The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Volume IIClarkson, Thomas
History
The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808), Volume II
Clarkson, Thomas
Slave trade -- Africa
The first division of the box consisted of woods of about four inches
square, all polished. Among these were mahogany of five different sorts,
tulip-wood, satin-wood, cam-wood, bar-wood, fustic, black and yellow ebony,
palm-tree, mangrove, calabash, and date. There were seven woods of which
the native names were remembered: three of these, Tumiah, Samain, and
Jimlaké, were of a yellow colour; Acajoú was of a beautiful deep crimson;
Bork and Quellé were apparently fit for cabinet work; and Benten was the
wood of which the natives made their canoes. Of the various other woods the
names had been forgotten, nor were they known in England at all. One of
them was of a fine purple; and from two others, upon which the privy
council had caused experiments to be made, a strong yellow, a deep orange,
and a flesh-colour were extracted.
The second division included ivory and musk; four species of pepper, the
long, the black, the Cayenne, and the Malaguetta: three species of gum;
namely, Senegal, Copal, and ruber astringens; cinnamon, rice, tobacco,
indigo, white and Nankin cotton, Guinea corn, and millet; three species of
beans, of which two were used for food, and the other for dyeing orange;
two species of tamarinds, one for food, and the other to give whiteness to
the teeth; pulse, seeds, and fruits of various kinds, some of the latter of
which Dr. Spaarman had pronounced, from a trial during his residence in
Africa, to be peculiarly valuable as drugs.
The third division contained an African loom, and an African spindle with
spun cotton round it; cloths of cotton of various kinds, made by the
natives, some white, but others dyed by them of different colours, and
others, in which they had interwoven European silk; cloths and bags made of
grass, and fancifully coloured; ornaments made of the same materials; ropes
made from a species of aloes, and others, remarkably strong, from grass and
straw; fine string made from the fibres of the roots of trees; soap of two
kinds, one of which was formed from an earthy substance; pipe-bowls made of
clay, and of a brown red; one of these, which came from the village of
Dakard, was beautifully ornamented by black devices burnt in, and was
besides highly glazed; another, brought from Galàm was made of earth, which
was richly impregnated with little particles of gold; trinkets made by the
natives from their own gold; knives and daggers made by them from our
bar-iron; and various other articles, such as bags, sandals, dagger-cases,
quivers, grisgris, all made of leather of their own manufacture, and dyed
of various colours, and ingeniously sewed together.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account