The crocodile, the author writes (pp. 82-83), is very common along the riverbanks. The hunter covers his right arm with several layers of strong cowhide and carries a dagger or Flemish knife in his hand. He approaches the animal holding out his arm, and the instant the crocodile

Captioned

Ink and watercolor. Three of the settlements of the American Colonization Society as approached from the sea, showing rectangular houses of the American colonists and the circular ones with conical thatched roofs of the indigenous Africans. From top to bottom: 1) Bassa, the settlement of Bassa Cove (established in 1832). A (two-story?) rectangular house in the center is labeled Ramboís. Jacob Rambo, a Protestant Episcopal Church missionary, was head of the Bassa Cove mission starting in 1855.. He arrived in Liberia from Pennsylvania in 1849 and initially spent some time at Cape Palmas. Mary Louise Rambo, his first wife, died at Bassa Cove in November 1855. 2) Sinou, probably the settlement of Greenville not far from the mouth of the Sinou (Sino/Sinoe) river. 3) Cape Palmas (Maryland in Liberia colony), established in 1834, showing the town of Harper with its various churches. Several denominations were represented at Harper in the 1830s and 1840s. On the right a flagpole with a flag (probably of the Maryland in Liberia colony) adjacent to a lighthouse; the latter is probably the stone lighthouse constructed in 1834 or 1835 not long after the settlement of the cape (Latrobe, p. 65). The round houses probably depict the quarter or section inhabited by the Grebo/Glebo, the indigenous inhabitants of the area. Dead Manís Isle is in the right hand corner. Before the arrival of American colonists, the Glebo buried their dead on Dead Island, near Cape Palmas. In 1840, about 300 American colonists lived at Cape Palmas whose settlement was, in the words of an American visitor, situated on a small promontory or a high bluff (Brooks, p. 166). Sources: African Repository, June 1851, pp. 163-171; Anon. Traditional History and Folklore of the Glebo Tribe (Bureau of Folkways/Folklore, Liberia, 1965), p. 123; Horatio Bridge, Journal of an African Cruiser (New York, 1845), p. 117; George Brooks, A Salem Merchant at Cape Palmas, Liberia, in 1840 (Essex Institute Historical Collections, vol. 98 [1962], pp. 166, 169; Samuel D. Ferguson, An Historical Sketch of the African Mission of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the U.S.A. (New York, 1884), passim; Maryland Colonization Journal, vol. 9 (1857), passim; John Latrobe, Maryland in Liberia (Baltimore, 1885), p. 65; John L. Wilson, Western Africa (New York, 1865), p. 402; Robert Nassau, Crowned in Palm-Land (Philadelphia, 1874), p 73; Anna Scott, Day Dawn in Africa (New York, 1858), passim. See other image references UVA on this site. For background to this and other UVA images, see image reference UVA01.

Ink, watercolor, pencil. In 1822, the American Colonization Society established the settlement at Cape Mesurado, later named Monrovia. Among other features, this drawing shows the rectangular houses of the settlers and the circular houses of the indigenous population (Bassa?); churches are also shown. The promontory on the right has a flagpole (another is on the left) and lighthouse. The latter is probably the first lighthouse at Cape Mesurado, erected in 1836. The drawing of Cape Mount does not display man-made features. Sources: Harry Johnston, Liberia (Dodd, Mead, 1906); Richard Hall, On Africís Shore (Baltimore, 2003). See other image references UVA on this site. For background to this and other UVA images, see image reference UVA01.

"Public Appearence of the King of Benin" (caption translation). This artistic impression shows an Oba from the Bight of Benin region mounted on a horse and surrounded by retainers playing various musical instruments. Giulio Ferrario (1767-1847) never went to African but produced volumes aimed at the "encyclopedic" organization of disparate knowledge as "entertainment" in the exotic and the different. This image appears to be derived from one edition or another of Dapper (e.g., 1668, 1686). See image BO17.

This engraving shows a man with a donkey and a group of people with sacks on their heads crossing a bridge over the Senegal river. People on the banks of the river watch. Park described "a bridge of bamboos, of a very singular construction. . . two tall trees, when tied together by the tops, are sufficiently long to reach from one side to the other; the roots resting upon the rocks, and the tops floating in the water. When a few trees have been placed in this direction, they are covered with dry bamboos, so as to form a floating bridge, with a sloping gangway at each end, where the trees rest upon the rocks. This bridge is carried away each year by the swelling of the river in the rainy season, and is constantly rebuilt by the inhabitants . . . who on that account expect a small tribute from every passenger" (p. 338). Based on a sketch made by Mungo Park (1771–1806), who was a Scottish explorer and member of the African Association. He travelled across the Western Savanna to map the course of the Niger, which he erroneously theorized merged with the Congo river. On his second expedition, he was killed about two-thirds of the way down the Niger at Bussa in Borgu.

Captioned, Mode of Carrying Ivory, the engraving shows a Central African village scene with people gathered in front of their houses, a woman carrying a jar on her head, a man smoking a pipe; in the foreground a male is carrying a large elephant's tusk on his shoulder while holding two spears in his right hand. This volume is based on the writings of David Livingstone, but it is unclear if the engraving was done specifically for this volume or is based on another source.

A kitchen is a most important appendage to the domestic establishment of the Africans (p. 436). The kitchen, described in detail on p. 436, is constructed of wattle-and-daub. Utensils include iron pots, stones on which the pots rest, bellows, pottery, basketry; poultry are also shown. See also illustration Exterior of Kitchen, Sierra Leone, image reference ILN435b.

Kitchen is made of wattle-and-daub with a thatched roof; grain being pounded with a wooden pestle and mortar. The scene is near Freetown.See also illustration, Interior of Kitchen, Sierra Leone , image reference ILN435c.

Caption, Waterloo Market, shows what is described as the second most important market in Sierra Leone, after Freetown. The marketplace occupies one side of a spacious quadrangle, which has in its centre a circular inclosure (p. 436); the building at the right is inhabited by the British colonial official.

Caption, interior of piazza, shows houses, hammock, and various items in village near Freetown; described in article (p. 436).

Caption, Bambooing a hut, near Freetown. Bambooing refers to thatching of the house, described in the article (p. 436).

This image depicts line fishing from canoes off of the Cape Verde islands. Also shows loin cloths and hairstyles of fishermen and gives some idea of the heavy surf.

Oware is an abstract strategy "pit and pebble" board game played worldwide. There are slight variations to the game, i.e. number of players, layout and strategies. Its origin is debatable, but it is widely believed to be of Asante origin. It is called different names in different cultures, but it is popular throughout West Africa and the Caribbean. Sylvain Meinrad Xavier de Golbèry (1742-1822) was a captain in the French military who explored the Senegambia region to provide economic, social, and political information for the French government. In describing this engraving, Golbèry wrote, "the young Foulha [Fula], Manding [Madingo], and Jolof Negresses are passionately fond of a game, which they call ouri; it is a complex game, which they study attentively, and pride themselves on playing with propriety. . . and yet it is only played by women" (p. 422-424). Another translation of this work (London, 1803), by William Mudford, with some variations in wording, contains the same image, but reversed.

The text in the image states "cases des negres" or "palisaded village." In the center, a woman with child on her back were cultivating a garden, while in the foreground, a European was trading with Africans. The caption for this scene states "il faut achepter [sic] la permission de faire de l'eau en faisant present d'eau de vie a l'alcaty" or "in order to acquire fresh water one needs permission from the chief and must give him a present of brandy." Note the smoking pipe and weapons on the right. The 1699 Amsterdam edition contains a similar, albeit derivative copy, of this image (facing p. 7).

This image depicts different scenes. The text in the images states "comme les singes portent des enfans sur les arbres" or "how monkeys carry their babies in the trees;" "habillement des circoncis" or "dress of circumcised young men;" "Negre jouant du balafo" or "Negro playing the balafon." Otherwise, the image shows conical house with thatched roof. The 1698 English edition (London) contains this image, but facing p. 33, while the 1699 Amsterdam edition contains a similar, albeit derivative and not identical copy (facing p. 45). The image of a "Negre Jouant du Balafo" is in Jean Baptiste Labat , Nouvelle Relation de l'Afrique Occidentale (Paris, 1728), vol. 2, facing p. 332.

This image shows woman pounding corn with mortar and pestle in front of a thatched house (coscou). On the right, a European was buying two African men with leg irons (commerce des esclaves). In the background, European ships and a canoe with paddlers standing up (comme les Negres rament de bout). The 1699 Amsterdam edition contains a similar, albeit derivative copy, of this image (facing p. 16).

"Arrival of Europeans in Africa" (caption translation). This engraved print was an idealized view of Africans with trade goods greeting Europeans landing from a long boat and ocean-bound vessels in the background.

This image shows the king of Dahomey in regalia with one of his retainers holding an umbrella. Forbes described "His Dahoman Majesty, King Gezo, is about 48 years of age, good looking. . . his appearance commanding, and his countenance intellectual, though stern in the extreme. That he is proud there can be no doubt. . . the king was plainly dressed, in a loose robe of yellow silk slashed with satin stars and half-moons, Mandingo sandals, and a Spanish hat trimmed with gold lace; the only ornament being a small gold chain of European manufacture" (vol. 1, pp. 76-77). Frederick E. Forbes went to Dahomey in the Bight of Benin region on a British anti-slavery mission in 1849 and 1850. On his first voyage, he "rescued" an Egbado princess, Sara Forbes Bonetta, whom he "gifted" to Queen Victoria.

Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh, meaning "God Speaks True" in Fon, was a leader of the Dahomey Amazon army in the Bight of Benin region. These female soldiers were known as ahosi. This image shows her in war uniform, holding rifle in one hand and decapitated head of enemy in the other. According to Forbes, "the amazons are not supposed to marry. . . All dress alike, diet alike. . . what the males do, the amazons will endeavor to surpass. They all take great care of their arms, polish the barrels, and, except when on duty, keep them in covers. There is no duty at the palace, except when the king is in public, and then a guard of amazons protect the royal person. . . The amazons are in barracks within the palace enclosure, and under the care of eunuchs. . . In every [military] action (with males and females), there is some reference to cutting off heads" (vol. 1, pp. 23-24). For a modern study of amazons, see Robert Edgerton, Warrior Women: The Amazons of Dahomey and the Nature of War (Westview Press, 2000). Frederick E. Forbes went to Dahomey on a British anti-slavery mission in 1849 and 1850. On his first voyage, he "rescued" an Egbado princess, Sara Forbes Bonetta, whom he "gifted" to Queen Victoria.

"Audience Given to the Dutch by the King of Congo" (caption translation). This image depicts the king of Kongo on his throne surrounding Dutch traders in the Kwanza North region. Giulio Ferrario (1767-1847) never went to African but produced volumes aimed at the "encyclopedic" organization of disparate knowledge as "entertainment" in the exotic and the different. This image appears to be derived from one edition or another of Dapper (e.g., 1668, 1686). See image B019.

The author does not appear to describe this granary in his text, but the image shows people storing rice and threshing it. Rice was one of the staples of Madagascar in the mid-nineteenth century. William Ellis (1794–1872) was an English missionary and author, who went to Madagascar on three occasions in the 1850s.

In the accompanying text, Ellis described how "their smelting furnaces. . . are always fixed near a stream, and the ore. . . is broken small, and the earth. . . removed by frequent washings. The sides of the furnaces, usually sunk two or three feet in the ground, are made of stones, covered outside with clay. . . The blast is supplied by two pairs of pistons working in wooden cylinders. . . From the bottom of each cylinder a tube, formed by a bamboo or an old gun-barrel, is inserted into a hole through the stones round the furnace. After the contents of the furnace have been kept some time at a white heat it is left to cool, and when opened the iron is found in pigs or lumps at the bottom. In this state, as well as when heated again, [it is] beaten into bars or rods" (p. 243). William Ellis (1794–1872) was an English missionary and author, who went to Madagascar on three occasions in the 1850s.

The Betsimisaraka are the second largest ethnic group in Madagascar. The Hova, or free commoners, were one of the three principal historical castes in the Merina Kingdom of Madagascar, alongside the Andriana (nobles) and Andevo (slaves). In the accompanying text, Ellis described how "The Hova women wear their hair plaited in extremely fine braids, and tied in a number of small knots or bunches all over the head. . . The Betsimasaraka women wear near their hair braided for two or three inches, and then arranged in a sort of circular mass or ball, two or three hanging down on each side" (p. 135). William Ellis (1794–1872) was an English missionary and author, who went to Madagascar on three occasions in the 1850s.

In the accompanying text, Ellis described how "my house was. . . situated in the midst of the settlement. . . Their houses. . . stood in a large enclosure, part of which was cultivated as a garden. In the front was a well. . . about twenty feet deep, sunk through the sand, which was kept up by boards at the sides. The water was drawn up in a large bullock's horn fastened to the end of a string made of bark, and let down by the hand to the water. Numbers of slave-girls came every morning with long bamboo-canes for water. These canes were six or eight feet long, and, the partitions at the joints inside being broken, formed cylinders three or four inches wide, in which the water was conveyed from the well to the adjacent houses. . . In the same enclosure other slaves might often be seen pounding rice in a large wooden vessel to separate the husk from the grain" (p. 114). William Ellis (1794–1872) was an English missionary and author, who went to Madagascar on three occasions in the 1850s.