever, and he positively died from sheer exhaustion, the fever having in his case assumed the most malignant form.

[102]

Unfortunately, at the same time that Mr. Duncan was attacked with fever, my wife had an attack of the same fever, but at first in a milder form, and was of course confined to her room.

Rosa, observing a great change in Mr. Duncan on the evening of the 2nd of March, communicated her fears of his approaching dissolution to her mistress; and, in the hope of being able to suggest something for the recovery of Mr. Duncan, my wife insisted on being wrapped up in blankets, and taken to see him. Mrs. M’Leod was at the time in that stage of the fever when it is so necessary to humour the patient, and by no means to excite irritation by offering opposition to their wishes. Finding that dissuasion only rendered her more determined to endeavour to be as useful in his case as she had been in Mr. Hilliard’s, she was wrapped in blankets, and conveyed to the side of the sufferer, when she at once pronounced that there was no hope. Perceiving that he was partially conscious, she endeavoured to prepare him for his approaching end, and asked for any message he might have for her who was so soon to be a widow. While trying to catch a few[103] inarticulate sounds from the dying man, she leaned over him, and, in her anxiety not to lose a sound, she inhaled the fetid breath of him who was fast passing into eternity. The consequence of this was that she had a putrid sore throat accompanying her fever, and for six long weeks she was confined to her bed.

During the time that Mr. Duncan was dying, Mr. Hilliard was suffering from another attack of fever, and for three days and nights I expected from hour to hour to lose him.

The Portuguese frigate, “Don Ferdinand,” was lying in the harbour, on her return from Goâ, and en route to Lisbon. There were two medical officers on board of that vessel; at the city of Mozambique there were three medical men; and of these five doctors not one could be found to visit the British consul’s house, with three people at the point of death in it, although I made an application to the Governor-general for that purpose.

To my neighbour, Brigadier Candido da Costa Soares, I applied, asking him to send me his native doctor, in the hope of saving Mr. Duncan,[104] and suggesting something for the other sufferers; but although this man’s son, João da Costa Soares, had been treated by my wife and myself, when he was sick at the Cape of Good Hope, as if he had been our brother, he brutally refused to send me any assistance.

I again applied to the Governor-general, begging him to send me a doctor, and if he could not get the Portuguese doctors to visit my house, to oblige me by sending his aide-de-camp on board the French steamer of war “Mahé Le Bourdonnais,” then in harbour, and ask the doctor of that vessel to visit the sick in my house. The Governor-general was obliged to ask the French doctor to visit us, for the Portuguese had made up their mind to let us all die. His Excellency also procured a dozen leeches for me, which were immediately applied to my wife’s throat, and had the desired effect of giving her immediate relief.

When the French doctor visited us, he found my wife propped up with pillows in bed, much relieved from the application of the leeches, and engaged in making the shroud of our departed[105] friend, Mr. Duncan. This employment he of course forbade, and it was laid aside, but only to be renewed on his departure. Mr. Hilliard was in that state that it was very doubtful if he would recover, and Rosa he found had a low, nervous fever. Poor girl, she was struggling hard to help her mistress.

That night a coffin was sent over by the Governor-general, in answer to my application, and the next morning his Excellency sent a boat to convey the remains of Mr. Duncan to their last resting-place. Previous to their leaving, I had the coffin placed under a large tamarind tree in the court-yard of my house, and, spreading over it my consular flag as a pall, I read the beautiful service for the dead of the Church of England.

Rosa, at last worn out, had taken to her bed, unable to move; and my poor dog “Belle” was the only one to mourn with me over my friend.

Having thus performed the last sad Christian rites over the remains of the noble Duncan, and wrapped them in that flag which he loved so well, I had them conveyed to the boat for interment[106] in a grave by the side of his countrymen, Captain Dacres, R.N., and Lieutenant Loch, R.N., which the Governor-general was so considerate as to attend to. I wrote to the survivors of his crew, and my German friend, to see him laid in his grave. The sail was hoisted, and I turned from the service of the dead to endeavour to save those who were between life and death.

Mr. Hilliard I found was quite sensible, and I made known to him that the French doctor had strongly urged his removal to the hospital, as the only chance of saving his life. I pointed out to him that even poor Rosa was at last ill, and that I had no one to assist me about the house. He asked for his friend Duncan, and I answered that “he was better now,” for he was too ill to be informed of his death.

Looking at me very earnestly, he asked me to grant him one favour—to allow him to remain in my house. I explained to him that I did not know the moment when the fever might attack myself, and then there would be no one to attend to his wants; and that he would perish from neglect; that his only chance of being saved was going[107] to the hospital, where there were plenty of attendants.

To all this he replied by asking me in a tone and with an earnestness that I could not resist, “To let him die under his own flag?” Of course he remained in my house.

In a few days Rosa was herself again, but my wife was a long and patient sufferer.

The French vessel proceeded to sea; the day after, the good young doctor of her visited us, and I was then obliged to make an urgent official application to the Governor-general for medical assistance. Dr. Fonseca, the Surgeon Major, then visited the inmates of my house. For my wife he prescribed manna, and what he called cream of tartar, and finding this had not been taken on his second visit, he asked for a cup, in which he placed the manna, and sprinkled over it the cream of tartar, instructing me to fill the cup with warm water next morning, and, after mixing it well, to insist upon my wife taking it.

On my asking when he would next visit us, he said that Mr. Hilliard’s was a hopeless case; Rosa was quite well; and that after Mrs. M’Leod[108] had taken the medicine prescribed by him, “she would require no more;” adding, that “it would, therefore, be unnecessary for him to call again.”

The next morning my wife took the medicine prescribed, which was administered by my own hand, and I went to look at Hilliard. On my return, I found my wife in the greatest agony, with Rosa hanging over her. It appears that soon after my leaving the room the medicine had acted as a violent emetic, and Rosa was attracted to the room by my wife’s shrieks of agony, which I did not hear, being in the lower part of the house. Mrs. M’Leod complained of a feeling of intense burning, not only in her stomach, but in her throat, and during more than two hours she endured great agony, during which we observed the curving of the back, and twitching of the muscles, as described in cases of poisoning from strychnine. Her belief is that an over-dose of poison was administered to her, which, acting as an emetic, had not time to lodge in the system. After this we felt that we had a better chance of living without the attendance of Mozambique doctors than with them; and consequently dispensed[109] with their services for the remainder of our stay at that place.

The sickly season had now set in, and it proved a very fatal one; numbers of deaths occurred daily at Mozambique.

The Governor of Killimane had come out, with his wife and three daughters, in the Portuguese frigate from Lisbon, in company with the Governor-general. At first the mother fell a victim to the climate; and on being apprized of this intelligence by the Governor-general, my wife sent an invitation, through his Excellency, for the young ladies to stay with us while they remained at Mozambique. But they very naturally preferred remaining with their bereaved parent. They were all very ill, and the youngest of the three died just before the hurricane, and was buried during that great calamity which I am now going to describe.

On the 1st of April, 1858, the city of Mozambique, on the east coast of Africa, situated in latitude 15° 2′ S., and longitude 40° 48′ E. of Greenwich, was visited by a hurricane which in less than twenty-four hours did more destruction to the city and surrounding districts than any tempest[110] in the memory of the oldest resident in these parts.

For some eight days this great convulsion of nature had been announced by heavy rains, which laid in ruins many dwellings in the city, and on the mainland; and more especially, since the 29th of March the weather had been very uncertain—torrents of rain, changeable winds, an atmosphere overcast with thick clouds, charged with electricity, were the forerunners of a terrible tempest, which commenced on the morning of the 1st of April.

The following vessels were anchored in the harbour of Mozambique:—the French schooner of war “l’Aigle;” the French barque, “Charles et Georges;” the Portuguese ship, “Adamastor;” brigs, “Amisade,” “2 Irmaõs,” and “Nostra Señhor de Soccorro,” “Flor do Mar;” schooners, “19 de Maio,” “Esperança,” and “Livramento,” together with twenty-nine Arab dhows.

On Thursday, April the 1st, at six A.M., at the British consular residence, Cabaçeira Grande, on the mainland of Port Mozambique, the barometer[111] B.T., No. 341, stood at 29·924 (t. 78°). The wind was from the S. and S.W., very squally, and up to eleven A.M. very heavy showers, or almost torrents of rain, came up from the S.W. At noon the barometer had fallen to 29·800 (77°), when the wind commenced blowing furiously, the horizon became less distinct, and the clouds denser and more lowering.

The wind kept increasing, and with it the sea in the harbour, until four P.M., when the Portuguese schooner of war, “19 de Maio,” the Portuguese schooner, “Livramento,” some of the dhows and other vessels, began to drag their anchors. The blasts of wind were augmented in force, until the tempest became furious at sunset; from which it gradually increased in violence, so that all the dhows, with the exception of one called the “Mantalla,” parted their cables; and some of them, as well as the schooner, “19 de Maio,” and “Livramento,” were blown on the Cabaçeira side of the harbour, and stranded there.

The schooner “Livramento,” thrown in the first place on the north side of the harbour, turned upside down, and, when the wind chopped round[112] from the opposite quarter, she righted; then being forced afloat again by the violence of the wind, she was again upset in the middle channel, or, as it is called, the grand canal. Four men belonging to the crew of this vessel were able to cling to that part of the hull which was not entirely submerged, and were saved by the crew of the Portuguese ship “Adamastor,” whose captain sent a boat to rescue these unfortunates.

At nine P.M. the wind appeared to lull, and almost gave rise to the hope that the hurricane had passed. This lull was of short duration; the wind appeared to cease, in order to commence afresh with greater fury, which continued until eleven P.M.

The destruction that the first part of this terrible visitor had caused was already considerable. The plantations on the mainland had suffered in a great measure, many of the cocoa-nut trees having been uprooted, and all stripped of their nuts; whilst temporary buildings, and even houses, had been laid in ruins.

The city of Mozambique had suffered likewise, and up to this time considerable damage had been[113] done to the shipping in the harbour. In my house on the mainland every precaution had been taken to resist the hurricane; all doors and windows having been well secured, and even the shutters of the latter were doubly secured by being screwed to the frame-work of the windows. No opening was allowed for the entrance of the wind.

Shortly before eleven P.M. I had observed the barometer, and placed a lamp near a window to attract the attention of the unfortunate shipwrecked mariners, or any of the natives whose huts might have been destroyed by the tempest. From the barometer still continuing to fall, I was led to believe that the centre of this revolving storm was passing not far distant from my house. I had retired about ten minutes, when suddenly the wind ceased, and was followed by a calm too horrible to describe. Springing out of bed, I observed it was exactly 11 P.M., and that the barometer, which an hour previous had stood at 29·000, had now fallen to 28·740.

The wind had ceased; the sea suddenly became still, not a leaf moved—nothing was heard but[114] the lowing of the cattle, and the bleating of the sheep, which had hitherto survived the storm, and these signs of animal life added to the horror of so intense a calm after such a convulsion of nature. The stars shone bright in the firmament of heaven, more especially in the zenith, and the atmosphere had the most serene appearance.

Since the commencement of this calm I had been narrowly watching the barometer, and, instead of its rising, it continued to fall, so that I might almost say that the mercury was seen to move in the tube. At 11h. 18m. P.M. the barometer had fallen to 28·700; at this instant a blast of wind, never to be forgotten by those who experienced it, came from the N.W., accompanied by rain, thunder, and lightning; blast upon blast of wind succeeded each other rapidly, if possible, increasing in force. Torrents of rain accompanied these blasts more rapidly and violently.

The heavens instantly became black and obscured—not a star was visible; for twelve minutes the barometer was stationary; then at 11h. 30m. P.M. it began to rise very gradually until midnight, when it was 28·720. At this time I went to observe[115] if the magnetic instruments were affected by this storm, but the house shook so violently that it was impossible to read the instruments; these instruments were placed on pillars of solid masonry, which I had built for the purpose; the pillars were on the ground-floor, or basement of the house, and the instruments were so much agitated, that one was almost led to the belief that the ground on which the pillars were built was moved by an earthquake, and yet I think that it was only the violence of the wind.

My house was built of solid masonry, the outside walls from three to three-and-a-half feet thick, and the partition walls at least three feet thick. The houses are built with walls thus thick in order to make them cool, and yet my house moved as if built of wood; and at one time, when the wind came from the N.W., I expected it would have been swept into the sea. It was much shaken at that time, and immediately afterwards the rain began to make its way through the flat roof, and deluge the rooms.

Some idea of this blast of wind may be formed by my stating that I counted upwards of four[116] hundred cocoa-nut trees which had all been uprooted by this one blast, the whole of them having been thrown on the ground towards the south.

In the city of Mozambique, the frightful darkness of night, unillumined by moon or stars, added to the horrors of the scene which this convulsion of nature produced.

It was impossible to traverse the streets inundated with water. The sand raised from the beach was formed into sand-whirlwinds, which reached to a great altitude, and, breaking, descended with the torrents of rain invading every place; the houses themselves, even those most solidly built, trembled from the impetuous violence of the wind, and shook everything contained in them. The rain deluged the houses; many trees, and some of them gigantic, lost their limbs, which were carried great distances; others, on which the first Portuguese voyagers had looked with admiration for their enormous size, were now uprooted from their mother earth, and laid beside their companions.

The shrubs and plants looked as if they had[117] been burned by the fury of the wind; not a garden escaped the ravages of this fearful storm.

All these direful events, heightened by the shrieks of the unfortunate, which, at intervals, added to the howling and hissing of the wind, increased the terror and consternation of the inhabitants of this doomed city. Many huts were swept away by the wind; others, as fragile, being saved by the fact of their being almost buried by the sand which the sea and wind drove over the island. But if this was the terror and suffering in the city, how much greater damage did the tempest cause in the harbour!

There the horrors of the tempest were increased by the fury of the sea, the fragileness of the vessels, the frightful darkness of the night, and the absolute impossibility of help from any quarter.

After the illusive calm already described, when the wind changed suddenly to the N.W., just previous to midnight, the dhows commenced to get foul of each other. Immediately all was disorder, confusion, and terror. Some dhows[118] were capsized; others were dashed to pieces on the beach, or crumpled up among the rocks. In the middle of this sad disorder were heard the despairing cries of the wretched sailors, calling for help, and raising their hands to the Almighty to save them. To hear the piercing cries of those men, child-like in the depth of their despair, was heart-rending, but to witness their struggles when cast upon the beach, and they came nigh being dashed against the rocks, without being able to assist them, was horrible.

The numerous wrecks subsequently encountered on the shore of the island of Mozambique attested, at the same time, the violence of the tempest and the extent of this direful catastrophe. Sad to relate, among the debris of the wrecks and cargoes on the beach, numerous corpses were met with.

The ship “Adamastor,” the barque “Charles et Georges,” and the brig “Amisade,” were the only vessels at anchor in Mozambique that escaped.

The French schooner of war, “l’Aigle,” was only saved by her anchors holding until 11 P.M.;[119] she appeared to be anchored too close to the beach; after that time she went on shore in consequence of two dhows drifting on top of her, from whose crews she succeeded in saving fourteen persons. She parted her anchor, lost her rudder, and was otherwise injured, but the solidity of her construction prevented her making water, and after the hurricane she was got afloat again.

The schooner belonging to the Portuguese government, called the “19 de Maio,” was thrown on the Conducia or north shore of the harbour, with little damage to her hull; as was likewise a dhow sent from Ibo, and detained at this port for having four sea-pieces on board, which suffered no damage. The brigs “2 Irmaõs,” “Nostra Señhor do Soccorro,” and “Flor do Mar,” were beached, and more or less injured. On the mainland the hurricane destroyed houses, swept away huts, uprooted gigantic trees, killed many negroes and cattle, and levelled with the ground many palm-trees, and in some places whole plantations of cocoa-nut trees, each tree producing annually nuts to the value of three shillings.

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This hurricane will almost cause the ruin of some of the proprietors of plantations, and perhaps for some time turn their attention with fresh zeal towards the slave-trade.

Late on the 2nd of April, the hurricane gradually declined in strength, and then ceased entirely during the night of that day, which saw the last of the Mammekia or hurricane in these latitudes. This was a calamity which affected the whole of the province of Mozambique more or less, not only in its immediate results, but also in those which are to follow. The slaves themselves told me that now that their masters’ property was destroyed there was no food for them, and that many would be sent away in ships, where, or to whom, they did not know. But, alas! I knew but too well their fated doom.

In the city of Mozambique the Governor-general adopted every precaution, as soon as the hurricane was over, to maintain order and protect the property which had been washed on the beach from the wrecks. The Custom-house was opened to receive the merchandize saved; the military were posted in different places to maintain[121] order; the dead were interred to prevent a plague; and in short, despite the great number of slaves with which the island abounds, there were not many robberies nor any disorders worth mentioning.

The hurricane described in the last chapter had passed away; the north-east monsoon had set in, bringing with it the dhows from Cutch, Bombay, Goâ, and Zanzibar; and the marshy aspect given to the mainland around our house by the recent rains was somewhat disappearing, when one of my patients, after assisting me about the house for some few days, took advantage of a[123] fine cool morning to steal out unobserved, and the first intimation which I had of his absence was again to hear the sound of his rifle.

In a few minutes Hilliard made his appearance in the court-yard, bearing in his hand a fine specimen of the Mozambique crow, jet black from bill to the tip of the tail, with the exception of a cravat of the purest white, which makes the bird, when standing on a wall, look uncommonly like a parson.

For being out before taking his quinine he received an extra dram, and we then began to talk seriously as to what chance we had of obtaining any bread. The Portuguese had positively refused to sell me any; and the Governor-general had written to say that he could not assist me—in fact, he had written as if there was a famine in the place, to justify his inhumanity in not assisting me to supply the wants of two Englishwomen exposed to these slave-trade persecutions.

Among the slaves which I had hired from a Banyan at Mozambique, one of them, José, had stuck to me through all; and many a time did this[124] poor negro find his way to the city of Mozambique, and succeed in buying negro bread for me from the negroes at Mozambique. At first José acted very honestly; but, latterly, it appears that some of the slaves of Señhor João da Costa Soares, and others of the slave-dealers, instructed by their masters, got hold of José on his visits to the city, and, making him drunk, robbed him of his money. José would, in this way, be absent at times for some days, but as soon as he became sober the negro would always turn his face homewards, and he had the good sense not to return without bread. Sometimes he obtained it on credit, at others he would be accompanied by the owner of the bread; and as on all these occasions I took care not to scold the negro too much, and always to pay what he had promised the negroes who accompanied him from the city, I was never many days without bread. It is true that this was a very inferior article, and at all times expensive—costing me as much as three and four dollars for what might be bought at Mozambique for sixpence, or, at the outside, a shilling. It is true that this negro bread was generally sour, and at[125] times blue-mouldy when it reached my house; but Rosa used to cut out the mouldy parts, and, steeping the remainder for a short time in boiling hot water, place it in an oven and rebake it, thereby making it at least eatable. While we were all sick, this miserable supply of bread was sufficient; but now that Hilliard was recovering, his appetite increased with his strength, and as there was no bread, nor any substitute, in the house, I looked very anxiously for the negro on this morning, for he had been absent more than five days. To apply to our neighbours I knew was useless, and I was thinking of making my breakfast of the heart of the head of one of the fallen cocoa-nut trees, when José made his appearance with enough bread to enable us to hold out for three days longer.

After breakfast, my wife—pale, anxious, and feeble—crawled out of her room, which she had not left for the last six weeks; and poor Rosa, who had struggled through it all for so long a time, now that she saw her mistress about once more, took to her bed, and succumbed to a severe attack of fever. Every attention was paid to[126] the poor girl who had behaved so nobly throughout, and for some time we feared that she would fall a victim, not to the climate, but to the persecutions which we had endured.

About noon, my wife, on this memorable day, the tenth of April, was seated in a room of the house set aside for my office, preparing the skin of the bird which Hilliard had shot in the morning, to be added to our Mozambique collection; when, having finished my meteorological observations, I took up the telescope to scan the horizon, as I had done for so many months, unsuccessful in discovering the promised sail of hope, when I observed, standing in through the southern channel, a vessel which, from her rig, I at once knew to be one of the beautiful Symonite brigs of our navy. Doubting my own senses, I took the glass into another room to inspect the stranger more leisurely; when I satisfied myself that I was not mistaken, and that the intelligence might be safely communicated to my fellow-sufferers. My wife immediately tried to cheer Rosa with the intelligence, and we all expected that we[127] should hold communication with our countrymen before evening.

The stranger anchored about two P.M., but, instead of communicating with the British consul, the commander of the British ship-of-war amused himself at the billiard-table of the slave-dealer, João da Costa Soares, and then returned on board of her Majesty’s ship. The next day, Sunday, this promising officer again repaired to the same society; and on the following day, after a letter by José from me reaching him, he woke up to the folly of his conduct, and reached my house, after being at anchor in the harbour fifty-two hours, at six o’clock in the evening of Monday.

It appears that the captain of the “Castor,” who was senior officer at the Cape, in the absence of the admiral, to cover his own flagrant desertion of me, had sent up to Mozambique an officer whose total incapacity and unfitness for the Mozambique business was too well known to him. For the credit of the service and of the country, I have not named even the vessel, commanded by one who is at present on half-pay, to escape the severe punishment which the total[128] neglect of the public service had justly merited. While at Mozambique, he was the constant companion of slave-dealers, contrary to repeated and official remonstrance, and he must not complain if those who used him as a tool now express their unmeasured contempt for him—an unenviable reputation, that of being despised even by slave-dealers.

The morning after the commander visited me I returned his official visit, and requested him to furnish me with a guard, in order that I might renew in safety my correspondence with the Governor-general on the subject of the slave-trade going on in the province, which was conducted by the officials of all ranks and denominations.

This guard consisted of a corporal and five privates of the Royal Marines. On the guard reaching my house, I despatched my communications to the Governor-general, and the next day the slave-dealers represented to him that the British consul had landed an armed force, preparatory to taking possession of the country. The commander of the brig-of-war and myself were called[129] upon to explain our conduct, when the former referred the Governor-general to me for an answer.

My reply was simply, that “His Excellency had stated, that it was not in his power to protect me from the fury of the slave-dealers; that for months, leaving me thus unguarded, he had silenced my remonstrances against the slave-trade, openly carried on in every port of the Province; that now a British cruiser had anchored in the port, I had demanded a guard from her Commander, to enable me to communicate with His Excellency on the public service.”

The Governor-general talked about an invasion of Portuguese territory; and told me that, if not satisfied with the treatment I had received, I was welcome to haul down my Consular flag and retire from the Province.

To which I replied, that having suffered so long in the cause of the oppressed slaves, it was my intention to obtain some results from the same—the first of which was, to make His Excellency officially acquainted with, what I knew well he was aware of, the fearful extent to which the[130] slave-trade had increased in the last few months. He now called on the Commander to re-embark the Marines; and on this officer again referring him to me, the Governor-general told me, “that I was like my country—now, that I was strong with a British ship-of-war in the harbour, I intended to trample upon him in his weakness.”

At this outbreak I kept my temper; and when Colonel Almeida recovered his, he apologized for his rudeness, and begged me, as a favour, to order the guard to be re-embarked.

On this point I was immovable. He then offered to furnish me with a Portuguese guard of soldiers, and pledged his honour, as a soldier, that they should protect me from all insult, if I would re-embark the Marines. I accepted His Excellency’s offer, and he pledged his word that they would be at my house before sunset, again repeating his application, that the Marines would leave my house at once. At last it was arranged, that the Portuguese guard were to arrive about five o’clock in the afternoon, and that the English guard would leave the house at the same time. At the appointed hour, a boat was in waiting from[131] the brig-of-war, but no Portuguese guard made their appearance; consequently, the English guard remained in my house that night. Seeing that I was determined on this point, the next morning the Portuguese guard made their appearance, and the English guard returned to the brig. Two of the Marines, who had volunteered to do duty, as servants in the house, were retained, and with them Hilliard and myself, we were prepared for any treachery on the part of our convict guard.

Rockets were supplied from the brig to be fired off at night, in the event of an attack on the Consulate; and I awaited the reply of the Governor-general to my communications. The first intimation of their having told was—the Portuguese lady, who had been prevailed upon by Mr. Duncan, to allow her slaves to wash our linen, declining to accommodate us for the future. I had pointed out a fact, notorious to every one, that this lady’s father, Major Olliveira, Governor of Inhambane, was carrying on the slave-trade, as successfully as his predecessor, the Buccaneer Leotti; and, because I had done so, I was, according to Portuguese justice, to go without clean linen.

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Dr. Huson, R.N., from the brig, attended on Rosa day and night, with the most unremitting attention, and his efforts in saving her life were crowned with success.

The Marines insisted upon washing everything they could lay their hands upon; but my poor sick wife and her weak maid had again to have recourse to the washing-tub—there was no help for it—no one in Mozambique would wash for the Consul’s family.

The brig-of-war had now been lying in the harbour about a month; the slave-dealers had learned from those who were in daily and hourly communication with them the signal which I had arranged should be made, in case of a night attack on the Consulate; and to feel our pulse they had made a false alarm, which caused the boats of the brig, manned and armed, to present themselves before my house at one o’clock in the morning, which resulted in nothing.

A court-martial was at last summoned to try Leotti and the Moor, who commanded the “Zambesi,” on the occasion of her communicating with the “Minnetonka,” and these worthies were[133] of course acquitted, being simply tried for disobedience of orders—not one word in the charge relative to the “Minnetonka.” In order that this mockery of justice should be made known in the proper quarter, I asked for a copy of the sentence of the court in both cases, and in consequence my house was attacked the same evening. During the time the house was mobbed, and before the lazy Portuguese guard would turn out, my wife was wounded by a stone thrown through our bedroom window, which broke a pane of glass, some of which lodged in her hand. This stoning lasted until the guard fired three times on those thus engaged; and finding that our gallant protectors, enraged at having to turn out, were determined to do mischief, the mob withdrew. The next day the Governor-general made a great fuss, and furnished me with another guard to patrol around the house. Two officers were sent over to inquire into the affair; and, although I led them over the house, and showed them the damage done by the stoning—the broken windows and damaged exterior of the house—a report was sent to Portugal that no attack was made on my[134] house. Being prepared for this, I caused the Portuguese corporal to make to me a statement in writing; likewise the two marines, and also Charles Hilliard, whose blood was up that night, when he saw my wife, his gentle nurse, bleeding from the effects of her wounds. It is satisfactory to know that the British Government was not imposed upon; for, when a high authority in this country read to me the Portuguese report, without waiting for any remark from me, he at once pronounced it an “infernal lie”—very plain and very true.

From the late attack, when protected by the presence of a Portuguese guard in my house, and that of a British ship of war in the harbour, it became apparent to what extent the slave-dealers intended to carry their animosity. To demand satisfaction from the Governor-general for these insults would have only lowered him still more, where it was the Anti-Slavery policy clearly to support him and strengthen him against the slave-dealers. Numbers of the men and officers on board of the brig were on the sick list from the effects of the climate, and the medical officer was[135] urging upon the Commander the necessity of proceeding to sea immediately, when I would have been wholly unprotected, and when the Governor-general distinctly stated to me that he would not be answerable for any consequences which might ensue, affirming that he was totally unable to protect me against the slave-trade party, and that I would be doing a service to the interest of both my own country and also that of Portugal by representing his utter inability to protect the consul of any nation professing anti-slavery principles, until his hands were strengthened by the Imperial Government of Portugal.

Taking all the circumstances into consideration, after mature deliberation, it was decided, in consultation with the senior naval officer, that the best course was to retire to Mauritius, or even England, until such time as arrangements were made between England and Portugal for the reception of a British consul, in honour and safety, to Mozambique. This decision was made known to His Excellency, which he looked upon as the wiser course, to prevent more serious results than had already arisen; and, on the 18th of May, I[136] embarked on board H.M.S. “Lyra,” which had lately joined her consort from the Cape, with my fellow-sufferers.

The next day we proceeded to sea, and soon lost sight of the city of Mozambique.

Perhaps of all the melancholy reminiscences of this vile nest of slavery, the most painful which recurs to my mind is the great indignity offered to the British nation in the desecration of the grave of one of her most enterprizing members.

I have already stated that the remains of my lamented friend Duncan were interred beside those of his countrymen already buried there. The grave was dug by the express orders of the Governor-general of the Province, but when Señhor José Vincente de Gama commenced building a tomb over the remains, in compliance with my earnest request that he would do so, and charge the expense to me, he was interrupted in this Christian office by a ruffian named Thomas de Souza Santos, who stated that the ground belonged to him, and that he would not allow a tomb to be erected over the remains of the Englishman. When remonstrated with by Señhor[137] de Gama, he made use of the vilest reproaches at his daring thus to honour the resting-place of a heretic; and when told that he was only carrying out the wishes of a countryman of the deceased viz., the British Consul, the rage of this brute, Santos, became ungovernable. He kicked the stones from off the sacred spot, and jumped upon the grave of him before whose living eye his vile and coward heart had often quailed. This insult was offered to England while a British ship of war was lying in the harbour, and a British consular flag was flying in the port.

Being further remonstrated with, the wretch threatened De Gama, that if he addressed another word to him on the subject, he would disinter the remains of the Englishman, and cast them on the beach—to prevent which Señhor Gama immediately repaired to me. On my representing matters officially to the Governor-general, he could only give me an assurance that the remains of my countryman should not be disturbed; and I was obliged to content myself with having a cross made on board Her Majesty’s ship, then in harbour, and having[138] this erected at the head of poor Duncan’s grave.

The future is unknown to us; but if it should be in my destiny ever to go to Mozambique again, I hope to be able to erect a monument over the remains of Duncan, the pioneer of British commercial enterprise in Eastern Africa, which will at once attest the admiration of his countrymen and their abhorrence of his persecutors, who would attempt to carry their contemptible hatred even beyond the tomb.[4]

After the trials of the last five months, it will not be surprising that the sudden change to shipboard, where all was peace and comfort, was too much for me. And although I had borne the excitement of this period with apparent indifference, now that the long struggle was over, the spirit yielded to the weakness of the body, and before we were many days at sea I had a severe attack of fever. The blessing of God on the skill of Dr. Speers, and the unwearied attention[139] of an ever-gentle nurse, soon brought me round.

Anxious to meet with Dr. Livingstone, whom I expected to fall in with off the Zambesi, we directed our course to the mouths of that river; and while approaching the Killimane mouth, we fell in with a dhow, under Portuguese colours, which we found bound to Mozambique. This vessel, called the “Flor de Moçambique,” when boarded, was discovered to have on board a number of boys, who were being doubtless carried to Mozambique for the purpose of being sold as slaves. The captain of the dhow, who was a Moor, at first strenuously denied that this was the case; but on a more diligent search being made, a poor decrepit slave was discovered headed up in a cask in her hold. On being brought on board the “Lyra,” and finding himself in safety, he stated, that having been taken in war, he had been most cruelly treated by the Portuguese, pointing to various wounds and putrifying sores on his body; that he was now going to Mozambique, in company with a number of small boys, to be sold as slaves; and[140] that this system of slave-trade was carried on constantly from Killimane. The Moor tried to get over this by stating that the slave in question was a refractory one, belonging to the Government, and that he was being sent up to Mozambique for punishment by the Governor-general, as they could do nothing with him at Killimane! I thought that they were getting mighty particular about negro life, and that this tale differed considerably from what I had heard at Mozambique was a usual mode of disposing of refractory slaves throughout the whole Province, viz., tying them up in a sack and drowning them.

The ship’s papers were produced, and on them were a number of fictitious names; the Moor wished the boys to answer to these names, but the imposition was too gross to be allowed to pass. Boys of seven, eight, and nine years, were required to pass muster for persons of thirty and forty years, whose names they had never heard before!

At this stage of the proceeding the Commander of the “Lyra” asked my opinion of matters, and[141] I told him that she appeared to be one of the numerous dhows employed along the coast feeding the slave-trade, by collecting them from distant parts, and so obtaining cargoes for the large slavers from America and Cuba.

I told the Moor that I was the British Consul for Mozambique, and that he had better make a clean breast of it. The Moor then stated that, previous to leaving Killimane, the Governor of that place had sent twenty-two slaves on board, to be delivered to his owner at Mozambique. He remonstrated with the Governor of Killimane, and told him that, since they had a British Consul at Mozambique, the English stopped all slave-trade. That when at sea he was sure to meet with an English man-of-war, and when the Captain of the man-of-war found he had slaves on board he would seize the dhow. That to make his mind easy on this point, the Governor of Mozambique added what he thought a sufficient number of names to the list of his crew, so that no English man-of-war would seize the dhow. He admitted that these slaves were, with some others which were to follow, a portion of a cargo for a slaver; and[142] stated that the owner of the dhow was the Collector of the Customs at Mozambique, and the uncle of João da Costa Soares, the notorious French Free Labour Agent at Mozambique. Commander Oldfield at once decided upon seizing this slave dhow. The crew were subsequently landed at the Bazarutto Islands; the captain and slaves conveyed to Natal, where we were bound, and the vessel set on fire.

Commander Oldfield, acting on information which I supplied to him, after landing me at Mauritius, on his return to the Mozambique Channel, captured sixteen dhows engaged in the slave-trade, showing what one energetic officer, having the public service at heart, could do in the Mozambique Channel, while his senior officer, playing at billiards, kept his vessel at anchor in that harbour. These are facts which ought to be inquired into, and the zealous officer should obtain his well-earned promotion.

Although we were twenty-four hours off the Luavo mouths of the Zambesi, we could not obtain any response to the guns which we fired, to make known the presence of the “Lyra” to the[143] “Hermes,” which we had heard was anchored off one of the mouths; and although greatly disappointed in not meeting with the expedition, we were compelled to hurry on to Natal.

There we learned that there was no hope of overtaking the mail to the Cape of Good Hope, and, after landing the faithful Rosa (who was there among many friends), the survivors of the “Herald,” whom I had brought with me from Mozambique, and the slaves from the captured dhow, with a Lieutenant in charge of them, to the Mixed Commission Court at Cape Town, we proceeded to Port Louis, Mauritius, where I immediately forwarded a telegram, through Her Majesty’s Consul-general in Egypt, apprising the Government of my arrival at Mauritius, and desire to proceed to England, as soon as sufficiently recovered, for the journey home.

The history of the Island of Mauritius, or—as the French will insist upon calling it—the Isle of France, is too well known to be even briefly alluded to here. But as this island, from its position in the Indian Ocean, has been hitherto looked upon as the key, or stepping-stone, to our possessions in the East, a short statement of its[145] present state may not be unacceptable to the general reader; more especially as this island, together with that of Barbadoes, are the two great striking examples of the success of the British emancipation of the slaves, when followed up by an adequate supply of free labour.

The cessation of the apprenticeship of the former slaves took place in April, 1839; but as the abolition of slavery had been proclaimed four years previous, and many of the apprentices obtained by purchase, or otherwise, their complete liberty, the colonists began to replace them by the introduction of natives from India. The Government offered no obstacle to this introduction of labourers; there was no restriction as to the number to be carried in each vessel, and from 1834 to 1838, 24,566 of the natives of India were introduced into the island of Mauritius.

These labourers engaged to work at field labour for a term of five years, at the rate of five rupees per month; and a certain amount, it appears, was retained out of their wages to provide a passage back to India, if they wished, at the expiration of their engagement.

[146]

From the facility with which labour was obtained from India, the newly-emancipated labourers were entirely neglected; and if the Government had not checked this supply of labour, the wise and beneficent intentions of the British Legislature, in responding to the call of the nation, and emancipating the slaves throughout our colonies, would here have been entirely frustrated, and the godlike boon of liberty would only have been the precursor to a miserable death by famine.

The want of control in the shipment of these immigrants in the Indian ports led to abuse; for vessels took a much larger amount of persons than they had room for on board, and the natural consequence was that disease was created on board of the vessels, and numbers of the coolies perished on the voyage to this El Dorado of the native of India.

At this time the Imperial Government and the Government of India wisely stepped in, and for a time stopped a system of immigration which at that time was creating a great amount of suffering, both to the lately-emancipated negro, and also[147] to the native of India endeavouring to better his condition by proceeding to the Mauritius.

But on its being fairly shown that the ex-apprentices could not be brought back to field labour—which they looked upon as a mark of that abject slavery from which they had just been released, and that their labour found employment in other channels, the Imperial Government, after having stopped this labour for four years, namely from 1838 to 1842—removed the prohibition on the introduction of Indians. During this prohibition, the staple product of the island, viz., sugar, declined from 39,559 tons in 1840 to 36,542 tons in 1842.

Since the prohibition of the introduction of Indian labourers in 1842 was removed, the produce of agricultural industry in this colony has been regular and rapid, the increase of the productions of the soil being in proportion to the introduction of labourers as follows:—

[148]

and also in nearly the same proportion during the intermediate years.

Mauritius has suffered from more than one crisis in the money-market during the last twenty years, which may be fairly traced to the cessation of immigration from 1838 to 1843, as well as to the modification and equalization of the duties on foreign sugar, in 1842 and 1846. The last crisis, that of 1847-8, proved so violent as to completely annihilate some houses connected with large London firms, who had been led to advance considerable sums of money in the hope of eventually obtaining returns from the estates they were supporting. Since this last crisis there has been less speculation, and estates are said to have been managed with more economy than formerly. I was told that they are now better cultivated, and, from the introduction of superior machinery, the manufacture of sugar is more economical.

The introduction of guano has done wonders for this island; for by the use of it in the wet districts, where the soil is of a cold clayey nature, land formerly deemed unfitted for the[149] culture of the sugar-cane has become some of the most fertile in the island.

The increase of production and consumption, added to the large immigration of native labour from India, has given employment to an increased number of shipping; while the repeal of the navigation laws in 1850 threw the ports of this small colony open to the vessels of all nations.

In 1857, the population of the island amounted to 239,007 persons, consisting of:—

Taxes have lately been much reduced; but the extending trade, larger production, and increasing population and wealth have raised the revenue of this thriving colony far beyond the expenditure.

The large amount of 79,500l. sterling is annually expended on immigration, while every means are taken to see the immigrant properly protected. In consequence of the competition among the planters for labour, a system of crimpage existed at Mauritius, when I visited that island, which was injurious to the best interests of[150] the immigrant and his employer; the middle-men or crimps, who obtained the labourers on their arrival in the island, being the only parties benefited. While the expense of importing a labourer from India has cost a planter 6l. for the passage-money of the immigrant, I have known instances in which he was obliged to pay the crimp an additional 6l. to secure the immigrant—which, together with a further expense of 2l. for government fees, made each labourer placed on the estate, before he began to work, cost 14l.

By recent regulations enabling the planter to engage the immigrant in India, and making that engagement binding on their arrival at Mauritius, the crimpage system will now be done away with.

With regard to the treatment of the blacks, natives of India, or ex-apprentices, nothing could be more liberal, nor could freedom be more perfect than that which they enjoy.

I have been in many mixed communities, and have seen the black in Cuba, Jamaica, and all the other West India Islands, in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Mozambique, but I have never seen him[151] enjoying a better position in the social circle than at Mauritius.

Soon after our arrival at Port Louis, we were invited to a coloured ball, at which the Governor and principal ladies of the island were guests; the dresses of the ladies, for beauty or costliness, could not have been surpassed in Paris or London; while the ceremonies of the ball-room and supper-table were conducted with the utmost decorum and grace.

The employers being so much at the mercy of the employed, the labouring classes are insolent in the extreme; and any amount of wealth does not secure the more opulent portion of the community from suffering from a want which no amount of money can purchase.

In the towns and on the plantations everywhere one hears the same complaint—the bad conduct of the servants. Coolies from Madras and Calcutta, who really are good servants, after a few months’ residence on the island, become lazy, insolent, and drunkards.

For the coloured population, the rate of wages is a great deal too high; the consequence is that[152] the majority spend their abundance in drink, and, when under the influence of this, much mischief, and crimes of a minor description, are committed. The Government of the island is, in a great measure, answerable for this, for the number of small drinking places which they license throughout the island. Every plantation has the curse of one or more small drinking place, just beyond the limits of the grounds, where the labourers betake themselves at any hour, and absent themselves from their work for any time they please.

For this conduct, on the part of the labourer, the employer has little or no redress; as, if he punishes the coolie, he loses his services while imprisoned, and the period of engagement is progressing, just as if he were engaged in the field instead of the prison.

If those labourers who are committed to prison were usefully employed in improving the roads, which in general are bad, a wholesome dread of prison discipline would be instilled, which, in a short time, would have a beneficial effect on the labouring community.

The great obstacle to the suppression of these[153] small drinking shops is the large revenue which their licences bring in to the Government. This is one of the causes of the revenue so far exceeding the expenditure; and this unhealthy state of prosperity, based on the immorality and demoralization of the masses, must, sooner or later, bring a destructive change, leading to the most serious results.

The Indian population, already overpaid and demoralized by the excessive use of intoxicating liquors, if thrown out of employment by two successive years of failure of the sugar-cane—the staple product of the island—and the consequent ruin of many of the planters, deprived of the means of living, and excited by the intoxicating drinks which have now become habitual to them, would commit the most frightful excesses, and incalculable injury might be inflicted on the interests of the colony ere the Executive could be sufficiently strengthened to check these excesses.

From its position in the Indian Ocean, this island should always have a reserve of at least 10,000 men, who would be acclimatized for our eastern possessions, and form a force at all times available[154] for service, from Bombay to our furthest eastern possession, while its proximity to the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, and Aden, would afford our garrisons in those parts ready aid, in case of a sudden outbreak among the natives of Africa or Arabia.

At the neighbouring French island of Réunion, formerly called Bourbon, there is always a large force, evidently with the view of being useful in those seas in the case of any sudden emergency. This force consists of five regiments, each 800 strong, and a municipal force of about 1,600 men, making in all about 6,000 men, within one night’s steaming distance of this little gem of the Indian Ocean; while the island of Mauritius has been left without more than four small companies of one regiment to protect it.

I know from the best authority that, when the Indian mutiny broke out, the kind-hearted and polite Governor of Réunion, evidently desirous to carry out the entente cordiale existing between the two nations to its fullest extent, offered to garrison the Isle of France, or, as we call it, Mauritius, with French troops; but with many thanks his[155] generous offer was politely declined, although, I believe, we had not 400 fighting men on the island—while there were nearly 6,000 Frenchmen longing for a glorious coup d’état, within ten or twelve hours steaming distance from our “key to India.”

The island of Mauritius presents the most diversified and beautiful scenery throughout, being everywhere in a high state of cultivation. From the moment of its being seen from the deck of a ship on the Indian Ocean, until it fades away in the distance, it presents one continued view of rich vegetation. Many of the planters’ seats are luxurious abodes; and all those having English for their owners, or residents, may be known by that air of comfort which accompanies an English home in every quarter of the globe.

The principal city is Port Louis, which is beautifully situated in the centre of a snug harbour, having in its rear an amphitheatre of hills, which inclose a space where the races and reviews take place. The town is a mixture of houses built in the English and French styles, and, being situated principally on a steep incline, might, if properly[156] drained, be one of the healthiest spots in the world; but, in consequence of the neglect of this necessary precaution in that climate, the inhabitants suffer greatly when cholera invades the island, in spite of the admirable quarantine regulations established there. There are two cathedrals and two bishops, for the Protestant and Roman Catholic religions. Dr. Ryan, the Lord Bishop of Mauritius, is indefatigable in “all good works,” and already his labours have produced their good fruits, by the awakening of the Protestant community to what may, from all statements, be really called “a new life.”

With the surplus revenue of this colony, for more than twenty years of almost uninterrupted prosperity, one is surprised to find no great buildings, the general mark of social progress. In all the Roman colonies these marks of their ameliorating influence were found; but here, as in many other British colonies, there are no monuments to mark the dominion of a mighty nation. People at the Mauritius appear bent upon making money, and then returning to Europe—few looking upon it as their abiding place.

[157]

The island keeps pace with modern improvements, in machinery especially; and preparations are making for the establishment of a railway, which will lead to the further development of this fruitful little island.

The hotels are the worst managed establishments I have ever seen; firstly, because the proprietors are all above their business, driving in equipages which outvie those of the Governor and principal planters; and, secondly, because the law between employer and employed is not sufficiently binding, and consequently the hotel proprietors have no control over their servants.

In the Hôtel d’Europe, I have known every one in the house waiting for breakfast, while all the waiters were employed in polishing up the harness for the horses of the splendid carriage of the proprietor, which bore on the panel the armorial bearings of a noble English family, without the bend of bastardy, to which the owner was alone entitled; while, surmounting the arms, there was the representation of a cockatoo fluttering, with a ribbon in its mouth, on which was the royal motto, “Dieu et mon droit!”

[158]

On another occasion, wishing to have breakfast previous to going to church on Sunday morning, the boarders in this hotel requested to know the cause of delay, and they were told that a party of gentlemen were engaged in breakfasting in the public room, and that the boarders who supported the house could not breakfast until the gentlemen had finished. In company with a naval friend, I ventured to intrude on the privacy of the strangers, when we were presented with the sight of the German brass band—they, their wives, and their little ones—belonging to this fashionable hotel, at breakfast. Being a traveller, and from time to time seeing various strange scenes, I observed to my friend that this was doubtless “the custom of the country.” To which he replied that in that little island “trumpeters evidently came before travellers.” Remonstrance was quite useless; so, after the Germans had finished their “sauer-kraut,” we, who supported them, were allowed to eat off the same table.

After the excitement of arriving at Port Louis had somewhat worn off, my wife and myself were very ill, and confined to our room, with low nervous[159] fever from the effects of the Mozambique affair. During this time we should certainly have fared very badly, if it had not been for the widow of a naval officer and her daughter, Mrs. Russell, who were unremitting in their kind attentions to us—even bringing nice nourishing soup from their own house for us, it being quite impossible to obtain anything, even a drop of water when one was sick, from those in the hotel, although we were paying very handsomely.

The whole of the first floor was originally intended for a large ball-room; and so as not to interfere with this design (for which it is sometimes required, when the guests have to go without beds), it is partitioned off into small apartments, barely large enough to hold a small iron bed and wash-hand stand. The wooden partitions dividing these spaces into apartments are about ten feet in height, there being a space between them and the ceiling of some six or seven feet—so that one may hear everything going on over the whole floor. In fact, the wooden partitions simply acted as screens to divide one bed from the other.

[160]

The usual mode of calling the servants at table was by dropping a tumbler on the marble floor, which, breaking in pieces, had the effect of drawing the attention of the proprietor of the arms surmounted with a fluttering cockatoo, who immediately made his appearance to look after his motto—“Dieu et mon droit.”

In this first-rate hotel, with its brass band and flaming advertisements in the local papers, I have seen people, on returning to the hotel after spending the evening at some family party, obliged to find the way to their room by means of a candle stuck in a black bottle, which had been lighted by a match supplied by the driver of the coach which brought them to the door of the hotel—every servant remaining in the house being insensibly drunk.

After recovering from our short attack of illness, we removed to an adjoining hotel just opened, where we could procure decent apartments, but nothing to eat. We had therefore to make arrangements with another hotel for our meals—but they would not undertake to send the meals, as the servants were so bad they could not[161] depend on them bringing the things as required. On the other hand, they had no rooms vacant. I was therefore obliged to hire a Madras coolie, named “Sammy,” to act as “butler,” as he styled it.

On arriving at the second hotel, one of the servants lifted out of the carriage a bird-cage, and carried it up to my room, for which he demanded payment.

Tired, ill, and worried, in the hope of getting rid of his importunity, I put my hand into my pocket and reached him a shilling, not having any smaller change about me at the time. Looking very hard at the shilling, which was lying on the palm of his hand, he backed to what he considered a safe distance, and then the “poor black” asked me if “I called myself a gentleman in offering him a shilling?” Without waiting for my answer, he slapped his leg to make the money in his pocket jingle, and then putting his hand into his pocket he pulled out a shilling, which, adding to the one I had given to him, he threw at my feet, and exclaiming, “There, you poor devil!” he walked off.

[162]

Sammy, after the first day, acted fool—and he did it admirably—but the only way was to keep one’s temper, and patience generally conquered.

My wife’s appetite and my own were exceedingly small, but still we found what the hotel sent us for dinner was less than we could fairly manage. I asked our host to add another dish, but yet there seemed to be a small supply.

One day I observed Sammy enter the hotel with our dinner on his head, and thinking he took a very long time coming from the hall door to my room, I went in search of my “butler.” I found him in an adjoining room with the dinner spread out on the floor, and in deep consultation with another “poor black,” as to how much more they ought to remove from the dishes before “butler” laid dinner before his master. I had the dinner restored to the dishes, and on that occasion I found that the hotel-keeper furnished much more than was necessary.

These anecdotes are necessary to show what I really saw, and how much the “poor blacks” have the upper hand at Mauritius.

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All ranks are entirely at the mercy of their servants, as the following account of what occurred in an officer’s family will illustrate.

Colonel B. was celebrated for giving good dinners; and Mrs. B. used to smile at the different tales which she heard of the servants in the island.

She was in the habit of humouring the servants; and although they used occasionally to absent themselves for days, and the colonel and his lady, on returning from church on Sunday, have had to dine on cheese and bread, as the butler was quite drunk under the dining-room table, and the cook had fortified himself in the kitchen, threatening to run anyone through who dared to invade his dominions—still Mrs. Colonel B. said “that these ‘poor blacks,’ had gratitude; for whenever they had a dinner-party they never behaved badly.”

The colonel’s charming dinner-parties had an end, from the circumstances arising out of the keeping up of their wedding-day. A nice party of guests were invited, and everything went like a marriage feast, until shortly before dinner, when[164] the colonel’s dress boots were not to be found anywhere. Better had he not troubled himself further about the said boots. The butler was sent for, and he said he knew nothing about the cause of the absence of the boots. Mrs. B. was appealed to, and she could give no information. And the colonel at last told the butler that he would make him pay for the missing boots.

Blackey immediately got saucy, and the colonel gave him a whipping. The guests were arriving, the colonel hurried to meet them, and the boots were forgotten.

Dinner was announced, and the party were ushered into the dining-room. Soup and fish were served—and there was a considerable pause. The room being left without a single attendant, Mrs. B. rose and retired to see what was the cause of the delay. Along the passages, in the verandah, and on the way to the kitchen, which was some distance from the house, she met with no one. On entering the kitchen she found that also deserted. She called, but no one answered.

Looking round for the dinner, she observed[165] all the dishes standing on a table, placed there for the purpose of serving the dinner up, preparatory to taking it to the dining-room, and in the centre stood the colonel’s boots which had been missing that day. In each boot she found a roasted duck had been thrust, and over them the sweet sauce for pudding had been poured.

The turkey was there, but it was garnished with cinders, and, in short, a beautiful dinner was completely spoiled. At the sight of which poor Mrs. B. fainted away. The colonel, soon afterwards making his appearance, found his wife insensible, and his dinner ruined.

The above is a well-known story, and I could enumerate many more, but I fear the reader’s patience is already well nigh exhausted.

From the law there is but little redress, for, when one imprisons servants for punishment, the time, I was told, counts in the period of their servitude. And if one takes the law into his own hand, by striking the natives, a severe pecuniary penalty is, very properly, always inflicted.

[166]

During my stay at Mauritius, my attention was called to the following gross outrage committed under the British flag by an inhuman monster, who, calling himself an Englishman, proceeds to distant parts of the world, and, seizing unoffending natives in the most open manner, sells them from under the British ensign into the most hopeless slavery.

In the month of August, 1857, the British barque “Sutton,” of Sydney, New South Wales, under the command of Captain Joseph Wilson, called at Byron Island, one of the King Mill group in the Pacific, and engaged William Ferrier, an Englishman, who, with his family, had resided on that island for more than sixteen years, as an interpreter, for the purpose, as Captain Wilson stated, of enabling the barque “Sutton” to obtain a cargo of cocoa-nuts from the neighbouring islands.

With Ferrier six of the natives of Byron Island were embarked on board the “Sutton,” who formed the crew of his canoe; and the barque bore away in search of cocoa-nuts—Captain Wilson agreeing to reland Ferrier and[167] his crew of natives on Byron Island as soon as he had effected his object at the neighbouring islands.

At Perouse and Clarke Islands, Captain Wilson, with the assistance of the interpreter Ferrier, induced sixty-five male natives to ship themselves on board the “Sutton,” for the purpose of gathering cocoa-nuts, and with the understanding that when he had accomplished this object the natives would be relanded on the respective islands to which they belonged.

The King Mill group of islands are much frequented by whalers, more especially those under the American flag. The natives are very peaceably inclined towards Europeans; and these whaling vessels derive great benefit from their crews being refreshed at these islands with supplies of vegetables, fruit, &c., so necessary to prevent the fearful havoc at times made among the men by the attacks of scurvy to which they are subject, from their voyages being sometimes protracted even beyond three years. It is, therefore, the policy of all shipmasters[168] to treat the natives on these islands with kindness, and hence the outrage which I am now relating assumes even a more serious aspect than when merely viewing it in an anti-slavery light.

Captain Joseph Wilson had heard of free labourers being in great demand at the French island of Réunion; and, as the means by which this description of labour was supplied from the province of Mozambique was notorious, being styled everywhere “The French Slave-trade from Africa,” he thought he would try his hand at it, and hit upon the above mode of obtaining the raw material cheap. The reader will observe that he did not overcrowd the ship—he only took sixty-five of the natives on board, for the purpose of selling them; and to obtain a good price he was determined to have them in good condition, and therefore gave them ample space during their confinement on the long voyage he contemplated.

Having obtained his living cargo, he turned his face to the west in search of a good market, and day and night the British barque “Sutton,” with her cargo of slaves, was[169] urged, under a press of canvas, to the desired haven.

Captain Joseph Wilson, commanding the “Sutton,” was a bold man, for the first land he made was the island of Mauritius; and he stood boldly for the principal harbour in the island, viz., Port Louis; arrived off which he hove-to, and waited for the shades of evening. I carefully searched the list of all vessels boarded by the authorities of Port Louis in the month of November, 1857, when the “Sutton” was off the harbour, but her name does not appear in the list, showing that she did not come sufficiently near to the entrance of the harbour to be visited by the boarding officer. During the night on which the “Sutton” was hove-to off Port Louis, Captain Wilson communicated with a mercantile house in that town; and at dawn, the following day, he stood away for the neighbouring French island of Réunion.

The British bark “Sutton,” which could not obtain a market for her living cargo at Mauritius, with the English ensign flying at her peak, anchored boldly off the island of Réunion, and sold[170] her cargo at 40l. sterling per head, realizing the sum of 2,600l.

Captain Joseph Wilson also found a market for his vessel, and sold the “Sutton” for 1,600l. sterling. Whether the ship was as much his property as the natives of Byron Island whom he had stolen and sold, I know not, but it appears that he left Réunion with 4,200l., and repaired to Port Louis, Mauritius.

Captain Wilson was accompanied to the Mauritius by William Henry Meadows, an American citizen, William Ferrier, and, I believe, four of the natives forming the crew of Ferrier’s canoe.

Meadows, as far as I recollect, was the mate of the “Sutton,” and he was obliged to appeal to the American consuls to make Captain Wilson provide a passage for him and the four natives of Byron Island to Sydney. The American consul refusing to interest himself for William Ferrier, who was an Englishman, application was made to His Excellency the Governor of Mauritius, to provide a passage for the unfortunate man to Sydney, from which port it was expected the authorities would forward[171] him to Byron Island. The man Ferrier was at Port Louis during my stay there, and I saw him on two occasions.

I have heard that a prosecution, instituted by the authorities at Sydney, against Captain Joseph Wilson, of the late British barque “Sutton,” failed, from some cause with which I am unacquainted, and that this affair has caused much indignation at Sydney.

In the Mercantile Marine List there are four master-mariners holding certificates under the name of Joseph Wilson; but having been informed that there was no difficulty in identifying the person referred to as the perpetrator of the above outrage, so degrading to our national character, and that he was in England some months since, I did what I conceived was my duty to the cause of humanity by dragging this thief to justice; and if he has not received that punishment which he so richly deserves, it is from no dereliction of duty on my part.

From the perusal of such a perfidious act it is a pleasant relief to turn to that of one of the noblest deeds of the many which have been performed by[172] the mercantile marine of Great Britain. While at Port Louis I had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of Captain Castle, of the “Sarah Sands;” and as my wife had seen that vessel on her first visit to the United States, where she was gazed upon at that time as a prodigy of marine construction, we made up a small party to visit the wreck of this once noble ship.

We found her lying in the inner harbour; and, looking at her hull, one would never expect to see the ruin which a view from the remaining portions of her deck presented to the astonished spectators. This vessel was bound with troops to India, and when about 200 miles off the island of Mauritius she was reported to be on fire. Immediately the usual measures for overcoming this frightful calamity were resorted to by those on board. Large supplies of water were furnished from all parts of the ship to destroy the destroyer; but it was found that the fire was too powerful for the rival element, and that it was closely adjoining a considerable portion of powder, which was stowed away in the after-compartment of the vessel.

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The cool commanding mind of Captain Castle was equal to the emergency; and well did he prove himself deserving of the command of one of the finest vessels in our mercantile navy. Order was maintained throughout; and to the exertions of the noble crew of the “Sarah Sands,” led by their gallant commander, and seconded by the admirable discipline of the troops on board, the safety of all may unquestionably be attributed.

Finding that the raging element had obtained possession of the after-part of the vessel, the boats were carefully lowered, and the ladies, women, and children placed in them. An officer of the ship was despatched in command of the boats, with orders to keep them at a distance—so that, if the vessel blew up, those in the boats would be uninjured.

In the meanwhile, the most daring spirits on board, regardless of the suffocating smoke and the scorching flames, boldly approached the powder, and dragged it up through the raging element, package after package, to be cast into the sea. Blackened and speechless, these brave men were dragged up from the hold of the vessel[174] by the ropes which they had secured round their bodies before descending—although insensible from the heat, still holding in their grasp the kegs of powder. These were succeeded by others as daring, who, on being dragged on deck, were again relieved by their predecessors, whose recovery was effected by dashing water over them. While this fearful struggle of the most daring valour with death was taking place, the hose were playing upon the raging fire, and rafts were being constructed on each side of the ship, for the purpose of saving at least a portion of the apparently doomed band.

The ship was built of iron, and fortunately in compartments. The fire had arisen in the after-compartment, and the most incredible exertions were made to confine it there. The decks were ripped up and sawed across to prevent the fire spreading; further forward, across the deck, partitions were formed of wet blankets, which, being deluged with water, prevented the fire spreading. At last the fire, in spite of superhuman efforts, obtained the upper hand; the flames soared high into the heavens, and as they overcame all human[175] efforts, the cry of anguish might be heard from the passive spectators in the boats. Imploring voices asked for the boats to approach the burning ship, in the hope of saving some loved ones among that doomed band; but the young officer in command, even in that trying hour, obeyed the orders which he had received from his chief, and kept the boats at a safe distance.

At last those grown reckless by their former success in obtaining the coveted kegs of powder had to be held forcibly back from flinging themselves into the flames, in the hope of obtaining the few remaining kegs, and thereby saving the ship from the impending destruction. In this noble rivalry a quarter-master belonging to the crew, and a sergeant of the regiment embarked, were the most conspicuous.

Some portion of the powder yet remained in the after-compartment, and over it the flames enjoyed their dance of death; high up they soared, licking the top-mast shrouds, and encircling the mizen-mast with ropes of fire.

The boom, the gaff, the deck, all had disappeared, and ever and anon, as the ship rolled[176] from side to side, and the flames leaped to starboard or to port, the iron beams which had formerly supported the decks were seen of a fiery red, forming an awful lattice-work, through which the burning element raged with its fearful roar. At last the beams began to bend with their own weight, and the pressure of the sea on the sides of the vessel. The rafts were rapidly building; but moments were felt by all as days. Meanwhile the smoke rose dark and lowering into the heavens, making the sky even look fiery, and forming a beacon far and near on the Indian Ocean. From the foremast head the horizon was anxiously scanned, but no telescope on board could bring to the eye the promised “sail of hope.”

The awful hour was fast approaching when life or death would be pronounced for those on board that ship. The powder pent up in that fiery cavern must soon ignite, and, bursting through the ship’s sides, let in the sea either to save or engulph them.

At last the moment came—the explosion took place—and hearts which never quailed before for an instant ceased to beat.

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The mighty ship reeled and staggered like a drunken man; the waves surged high and rushed upon her; the raging fire yelled and hissed, and roared again. Then all was still—a cloud of steam marking where the fire had been. That awful silence was broken by the captain’s voice exclaiming:—“Thanks be to God, she’s saved!” But, before the fervent “Amens” had reached him, again was heard his resolute tone of command to “man the pumps!”

Again was hope deferred. The ship was sinking fast! It was perceptible to all. Down—down—she was gradually settling—there was no mistaking the feeling!

The excitement of another struggle with the element which had destroyed the fire now took place. The pumps were manned, and buckets, tubs, everything was used to bale out the water.

Captain Castle, always collected, soon found that one quarter was blown out of the ship, while the stern and the other quarter still held together. He rapidly formed a temporary breakwater of plank and canvas, to keep out the body of the[178] sea; then hooking relieving tackles on the rudder outside of the ship (for the tiller and head of the rudder were burnt away), he manœuvred his vessel, which was under steam, until he got her in such a position that the injured portion of the vessel was sheltered from the violence of the sea. He then built a temporary bulkhead, and with the pumps going night and day, he brought the “Sarah Sands,” without a compass, sextant, or chronometer, into Port Louis, a distance of two hundred miles from that spot on the Indian Ocean where this disaster originated.

The officers and their families lost everything; and indeed the ladies landed at Mauritius in canvas dresses made by them out of the ship’s stores. The hospitable reception afforded to all on board the “Sarah Sands” by the people of Mauritius can never be forgotten by the grateful recipients; while the memory of Captain Castle, his coolness and courage, will be the theme of admiration wherever the name of the “Sarah Sands” is heard. And yet—must I write it?—no reward has been conferred on him for saving a[179] regiment which afterwards did such gallant service in India, and contributed to the saving of our Eastern Empire.

At Mauritius, the neighbouring island of Madagascar is a constant subject of interest, dependent, as that island and Réunion are, upon Madagascar for supplies of cattle, rice, &c.

Its history has already been made known to us by the Reverend William Ellis, while the more[181] recent work of that talented and adventurous missionary has made us more intimately acquainted with the present social state of that island.

To France this island has been an object of desire ever since the days of Cardinal Richelieu, who, foreseeing the important position which the island must eventually hold in commanding the commerce of the East, in the Indian Ocean, both by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and also by the Red Sea, granted, about two hundred and fifty years ago, to a company of merchants the right of trading with Madagascar, evidently with the intention of eventually obtaining possession of that island for the crown of France.

Jean Baptiste Colbert also, the great financial minister of Louis XIV., to whom France owes so much of her greatness, appointed a Governor-general for this new dependency, which it was hoped in the course of time would form a large and successful colony of France in these seas; and went so far as to give to it the “beautiful” name of Eastern France.

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The Governor-general carried out with him the grand seal of Eastern France.

This seal represented the King in his royal robes, the crown on his head, the sceptre in one hand, and the scales of justice in the other; around the seal was the following inscription:—

“Ludovici XIV. Franciæ et Navarræ Regis Sigillum ad usum supremi consilii Galliæ Orientalis.”

But the company founded by Colbert, like that set on foot by Richelieu, became bankrupt from mismanagement and the personal animosities of those sent out to Madagascar.

The only period at which France has ever had a shadow of a chance of obtaining the sovereignty of this magnificent island—which from its commanding position is deservedly called the Great Britain of Africa—was when the French settlements were under the command of the mastermind of the Count Benyowski, one of the magnates of the kingdom of Hungary and Poland, who, after escaping from a Russian prison in Kamtschatka, took service in that of the King of France; and being appointed to the government[183] of the French settlements in Madagascar, by his tact, perseverance, and energy, obtained the confidence of the natives. But the French authorities, envious of his great glory, eventually destroyed him.

After the fall of the noble but unfortunate Benyowski, and the abandonment of the different settlements which he had formed, France only held a few ports on the east coast of Madagascar, for the purposes of commerce, which were under the direction of a commercial agent, and protected by a military detachment furnished by the Isle of France, now called Mauritius. These factories were kept up for the purpose of provisioning the isles of France and Bourbon (Réunion), and affording supplies to the French squadrons occupying the Indian Ocean. At last, in 1810, they were confined to two—namely, Tamatave and Foulpointe.

In that year the Isles of France and Bourbon were taken possession of by the English, and the French settlements on the east coast of Madagascar shared the fate of those islands; and on the 18th of February, 1811, they capitulated to[184] Captain Lynn, R.N., commanding his Britannic Majesty’s corvette “L’Eclipsé”—M. Sylvian Roux having signed the capitulation as French Agent-General.

After the capitulation, the fort at Tamatave was occupied by a detachment of British soldiers, under the command of Captain Wilson, of the 22nd Grenadiers, who reported that event in a communication to the government of Mauritius, dated Tamatave, 27th February, 1811. Foulpointe, which was a dependency of the settlement at Tamatave, with a subordinate French agent, also surrendered, and was taken possession of by the English. These portions of the coast were under the government of native princes, to whom M. Sylvian Roux had been accredited by the French government of the isle of France, now Mauritius, as agent or superintendent of trade, and the fort at Tamatave was for the protection of French trade.

This capture was ratified by the Definitive Treaty, signed at Paris on the 30th of May, 1814, ceding these settlements on the east coast of Madagascar to Great Britain, as one[185] of the dependencies of the Isle of France or Mauritius; and again, that treaty was confirmed by Article XI. of the Definitive Treaty, signed at Paris on the 20th day of November, 1815.

By these treaties the island of Bourbon or Réunion, which the British had captured at the same time as the Isle of France or Mauritius, was restored to France, but no mention was made of the late French possessions on the east coast of Madagascar in such restoration. The contrary is indicated by an ordinance of the King of France, dated from the Tuileries, December 17, 1817, regulating the terms on which trade with Bourbon shall be open to the English. This ordinance states that all kinds of merchandize brought in English vessels from the English establishments in Mauritius, Seychelles, and the English settlements in Madagascar, shall be admitted, subject to the same charges as those paid by French vessels.

The only English settlements in Madagascar at that time were those that had been surrendered by the French. The ordinance is signed by Louis XVIII. and Count Molé.

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In 1816 the Governor of Bourbon stated that France had no colonial claims on Madagascar, but desired to trade with the island. In the previous year the Governor of Mauritius had been authorized to allow trade for supplies of provisions, namely, cattle and rice, to be prosecuted between Bourbon and Madagascar.

The claim on the part of France to parts of the eastern coast of Madagascar seems to have been an after-thought; and the French government wished it to be understood that France had settlements there in 1792, and that the Treaty of Paris, dated 30th of May, 1814, guaranteed the restoration of these possessions.

But neither Tamatave nor Foulepointe, the only settlements held by the French at the time of their capture by the English, were in their possession in 1792, and it was not until 1804 that French troops had been sent by General Decaën from the isle of France to Tamatave.

In the meantime Sir Robert Farquhar, Governor of the Mauritius, had, on the part of England,[187] surrendered both the above settlements—and another, obtained by purchase, to the northward, to Radama.

Radama—the supreme chief of the island—had by a proclamation declared that he considered Madagascar an independent kingdom, and that no foreign power had any right or claim to the country.

At one time the Governor of Bourbon objected to the claim of England to keep the settlements in Madagascar; and the French imperial government, requiring that any settlements possessed by France in 1792 should be given up to that power, orders were sent out to Mauritius that any such settlements should be restored. But it does not appear that the French had any settlements in Madagascar in 1792, or that any settlements were given up to France by the English Governor of Mauritius.

In 1829 the French took possession of Tamatave, but it is well known that it was taken from them in 1830 by Admiral Schomberg. A claim was afterwards preferred, as stated by the Rev. Wm. Ellis, in his History of Madagascar,[188] vol. ii., p. 316, but it was denied by Radama.

The reasons for Great Britain not asserting the sovereign rights which she obtained from France by the capture of the French settlements on the east coast of Madagascar are obvious.

In the first place, the claims of France were neither founded in reason nor in justice.

And in the second place, when Captain Lesage—the British agent—was sent into Madagascar for the adjustment of these claims on the part of Great Britain, he found, A.D. 1816, at the capital of the island, a great and successful warrior king, who had established himself as supreme chief, and proclaimed himself sovereign of the whole island.

It was at once seen that, by supporting this prince, who possessed a liberal and enlightened mind, the great object of Great Britain in establishing relations with Madagascar, namely, the suppression of the slave-trade, would be most readily carried out; and, therefore, the support of the British government was given to Radama, the great king of Madagascar; and during the[189] whole life-time of that prince he was acknowledged by England as Radama Manjaka.

He became the undisputed king of the whole island, and lowered the French flag wherever the folly of a few employés dared to hoist it—replacing it with that of the Ilovas, the dominant race, whose chief he was, and whose valour gave to him the sovereignty of Madagascar.

On the death of Radama, and the accession of Ranavola Manjaka, one of the first acts of the queen was to annul the treaty made by Radama with Great Britain. The British agent, Mr. Lyell, was insulted and obliged to retire from the court of Antananarivo, and Great Britain has not since that period had a representative in Madagascar.

Although diplomatic relations have ceased between the courts of St. James’s and that of Antananarivo since the retirement of the British agent, in 1831, still commercial intercourse has been maintained between the islands of Madagascar and Mauritius; the east coast of the former, from Tamatave southward, plentifully supplying the ever-increasing demand of Mauritius.

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Sixty-seven thousand head of cattle, and from three to four hundred tons of rice, were by one merchant annually imported into Mauritius from Madagascar previous to 1845.

In that year the trade of Madagascar was put a stop to by the unfortunate interference of H.M.S. “Conway” and two French ships of war; and, for the space of eight years, commercial relations ceased, and were only renewed in 1853-54 in consequence of the Mauritius merchants paying the queen of Madagascar an indemnification of fifteen thousand dollars.

The government of Madagascar is anxious to be on the most friendly terms with Great Britain; and, as the Rev. Mr. Ellis says in his recent work on that interesting island, “the Madagascar people will never forget that the King of England and the people of England have been their best and constant friends.”

How different is the view presented by France to the Malagasy people. Ever bent on conquering the great island, the bravery of whose sons has baffled her for more than two and a half centuries, she has seized upon every pretext[191] for obtaining possession of neighbouring small islands, from which she could harass and irritate the natives of Madagascar.

These possessions have been obtained in the most illegitimate manner—native princes springing up and ceding to the great French nation territory which does not belong to them.

Madagascar and its dependencies belong to Ranavola Manjaka, who inherits them by succession from her predecessor, Radama, who obtained them by right of conquest over all the native princes; and yet we hear of ex-kings of the Sakalaves and different people ceding to France territory which they have no more right to than to the tin mines of Cornwall.

Nevertheless, the French have established themselves in Mayotte, Nossi-bé, and St. Mary’s by means of such claims.

The first-named of these islands, Mayotte, in the time of Louis Philippe, was strongly fortified, with the intention of making it the Gibraltar of the Indian Ocean. It is surrounded by a reef, in which it was supposed, when these fortifications were built, there was only one[192] narrow entrance, which was completely commanded by the powerful batteries raised at that time; but subsequent experience has proved that these are entirely useless, as that enterprise which particularly distinguishes the British seaman has found a passage through these reefs safer than the narrow entrance commanded by the French cannon, by which vessels of the largest draught of water could enter and shell the French Gibraltar, while the breeches of the guns of this formidable battery were pointed towards the foe. On this island they have no water, and are obliged to obtain it from Madagascar. The soldiers die, as the French say, “like rotten sheep.” Within the last twelve months large quantities of coal have been collected at Mayotte, and no doubt that island would be the centre of operations on Aden, Bombay, Natal, the Cape of Good Hope, and Ceylon; but it is satisfactory to know that the party most deeply interested is fully prepared for any contingencies which may arise.

The island of Nossi-bé (the meaning of the native name by which it is known being “large[193] island”) has upon it, including the small garrison kept there by the French, about 150 Europeans. The town on this island is called, after one of the late governors of Réunion, Hell Town; and it is by no means a misnomer, for the deeds enacted there throw those perpetrated at Otaheite, on the bosom of the beautiful Pacific Ocean, entirely in the shade. The native population, including that of the small islands of Nossi Comba and Nossi Fali, is, according to the census recently taken, 26,700 souls. These people have been principally employed by the French to attack the Hova forts and settlements in the former Sakalave districts, but as they found that the garrison of Mouransung were rather their superiors in incendiary expeditions, the small French settlement has been glad to cry “Pax!” of late.

At other places in Madagascar, the French have their agents in the Jesuits. Two of these priests, represented as very intelligent men, are located in St. Augustine Bay; and so much is the government of Réunion interested in them, that every two months a government schooner[194] communicates with them, to attend to the wants of the holy fathers.

The Jesuits have a very extensive school at Réunion for the education of Malagasy children, whom they obtain principally from the French settlements of Nossi-bé and St. Mary.

These children remain at Réunion ten or twelve years, according to their age. The boys are generally brought up as mechanics; the girls are taught sewing, &c., while all learn to read and write. When educated they are returned to their own country; and having been brought up in the Roman Catholic religion, they often induce their relatives and friends to be baptized in that faith.

Children are easily obtained, more especially on the north-west or Sakalave portion of the island; for among them Radama did not abolish infanticide, although he succeeded in doing so among the other nations of the island. Among the Sakalaves, every child born on a Friday is abandoned, and these, added to the numbers who are exposed by the heathen party throughout the island if born on what the diviners designate an[195] unlucky omen or day, and saved for the Jesuits, form a numerous aggregate.

My informer, an English gentleman who has been out there for some years, says that he has seen in the school at Nossi-bé as many as twenty boys and girls, who had been abandoned as above stated, and afterwards conveyed by the police to the Sisters of Charity.

There is no doubt that the children thus educated at Réunion will help very much to extend the influence of the French amongst the tribes on the coast of Madagascar. These Jesuits cast their bread upon the waters, and after many days it will return unto them. They do so very judiciously, especially devoting their attention to the Malagasy girls, knowing well the great advantages of educating the future mothers of the Madagascar people in French interests.

The recent attempt of the French to obtain the upper hand in Madagascar, by creating a revolution in that island, has resulted in the most humiliating failure, and has given to the British interest that preponderance which it is sure to maintain with a noble race like the Malagasy[196] people, as long as our relations with them are conducted on just and honourable principles.

A. M. Lambert, of the late firm of Minon, Lambert, & Co., of Port Louis, Mauritius, visited Antananarivo in 1855, avowedly with commercial intentions; and while in the capital of Madagascar, he made certain political proposals to a number of the most influential of the chiefs, but with what success is not exactly known.

He is reported to have received a number of cattle from the Hova government, or chiefs, to be disposed of at Mauritius, the proceeds of which he was to spend in such articles as the natives required, which were to be brought out when he renewed his visit to Antananarivo from France, where he was going to make a short stay.

Madame Ida Pfeiffer, the celebrated lady traveller, was at that time in England raising a subscription to enable her to visit Madagascar, in which object she was successful; the Mauritius papers reported that the Prince Consort contributed 10l., and the British Association for the Advancement of Science a similar amount, towards this purpose.

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After M. Lambert’s return to Paris from his political visit in 1855, Madame Ida Pfeiffer went to France; but it cannot be said with certainty whether she met M. Lambert there, or what assistance she received from the French for her proposed expedition.

M. Lambert having made the necessary arrangements in Paris, and being favoured with two audiences by the Emperor of the French, proceeded to Madagascar, and, having called at the Cape of Good Hope en route, he there met with Madame Ida Pfeiffer. The Frenchman, charmed with the enterprise of this aged lady, offered his services as knight-errant on the occasion; and Madame, nothing loth, accepted his offers to escort her to Antananarivo. Arrived at Mauritius, where they had to await the return of the healthy season, the knight-errant recollected that he was charged, among numerous other things, with a pianoforte for the Queen of Madagascar; and not being a musician, he bethought him to make Madame Pfeiffer useful; and accordingly suggested to her the necessity of her learning the pianoforte, in order to play it before the Queen[198] of Madagascar. The aged Ida acquiesced immediately, and made herself mistress of the instrument before she left Mauritius.

At Mozambique I learned of this intended expedition of M. Lambert, and the large amount of presents which he was taking up with him. On inquiry I found that Minon, Lambert, & Co., were a very young firm at Mauritius—the former gentleman having been a clerk in a bank at Paris, and the latter a civil engineer there, a short time before they made their appearance at Mauritius. The amount of the presents was stated to be 2,000l.; and as I knew that this was a sum which a young firm could not well afford to give away, I might very fairly surmise that the funds came from Paris; while the munificence of the gifts gave them an imperial aspect.

At the same time that M. Lambert was to arrive at Antananarivo, Père Jean, Préfet Apostolique of Madagascar, and the head of the Jesuit Mission in that island and its neighbourhood, would visit that capital, disguised as a trader.

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In Dalrymple Bay M. Lambert had a vessel anchored, by which the Hova chiefs, whose aid he expected, might escape to the neighbouring island of Mohilla, in the event of failure; and, in fact, every precaution was taken to secure success in the contemplated expedition which was to give Madagascar to France at last.

Being apprized of the whole of the above circumstances, I sent several letters from Mozambique to Madame Ida Pfeiffer, in the hope that she would be warned in time, and not take part in such an enterprise, as it was well known in Madagascar that this travelling lady was going to visit the island from England.

In the healthy season of 1857, M. Lambert, accompanied by Madame Ida Pfeiffer, arrived at Antananarivo, where he was met by Père Jean, who was disguised as a trader: “the end justifies the means.”

M. Lambert was welcomed by his countryman, M. Laborde, master of the ceremonies at Antananarivo, late slave-dealer, and, by repute, if possible something worse.

M. Lambert took up a great number of presents,[200] consisting of horses, camels, musical instruments, &c. He was treated with great hospitality and attention by all parties. Meanwhile the priest, the slave-dealer, and the ambassador (?) worked hard in their projected scheme; and, in the course of a fortnight or so, these three worthies had proposed to a number of the chief people “to put the Queen Ranavola aside, and place another ruler on the throne, allowing the Queen a pension—to form a treaty of alliance between the French and the Prince whom they should put on the throne—to establish the Roman Catholic religion as the only religion to be allowed in Madagascar—and to abolish domestic slavery, &c.”

The conspirators rejoiced, for the time of putting the plot into execution arrived.

There was a grand entertainment given at the Palace, and, if practicable, the Queen and her principal adherents were to be seized.

Madame Pfeiffer, the three French worthies, and all the chief personages were invited; but in the middle of the entertainment the awful intelligence was announced that the Queen had[201] discovered the conspiracy to dethrone her, and seize the government of the kingdom.

Immediately the wretched Madame Pfeiffer and the three Frenchmen were made prisoners, and placed in the midst of a great concourse of people, where a deathlike silence prevailed, in anticipation of the doom which awaited them.

After a fearful suspense, during which the Queen, surrounded by her council, decided upon their fate, it was announced that the Queen had spared the lives of the conspirators; but they were to be banished from the island within a certain time; and if ever they were found on the island again the forfeit of their lives would be the penalty.

Laborde refused to go, but was forced away by the officers; and they were accompanied to the coast by the Queen’s officers, who had instructions to lead them through the most insalubrious districts, so that the malaria of the swamps might seize upon their constitutions.

On arriving at the coast they were embarked and sent from the island within the time specified by the Queen.

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Madame Ida Pfeiffer for a long time hung between life and death, but the kind nursing of the hospitable people of Mauritius at length restored her sufficiently to enable her to embark in a ship for Europe; but it was only to arrive in her native country to die.

M. Lambert proceeded to Paris, where want of success made him an unwelcome guest. He returned to Mauritius, where I saw him for a few moments. He appeared intent upon another attempt on the crown of Madagascar, and sanguine of success.

There are various accounts of the manner in which the Queen became aware of the conspiracy which threatened her crown.

One is, that two of the conspirators, being native chiefs, communicated the particulars of the conspiracy to the government. Another, that among the et ceteras of the presents conveyed by Lambert to Antananarivo there was a writing-desk for the Queen, in a secret drawer of which there was a letter warning her Majesty of the intended attempt to overthrow her government.

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There is no doubt that the government were fully aware of what was meditated long before the dénouement; and it is certain that the warning came through English influence, but by what channel I do not feel farther at liberty to state.

The commerce of the island has not increased since the re-opening of the trade in 1853-4 so much as was expected—the political state of the country not being favourable to industry and cultivation; and the present policy is rather to restrict than to encourage commerce, as the government do not want to make the island more attractive to foreigners, or to make it more desirable as a possession.

Cattle and rice are to be obtained in every portion of the island. Orchella-weed is found in enormous quantities all over Madagascar. Silk, wool, cotton, and the most valuable and varied descriptions of timber for ship-building and all other purposes, are to be procured in the greatest abundance. Large quantities of India-rubber have been exported since 1834, and the gutta-percha tree is also found. Gums, dyes from woods, nuts, and roots are in great plenty, and it only[204] requires the independence of this noble people to be secured, when the trade would be enormous.

The French will never obtain possession of the island, for the forests and fevers in the lower districts are its natural protectors; and while the present state of things lasts, there will be no roads made, for these would only facilitate the conquest of the island—a fact to which the Malagasy are quite alive.

A specimen of the coal from the north-west end of Madagascar was given to me when at Mauritius. It appears to be of an inferior quality, but doubtless many seams of superior coal lie in that portion of the island closely adjoining the iron districts.

Madagascar is rich in valuable articles of export, but its resources are yet comparatively unknown. During the reign of Radama the demand for articles of European manufacture increased with astonishing rapidity. Since the death of Radama the trade of Madagascar has very much declined. The reasons are obvious. The government of the Queen, unsupported by Great Britain, does not hold that command over the[205] whole of the island which was accorded to Radama alone; and this want of confidence in themselves has revived that continued fear of invasion which harassed the Malagasy people for so long a period, and for more than two hundred years, in the person of the French nation, has been their persecuting demon.

Thoughtful men inquire how a stop may be put to this state of things, which deprives five millions of human beings of the benefits of civilization, robs them of the religion of Christ, and continues them, and them alone (for everywhere but in Madagascar there is progress), in a state of semi-barbarism, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.

The answer to the question is simply—Let France, once and for ever, withdraw claims which have not their foundation in right, justice, or humanity, on Madagascar; and join with England and America in a tri-partite treaty, guaranteeing the independence of the Malagasy people. Immediately the ports of Madagascar would be thrown open; commercial relations would be encouraged, the resources of the island developed,[206] a permanent government established; roads, canals, bridges, steamboats, and railroads would appear where now are to be found only the pathway through the gloomy forest, and the canoe on the silent stream.

From Aden the copper cable, resting on one of the Comoro Islands, would convey the message to Bombatok, which, flashing through the wires at Antananarivo and Tamatave, would through another cable pass on to Réunion and Mauritius, and thence to Ceylon, to “farthest India and Cathay,” the glad tidings that the Queen of the Indian Ocean had joined the family of civilized and Christianized man. Less than five years may see this accomplished.

After a stay of ten weeks at Mauritius, two steamers having arrived from Aden without any instructions not to proceed to England, as indicated in my telegram to the Foreign Office, and feeling that we were sufficiently recovered to bear the fatigue of travelling, we embarked on board the mail steamer “Granada,” chartered by the Mauritian government for the conveyance of the mail to and from Aden.

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Our restoration to health was in a great measure to be attributed to the kind attentions of our friends at the “Vale Estate,” where we were guests during the last four weeks of our stay at Mauritius. Here I had an opportunity of making myself acquainted with the manufacture of sugar, the cultivation of the cane, and the general management of a sugar estate, under the tuition of my esteemed friend, Mr. Thomas Wade West.

We embarked on board the “Granada,” on the afternoon of the 11th of September, where we found a number of kind friends who had gone on board to say farewell to us; among whom was the worthy Lord Bishop, whose attention, together with that of his wife and family, had been most unremitting during our sojourn on the island.

The moorings were slipped—our friends departed—the screw revolved—and the beautiful “Granada” glided out of Port Louis. The next day we were off Réunion, where we had to call for the mails, and the aspect alone of the island, when compared to Mauritius, told at once in favour of the latter.

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Mauritius has two splendid harbours, and a number of minor ones; but Réunion has not a single harbour. Vessels anchor all round Réunion, for every place is equally safe and equally dangerous; when it comes on to blow there is nothing for it but to stand out to sea. The French Imperial Government have voted a million and a half of francs for the construction of a harbour; and there is one part of the island where this may be effected. In the hurricane months it is extremely dangerous even to approach the island—for in case of being dismasted, and the island becoming a lee shore, during the violence of the tempest there is no safety to be found in anchor or cable; and destruction awaits the barque that reaches the surrounding reefs or the surf-beaten shore.

While we were embarking the mails, I observed the small war-steamer “Mahé Lebourdonnais,” which had afforded me such valuable aid at Mozambique, when the Portuguese doctors refused to visit the patients in my house who were attacked with fever. I regretted exceedingly that I was not able to go on board to thank both the commander[210] and surgeon for the aid they afforded me at a very trying moment, but I hope to have the pleasure of doing so at some future time.

We embarked two passengers at Réunion with the mails, and proceeded on our voyage. One of these passengers was the captain of a French merchant vessel. He was excessively amusing, and kept us company to Marseilles. It appears that he had loaded his ship in the Malay Islands with a very valuable cargo, and, having put the mate in charge to bring her to France, was travelling home express. He was a very sharp fellow, and up to everything going on at Madagascar. Finding that I had learned a little, he became very communicative, and confirmed much that I had heard.

The other passenger from Réunion was the ex-mayor of St. Denis, the capital of the island. At first he was very civil, but having learned my name, and that I was Her Majesty’s consul for Mozambique, he told his countryman that I was the destroyer of Réunion, for that I had completely stopped the French free labour emigration from Mozambique to the French island. For the remainder[211] of the voyage I had nothing but black looks from the ex-mayor, and it was very evident that he regarded me as one who had caused him the loss of large sums of money. This led to inquiry on my part, and I learned that the ex-mayor was the principal labour importer for Réunion.

In a week after leaving Mauritius we anchored for a few hours in the magnificent harbour of Port Victoria, in the island of Mahé, the principal of the archipelago known as the Seychelles.

Proceeding on shore, we called on the acting commissioner, Mr. Charles Telfair; and as his lady was not only a countrywoman, but a namesake of my own, we at once received a “hearty Highland welcome” in this paradise of the Indian Ocean.

The following sketch of the Seychelles is principally from information afforded to me by Mr. Telfair during my short stay there, and any omission I hope may be attributed to the writer rather than to his obliging informant.

These islands, twenty-nine in number, form an archipelago which is the most considerable of the dependencies of the island of Mauritius; they[212] extend from 3° 33′ to 5° 35′ south latitude, and from 55° 15′ to 56° 10′ east longitude; they lie at a distance of 915 miles from Mauritius, 550 miles from Madagascar, and 1500 miles from the continent of India.

The Seychelles were first discovered by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century—probably by the squadron belonging to that nation, which, under the command of Fernan Suarez, was driven upon the coast of San Lourenço or Madagascar by a hurricane, A.D. 1506.

The Portuguese called them the Seven Brothers, from a group of seven islands near Mahé.

They are all mountainous, well watered, and richly wooded. In 1742 they were explored by Captain Lazare Picault, in the tartane “L’Elizabeth,” despatched from the isle of France by Mahé de Labourdonnais.

Captain Picault, having taken possession in the name of the King of France, called them Labourdonnais Islands, after the great governor of the Isle of France; and the principal one Mahé—which name has been retained to this day; but subsequently that of Seychelles was substituted for[213] Labourdonnais, in honour of Viscount Herault de Seychelles, at that time marine minister of France. The Seychelles islands are composed of:—

1. Isle Mahé; 2. Ste. Anne; 3. Aux Cerfs; 4. Anonyme; 5. Sud-Est; 6. Longue; 7. Moyenne; 8. Ronde; 9. Thérèse; 10. La Conception; 11. Silhouette; 12. Du Nord; 13. Praslin; 14. Ladigue; 15. Curieuse; 16. Ronde; 17. Aride; 18. Félicité; 19, 20. Les Deux Sœurs; 21. Marianne; 22. Aux Récifs; 23. Les Mamelles; 24, 25. Cousin et Cousine; 26. Aux Frégates; 27. Aux Vaches Marines; 28. Denis, the most northerly; 29. Plate, the most southerly.

They rest upon a bank of sand and coral. The climate of the Seychelles is mild, and considered very healthy; from the mountainous formation of these islands, and an entire absence of marshy districts, there is no predisposing cause for malaria or miasma, and they are exempt from all epidemic diseases and endemic fevers.

The Mauritius and Réunion hurricanes do not extend to the Seychelles, their limit being about 10° S: so likewise those hurricanes which strike the north end of Madagascar, and devastate the[214] Mozambique coast, do not approach the Seychelles. This may fairly be attributed to the equable temperature which they enjoy.

Although situated near the equator, these islands do not experience the great heat so common to the countries in their neighbourhood, the temperature being always about the same, viz., from 80° to 84° Fahrenheit: the extremes are from 70° to 74° at night in the cool season, and from 84° to occasionally 92° in the hot and rainy season.

The two monsoons known at the Seychelles Islands are the S.E., prevailing from May to October, the cool season; and the N.W., from November to April, the hot and rainy season. During the N.W. monsoon, occasionally, squalls, accompanied by lightning and very heavy rains, make their appearance. These islands, situated in almost the middle of the Indian Ocean, at nearly equal distances from the neighbouring countries, in addition to their salubrious climate, possess a large and wonderfully safe harbour, in which fleets may lie in security, even during the hurricane season, when it is dangerous to remain in any port of the neighbouring countries.

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Although these islands were known to the navigators of the sixteenth century, and the Arabs, they were not colonized before 1742, after the exploration of Captain Lazare Picault, when a few French settlers from Bourbon and Mauritius established themselves on the principal island—Mahé. Unfortunately, in clearing the ground for their plantations of manico, maize, rice, &c., forests of valuable timber were destroyed by fire. In 1750 a commandant and a civil commissioner was appointed by the French government—the last of whom, M. Quean de Quincy, in 1794, capitulated to a small British squadron, consisting of the “Orpheus,” “Centurion,” and “Resistance,” under the command of Commodore Newcome.

In 1801 the French government banished from France 132 of the wretches who had acted in the most atrocious scenes of the Reign of Terror. Having been prevented from landing at the Isle of France they were conveyed to the Seychelles, which resulted to France in the loss of the two vessels employed upon the service; for the “Chiffonne,” whilst refitting at Seychelles,[216] was captured by the “Cybèle,” Captain Adams—and the “Flèche,” after a long chase and a gallant resistance on her part, was sunk by the “Victor,” Captain Cullis.

In 1814 these islands were formally ceded to Great Britain, as one of the dependencies of Mauritius. Mahé, the principal island, is about seventeen miles long, and about four miles broad; it attains an elevation of 2,000 feet in height, and may be seen at a distance of twelve to fifteen leagues.

It is mountainous, of primary formation, hard granite rock, the soil varied and productive, watered with numerous rivulets, and, being well wooded, the scenery is very picturesque.

On the east side of the island is a magnificent bay, about four miles deep, and three and a half miles wide; it is enclosed, excepting towards the north, by several small islands, the outermost of which is Ste. Anne; outside of these islands are extensive reefs of coral, an opening through which, easily approached, leads to this harbour of refuge, formed by nature, in the Indian Ocean.

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The roadstead could contain from 300 to 400 vessels, while in the harbour five or six sail of the line might be safely moored, with sufficient room for smaller vessels.

Hurricanes and gales of wind are never known there: even during the N.W. monsoon the squalls from W. to S.W. or N.W. to N. are not so heavy as to require more than one good anchor and cable—the holding-ground being pipe-clay, with an intermixture of shell.

From the harbour, a narrow channel through the reefs (which might be easily enlarged) leads to an inner harbour, or rather basin, where large ships may be hove down for repair.

The adjoining land is well adapted for dry docks and ship-building yards.

The coral which would have to be removed for the improvement of the outer and inner harbours could be employed for building the upper portions of the wharves—as, on being removed from the sea, and exposed to the air, it hardens and assumes the appearance of white marble; when in its soft state it is easily worked; and, already, at Seychelles it is used for[218] building purposes. A beautiful little church which is now being erected there is entirely composed of this coral.

In 1841, by special permission of the Queen, the name of Port Victoria was given to this magnificent harbour.

In the bight of the bay lies the town; the houses being built of wood and covered with shingles, it has not a very imposing appearance.

Situated in the opening of a ravine, at the foot of a range of hills covered with wood, and immediately under the highest, is the “Morne Blanc,” rising to an elevation of 1300 feet; in the course of time, when the capabilities of these islands will have become known, and the coral extensively used for building purposes, a city worthy of the name of the port may grace the spot which nature has already rendered beautiful and lovely in the extreme.

During the S.E. monsoon there is good anchorage on the west side of Mahé; but heavy gusts come over the high land when the winds are moderate and steady on the east side.

From 1817 to 1827, a flourishing and lucrative[219] cotton-trade was carried on at the Seychelles, and it requires only labour to compete with America in this article, which it produces of the very finest, silky sea-island quality.

The sugar-cane grows luxuriantly. A sugar-house and mill were erected at Mahé some time since, at considerable expense; but it is not working, simply for the want of labour.

There is no tobacco superior to that grown at Seychelles; yet very little is exported.

Rice of the very best quality, far superior to that brought from India for the supply of Mauritius, might be exported from the Seychelles, but at present rice is sent from Mauritius to these islands.

Vessels, from small coasters up to ships of 400 and 500 tons, have been built at Seychelles; they have always been found strong and durable, and being built of wood impervious to the toredo navilis, they are peculiarly adapted for tropical seas.

Timber, for ship-building, furniture, and all domestic purposes, is to be found in abundance.

Forests of excellent wood, called “Capuchin,” one of the most durable kinds known, are falling daily, and rotting on the ground.

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The “bois puant,” so well adapted for the spokes of cart and carriage wheels, is in great abundance; it is very valuable, and spokes in large numbers might be prepared for exportation.

The “bois de natte” is an ornamented wood, suitable for furniture; it is of a reddish colour, very closely grained, and marked something like fine heart of oak.

This wood is highly esteemed at Mauritius; it has been observed that the most curiously marked grows on rocky places—where, from the difficulty and slowness of its growth, it becomes contracted and stunted. Nearly the whole of the forests belong to government, and require only roads, so as to get at them, to become very remunerative; the roads for this purpose would be easy of construction, and could be made at no very great expense.

The sperm whale is found about the Seychelles, but the numerous whaling-vessels, both English and American, visit the Comoro Islands for supplies, being, I am told, deterred from entering Port Victoria by the heavy harbour dues. With the[221] large herds of cattle, and ample supplies of vegetables, to be obtained at these islands, it would be but a wise policy to make this port free to all vessels simply calling for supplies.

The domestic animals comprise the cow, sheep, dog and cat. Pigs and poultry in all varieties are to be found in abundance—as are likewise fish, tree and rock oysters, guinea fowl, pigeons, doves, and willow birds; rice, maize, manioc, coffee, sugar-cane, chocolate, cloves, cinnamon; among the fruits may be named pine-apples, bread-fruit, raspberries, grapes, maniæ tamarinds, mangoes, bananas, limes, oranges, guavas; among the vegetables, yams, sweet potatoes, carrots, turnips, pumpkins, &c.; and there is even a description of tea called hyapunna.

The oranges are the most delicious I ever tasted. Last year two-thirds of the cloves that were produced by the remains of the spice gardens established by Mahé Labourdonnais were left on the ground for want of labour to gather them. Pine-apples are in such abundance, that I proposed, when there in the month of September 1858, that they should be used for making wine. At Natal[222] wine is made from the pine-apple, which is stated to be a superior champagne.

These islands are visited by the hawk-billed turtle, from which the natives obtain the tortoise-shell. In some countries, where the fishermen take the turtle alive, they bury it in sand as far as the edge of the shell, and by kindling a fire on its back, or by pouring boiling water on it, the shell becomes detached, and the turtle is then liberated. By some it is stated that Nature furnishes it with a new shell, but the Seychellois sacrifice the animal to obtain the shell.

The hawk-billed turtle weighs from 100 to 150 pounds, and yields from two to six pounds of tortoise-shell, worth from six to nine dollars per pound. The flesh of the hawk-billed turtle is considered poisonous, but some affirm it to be fit for food.

Green turtle, the flesh of which is so delicious, are also found in great numbers; oil is extracted from them, and occasionally the flesh is salted and exported to Mauritius. Even the shell of this species has lately come into use—in[223] Europe for veneering purposes—and is melted into an imitation of tortoise-shell. The green turtle weighs from 200 to 300 pounds, and the flesh is worth about four dollars per pound. Both descriptions of turtle are obtained, when they come on shore to lay their eggs, by turning them on their backs, when they are quite helpless; and also by striking them at sea with a light harpoon.

The best months for procuring the hawk-billed turtle are from July to December, and from December to March the green turtle are easily obtained, those being the laying seasons.

They both lay many hundreds of eggs in large holes, which they scoop out with their fins in the sand, and, having covered them over, they leave them to be hatched by the sun and by time.

It is worthy of remark that the hawk-billed turtle comes on shore to lay during the day, and the green turtle, with but few exceptions, during the night. The Seychellois call the hawk-billed turtle “Caret,” and the green turtle “Tortue.”

These islands have obtained a world-wide[224] celebrity, from being the only place yet known where the Coco de Mer (the most curious of the palms, so justly styled by Linnæus the prince of the vegetable kingdom), is found. This species of palm—known as the Ladoicea Sechellarum, the double cocoa-nut, the Coco de Mer, the Cocos Maldivicus of Rumphius, and Nux Medica of Clusius—is from 50 to 120 feet in height, and from 12 to 15 inches in diameter, with scarcely any difference in size to the top, where it is crowned with a tuft of leaves; and the whole of the stem is so flexible that the tops of those trees which stand in each other’s vicinity strike against and chafe each other in a strong breeze.

On the stem rings, four inches apart, mark the annular age of this palm, which, even in this archipelago, is confined to Praslin, Curieuse, and Ronde, on which islands alone it appears to bear fruit.

The leaves are very large and open, like a fan; they are from 20 to 30 feet in length, including the petiole, which is of sufficient strength to support a man.

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The tree is twenty or thirty years old before it bears fruit, and always 130 years are required before it attains its full development.

The fruit is generally double, sometimes triple and even quadruple; when young the fruit is refreshing, and not unlike ice sherbet in appearance, and in taste it somewhat resembles the common cocoa-nut, and is remarkably cold when taken out of the shell.

The germ when developed is a sweet dish. The fruit remains on the tree about three years, and when ripe it drops off the tree and is no longer fit for food. In a few months, if not exposed to the rays of the sun, the fallen nut germinates and a new plant is formed.

It bears only one spadix in each year, and yet it is said to have above ten in bloom at once—thus bearing flowers and fruit of all ages at the same time.

The crown of the trunk is called cabbage, and is eaten like that of the true cabbage palm. This part of the tree, like that of the common cocoa-nut when parboiled, tastes like cooked chestnuts; and when cut into strips about eight inches[226] long and well-boiled, is remarkably like asparagus.

The trunk is employed for making palisades and water-troughs.

The leaves are taken to thatch houses, and even fences.

The down, which is attached to the young leaves, serves for filling mattresses and pillows.

With the ribs of the leaves and fibres of the petiole, baskets and brooms are made.

The young unexpanded leaves are bleached in the sun until they become quite white; they are then cut into longitudinal strips, and plaited for making beautiful hats and bonnets; elegant fans, and also fancy baskets, are made from the young leaves, by the Seychelles ladies, who excel in this work.

Out of the nut, beautiful vessels of different forms and for various uses are made; amongst other articles, shaving dishes, black, beautifully polished, set in silver and carved, are made from it.

A long and remarkably correct account of the Lodoicea Seychellarum is given by Sir W. J.[227] Hooker in the “Botanical Magazine and Register,” vol. xii., from which I have largely borrowed information relative to this wonder of the vegetable kingdom.

In a recent communication to me from that distinguished botanist, relative to the Seychelles, Sir William says, “I may add, too, that though these islands are British, with the exception of the Coco de Mer, and one or two objects, such as curiosities, we are as ignorant of the vegetable productions as if it were a region in the very centre of Africa or Australia, where no human foot has yet trod.”

The venilla bean is cultivated at Mauritius and Bourbon, despite the hurricanes, which in their visits to these islands destroy this article of commerce; it has lately been introduced into the Seychelles, and will in these islands, free from tempests, become a source of wealth to the inhabitants.

The exports through the customs at Seychelles, for the year ending 7th of July 1858, were as follows:—

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The above is the total production of 7000 inhabitants, with the sexes about equally divided.

The largest item, the vacoa bags, exported to Mauritius for holding sugar, might be produced by one hundred persons in a year; and it appears that the oil is made by Creoles sent from Mauritius—the Seychellois being at present a lazy, indolent people, given to pleasure and idle amusements; the soil they will not cultivate, preferring to gain a subsistence from the sea.

This love of the ocean might be turned to advantage, by encouraging maritime pursuits and commercial relations between these islands, Madagascar, and the whole of the east sea-board of Africa, for which the Seychellois are already acclimatized. Nuts and seeds yielding oil might be carried to the Seychelles, the oil made there, and exported to Europe from these islands; the[229] colouring matter from the orchella weed, at present conveyed round the Cape of Good Hope, might be extracted at the Seychelles and sent home by way of Suez.

The employment of these islands for the above purposes would cause a great saving in the freight of ships now carrying the raw materials to Europe, and would at the same time develop the resources of these valuable islands.

With regard to the cultivation of the soil, if the government of Mauritius was to introduce one thousand coolies from India direct, and give some encouragement to the inhabitants of Mauritius to emigrate there, by granting lands on favourable terms, capital would soon be found, from the Mauritius, for the development of these islands, which, already possessing a harbour of refuge suitable for their position, nearly in the middle of the Indian Ocean, would soon rival Mauritius in their productions and commercial and political importance.

At present, to keep up the establishment there, they cost the government of Mauritius about £3000 per annum: with a judicious expenditure[230] of a few thousand pounds for the opening of roads to get at the valuable timber, and the building of wharves for the inner harbour, the Seychelles would soon yield a large and profitable revenue to Mauritius.

On the 25th September, just one week after leaving the Seychelles, the “Granada” arrived at Aden, where we expected to meet with the steamer from Bombay on her way to Suez.

The “Simla,” the vessel expected from Bombay, had not arrived; and there being no hotel at Aden, the passengers were thrown upon the small village at Steamer Point, to find accommodation as best they could. This is a subject of continued[232] complaint, and one great objection to the overland route, which the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company might easily obviate by erecting an hotel with reasonable charges, and keeping a steamer in the port of Aden until such time as the hotel is adapted for use. The accidents occurring in the Red Sea, and the frequent breaking down of the machinery of some of these vessels, will render a reserve vessel always necessary either at Suez or Aden; and, under existing circumstances, for the accommodation of passengers arriving at the latter place, and awaiting the irregular arrival of the company’s ships, Aden ought never to be without a reserve vessel.

For myself, I always make it a point to pay respect to my flag, and therefore paid my respects to the chief authority at Aden, Brigadier William Marcus Coghlan, Political Resident and Commandant of the forces at Aden.

The Brigadier was kind enough to give me a very hearty invitation to reside with him while at Aden; and Mrs. M’Leod and myself felt the benefit of the change from the “Granada,” in[233] the harbour of Back Bay, to the Brigadier’s cool bungalow on Steamer Point.

Bunder Toowaï, or Aden Harbour, has at various periods of the world’s history commanded the commerce of the East; and, from the remotest antiquity, it has been an emporium for the great commercial nation of the age. It is not, therefore, surprising that at the present date the British flag should float triumphantly over the seaport of the Queen of Sheba.

On looking at a chart of the world we are at once struck with the position of Arabia, whose seaport Aden is.

It is almost insular, lying between Asia, Africa, and India. On two sides it is bounded by the ocean, on a third by the desert, and on the fourth side it was the point d’appui of the commerce established, by way of the Persian Gulf, between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean.

On the one side it has Egypt, on the other Palestine, Syria, Babylon, Chaldea; and the Divine Creator has given it the patient and unwearied camel, the ship of the desert, to cross the ocean of sand which divides it from those countries.

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On the east lies the Gulf of Persia, which, by the river Euphrates, reaches the heart of Western Asia; while the island of Ormus forms a stepping-stone from its coast to that of India.

On the west the Red Sea protects it from the invasion of the Ethiopian nations; placing it in communication with Egypt and Abyssinia: while on the south the continent of Africa, at the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, visibly invites the natives of Arabia to visit its coasts.

Thus it is protected by a desert of sand, for the crossing of which there is an animal specially provided on the one side; and on two others by the ocean, which along six hundred miles of its coast invites the enterprise of its inhabitants to search for richer lands.

By its proximity to Africa, from which it is visible, the western shore of the Indian Ocean became known to the Arabs at an early date, with all its gold, pearls, precious stones, and valuable woods and spices; and, by way of the Persian Gulf, these first pioneers of commerce found a route to its eastern shores, and likewise formed colonies in Western India.

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When we remember that the Arabs were the first astronomers, it is natural to suppose that these early observers of the heavens had, from the south of Arabia, remarked that the wind blew from one quarter half the year, and from the opposite for the remainder; and thus had been acquainted with the regularity of the monsoons for ages before this wonderful phenomenon of nature dawned upon the mind of the Greek philosopher and mariner, Hippalus.

The knowledge of this remarkable fact would enable them to put to sea with confidence, in search of the Arabian colonies already formed in India and Africa.

From the former country did they obtain a knowledge of the needle which points ever to the pole? This is probable, for the inhabitants of China were acquainted with the mariner’s compass ages before Flavio Gioia of Amalfi gave it to guide the wonderful discoveries of the European era of conquest; and from the remotest antiquity China had commercial relations with India.

From the Arab word “Maussem” (meaning “remarkable epoch”) the modern name, monsoon, for[236] the periodical winds which blow in the Indian Ocean, is derived; and we know that when Vasco de Gama arrived at Mozambique, the Arab dhows which he met with there, trading to the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, Madagascar, and India, were all supplied with an astrolabe, or instrument for taking the altitude of the sun, moon, and stars, and with the mariner’s compass. This is very natural; the Arabs had been astronomers and navigators for many ages.

More than ten centuries before the advent of the Messiah, these Arabs must have traded with India and Ophir, or Sofala, in East Africa, for we find that the Queen of Sheba, or Saba or Yemen or Arabia (all names for the land of the Arabs), on visiting Solomon at Jerusalem, B.C. 981, “gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones; there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.”[5]

These spices came from India, or north-eastern Africa, and the gold and precious stones from[237] Ophir;[6] for we have already proved that not one of these articles was the produce of Arabia. In the time of Moses spices were known and much used among the Hebrews, and the nearest places for obtaining them were north-eastern Africa, the Malabar coast and Ceylon, through the Arab’s emporium at Aden.

Aden has been successively occupied by the Persians and the Romans, and, in more modern times, by the Turks, and the Portuguese. It became a British possession under the following circumstances, as stated by Captain Playfair, assistant political agent, in his “History of Arabia Felix or Yemen” recently published, with the sanction of the Honourable East India Company.

On the morning of the 4th of January, 1836, the Madras ship, “Deria Dowlat,” under British colours, went on shore in the Koobet Sailán, a few miles distant from Aden, having on board a valuable cargo, and a number of pilgrims bound for Jedda. As daylight dawned she was boarded by crowds of Arabs from Aden, who plundered her of everything that could be removed. The passengers,[238] amongst whom were several ladies of rank, landed on rafts, in doing which fourteen perished. The survivors were seized by the Arabs, stripped naked, and the females subjected to the most brutal indignities, and only saved from being carried off into the interior by the intercession of the Seyed of Aidroos, an influential family in Aden, who supplied them with food and clothing.

The government of Bombay felt bound not only to demand redress for this outrage, but to take such further precautions as should preclude the recurrence of similar atrocities.

For this purpose Captain Haines, I.N., was despatched to Aden in the Honourable Company’s sloop-of-war, “Coote;” and he was instructed, in the event of his negotiations proving successful, to endeavour to obtain the place by purchase, in order that British commerce in the Red Sea might be placed on a safer footing for the future, and that a secure coal depôt for the vessels engaged in the overland transit might be established.

On Captain Haines arrival at Aden, he had an interview with the Sultan of Aden, when the latter denied, most solemnly, all knowledge of, or[239] participation in, the atrocity with which he was charged; but as the property of the “Deria Dowlet” was being sold publicly in the market, his assertion was not received. A formal demand was accordingly made for the sum of 12,000 dollars, as an indemnity, or the entire restitution of the plundered property. After much negotiation, goods to the value of 7,808 dollars were restored; and the Sultan passed a bill, at twelve months’ sight, to Captain Haynes, for the remaining 4,192 dollars.

Having thus settled the primary object of his mission, Captain Haynes succeeded in obtaining from the Sultan a written bond, dated 23rd January, 1838, that he would cede the peninsula on which Aden is built to the British in the following March, in consideration of an annual pension of 8,700 dollars. But before this could be embodied in a treaty, a plot had been formed by the Sultan’s son for the seizure of the papers and person of the political agent after the parting interview. Intelligence of the meditated treachery having reached Captain Haines, the interview was evaded, and he proceeded to Bombay.

[240]

On the 24th October, he again returned to Aden, authorized by his government to enforce the completion of the stipulated agreement.

Captain Haynes’ requisition to the Sultan was met with language and conduct the most violent and insulting. The Sultan refused to allow the plundered property, which had formerly been restored, to be removed from Aden: he issued orders that the “Coote” should not be supplied with water or provisions, and his soldiers fired upon the pinnace of that vessel, without the slightest provocation, slightly wounding two sailors.

In consequence of these outrages the port was blockaded; but ere a month had elapsed the Sultan begged a truce of three days, which he treacherously employed in sending a boat to Saiárah, on the African coast, whence the “Coote” was supplied with provisions, to endeavour, by a bribe of 200 dollars, to induce the Somalies to murder all the English who landed there.

On the 18th December, the H.C. schooner “Mahi” and the barque “Anne Crichton,”[241] laden with coals, arrived; a most significant intimation to the Sultan, had he chosen to accept it, that the British were determined to enforce the fulfilment of the agreement into which he had voluntarily entered.

On the 11th of January a skirmish took place off Seerah Island, between the battery on the Mole, and the schooner “Mahi,” with two gunboats. Two seamen were wounded, and about twenty or thirty of the Arabs put hors de combat. On the 16th of January a force, consisting of H.M.S. “Volage,” 28 guns, under the command of Captain Smith, H.M.S. “Cruizer,” 10 guns, with 300 European and 400 native troops, commanded by Major Baillie, arrived at Aden. A final message was sent to the Sultan, directing him to deliver up the place; but as this was not complied with the town was bombarded and taken by assault. The loss on the side of the British was 15, and on that of the Arabs 150 men, killed and wounded.

The garrison consisted of 700 soldiers from the interior, and the remaining population did not[242] exceed 600, of whom a great proportion were Jews. The Sultan, his family, and a number of the chief people of the city effected their escape to Láhej.

Thus Aden fell into the hands of the British, being the first capture in the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and from this period the process of its restoration to something like its former importance was not less rapid than had been its decline.

I have been thus particular in giving the official account of the British conquest of Aden, as various erroneous statements have been made relative to its seizure by England. These statements are marked by that ignorance which usually accompanies the malevolent attacks on “perfide Albion.”

The British settlement of Aden is a peninsula of about fifteen miles in circumference, of an irregular oval form, five miles in its greater and three miles in its lesser diameter, connected with the continent by a low, narrow neck of land, 1,350 yards in breadth, but which is in one place nearly covered by the sea at high spring tides.

[243]

The formation of Aden is purely volcanic, and bears the appearance of having been in recent activity. It is supposed that the peninsula was originally an island, and became gradually connected by the accumulation of sand in the narrow channel which intervened between it and the mainland.

The whole peninsula is a large crater, formed by lofty and precipitous hills, the highest of which, Shumshum, has an elevation of 1,755 feet, but, being entirely destitute of vegetation, looks much higher.

The range of hills which forms the wall of the crater is nearly circular: on the western side the hills are very precipitous, and the rain-water descending from them is carried rapidly to the sea; on the interior, or eastern side, the hills are quite as abrupt, but the descent is broken by a table-land occurring midway between the summit and the sea-level, which occupies about one-fourth of the entire superficies of Aden. This plateau is intersected by numerous ravines, nearly all of which converge into one valley, which thus receives the drainage of the peninsula. From the[244] remotest times this provision of nature has been seized upon for supplying the town of Aden with water. Tanks of various dimensions, and the most fantastic shapes, have been formed, in many cases by simply building a dyke across a ravine; while they are so constructed that on the overflowing of one the water reaches the next—and thus a complete chain has been formed, reaching the heart of the town.

The annual fall of rain in Aden is very limited, seldom exceeding seven inches; and as the neighbouring country is in too unsettled a state to restore the aqueduct built by the Sultan of Yemen, Melek-el-Mansoor, towards the close of the fifteenth century, which conveyed the water of the Bir Hameed into Aden, and it having been found that increasing the number of wells does not proportionately increase the supply of water, recourse is now being had to condensing the water of the bay into fresh water.

The scarcity of water in such a climate, and at a place of such importance, both in a commercial and also a strategic light, is a matter of serious consideration, and is engaging all the energies of[245] Brigadier Coghlan to remedy, by clearing out and repairing all the ancient tanks.

The town and the principal portion of the military cantonments are within the crater already described, and consequently they are surrounded on all sides by hills, except on the eastern face, where a gap exists opposite the fortified island of Sheerah. This inlet is called Front or East Bay.

The crater has been cleft from north to south, and the rents thus produced are called the northern and southern passes; the former, better known as the main pass, is the only entrance into the town from the interior or from the harbour.

When this town was visited by Captain Haynes, of the Indian navy, the ruin of Aden appears to have been complete. It was nothing but a wretched village, built on the ruins of the former city, containing about ninety stone houses, in a dilapidated state, and only one mosque in a state of repair. The remainder of the dwelling-places were miserable huts made of mats. Its trade was annihilated, its wells brackish from neglect, and everything bearing the mark of ruin and decay.

[246]

Since the conquest in 1839, how rapidly has it changed! A neat and well-built town has superseded the former squalid-looking village. The population has increased from 600 to 25,000; while the value of the trade, including imports and exports, amounts to upwards of one million sterling per annum.

All the ancient defences have been abandoned, and the place has been entirely re-fortified. Strong by nature, immense sums have been expended, and the highest engineering skill employed, to render it impregnable to any probable attack. Nothing short of a large European force, naval and military, supplied with a complete siege train, could succeed in making any impression on it; and as long as Great Britain rules the ocean, with the aid which our navy would render in case of being attacked, it may be deemed impregnable, and pronounced the British Gibraltar of the Indian Ocean.

Curious coins have frequently been found after heavy rains, and also some highly interesting Himyaritic inscriptions. One had reached the Brigadier’s hands while we were at Aden, and we[247] were politely favoured with a view of what may, by some, be deemed a portion of the inscription on the tomb of the Queen of Sheba.

On the 29th of September, the “Simla” called at Aden, and we took leave of our hospitable host, embarked, and were steamed out of Aden that evening.

At daylight on the next day we were off Perim, a small island commanding the entrance of the Red Sea, which has lately been re-occupied by the British.

As this island holds a very important position in the event of war, and is attached to the government of Aden, some account of it may be acceptable to the general reader.

By the Arabs it is called Mayoon; to the ancients it was most probably known as the island of Diodorus. It is situated in the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, a mile and a half from the Arabian shore, and eleven miles from the coast of Africa. The safe channel for shipping is on the north or Arabian side, and is barely half a mile in width. The passage on the southern shore is exceedingly difficult, and may with a[248] little ingenuity be made impassable. It will thus be seen, that with suitable fortifications, rendered bomb-proof, and built with a ventilation so that the smoke of the gunpowder would clear away to enable the gunners to keep up a constant fire, Perim may command the passage of the Red Sea, and, if provided with impregnable fortifications, no fleet could force the passage.

Of late years, in consequence of increasing steam navigation in the Red Sea, the attention of the British government has been directed to the necessity of a lighthouse to facilitate the navigation of the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. And as the French government had early in 1857 despatched a ship-of-war to hoist the tri-color on this island, the political agent at Aden, very probably on being apprized of the circumstance, despatched the assistant political agent, Capt. R. L. Playfair, to Perim, for the purpose of re-occupying an island which, in the hands of Great Britain, will be a Pharos for the Red Sea, instead of a standing menace to the peaceful navigation of the East. With this intention the works have been already commenced, and Perim will soon become another[249] link of that chain which shows our power to enlighten ignorance, and, if need be, to check arrogance.

The formation of Perim is purely volcanic, and consists of long, low, and gradually sloping hills, surrounding an excellent harbour, about a mile and a half in length, and half a mile broad. This capacious harbour has a depth of from four to six fathoms in the best anchorage, and could easily accommodate a numerous fleet of ships, having a large draught of water, should they be required for the protection of the island. About one-fourth of the island, on the north side, consists of low plains of sand and coral, scantily covered with salsola, sea-lavender, wild mignonette, and other plants which delight in a salt sandy soil. The remainder of the island is covered with a layer of loose boulders, or masses of black vesicular lava, in some places so thickly set as to resemble a rude pavement. Captain Playfair states the highest point of the island to be 245 feet above the level of the sea.[7]

[250]

Perim has never been permanently occupied by any nation except the British. The great Albuquerque landed upon it in 1513, on his return from his unsuccessful expedition in the Red Sea. He erected a cross upon an eminence, and called the island Vera Cruz.

The pirates who kept the Indian Ocean in such a state of excitement, during a great portion of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, made this their stronghold for some time; but having dug through the solid lava a distance of fifteen feet in search of water, they abandoned their intention of settling there, and took up their abode in St. Mary’s island, on the east coast of Madagascar. In 1799, a force from Bombay, under Lieutenant Colonel Murray, was sent to occupy it, with the view of preventing the French troops, then engaged in the occupation of Egypt, from proceeding to India to effect a junction with Tippoo Saib. The troops were subsequently withdrawn, and it has remained unoccupied until the British standard was again hoisted upon it in 1857.

There being no water on the island, and but a scanty supply to be obtained from the adjoining[251] mainland, the water-tanks which have been lately constructed are supplied from Aden, and reservoirs to collect the rain are being erected, which, together with a condensing apparatus, will fully supply its wants in this respect.

In proceeding up the Red Sea the weather was oppressively hot, and at night the majority of the passengers were to be found on deck—sleep being almost out of the question. In the day time the awnings—good, strong, and thick as they were, well fitted, and beautifully spread—afforded but a poor protection against the powerful sun. From noon to three in the afternoon one was best below to avoid a sun-stroke, which with some appeared imminent.

The ship was greatly over-crowded with passengers; all invalids, and many of them in a most critical position. There was abundance of discontent, but those on board the vessel were not at all to blame; everything the vessel afforded was dealt out with a liberal hand, and from Captain Cooper, the commodore of the line, to the youngest subordinate, all was attention and civility.

[252]

Soon after passing Perim we sighted the comet, and this afforded a subject of wonder and conversation to all. Two days before arriving at Suez, the coals in the bunkers ignited, and the fire was kept down by large applications of water; but the matter was well concealed by the officers of the “Simla,” and I believe that few of those on board were aware of the great danger we were in at one time.

We arrived at Suez on the morning of the 6th October, and the “Columbia” arrived a few hours after us, with the Australian mails and passengers. As it was telegraphed from Alexandria that the steamer of the Australian line was at anchor in that harbour, and the Peninsular and Oriental steamer had not arrived, of course the “Australians” got the preference, and the “Indians” had to wait until the former were despatched by train.

By a succession of blunders, caused by the employés on shore, we had neither lunch nor dinner on board the “Simla;” and as we were all hurried to our breakfast at six o’clock in the morning, we were in want of some refreshment on landing at Suez at 4 P.M.[253]

At the hotel they could have given us some dinner, but the railway people told them that a sumptuous entertainment was provided on the road.

The railroad not being finished to Suez, we had to perform some portion of the journey in two-wheeled machines, very similar to those used in England for sea-bathing. Each of these machines contained six persons, and they were drawn by two horses in the shafts and two mules for leaders. There were about thirty of these machines to start together, and having formed our party of six, we took possession of one of these vehicles.

All being ready we started off together, amidst a shouting, yelling, cheering, and general vociferation. The vehicles had each a guard and driver, the duty of the guard being to keep company with the mules, and urge them to the utmost speed.

The animals were allowed to breathe about every half hour, after which a general race took place until the next resting-place. At last, some time after dark, when we all began to think that[254] we were going on to Cairo in these vehicles without any rest, we suddenly came to a stand-still in the midst of the desert.

The horses were taken out, and as these carriages would not remain upright on the two wheels, we were obliged to turn out. It was very cold, and all that could be seen of a railroad was one single line of rails in the sand.

There were a number of small low canvas tents pitched closely adjoining, but these were for some troops which were expected by the approaching train. We had only to walk about and keep ourselves warm the best way we could; it was very trying for the ladies, and, indeed, for all who were more or less invalids. Some foolish people asked for dinner, and all for the train. After exercising two hours’ patience, a long train made its appearance; but instead of proceeding as soon as we were seated, the officials told us that they dare not start without 2,500 packages of raw silk which the camels were bringing up from Suez. About ten o’clock a long string of these patient, wearied beasts made their appearance, and a little[255] after midnight the train was loaded. At one in the morning we started; and while the train was progressing it was amusing to hear these hungry people in their dreams apparently enjoying the most sumptuous banquets. After a journey of one hour the train stopped, and we found large tents containing refreshment, which consisted of one dish, being a description of hash made of camel and vegetables of every variety. Those who could eat this did so, and those who could not, and there were very many, went without.

One hour was allowed for refreshment and then we renewed our journey. In another hour we stopped, the reason for which only a few of the initiated learned. The engineer wanted his supper, and pulled up at his “cabin in the desert.” Here we remained two good hours, while the guard and driver were refreshing themselves on good Irish stew. Some of the passengers induced them to supply their wants, and were very liberal in rewarding them in consequence.

The next morning early we arrived at Cairo, and fortunately we obtained rooms at Shepherd’s[256] Hotel, so justly celebrated for its comfort and economy. Many of the passengers suffered severely from the previous twenty-four hours, myself among the number. However, although threatened with an attack of fever, I managed to get into the train again at 2 P.M., when it started for the Nile; here we crossed in a steamer, where we came in contact with the “Australians,” whom we had overtaken. The mixing of the two descriptions of people was quite amusing. The haughty soldier, the wealthy planter, and the skilful diplomatists, side by side with the successful miner, the wealthy publican, and the colonial adept. The former marked by the lightness and simplicity of their garments, while the latter were bedecked with massive and ostentatious jewellery sufficient to pay their ransom if seized by the sons of the desert. The Australians all had private feuds, and it was with difficulty that at times they could be prevented from renewing them as the accidents of the journey brought them into collision with each other.

At last we arrived at Alexandria, and finding that H.M. Consul-General had received no telegram forbidding my pushing on to England, I felt[257] bound to continue by the most direct route,—and proceeded by way of Malta, Marseilles, and Paris, arriving in London on 17th day of October, when, twenty minutes after I got out of the train, I reported myself at the Foreign Office.

The subsequent history of the “Charles et Georges” is a matter of public notoriety, and so here I end my narrative.

In the foregoing pages of this work, attention has been drawn to the capabilities which East Africa offers, on its coast line, for the production of the finest cotton, by the fact of its whole sea-board being washed by that great ocean-current which subsequently, in its course on the east coast of America, obtains the name of the Gulf Stream. The wonderful effect which the heat contained in this great body of water has on the climate of England, and other more torridly-situated[259] countries, is a fact too well attested to be disputed. For my present purpose it will be simply necessary for me to state that the long and beautiful staple of the sea-island cotton is produced by the warm yet humid atmosphere arising from the Gulf Stream, accompanied by the saline breezes on the islands and coast of America; and similarly that cotton of the sea-island quality may be likewise produced on the east coast of Africa, and the islands of the Ethiopian archipelago, bathed by this great oceanic current. In proof of which, I would point to the cotton now grown on the Seychelles, and also to that produced on the coast line of the British colony of Natal.

Labour along the whole of the east sea-board of Africa has, for more than three hundred years, been found in such abundance that it has been forcibly transported to the great continent of America and the neighbouring Antilles.

So permanent and profitable has this supply of labour been to the western inter-tropical portion of the earth, that the Europeans, Arabs, and Asiatics, located on the east sea-board of Africa, have neglected to develop the resources of the[260] country where nature is so prolific, and have confined their attention to speedily enriching themselves, and retiring to more healthy parts of the globe, to enjoy those riches which they have rapidly amassed by supplying labour for less densely populated portions of the world.

Since 1834, when England so resolutely took her stand at the head of the nations progressing in humanity and civilization, by paying twenty millions sterling for the liberation of her slaves, a gradual but visible change for the better has taken place in the state of the natives of Eastern Africa and the neighbouring archipelago.

In Mauritius slavery has entirely ceased, so also in its dependency of the Seychelles.

Madagascar has had the gospel of Jesus Christ preached on its soil; the germ of civilization has been planted in that extensive island; and the slave-trade is no longer tolerated among the Malagasy people.

In the African dominions of the Imâm of Muskat the slave-trade is forbidden; spice-gardens have arisen, the cocoa-nut is cultivated, and large exports of simsim seed annually take place.

[261]

In the south-eastern portion of the continent the small but rapidly-developing British colony of Natal has been established, forming a nucleus of civilization, which is already beginning to have a visible effect on the amelioration of the state of the natives of that portion of Africa.

The discoveries of Dr. Livingstone have drawn attention to the vast interior of that continent, to which access may be obtained by the Zambesi and other rivers, which are soon destined to become highways of commerce and civilization; while recent events on the east coast of Africa have arrested the attention of civilized communities, and commerce seeks for instruction as to the productions of this portion of the world, in order that with her enterprise and fostering care the nations of that continent may be brought into close connection with the other portions of our globe.

I have already, in the course of these pages, touched upon the productions of Eastern Africa, following the coast as high as the city of Mozambique, and I propose now briefly continuing that account as far as Cape Guardafui, and thence up the Red Sea to Suez.

[262]

The natives from the far interior bring down to Messuril, on the mainland, opposite the city of Mozambique, every year, gold, silver, ivory, wax, skins, and malachite, the latter in considerable quantities—showing that there are mines of copper in the Monomoises’ country.

In 1856 many of these natives who came down to trade were seized by the Portuguese to supply the (so-called) French Free-Labour Emigration, since which occurrence they have not made their appearance at Messuril.

When Mozambique was in the hands of the Arabs, an important trade was carried on between it, Arabia, and India; but for the last two hundred years, under its present rulers, the trade, principally carried on by Banyans to Cutch and Goâ, has been gradually decreasing.

At present it exports ivory, annually two hundred and fifty thousand pounds, bees-wax, sesame seed, orchella, rhinoceros horns, cocoa-nut oil, castor oil, ground-nut oil, coir, arrowroot, sago, coffee, tortoise-shell, indigo of inferior quality (from ignorance in manufacturing it), and a spirit made from the cachu.

[263]

There are large plantations of cocoa-nut trees, which for the last three years have been much neglected; coffee plantations, likewise in the same position; and a coir manufactory has for the same period of time ceased to work: all caused by the new impetus given to the slave-trade, under the denomination of French Free-Labour Emigration, which was established in 1854.

Some few of the residents at Mozambique I induced to clear away and cultivate the cotton shrubs; and, with the intention of encouraging legitimate commerce, I wrote to H.M. Ambassador in the United States, and also to the Chamber of Commerce of Manchester, asking for the three descriptions of cotton seeds—viz., the Nankin, green seed, and sea island—intending to send the two former into the interior, and to plant the “sea-island” on the coast, where the saline breezes from the ocean would favour its growth.

Having discovered the mulberry tree growing close to my house on the mainland, and that it was indigenous to the soil, I wrote to England for eggs of the silkworm, and addressed a letter to His Excellency the Governor of Bombay, praying his[264] lordship to send me some eggs of the Tussah and other moths indicated in my letter.

Similarly I drew the attention of His Excellency the Governor-general of Mozambique to a very important discovery which I had made, and of which the Portuguese were entirely ignorant, viz., that both the gutta-percha tree, and also a tree yielding india-rubber, were to be found in large numbers on the banks of the Zambesi; and after having pointed out to him the commercial value of these trees, I begged him to issue an order forbidding any gutta-percha trees to be cut down—but, instead, pointing out that they should be tapped longitudinally, by which the supply would indeed be less, but permanent; whereas, if cut down for the purpose of extracting the juice, these trees, as at Singapore, would, in the course of a few years, disappear.

The present enlightened Governor-general of Mozambique, Colonel Almeida, responded to my endeavours by drawing attention to my communication in the official bulletin, calling upon all proprietors to preserve and increase the mulberry trees, and by inserting[265] an article on the gutta-percha and india-rubber trees in the Bulletin.

Ibo, in latitude 12° 20′ S. and longitude 40° 38′ E., is admirably situated for trade. At present it is the great warehouse for slaves.

Zanzibar, the capital of the African dominions of the Imâm of Muskat, in latitude 6° 28′ S. and longitude 39° 33′ E., exports gold, ivory, drugs, coir, cocoa-nuts, gums, bees-wax, tortoise-shell, spice, rice from Pemba, sesame-seed from Angoxa, and a great quantity of timber annually to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.

In 1818 cloves were introduced into Zanzibar from Mauritius; they thrive so well that the cultivation of them has in a great measure superseded that of the sugar-cane, and even the cocoa-nut.

The imports are—Surat and Dunjaree cloths from Cutch; iron, sugar, and rice from Bombay; salt fish and ghee from Socotra; cloths, cotton, china-ware, earthen jars, toys, and ornaments from Surat; dates from the Gulf of Persia; ivory, drugs, bees-wax, tortoise-shell, gums, and sesame-seed, from Angoxa and other parts of the[266] coast. These imports may be valued at 500,000l. per annum.

Mombas and Melinda are both well adapted for trade, which at one time was of considerable importance between these places and India and Arabia; but Melinda, in less than a century after it had been conquered by the Portuguese, ceased to be a place of any importance.

Lamu, in latitude 2° 15′ 45″ S., and longitude 41° 1′ 5″ E., is a place of considerable trade, more especially in hides and the general exports from Zanzibar. Brava, in latitude 1° 6′ 40″ N. and longitude 44° 3′ E., carries on a considerable trade with India and Arabia, and a rapidly-increasing one with America.

The exports are—hides, bullocks, horses, and camels, oil from the joints of camels, salt beef, great varieties of the skins of wild animals, taken by Gallas who go from Zanzibar to Cape Guardafui. Small horses, purchased here from five to six dollars each, will realize from sixty to seventy dollars at the Mauritius.

The Sumalis inhabit the sea coast north from the equator, round Cape Guardafui to Zeyla;[267] the whole of this vast extent of country is but little known to us.

The kingdom of Kimweri, or Usambara, more generally known as the Pangany district, is rich in produce, which may be increased to supply any demand. The sugar-cane is very luxuriant in its growth, and forests of magnificent timber await the woodman’s axe, with the Pangany and its tributaries to carry it to the ocean.

Dr. Krapf, in describing one of these forests, writes, “This forest is worth millions of money for its fine, long, and straight timber, being as useful for ship-building as for carpentering;” and again, “We descended into a large forest of timber, sufficient for centuries to come. The trees are big and straight, from 70 to 100 feet in height.”

The recent discoveries of Captains Burton and Speke, in the country immediately to the south of this, throw a new light on a region hitherto wrapped in the deepest mystery, and give access into the far interior, even to the Victoria Tanganyka lake, and perhaps to the sources of the Nile.

[268]

To the northward of Malinda the river Dana, under the name of Osi, reaches the Indian Ocean. It is stated to flow from the eastern side of Mount Kenia; that it is navigable for boats, from the India Ocean to the Ukambani country; that there are no rocks in the way of navigation, and that even during the dry season the water reaches as high as a man’s neck, while during the rains it cannot be forded. Its ordinary breadth is two hundred yards, and it is the privilege of the people of Mbé to carry strangers proceeding to Kikuyu, or other countries, from one bank to another.

A small steamer placed on this river would soon open the country to European commerce; and from the source of the Dana to that of the White Nile can be no great distance.

By the Dana, or Kilimansi, is assuredly the most direct route for settling the great geographical question of the sources of the Nile.

About 200 miles from Cape Guardafui lies the island of Socotra, the principal commercial products of which are derived from the wild plants, and are aloes and dragon’s-blood. The aloe[269] plant (Aloe spicata or Socotrina) in the western districts covers the hills for many miles, at an elevation of from 500 to 2000 feet above the plains. This aloe is also to be found along the whole east coast of Africa, even as far south as the Cape of Good Hope. The dragon’s-blood tree also grows on the western portion of Socotra, at an elevation of from 800 to 2000 feet; and, as well as the aloe, is in such abundance that at least ten times the quantity of these drugs which at present is exported from the island might be easily procured.

Berbera has been for centuries the outlet for north-eastern Africa, and especially Harrar. In former times it was one of the numerous emporia of the Arabs at the entrance of the Red Sea, and its harbour is by no means ill-adapted for steam communication.

Zeyla, or Zeïla, if properly encouraged by the British Government, would be a very good outport, as the descent to that place from the interior is easier than to Massoa, and it is the best outlet of ancient Ethiopia. It is situated opposite Aden, where steam communication would place its productions at once in European markets.

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A great trade may be carried on at Zeyla in all the produce of Abyssinia; viz., gold, ivory, coffee, gums, musk, ostrich-feathers, neats’-foot oil from the wild animals (quantities of it are sent to America), tallow, hides, horns, hoofs, &c. Fairs are held at Zeyla in April and October, at which mules are sold very cheap, and, if purchased here for Réunion and Mauritius, they would have the advantage of avoiding the Red Sea passage.

Mocha and Jedda, in Arabia, are already too well known to require any notice but that of their names.

Massoa, the national outport of Abyssinia, in consequence of the descent from the interior being so easy, exports ivory, musk, wax, coffee, senna, linseed, ostrich-feathers, &c., and carries on a large trade with Jedda. The imports are of the value of about four hundred thousand dollars per annum.

Suez has already become a place of vast importance, foreshadowing the future greatness which awaits it, when the Egyptian transit shall be completed, and leviathan ships like the “Great[271] Eastern,” on a trunk line to India and China, will make that port their western terminus, and Suez and Alexandria become the emporia of the East and West.

Having thus briefly stated what articles of commerce Eastern Africa can produce, I feel that it would be a very imperfect notice of this portion of the earth’s productions, were I to omit the valuable islands on the coast.

In the Mozambique Channel, Europa Island stands conspicuous, from its central position in the southern end of this channel. At present it is used as a place of resort for dhows from the whole of the eastern coast of Africa, to land their cargoes of slaves, here awaiting some large European vessel to carry them to their future place of bondage.

This island is well situated for a lighthouse and a depôt, which would command the trade of the Mozambique Channel both on the African and the Madagascar coasts.

On the north side there is a good anchorage, plenty of water and fuel, fish in abundance, turtle, and also land-turtle; and the island has also[272] orchella weed on it. From its insular position there is an entire absence of miasmata.

Reference has already been made to the Comoro Islands, Seychelles, and Madagascar, called the Great Britain of Africa.

Having thus briefly pointed out the resources of Eastern Africa, let us consider the best means for the development of them.

At present the mail, by way of the Atlantic Ocean, reaches the Cape of Good Hope in thirty-five days, and Natal in forty days.

When at Mozambique in 1857, I wrote to Sir Roderick Murchison, the President of the Royal Geographical Society, proposing that the mail should be carried to those two British colonies by way of Aden, touching, on the way down the east coast of Africa, at Zanzibar and Mozambique. By this route a letter would reach Natal in twenty-five days, and the Cape of Good Hope in thirty days. A line of light would be thrown along the whole east coast of Africa, now darkened by the mist of ages, and polluted by the traffic in human beings; an inter-colonial trade would be established between the British colonies[273] in South Africa, the Portuguese settlements, and the rich Sumali possessions of the Imâm of Muskat, and the slave-trade would be entirely superseded by legitimate commerce. In the presidential address of Sir Roderick Murchison, delivered before the Royal Geographical Society this year, mention is made of this route, and I am in hopes that it may soon be adopted for the carriage of the mail; more especially as the electric telegraph is now working at Aden, from which place a steamer might convey a message to Cape Town in fourteen days.[8]

This route once established, the merchants of the Cape and Natal could visit Mozambique and Zanzibar, and establish houses at those places, where they would have a good climate during seven months of the year, which is the healthy as well as the trading season, viz., from the end of April to the month of November. By the establishment of this route there is nothing in the climate to prevent merchants from Europe annually[274] visiting their establishments, and personally supervising the prosperity of their factories for trade.

In the accompanying chart of Eastern Africa I have laid down a series of electric cables, as proposed by me for connecting Great Britain with the South and East African British colonies by way of Aden. This is by no means in advance of the requirements of the times; for, at this moment, we are completing the telegraphic communication with London and Bombay; and the enterprising colonists of Natal have, for more than two years, resolved upon connecting themselves, by means of a cable, with the neighbouring wealthy colony of Mauritius. Telegraphic communication is fully contemplated between Graham’s Town and Petermaritzburg, the capital of Natal, and there is nothing in the intervening space between Mauritius and Aden, by way of the Seychelles and Abd-el-Kuri, or Cape Guardafui, either as to distance or depth of water, to render this proposed electric route to the Cape Colony either impracticable, doubtful, or hazardous.

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The advantages, both politically and commercially, which such a communication will afford to the mother country, by uniting it with its rich African colonies, through our own possessions of Aden, Seychelles, and Mauritius, are too apparent to be dwelt upon, and of too vital importance to British interests in the Indian Ocean to be neglected.

Along the whole of the east coast of Africa, and the island of Madagascar, we are outstripped by the Americans, Germans, and French.

Almost the whole of the ivory-trade is now in the hands of the Americans.

Large quantities of beef are salted down on the west coast of Madagascar, and taken to America; hides, horns, hoofs, and tallow find a ready market there, while the French take the oils and oil-seeds. One Hamburg house sends annually fourteen vessels to Zanzibar, ordered to call at Mozambique since a British consul is established there, for cargoes of cowries, with which they proceed to the rivers on the west coast of Africa, and purchase cargoes of palm-oil.

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Few British vessels are seen in these parts—as, in the first place, the trade is unknown in England, and, secondly, British merchants consider that, at present, there is a degree of risk and uncertainty attending any ventures in a portion of the world where our commerce is wholly unprotected, and where, hitherto, vessels have been seized, and redress has been sought but not obtained.

In the proper quarter I have already suggested that, for the development of the resources of Eastern Africa, and the opening up of a highly remunerative trade for Great Britain, a consular officer should be appointed from Natal to Suez, including Madagascar and the other islands on that coast; that he should be furnished with a small steamer, which would be entirely for the consular service—by which means the whole coast could be constantly visited, our trade encouraged, new markets for our manufactures made known, and our acquaintance with Eastern Africa become more intimate in a few years than it would be in a century by any other mode of procedure.

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At first sight the expense attending a vessel for that service may apparently cause an objection; but when we reflect upon the great results to which such an appointment must lead, and its obviating the necessity of a cordon of consular agents on such a coast, with the accompanying expenses and sacrifice of valuable lives, I feel assured that the country will cheerfully respond to the call which it is hoped the merchants of Great Britain will make upon the legislature.

The young Prince Madji, who has inherited the rich Sumali possessions of the late Imâm of Muskat, has declared his intentions resolutely to follow in the steps of his great father, by discouraging and eventually abolishing the traffic in our fellow-beings.

The facts stated in the foregoing pages of this work having been brought under the notice of Napoleon III., by the circumstances attending the seizure of the celebrated “Charles et Georges,” the Emperor addressed the following loyal letter to his cousin:—

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In the above letter the Emperor Napoleon emphatically states, “If, in truth, labourers recruited on the African coast are not allowed the use of their free will, and if this enrolment is only the slave-trade in disguise, I will have it on no terms; for it is not I who will anywhere protect enterprises contrary to progress, to humanity, and to civilization.” Admitting, on the one hand,[280] that he may have been deceived by those who had induced him to believe that free labour might be obtained on the east coast of Africa without re-establishing the slave-trade, on the other hand, he approved of that policy adopted by Great Britain in Eastern Africa, which had for its result the thus forcibly bringing before the world the horrors which were being renewed by this so-called Free Labour Emigration.

No higher approval of the conduct of the British functionary who had pursued the path of duty, undaunted by continued persecution, could have been afforded to the world; while the subsequent decree, ordering this traffic to cease on the east coast of Africa, proved the loyalty of Napoleon, and prepared Europe to hail in him the liberator of Central Italy.

The two greatest powers of Europe have resolved that Africa shall have the opportunity of developing her own material resources; and it now only remains for Portugal to prove that her professions for the abolition of the slave-trade are as sincere and as loyal as the great head of the French nation has shown his to be.

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Our beloved Queen succeeded to the throne on the 20th of June, 1837, and was crowned sovereign of these realms at Westminster, June 28, 1838. Great Britain had previously to that, in 1834, voted twenty millions sterling for the liberation of the slaves throughout our colonies; but still a large number of our fellow-beings groaned in slavery under the apprenticeship system. On the 1st of August, 1838, the first returning anniversary, after the Queen’s coronation, of that auspicious day when the house of Brunswick ascended the throne of these realms, the world beheld the sublime spectacle of the Virgin Queen of Great Britain pronouncing on earth the will of heaven, that—Slavery in every form should cease where Britain ruled; and Queen Victoria, on that day, made eight hundred thousand slaves eight hundred thousand loyal subjects—thus inseparably uniting the House of Brunswick with the imperishable monument of England’s greatest deed.

In distant ages, when the glories of the “Isles of the West” are told, the memory of Boadicea, the Queen of the British Iceni, who boldly met the[282] invading Roman legions, may be forgotten; so, likewise, that of Queen Elizabeth and the Spanish Armada may fade from the memory of man; but while the world lasts, and humanity has a heart for other’s woes, the tale of Victoria and the slave shall not pass away, while generations yet unborn will exclaim: “Blessed art thou among women.”

With such an inspiring example before him, is it possible that the young King of Portugal can pause in the course which duty, interest, and humanity alike dictate? No! Dom Pedro the Fifth will now see slavery as it exists in his African dominions; his decree will go forth that slavery shall cease wherever the Portuguese flag flies; he will thus ally the House of Braganza with that of Brunswick by ties more indissoluble than those of blood—namely, the memory of good deeds. The curse of slavery shall pass away from his land; Portugal will again resume her position among the first powers of civilization, and admiring posterity will point to Dom Pedro the Fifth as the regenerator of Portugal and the saviour of Africa.

A.

The reader’s attention is called to the following note from “Buxton on the Slave-trade,” London, 1839, in connection with the accompanying notice of trees, shrubs, and plants to be found on the Zambesi:—

“Many beautiful kinds of wood have been discovered by accident amongst the billets of fire-wood brought home in the slave-ships of Liverpool. Mr. Clarkson gives the following anecdote in his ‘Impolicy of the Slave-Trade.’ After mentioning the tulip-wood, and others found in this manner, he says:—‘About the same time in which this log was discovered (A.D. 1787), another wood[284] vessel, belonging to the same port, brought home the specimen of the bark of a tree that produced a very valuable yellow dye, and far beyond any other ever in use in this country. The virtues of it were discovered in the following manner:—A gentleman resident upon the coast ordered some wood to be cut down to erect a hut. While the people were felling it he was standing by; during the operation some juice flew from the bark of it, and stained one of the ruffles of his shirt. He thought that the stain would have washed out, but, on wearing it again, found that the yellow spot was much more bright and beautiful than before, and that it gained in lustre every subsequent time of washing. Pleased with the discovery, which he knew to be of so much importance to the manufacturers of Great Britain, and for which a considerable premium had been offered, he sent home the bark now mentioned as a specimen. He is since, unfortunately, dead, and little hopes are to be entertained of falling in with this tree again, unless a similar accident should discover it, or a change should take place in our commercial concerns with Africa.

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“I shall now mention another valuable wood, which, like all those that have been pointed out, was discovered by accident in the same year. Another wood vessel, belonging to the same port, was discharging her cargo; among the barwood a small billet was discovered, the colour of which was so superior to that of the rest, as to lead the observer to suspect that it was of a very different species, though it is clear that the natives, by cutting it off the same size and dimensions, and by bringing it on board at the same time, had, on account of its red colour, mistaken it for the other. One half of the billet was cut away in experiments. It was found to produce a colour that emulated the carmine, and was deemed to be so valuable in the dyeing trade, that an offer was immediately made of sixty guineas per ton for any quantity that could be procured. The other half has been since sent back to the coast, as a guide to collect more of the same sort, though it is a matter of doubt whether, under the circumstances that have been related, the same tree can be ascertained again.” P. 9.

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A Description of the various Trees, Bushes, Herbs, and Plants of a Medicinal character to be found about the town of Tete; with an account of the application which the natives of the country make of them, for the mechanical uses of life, and in the treatment of the diseases to which they are subject:—

The town of Tete is situated sixty leagues N.W. of the town of Seña, which is also sixty leagues from the town of Killimane, built on the northern mouth of the river Zambesi, which discharges itself into the Indian Ocean on the east coast of Africa.[9]

Trees.

Muxetéco, or root of St. Augustine, as it is called at Mozambique.—The flower of this tree, which blooms in the months of November and December, is small, of a yellow colour, and sweet scented. It produces pods of the colour of cinnamon, more than two and a half spans in length; the beans inside are of the size of the tamarind stone. These pods, after being dried, are used[287] for torches by the natives when entering caves in search of the porcupine. An infusion of the bark of the tree is applied in cases of indigestion, toothaches, colics, vomits, and also as a healing wash for wounds. It is used to promote menstruation.

Mucorongo.—This tree is called jambalaõ in Inhambane. The flower is white, round, and like that of the mangoe-tree, or elder-tree. From the fruit both wine and vinegar are made. Its fruit, which is eaten, is like that of the olive of Elvas, in Portugal; and, when ripe, it is the colour of red wine. The juice of the fruit is also of the same colour. A decoction of the root used in a hip bath is a remedy for hemorrhoids, and checks purgations (anti-cathartic?) Cut up into small pieces and strung on a thread, like beads, it is worn round the neck, as a remedy for ophthalmia.

Mutarára.—This tree is found principally in the sand-hills of Muxem. The flower is very small, and of the same colour as the leaves. The fruit is of the size of the Agriote (sour cherry), and of a yellow colour, when ripe and fit to be eaten; the skin is very coarse, the seed round, and the[288] colour of red-wine. A decoction of the root is used for rinsing the mouth, as a cure for toothache. The stems being straight and elastic, the negroes use them in making those bows which they call Uta.

Mupanda-panda.—A decoction of the root of this tree, made into pulp, is applied in the shape of a poultice, as a remedy for chest diseases.

Chirussa.—The flower is yellow, and similar to that of casula cheirosa. The fruit is like the apple-seed. By rubbing the body with the dried leaves heated, a copious perspiration is produced, which arrests fever. A decoction of the bark pounded is used in a hip-bath, as a remedy for tenesmus.

Mutacha.—The flower is small, and of the colour of the dried rose. The fruit is very sweet, and of the size of the small olive; when ripe it assumes a yellow colour, and it is then fit to be eaten. When dry the bark is reduced to flour, and mixed with the flour of Indian corn; it is then used as a poultice. A decoction of the bark is used for rinsing the mouth, as a cure for toothache. A decoction of the bark, when drank, is a remedy for hemorrhage of the smaller veins. A[289] decoction of the bark and the root is used as a cure for hernia.

Tussi, called by the natives of India “Curo.”—The fruit of this tree is in the form of very long pods, within which there is a species of cotton or down. The natives of the country and Banyans attribute to it the same effects and virtues as cinchona, and therefore give a decoction of the bark to those who have fever, which is also used as a healing wash for wounds.

Mupumpua.—The root of this tree is applied as a cure for bubos and gonorrhœa, by drinking the water in which it has been steeped.

Goóo.—The flower is small and yellow. The fruit is the size of a small grain, and in clusters. The negroes use this fruit in proving cases of feiticeros (witchcraft), for which purpose they pound the peel, mix it with cold water, then strain it; and after it has assumed a darkish shade they add a portion of boiling water, making it just drinkable. Two, three, and even five gamellas (bowls) full are given to drink to the person under trial. Should it act as a purgative the accused is pronounced guilty, and punished as a feitecera.[290] On the other hand, if it acts as an emetic, the accused is acquitted. This judicial proof is called by the negroes Muavi or Lucasse.

Mutóa.—This tree is the height of an orange-tree. The leaves are long. The bark resembles that of the cork-tree in colour and thickness. A species of milk is extracted from the trunk and branches by making an incision. The wood is very oily, and the Cazembé and the Regulos Maraves use it cut up into lengths like candles, which they use as lights.

Nhamucu-ucúu.—The bark of this tree, reduced to powder and used in the way of snuff, is an efficacious remedy for giddiness; and the same effect is caused by a decoction of the leaves, when applied to the head as a sudorific.

Musequesse.—The leaf of this tree resembles that of the vine. The full-grown leaves are applied to heal wounds; and an infusion of the young leaves is used in chest complaints. The bark is thick, and very much cracked; it resembles that of the Goóo, and an infusion of it is drunk as an antidote for the Goóo prepared for the Muravi or Lucasse.

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Mudáma.—The flower is of a white colour; leaves rough, large, and stiff. The juice of the leaves mixed with cold water, when drunk, is an efficacious remedy for the diarrhœa, with which Europeans are attacked in that country.

Mupubuzo.—The branches and the trunk of this tree are covered with large and thick prickles. The negroes use the root to give the vermilion colour to threads, cords and straw, with which they braid their hair.

Muziquezi.—It is called in Inhambane Mafurreira, and the fruit of it is called Mafurra. This tree is very lofty, shady, and fragile. The flower is small, white, and similar to that of the elder-tree. The leaves are long and narrow. The fruit is in clusters, and of the size of a small fig; it has a strong rind, covered with down; when ripe it splits of itself, and lets out a seed of a black colour, with vermilion eyes, from which oil and tallow are extracted. The bark, when bruised in either hot or cold water, assumes the colour of milk, with which the natives season their food and make poultices. The tallow is used for curing erysipelas, by anointing with it the inflamed part.

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Mucuiu.—Is that which in sacred history is called the sycamore tree. The tree itself, and its mode of fructification, resemble the fig-tree, with this difference—that the fruit is smaller, and indigestible. The water in which its root has been steeped, when drunk, cures colics and palpitation of the heart. The powder of the root, dried in the sun, mixed with any liquid, produces the same effects.

Canunca-utare.—Its roots are orange colour, and have the property of driving away snakes by the pungency of the smell, for which purpose they are used.

Mucuniti.—The flower is like that of the lemon-tree, with the difference of being long. The fruit is round and small. The wood is of a purple colour, and is most excellent for cabinet work. It is very sweet-scented, and the roots more so.

Fundi.—This is a species of palm-tree. The leaves are long and narrow like grass, with lines running the length of them. The leaves are used for making brooms and brushes. In Zumbo the Caffres use the leaves to stop the leaks in their vessels.

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Mussonzóa.—The fruit of this tree is like the gall-nut, with this difference, that it has no prickles upon it. It produces the same effects. The Caffre women use it for dyeing cloth a black colour, in the following manner:—The fruit is well pounded, and gradually mixed up with a kind of black earth, known to them, which has in it particles of copper. It makes a very black fixed dye. Poultices made of the roots are applied in cases of hernia, which it cures very quickly.

Mussio.—The nature of this tree is very much like that of the acacia in leaf, spines, and flower, with the difference of not being scented. It produces a species of bean called quissio, which the natives use in the same way as the fruit of the Mussonzóa. As these beans are very astringent, wounds are washed with the water in which they have been steeped.

Mutengueni, called by the natives of India “Nino.”—This bush, which flourishes in the months of November and December, has a small white long flower, which, when it opens, presents the fruit called Tengueni, which is the size of an almond. When ripe and fit to be open, it is of a[294] vermilion colour; it is very acid, and the oil which is extracted from it is used for softening skins, and also for reducing tumors. The leaves reduced to powder, and mixed with the juice of the lemon, are a cure for troublesome ulcers; and the juice of the leaves when taken as a drink destroys intestinal worms.

Cangóme.—The flower and fruit of this bush are like that of the Mocha coffee. The fruit serves as food for the negroes in time of famine, by boiling it, when green, three or four times, and mixing with it, in the last boiling, some ashes to remove the bitter taste. The powder of the root, when dried, or of the bark when fresh, is used to cure contusions, by laying it over the part affected. An infusion of the bark is used for the cure of sores of long standing, for which a powder of the root is also used.

Canémbe-Numbe.—The flower is yellow, and resembles much that of the Muxetero. It has no aroma. The fruit is in pods of half a palm in length, which are eaten when tender. An infusion of the root is a strong diuretic.

Catungúro.—The flower is a bright yellow, and[295] resembles tassels of fringe. The fruit, when ripe, is the colour and size of the lemon. The root is of the consistency of the common potatoe; when cut into pieces, dried in the sun, and reduced to powder, it is applied to the cure of bubos. Bubos are also cured by washing them with an infusion of the root when it is fresh. The leaves pounded are used in the cure of wounds caused by blows; and the boiled leaves applied to the head, as a sudorific, are a cure for mistiness and cataracts of the eyes. Also, the root when fresh, pounded, and thrown into a lake, destroys all the fish in it.

Tindinhava Sensitiva.—The flower forms first a small bud like the pine-apple, of the size of a small seed, which gradually opens, and forms a suspiro of a brown colour, having the tops of the stamens of a pale green colour. The fruit is in pods, flat, of two inches in length, or a little less, snuff-coloured, and covered with down. It is found near brooks, and on banks of rivers. On touching the leaves, they contract as far as the tremour of the touch extends. The root is very soft, and when tied over an inflamed part of the body it removes the swelling. Baths of the[296] bark pounded and boiled are used for erysipelas.

Mutava-Nherere.—The name of Nhere which this bears implies that it is persecuted by ants. The flower is yellow, similar to that of the ganalinho. The fruit is the size of the mad-apple. They grow in clusters. The leaves pounded are applied in cases of pleurisy, when they act as a blister. A decoction of the roots is applied in hip-baths as a remedy for diarrhœa.

Mutavan-sato.—The flower is similar to that of the apple-tree. The fruit is small, and always surrounded by leaves. The juice of the leaves, mixed with water and taken daily, cures diseases of the spleen. An infusion of the root is used to rinse the mouth, as a cure for toothache.

Buaze.—The flowers of this bush are small, and of the form of guergelin. These flowers swell like the pepper of India. The leaves are small. The seed is properly linseed, both in size, colour, and form. The negroes make use of the thread which it gives to form their fishing, hunting, and bird-nets. In short, it has a perfect resemblance to the flax which is manufactured in Europe.

Mudia-coro.—Mudia signifies “that which eats;”[297] coro, “macaca,” monkey. The leaves are white on the under side, as if they had been sprinkled with lime or ashes. The root is used by the negroes, either by chewing it, infusing it, or by drying it in the sun, and reducing it to powder, when it is mixed with their pombe. It has the same effect as cantharides, and is taken internally for the same purpose.

Titifiti.—This bush is to be found in marshy places, upon the banks of rivers and rivulets. The leaf resembles that of the carmagasuro, and it is very aromatic. Of it, and of other herbs and plants, a decoction is made and applied in hip-baths to those who suffer from tenesmus. A decoction of the leaf is used as a sudorific, and produces a very copious perspiration. The root cut in small pieces, and worn about the neck like beads, is a remedy for nervous attacks. And for greater efficacy in this respect the bedroom ought to be fumigated with the root and leaves of this bush.

Capande.—The flower is small, and inclining to purple in colour. The seed is of the size of the agriote, and similar to the fruit of the matarara.[298] The Caffres use this bush as a muavi (an oath of judicial proof among them), prepared in the same manner as the goóo, which also is muavi among them, as already stated. An infusion of the root is applied to the fever itáca—causing a copious perspiration—having a very beneficial effect. The powder of the root, dried in the sun, is used as snuff, giving great relief in severe colds.

Enteca.—This is the same as capande in its characteristics and its effects.

Carangasúro.—This herb has a yellow flower similar to camomile. A decoction of it is as a sudorific in a hip-bath to those who suffer from tenesmus. Mixing it with the herb cacici, or escorcioneira, and with the roots of the bush capande, and applying the mixture as a sudorific, fever is alleviated.

Cacici camuzuqua, or escorcioneira.—There are two qualities of this herb—one large, the other small. The flower is yellow, and very minute in proportion to the size of the leaves. It resembles the saffron of Portugal. The fruit is of the size of a small bead. A decoction of the leaves is applied as a sudorific to the head in cases of headache.[299] The bark of the root, boiled along with the root of wild endive, and drunk, arrests fevers in their progress towards the malignant stage. A simple decoction of the root is applied to tertian fevers; and, when mixed with that of the root of the mucoronga, is applied in cases of complicated gonorrhœa.

Cacici camuzuqua pequena, or escorcioneira menor.—By anointing the body with a decoction of the root of this herb, mixed with the filings of ivory, orange peel, and leaves of the orange-tree, pounded, fever is destroyed.

Avenca.—A plant well-known among the negroes, but it does not seem to be made any use of by them.

Munhaze.—The leaves are oily and sticky. The negroes use the root in the composition of the oil of Friar Pedro, which has the property of drawing the poison out of a wound made by a poisoned arrow.

Uombue.—This herb has broad leaves like a gourd, but at the same time long and very hairy. It produces a potatoe very large, which, when pounded and thrown in water where fish are, destroys[300] them. A poultice of the root pounded, applied to pleurisies, destroys the pain.

Casuzumire.—It is a very small herb like mint. A decoction of it used in baths is a remedy for hemorrhoids and diarrhœa.

Cacumate.—This herb has the appearance of the claws of the sparrow-hawk when dead. A decoction is applied to intermittent fevers, and fevers produced by fatigue. The negroes place it in vessels in which their young animals drink, through a superstition which they have, that the leaves being shrunk and similar to the claws of the sparrow-hawk, their young birds or poultry which drink this water will never be taken by the kite, sparrow-hawk, or any other bird of prey.

Mudossua; figueiro do inferno (the fig-tree of Hell, Palma Christi.)—The flower of this plant is large, white, and funnel-shaped. The fruit like the poppy of Amphiaõ, with the difference of having spines or prickles like the pipons of St. Gregory (wild cucumber). It is always in leaf, and the leaves are applied entire as plasters in the cure of scalds. They have the property of eating away corrupt flesh. From the kernel of the[301] poppy an oil is extracted, which, mixed with any liquid, produces sleep. In short, it produces the same effect as laudanum.

Bange, é o canamo de Portugal (the hemp of Portugal).—The negroes, at the time this plant begins to wither, collect it, stalk by stalk, and make it into bundles. They smoke it through water, and then drink the water through which the smoke has passed, which immediately acts as an emetic. The natives of the interior cultivate it in their villages; and there are some, as the Morenges, who smoke it with a mixture of tobacco, long pepper, and galinhaça, which makes them very nervous. The smoke of the leaves and seed received into the eyes cures belida, or web, that grows over the eye.[10]

Conge.—This plant is what in Brazil is called Pita. The negroes of Muzezuro, a part of the interior where gold is found, work it into thread to make clothes for covering themselves, and the[302] Zimbas, a people of Zimbave, as also the Caffres, make nets of it for hunting and fishing.

Inhafoncori.—This plant grows in stems, or stalks, straight and scaly. The leaves are very small, and resemble those of purslane; although dry, when made into an infusion they recover their green colour. An infusion of it is employed for pectoral diseases.

Carúco-ruco. The flower is small, and of a light yellow colour. The fruit is always in pairs, and similar to the fruit of the panheira. After it is ripe it opens and gives out a yellow down, which is a species of cotton. The two parts of the shell of the fruit remain like two spoons, hence the name “carúco-ruco,” which signifies “small spoons.” The root when dried in the sun is made into a powder, and is used as a remedy for venereal sores, by sprinkling it over them. A decoction of the root is used for rinsing the mouth as a cure for toothache.

Combe.—This climbing plant has a long fruit, more than a span in length; it has a strong shell like an almond. The fruit grows in pairs, and the interior of the fruit contains small beans; and in[303] the spaces between the beans there is a kind of small hair, which, combined with the said beans and reduced to powder, is mixed with the gall of the alligator and that of the cobra capella; this mixture is employed to poison arrows and lances. This poison is so powerful that when any animal is wounded with an arrow or lance prepared with this poison, it dies in less than half an hour, through the subtilty of the poison, which immediately passes through every part of the body, leaving the injured part quite black.

Mupessa.—A wild fig-tree, the fruit of which is somewhat acid, and of a purple colour. A decoction of the root is applied to the cure of pleurisy, by drinking it; also by placing on the part affected the root boiled and softened in vinegar. The same decoction is also employed to reduce apostumes; swellings caused by falls; to expel after-births; to remove the pains of colics; and also for gonorrhœa.

Mutubzi.—The flower is round, and of a yellow colour. The fruit is flat, and one bean only. A decoction of the flower is applied in cases of tenesmus, flux, &c. It is also used as a sort of[304] gruel for sick people. This plant has an insufferable smell.

Abutua.—The root of this creeping plant, made into pombe, is given as a drink to those who have received injuries from severe falls. The same pombe heated is applied as a plaster over the inflamed part.

B.
TIMBER TO BE FOUND IN EASTERN AFRICA, MADAGASCAR, AND THE SEYCHELLES.

List of specimens of Woods from the River Zambesi, to be seen at the rooms of the Royal Geographical Society, 15, Whitehall-place:—

1. Inhampásse.—Planks six feet long, eight inches broad, and three inches thick, may be procured.

2. Pingué—ou Páo preto (beautiful wood)—Six feet in length, and six inches square.

3. Mocua.—About fourteen feet in length, eight to ten inches square; and, from its being forked, is peculiarly adapted for knees and futtocks in ship-building.

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4. Imbila.—From fifteen to eighteen feet long, twelve inches square; a very flexible wood for ship-building purposes.

5. Muramanhâma.—About eighteen feet in length, twelve inches square, and bright red in colour.

6. Mocunca.—Fifteen to eighteen feet in length, eight to ten inches square; grows crooked, and well adapted for the tiers of wheels.

7. Mocôzo.—From thirty-five to forty-five feet in length, three to four feet square; this wood is of a canary colour, which dyes cotton, silk, and wool that colour, without any other preparation than by simply pouring boiling water on it.

8. Mucunite—Or sandal wood; planks six to eight feet in length, and eight inches broad, but the greater part of it is not straight.

9. Pumburo.—This is a sort of shrub, which does not exceed the thickness of one’s arm, including the white part which surrounds the heart, from which a colouring matter, gold colour, is extracted; and from the white part a canary colour, by simply infusing in water, is given to silk, cotton, and wool.

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10. Peám.—Eighteen feet long, sixteen inches square.

11. Mussangara.—Twelve feet long, not very straight, ten inches square.

12. Taxa.—Twenty feet in length, twenty inches square.

13. Mocundo-cundo.—Thirty-six feet in length, three to four feet square; well adapted for vessels’ masts; the bark of this tree supplies quinine, and from the wood also quinine may be extracted.

14. Mucorongo.—Eighteen feet long, twelve inches square.

15. Raiz de Pingué on Páo-preto.—This is the root of the Páo-preto or Pingué (beautiful wood) (No. 2), which is adapted for cabinet-work.

16. Monangare.—Fifteen feet long, fifteen inches square, not very straight, but adapted for block-making and wheelwrights.

17. Mocossocossa.—Eighteen feet long, twenty inches square; adapted for joiner’s work, and takes a high polish.

18. Páo-ferro.—Iron-wood, twenty-four feet[307] long, eight inches square; well adapted for furniture, takes a high polish, and is suitable for tree-nails in ship-building, and wherever it can be substituted for iron.

19. Páo-ferro Mais escuro.—Iron-wood, of a darker quality; dimensions as No. 18.

20. Panguira.—Thirty feet in length, straight, twenty inches square; well adapted for ship-building and beams of houses.

21.—Páo-fava.—Twenty-two feet in length, straight, twelve inches square at least.

22. Meterral.—Twenty-four feet in length, straight, twelve inches square.

23. Mugunda.—Forty to sixty feet long, straight, from three to six feet square; well adapted for ship-building.

24. Morrondo.—Fifteen feet long, two feet square; adapted for ship-building.

25. Moáno.—Fifteen feet long, twelve inches square; generally straight.

26. Luabo.—Twelve feet long, and ten inches square.

In addition to the above specimens of wood brought home by me, Dr. Livingstone has found[308] teak, or African oak, as well as lignum-vitæ, on his way up to Tete.

List of Woods to be found on the Island of Madagascar.

Red Tacamaca, ninety feet long; Colofan, of great length. Red Tacamaca and Colofan are impervious to the Teredo Navalis, and they may both be easily obtained, and in any quantity, on the north-east end of Madagascar.

The Bois de natte.

The Faux gaiac.

Sandal-wood and ebony—also a very valuable wood; iron and steel instruments inserted in which will not corrode.

On the west side of Madagascar, from Bombatok to the north, opposite Nossi-Bé, rosewood and ebony abound.

Notes on the Woods of the Seychelles.

Specimens of which are to be seen at the rooms of the Royal Geographical Society, 15, Whitehall-place.

Tacamaca red; tacamaca white.

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The bois de natte, both descriptions—the large and the small leaf.

Olive-wood.

The faux gaiac, which is as strong and durable as iron.

Sandal-wood; bonnet carré; l’arbre à pommes de suisse; ebony; rosewood; the filao; le badinier; le ledanier; le var; le rima; the white acajou; l’ontelier; le capucin; l’arequier; l’arbre fougère; and the vacoa.

Many of these trees are of great grandeur, and of immense size.

With tacamaca canoes are made in one piece, twenty-four, thirty, and thirty-six feet in length, and five to six feet beam.

Many vessels have been built at these islands; see the report on the “Thomas Blyth.”

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C.
ON THE POSITION OF OPHIR.

1. That Ophir was in India.

On behalf of the conjecture that places Ophir in India, the following arguments are alleged:—

That it is most natural to understand, from the Sacred narrative, that all the articles enumerated as forming the cargoes of the ships belonging to Solomon which visited Ophir were procurable in the country where Ophir was situated; and that all those articles were alone to be found in India.

The Septuagint translators appear to have held this opinion from rendering ‎‏אוֺפִיר‏‎ (Ophir) Σωφιρ, Σουφιρ, Σωφιρά, which is the Egyptian name for India.

Josephus also states: “Moreover, the king built many ships in the Egyptian bay of the Red[322] Sea, in a certain place called Ezion-geber; it is now called Berenice, and is not far from the city Eloth. This country belonged formerly to the Jews, and became useful for shipping from the donations of Hiram, king of Tyre; for he sent a sufficient number of men thither for pilots, and such as were skilful in navigation, to whom Solomon gave this command:—That they should go along with his own stewards to the land that was of old called Ophir, but now the Chersonesus Aurea, which belongs to India, to fetch gold. And when they had gathered four hundred talents together they returned to the king again.”—Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, book viii. c. 6, 4.

And again:—“About the same time there were brought to the king from the Chersonesus Aurea, a country so called, precious stones and pine-trees, and these trees he made use of for supporting the temple and the palace, as also for the materials of musical instruments, the harps and the psalteries, that the Levites might make use of them in hymns to God. The wood which was brought to him at this time was larger and finer than any that had ever been brought[323] before; but let no one imagine these pine-trees were like those which are now so named,” &c.—(Ibid, viii. c. 7. 1.) The vulgate renders the words “the gold of Ophir” (Job xxviii. 16), by “tinctis Indiæ coloribus.” See Wahner, De Regione Ophir; Tychsen, “De Commerc. Hebr.” in Commentt. Gott. xvi. 164, &c.; Huetti Commentatio de Navigatione Solomonis; Reland, Dissertt. Miscell., i. 172; or in Ugolini Thesaurus, vii.; Vitringa, and others.

Professor Heeren, in his excellent work on the Commerce of the Phœnicians, states that he is of opinion that the fleet of Solomon did visit India; but, on his own showing, this was unnecessary, for if the Phœnician colonies trading to India did, at the time of the Hebro-Phœnician voyage, exist in the Persian Gulf, it would be unnecessary for Solomon’s fleet to proceed further than to those colonies in the Persian Gulf to obtain all the produce of India which they were constantly importing. This opinion, held by Seetzen, has evidently induced him to place Ophir in the Persian Gulf.

Although the large majority of writers on this[324] subject seek for Ophir in India, they are by no means united as to the exact locality; some believing it to be the town of Σομπάρα, at or near Goâ, mentioned by Ptolemy, Ammianus, and Abulfeda, while the majority place it on the island of Trophane, generally recognized as that of Ceylon.

2.—That Ophir was in the Persian Gulf.

Some have sought Ophir in the islands of this Gulf; while others have proceeded up the Euphrates in search of it. Among the latter may be mentioned Calmet, in his “Dissertation sur le Pays d’Ophir,” who places the Ophir of Solomon in Armenia. To carry out this theory, he makes the fleet of Solomon to pass through the Persian Gulf up the Tigris and Euphrates, as far as these rivers were navigable, and to where they receive the produce of Armenian Ophir. It will be subsequently shown that, by the building of Tadmor in the wilderness, Solomon commanded the Phœnician trade, by this route, from India to Tyre, and that it would therefore have been useless for Hiram and Solomon to dispatch a fleet up[325] the Persian Gulf. The Rev. Charles Foster, B.D., in “The Historical Geography of Arabia,” London, 1844, places the Ophir of Solomon in the east of Arabia, recognizing that locality in the town of Ofor, situated at about 60 or 70 miles from the sea-coast—having a river running a few miles from that town, and discharging itself into the Persian Gulf. After arguing the subject very fully, he sums up his opinion as to the above being the locality in the following words—“From these collective premises may unpresumptuously be drawn the conclusions—1. That the Ofor of Sale and d’Anville, a town and district in the mountains of Omân, west of the coast of Maham, is the Ophir of the Old Testament. 2. That the littus Hammœum ubi auri Metalla, or Gold Coast, mentioned by Pliny, was the true term of the famous voyage in the reign of Solomon, from Ezion-geber, or Akaba, at the head of the Gulf of Elah. 3. And, lastly, that this Ophir or Ofor, the country of the Kottabani of Ptolemy, one of the many tribes known generally in Arabia by the denomination of Beni Kahtan or Kahtanys, was the primitive and proper seat of the family of[326] Ophir, the son of Joktan, which, like so many other districts denominated from the brethren of this patriarch, still preserves, at the present day, the name and memory of their fathers.” The Rev. Mr. Foster adds in a note, “The name of this Joktanite patriarch, and of the famous gold country of Arabia, which, in the time of Ptolemy and Pliny, bore, and which still retains, his name, is a curious specimen of the flexibility of proper names in the Arabic, and its kindred dialects. For Ophor can be traced through, at least, eight varieties of form—thus, in the prophecies of Jeremiah and Daniel (Jer. x. 9, Dan. x. 5), it is written Uphaz; in the Song of Solomon (v. 11) [?] Paz, (LXX. vers.) Kephaz; in Chronicles (2 Chron. iii. 6) Paravim; by Eupolemus, Orphe; by Ptolemy, Appa; by Niebuhr, Efi; and by Sale d’Anville, and all subsequent authorities, Ofor. M. Niebuhr notices variations nearly as numerous in the pronunciation of the word Simoom.” “Vent empoisonné, qu’on nomme Sâm, Smum, Samiel, ou Samêle, suivant les différens prononciations des Arabes.”—Descript. de l’Arabie, tome iii. p. 7; Historical Geography of Arabia, vol. i. p.[327] 171. To the opinion expressed by the Rev. Mr. Foster the objection already made to that of Calmet equally applies, viz., that Hiram and Solomon already commanded all the trade of the Persian Gulf which reached Tyre and Jerusalem by way of Tadmor.

3.—That Ophir was situated in South Arabia.

M. Niebuhr may be quoted as the great authority for Ophir being situated in South Arabia, although he failed in pointing out its exact position, as may be learned from the following:—“Je n’ai point trouvé de nom ressemblant à celui d’Ophir; mais je ne doute pas que si quelq’un avoit occasion de parcourir le pays depuis Aden jusqu’à Dafar, comme je l’ai parcouru de l’Mâm, il ne la trouve quelque part. Ophir étoit vraisemblablement le principal port du royaume des Sabéens, et il étoit san doute situé entre Aden et Dafar, peut-être même étoit-ce le port que les Grecs appellent Cana.”—Niebuhr, tome iii. p. 253.

4. That Ophir was situated at Sofala.

Two thousand years before the Christian era,[328] we learn that Semiramis, the great Queen of Assyria, not contented with the extensive dominions left to her by her husband, Ninus, enlarged them by the conquest of a great part of Ethiopia. (Rollin, book iii. chap. i. sec. 5. See also Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Lettres, vol. iii. p. 343, et seq. for two learned dissertations upon the Assyrian Empire, and particularly on the reign and actions of Semiramis.)

Sesostris, one of the most powerful kings of Egypt, ascended the throne on the death of his father, B.C. 1491. He formed no less a project than the conquest of the known world. He began his expedition by the conquest of Ethiopia, and obliged the nations of that country to furnish him, annually, with a certain quantity of ebony, ivory, and gold. Having fitted out a fleet of four hundred sail, he advanced to the Red Sea, and made himself master of the isles and coasts of that sea, proceeding afterwards to India. In the countries which he conquered, he left pillars on which the following inscription was engraved:—“Sesostris, king of kings, and lord of lords, subdued this country by the power of his arms.”[329] His empire extended from the Ganges to the Danube. Diodorus Siculus tells us that he cut canals from Memphis to the Red Sea, opening Egypt to the commerce of Libya, Ethiopia, and Arabia. (Herod. l. ii. chap. 102, 110. Diod. l. 1, sec. 48, 54.)

In the sublime poem of Job—now generally attributed to Moses, and supposed to have been written previous to the Egyptian Exodus, during some part of Moses’ residence with his hospitable father-in-law, Jethro, in that district of Idumæa which was named Midian—about 1520 B.C.—mention is made of the gold of Ophir, Job xxviii. v. 16, showing that the gold of Ophir was at the date of this poem known to the Arabs of Idumæa, where the poem was written. In Genesis and Exodus frequent mention is made of myrrh, cinnamon, cassia, and aloes, articles which were imported by the Arabs of the south of Arabia from India and Africa, but which were believed by the Hebrews to be the produce of Arabia.

David, in Psalm xlv. v. 8, 9, mentions myrrh, aloes, cassia, ivory palaces, and the gold of Ophir.

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The Queen of Sheba, in Luke xi. v. 31, is called the “Queen of the South,” that is to say, of the country the most remote known to the Hebrews; see 1 Kings x. 1 and 2, Chron. ix. 1. In vol. ii., p. 233, I have shown how Arabia was situated for commerce, and, bearing its position in mind, it may now be proper to refer to the account of this expedition of Solomon. “And King Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, ship-men, that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophir; and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon.... And when the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, concerning the name of the Lord, she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart: and Solomon told her all her questions; there was not any[331] thing hid from the king which he told her not. And when the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon’s wisdom, and the house that he had built, and the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cup-bearers, and his ascent by which he went up into the house of the Lord, there was no more spirit in her. And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land, of thy acts, and of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believed not the words until I came, and mine eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me; thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth thy fame which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God which delighteth in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel, because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. And she gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones; there came no more such abundance of spices as these which[332] the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.... And the navy, also, of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones. And the king made, of the almug trees, pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king’s house; harps also, and psalteries for singers; there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day. And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked; besides that which Solomon gave of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.”

Some have looked upon the Queen of Sheba as the Queen of Sabia, situated in the kingdom of Sofala, on the east coast of Africa; but for our present purpose it will only be necessary to recognize in her the head of that portion of the Arabs commanding the south of Arabia, and the Emporia there located, and also on the opposite adjoining north-east coast of Africa—although she may have been Queen of the Arabian kingdom of Sheba, and also the African-Arabic kingdom of Sabia.

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The account given of the visit of the Queen of Sheba, both in the 1st book of Kings and also in 2nd book of the Chronicles, is preceded by the statement of the friendly terms on which Solomon was with Hiram, king of Tyre, who, by way of the Gulf of Persia and the Phœnician colonies established there, commanded the commerce of India, which reached Tyre by way of the Persian Gulf, and the Wilderness or the Desert. We are also told, previously to the account of the visit of Solomon’s ships to Ophir, that he built Baalath and Tadmor in the Wilderness (1 Kings ix., 18, and 2 Chron. viii., 4-6), doubtless to secure the caravans of his ally, Hiram, from the depredations of the Bedouin Arabs, while crossing the desert on their way with the merchandize of India, which arrived by the Persian Gulf to Tyre.

This Tadmor or Palmyra was, we know, a fenced city, built in a desert, solely for the protection of commerce, and was lost to the Hebrews on the division of the kingdom after the death of Solomon; it is doubtless the Palmyra so celebrated for its destruction by the Romans, when its Queen, Zenobia, endeavoured to throw off the[334] Roman yoke. It commanded the commerce of India by way of the Gulf of Persia; and therefore we may fairly suppose that the fleets of Solomon and Hiram, which proceeded down the Red Sea, were bent upon opening a new mart of commerce, doubtless that commanded by the Queen of Sheba, who is mixed up with this account, and who, from history, we learn, bore a son to Solomon during her stay in Jerusalem, with whom she returned to her own country.

This was a trade which the Phœnicians had not possession of, and Hiram naturally enlisted the co-operation of his great ally, Solomon, for the purpose of obtaining the productions of Ophir direct, instead of through the Arabs of Southern Arabia. The time chosen was most propitious; it was after the building of Tadmor in the Wilderness, when the affairs of Hiram and Solomon had become united by commerce; and at the period when Solomon had obtained possession of Idumæa or Edom, and his great renown had attracted to his court the Queen of Sheba, who had brought with her those imports into Arabia most valued by her own subjects, as being those sought after[335] by the nations of the west, which gave so great an impulse to the maritime enterprise of the Arabs.

Some difficulty appears to arise from the different reading of the account of the Hebrew-Phœnician ships going to Ophir, as given in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. Let us compare them thus:—

The passages of Scripture in which “Ophir” and “Tharshish” are named, bring before us the only maritime commerce which the Hebrews appear to have been engaged in, and which arose[336] from Solomon’s alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre.

Tarshish, or Tharshish, is, on very good grounds, considered to be Tartessus, a very important commercial settlement of the Phœnicians, on the Atlantic coast of Spain, at the mouth of the Bœtis, or Guadalquiver, and not far from the ancient Gades, now Cadiz: in Gen. x. 4; Ps. lxxii. 10; Ezek. xxxiii. 13; Jer. x. 9; Ezek. xxvii. 9; Isa. xxiii. 1, 6, 10; Isa. lxvi. 19, mention is made of this Phœnician trade.

I imagine that the Phœnicians, who doubtless built the ships for this new trade to Ophir, took for their models those vessels which were engaged in their most distant voyages, viz., in the trade to Tartessus, and the isles of the west (Britain); or that they took some of these vessels to pieces, carried them across the Isthmus of Suez (as has been done subsequently by the Sultan of Cairo and others), and put them together in the Red Sea. In either case the name “ships of Tharshish” would be applied to them in the same sense as we should make use of the terms “Indiamen,” or “Australian clippers.” That is to say, first-class merchant vessels.[337] Some have supposed that two fleets were used for this voyage, one in the Mediterranean, and the other in the Red Sea; but it is by no means likely that the Phœnicians, who were not “Free-traders,” would allow Solomon to participate in the Tartessus or Mediterranean trade, although they were perfectly willing to obtain his co-operation and powerful assistance where they required it, by way of Tadmor and in the Red Sea, by both of which routes they had to contend with the Arabs. If the Tarshish in these passages be the Tartessus in the Mediterranean, then we have a certain proof that the ships of Solomon circumnavigated Africa, and that Ophir must have been situated on the east or west coast of Africa in the voyage from Ezion-geber to Tartessus or Tharshish.

The earliest account which we have of Africa having been circumnavigated is certainly by the Phœnicians, under the orders of Necho (Pharo-Necho), king of Egypt, who sent ships on a voyage of discovery down the Red Sea, to proceed along the coast of Africa, and endeavour to return by the Pillars of Hercules.

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Herodotus narrates, in a few words, the results of this enterprize, which was undertaken about 604 years before the Christian era. He says, “The Phœnicians, setting sail from the Red Sea, made their way into the Southern Sea; and when autumn approached they drew their vessels to land, sowed a crop, and waited till it was grown, when they reaped it, and again put to sea. Having spent two years in this manner, in the third year they reached the Pillars of Hercules, and returned to Egypt, reporting what does not find belief with me, but may perhaps with some other person; for they said that in passing Africa they had the sun on their right hand. In this manner Libya was first known.” Now, it so happens that the very fact which caused Herodotus to doubt the authenticity of the account of this voyage is to us one of the most convincing proofs of the truth of the narrative, viz., “that in passing Africa (after rounding the Cape of Good Hope) they had the sun on their right hand.” While I am disposed to contend that Africa was circumnavigated from the Red Sea in the reign of Pharo-Necho,[339] I cannot bring myself to believe (without more convincing proof than simply the statement that from Ezion-geber “the king’s ships went to Tharshish”) that the Hebrew-Phœnician fleet circumnavigated Africa 400 years previous to the Egypto-Phœnician fleet of Pharo-Necho; for, if such was the case, the Phœnicians would have been aware of the previous circumnavigation of Libya, and both events would have been handed down by the Phœnicians—for we learn from Josephus that they were in the habit of preserving in their records events of much less importance to them, as a commercial nation, than the circumnavigation of a large continent, rich in the most coveted commodities of the eastern world. I am therefore inclined to think that the Tharshish of Chronicles cannot be the Tartessus of Spain; and will, in the following inquiry, seek only to establish the position of Ophir, as the products of that place were the objects sought by the Hebrew-Phœnician fleet.

Various points on the eastern coast of Africa have been fixed upon, but generally the conclusion is in favour of Sofala, which I am inclined[340] to think is the correct position. João dos Sanctos tells us, as we find it in Purchas:—

“Near to Massapa is a great hill called Fura, whence may be discerned a great part of the kingdom of Monomotapa, for which cause he (the king) will not suffer the Portuguese to go thither, that they should not covet his great country and hidden mines. On the top of that hill are yet standing pieces of old walls and ancient ruins of lime and stone, which testify that there have been strong buildings—a thing not seen in all Caffraria, for even the king’s houses are of wood, daubed with clay, and covered with straw. The natives, and especially the Moors, have a tradition from their ancestors, that those houses belonged to the Queen of Saba, who carried much gold thence down to the Cuama (Zambesi) to the sea, and so along the coast of Ethiopia to the Red Sea. Others say that these ruins were Solomon’s factory, and that this Fura or Afura is no other than Ophir, the name being not much altered in so long a time. This is certain, that round about that hill there is much and find gold. The navigation[341] might, in these times, be longer, for want of so good ships or pilots as are now to be had, and by reason of much time spent in trucking with the Caffres, as even in this time the merchants often spend a year or more in that business, although the Caffres be grown more covetous of our wares, and the mines better known. They are so lazy to gather gold that they will not do it till necessity constrain them. Much time is also spent in the voyage by the rivers, and by that sea which hath differing monsoons, and can be sailed but by two winds, which blow six months from the east, and as many from the west. Solomon’s fleet had, besides those mentioned, this let, that the Red Sea is not safely navigable but by day, by reason of many isles and shoals; likewise it was necessary to put into harbours for fresh water and other provisions”—[“This,” Purchas remarks, “was by reason their ships were small, as that infancy of navigation required”]—“and to take in new pilots and mariners, and to make reparations, which considered”—[adds Purchas, “with their creeping by the shore for want of compass and[342] experience in those seas, and their Sabbath rests, and their truck with the Caffres”]—“might extend the whole voyage, in going, staying, and returning, to three years. Further, the ivory, apes, gems, and precious woods (which grow in the wild places of Tebe within Sofala) whence they make almaidas, or canoes, twenty yards long, of one timber; and much fine black wood (ebony) grows on that coast, and is thence carried to India and Portugal. All these may make the matter probable. As for peacocks, I saw none there, but there must needs be some within land; for I have seen some Caffres wear their plumes on their heads. As there is store of fine gold, so also is there fine silver in Chicona, which are rich mines.”

In addition to the statement of João dos Sanctos, who was a resident at Sofala, it may be asserted that all the circumstances which are against the theories which place Ophir in Arabia, the Persian Gulf, or even India and Ceylon, are in favour of its being fixed on the African coast.

It appears that “every three years” may, with equal or greater propriety, be rendered “every[343] third year,” which may mean any time more than two years, and less than three; and, further, that as the Hebrews counted broken years and days for whole ones, it might not be even two years. Thus, if they left in the year 1, continued away all the year 2, and returned in the spring of the year 3, they would be said to return in the third year, though they had only been absent eighteen months. Thus our Saviour rose “on the third day,” though he had only been one day and two nights in the tomb.—See notes on 2 Chronicles, chap. xx., in the “Pictorial Bible.”

In order to throw a little more light on this subject, let us consider the winds in the Red Sea, which, in connection with the monsoons on the east coast of Africa, would be the most favourable for the navigation of a large fleet, in the infancy of maritime enterprise, prosecuting a voyage from the Gulf of Akaba to Sofala and back.

South winds predominate for two-thirds of the year in the south part of the Red Sea, viz., from October to June, and from about the middle of the month of June to the middle of October[344] north winds prevail throughout the Red Sea.

I will, therefore, suppose that the Hebrew-Phœnician fleet was prepared to start from Ezion-geber with a fair wind on the 1st of July of the year 1 of this memorable voyage, and that all the vessels composing the fleet succeeded in rendezvousing at the great Arab emporium of Aden in Arabia, or at Berbera, Zeyla (or any of those outlets which we know the Arabs possessed for the commerce of north-eastern Africa), on the opposite coast of Africa. Here the fleet would be detained some time while refitting, provisioning, watering, repairing the damages of those vessels which had suffered in the dangerous navigation of the Red Sea; and obtaining pilots from the Arabs, who were acquainted with the harbours and rivers on the east coast of Africa.

The north-east monsoon blows in the Mozambique Channel, through which the fleet would have to pass on the voyage to Sofala, from November to April. This monsoon reaches Makallah about the 5th of November, and until about the 3rd of January the weather is unsettled[345] in the Gulf of Aden—that is to say, between the meridians of Cape Guardafui and that of Bab-el-Mandeb.

It may fairly be supposed that the Hebrew-Phœnician fleet would not put to sea from the Arab emporium, where it was refitting, until the end of January of the year 2; for in the months of January, February, and March, fine clear weather prevails in the Gulf of Aden, and it is at this season that the Arabs carry on trade in the Gulf of Aden in their dhows, measuring from 50 to 300 tons burthen. By starting at this season the fleet would enter the north-east monsoon with fine clear weather, and reach Sofala in March or April, with the cessation of the north-east monsoon.

As the Phœnicians were accustomed to carry on their trade themselves, and had no factors or agents established, at least in the infancy of the trade, at Sofala, we may assume that they spent the whole of the six months from April to November of year 2, when the south-west or fair monsoon for the return voyage was blowing, in trading with the natives or residents at this[346] African-Arabic settlement of Sabia; and also that they were only prepared to return when the next fair monsoon (S.W.) set in at Sofala, viz., in April of year 3. That is to say, they were detained by trading and a contrary monsoon for one year at Sofala.

In the month of April or May of year 3, we will suppose the fleet to leave Sofala with the south-west monsoon, and reach Aden, or any neighbouring Arab emporium, before the unsettled weather which is to be found in the Gulf of Aden in the month of August. The fleet would be able to refit there so as to take advantage of the south wind commencing to blow in the month of October, and would reach Ezion-geber before the end of December of the year 3.

I have thus endeavoured to show that the time for prosecuting a successful trading voyage from Ezion-geber to Ophir or Sofala and back, would be nearly three years.

All the articles enumerated in Scripture are to be found at Sofala, with, perhaps, the exception of the peacock (see vol. i., p. 208); I am not aware that this bird is to be found in Africa—it[347] has hitherto been looked upon as an Indian bird; and, in consequence, I suppose, some have compared ‎‏תוכיים‏‎, tukejem, with the word ‎‏תכה‏‎, takah, to cling; in Deuteronomy xxxiii., v. 3, and translated it parrots.[11] But the east coast of Africa has no parrots—only paroquets—while they are to be found in great numbers at the mouth of nearly all the rivers on the west coast of Africa. The nearest place to Sofala where parrots can be obtained is on the island of Madagascar, where a very handsome jet-black parrot may be procured.

The meaning of the Hebrew word translated peacocks is a disputed point, and some have held that it means the bird called guinea-fowl, which is found in great numbers on the east coast of Africa.

The inscriptions on the ruins at Zimboë might throw a new light on the position of Ophir, and perhaps entirely clear up one of the most interesting questions of Sacred history.

THE END.

[348]

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VOL. I.—SAM SLICK’S NATURE AND HUMAN NATURE.

ILLUSTRATED BY LEECH.

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VOL. II.—JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN.

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VOL. III.—THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS.

BY ELIOT WARBURTON.

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[16]

VOL. V.—A WOMAN’S THOUGHTS ABOUT WOMEN.

BY THE AUTHOR OF “JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN.”

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VOL. VI.—ADAM GRAEME, OF MOSSGRAY.

BY THE AUTHOR OF “MRS. MARGARET MAITLAND.”

“‘Adam Graeme’ is a story awakening genuine emotions of interest and delight by its admirable pictures of Scottish life and scenery. The plot is cleverly complicated, and there is great vitality in the dialogue, and remarkable brilliancy in the descriptive passages, as who that has read ‘Margaret Maitland’ would not be prepared to expect? But the story has a ‘mightier magnet still,’ in the healthy tone which pervades it, in its feminine delicacy of thought and diction, and in the truly womanly tenderness of its sentiments. The eloquent author sets before us the essential attributes of Christian virtue, their deep and silent workings in the heart, and their beautiful manifestations in the life, with a delicacy, a power, and a truth which can hardly be surpassed.”—Morning Post.

“‘Adam Graeme’ is full of eloquent writing and description. It is an uncommon work, not only in the power of the style, in the interest of the narrative, and in the delineation of character, but in the lessons it teaches.”—Sun.

VOL. VII.—SAM SLICK’S WISE SAWS AND MODERN INSTANCES.

“The best of all Judge Haliburton’s admirable works. It is one of the pleasantest books we ever read, and we earnestly recommend it.”—Standard.

“The humour of Sam Slick is inexhaustible. He is ever and everywhere a welcome visitor; smiles greet his approach, and wit and wisdom hang upon his tongue. The present production is remarkable alike for its racy humour, its sound philosophy, the felicity of its illustrations, and the delicacy of its satire. We promise our readers a great treat from the perusal of these ‘Wise Saws and Modern Instances,’ which contain a world of practical wisdom, and a treasury of the richest fun.”—Post.

VOL. VIII.—CARDINAL WISEMAN’S RECOLLECTIONS OF THE LAST FOUR POPES.

“There is no dynasty of European sovereigns about which we English entertain so much vague curiosity, or have so little information, as about the successors to the Popedom. Cardinal Wiseman is just the author to meet this curiosity. His book is the lively record of what he has himself seen, and what none but himself, perhaps, has had so good an opportunity of thoroughly estimating. There is a gossipping, all-telling style about the book which is certain to make it popular with English readers.”—John Bull.

“A picturesque book on Rome and its ecclesiastical sovereigns, by an eloquent Roman Catholic. Cardinal Wiseman has here treated a special subject with so much generality and geniality, that his recollections will excite no ill-feeling in those who are most conscientiously opposed to every idea of human infallibility represented in Papal domination.”—Athenæum.

“In the description of the scenes, the ceremonies, the ecclesiastical society, the manners and habits of Sacerdotal Rome, this work is unrivalled. It is full of anecdotes. We could fill columns with amusing extracts.”—Chronicle.