Journal of a Voyage from Boston to the West Coast of Africa, with a full description of the manner of trading with the natives on the coast

Front matter

JOURNAL OF JL VOYAGE FROM BOSTON TO THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA: WITH A FCLIs DESCRIPTION OF THE MANNER OF TRADING WITH THE NATIVES ON THE COAST. Bv J. A. CARNES. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. JEWETT & CO. CLEVELAND, OHIO : JEWETT, PROCTOR & WORTHINGTON. 1852. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by JOHN P. JEWETT & COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts. CONCORD, N. H. 7 TEIPP AND 0S0O0D, PRINTERS.

Preface

. In presenting this volume to the public, I deem it necessary to state that some years since, and subsequently to two voyages to the " West Coast of Africa," I was induced, by the request of several friends, to give a brief account from personal observation of our intercourse with the sable na tives of that great quarter of tbe globe. For this purpose I prepared several numbers for the press entitled a Recollections of Africa." These having been favorably received, as they were issued through the columns of a Boston newspaper, led me to write out in detail the minutiæ of a traffic with the numerous and various tribes of Africans, extending through an extent of country, along the shore, of nearly fifteen hundred miles.

PREFACE.

. If the reader of these pages should be as much interested in the descriptions given of these dark denizens of Africa, as the writer was in almost daily and hourly proximity with them, he has received ample reward for Ms labor. However, the volume, such as it is, is offered to a generous and discriminating public, who alone are to decide upon its merits. The Author, J. A. Carnes. Boston, Mass., 1852. VOYAGE TO AFRICA.

Chapter I

In the autumn of the year 18 — we sailed from Boston, in a fine craft of between one and two hundred tons bur then, expressly fitted out and furnished with a cargo adapt ed for a trading voyage on the West Coast of Africa. About noon, on a beautiful day in the month of Septem ber, we were gliding downi the harbor, with every sail set to catch the light westerly breeze which scarcely filled our canvas, and was just enough to gently ruffle the smooth margin of the water into tiny wavelets, giving animation to the scene as they playfully danced upon its placid bosom, their little silvery crests brightly sparkling in the rays of the unobscured meridian sun. Although our pro gress through the yielding element was slow, as regarded the impulse given to our vessel by the breath of the wind, still we found in a very short time, by the rapidly reced ing objects, that if our craft was not swiftly fanned along by her partially expanded wrings, a strong current, with a full tide upon the ebb, swept us onward at a rate of several knots per hour.

In a very short period of time, how dif- 1" erent an appearance did the metropolis of New-England present to the view ! The lofty spires of her numerous churches, with their beautiful -gilt vanes, which almost daz zle the eye with their brilliancy when beheld near, soon faded upon the sight and could not be identified from each other in the distance. The tall masts ofthe shipping at the wharves, the extensive warehouses, the most conspicuous public buildings, blended in one common mass (as it were) of misshapen ruins, where no regularity or order was to be discerned. After we had passed the beautiful islands which adorn our harbor, and gliding by the " light," entered the broad waste of waters of " Massachusetts bay," even here, at this distance, one object alone still seemed distinctly visible to the naked eye, rising majesti cally above the surrounding edifices of the city.

This was the " dome " of our " State House." How like a beacon does it appear, towering high above all other structures in its architectural grandeur ! Who, that ever approached Boston, either by land or by water, has not had his attention first arrested by this finely proportioned dome ? Borne onward by the gentle breeze, this last object on which I gazed as if I never should behold it agahi, at length faded away and sunk below the horizon. As we were now upon the deeper waters of the bay, as we receded from the light, an entirely different motion was felt on board from that experienced within the harbor: the lengthened swells, in their undulations causing our vessel to rise and fall, as they slowly rolled along and broke upon the shore. Gen tle reader, whoever you are, I would ask you if ever, during thy pilgrimage through fife, thou hast endured but for a short time the nausea of sea-sickness !

If thou hast not, then thou art not the one to sympathize with another OUTWARD BOUND VIEW OF BOSTON HARBOR. in a similar case ; for that person who never endured the peculiar and indescribable sensations of this " maladie de mer A' as the Frenchman calls it, camiot possibly imagine anything like the reality. How glad was I when the^ sick ening nausea left me, and I was once more able to stand upon the deck. With anxious gaze I looked around to every part of the horizon. The broad bay before us faintly glowed with the last rays of the declining sun, and as he disappeared from the view, a light breeze from the west began to crisp the smooth surface of the swelling sea, and filling our sails made our craft, obedient to its impulse, " walk the water like a thing of fife." As the breeze freshened, and the shades of evening were gradually spreading around us, the land could be but very indistinctly seen in the distance.

But here, in various directions, ahead, or on the starboard or larboard quarter, or abeam, could be seen the white canvas of a coaster, as she stretched across the bay almost in the eye of the wind, bound to Boston ; and the full rigged merchantman, with every stitch of canvas set, ploughing through the yielding flood, destined for a voyage, like ourselves, to foreign climes. Still, how could we tell, or those on board the craft leaving their native land dimly seen hi the distance, if either of us should ever behold it again. Night's sable curtain soon concealed the receding shore from our view. The in creasing wind, now swiftly bore us through the crested waves, which were dashed into snowy foam before the bows of our vessel, as she was urged onward by the keel-com pelling gale. In the midst of the darkness, how like the brilliancy of the diamond did the various " lights," at dif ferent points along the shore, shine out in all their radiance as a guide to the returning or outward bound mariner.

The evening and the night of the day of our departure were most delightful. Not a cloud obscured the surface of the heavens, and every twinkling star appeared like a gem set in its azure crown. I could have paced the deck till the dawn of another day, gazing upon the sportive billows and listening to the music of their murmurings. But the drowsy god began to weigh my eyelids clown long ere the noon of night, and as I still felt rather weak from the effects of sea-sickness, I went below, threw myself into my berth, and was soon uncon^ious whether I WTas upon land or sea. Before the sun had risen above the eastern hori zon, I sought the deck to look around with that eager cu riosity so natural to one who had never before been upon the open sea. The ruddy orb of day soon kindled the east with his fires, Tand ushered in a glorious morning.

The wind havmg changed during the night to S.S.W., blew fresh and bland, and our vessel bounded onward through the heaving surges in all the beauty and majesty of a craft under a press of canvas. Tbe land of the cape, which we had passed during the night, could be perceived but very faintly in the distance, and in a short time not a trace of it remained to be seen. The broad Atlantic lay stretch ed out before us like a vast desert, in its trackless, fathomless abyss of waters. We were now launched upon its deep and treacherous bosom, exposed to all the storms and tempests that might be encountered in traversing the thousands of miles of an ocean that never slumbers nor sleeps, and is always in motion, before we should arrive within sight of the shores of Africa ! When more than a week had passed from the time of our departure, still we had been favored by fair winds, al though rather light, so as to be able to hold our course, MONOTONY OF A CALM AT SEA. 9 a sail, occasionally seen in the distance, would, for the moment of its discovery, destroy in some degree, the mo notony that reigned around.

When we have been long upon the ocean, seehig nothing day after day and week af ter week, (as sometimes happens,) but the heavens and the trackless waste of waters around as far as the vision can e.xtend, where all seems dreary and desolate, and a feeling of loneliness, depression of spirits .or ennui takes posses sion of the mind, then there is a pleasure which those only have experienced who have " wandered o'er the sea," to hear the joyful sound of "* sail ho!" from the watchful mariner, as he paces the deck fore and aft, his keen and e.xperienced eye ever and anon glancing to every quarter of the horizon on a voyage of discovery ; now anxiously scanning the heavens, where a few dark, heavy clouds are slowly rising from the utmost verge of the horizon, threatening a sudden squall or tempest, or watching the distant vessel just hove in sight.

The sky was clear, and our daily observation having been taken, (as is usual at sea when the sun is unobscured,) we found ourselves several hun dred miles from home. Thus far we had experienced no rough or stormy weather. No sail had been reefed, and but once or twice had a light sail been taken in or furled. A calm at sea is a perfect monotony. Cast your eyes in whatever direction you will, nothing meets the view but the heavens above, and below the glassy, unfathomable and boundless ocean, in which, as in a mirror, the vessel with her sails, spars and rigging, are perfectly delineated. The largest ship that the handiwork of man ever built, appears no more than a mere speck upon its undulating and illimitable surface, as doth a little twinkling star in the midst of the great firmament. For the perfect smoothness of the water, at such a time, seems to give to the eye a much more extended field of vision, than when its waves are thrown into commotion by the breath of the gentle gale, or lashed into fury by the storm.

From horizon to horizon, the mighty circumference appears vast enough to contain all the navies that ever floated upon the liquid deep. Who would not say, in the words of Byron : "Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean — rolll Ten thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain ; Man marks the earth with ruin — his control Stops with the shore ; — upon the watery plain The wrecks arc all thy deed, nor doth remain A shadow of man's ravage, save his own*. When, for a moment, like a drop of rain, He sinks into thy depths with bubbling groan, Without a grave, unkuell'd, uncoffin'd, and unknown." During the continuance of the calm, the azure of the sky seemed to be reflected in the water, it was so clear, transparent, and " deeply, beautifully blues" It seemed as if you could look down into its unfathomable abyss, thousands and thousands of fathoms, and see the Nereides themseves sporting in their coral grottos.

We were some-* what amused as well as instructed, by an experiment which was tried, in consequence of a conversation that took place between the captain aud mate, with regard to the pressure of water in the ocean at certain depths. The former sta ted to the latter, that a bottle perfectly empty, well corked and sealed, on being immersed such a distance beneath the surface, would, after remaining a few minutes, be filled with the briny fluid. The mate, however, was incredulous, and unwilling to believe that such a thing would be effected, till repeated experiments convinced him. For this purpose, a thick, heavy junk bottle was obtahied, and a good cork drove into the neck flush with the mouth. This was en- AN EXPERIMENT WITH A BOTTLE. tirely covered over with sealing-wax, and a double thick ness of tarred canvas placed immediately over this, so that it seemed absolutely impossible for any fluid to enter the bottle.

Our deep sea-lead was then sunk sixty fath oms, with the bottle attached to it. After remaining about three minutes at this depth, it was drawn up, and found to be nearly filled with water, the cork and appendages bemg undisturbed, although a hissing noise issued from the mouth and neck, as of fixed ah, in its endeavors to escape, which seemed to prove that the water must have forced itself through the cork and its various coverings, and not through the bottle itself. The experiment was repeated with an other bottle, hermetically sealed as before, and sunk to a still greater depth. In about five minutes it was drawn up, and found to be entirely filled with water, and the cork forced into the bottle. Although these two experiments were sufficient to convince all who witnessed them, even the incredulous mate himself, of the wonderful pressure of the ocean many fathoms beneath its surface, still the captain seemed determined not to leave the shadow of a doubt upon the minds of any one on board, if ocular demonstration could effect it.

So, for the third and last experiment, a thin, whitish glass bottle was obtained, sealed in the same manner as the others, aud immersed nearly one hundred fathoms.* After being suffered to remain about ten minutes, the line was drawn up as before, and to the astonish ment of all, (save the captain, who had frequently witness ed the same effect produced, in former voyages,) nothing was attached to the lead and line but a small portion of the neck of the bottle. This seemed to be irresistible and *It is said that even cork, although so light and buoyant, when sunk to the depth of one hundred and fifty fathoms, cannot arise to the sur face on account of the pressure of the water above. 01* AFRICA - conclusive evidence of the immense power exerted by the fluid element at certain depths. During the afternoon the calm still continued, and not even a speck or a " cat's paw " was to be seen over the whole surface of the glassy flood, in any direction, as far as the vision could extend.

Not even a fleecy vapor obscured the sky, and it was dull and monotonous in gazing upon nothing but the smooth, unruffled and heaving bil lows. Hook and line were frequently thrown overboard, to tempt some of the inhabitants, that, perchance, might be straggling near us in the watery waste ; but the bait remained upon the hook without being disturbed ; and not even a solitary wanderer of the finny species did we per ceive during the whole day. We should have been grati fied if " Old Father Neptune," or even his dear consort, " Amphitrite," had deiTgned to visit us, to destroy, but for for a moment, the monotony that reigned around. As the sun sank beneath the western waters, as viewed from tho deck, I went aloft and got another glimpse of his bright face before he entirely disappeared. Ii, was like ascending a hill to behold the glorious orb after he had " set" to the inhabitant of the vale below.

While seated upon the main top-mast cross-trees, I looked abroad from my elevated position to every part of the visible horizon, some time after Sol had slipped on his night-cap, to endeavor to dis cover some object before I gained the deck. I thought if I could perceive a distant sail, it would be gratifying if it were only for the pleasure of crying out " sail ho !" A faint rosy tint from the last rays of the setting sun, yet lin gered in the western sky, spreading abroad sufficient light to every part of the horizon to enable one to see any object within a reasonable distance, if raised a little above the level THE CAPTURE OF A BIRD. of the sea, when, leaving my station, I began slowly to de scend, ratlin by ratlin, towards the deck. Having advanced a few steps, with my eyes fixed in a southerly direction, I thought I perceived a white speck, or something that had the appearance of a sail, although a great way off.

The words " sail ho !" were nearly at my tongue's end, but lest I should be mistaken, I kept my position, and gazing steadily at the object, soon had the satisfaction of discovering that it was a poor, weary bird, apparently of the land species, slowly approaching us. Fearing my position in the shrouds might prevent his alighting upon the spars or rig ging, I quickly dropped below, and standing near the com panion-way, saw the bird, after a few circular flights around the vessel, finally make his perch upon the very cross-trees which had been my seat but a few minutes previous. This solitary wanderer of the feathered tribe, the only living thing we had beheld for some time, save on board our own craft was not long suffered to repose from his flight of several hundred miles, for the shades of evening had scarcely fallen upon us ere he was our prize.

The mate, going aloft carefully, without making the least noise, caught the bird by the legs while resting in conscious security on his roost, and brought him to the deck, although not without consid erable difficulty, as the feathered stranger, which proved to be of the hawk species, in endeavoring to liberate himself, scratched the back of the mate's hand pretty severely, to the no little amusement of all on board, the day having been so tediously monotonous, that any event, however trifling, served in some measure to divert us. We subsequently made a fricassee of the captive bird, but we found it to be less tender and palatable than we expected, and not easily masticated. •> Some two or three hours after sunSet, a light breeze Sprung up, Tand our craft began once more to cut the water at her bows into beads of silvery foam, and the rippling waves seemed hke music to the ear, compared with the stillness of the calm unruffled sea.

The wind, gradually increasing as the night advanced, soon filled our snowy canvas, and by the time I left the deck and went below, we were walking through the billows of the blue Atlantic at the rate of six or seven knots. After a few hours uninterrupted repose, I stood again upon the deck in the early morning, just as the sun was beginning to show his ruddy face above the utmost verge of the eastern horizon. With what pleasure did I gaze upon the crested waves as they playfully gambolled before the whole-sail breeze, and brightly sparkled in the beams of the rising orb of day. How different an appearance did the surface of the ocean present now, contrasted with its mirrored bosom of the previous afternoon, when, in the clear, smooth and transparent deep, each object was reflected as in a glass.

How sublime was the sight! Here and there to windward could be seen the sea-bird, whose bold and fearless wing, ever and anon dipped in the briny flood, as he skimmed the tops of the crested white-caps in search of his prey, or uttering a Scream, which came sharp and shrill upon the wings of the wind, as he dived into the snowy surges, and for a moment disappearing, rose upon the buoyant air with his finny prize secured hi his beak. At a short distance from us, schools of flying-fish frequently appeared, and darting along like a flock of birds a few yards above the playful billows, after a short flight of a few hundred feet, dropped into their native element again. A few of theso singular fish had dropped on board our vessel, during tho DESCRIPTION OF THE FLYING-EISH. night, which we cooked and found them very palatable.

A brief account of this peculiar fish may not be uninteresting, as it is thought by many, even at the present day, that it is impossible for a fish to fly. In fact, I do not wonder at the incredulity of those who never saw one of these little creatures. Neither is it at all surprising at the unbelief manifested by the old lady, (as the story goes,) whose son after returning home from a foreign voyage was asked what wonders he had seem Having relateof to her that he had been so far south as to melt the camion upon the deck ; and that he had seen several of the wheels of Pharaoh's chariots taken up from the bottom of the Red sea, she seemed to express no astonislF ment, thinking it very probable. But, when he informed her that he had seen fishes fly, she immediately exclaimed, "Oh! my son, how can you be so wicked as to tell your poor mother such an untruth!"

The flying-fish is generally from eight to ten inches in length, of a bluish color on the back, white belly, and is furnished with two long fins, (one on each side,) which answer the double purpose of assisting it to swim in its own element, or leaving this to mount the air, through which it glides along with the velocity of a bird, though but for a short distance. It is thought that it never, or very seldom, leaves the water to trust to its wings, unless hard pressed by the bonito or the dolphin, its most inveterate enemy. It would seem that this little, harmless thing had not a moment's respite, for in its own element it is almost constantly pursued by its merciless foe ; and the moment it takes to the air for safety, the sea-bird seizes upon it, even here in its flight while endeavoring to escape from its natural enemies.

I have often watched the dolphin when in full pursuit of flying-fish, bounding from wave to wave in his endeavors to overtake them, when trusting to their wings for safety ; and a more beautiful sight could not be imagined. I have sometimes seen a school of, perhaps, several hundreds in number, rise from the water at the same time, as they were pursued by the dolphin or bonito, and continuing their flight upon the wing above thenmerciless pursuers some few hundred feet, finally drop weary and exhausted into the mouths of their persevering and dreaded foes. A question might be asked with regard to this most singu lar of nature's productions. I say singular, for who would have supposed that a fish, (an inhabitant of the ocean, furnished with scales, fins and organs like the other numerous species that belong to the same element, and this one species only,) should be endowed with the power of leaving the water from which it originated, and in which every thing is found for its sustenance and support, and as its will or pleasure dictates, or its safety renders necessary, mounts the buoyant ah through which it glides along, though in limited flights, like any of the feathered tribes which are so diametrically opposite in their natures.

Why are the flights of the flying-fish so limited, as it is furnished with wings to bear it through the air? I think it may be satisfactorily answered by stating that the Crea tor has indeed given it wings but not feathers. They are of a different nature entirely. They have not the levity of the latter and consequently are not adapted to support the body, which is likewise unfurnished with feathers, any length of time in an element contrary to its nature. It has been observed that its flights are continued a much greater distance hi moist, or wet rainy weather, than when the atmosphere is dry. Hence it may be inferred. A FINE DAY AND FRESH BREEZE. that moisture, by enabling the fish to expand its fins or wings hi a larger diameter, is the cause of its continuing longer in the air. Finally, in whatever light we view this wonderful production of nature, w_e must look upon it as displaying the wisdom and power of Him who created all things that "live, move and have a being."

Chapter II

The beautiful breeze still continued to waft us alone through the deep blue sea farther and farther from our homes ; and our vessel, obedient to its impulse, bounded onward through the dancing waves like tbe fiery courser in the race towards the goal. How dazzlingly white was the foam she threw from her bows at every plunge into the heaving surges. The day was fine, the wind fresh and fair, and not a cloud to fleck the azure arch of heaven. On such a day who would not like to be upon the boundless ocean ! How delightful is the scene the eye beholds, Tas it takes in the vast circumference of waters as far as the vision extends! Myriads upon myriads of crested billows raise their snowy heads above the surface of the blue expanse, and as they curl, and toss and dash against each other, the spray thrown aloft and around, sparkles in the rays of the sun like millions of glittering diamonds.

At such a time as this, the sea is beautiful indeed. Yet, even in the storm, habit renders the sailor fearless of the tempest's wrath, and he can ever look upon the threaten ing, angry waves without any terror. It is now noon with 2us, upon the illimitable waste of waters. See yonder group of jolly tars seated in a circle near the galley par taking of their mid-day meal. In their midst is a kid of salt junk and pork, and another of ship-bread. With these, and a tin pot of tea, coffee or chocolate, they seem to be as well satisfied, as the pampered epicure of the city, seated at his table surrounded with all the luxuries that wealth can purchase. The sailor, after all, is not such an "unhappy-dog" as many imaTgine. And those who dwell on the shore, whom he has given the "sobriquet" of "land-lubbers," "Jack" would not exchange situations with.

Seated around his kid of beef and bread with his messmates, and in the hiterval of eating and drinking, holding a junk of beef in one hand, and his jack-knife in the other, assuming a serio comic face as he commences spinning one of his "long yarns" to his brother tars, who break out into a broad and hearty laugh when he arrives at the climax of his tale ; at such moments, he appears to be the happiest being in the world. And, in fact, let any one observe him while engaged in his duty, or in those moments of relaxation as above described, and I think he will not hesitate to say that he is in reality as happy as the majority of mankind. His ship, is his habitation — his cradle, in which he is rocked to sleep by the billows of the ocean — his carriage, whose steeds are the winds that waft him o'er the trackless waste. 'Tis true his walks are limited, but then his promenade is smooth and even.

He may walk miles during his watch, upon the level deck, and thus on board his sea-girt, isolated dwelling, be, as it were, still "at home." During the afternoon the wind blew so fresh as to oblige BRILLIANT PHOSPHORESCENCE OF THE WATERS. 19 us to take in all our light canvas. Towards night, heavy, threatening clouds were seen rising from the southern horizon, and the wind veering round several points, kicked up just after night-fall, such an ugly sea, that it seemed, at times, when our craft dipped her head into the heaving surges, as they came rolling on towards us, that she would pitch every mast and spar out of her hull. Never do I recollect having seen a more beautiful sight than the ocean presented on this evening. It seemed as if the crested billow-s were transformed into torches of living fire.

And as our vessel glided through the yielding flood, the foam dashed from her bows was like a brilliant phos phorescent display of a million glittering sparks ; and to enhance the beauty of the scene, a large school of porpoi ses suddenly made their appearance, and darting across our bow in their playful moods, resembled (their rapid transit through the water, leaving such a bright constella tion of gems behind,) so many comets with their long train sweeping through the azure of the sky. This singular appearance of the waters of the ocean is not uncommon at certain times, in various latitudes. Some navigators think it may be caused by electricity. Others attribute it to small animalculæ which cannot be perceived during the day, on account of the light, but shine forth hi all their dazzling lustre only in the darkness.