Let us hope that the respectable middle age of Cape Mount will
be devoted to curing the sick coaster.
Beyond this fine headland, a handsome likeness of Holyhead seen from the
south, stretch the long, low, dull shores of Liberia, canopied by unclean
skies and based on dirty-looking seas. The natives, who, as usual, are new
upon the coast, and who preserve curious traditions about their
predecessors, are the Vai (not Vei), a Mandengan race still pagan. They
call, however, the world 'duniya,' and the wife 'namusi,' words which show
whence their ideas are derived. Their colour is lighter than the Kruman's;
there are pretty faces, especially amongst the girlish boys, and the fine
feet and delicate hands are those of 'les Gabons.' And they are
interesting on two other counts. Their language combines the three several
forms of human speech, the isolating (_e.g._ 'love'), the agglutinating
('lovely'), and the polysynthetic ('loving,' 'loved'). Furthermore they
developed an alphabet, or rather a syllabary, which made much noise
amongst missionary 'circles,' and concerning which Lt. Forbes, R.N., Mr.
Norris, and Herr Koelle wrote abundant nonsense. Its origin is still
unknown.
Pages:
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65