Mungo Park

“ A little after noon, when the burning heat of the sun was reflected with double violence from the hot sand, and the distant ridges of the hills, seen through the ascending vapour, seemed to wave and fluctuate like the unsettled sea, I became faint with thirst, and climbed a tree in hopes of seeing distant smoke, or some other appearance of a human habitation; but in vain, nothing appeared all around but thick underwood and hillocks of white sand. ”

“ When a freeman has become a slave by any one of the causes before mentioned, he generally continues so for life, and his children (if they are born of an enslaved mother) are brought up in the same state of servitude. There are, however, a few instances of slaves obtaining their freedom, and sometimes even with the consent of their masters; as by performing some singular piece of service, or by going to battle, and bringing home two slaves as a ransom; but the common way of regaining freedom is by escape; and when slaves have once set their minds on running away, they often succeed. ”

“ The city depends exclusively on trade, which is entirely in the hands of the Moors. The chief article of commerce is salt, which is dug out of the mines of Sahara; but other articles, both of European and native manufacture, are likewise sold. The goods are embarked for Jenne, and bartered for gold, slaves, and provisions. The city is surrounded with plains of moving sand. "The horizon is of a pale red. All is gloomy in nature. The deepest silence reigns—not the song of a single bird is heard." ”

“ The mountains were lofty and steep, composed of a coarse species of red granite, but cultivated to the very tops, and the villages built in their glens were singularly romantic. "The inhabitants," says Park, "have plenty of water, and grass at all seasons; they have cattle enough for their own use, and their superfluous grain purchases all their little luxuries; and while the thunder rolls in awful grandeur over their heads, they can look from their tremendous precipices over all that wild and woody plain, which extends from the Falemé to the Black River." ”

“ About daybreak, Johnson, who had been listening to the Moors all night, came and whispered to me that they were asleep. The awful crisis was now arrived, when I was again either to taste the blessing of freedom, or languish out my days in captivity. A cold sweat moistened my forehead as I thought on the dreadful alternative, and reflected, that, one way or the other, my fate must be decided in the course of the ensuing day. But to deliberate was to lose the only chance of escaping. ”

“ I have observed that the Moors, in their complexion, resemble the Mulattoes of the West Indies; but they have something unpleasant in their aspect, which the Mulattoes have not. I fancied that I discovered in the features of most of them a disposition towards cruelty and low cunning; and I could never contemplate their physiognomy without feeling sensible uneasiness. From the staring wildness of their eyes, a stranger would immediately set them down as a nation of lunatics. ”

“ In Mungo Park, we are not afraid to say, that the world lost a great man—one who was well qualified, and indeed has been, one of its benefactors. His travels are interesting, not merely to those who care about Africa, or the great schemes to his zeal for which he fell a martyr, but to all who take delight in the spectacle of unbounded courage and heroic ardour, unalloyed with any taint of ferocity, selfishness, or bigotry. ”

“ With the slightest attention and care, the soil would yield an abundant return; but the people are satisfied if they merely supply the cravings of nature, contenting themselves with slightly turning up the ground with the hoe. As they left Chouchow, a delightful morning following a rainy night, caused the flowers and shrubs to exhale delicious perfumes. On each side of the path were granite mountains of irregular shapes, the tops of which were covered with trees, and in the hollows of their slopes were clusters of huts. ”

“ Such of the domestic slaves as appear to be of a mild disposition, and particularly the young women, are retained as his own slaves. Others that display marks of discontent are disposed of in a distant country; and such of the freemen or slaves, as have taken an active part in the war, are either sold to the Slatees or put to death. War, therefore, is certainly the most general and most productive source of slavery; and the desolations of war often (but not always) produce the second cause of slavery, famine; in which case a freeman becomes a slave to avoid a greater calamity. ”

“ It is not strange, that this sense of filial duty and affection among the Negroes should be less ardent towards the father than the mother. The system of polygamy, while it weakens the father's attachment, by dividing it among the children of different wives, concentrates all the mother's jealous tenderness to one point, the protection of her own offspring. I perceived with great satisfaction, too, that the maternal solicitude extended not only to the growth and security of the person, but also, in a certain degree, to the improvement of the mind of the infant ”

“ In the midst of all this complication of difficulties, it is impossible not to be struck with the nobleness of Park's conduct, facing boldly difficulties however arduous, and endearing himself to his men by the greatest attention and kindness,—himself enduring toil that they might have rest, lingering behind the party to help on some exhausted soldier, or mounting him upon his own horse, comforting the desponding, and in their last hour consoling and soothing the dying. ”

“ A state of subordination, and certain inequalities of rank and condition, are inevitable in every stage of civil society; but when this subordination is carried to so great a length, that the persons and services of one part of the community are entirely at the disposal of another part, it may then be denominated a state of slavery; and in this condition of life, a great body of the Negro inhabitants of Africa have continued from the most early period of their history; with this aggravation, that their children are born to no other inheritance. ”

“ The distant country presented to the eye a dreary expanse of sand, with a few stunted trees and prickly bushes, in the shade of which the hungry cattle licked up the withered grass, while the camels and goats picked off the scanty foliage. The scarcity of water was greater here than at Benowm. Day and night the wells were crowded with cattle, lowing and fighting with each other to come at the troughs; excessive thirst made many of them furious: others, being too weak to contend for the water, endeavoured to quench their thirst by devouring the black mud from the gutters near the wells ”

“ The Moors are certainly very good horsemen. They ride without fear; their saddles being high before and behind, afford them a very secure seat; and if they chance to fall, the whole country is so soft and sandy, that they are very seldom hurt. Their greatest pride, and one of their principal amusements, is to put the horse to his full speed, and then stop him with a sudden jerk, so as frequently to bring him down upon his haunches. Ali always rode upon a milk-white horse, with its tail dyed red. ”

“ The scenery in the neighbourhood is said to be very fine. "Our ears," says Lander, "were ravished by the warbling of hundreds of small birds, which, with parrots and parroquets, peopled the branches of the trees in the vicinity of the stream, whose delightful banks were thereby overshadowed; and the eye met a variety of beautiful objects,—groves of noble trees, verdant hills, and smiling plains, through which the river winded, carrying fertility and beauty in its course, and altogether forming a rich and charming landscape." ”

“ Perhaps, by a philosophic and reflecting mind, death itself would scarcely be considered as a greater calamity than slavery; but the poor Negro, when fainting with hunger, thinks, like Esau of old, "Behold, I am at the point to die, and what profit shall this birth-right do to me?" There are many instances of free men voluntarily surrendering up their liberty to save their lives. ”

“ A freeman may, by the established customs of Africa, become a slave by being taken in war. War is, of all others, the most productive source, and was probably the origin of slavery; for when one nation had taken from another a greater number of captives than could be exchanged on equal terms, it is natural to suppose that the conquerors, finding it inconvenient to maintain their prisoners, would compel them to labour ”

“ The Moors have singular ideas of feminine perfection. The gracefulness of figure and motion, and a countenance enlivened by expression, are by no means essential points in their standard: with them, corpulence and beauty appear to be terms nearly synonymous. A woman of even moderate pretensions must be one who cannot walk without a slave under each arm to support her; and a perfect beauty is a load for a camel. In consequence of this prevalent taste for unwieldiness of bulk, the Moorish ladies take great pains to acquire it early in life ”

“ Be this as it may, it is a known fact, that prisoners of war in Africa are the slaves of the conquerors; and when the weak or unsuccessful warrior begs for mercy beneath the uplifted spear of his opponent, he gives up at the same time his claim to liberty; and purchases his life at the expense of his freedom.
In a country, divided into a thousand petty states, mostly independent and jealous of each other; where every freeman is accustomed to arms, and fond of military achievements ”

“ It was a matter of greater difficulty to manage the asses: their natural stubbornness of disposition made them endure a great deal of pelting and shoving before they would venture into the water; and when they had reached the middle of the stream, four of them turned back, in spite of every exertion to get them forwards. Two hours were spent in getting the whole of them over; an hour more was employed in transporting the baggage; and it was near sunset before the canoe returned, when Demba Sego and myself embarked in this dangerous passage-boat, which the least motion was like to overset. ”

“ But though the African husbands are possessed of great authority over their wives, I did not observe that in general they treat them with cruelty; neither did I perceive that mean jealousy in their dispositions which is so prevalent among the Moors. They permit their wives to partake of all public diversions, and this indulgence is seldom abused; for though the Negro women are very cheerful and frank in their behaviour, they are by no means given to intrigue: I believe that instances of conjugal infidelity are not common. ”

“ My fellow-travellers having better horses than myself, soon left me, and I was walking barefoot, driving my horse, when I was met by a coffle of slaves, about seventy in number, coming from Sego. They were tied together by their necks with thongs of a bullock's hide twisted like a rope; seven slaves upon a thong, and a man with a musket between every seven. Many of the slaves were ill-conditioned, and a great number of them women. ”

“ After some delay, they were ushered into the presence of the chief of Bornou. He sat upon a carpet, in a small dark room, which was ornamented with weapons of war, and was plainly attired in a blue gown and shawl turban. He seemed to be about forty-six years of age; his countenance was open, and conveyed the idea of mildness and benevolence. He inquired, "What was their object in coming?" They answered, "To see the country, and to give an account of its inhabitants, produce, and appearance, as their sultan was desirous of knowing every part of the globe." ”

“ But although milk is plentiful, it is somewhat remarkable that the Foulahs, and indeed all the inhabitants of this part of Africa, are totally unacquainted with the art of making cheese. A firm attachment to the customs of their ancestors makes them view with an eye of prejudice every thing that looks like innovation. The heat of the climate, and the great scarcity of salt, are held forth as unanswerable objections: and the whole process appears to them too long and troublesome to be attended with any solid advantage. ”

“ I passed in the course of this day the ruins of three towns, the inhabitants of which were all carried away by Daisy, King of Kaarta, on the same day that he took and plundered Yamina. Near one of these ruins I climbed a tamarind tree, but found the fruit quite green and sour; and the prospect of the country was by no means inviting; for the high grass and bushes seemed completely to obstruct the road, and the low lands were all so flooded by the river, that the Niger had the appearance of an extensive lake. ”

“ The white traders in the maritime districts take no pains to counteract this unhappy prejudice; always performing their own devotions in secret, and seldom condescending to converse with the Negroes in a friendly and instructive manner. To me, therefore, it was not so much the subject of wonder as matter of regret, to observe, that while the superstition of Mahomet has in this manner scattered a few faint beams of learning among these poor people, the precious light of Christianity is altogether excluded. ”

“ Our company now amounted to two hundred men, all on horseback; for the Moors never use infantry in their wars. They appeared capable of enduring great fatigue; but from their total want of discipline our journey to Jarra was more like a fox-chase than the march of an army.
At Jarra, I took up my lodging at the house of my old acquaintance, Daman Jumma; and informed him of every thing that had befallen me. I particularly requested him to use his interest with Ali to redeem my boy, and promised him a bill upon Dr. Laidley, for the value of two slaves, the moment he brought him to Jarra. ”