¹ “Journal of a Voyage from Sierra Leone to the River Kisi Kisi in the Schooner Experiment of Sierra Leone, February 1805, perform” d by Alex.[ande]r Smith; by order of Governor Day,” Sierra Leone Collection, University Library, Manuscript Division, University of Illinois at Chicago (hereafter cited as “Smith 1805”). An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Sierra Leone Symposium which met at the University of Birmingham in 1981. The author is indebted to the National Endowment for the Humanities, which supported this research and associated travel. The Smith 1805 “Journal” is printed here with the permission of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

² Skinner, David E., “Sierra Leone Relations with the Northern Rivers and the Influence of Islam in the Colony,” International Journal of Sierra Leone Studies, 1 (1988), 93–94.Google Scholar Skinner, 94, wrote that “Civil War [in Moria] ensued in almost every case of succession after the death of an alimami, as rivals among the Ture [from Famoria, Yankissa, Moribaya, Tana, Berika, and Rowula] sought the royal turban.” Skinner's, description in Thomas George Laiuson (Stanford, 1980), 52–64Google Scholar, of principal lineages in the Northern Rivers and the roles they played in Moria politics is particularly helpful.

³ “Journal of Zachary Macaulay” entry dated 27 April 1798, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, California. I saw a microfilm copy of this journal at the Fourah Bay College Library, Freetown, Sierra Leone.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Mouser, Bruce L., ed., Journal of James Walt: Expedition to Timbo Capital of the Fula Empire in 1794 (Madison, 1994), ms. 83–93Google Scholar; Frederick W. Butt-Thompson, “The First Generation,” West African Folio, no. 139, Colonial Office Archives, London, 6; Skinner, David E., “Mande Settlement and the Development of Islamic Institutions in Sierra Leone,” IJAHS, 11 (1978), 42–43.Google Scholar

⁷ Mouser, Bruce L., ed., “Journal of Mr. Bright's Expedition to the Mandingo Country,” in Guinea Journals: Journeys into Guinea-Conakry During the Sierra Leone Phase, 1800-1821 (Washington, 1979), ms page 19, 42, 80–81Google Scholar; Winterbottom, Thomas, An Account of the Native Africans in the Neighbourhood of Sierra Leone (2 vols.: London, 1804), 1:246–49.Google Scholar Macaulay's journal (above) is also rich in information about a slave insurrection that Moria and its allies suppressed in 1795-96 and about interruptions in interior paths caused by war between Temne and Limba. See also Afzelius, Adam, Sierra Leone Journal 1795-1796, ed. Kup, A. P. (Uppsala, 1967), 123Google Scholar, for more on slave insurrections on the coast.

⁸ Mouser, James Watt, “Introduction,” as cited.

⁹ Ibid., 12^v, 75^r, 118^r, 119^r, 123^v. For additional references to trade goods consult the index in ibid.

¹⁰ Ibid., 79^v.

¹¹ See Mouser, Bruce L., “Trade, Coasters, and Conflict in the Rio Pongo from 1790 to 1808.” JAH, 14 (1973), 45–64CrossRefGoogle Scholar, for extensive treatment of the Company's enterprise in the Pongo between 1795 and 1802.

¹² Mouser, , James Watt, ms page 121Google Scholar; Fyfe, Christopher, A History of Sierra Leone (London, 1962), 89Google Scholar; Zachary Macaulay Diary, entries dated 9-11 April 1793, Henry E. Huntington Library, Manuscripts Division, San Marino, California. In Howard, Allen M. and Skinner, David E., “Network Building and Political Power in Northwestern Sierra Leone, 1800-65,” Africa, 54 (1984), 2–27CrossRefGoogle Scholar, the authors focus primarily on networks in the Kambia/Port Loko regions and after 1815, but their discussion, ibid., 17, of Dumbuya activities and description of network building are particularly helpful for understanding events of 1790-1810 in Sumbuya and Moria.

¹³ “Richard Bright Journal” in Mouser, Guinea Journals (hereafter “Bright 1802”)” 18 October, reported that Fendan Modu Dumbuya's annual production of sea salt amounted to 100 tons and rice to 100 tons. Bright also noted that Fendan Modu's people grew cotton that they wove into cloth sought inland by Benna, Sulima, and Fula peoples.

¹⁴ Mahawa Bangura, Contribution à l'histoire des Sosoe du 17^e au 19^e siècle, printed as “Mémoire de Diplome de fin d'études supérieurs, 1971-72” (Institut Polytechnique Gamal Abdel Nasser, République de Guinée, 1971–1972), 89, 161, 170.Google ScholarSkinner, David E., “Islam in Sierra Leone during the Nineteenth Century” (Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley, 1971), 81Google Scholar, noted that Fendan Modu also married a daughter of Bai Sherbro of Bullom Shore. Such marriage alliances, in combination with consanguineal ties with ruling families among the Baga-Kaloum, represented a significant network of alliances covering nearly 150 kilometers of the coast.

¹⁵ “Smith 1805,” 7.

¹⁶ Zachary Macaulay Diary, entry dated 9 April 1794. For other references see Skinner, “Mande Settlement,” 45-46; Skinner, , Thomas George Lawson, 30–31Google Scholar; and “Bright 1802,” 23 October.

¹⁷ Howard and Skinner, “Network Building,” 19.

¹⁸ It should be noted that Fendan Modu Dumbuya was attempting to establish similar marriage alliances.

¹⁹ “Smith 1805,” 27 March; “Bright 1802,” 1 October.

²⁰ The best accounts of the Nova Scotian Rebellion and the background leading to it are found in Peterson, John, Province of Freedom (Evanston, 1969)Google Scholar; Wilson, Ellen Gibson, The Loyal Blacks (New York, 1975)Google Scholar; and Wilson, James W. S. and Wilson, G., The Black Loyalists (New York, 1976).Google Scholar

²¹ “Smith 1805,” testimony from Prince Tom on 1 April. Skinner, “Sierra Leone Relations,” 95, dates Dala Modu's settlement near Freetown as beginning in 1799.

²² King Tom's attempt to recruit Morian involvement perhaps was not misplaced. Late in 1802 (“Bright 1802,” 2 October), Sattan Sulaiman, governor of Forékariah, told Bright that Moria had no complaint against the Company, except that the Company had insulted Moria by consulting the Fula and showing preference “to the Foula king in sending an embassy to him [in 1794] and neglecting theirs. This conduct, he thought, very preposterous. The former was at too great distance to serve the colony as an ally, which was not the case with the latter.” In reply, Bright argued that Company discussions with Timbo had occurred in consequence of several factors, among them a desire “to establish peace between the Foulas and Susoos, and to open a new path for trade. An offensive or defensive alliance with the Foulas was out of the question. We knew that they were too distant to answer those purposes.”

²³ “Bright 1802,” 30 September.

²⁴ “Smith 1805,” 1 April.

²⁵ PRO, CO270/8, Council, 1 July 1802 [p. 105); Fyfe, , History of Sierra Leone, 90.Google Scholar After the war's failure, King Tom, Fatima Fode, and numerous Nova Scotians retreated to Maligia. Namina Modu (Port Loko), Quiaba Sinna (Melakori), and Yansane (Forédougou) convinced Saltan Tournant to hold King Tom and the Nova Scotians at Maligia until the Company, or someone else, paid for their release. Fatima Fode's fate would be decided “by his Peers in the grand palaver.” “Bright 1802,” 4 October.

²⁶ “Bright 1802,” 3 October 1802. See also “Journal of Zachary Macaulay,” entry dated 10 June 1797. “Bright 1802,” 1 October, noted that Bassi was “subject to epileptic fits, and takes little part in public affairs.” Skinner's, David E. “Sierra Leone Relations with the Northern Rivers and the Influence of Islam in the Colony,” International journal of Sierra Leone Studies, I (1988), 91–113Google Scholar, is based in part on the 1805 report by Smith. Skinner's discussion of Djula families in the Northern Rivers and Türe kin groups is useful for understanding complex networks operating in this region at the turn of the century. See also Skinner, Thomas George Lawson, chapter 3, for discussion of Ture factions and competing networks in the Northern Rivers.

²⁷ “Smith 1805,” 12 March. Skinner, , Thomas George Lawson, 71Google Scholar, interpreted the contest of power between 1798 and 1803 as principally a struggle between Amara and Quia Bubu (Bubakr).

²⁸ “Bright 1802,” 5 October. Also see Skinner, , “Sierra Leone Relations,” 94, 94n7.Google Scholar

²⁹ “Smith 1805,” 12 March.

³⁰ A later analysis in Freetown by “a Correspondent” identified Amara as “by birth and alliance, powerful in Foutah,” in “Consideration as Affording the Means of Communications with the Interior of Africa,” in The Royal Gazette; and Sierra Leone Advertiser, 24 February 1821, enclosed in PRO, C0271/2. “Bright 1802,” 6 October, noted that both Senesi and Amara had received training in Timbo and were “two of the best Arabic scholars” in Moria. Linkage to Fula interest would also have disadvantaged Senesi's candidacy.

³¹ “Smith 1805,” 12 March.

³² “Bright 1802,” 14 October. See also ibid., entries dated 1 October and 8 October.

³³ “Smith 1805,” 29 March.

³⁴ “Smith 1805,” 6, 14 March. See also P. Hartwig Journal, entry dated 22 April 1806, Church Missionary Society, CA1/E1/116C, for description of continuing disruption of interior trade paths.

³⁵ “Smith 1805,” 25 March.

³⁶ “Smith 1805,” 1 April.

³⁷ Ibid., 30 March. Sattan Toumani died late in 1802, and Kutan Modu, his brother, became Maligia's headman since Senesi was still considered too young to become his successor.

³⁸ “Smith 1805,” 3, 5 April.

³⁹ Ibid., 31 March. In 1802, Benna and Moria nearly went to war over an incident that began when some Benna traders purchased arms and gunpowder from Yansane of Forédougou, informing him of their intended use in a planned coup in Benna Country. The ruler of Benna learned of the plan and sent a large force coastward to teach Yansane a lesson. Yansane sought help from Melakori and Forékariah but, receiving none, decided to settle his dispute through a gift of slaves to the Benna ruler. Whether this incident was fully resolved in 1805 is unclear; Smith in 1805 did not mention it in his record. See “Bright 1802,” 23 October.

⁴⁰ See Afzelius, , Sierra Leone journal, 138Google Scholar, for report that Mori Kanu had received Matacong Island “by inheritance.” Bright (“Bright 1802,” 18 October) reported that Fendan Modu Dumbuya's annual production of sea salt amounted to 100 tons and rice to another 100 tons. Bright also noted that Fendan Modu's people grew cotton that they wove into cloth sought inland by Benna, Sulima, and Fula peoples. Fendan Modu told Zachary Macaulay in 1794 (“Diary of Zachary Macaulay, 1 August 1793 to 16 April 1794,” entry dated 10 April), that he had traveled to the Fuuta Jaloo and beyond it near Bambara Country. Joining commerce in coastally produced salt was trade in kola that was considerable. For kola see Allen Howard, “Trade and the Spread of Islam in Sierra Leone, Eighteenth-Twentieth Centuries,” forthcoming, and Brooks, George E., Landlords and Strangers (Boulder, 1993), 69, 278–80.Google Scholar

⁴¹ “Smith 1805,” 1 April; “Bright 1802,” 4 October. See “Smith 1805,” 28 March to 2 April, for full testimony about the Iles de Los raids. Several years earlier, Bulloms had seized two canoes belonging to Sattan Bassi of Forékariah and carrying rice to Freetown. The Bulloms captured Bassi's “brother,” sold him to a Bance Island merchant, where Bassi ransomed him. See “Journal of Zachary Macaulay” entry dated 17 April 1798, for this incident.

⁴² “Smith 1805,” 6, 14 March. See also P. Hartwig Journal, entry dated 22 April 1806, Church Missionary Society, CAl/El/116c, for description of continuing disruption of interior trade paths.

⁴³ “Smith 1805,” 4 April. It is unclear whether all participants were aware that this provision of indigenous practice would not be enforced; however, it is reasonable to assume that such was common knowledge, considering comments made later in the manuscript.

⁴⁴ Ibid., 20, 21, 26 March. Captain Smith apparently had engaged in a local practice of advancing Dubakr of Berika 75 bars worth of merchandise which would be used to purchase African products. Bubakr claimed that he had received only 55 bars of goods from Smith and had repaid 33.5 bars of this amount with local goods. Smith claimed to have received nothing from Bubakr. In “Bright 1802,” 28 October, Bubakr of Berika was identified with an alias, Quia Bubu, son of Alimami Sitafa Morani.

⁴⁵ “Smith 1805,” 12 March.

⁴⁶ Ibid., 25 March. The term “sovereign” in this instance might have represented a recognition of rank in status or relative power. Sierra Leone officials increasingly learned to manipulate differences between rulers near Freetown, appealing to those of greater rank for assistance in disputes between the Company and those of lesser rank. See “Diary of Zachary Macaulay, 1 August 1793 to 16 April 1794,” entry dated 7 March 1794, for an example of an early attempt to appeal to a ruler of greater rank for assistance against a ruler of lesser rank.

⁴⁷ Ibid., 3 April.

⁴⁸ Ibid., 4 April.

⁴⁹ Ibid., 5 April. This and entry dated 5 March are the only references within the report that the Company might have had a greater objective in attending the conference. By 1805 lack of effective leadership in Moria; increasing tensions between Temne, Bullom, Susu, and Mandingo headmen north of Freetown; and disruptions of commerce may have led to concern within the Company that its security and fortune were endangered and perhaps that those responsible could be brought into line with election of a forceful ruler in Moria. Amara's declaration of himself as “father” of the region effectively subsumed all headmen within his realm and declared Amara responsible for their actions. On the other hand, this may simply have been an expected by-product of the conference and not a result which the Company attempted to guarantee through its attendance at the conference.

⁵⁰ Ibid.

⁵¹ Ibid. The definition of “traditional fashion” is one which would plague the Company and Colony in years to follow.

⁵² Ibid., 6 April.

⁵³ Rev. Peter Hartwig, Church Missionary Society, resided in Forékariah in 1806 and while there wrote insightful comments concerning Amara and his objectives; see Church Missionary Society, CA1/E1/116b, c, d, “P. Hartwig's Journals.” McGowan, Winston, “The Establishment of Long-Distance Trade between Sierra Leone and its Hinterland, 1787-1821,” JAH, 31 (1990), 25–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar, has admirably traced Mandingo/ Morian interests during this period.

⁵⁴ The Forékariah River above the town of Forékariah was known as Kisi Kisi.

⁵⁵ Captain William Day, R.N., served as Governor of Sierra Leone for most of 1803 and again from January 1805 to November 1805, and was the first governor to die there.

⁵⁶ Amara was a son of Mori Morani who preceded Sitafa as ruler of Moria. Amara was born ca. 1769/70 and ruled the Moria kingdom from October 1805 until his death on 19 December 1826, with the reign name of Alimami Amara Morani. He received his formal education in the Fuuta Jaloo between 1774-75 and 1798.

⁵⁷ Neville operated a factory at Forékariah as an agent of John Tilley of Bance Island and maintained a close working relationship with the Sierra Leone Company. In 1806 officials at Freetown regularly purchased goods through his store and sent a Church Missionary Society missionary, Peter Hartwig, to live with Neville while Hartwig learned Susu and became acquainted with the country.

⁵⁸ The towns of Forédugu and Fanje were special towns that had acquired that status during earlier wars of Mandingo expansion on the coast. The Yansane lineage was known as the “Ground Kings.”

⁵⁹ The settlement regularly obtained rice and cattle from the northern rivers, especially the Forékariah and Wonkapong (Quiaport) rivers. The Company had sent representatives to a conference in the river, but it also purchased rice and cattle at the same time.

⁶⁰ Disputes involving only African parties.

⁶¹ It was common practice for Europeans to advance goods with which local produce could be purchased or bartered. The currency of the coast was counted in “bars.” “Bar values” were generally calculated according to the barter value of goods in demand; scarce goods acquired high bar value, while surpluses could demand only low bar value.

⁶² Perhaps he refers to Tanéné or to the people of the Tana (or Sama) river area.

⁶³ Krango may refer to Koranko, a group living southeast of Sulima. Krango maintained prominent positions within Susu and Mandingo societies as outsiders who were well-educated and loyal to the ruling class. These may have been the same as musicians and praise-singers called Jella, Jellimen, and Garangies in “Bright 1802,” 17 October.

⁶⁴ King Thomas Williams of the lies de Los should not be confused with King Tom of the Sierra Leone River. Tom Williams had studied near Liverpool in his youth and returned to become ruler of the Iles de Los, more particularly of Tamara Island, after the death of his father, George Williams, ca. 1793. Amara, also called Amra/Amrah, was a headman on Factory/Kassa Island, and in 1814 was landlord to Church Missionary Society missionaries who operated a mission/school near his town. Amara was described as a scholar, one who wrote Arabic and who had received a formal Islamic education in the interior. It was common for headmen to send one son to England or Sierra Leone and another to the Fuuta Jaloo for educations.

⁶⁵ The relationship between Moria and Towiya was frequently one of conflict. Towiya was located on one of the major paths from the Fuuta Jaloo and its ruler could easily move from alliance with Moria to alignment with Temne and Loko peoples located to its east and south. After 1806 Towiya and Moria often disagreed over tariffs and taxes applied to trade along these paths.

⁶⁶ In 1802 Smith visited the Forékariah River and described Amara as the son of Alimami Mori Morani.

⁶⁷ This feast may have been the one known as Eid ul Adha, Abraham's Sacrifice of Ismail, held on the tenth day of the Hajj.

page 245 note * This a sacrafice to implore success on any business to be undertaken.

⁶⁸ This may refer to a daughter of Daniel Cary who was one of the Nova Scotians who participated in the 1801-02 rebellion and who retreated to Mandingo country when that rebellion failed.

⁶⁹ A practice was called panyarring by traders along this coast.

⁷⁰ This may be a reference to A Defence of the Slave Trade on the Grounds of Humanity, Policy and justice, published in London by J. Highley in 1804, and now attributed to Robert Bisset.

page 247 note (*) A Drum, a large country bowl covered with an ox hide.

⁷¹ At this time, the Sierra Leone settlement was commonly known as the Camp.

page 249 note * This expression so irritated Dalla Mooda that he immediately started up, took up his Cutlass and the Mat on which he sat & exclaiming, [“]Caffres! We are not Caffres!” Walked out of the Palaver House. He was seized at the Door, taking before his father & the peace Officers immediately proceeded to inflicted punishment on him for the interruption [* continued at the bottom of Ms31] interruption & insult he had offered the assembly; they had pulled of[f] his Cap & proceeding to strip him of his Gown when his father begged he might be forgiven on asking pardon publickly, this he instantly did[,] resumed his seat & Moricanu was desired to proceed.— A bundle of Rods is placed in the middle of the house as a monitor to unruly members.—

⁷² Stephen Caulker was a principal headman in Sherbro located southeast of Freetown. This account of an attempt to secure Mori Kanu's assistance in war in the Sherbro, with a possible alliance against the Freetown settlement is suspect.

⁷³ Lugar is the term used in the Northern Rivers to refer to plantations or farms. It was common for lugars to be staffed by slaves.

⁷⁴ A narrow cloth worn around the waist, one meter long and eight centimeters wide.

⁷⁵ Aspinwall, alias Aspinall, operated factories in the Scarcies River and at Port Loko. He was associated earlier with John Tilley of Bance Island.

⁷⁶ The Rio Pongo was a notorious entrepot of trading at the beginning of the century, with many European, African-American, American, EuroAfrican, Luso-African, and African slave traders operating factories there.

⁷⁷ It was common practice for captives destined for sale on the coast to be first offered for ransom. The literature is replete with examples of important persons searching for relatives captured in wars and who found them on the coast, before the latter were sold to ship captains.

page 257 note (*) Mohammedan law.—