In Cases Of
Murder, I Was Informed, That The Nearest Relation Of The Deceased Had It
In His Power, After Conviction, Either To Kill The Offender With His Own
Hand, Or Sell Him Into Slavery.
When adultery occurs, it is generally
left to the option of the person injured, either to sell the culprit, or
accept such a ransom for him as he may think equivalent to the injury he
has sustained.
By witchcraft is meant pretended magic, by which the lives
or health of persons are affected; in other words, it is the
administering of poison. No trial for this offence, however, came under
my observation while I was in Africa, and I therefore suppose that the
crime, and its punishment, occur but very seldom.
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. Some of them will wait for years before
an opportunity presents itself, and during that period show no signs of
discontent. In general, it may be remarked, that slaves who come from a
hilly country, and have been much accustomed to hunting and travel, are
more apt to attempt their escape than such as are born in a flat country,
and have been employed in cultivating the land.
Such are the general outlines of that system of slavery which prevails in
Africa; and it is evident, from its nature and extent, that it is a
system of no modern date. It probably had its origin in the remote ages
of antiquity, before the Mahomedans explored a path across the Desert.
How far it is maintained and supported by the slave traffic, which for
two hundred years the nations of Europe have carried on with the natives
of the Coast, it is neither within my province nor in my power to
explain. If my sentiments should be required concerning the effect which
a discontinuance of that commerce would produce on the manners of the
natives, I should have no hesitation in observing, that in the present
unenlightened state of their minds, my opinion is, the effect would
neither be so extensive or beneficial, as many wise and worthy persons
fondly expect.
CHAPTER XXIII.
_Of gold-dust, and the manner in which it is collected. - Process of
washing it. - Its value in Africa, - Of ivory. - Surprise of the Negroes at
the eagerness of the Europeans for this commodity. - Scattered teeth
frequently picked up in the woods. - Mode of hunting the elephant. - Some
reflections on the unimproved state of the country, &c._
Those valuable commodities, gold and ivory, (the next objects of our
inquiry,) have probably been found in Africa from the first ages of the
world. They are reckoned among its most important productions in the
earliest records of its history.
It has been observed, that gold is seldom or never discovered, except in
_mountainous_ and _barren_ countries. Nature, it is said, thus making
amends in one way, for her penuriousness in the other. This, however, is
not wholly true. Gold is found in considerable quantities throughout
every part of Manding; a country which is indeed hilly, but cannot
properly be called mountainous, much less barren. It is also found in
great plenty in Jallonkadoo, (particularly about Boori,) another hilly,
but by no means an infertile country. It is remarkable, that in the place
last mentioned, (Boori,) which is situated about four days' journey to
the south-west of Kamalia, the salt market is often supplied, at the same
time, with rock-salt from the Great Desert, and sea-salt from the Rio
Grande; the price of each, at this distance from its source, being nearly
the same; and the dealers in each, whether Moors from the north, or
Negroes from the west, are invited thither by the same motives, that of
bartering their salt for gold.
The gold of Manding, so far as I could learn, is never found in any
matrix or vein, but always in small grains, nearly in a pure state, from
the size of a pin's head to that of a pea; scattered through a large body
of sand or clay; and in this state it is called by the Mandingoes _sanoo
munko_, "gold powder," It is, however, extremely probable, by what I
could learn of the situation of the ground, that most of it has
originally been washed down by repeated torrents from the neighbouring
hills. The manner in which it is collected is nearly as follows: -
About the beginning of December, when the harvest is over, and the
streams and torrents have greatly subsided, the Mansa, or chief man of
the town, appoints a day to begin _sanoo koo_, "gold washing;" and the
women are sure to have themselves in readiness by the time appointed. A
hoe, or spade, for digging up the sand, two or three calabashes for
washing it in, and a few quills for containing the gold dust, are all the
implements necessary for the purpose. On the morning of their departure,
a bullock is killed for the first day's entertainment, and a number of
prayers and charms are used to ensure success; for a failure on that day
is thought a bad omen. The Manga of Kamalia, with fourteen of his people,
were, I remember, so much disappointed in their first day's washing, that
a very few of them had resolution to persevere; and the few that did had
but very indifferent success: which indeed is not much to be wondered at,
for, instead of opening some untried place, they continue to dig and wash
in the same spot where they had dug and washed for years; and where, of
course, but few large grains could be left.
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