TO THE

THIRTY-SEVENTH VOLUME

OF THE

MONTHLY REVIEW

ENLARGED.

FOREIGN LITERATURE.

ART. I. Voyage à la Côte occidentale d'Afrique, &c. i. c. A Voyage to the Western Coast of Africa, performed in the Years 1786 and 1787; containing a Description of the Manners, Cus toms, Laws, Government, and Commerce of the States of Congo frequented by Europeans; and an Account of the Slave Trave as it existed there before the French Revolution. With a Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, and a Description of the Military Establishment at that Colony. By L. DEGRANDPRÉ, an Officer of the French Marine. Embellished with Views, Charts, and a Plan of the Citadel at the Cape. 8vo. 2 Vols. Imported by De Boffe, London. Price 148. sewed.

IT

Paris.

1801.

T seldom happens to us, in the perusal of a publication, that the first occasion for remark occurs in the title-page: but, in the present instance, we must begin by observing that the writer of these volumes would have been more correct, if he had been contented with intitling them a Description only; instead of applying the denomination of Voyage to a work which has neither the form nor the substance of a journal or narrative, and in which the voyager scarcely appears, except in the way of occasional anecdote. A false step at the threshold, however, is not always an omen of bad entertainment within; and we believe that the reader will not find it so in this case.

In an avant-propos, the author wastes some time and many pages, in an attack on the notorious impostor Damberger; whom he chastises for various misrepresentations, and for having questioned the reality of le Vaillant's Travels. This suspicion is justly *See M. Rev. N. S. Vol. xxxv. p. 241.

APP. REV. VOL. XXXVII.

Gg

retorted

1

retorted on Damberger; who is here accused of ignorance, and of meriting no credit in what he has written concerning the kingdom of Angola. The following passage, in the succeeding Introduction, promises the world a valuable addition to the knowlege which has been obtained of the interior of Africa: Mungo Park and Browne have attracted the attention of Europe by their excellent travels to the centre of Africa. Le Vaillant, zealous for the glory of his country, is again about to set off in a career which he has so often pursued. It is said that, in his proposed incursion, he intends principally to follow the route of Mungo Park. There is no reason for apprehending that such a route will not furnish a rich harvest for more than one traveller.

The first volume of this work and a portion of the second are occupied by a description of that part of the Western coast of Africa, which is generally comprehended under the name of the coast of Angela; and which extends from Cape Lopez in oo 44 S. to Ambriz in 7° 20′ S. latitude. At a short distance to the south of this, is the Portuguese settlement of St. Paul de Loango; which, the author says, on account of the forbidding reception of strangers by the Portuguese, is seldom visited by the ships of any other nation. The natives themselves give to the whole of the country near the coast, within the above limits, the name of Congo.

M. DEGRANDPRÉ enters early on a defence of the natives of Africa in general against the charge of being cannibals; and he describes the inhabitants of Congo as of a mild, timid, and indolent disposition.

Strange as it may appear, (he says), the very people whom the Europeans réproach with being cannibals urge the same accusation on Europeans; and when any of them are sold to us, they seem to entertain but one apprehension, that of being eaten. This idea may, indeed, be regarded as presumptive evidence against them: but every thing which they see conduces to fill them with terror. Their fears are confirmed by irons and chains, and by the armed state of preparation in which they find us. When they are taken on board, the first objects that meet their eyes are the seamen drinking a red liquor, in appearance resembling blood, and eating meat preserved with salt and salt petre. Alarms, proceeding from such causes, justify no inferences to their prejudice. I traded for 1500 slaves in the year 1787; nearly all of whom I questioned on the subject, and every one shewed signs of horror and disgust when I demanded whether they had eaten human flesh, or had seen it eaten.'

The author calculates that, of 5co slaves bought in Africa, 400 arrive in the West Indies: that one half of those die in three years; and that not more than one quarter of the remainder leave posterity. Another calculation is made to shew

that,

and coffee.

that, in the island of St. Domingo only, 2,500,000 people (reckoning the million of original natives destroyed by the Spaniards) have been sacrificed to supply Europeans with sugar He adds: Were an estimate to be made for the other European colonies, in order to find the sum total of men which America has cost Africa, we should obtain a result that I should not dare to give, lest it should be deemed exaggeration !'

Section I., after the Avant-propos and Introduction, is intitled < Productions; and here the author remarks that

In this country (Congo) we find a variety of soil, but in general it is stony, close, and heavy. Neither sand nor light earth is to be discovered. The cantons that are cleared by the natives, and those which are cultivated near our factories, evince the fertility of the land, which is alternately red and black, but mostly red. Every where, the soil appeared loaded with the spoils of the vegetable kingdom; but I no where observed it enriched at the expence of the animal kingdom: no remnants of shells nor petrifactions were to be seen; yet they may, nevertheless, exist. I have run over a great extent of country on this coast, without meeting lava, or any thing that indicates the former existence of a volcano.'

The climate, as well as the country, in M. DEGRANDPRÉ'S representation, makes this region appear a terrestrial paradise. Vessels anchor on the open coast with perfect safety, never experiencing the least accident; and the heat of the day is always tempered by the sea-breeze. The rivers and lakes are said to abound with fish; the mountains, covered with wood, are full of game; the plains abound in flocks; the water is good; and the earth voluntarily yields those products which elsewhere are drawn from it by labour. The wild fruits here are described as equal to those which in our colonies are improved by culture; and the woods are stated to be full of citrons, bitter oranges, pine apples, guavas, and pimento, all growing spontaneously. The wild sugar-cane in this country becomes immeasurably' large, savoury, and full of juice. Cocoa nuts, yams, sweet potatoes, &c. are found in abundance. Agriculture is consigned to the women: but the labour is light. It suffices to loosen the earth an inch in depth, and to cover the grain so as to hide it from the birds. Nature does the rest!-The mountains, the author says, are almost all ferruginous: but the metal remains at rest in the bowels of the earth, the natives not knowing how to extract it; and the Europeans encourage their idleness and ignorance in this respect, by supplying them with more than they want.' The Portuguese, in their colony of St. Paul, have discovered some valuable mines of the more precious metals.

After this view of the land, the author remarks; Here we might obtain the same commodities as in the Antilles, and they would be the more valuable for being the product of free and voluntary labour. Moderate wages would draw workmen to our plantations.-Those who planted coffee would not water it with the tears of despair.' As he proceeds, however, something of the old leaven" appears mixed with the benevolence of his plans. An undertaking of this nature (he says) presents no considerable difficulty: the people are inclined to commerce; our goods are become necessary to them; and long habits of intercourse have produced attachment, instead of the unfavourable prejudices which the first approach of strangers excited. They speak our language: they are formed to serve; they are industrious, tranquil, mild, and too cowardly to make opposition to an establishment among them.'— As if these were the sentiments of pure humanity, the -writer then proceeds: They would regard us as benevolent deities, who, coming to occupy their land, instead of selling them, would teach them cultivation.' He speaks of the cruelties exercised by the Portuguese, of the hatred towards them which the natives entertain, and says that they would not feel the same sentiments of aversion respecting the French. It would be sufficient to observe to them, "You desire our commodities here, take them: but, for my part, I will have no more slaves. You cultivate the earth in order to sell yams and potatoes to me; you traverse the woods to fetch fruits for me. Cultivate also sugar and coffee, and I will buy of you. Instead of selling captives, you shall bring me the fruit of your labour," &c.'

There is evidently room for doing very important good, by encouraging the Africans in the practices of husbandry: but, with the present writer, the foremost consideration is, the advantage which his countrymen would reap by forming settlements among them :—whether with their consent, or without, is not considered as material. It is very questionable whether the French, or the people of any other nation, so forming establishments, would not have views similar to those of the Portuguese; whether they would not fall into the same practices which have rendered the latter odious to the natives; and whether they would cease to transport the natives to their other colonies. So much of M. DEGRANDPRÉ's ideas, as relate to inducing the Africans to cultivate their own lands from motives of benefit for themselves, cannot fail of being approved; and it does not appear visionary that, by proper means, they might be encouraged to a gradual increase of industry, which would become a source of universal benefit.

In his description of the natives, the author makes various conjectures concerning the similarity which many of their customs bear to some that were formerly known in Europe. He supposes that they have found their way from the North; and he remarks that, in proportion as we advance towards the Southern extremity of Africa, the natives appear more and more distant from a state of civilization. They are idolaters; their idols are mostly avenging gods; and they have no remunerating divinity. The larger idols are addressed only on extraordinary occasions: the less are the household gods, the penates. Doubtless, both must be regarded as protecting deities. A particularity very remarkable, (says the author,) and which, if it were investigated, might lead to a knowlege of the history of the country, is that the grand divinities have not the African figure: their nose, especially, is immeasurably large, and in form aquiline.' Another custom equally remarkable is, that, in passing judgment in criminal affairs, they employ the same kind of evidence which was once used in Europe; i. e. trials by fire and by poison, which are managed by the priests.

Their language is soft, flowing, and flexible. [M. DegrandPRÉ has inserted a vocabulary, which does not contradict this description.] Most of the verbs terminate in the present tense in a, and in the past in i; (which the author thinks indicates a Latin derivation :) and we are told that they have no future tense; in which case, the language is not well adapted to qualify them for courtiers. The author, who sometimes delights in profound research, enters here boldly into the dark, and attempts to shew the possibility that the Romans, in the time of the Punic wars, might have effected the conquest of Congo. Did we not (he says) lose every trace of a Roman army, which was said to have been overwhelmed by the sands of Africa? &c.-Surely we ought not now to wonder at the fables which, in the accounts of early times, occupy the space before regular history commences.

A chapter is allotted to the government and legislation of these people. The authority of the king is unlimited, and the government of all the states on the coast is despotic: but against this, however, there is sometimes a remedy; it being customary with those who are strong enough to defend themselves, to resist the legal authority. The crown in most of the states is hereditary. At Loango, it is elective, but among the princes of the blood royal; the purity of which is acknowleged to flow only by female descent. The children of the prince are not princes unless born of a princess: but all the children of a princess, by whatsoever fathers, are born princes