Postscript, Proposal to the benevolent in large Cities, colonize the Northern Coast of Africa, Page. 115 125 247 345 282 141 216 31, 385 318 250 346 159, 346 346 247 Travels in the Timmanee, Kooranko and Solima Countries, in Western Africa. By Major ALEXANDER Gordon Laing, London, 1825. It Ir has ever been our purpose to communicate to the public, through the pages of the Repository, the most full and correct information that we could obtain in regard to Africa. The discoveries already made in this continent, though exceedingly interesting and instructive, serve, perhaps, rather to awaken than to satisfy curiosity, and to make us think rather of what remains to be explored and brought to light, than of the knowledge already acquired by enterprising travellers. Few men have engaged with more energy or success in efforts to explore Africa than the lamented author of the work before us. will be recollected that early in the year 1825, before the work now before us, had been given to the public, Major Laing left London for Tripoli, with the intention of visiting Tombuctoo, and' endeavoring to ascertain the course and termination of the Niger. His death, near the famed city of central Africa, has been announced to the world and awakened universal regret. His memory will be cherished by the friends of the Colony of Liberia, when they learn, that to his kind and friendly interposition, the American settlers were, perhaps, principally in debted for the termination of the war in 1822 between themselves and the native tribes, and which in their then feeble state threatened the utter ruin of their topes. Early in the year 1822 Major Laing was appointed by Sir Charles M-Carthy (then Governor of Sierra Leone, to visit Kambia on the river Scarcies in the Mandingo country, for the parpose of producing a reconciliation between Amara the king of that nation and Sannassee an inferior chief, the war between these two chiefs having injured the trade with the English colony. He was also instructed to recommend to the natives the cultivation of white rice, and to ascertain as far as practicable their views on the subject of the abolition of the slave trade.— In effecting the object of this mission, he became acquainted with Yarradee, one of the chiefs of the Soolima nation, who had been invited by Amara to join him with a large armed force and to assist in subduing Sannassee. In his second mission (under similar instructions) Major Laing obtained the release of Sannassee, who had been taken a prisoner, was treated with great respect by Yarradee, and acquired some valuable information in regard to the products of the interior and particularly of the Soolima country. He suggested to Governor M‘Carthy the propriety of penetrating to that country, and that a mission thither might result in great benefits to the commercial interests of the colony. The proposition of Major Laing to conduct a mission to that country, was approved by the Governor and Council of the Colony, and on the 16th of April, 1822, he, with two soldiers and a small party of natives, quitted Sierra Leone and ascended the Rochelle in Boats for some distance. On the 18th they arrived at Macabele, a very neat and clean town, situated on a slope on the right bank of the River, where two chiefs of Mandingo extraction were desirous that Major Laing should pass into the interior, through what they termed their road, but it was deemed expedient, on the whole, not to change the original determination. At this place, Major Laing saw the principal chief of that part of the Timmanee country, Ba Kobala, who is represented "as being a fine venerable looking old man, with a long snow-white beard. His raiment consisted of a very full white half shirt, with a scarlet mantle loosely thrown over the shoulders, and around his neck was sus pended a string of alternate coral beads and leopard's teeth." At Rokon, the principal Timmanee town of the District, which extends along the left bank of the river, Major Laing was detained until a palaver could be held, which, as he remarks, will give some idea of the delays that at every little village may oppose the progress of the African Traveller. "A Timmanee Palaver differs from the same ceremony in the Mandingo country, inasmuch as farce and nonsense are displayed in the former, while that of the latter is conducted with great decorum and solemnity.The company being all seated or perhaps more properly speaking, squatted, an orator holding in his right hand a rod of dried broom, stept from one of the huts to the centre of the yard, then looking around him and uncovering his head, exclaimed several times, "Loanta, loanta!" the closest meaning of which I presume to be, (for I could not arrive at any satisfactory conclusion,) "Save you all," "Bless you all," or "Keep you from harm." Proceeding in his part of the performance, he continued, "I am going to talk a great palaver to-day, such a palaver never has been talked before in Rokon; it is a white man's palaver; what's the reason nobody comes to hear me?" Two or three people came from the huts, and sat down; the orator sat with them, and was preparing to proceed, when he suddenly exclaimed, “This will not do; I must have more people; come out, come out, or I talk no more to-day." About 50 persons now made their appearance in the centre of the yard, and sitting down, acted their part as hearers, now and then entering into a sort of dialogue with the orator, which continued upward of an hour, at the expiration of which the king, signifying by a nod that he was satisfied, the whole of the assemblage fronted him, and placing the back of their hands upon the ground, vociferated, "Loanta, loanta!" then rising up they repeated the words and retired. Thus finished the pro forma palaver; and such is the invariable manner of conducting these ceremonies in this country; the orator always observing the countenance of the king to interpret his wishes, and speak accordingly. "The burthen of the orator's speech, on this occasion, was to the following effect:—"The white man is going far; to the hills of Koranko, and further than that; to countries that Timmanee people never heard of; to the country of gold and silver; he must therefore, pay the king well or he cannot pass; the king must have guns, swords, powder, fine cloths, beads, or the white man must go back." On leaving the court-yard, I shook hands with the king, who said I had an easy palaver to-day, and if I wanted an easy one to-morrow must give him plenty of money; that I must bring every thing I had for him, that he might see all before he began to talk the road palaver. I was a good deal annoyed at losing a day in this foolish manner, as I had expected to arrange every thing so that I might depart on the morrow; but subsequent experience taught me, that it was idle to fret at disappointment, which the traveller must lay his account to meet with daily, among a people who set no value on their own time. nor on that of others." "Ba Simera, the principal Chief of this part of the Timmanee Country, is about ninety years of age, with a mottled shrivelled up skin, resembling in colour that of an alligator more than of a human being, with dim greenish eyes far sunk in his head, and a bleached, twisted beard, hanging down about two feet from his chin; like the king of the opposite District, he wore a necklace of coral and leopard's teeth, but his mantle was brown and dirty as his skin. His swollen legs, like those of an elephant, were to be observed from under his trowsers of baft, which might have been originally white, but, from the wear of several years, had assumed a greenish appearance; he carried a staff or mark of office, to which were suspended some large and small bells." Great efforts were made to induce Major Laing to increase his donations to this King, which he positively refused to do, because "the report of even the most minute action, always precedes the traveller in Africa, and if he omits an item, or makes an addition to the present of any chief or head man, he is sure to hear of it every where as he advances." At Toma, a small village about sixty miles from Sierra Leone, Major Laing learned that no white person had ever before been seen. At Balanduco, a few miles beyond Toma, "the women were busily employed in separating the juicy saffron coloured fruit from the palm nut; in squeezing it into wooden mortars, and in beating it into one common mash, in order that the oil might be extracted more easily and more copiously in boiling. From the extent of the preparation, and the numerous bunches of the fruit which the natives were continually bringing into the town, it might be estimated that they manufactured, on an average from thirty to forty gallons a day, during the season of bearing." Before arriving at Ma Bung, one of the principal towns in the Timmanee County, Major Laing with his whole party, suffered extremely, for thirty-six hours, for want of water, and when meeting with a fine broad stream, they indulged them |