Employment photo

In the colony, Europeans could barely move through the bush without the help or assistance of a native. Trade between Europeans and Africans on the coast had produced all kinds of labour. Carrying a white man's luggage or carrying him in a hammock on a journey was not necessarily considered demeaning work, as the Africans were the ones who had experience of the difficult paths and roads to travel. What's more, they were more used to the tropical climate. As a result, they could exchange this experience for money, which constituted their income. For them, this activity was an alternative way of earning a living.

There were also different kinds of hammocks that served the following functions in the past:

The woven and ornate hammock was used to carry kings or chiefs during festivities, ritual ceremonies or on certain journeys.
The hammock, made from cotton fabric, was used to transport the bodies of people who had died abroad.
The hammock, made from cotton fabric, was used to carry missionaries, traders and European settlers on their journeys and expeditions to the hinterland of the colonies.

The fact that Europeans were transported in the hammock was based much more on the power of their capital or their colonial authority than on a certain honour, as was the case with kings and traditional chiefs. Trade, capital and administration are at the heart of this power.