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Updated: June 17, 2025
He had received his full pay for them in the rum, salt, and muskets; these had been landed and handed over, and as soon as he could remove them beyond the reach of the cruiser, he would be perfectly safe and at his ease. This precaution he took as soon as the Kroomen had delivered their report.
I heard some of the news from home, which I need not repeat, but we had not much time for conversation, as, having shifted into our working clothes, we had to hurry on deck to assist the crew in getting the ship to rights. We and our two Kroomen set to with a will, and three of the sick men turned out of their bunks to help.
A sketch of the progress of the Kroomen from their first visit to Sierra Leone, to the final consummation of their wishes, in the attainment of their Paradise of idleness, will fully illustrate the peculiar character of a tribe, one of whose usages is that of seeking abroad during the vigorous years of life, the means of dwelling with ease and comfort in old age at home.
Block, was sending up a new topgallant yard, reeving new rigging, repairing the sails, and getting everything ataunto aloft. The Kroomen were busy washing out and fumigating the hold, getting ready for our cargo again. It would have been a very anxious night, except that I felt relieved by the presence of the brig which kept within hail.
The Kroomen, whom you will see at Cape Palmas, are a magnificent set of men. They furnish sailors and boatmen to all the ships trading on these shores. They are strong, willing, and faithful, but they do not like going up into the interior. Now we will land here and get a few hours' run on shore. There are one or two peculiarities about Madeira which distinguish it from other places.
The height was about five feet; the men had one side and the women the other. Of course there was no furnishing of any kind, but all lay prone upon the bare deck in rows. Every morning after breakfast the Kroomen would rig the force pump, screw on the hose and drench them all, washing out thoroughly between decks.
I suggested to Captain Bland that it would be prudent to have a guard near him at night, and begged that he would allow Medley and me, with our faithful Kroomen, Pepper and Salt, and four of his own most trustworthy men, to put up a couple of rough tents, which would afford sufficient shelter to us in that warm climate. "Do as you like, Jack," he answered.
Other interesting incidents and narrow escapes, in which Master Perkins had part, might be told, did not lack of space forbid; but enough has been shown to impress the fact that African cruising, even in a well-found man-of-war, is not altogether the work and pleasure of a holiday; yet, in looking over young Perkins's letters, we cannot forbear this description of the expertness of the Kroomen in landing through the surf.
His death was supposed to have been much accelerated by the gloomy apprehensions that entered his mind from the moment he was seized with the fever. Saturday, 15th. Attended the Court, and heard some amusing trials for house-breaking, and stealing therefrom; in one case there were Kroomen against Kroomen: Tom Coffee and Bottle of Beer against another Bottle of Beer. Sunday, 16th. Very fine day.
This afternoon the Eden's boats were sent after a vessel in the offing, which proved to be a sloop laden with palm-oil, from the Old Calabar River, bound to Liverpool. A few guanas have been seen here, and the Kroomen caught one a few days since, which they considered a great treat, and had cooked agreeably to their taste; but no venomous animal, except a few snakes, has yet been discovered.
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