&96 Adamses Account of the 



*!»:»>, had any ot' Iiis sniijocts been guilly 

 «>t' such a (respass, the consequences to 

 Iheni would have horn serious. 



CONNY. 



The town of l]onny is placed on the 

 left bank ot a river, about five miles from 

 tlic scfi. It is built on a morass (in fact, 

 Ihc surrounding country is little else), 

 tiaYin<; the river on the west, and a 

 creek on the north, w liich leads to Little 

 Botniy, a branch of which also coniuni- 

 Mirates with the river Adony. 



This place is the wholesale mnrket 

 for slave?, as not fewer than 20,000 arc 

 annually sold here ; 16,000 of whom arc 

 natives (jf one nation, called Heebo, so 

 that this single nation has not exported 

 a less number of its people, during the 

 tost twenty years, than 320,000 ; and 

 those of the same nation sold at New 

 and Old Calabar, probably amounted in 

 the same period of time to 50,000 more, 

 making an aivgregato amount of 370,000 

 Hccbos. The remaining part of the 

 above 20,000 is composed of the na- 

 tives of the brass country, called 

 Alliikous, and also of Ibbibbys or 

 Quaws. 



Fairs, where the slaves of the Heclio 

 unlion arc obtained, are held every five 

 or six weeks at several villages, which 

 arc situated on the banks of the rivers 

 and creeks in the interior, and to which 

 tf»c traders of Lonny resort to purchase 

 thcni. 



The preparation necessary for -going to 

 tliese fairs generally occupies the Bonny 

 pcojjle some days. Large canoes, capa- 

 ble of c;irrying 120 persons, are launched 

 and stored for the voyage. The traders 

 aiigntent the quantity of their merchan- 

 dize, by obtaining from their friends, the 

 captains of the shivc ships, a considcra- 

 hle quantity of goods on credit, accord- 

 ing to the extent of business they are in 

 the hubit of transacting. Evening is the 

 period chosen lor the time of di'parlurc, 

 when they pro(;eci! in a body, accompa- 

 aied by tlie noise of drums, horns, and 

 gongs. At the expiration of the sixth 

 day, they generally retmn, bringing 

 Yiith them 1 ,600 or 2,000 slaves, who are 

 sold to Europeans the evening after 

 their arrival, and taken on-board the 

 ships. 



The Hccbos, to judge by the immense 

 number annually sent into slavery, in- 

 habit a comitry of great extent, and ex- 

 tremely populous, the southern boun- 

 dary of which may be comprised between 

 Cape Formosa and Old Calabar; and it- 

 is very jirobable that the towns at the 

 moutlis of llic livers along the coast, in- 



Cvunlry extending from 



chrding New Calabar and Bonny, were 

 peopled origiirally from the Heebo 

 country: in fact, Amaeree, the King of 

 New Calabar, and Pepple, King of 

 J>onny, are both of Heebo desc<;nt, as 

 well as many of the principal traders at 

 both these j)lacts. 



A liUAVR KACE. 



The coinitry inhabited by a nation 

 called Ihbibby, or Quaw (the Mocoesof 

 the West Indies), bounds it on the cast. 

 'I'o this nation the Hccbos express a 

 strong aversion, and call tlieni cannibals. 

 'J'licy eertairrly have a fcrorious aspect, 

 and their appearance and disposition 

 would cause a person to suppose, that in 

 their own coinitry they lead a wild, pre- 

 datory life. Whenever insurrection has 

 taken place oir boai'd of a slave ship at 

 Bonny, they have always been found to 

 be the ringleaders, and often the only 

 slaves concerned in it, the Heebos re- 

 maining passive si)eclators. Contrary 

 to the latter, they have very black skins, 

 and their Icctli filed so as to resemble 

 those of a saw. 'I'ho females are 

 equally mischievous and ferocious as the 

 men. 



THE Hr.EEOS. 



The Heebos, in their persons, arc tall 

 and well formed, many of the women 

 synmietrically so; and nray be distiti- 

 gnishod from the other tribes of Africans 

 by their skins having generally a yellow, 

 bilious cast, although varying, in some 

 instances, to a deep black. Their dis- 

 positions are naturally tinrid and de- 

 sponding, and their despair on being 

 sent on board of a ship is often such, 

 that tiioy use every stratagem to cllcct 

 the commission of suicide, and which 

 they would often accomplish, unless 

 narrowly watched: they, however-, by 

 mild treatment, soon become reconciled 

 to their floatitrg [)risnns. 



KING OF KONNY. 



It is cxpcoled that every vessel, on her 

 arrival, will fire a salute the instant the 

 anchor is let go, as a compliment to the 

 black monarch, who soon afterwards 

 makes his appearance in a large canoe, 

 at which tiini', all those natives who 

 hapi)CM to be alongside of the vessel arc 

 compelled to proceed in their canoes to 

 a respectful distance, and make way for 

 his majesty's barge. After a few com- 

 pliments to the captain, he usually en- 

 quires after brother George (meaning the 

 King of England), and hopes ho and his 

 family are well. He is not pleased un- 

 less he is regaled with the best the ship 

 allurds ; and, on returning to his canoe, 

 cxjiects to find a Jiltlc store of sugar, 



tea. 



