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in retired places, of much larger dimensions, to be employed against us. We shall not discuss conjectures respecting the plans and preparations of the enemy: but we are proud to think that, on this occasion, we feel like the antient Greeks when they were threatened with invasion by the Gauls: "Fuisse tam privatim singulis hominibus, quàm publice civitatibus, unam communemque omnibus sententiam, aut funditùs pereundum, aut bello hostem superandum."

ART. XV. An Account of the Native Africans in the Neighbourhood of Sierra Leone; to which is added an Account of the present State of Medicine among them. By Thomas Winterbottom, M.D. Physician to the Colony of Sierra Leone. 8vo. 2 Vols. 155. Boards. Hatchard. 1803.

THE establishment of the colony of Sierra Leone, though it

has not, from a variety of causes, yet produced the cxtensive advantages which were expected by the philanthropic men concerned in its formation, has nevertheless afforded very desirable opportunities of acquaintance with the manners and institutions of some of the tribes of Native Africans which were before imperfectly known. The present publication will, therefore, be received with satisfaction, as forming a connected and interesting series of observations on these subjects, made during the author's long residence in an official situation at that colony; and though many of these particulars have already been communicated by former travellers, they derive additional authority from the support of his experience. Dr. Winterbottom's professional habits naturally led him to pay considerable attention to the state of medicine, among the inhabitants of that part of Africa in which he resided: but, as his remarks on this subject might be considered as little interesting to the general reader, he has confined them principally to his Second Volume.

At the commencement of his work, the author gives a summary description of the country in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone, and of the different nations inhabiting it; after which, he proceeds to mention the different peculiarities in the climate of this part of Africa. The only divisions of the year, which are made by the natives, are the rainy and dry seasons; or, as they are called by some of their tribes, the bad and good time. The rainy season commences about the end of May, and terminates about the end of September. It is ushered in and carried off by Tornadoes, which also occur frequently in the months of April, June, October, and November. It does not rain incessantly during the whole of the wet season, but REV. MAY, 1804.

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in general twelve hours of heavy rain are followed by 24 or 30 hours of clear and pleasant weather. The quantity of rain which fell, according to the author's experiments, in the year 1794, amounted to 86.28 inches; and in the year 1795 to somewhat more than 82 inches.

The air on the sea coast is in general so humid, that salt and sugar can scarcely be preserved in a dry and hard state. Iron is so speedily corroded by rust, that a thick bar of that metal, which has lain on the ground five or six years, may be broken in pieces with little difficulty; and leather soon becomes mouldy, and rots. This moist state of the atmosphere is not experienced at some distance from the sea; and in the interior parts of the country it is said to be common for a man to leave to his son. in good condition and well polished, the musket which he has used for forty years."

The mean heat in Sierra Leone was about 84° of Fahrenheit: but, in the native villages, the thermometer at noon usually stood some degrees higher than at Freetown, where the author's observations were made. The range of the Barometer rather exceeded of an inch, and Dr. W. had an opportunity of being fully convinced that a regular diurnal change in its elevation always takes place, the mercury invariably rising in the forenoon and falling in the afternoon. Harmattans or parching winds very seldom occur at this settlement.

The soil in the western parts of Africa is very luxuriant, and agriculture is universally practised among the natives. Rice is their principal and favourite article of food; and for its cultivation, nothing more is necessary than throwing it on the ground,, and scratching it in by a kind of hoe. The clearing of the land is the most difficult task for the inhabitants, who never think of preparing more than is necessary for growing the quantity of corn wanted at one season; and, as they are ignorant of the advantages of manure, and are too indolent to hoe the ground, they never raise two crops from the same plantation,. till all the ground in the neighbourhood has been cleared. In preparing their land, they merely cut down the wood, to which, before the rainy season commences, they set fire. The stumps of the trees, which are left unburnt, are speedily destroyed by the Termites, a kind of white ant; which are here very numerous, and seem to be wisely intended to remove the immense quantity of dead vegetables which would very much retard culture. The fires made for clearing the ground communicate to the grass, which here grows to the height of six or eight feet, and, from its dryness, burns with great rapidity. During this general conflagration, it is not safe to travel without ma terials for striking fire; for when a traveller sees a torrent of fame rushing towards him, he can only hope to escape it by

making another, and following its progress until he secures a retreat. The palm-tree is one of the most valuable and ornamental of their vegetable productions. Its leaves afford an excellent thatch for their houses, and a kind of hemp for making fishing lines, &c. The inner bark is manufactured into cloth, and the outer into baskets, mats, &c. Its fruit supplies the palm-oil, which is used instead of butter, and is also employed with the alkaline lixivium of the Plantain or Banana tree, for making soap. The palm-tree likewise affords a wine which is in high estimation among the natives:

To procure it (says the author) requires no small degree of agility and address. As the trunk of the tree is too rough to allow the hands and knees to be applied in climbing to its summit, the natives use a kind of hoop of an elliptical form, made of bamboo, and open at one side. The person about to ascend, first passes the hoop round the stem of the tree, including himself also; he then fastens the hoop by twisting its two ends into a kind of knot. The hands are applied to the sides of the hoop, while the feet are firmly pressed against the tree, and the lower part of the back supported by the opposite end of the hoop. In order to advance, the person thus prepared draws his body a little forwards, keeping his feet steady, and at the same moment slips the hoop a little higher up the tree, after which he advances a step or two with his feet. In this manner he alternately raises the hoop and his feet, and thus advancing, he gains at length the upper part of the stem, just below where the branches are thrown off. Here, at the height of 50 or 60 feet, with no other support than the pressure of his feet against the tree, and of his back against the hoop, he sits with perfect composure. In a small bag hung round his neck or arm he carries an auger to bore the tree, and a gourd or calibash to receive the wine. A hole is bored, about half an inch deep, below the crown of the tree, and into this is inserted a leaf rolled up like a funnel, the other end of it being put into the mouth of a calibash capable of containing several quarts, which is filled in the course of a single night. The liquor is discharged more abundantly during the coolness of the night and morning than in the heat of the day. About a quart of wine may thus be procured twice a day, for the space of a month, from each tree, without any injury to it, as it will yield the same quantity for many succeeding years. If, however, wine be taken from it for a longer time than about a month, the tree either dies, or requires a much longer respite to recover. When the palm wine has been drawn off, the hole is carefully filled up with mud, to prevent insects from depositing their eggs in it, the larvæ of which would destroy the tree.'

The Palm wine, when fresh drawn, very much resembles whey in appearance and taste, and is not intoxicating: but in 24 hours it enters into the vinous fermentation, in which state it is very inebriating, and on this account preferred by the natives.

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In the situation of African towns, security is the principal object considered; since the inhabitants, without great pre'cautions, are in danger frequently of being surprized and carried off into slavery. They generally choose the banks of some 'creek, rendered difficult of access by the thick mangroves with which it is lined; and when such a situation cannot be procured, in order still more effectually to protect themselves, they 'clear a small portion of ground in the middle of a thick impenetrable wood, barely sufficient for their buildings, and with footpaths leading to it which are so small and winding as scarcely to be traced: their towns are therefore very unhealthy, especially to Europeans. On the coast they seldom consist of more than 40 or 50 houses, and are built in a circular form, inclosing an area in the middle of which is placed the palaver house or town-hall. The houses are in general only one story high, and for the most part consist of but one room. They have no other openings than two doors to admit light, to keep up a circulation of air, and to let out the smoke of the fire, which is made in the middle of the floor:

The entrance of a house is seldom closed by any thing but a mat, which is occasionally let down, and is a sufficient barrier against all 'intruders. The most intimate friend will not presume to lift the mat and enter in unless his salutation be returned. Nay, when the door is thus slightly secured, a woman, by pronouncing the word moorádee, I am busy, can prevent her husband from entering, even though he be assured she is entertaining her gallant; his only remedy is to wait for their coming out. The Africans are not much burthened "with household furniture: a few mats to sleep on, and cloths to guard them from the cold at night, an iron pot, a few calibashes, a copper kettle for water, a balay or basket, with a small box for the women's clothes, constitute the chief part of it.'

The Palaver-house is the place in which all public business is transacted, and is a kind of central resort for the inhabitants of the town:

The men pass much of their time here conversing with each other, and hearing the news of the town, and to this place strangers go, on their first entrance into a town, and sit down until an house be provided for their reception. This place being the chief resort of the inhabitants, may be considered as a kind of exchange, and it illustrates the ancient practice of "sitting in the gate" of cities, where, as being the most public place, all business was transacted, justice was dispensed, and markets often held. Similar motives induce the Africans to hold their meetings in the burree, or palaver house; for as they have no means of authenticating the principal transactions of civil life by

Persons of rank used frequently to sit there to discharge the duty of hospitality to strangers, and to "all that went in at the gate."

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written documents, they are very careful to affix to every engagment, whether public or private, such a degree of notoriety as shall insure its memorial. For this purpose every contract is made before respectable witnesses, and when these die, people still remain who recollect to have heard the relation of it from them. Children are allowed, and even required, to be present at these meetings, and by hearing the old people converse about past transactions, the facts become indelibly imprinted in their minds; and by this early and continued practice their memories acquire an extraordinary degree of strength. The upper part of the burree, or palaver house, serves as a granary to preserve their rice; the entrance is by a hole in the floor, shut by a sliding door, and they ascend to it by means of a post, in which notches, are

cut.'

Much of the men's time is taken up by settling disputes among themselves or neighbours, which they call talking palavers, and of which they are so foud, that Africa, at the present day, may well deserve the title formerly given to it, Nutricula Causidicorum. When unoccupied by these employments they while away the hours in listless indolence, reclined upon mats, or sleeping in the shade. Indolence is, without doubt, a distinguishing feature in the character of Africans, as of all uncivilized nations. In their endeavours, however, to attain their favourite luxuries of tobacco and rum, no toil is thought

too severe.'

Among the people who inhabit the sea-coast, the division of labour is little known; and the trades of blacksmith, joiner, architect, and weaver, which are the principal in use, are generally exercised by one man. In the more interior parts of the country, the arts have made a much greater progress, and are practised as distinct occupations.

The oil of palm is very generally used to anoint the body; and the peculiar smell, so much disliked in the African, is owing to the substances which they mix with that exudation.

The natives consider it as a beauty to have their front teeth pointed; and to effect this unnatural change, they place beneath the tooth a thin flat piece of iron; a sharp-edged knife is laid edgeways upon the upper surface of the tooth, and a pretty smart blow is given to it with a piece of wood, by which a part of the tooth is chipped off: this is repeated until the tooth is made perfectly sharp, in which consists the chief beauty. They do not complain of much pain from the operation, nor are they afterwards subject to any uneasy sensa tions in those teeth from drinking cold or hot liquors.' The practice of marking the skin of the forehead and temples, as is in common use among our sailors, is very frequent among the male Africans. The females also occasionally adopt the same fashion: but there is a species of tattowing peculiar to them, which is called Sora or Soccalla:

It is used upon the back, breast, abdomen, and arms, forming a variety of figures upon the skin, which appears as if embossed. The

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