rikes their fancy, is apt to stand
godfather. My exploit with the prince christened me "Powder" on the
spot; but when they saw my magnificent establishment, beheld the
wealth of my warehouse, and heard the name of "store," I was forthwith
whitewashed into "_Storee_."

And "_Storee_," without occupying a legislative seat in Africa, was
destined to effect a rapid change in the motives and prospects of that
quarter. In a few months, New Sestros was alive. The isolated beach,
which before my arrival was dotted with half a dozen Kroo hovels, now
counted a couple of flourishing towns, whose inhabitants were supplied
with merchandise and labor in my factory. The neighboring princes and
chiefs, confident of selling their captives, struggled to the
sea-shore through the trackless forest; and in a very brief period,
Prince Freeman, who "no likee war" over my powder-keg, sent expedition
after expedition against adjacent tribes, to redress imaginary
grievances, or to settle old bills with his great-grandfather's
debtors. There was no absolute idea of "extending the area of freedom,
or of territorial annexation," but it was wonderful to behold how keen
became the sovereign's sensibility to national wrongs, and how
patriotically he labored to vindicate his country's rights. It is
true, this African metamorphosis was not brought about without some
sacrifice of humanity; still I am confident that during my stay,
greater strides were made towards modern civilization than during the
visit of any other factor. When I landed among the handful of savages
I found them given up to the basest superstition. All classes of males
as well as females, were liable to be accused upon any pretext by the
_juju-men_ or priests, and the dangerous _saucy-wood_ potion was
invariably administered to test their guilt or innocence. It
frequently happened that accusations of witchcraft or evil practices
were purchased from these wretches in order to get rid of a sick wife,
an imbecile parent, or an opulent relative; and, as the poisonous
draught was mixed and graduated by the _juju-man_, it rarely failed to
prove fatal when the drinker's death was necessary.[F] Ordeals of this
character occurred almost daily in the neighboring country, of course
destroying numbers of innocent victims of cupidity or malice. I very
soon observed the frequency of this abominable crime, and when it was
next attempted in the little settlement that clustered around my
factory, I re