In
1787 a large ship-bell was sent as a token of regard by a Bristol
house, Sydenham and Co., to an old, old "King Glass," whose
descendants still reign. Olomi and Glass Town are preferred by
the English, as their factories catch the sea-breeze better than
can Le Plateau: the nearer swamps are now almost drained off, and
the distance from the "authorities" is enough for comfort. Follow
Comba (Komba) and Tom Case, the latter called after Case Glass, a
scion of the Glasses, who was preferred as captain's "tradesman"
by Captain Vidal, R.N., in 1827, because he had "two virtues
which rarely fall to the lot of savages, namely, a mild, quiet
manner, and a low tone of voice when speaking." Tom Qua Ben,
justly proud of the "laced coat of a mail coach guard," was
chosen by Captain Boteler, R.N. The list concludes with Butabeya,
James Town, and Mpira.
These villages are not built street-wise after Mpongwe fashion.
They are scatters of shabby mat-huts, abandoned after every
freeman's death; and they hardly emerge from the luxuriant
undergrowth of manioc and banana, sensitive plant and physic nut
(Jatropha Curcas), clustering round a palm here and there.
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