72 
The Minor Tribes 
proof by the scum it makes, they like it and praise 
it as much as the best and purest brandy.” Cap¬ 
tain Boteler remarks, in 1827: “ The women do not 
speak English ; though, for the sake of what trifles 
they can procure for their husbands, they are in 
the habit of flocking on board the different vessels 
which visit the river, and will permit them to 
remain; and the wives are generally maintained 
in clothing by the proceeds of their intercourse 
with the whites.” He further assures us, that 
mulatto girls thus born are not allowed to marry 
although there is no such restriction for the males ; 
and elsewhere, he concludes, that never having 
seen an infant or an adult offspring of mixed 
blood, abortion is practised as at Delagoa and Old 
Calabar, where, in 1862, I found only one child of 
mixed blood. If so, the Mpongwe have changed 
for the better. Half-castes are now not uncom¬ 
mon ; there are several nice “ yaller gals ” well 
known on the river; and the number of old and 
sick speaks well for the humanity of the tribe. 
Devoted to trade and become a people of 
brokers, of go-betweens, of middle-men, the 
Mpongwe have now acquired an ease and pro¬ 
priety, a polish and urbanity of manner which con¬ 
trasts strongly with the Kru-men and other tribes, 
who, despite generations of intercourse with Euro¬ 
peans, are rough and barbarous as their forefathers. 
The youths used to learn English, which they spoke 
