THE CAMEROONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2056, 20 July 1893, Page 49

THE CAMEROONS.

Taking our departure from the River Opobo we journey on towards the Oamsroons in the stillness of an African early morn, with the recollections of odr previous day's adventures with King Ja Ja still fresh upon our memory. Even at this early hour, with the grey mist of the morning not yet dispersed by the sun's powerful rayp) insect and animal life are waking up, and the screeching of thousands or parrots passing over the ship on their way to their regular feeding grounds soon disturbs all those who would like to snatoh afew extra winks after a restless night, owing to those bloodthirsty little" torments, the mosquitoes, which swarm in these rivers in conntless numbers, brought into life in the stagnant pools of water surrounding the lagoons. One by one the other officers of the ship appear on deck in their sleeping suits, and the ship slowly passes along, in many places so close to the shore that we are assailed by the noisy chatter of the red-haired mangrove monkey, who appears highly indignant at our daring to almost invade his territory, and follows us from bough to bough of the endless trees, chattering and showing his teeth in a very threatening manner, much to our amusement. Now and then a .large alligator may be seen quietly crawling up the side of the river bank, disappearing in the thick undergrowth of the bush, to silently and undisturbed digest his nootnrnal meal. Numerous kingfishers are to be seen diving off the branches of the trees after the small fish which abound in these rivers. Many beautif nl-plumaged flamingoes are now taking their silent flight across the surface of the water to their quiet roosting places, or to bask in the rays of the sun during the day, while the, large black mangrove flies, whose stings penetrate through our light and airy costumes, soon make us beat a hasty retreat to the saloon to enjoy our usual cup of coffee and cigar or pipe, and wait there till the ship gets once more on the blue waves of old Neptune, when we can fully enjoy the luxury of our morning bath without fear of contamination by bathing in these impure African rivers. The time of our visit was the season when tornadoes frequently occur in these tropical regions, and we were unfortunate enough to encounter one of these fearful gales ol wind. Accompanied as they are. by vivid flashes of lightning, which run down the metal ropes of the ship as though they were in a blue flame, it is always advisable to keep well under cover. The rain also descends in such torrents that one would think the deluge had come. Total darkness sets in even in the middle of the day, the wind howls from all quarters, the noise being so great that the captain's orders cannot be heard from the bridge, and the crest of the waves appears to be " out " by its force. All is confusion and dismay during this sndden war with the elements, which, fortunately, is not of long duration. After having gone through this ordeal, the total darkness quickly passes away, and an hour afterwards the son may be shining brightly. This proved to be the case in this instance, when we found ourselves near Cape Lopez— the spot for big game shooting. I was told by a trader who had visited it that it literally swarmed with wild animals. In the open plains are to be seen countless numbers of antelopes, with the graceful giraffe quietly browsing on the young trees at the outskirtsof the forest, while in the deep jungle are to be found leopards, elephants, and other large animals.

Cape Lopez, being not far from Fernando Po, could be easily arrived at from that place by any parties whose object was big game shooting. We were ones in the unique position when taking our observations of finding ourselves exactly " on the line" at eight bells (noon), when making for the Cameroons. After our recent experiences in passing through the tornado it was most refreshing to see once more the bright sunshine, and watch the aerial flights of the graceful flying fish, as they skipped over the surface of the sea, or make the rash attempt to fly across the ship, with the result of many of them being stranded on our deck, much to the delight of "Jack," who appropriates them for a delicious fry.

We soon sight the high mountain ranges of the Cameroons, which loom up in the distance, looking as though they were shrouded with beautiful purple in the midst of a bright blue sky. Slowly entering the Cameroon river, we arrive opposite the native town, consisting of a large collection of rudelyconstructed mud buildings, situated upon the top of a hill. I think I have previously mentioned the fact that we had on board a most rowdy crew of sailors, whom we were taking out to re-man one of King and Co.'s (of Bristol) barques, the original drew having all died of fever in this river. We were heartily glad to get rid of them, as they had been an endless source of trouble and annoyance to us on the voyage. As they left our vessel they gave us a parting " blessing" by yelling out, " May the captain and all the officers on board never see Home again"— at which we grimly smiled. By the irony of fate they themselves and the vessel in which they left the Oameroons for Bristol was never heard of again, and is supposed to have gone down with all hands.

The Cameroons is now a German possession, but when I paid my last visit to it the English were the only traders there. Messrs King and Co. then did a large business with the natives in palm oil, &c, and I cannot understand how it was that the British flag was never hoisted on this country. The natives were a most hostile lot, being constantly engaged in tribal wars. Bven during our stay a miniature war occurred amongst them, and an engagement took place in the village. Spears and rifle balls were flying about in all directions, and men might be seen crouching round the back of the buts, only to be pounced upon and shot or speared by the enemy. We therefore thought it was advisable not to go on shore. The next day we were surrounded by a

great number of canoes, with many men in them, most of them armed with Bpears, &o. Their leading chief appeared to be a big brawny nigger, with a trade uniform cap on his head with " Joe " worked on it in gold letters. These fellows all appeared determined to come on board, but our captain thought it wise to keep them at a distance. As they had no live stock or anything .to sell, he warned them off, but to this they paid no attention, so, getting one of the rifles out of the ship's armoury, he let fire a shot close to the big chief's canoe. This soon soared them, and they all jumped into the water, turning over their canoes at the same time, that they might shelter themselves. This is a mode adopted by these Africans when a "naval" engagement takes place amongst them. Very soon afterwards dozens of black heads might be seen emerging from under the canoes, looking like so many cocoanuts floating upon the water. When they had allowed their boats to drift out of range, as they thought, they quickly turned them over again, clambering into them and paddling away. The Cameroon Mountains are the most lofty range known to exist on the south-west African coast. They extend a great distance back. Very little exploration has been done on them. In the woods at the foot of these mountains are to be found whole troops of baboons, apes, and the dog-face monkey, besides many other descriptions of the Simian race. Moonstones and catseyes are said to be founds in this district, but I never came across any, except at Sierra Leone, where I obtained some very good specimens. The natives are not sufficiently educated to value precious stones of any description except long red " pipe coral," as it is called by traders ; and this is only allowed to be worn by an African king or chief, and is considered by them of great value, they often giving the trader several large casks of palm oil for one large piece of this class of coral. i

Prince's Island Is our next port of call after the Cameroons. It is but seldom that any steamer will call in at this beautiful little spot, which now belongs to the Portuguese Government, and was at one time a great slave depot, being a most convenient spot for slavera to make for if chased by a man-of-war. It is now a penal settlement, and we had a quantity of stores to land for the authorities. Therefore our arrival is most welcome to them. Upon landing we are met by two or three seedy-looking officials in black alpaca coats and dirty white trousers, with yellowy brown bell-toppers, much resembling the colour of their faces. They kindly invite us up to their official residence, where we partake of vino-tinto (red wine) and some most delicious fruit, the produce of the island.

Prince's Island is a lovely little spot, and one cannot help being charmed by its many natural beauties. Upon landing you proceed through a delightful avenue of tropical trees all festooned by Nature with the most beautiful flowering creepers, whose tendrils hang down from a great height almost to the ground, covered with gorgeons blooms. Numbers of various-coloured butterflies and birds of gay plumage are seen flying about from flower to flower. The stately palm and cocoanut trees, with the far-spreading leaves of the banana, from which hang large clusters of luscious, ripe, yellow fruit, also the straggling bread-fruit tree, with its gigantic fruit showing conspicuously amidst its bright green leaves, form a refreshing shade to rest under. On all Bides are to be seen the waxlike foliage of the rubber tree and the pink blooms of numerous oleanders, interspersed with the wild cotton tree flowers. It is one of the most beautiful spots on earth, where " Man alone is vile," and "vile" many of' the men I soon came across proved. They were working in a chain gang, with a sentry carrying a loaded musket watching over them, and they certainly were a hang-dog looking lot, and must have committed serious crimes to be treated thus, more particularly in such a tropical climate, for the Portuguese, as a rule, aievery lenient with their prisoners. It vas a saint's day, and under the shade of a cluster of large orange trees, and the deepspreading leaves of the delicious mangosteen, were a large collection of crosses and religious pictures, amongst which those of the Virgin Mary largely predominated. They were seb out on various tables and stands, and many of the prisoners, who appeared to have full liberty, were gathered round them.

Oar stay at this lovely little island is unfortunately of short duration, so we " up anchor" and away to the Gaboon, the country of the gorilla, of which I shall have something to say in my next.