Remarks on the Country Extending from Cape Palmas to the River Congo: Including Observations on the Manners and Customs of the Inhabitants ...G. & W.B. Whittaker, 1823 - 265 pages |
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Common terms and phrases
Abomey Accra Africa anchor Angola Annamaboo Appolonia Ardrah Asshantee Assorted Badagry Bafts beach Benin bight of Benin black monarch blue boats Bonny Bonny river brandy burthen Cabenda calavancies called Camaroons canoes Cape Coast Cape Palmas captain Chelloes climate coast of Angola colour consequence considerable Cost Trade Cradoo lake creek crew Dahomy demand distance Ditto Drewin eastward embouchure European extremely Fantee fetiche fish former Formosa French Gatto Gold Coast gold-takers Grewhe Gunpowder Guns Heebos Housa India inhabitants interior island ivory Jaboo John Africa king Lagos Lahoo land latter place maize Malemba manufacture miles nation natives Niger night obtained Old Calabar palm-oil persons piece Pinins Popo price in value puncheons quantity Remarks RIVER CONGO Romals salt season ship shore tons town trade in slaves value in England voyage Warré wind wood Wydah yams yards
Popular passages
Page 14 - Wilt thou upon the high and giddy mast Seal up the ship-boy's eyes, and rock his brains In cradle of the rude imperious surge ; And in the visitation of the winds, Who take the ruffian billows by the top, Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them With deafning clamours in the slippery clouds, That, with the hurly, death itself awakes ? Canst thou, O partial sleep!
Page 14 - Who take the ruffian billows by the top, Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them With deaf'ning clamours in the slippery clouds, That, with the hurly, death itself awakes ? Canst thou, O partial sleep! give thy repose To the wet sea-boy in an hour so rude; And, in the calmest and most stillest night, With all appliances and means to boot, Deny it to a king ? Then, happy low, lie down ! Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
Page 144 - Many of the natives write English; an art first acquired by some of the traders' sons, who had visited England, and which they have had the sagacity to retain up to the present period. They have established schools and schoolmasters, for the purpose of instructing in this art the youths belonging to families of...
Page 38 - African tribes; the former being substantially built, and not unfrequently having apartments over those on the basement story, and the latter having a form which renders them less liable to upset, or, to speak in a sailor's phrase, not so crank. The Fantee women are well formed, and many of them are not wanting in personal beauty, as their features are small, their limbs finely rounded, their hands and feet small, and their teeth uniformly white and even. The...
Page 230 - ... as soon as the wind blows steadily from the land, hugging the shore on board as near as may be prudent; for by that means every advantage is derived from it that can be expected. Soon after day-light, this wind veers to the west, and lays the ship's head off shore. By...
Page 97 - The horrid custom of impaling alive a young female, to propitiate the favour of the goddess presiding over the rainy season, that she may fill the horn of plenty, is practised here annually.
Page 243 - Benin and \Varre, are moderate. The medium of exchange is salt; but accounts are kept in pawns, the value of one of which is equal to a bar in Bonny, averaging from two to three shillings sterling each. In trading for oil and ivory, it will be unnecessary to establish a factory at Gatto, as was the practice of slave ships, unless a competitor has fixed one in that town. MERCHANDISE SUITABLE TO BARTER FOE PALMOIL AND IVORY, AT BONNY.
Page 98 - D impaled while I was at Lagos, but of course I did not witness the ceremony. I passed by where her lifeless body still remained on the stake a few days afterwards. Male dogs are banished to the towns opposite to Lagos, for if any are caught there, they are immediately strangled, split, and trimmed like sheep, and hung up at some great man's door, where rows of the putrid carcasses of their canine...
Page 158 - The superior healthiness of the castle itself may be accounted for, by its southern rampart wall being built on a ledge of rocks which project a little way into the sea, and against which rocks the sea beats with great violence, thereby creating at all times a cool and refreshing current of air within the castle. The...
Page 81 - Soap is manufactured of wood-ashes and palmoil; sandals of bull and cow-hides; baskets of various forms are ingeniously wrought and manufactured ; also earthenware for culinary and other purposes ; besides stools, canoes, and mats, A singular custom prevails here, that of anointing occasionally the interior walls of houses with fresh cow-dung; a useful practice, for it dries quickly, has by no means an unpleasant smell, and fills up crevices, which would otherwise be tenanted by noxious and troublesome...